By September 2008, China had owned 585 billion U.S. dollars in U.S. government bonds, becoming the largest creditor of the world’s largest economy, according to the latest statistics from China’s Ministry of Finance. It bought new US national debts every month during 2008’s first three quarters. (news.xinhuanet.com)For years, China has had a surplus of money, which its national bank gleans from its high export to import trade imbalance. It takes the dollars it makes from U.S. consumers and then needs a reliable place to invest them, and it has historically invested heavily in U.S. treasuries along with private U.S. assets.…
Author: Noah Graff
By Noah Graff A recent column in the Wall Street Journal made a comparison of U.S. government policies in the present economy to those in the classic novel, Atlas Shrugged, written in 1957 by the anti-government, ultra capitalist Ayn Rand. Rand’s dogma which transcends all of her works has the fundamental principle that when government steps in to “bailout” incompetent businesses for the sake of the “common good” it causes a tumultuous domino effect. Wall Street Journal Columnist Stephen Moore summarizes the book’s moral as the following: “Politicians invariably respond to crises — that in most cases they themselves created…
By Noah Graff, Mitchell Lee Marks, a teacher at College of Business at San Francisco State University, wrote an editorial in today’s New York Times challenging an often used company mantra in a period of downsizing, “The company will identify ways to ‘work smarter’ and not just ‘work harder.’” He brings up the point that when people see coworkers laid off, they become averse to risk, holding back trying new, creative ideas which often require trial and error before they can become successful. He also argues that having less people will mean less brainpower to come up with new solutions,…
The Celtics lost for the sixth time in eight games last night. Although that may be depressing for Bostonians, it’s a lot less gloomy news than what’s going on in today’s manufacturing economy. Today I’m taking a break from opining on the Big Three to show you this beautiful display of waterjet technology. Question: What’s the most interesting product you’ve seen produced with waterjet?
It appears that U.S. gasoline prices are headed over $2 again, and before long, Americans will likely again be feeling the urgency for better fuel economy as they did in the summer of 2008. While GM is supposedly trying its damndest to début a saleable plug-in hybrid by 2010, many individuals with ingenuity around the globe have already produced their own custom made plug-in hybrids. Two college kids in Wheaton Illinois, Chris and Andrew Ewert, have constructed a plug-in hybrid by installing a lithium-ion battery in a stock Toyota Prius. The battery works in tandem with the car’s nickel-metal hydride…
By Noah Graff General Motors is suspending work on the $370 million factory slated to build engines for the Chevrolet Volt, but says the plug-in hybrid will appear in showrooms by the end of 2010 as promised. (www.wired.com)”It’s temporarily on hold as we assess our cash situation,” GM spokeswoman Sharon Basel told the Detroit Free Press. “I don’t think it’s any surprise that we’re studying and reviewing everything, given the position we’re in.”Come on GM, do you take us all for fools? In all of the current mess going on at the company, having the car released in 2010 already…
By Noah Graff One of the main criticisms people have of GM and Ford is that their cars are not aesthetically pleasing. Sure, they need to improve their quality on the inside too (don’t we all). But still, have you ever met a girl or guy who was just so damn hot, that no matter how annoying, stupid, or even mean they were, you wanted to give them a chance. The American car manufacturers are trying their damndest to become that hot thing that people just have to give a chance, but right now, aside from some trucks and Buicks…
By Noah Graff What would a new management team do to change the fortunes of GM if Rick Wagoner and his team were ousted? Can a new management team improve the company significantly, right away? Perhaps a high profile replacement would give a quick jolt to the company’s stock price, but would GM quickly start selling more cars and building better cars? Since Wagoner became GM’s CEO in 2000, the company has gained big concessions from the UAW, which had handcuffed the company while Toyota, Honda, and the other imports enjoyed freedom from union regulations. GM came out with the…
By Noah Graff Thanksgiving and the Friday after is when companies like to release elite news that they don’t want people to pay attention to. For instance, despite begging the U.S. government for a $25 billion bailout, Ford’s CEO Alan Mulally doesn’t want to lower his salary (he made $21 million last year). This stance was a definite public relations gaff after he was asked by congress if he would work for a dollar like the CEO from AIG, Edward Liddy. Also, news was released that GM doesn’t want public tracking of its private jet, which it had been criticized…
By Lloyd Graff What a day for Detroit. Old John Dingell, the pugnacious congressman from Motown lost his Jewel, the chairmanship of the Energy and Commerce Committee.Dingell is 82, he succeeded his father in 1955 in the House — so the Dingells have been in Congress, virtually forever.He lost his job to Henry Waxman of Los Angeles who is Mr. Environmental in Washington and a headline-hunting pain in the ass to the Detroit automakers.The odds of the Big 3 getting a Washington rescue package were fading anyway, but the Waxman ascendancy was a dagger for the rust belt. Waxman’s defeat…