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Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Following a not-so-brief sabbatical from these fine pages...your Wednesday quick hits and pink picks:
-While the financial markets are cautiously optimistic the US economy may be stabilizing, some prominent figures are still anticipating Armageddon: John Taylor, of Taylor Rule fame, thinks the Fed is dangerously loose with its monetary policy and has "caused, prolonged, and worsened" the financial crisis. He challenges the Fed's assurances that it can quickly shrink its balance sheet to prevent an inflationary tsunami on the upswing. In a potent dose of IPE, he points to the likely, and severe, political constraints such steps would face. If Taylor is correct, the Fed has little room left to stimulate credit/growth before a rapid, and sharp, tightening of monetary policy is necessary. A second alarm has been sounded by David Walker, formerly director of the Government Accountability Office, who warns the US' triple-A credit rating is at serious risk. He identifies two primary risk factors: health care reform and poor post-crisis fiscal constraints. Walker acknowledges that health care reform is critical to correcting the country's fiscal imbalance and driving down the cost to individuals, but contends that we should focus on reforming the massively unfunded liabilities we are already living with, namely Medicare. Second, like Taylor he worries that political constraints will limit the political will to impose fiscal discipline after the flood. There's also that tricky little issue of tax increases.
-In an admittedly lightweight piece for Vanity Fair.com, Matt Pressman identifies four reasons why Newsweek and Time will never be The Economist. The US newsweeklies are looking to the emulate the print media's shining star, a sentiment so widely held in the industry that Pressman likens it to the ever-present "10 secrets to perfect abs." While the analysis could be much better, the article does identify a critical gap in the US media landscape, intelligent international affairs reporting, and in a way challenges the print media's death knell. There are publications, like The Economist and FT, both of which have seen US circulation numbers steadily rising over the past decade, who are still growing amidst print's great decline. While Pressman is correct that "do as The Economist does" has become an industry cliche rarely realized in circulation or quality, he is wrong to suggest that The Economist's reporting/analysis/"snob appeal" cannot be emulated. Much of the US media talks to Americans like they are their worst stereotype: isolated, ignorant, superficial and uninterested in the world around them. Newsweek and Time should thus be applauded, not mocked, in their efforts to emulate The Economist, whether ultimately viable or not. A final point: is it a coincidence that thriving print publications are seemingly all British?
-It is once again the CIA v. Congress, a battle seemingly waged once every other decade. Isn't blame/failure in such instances always systemic? And is this stunning reversal related?
-Over the past year, we have tried to highlight some of less visible victims of the credit crunch, be it sport or contemporary art. Yachts and independent films could be added to list, as this year's Cannes Film Festival kicks off under a cloud of financial uncertainty.
-The Finnish government is merging the country's top three universities to form a single, new institution of higher education: Aalto University. The new school will endeavor to approach innovation from a multidisciplinary track. Seed Magazine examines its vision.
Labels: credit crunch, financial crisis, media, Monetary Policy