Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Press Briefing

Jan 15, 2010

PM: Statement on Saville Inquiry about the Bloody Sunday events, Jan 2972
http://www.number10.gov.uk/news/statements-and-articles/2010/06/pm-statement-on-saville-inquiry-51888

Trafficking in Persons: Ten Years of Partnering to Combat Modern Slavery
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/scp/fs/2010/143115.htm

It's Time to Nationalize Fannie and Freddie - Any solution that allows private companies to have a special relationship to government is destined to fail
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703509404575301132120330798.html

Immigration: What Would Reagan Do? - The Gipper repeatedly declared that openness to immigration represents adefining aspect of our national identity
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703561604575282431263367708.html

Who's the Enemy in the War on Terror? - The U.S. is at war with violent Islamist extremism, and the Obama administration does moderate Muslims no favor by refusing to recognize this
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703509404575300420668558244.html

Latest BIS Quarterly Review discusses financial turbulence
http://www.bis.org/press/p100614.htm

Afghan Staying Power - The President needs to speak up for his war strategy
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704324304575306884228293658.html

The United States and Africa: Partnering for Progress
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/scp/fs/2010/143133.htm

Obama's Political Oil Fund - In its Gulf spill panic, the White House runs roughshod over the rule of law
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704324304575307111725173500.html

China's high saving rate: myth and reality, by Guonan Ma and Wang Yi
BIS Working Papers No 312, June 2010
http://www.bis.org/publ/work312.htm
The saving rate of China is high from many perspectives - historical experience, international standards and the predictions of economic models. Furthermore, the average saving rate has been rising over time, with much of the increase taking place in the 2000s, so that the aggregate marginal propensity to save exceeds 50%. What really sets China apart from the rest of the world is that the rising aggregate saving has reflected high savings rates in all three sectors - corporate, household and government. Moreover, adjusting for inflation alters interpretations of the time path of the propensity to save in the three sectors. Our evidence casts doubt on the proposition that distortions and subsidies account for China's rising corporate profits and high saving rate. Instead, we argue that tough corporate restructuring (including pension and home ownership reforms), a marked Lewis-model transformation process (where the average wage exceeds the marginal product of labour in the subsistence sector) and rapid ageing process have all played more important roles. While such structural factors suggest that the Chinese saving rate will peak in the medium term, policies for job creation and a stronger social safety net would assist the transition to more balanced domestic demand.

The Government Bailouts Must End
http://blog.heritage.org/2010/06/14/morning-bell-the-government-bailouts-must-end