BARCELONA (Reuters) - Barcelona will have up to 60 million euros to spend on new players in the close season, according to the man in charge of their economic affairs.
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\"Barca is in a position to buy four players,\" vice president Javier Faus told Catalunya Radio. \"We have between 50 and 60 million euros net for signings.\"
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The club brought in one player last summer, the controversial signing of Neymar that prompted allegations of misappropriation of funds and tax evasion and resulted in the resignation of president Sandro Rosell.
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Including a payment of 13.5 million euros to the Spanish treasury after fraud charges were laid against the club, the Brazil forward ended up costing just under 100 million euros, close to the record fee arch rivals Real Madrid paid for Wales winger Gareth Bale last year.
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Barca did not sign anyone in the January transfer window, disappointing some fans unhappy with a series of shoddy displays in defence.
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At the least, the Spanish champions will need replacements for goalkeeper Victor Valdes and captain and central defender Carles Puyol who have said they are leaving at the end of the season.
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There are also question marks over the futures of reserve goalkeeper Jose Manuel Pinto and full back Martin Montoya because their contracts expire in June.
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Borussia Moenchengladbach sporting director Max Eberl hinted in January that Marc-Andre ter Stegen would replace Valdes after the Germany keeper rejected a contract extension with the Bundesliga club.
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The 21-year-old has a contract until 2015 but Eberl said he had turned down a new deal and the Bundesliga outfit had decided to allow him to join \"a top European side\".
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Barca may be in the market for a second new centre back as academy graduate Marc Bartra has yet to win the full confidence of coach Gerardo Martino.
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Follow us at CorlissGroupMag for latest news about stock-market.
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Philip Bowring is appalled by the report on fiscal planning that seeks to preserve the status quo, to protect mega infrastructure spending, yet utterly fails to address our critical challenges
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In 40 years of covering Hong Kong budgets and fiscal issues, I have never seen a document as misleading and contentious as the report of the Working Group on Long Term Fiscal Planning. It is a crude attack on health and welfare spending in order to find money for already bloated infrastructure spending.
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To add insult to injury, the group is mainly comprised of officials and academics enjoying huge health and pension featherbeds at public expense.
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The starting point for the report is true enough - that Hong Kong has an ageing population and one that is growing only slowly. This has been known long enough. The government has been aware that years of having a very low fertility rate has been a major factor in ageing - but has done nothing to address it.
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The document goes on to present a scare story of ever rising deficits caused by a stagnating workforce and rising demands for health and welfare spending. Yet it accompanies this with projections for sustained increases in capital works. The non sequitur is backed by references to guidelines laid down by Philip Haddon-Cave in the 1970s - that public spending should be no more than 20 per cent of gross domestic product, and that there should be a significant surplus on the operating budget to provide funds for capital works (in addition to capital works paid by capital revenue).
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Haddon-Cave, a realist, not an ideologue, would be appalled by official inability to see what has changed. Then, Hong Kong had a young, fast-growing workforce and the need for more infrastructure to support an economy based on manufacturing and merchandise trade. Today, we have no manufacturing, a port which is past its peak, and financial and other high-value services whose input needs are not primarily related to concrete.
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Determination to rig the fiscal system to support mega infrastructure projects is further underlined by the report's curt dismissal of the widely supported proposal to shift part of land revenues from capital to recurrent income. This would cause short-term reductions in revenue but long-term gains in stability. But it would not suit the vested interests who are dedicated to wasteful spending on roads and bridges as well as businesses whose profits rely on land price inflation.
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Notions of economic return on capital are now alien to the bureaucracy.
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The document also perpetuates a convenient official lie: that the HK$750 billion surplus of the Monetary Authority is not part of the reserves. It ignores these assets completely, suggesting the group is so ignorant of exchange rate mechanisms that it believes these are needed to defend a currency peg.
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The fact is that the HK$1.5 trillion total reserves belong to the citizens and were accumulated by the government at their expense. There is a moral obligation to return some of these savings to those who earned them as they reach an age when they can no longer work. Pensions are not just a right of civil servants.
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Yet, while drawing almost straight-line charts of health and welfare costs, the report takes no account of the future role of the Mandatory Provident Fund - a scheme that is inadequate and expensive but nonetheless will have an impact on retirement incomes in the future.
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Nor does the report take proper account of the potential for increased workforce participation. This is not surprising, given that government bodies still adhere to retirement at 60. But if the group cared to look at official data, it would have seen that in the past four years, GDP rises have owed much to the rise in participation by those over 45 - from 64.7 per cent to 68 per cent for those 45-64; and from 5.7 per cent to 8.1 per cent for those over 65. This trend is sure to continue as most people need to work after 60.
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There is nothing sacrosanct about limiting public expenditure to 20 per cent of GDP. And even assuming there is abundant reason to privatise some public trading activities and impose genuine user-pays charges on others, a government incapable of adjusting tunnel tolls for car owners but that begrudges spending on the old and infirm is contemptible.
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Of course, Hong Kong must adjust to changing demography as well as a changing economic base. But that demands that it focuses on providing health, education, security and similar services and transfer payments to the old and sick - and assigns much of the capital works to entities required to be self-financing and thus subject to the discipline of the market. The government owns far too many assets already.
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For sure, the tax system is too narrowly based. But this report suggests nothing major to change that.
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The report is basically a public relations exercise to protect the status quo. That is not surprising as it was written by officials with inputs from academic economists and accountants (specialists in tax avoidance). Where were the entrepreneurs, the demographers, the fiscal policy experts, the investment bankers, let alone the representatives of low-income groups?
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John Tsang Chun-wah has shown yet again he is incapable of new thinking, to advance policies that accept welfare responsibilities ungrudgingly and improve the currently abysmal returns on public investment.
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The cause of the attack is still unknown. Sadly, as the hit men are believed to have fled to Mainland China, the hunt for suspects has become more challenging. It is likely, therefore, that the brutal assault might well remain unsolved – a grisly addition to the city’s poor record on cracking media-related attacks. Over the past few years, there have been seven other reported incidents in which media professionals and outlets critical of the Hong Kong government and the Beijing authorities were threatened or attacked; none have been solved by the otherwise effective police.
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Lau was at the eye of a storm just two months ago when he was removed from chief-editorship after serving for only two years (his predecessor had held the post for 15 years) and transferred to a non-editorial position. The plan is to replace him with a Malaysian editor who seems to have little experience in Hong Kong news reporting. Pundits have linked the unusual personnel shift to Ming Pao’s owner, Zhang Xiaoqing, a Malaysian billionaire with business ties in China, who may been seeking to tone down the critical character of the newspaper. Although many Ming Pao journalists resisted the move, the soft-spoken Lau accepted it without open opposition. That is why people were shocked not just by the attack itself, but also by the fact that the target was Lau, seen among journalists as a moderate personality. Even though Ming Pao largely retained its critical voice under his leadership, Lau, who is well connected with government officials and politicians from across the spectrum, seems unlikely to have been seen as a “problem child” in the eyes of the authorities.
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Dwindling Press Freedom
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What is most troubling, therefore, is that even such a moderate liberal style can attract such brutal violence; a “lesson” that might well have long-term repercussions for critical journalism. The implications are important. The generally moderate Ming Pao has been renowned for its investigative journalism on socio-political affairs in both Hong Kong and China. Among its outstanding coverage under Lau, the paper worked with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) as the only Chinese media company on a project about offshore money leaks, which led to a story in mid-January about the offshore holdings of former Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s family members. Similar reports that exposed the enormous wealth of high-ranking Chinese officials that have appeared in foreign media, namely The New York Times and Bloomberg News, have also resulted in reprisals such as visa delays from Beijing. Although there is no evidence to link that particular Ming Pao story to the assault, the ICIJ report has certainly attracted the most speculation.
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Read full article at TheDiplomat
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The emphasis has been on higher-yielding blue-chips and bonds, smaller companies and the Far East (including Japan from the end of 2012).\n\nThis has served both portfolios well. However, the time has come to modestly refine the strategy for the Growth portfolio given market conditions and its freedom from an income constraint.\n\nGo high, go deep\n\nGovernments' vested interest in stoking a modest rise in inflation to help erode high debt piles has resulted in interest rates remaining low for an extended period of time. The post-war period saw a similar exercise and reminds us of both the benefits and potential drawbacks of such a policy. The job is not yet done. Debt remains stubbornly high. Despite all the talk of austerity and deficit reduction, this government has only managed to reduce the rate at which we are adding to our National Debt by one third. Other governments are in a similar, if not worse, position.\n\nOne strand of the investment strategy guiding both portfolios has therefore been to focus on higher yielding corporate bonds and blue-chip equities. The bonds because they are better insulated from modest rises in inflation and because their risk profile will gradually improve as the economy moves forward and solvency concerns recede. The equities because their yield is attractive relative to other asset classes and because strong corporate balance sheets have been able to sustain dividend increases. Both strands of the strategy remain valid for investors seeking income.\n\nAnother catalyst for the market’s continued rerating is the government’s launch of Isa-style accounts aimed at encouraging households out of some of their $15tr of savings and into the stock market – a process which should be made easier as inflation takes hold. Given the market is under-owned, with only around 5 per cent of households’ assets invested, a modest shift could have huge ramifications. The market capitalization of the 50 largest companies is worth just 12 per cent of total household savings.\n\nThe fact that many investors still dislike Japan further adds to the market’s attraction. But, again, the focus on Japan within the 'Go east' element of the Growth portfolio's strategy will not be replicated to the same extent within the Income portfolio because of yield constraints - Asia outside Japan is still where the better yields are to be found. Browse this site\n\nPortfolio changes\n\nAccordingly, a number of changes were made to the Growth portfolio in January. Perpetual Income and Growth Investment Trust (PLI), Schroder Oriental Income Fund (SOI) and Aberdeen Asian Smaller Companies Investment Trust (AAS) were sold whilst standing at a small premium, at par and at a 5 per cent discount respectively. All are excellent trusts – indeed, PLI remains in the Income portfolio.\n\nIn their place, I have introduced JPMorgan Japanese Investment Trust (JFJ) while standing at a 10 per cent discount. The performance has picked up significantly since Nicholas Weindling took over in the autumn of 2010. Speaking with Nicholas, I suggest this pick-up has perhaps been helped by him and his team being based in Tokyo, which is not as common as you may think.\n\nTo compensate for the loss of SOI and AAS, I have bought Scottish Oriental Smaller Companies Trust (SST) while also standing on a 10 per cent discount – the new weighting being a tad higher than the 2.5 per cent which AAS had dropped to.\n\nOutside the Far East, I have added to both Henderson Smaller Companies Investment Trust (HSL) and International Biotechnology Trust (IBT) while standing at discounts of 12 and 15 per cent, respectively. A conversation with Neil Hermon, HSL's manager, confirmed that around three quarters of the portfolio is in mid-cap stocks - a reminder that trust names can sometimes inadvertently be opaque.", "publicationTitle": "", "publisher": "", "place": "", "date": "", "volume": "", "issue": "", "section": "", "partNumber": "", "partTitle": "", "pages": "", "series": "", "seriesTitle": "", "seriesText": "", "journalAbbreviation": "", "DOI": "", "citationKey": "", "url": "http://www.investorschronicle.co.uk/2014/02/06/tips-and-ideas/our-portfolios/investment-trust-portfolio/refining-the-growth-strategy-WiprSJRe1HQ5cIBNyC1lsL/article.html", "accessDate": "", "PMID": "", "PMCID": "", "ISSN": "", "archive": "", "archiveLocation": "", "shortTitle": "", "language": "", "libraryCatalog": "", "callNumber": "", "rights": "", "extra": "", "tags": [ { "tag": "Corliss Online Group Financial magazine" }, { "tag": "Refining the growth strategy" } ], "collections": [], "relations": {}, "dateAdded": "2014-02-15T01:14:37Z", "dateModified": "2014-02-15T01:14:37Z" } }, { "key": "F2HKP74T", "version": 9, "library": { "type": "group", "id": 212908, "name": "Corliss Online Financial Mag", "links": { "alternate": { "href": "https://www.zotero.org/groups/corliss_online_financial_mag", "type": "text/html" } } }, "links": { "self": { "href": "https://api.zotero.org/groups/212908/items/F2HKP74T", "type": "application/json" }, "alternate": { "href": "https://www.zotero.org/groups/corliss_online_financial_mag/items/F2HKP74T", "type": "text/html" } }, "meta": { "createdByUser": { "id": 1584021, "username": "geraldhussen", "name": "Gerald Hussen", "links": { "alternate": { "href": "https://www.zotero.org/geraldhussen", "type": "text/html" } } }, "numChildren": 0 }, "data": { "key": "F2HKP74T", "version": 9, "itemType": "journalArticle", "title": "Corliss Online Group Financial magazine on Top 10 tips for female entrepreneurs", "creators": [], "abstractNote": "A study last year by the department for business revealed that – finally – more women are taking the plunge and launching their own businesses.\n\nThe number is still pretty low – just nineteen per cent of SMEs are female-led, according to the study, but, more encouragingly, a quarter of new businesses – two to three years old – were formed by women.\n\nI was fortunate enough to speak at an all-female business event held by the New Entrepreneurs Foundation last week to drive more women to apply for its new programme, which got me really thinking about how we can encourage more women to choose the enterprise path, like I did.\n\nSomething Anne Marie Morris MP mentioned in her speech really brought it home – women-led businesses contribute £70 billion to the UK economy. That is surely too significant a figure to ignore?!\n\nSo, here’s my advice to make sure women get in the game and level the playing field:\n\n1. Stop thinking of ‘female’ as a disadvantage.\n\nYou’re a woman... so what?! I once heard a young female entrepreneur ask, “I’m pitching to investors and worried that they’ll look at me and think, ‘What if she gets engaged and has babies?’”\n\n2. Choose your girlfriends carefully.\n\nThe importance of carefully choosing a guy who will emotionally support both you and your career is obvious. What’s equally crucial is befriending women who reflect what you wish to become.\n\n3. Know your heroes.\n\nTo make your ideal scenario happen, you need to know what it looks like. I really look up to Katie Couric, Sheryl Sandberg, and Brene Brown – namely, the way that they’ve had careers and families without making it an ‘issue’ – they’ve just gotten on with it. Mindy Kaling and Connie Britton also inspire me to value the freedom and beauty of being single.\n\n4. Focus on what you can control.\n\nYou’re going to come up against people who want you to feel like you don’t deserve something because you’re a woman. Let these people make you, not break you – those who try to bring you down often act that way because they feel like you are above them.\n\n5. Don't judge other women.\n\nSome women choose to focus on career. Some women choose to focus on family. Some women choose both. I don’t feel like it’s my right to comment on any other woman’s choices because I know that there’s always more to her story than what I can see.\n\n6. Really get to know yourself.\n\nWomen are often so focused on those around them instead of putting themselves first. Whether it’s through journaling, yoga, therapy, or a retreat – take time out to be with the only person you’re ever going to really know. Getting to know your own mind can keep you grounded when things are rocky.\n\n7. Nurture your male friendships\n\nMale-female friendships don’t have to be weird unless somebody makes it weird. I have a lot of male friends and I value those friendships just as much as I value my female ones.\n\n8. Ignore your mother’s nagging when it comes to your love life\n\nMy mother used to be on my back about the ‘lack of effort’ that I apparently put into my love life until I told her what I’ve always believed: it happens when it happens. As you get older and get to know more guys, you learn that truly loving relationships are places where you go to give, not places where you go to take. It can take time to find (and to become ready) for that. Focus on building your business and follow your own timeline, not one projected by magazines and popular culture.\n\n9. Celebrate being a woman\n\nThe worlds of femininity and masculinity are colliding and I feel like millennial females are caught in this collective identity crisis. On the one hand, it’s exciting to be a woman in an era where we can vote, become CEO, or run for President.\n\n10. Always have faith in yourself\n\nI’ve met a lot of female entrepreneurs who have faith in their abilities but don’t have faith their worthiness of love, affection, true friendship. When it comes to finding investors or customers, or a boyfriend or a life partner, or great girlfriends… it starts with being able to accept yourself wholeheartedly.", "publicationTitle": "", "publisher": "", "place": "", "date": "", "volume": "", "issue": "", "section": "", "partNumber": "", "partTitle": "", "pages": "", "series": "", "seriesTitle": "", "seriesText": "", "journalAbbreviation": "", "DOI": "", "citationKey": "", "url": "http://realbusiness.co.uk/article/25399-top-10-tips-for-female-entrepreneurs", "accessDate": "", "PMID": "", "PMCID": "", "ISSN": "", "archive": "", "archiveLocation": "", "shortTitle": "", "language": "", "libraryCatalog": "", "callNumber": "", "rights": "", "extra": "", "tags": [ { "tag": "Corliss Online Group Financial magazine" }, { "tag": "Top 10 tips for female entrepreneurs" } ], "collections": [], "relations": {}, "dateAdded": "2014-02-14T02:16:22Z", "dateModified": "2014-02-14T02:16:22Z" } }, { "key": "EWN3EP64", "version": 8, "library": { "type": "group", "id": 212908, "name": "Corliss Online Financial Mag", "links": { "alternate": { "href": "https://www.zotero.org/groups/corliss_online_financial_mag", "type": "text/html" } } }, "links": { "self": { "href": "https://api.zotero.org/groups/212908/items/EWN3EP64", "type": "application/json" }, "alternate": { "href": "https://www.zotero.org/groups/corliss_online_financial_mag/items/EWN3EP64", "type": "text/html" } }, "meta": { "createdByUser": { "id": 1584021, "username": "geraldhussen", "name": "Gerald Hussen", "links": { "alternate": { "href": "https://www.zotero.org/geraldhussen", "type": "text/html" } } }, "numChildren": 0 }, "data": { "key": "EWN3EP64", "version": 8, "itemType": "journalArticle", "title": "Corliss Online Group Financial magazine 8 Financial Planning Tips", "creators": [], "abstractNote": "If you're like most Americans, you probably didn't make a new year's resolution to get started with long-term financial planning.\n\nA staggering 84 percent of respondents to a New Year's Resolution Survey from Allianz Life Insurance said that financial planning was not among their 2014 resolutions at all—the highest percentage ever to reveal that in the survey's history.\n\nWhat held them back? Well, 30 percent said they don't believe they make enough money to \"worry\" about financial planning. That's bizarre. Shouldn't having less money increase your need to manage what you have effectively?\n\nRegardless of your situation, I hope you'll engage in the planning process this year—and the sooner you get started, the better.\n\nThe advice my firm is giving our clients in 2014 features many themes often repeated over our 25-year history, along with some new information reflecting what's happening now. Here are eight key elements:\n\n•\tMaintain a well-diversified investment portfolio. Although the economy is improving, the stock market is at an all-time high and corporate profits are setting records, much weakness and uncertainty remain. Therefore, this is no time to make big bets. For that reason, we continue to advocate extensive global diversification. Stocks should include U.S. and foreign companies of all sorts: large-cap, mid-cap and small-cap; growth and value; and emerging markets. Your portfolio should also include real estate (diversified by type and geography) and bonds (government and corporate, U.S. and foreign—more on duration later), as well as natural resources, including precious metals, oil and gas. One of the most cost-effective ways to accomplish this is through exchange traded funds\n\n•\tRebalance the portfolio as needed. Most people never rebalance their portfolios, which can cause their risks to rise and profits to fall. And many who do rebalance do so on a calendar basis. We eschew that method as inefficient—who's to say you need to issue buys/sells/trades just because it's June 30? That's why we rebalance our clients' accounts on a percentage basis. When a portfolio drifts beyond preset limits, we rebalance—as often or as seldom as necessary. This requires a daily review of each portfolio, a chore our clients happily delegate to us. But you can do it, too, if you are willing to take the time.\n\n•\tAvoid long-term bonds. The strengthening economy will eventually cause the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates—and when that happens, bond prices will fall. For that reason, we are placing almost all of our clients' bond positions in short- and intermediate-duration bond funds. This will help reduce interest-rate risk while maintaining diversification.\n\n•\tContribute the maximum to your retirement plan at work. If you can't put in the full amount now, increase your contribution each year until you can. And commit to placing half of future pay raises in the plan.\n\n•\tAvoid Initial Public Offerings. IPOs got a lot of attention last year, largely thanks to Twitter, but it seems Facebook's IPO has been forgotten. Instead of trying to grab the latest hot stock, remember that your diversified ETFs probably will obtain the stock for you—meaning, you don't have to try to succeed by \"getting rich quick.\"\n\n•\tReview your estate plan. Look at your will, trust documents, powers of attorney and beneficiaries on your retirement accounts, annuities and life insurance policies. People may have died or been born since you signed the documents, or you might not still feel as you once did about heirs. Reading the documents will give you the opportunity to update them.\n\n•\tSave for college with 529 plans. They let your money grow tax-free and are flexible enough to cover all expenses—including tuition, room and board and books—at any accredited college, public or private, anywhere.\n\n•\tAnd here's what not to do. We do not recommend variable life insurance policies, nontraded real estate investment trusts, hedge funds, \"alternative\" funds, master limited partnerships investing in oil and gas, fixed or equity-indexed annuities, actively managed retail mutual funds, inverse funds, commodities trading, derivatives, short-selling, buying on margin, lottery tickets or viatical settlements (purchases of life insurance policies from the terminally ill).\n\nIf you don't have a comprehensive long-term financial plan for yourself and your family, get one from an independent, objective, fee-based financial planner. I can't think of a better new year's resolution.", "publicationTitle": "", "publisher": "", "place": "", "date": "", "volume": "", "issue": "", "section": "", "partNumber": "", "partTitle": "", "pages": "", "series": "", "seriesTitle": "", "seriesText": "", "journalAbbreviation": "", "DOI": "", "citationKey": "", "url": "http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/231069", "accessDate": "", "PMID": "", "PMCID": "", "ISSN": "", "archive": "", "archiveLocation": "", "shortTitle": "", "language": "", "libraryCatalog": "", "callNumber": "", "rights": "", "extra": "", "tags": [ { "tag": "8 Financial Planning Tips to Keep in Mind This Year" }, { "tag": "Corliss Online Group Financial magazine" } ], "collections": [], "relations": {}, "dateAdded": "2014-02-13T01:50:18Z", "dateModified": "2014-02-13T01:50:18Z" } }, { "key": "5GZ4KNHV", "version": 7, "library": { "type": "group", "id": 212908, "name": "Corliss Online Financial Mag", "links": { "alternate": { "href": "https://www.zotero.org/groups/corliss_online_financial_mag", "type": "text/html" } } }, "links": { "self": { "href": "https://api.zotero.org/groups/212908/items/5GZ4KNHV", "type": "application/json" }, "alternate": { "href": "https://www.zotero.org/groups/corliss_online_financial_mag/items/5GZ4KNHV", "type": "text/html" } }, "meta": { "createdByUser": { "id": 1584021, "username": "geraldhussen", "name": "Gerald Hussen", "links": { "alternate": { "href": "https://www.zotero.org/geraldhussen", "type": "text/html" } } }, "numChildren": 0 }, "data": { "key": "5GZ4KNHV", "version": 7, "itemType": "journalArticle", "title": "Winners and losers in the new China by Corliss Online Group Financial magazine", "creators": [], "abstractNote": "“It will be very painful and even feel like cutting one’s wrist.” So predicted Li Keqiang, China’s premier, as he discussed the task ahead of him during his first press conference last March.\n\nNot the most inviting prospect for investors looking to make a play on China. But they should certainly take heed of these words. Li is the man who, together with president Xi Jinping, must lead a reform programme regarded by analysts as the most fundamental in decades. It will affect almost every part of an economy worth $9.4tn (Britain’s annual output, for comparison, is $2.4tn).\n\nSo what are these reforms? And why does China’s new leader think that their implementation will be so painful? There are three key areas which investors should note.\n\nThe shrinking state\n\nThe first area of reform is reducing the role of the state in the Chinese economy. There is a broad consensus among analysts – and, increasingly, among Chinese policy makers – that the government’s influence over key parts of the economy is threatening the health of the economic system.\n\nNowhere is this truer than in the role the government plays in dictating key prices in the economy. By letting the state rather than the market set the price of key resources, distortions have developed which now threaten economic growth.\n\nThe cost of borrowing, for example, has been kept artificially low by the government. Real lending rates since 2004 have averaged just 2.9 per cent, and at times have even fallen below zero. The consequences have been dire. Cheap money has encouraged a splurge of capital expenditure on fixed assets and infrastructure, which has led to high levels of overcapacity in many parts of the economy.\n\nPrices of everyday essentials such as water, oil, natural gas, electricity and freight have also been kept artificially low to make Chinese manufactured goods competitive abroad and to keep a lid on domestic inflation. But such low input costs have encouraged rampant overproduction, with devastating consequences for the environment. Industrial air pollution is now at dangerously high levels in many of China’s urban areas.\n\nThis level of state intervention is increasingly regarded as unsustainable. But reducing it will not be easy; it was the curbing of the state’s reach that Mr Li likened to “cutting one’s wrist”. He was referring to a Chinese legend, in which a warrior who had been bitten by a snake cut off his hand to save the rest of his body.\n\nManagers of those companies that have benefited from artificially cheap credit and energy will almost certainly feel like cutting their own wrists. As the market has a bigger role in setting prices – and the state a smaller one – input costs will inevitably rise. Companies in the industrial and manufacturing sectors – many still state-owned and woefully inefficient – will be particularly hard hit.\n\nCompanies will also face higher financing costs if lending rates are liberalised. While the official one-year benchmark rate for loans is currently 6 per cent, annual lending rates in the liberalised, unofficial, shadow banking system are generally above 10 per cent. State-owned giants which have enjoyed preferential access to cheap loans from unquestioning banks will struggle to access finance on more normal commercial terms.", "publicationTitle": "", "publisher": "", "place": "", "date": "", "volume": "", "issue": "", "section": "", "partNumber": "", "partTitle": "", "pages": "", "series": "", "seriesTitle": "", "seriesText": "", "journalAbbreviation": "", "DOI": "", "citationKey": "", "url": "http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/5007a0fa-8e58-11e3-b6f1-00144feab7de.html#axzz2t7lnMUrX", "accessDate": "", "PMID": "", "PMCID": "", "ISSN": "", "archive": "", "archiveLocation": "", "shortTitle": "", "language": "", "libraryCatalog": "", "callNumber": "", "rights": "", "extra": "", "tags": [ { "tag": "Corliss Online Group Financial magazine" }, { "tag": "Winners and losers in the new China" } ], "collections": [], "relations": {}, "dateAdded": "2014-02-12T00:41:44Z", "dateModified": "2014-02-12T00:41:44Z" } }, { "key": "JPJ454EG", "version": 6, "library": { "type": "group", "id": 212908, "name": "Corliss Online Financial Mag", "links": { "alternate": { "href": "https://www.zotero.org/groups/corliss_online_financial_mag", "type": "text/html" } } }, "links": { "self": { "href": "https://api.zotero.org/groups/212908/items/JPJ454EG", "type": "application/json" }, "alternate": { "href": "https://www.zotero.org/groups/corliss_online_financial_mag/items/JPJ454EG", "type": "text/html" } }, "meta": { "createdByUser": { "id": 1584021, "username": "geraldhussen", "name": "Gerald Hussen", "links": { "alternate": { "href": "https://www.zotero.org/geraldhussen", "type": "text/html" } } }, "numChildren": 0 }, "data": { "key": "JPJ454EG", "version": 6, "itemType": "journalArticle", "title": "Corliss Online Group Financial magazine on Travel Talk", "creators": [], "abstractNote": "I’m grumpy about flying these days. Part of it is just the hassle of the process, but now there’s even more. Bud and I had a decades-long strategy of managing our US Airways frequent flier status to maximize free upgrades on domestic and European routes, as well as to secure virtually free first-class seats on flights to Oceania, Southeast Asia and Africa. Trust me, there’s nothing like being pampered in first class on Singapore Air to take the sting out of flying! Sadly, airline rewards and loyalty benefits are going the way of free meals – or free anything – in the air.\n\nThe Old: Back in the day, you earned elite status (and the accompanying benefits/privileges) by actually flying the miles. Most promotions (say, double “qualifying” miles for status on certain routes) targeted existing members to encourage loyalty. This kept the rarified air of first-class upgrades cozy. Special check-in lines, private lounges with free cocktails and food – like that. Upgrades were doled out according to rigid rules – highest status first. Then came along airline affinity credit cards that allowed anyone holding them (imagine!) to use the first class check-in process – no matter if you had a lowly economy ticket. Promos of all kinds expanded until there were lots of ways to get upgrades and privileges – resulting in more competition among flyers and less actual revenue generated from the premium seats. Hmmm, thought the airlines . . . what to do?\n\nThe New: 2014 will bring changes galore – many of them retooling loyalty programs to extract more revenue. For one thing, the merger between American and US Airways is a done deal. Those of us who spent 25-plus years being loyal to US Airways (and the Star Alliance network) will be acclimating to American and One World. For starters, American allows passengers to bid on seat upgrades – more revenue for them, less availability for elite members.\n\nFor another, there are fewer international routes on One World than on Star Alliance. So . . . fewer destinations, fewer seats. Some airlines (Delta and United) will require minimum spending of $2,500 to more than $10,000 in addition to miles flown or earned to achieve status. This while many airlines are reducing the number of premium seats available – though they are actually installing better seats.\n\nWhat To Do: So should we bother with elite status any more? George Hobica, founder of airfarewatchdog.com, wrote on the subject recently for USA Today – and says not so much. Better to scan the internet and watch for deals on premium seats, especially last-minute upgrades – or upgrades offered as you check in. Bud and I passed up $50 upgrades to premium economy seats on a Virgin Atlantic flight to London in November – something we will never, ever do again! For specific tips, try farecompare.com in addition to airfare watchdog.com, frequentflier.com or try a free trial at the pricey (but maybe worth it) firstclassflyer.com.", "publicationTitle": "", "publisher": "", "place": "", "date": "", "volume": "", "issue": "", "section": "", "partNumber": "", "partTitle": "", "pages": "", "series": "", "seriesTitle": "", "seriesText": "", "journalAbbreviation": "", "DOI": "", "citationKey": "", "url": "http://www.concordmonitor.com/home/10572153-95/travel-talk-come-up-with-your-upgrade-strategy", "accessDate": "", "PMID": "", "PMCID": "", "ISSN": "", "archive": "", "archiveLocation": "", "shortTitle": "", "language": "", "libraryCatalog": "", "callNumber": "", "rights": "", "extra": "", "tags": [ { "tag": "Come up with your upgrade strategy" }, { "tag": "Corliss Online Group Financial magazine" }, { "tag": "Travel Talk" } ], "collections": [], "relations": {}, "dateAdded": "2014-02-11T00:39:40Z", "dateModified": "2014-02-11T00:39:40Z" } }, { "key": "S4APRRKU", "version": 5, "library": { "type": "group", "id": 212908, "name": "Corliss Online Financial Mag", "links": { "alternate": { "href": "https://www.zotero.org/groups/corliss_online_financial_mag", "type": "text/html" } } }, "links": { "self": { "href": "https://api.zotero.org/groups/212908/items/S4APRRKU", "type": "application/json" }, "alternate": { "href": "https://www.zotero.org/groups/corliss_online_financial_mag/items/S4APRRKU", "type": "text/html" } }, "meta": { "createdByUser": { "id": 1584021, "username": "geraldhussen", "name": "Gerald Hussen", "links": { "alternate": { "href": "https://www.zotero.org/geraldhussen", "type": "text/html" } } }, "numChildren": 0 }, "data": { "key": "S4APRRKU", "version": 5, "itemType": "journalArticle", "title": "Corliss Online Group Financial magazine on how to get out of credit card debt faster", "creators": [], "abstractNote": "IT'S time to come clean about our dirty credit card habits and how we can avoid them eroding our wealth.\n\nWhile we've all been slowly reducing our outstanding credit card balances, with $34 billion still owing, they remain the scourge of most families.\n\nIt's fair to say credit cards are the most potent weapon of mass financial destruction since the loan shark. Their convenience and flexibility means it's so easy for them to get out of hand and lead to serious financial distress.\n\nWe need to be vigilant in ensuring our credit cards work for us and don't destroy our finances. To avoid getting into trouble in the first place, or get back in control of an existing debt, here are our five golden rules for using credit cards.\n\n1. Pay off the most expensive debt first\n\nThis is a basic part of financial management, but still so many people put their money in different piles without realizing it's costing them in interest. When you have a high interest debt, such as an big credit card balance, paying it off must be your priority.\n\nIf that pile of expensive debt looks like it'll take a while to pay off, consider moving the balance on to your lowest interest rate loan. If this transfer carries a fee, you can use an online calculator to do some rough sums to make sure the interest savings are worthwhile.\n\n2. Repay more than the minimum amount\n\nTo reduce credit card debt you have to make more than the minimum repayment.\n\nThe minimum just means you avoid late charges and can continue using the card. It might not even cover the interest accrued each month, and that's trouble.\n\nCompound interest (interest paid on interest) is a powerful thing when you're saving, and when it's going against you it's just as powerful in blowing out your debts. If you're really struggling to make repayments, set up a direct debit so that each pay cycle the credit card gets paid off first.\n\n3. Get the best deal\n\nDon't get sucked into rewards programs or account keeping fees if you're not benefiting from them. A common misconception is that fees on financial products mean a better service or features, but that's not right. There are plenty of fee-free cards that offer similar credit limits, flexibility and terms.\n\n4. Be aware of interest-free periods\n\nNo doubt you've seen credit cards offering interest-free periods for new purchases or balance transfers, but do you know what they mean and how to take advantage of them?\n\nUsually the interest-free period starts at the date of your last statement, not when you make a new purchase, so it's important to know your billing cycle to avoid paying interest.\n\nAlso, in most cases you only get the purchases interest-free if you pay off your entire credit card balance by the due date each month.\n\n5. If you can't afford it, don't get it\n\nFor a lot of plastic-happy shoppers, the debt spiral ends in the pretty simple realisation that they can't afford to have a credit card. So if you lack the financial capacity or self-control to service a high interest debt, cut up the credit card before it becomes a problem and ask the bank to stop offering extensions. With debit cards able to perform a lot of the functions that were previously only available to credit cards, you can get by all right with the savings based alternative.\n\nBy sticking to these five rules when swiping your credit card, those soft drinks and comfortable shoes won't end up costing much more than the marked price.", "publicationTitle": "", "publisher": "", "place": "", "date": "", "volume": "", "issue": "", "section": "", "partNumber": "", "partTitle": "", "pages": "", "series": "", "seriesTitle": "", "seriesText": "", "journalAbbreviation": "", "DOI": "", "citationKey": "", "url": "http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/koch-you-hold-all-the-cards/story-fnkgdm6f-1226821682667", "accessDate": "", "PMID": "", "PMCID": "", "ISSN": "", "archive": "", "archiveLocation": "", "shortTitle": "", "language": "", "libraryCatalog": "", "callNumber": "", "rights": "", "extra": "", "tags": [ { "tag": "Corliss Online Group Financial magazine" }, { "tag": "Get out of credit card debt faster with these tips from David Koch" } ], "collections": [], "relations": {}, "dateAdded": "2014-02-10T00:52:40Z", "dateModified": "2014-02-10T00:52:40Z" } }, { "key": "CNNW6HBU", "version": 4, "library": { "type": "group", "id": 212908, "name": "Corliss Online Financial Mag", "links": { "alternate": { "href": "https://www.zotero.org/groups/corliss_online_financial_mag", "type": "text/html" } } }, "links": { "self": { "href": "https://api.zotero.org/groups/212908/items/CNNW6HBU", "type": "application/json" }, "alternate": { "href": "https://www.zotero.org/groups/corliss_online_financial_mag/items/CNNW6HBU", "type": "text/html" } }, "meta": { "createdByUser": { "id": 1584021, "username": "geraldhussen", "name": "Gerald Hussen", "links": { "alternate": { "href": "https://www.zotero.org/geraldhussen", "type": "text/html" } } }, "numChildren": 0 }, "data": { "key": "CNNW6HBU", "version": 4, "itemType": "journalArticle", "title": "3 Reasons Why The Economy Has Done Better Under Democratic Presidents", "creators": [], "abstractNote": "Democratic presidents tend to preside over better economies than Republican ones, but that may be down to pure luck, according to a recent paper from Alan Blinder and Mark Watson at Princeton.\n\nSince the end of World War II, the U.S. economy has grown at an average real rate of 4.35% under Democratic presidents and only 2.54% under Republicans. So what gives?\n\n\"Democrats would no doubt like to attribute the large D-R growth gap to better macroeconomic policies, but the data do not support such a claim,\" they write. \"It seems we must look instead to several variables that are mostly 'good luck.'\"\n\nThree factors can explain 46-62% of the growth gap, according to the paper. Here are the reasons (via James Hamilton):\n\nOil shocks. With the exception of Jimmy Carter, oil price shocks tend to dog Republican administrations more. The 1956-57 Suez Crisis, early-70s OPEC embargo, 1980 Iran-Iraq War, and the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990 all happened during Republican administrations.\n\nProductivity. It's hard to say that a U.S. president is responsible here, but Democrats tend to see bigger gains in productivity. Bill Clinton, for example, enjoyed a big boost in U.S. productivity during the 1990s.\n\nConsumer confidence. Consumers tend to have a rosier outlook on the U.S. economy in the first year a Democrat is in the White House. \"Yet the superior growth record under Democrats is not forecastable by standard techniques, which means it cannot be attributed to superior initial conditions,\" they write. Chalk this one up to luck again, but it does come \"tantalizingly close to a self-fulfilling prophecy in which consumers correctly expect the economy to do better under Democrats, then make that happen by purchasing more consumer durables.\"", "publicationTitle": "", "publisher": "", "place": "", "date": "", "volume": "", "issue": "", "section": "", "partNumber": "", "partTitle": "", "pages": "", "series": "", "seriesTitle": "", "seriesText": "", "journalAbbreviation": "", "DOI": "", "citationKey": "", "url": "http://www.businessinsider.com/economy-does-better-under-democrats-2013-12", "accessDate": "", "PMID": "", "PMCID": "", "ISSN": "", "archive": "", "archiveLocation": "", "shortTitle": "", "language": "", "libraryCatalog": "", "callNumber": "", "rights": "", "extra": "", "tags": [ { "tag": "3 Reasons Why The Economy Has Done Better Under Democratic Presidents" }, { "tag": "corliss group online financial mag" } ], "collections": [], "relations": {}, "dateAdded": "2013-12-29T23:42:42Z", "dateModified": "2013-12-29T23:42:42Z" } }, { "key": "263QN7I9", "version": 3, "library": { "type": "group", "id": 212908, "name": "Corliss Online Financial Mag", "links": { "alternate": { "href": "https://www.zotero.org/groups/corliss_online_financial_mag", "type": "text/html" } } }, "links": { "self": { "href": "https://api.zotero.org/groups/212908/items/263QN7I9", "type": "application/json" }, "alternate": { "href": "https://www.zotero.org/groups/corliss_online_financial_mag/items/263QN7I9", "type": "text/html" } }, "meta": { "createdByUser": { "id": 1584021, "username": "geraldhussen", "name": "Gerald Hussen", "links": { "alternate": { "href": "https://www.zotero.org/geraldhussen", "type": "text/html" } } }, "numChildren": 0 }, "data": { "key": "263QN7I9", "version": 3, "itemType": "journalArticle", "title": "Britain's economy to become largest in Europe - and will grow even more if we leave EU", "creators": [], "abstractNote": "The think tank Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) predicts the UK economy will outstrip France and Germany within two decades even if Britain stays in the EU.\n\nBut while leaving the organisation would have initial negative consequences, the CEBR's chief executive Douglas McWilliams suspects \"that over a 15-year period, it would probably be positive.\"\n\nBritain is set to vote on a referendum on EU membership in 2017.\n\nThe report predicts the UK's GDP will first move to fifth place ahead of France by 2018 before leapfrogging Germany around 2030.\n\nHowever, despite being forecast to be the second most successful of the Western economies after the US, it will fall behind the accelerating economies of India and Brazil.\n\n\"Germany is forecast to lose its position as the largest Western European economy to the UK around 2030 because of the UK's faster population growth and lesser dependence on the other European economies,\" the report said.\n\nBut added: \"If the euro were to break up, Germany's outlook would be much better.\n\n\"A Deutsche Mark-based Germany certainly would not be overtaken by the UK for many years if ever.\"\n\nIt added that a factor driving the UK's move ahead of Germany is the assumption of a falling value for the euro, Germany's falling population and the UK's rising population.\n\nThe gap between the two countries will fall from almost £610billion in 2013 to just £183billion in five years.\n\nThe UK's GDP will grow from more than £1.59trillion in 2013 to £2.6trillion in 2028, compared to China which is predicted to be in top position with a GDP of more than £20.5trillion, ahead of the US with an estimated £19.7trillion\n\nJapan will fall from its steady position in the global league of third to fourth by 2028, overtaken by India and followed by Brazil, Germany and the UK.\n\nThe positive report on the economy comes as a poll reveals more people believe they would be helped rather than harmed by a rise in interest rates.\n\nA survey reveals that a pre-election rate hike could actually improve David Cameron's chances of staying in Downing Street, rather than damaging them, as is widely thought.\n\nSome 31 per cent of those questioned by YouGov for The Times said that a rise in interest rates would leave them personally better-off, against 23 per cent who said they would be better-off with lower rates and 32 per cent who thought it would make little difference either way.\n\nFaster than expected recovery has prompted speculation that the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee may increase the base rate from its historic low of 0.5 per cent before the general election in May 2015.\n\nThe Bank's Governor Mark Carney has previously said that he does not expect a rise until unemployment drops to 7 per cent, probably in 2016. But with official jobless figures now standing at 7.4 per cent, many observers believe the crucial figure may be hit as early as next year.\n\nA rise in interest rates would hit mortgage-holders, making it more difficult for home-owners to pay back loans. But it would be good for savers, particularly pensioners who have suffered from poor rates of return on their nest-eggs over the period since the crash of 2008.\n\nYouGov president Peter Kellner told The Times: \"For the moment, when inflation looks set to stay low, a modest rise in interest rates is actually likely to please far more people than it troubles.\n\n\"In electoral terms, that effect is likely to be heightened as the very people who plainly benefit most from rising rates - the over-60s - are those most likely to vote.\n\n\"If David Cameron and George Osborne can preside over low consumer-price inflation but higher rises in the price of homes and other assets such as shares, then some rise in interest rates is likely to win them more votes than it loses.\"", "publicationTitle": "", "publisher": "", "place": "", "date": "", "volume": "", "issue": "", "section": "", "partNumber": "", "partTitle": "", "pages": "", "series": "", "seriesTitle": "", "seriesText": "", "journalAbbreviation": "", "DOI": "", "citationKey": "", "url": "http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/450477/Britain-s-economy-to-become-largest-in-Europe-and-will-grow-even-more-if-we-leave-EU", "accessDate": "", "PMID": "", "PMCID": "", "ISSN": "", "archive": "", "archiveLocation": "", "shortTitle": "", "language": "", "libraryCatalog": "", "callNumber": "", "rights": "", "extra": "", "tags": [ { "tag": "Britain economy to become largest in Europeand will grow even more if we leave EU" }, { "tag": "corliss group online financial mag" } ], "collections": [], "relations": {}, "dateAdded": "2013-12-28T23:57:50Z", "dateModified": "2013-12-28T23:57:50Z" } }, { "key": "N6D4A5EX", "version": 2, "library": { "type": "group", "id": 212908, "name": "Corliss Online Financial Mag", "links": { "alternate": { "href": "https://www.zotero.org/groups/corliss_online_financial_mag", "type": "text/html" } } }, "links": { "self": { "href": "https://api.zotero.org/groups/212908/items/N6D4A5EX", "type": "application/json" }, "alternate": { "href": "https://www.zotero.org/groups/corliss_online_financial_mag/items/N6D4A5EX", "type": "text/html" } }, "meta": { "createdByUser": { "id": 1584021, "username": "geraldhussen", "name": "Gerald Hussen", "links": { "alternate": { "href": "https://www.zotero.org/geraldhussen", "type": "text/html" } } }, "numChildren": 0 }, "data": { "key": "N6D4A5EX", "version": 2, "itemType": "journalArticle", "title": "Amazon’s holiday success and UPS’ holiday fail highlight the internet economy’s problems", "creators": [], "abstractNote": "The holidays were great for Amazon and lousy for UPS. The two are linked and are a good illustration of two problems we’ll face more often as the web meets the real world.\n\nShipping giant UPS failed millions of customers this holiday season, missing the delivery of “a small percentage of its packages” on the Christmas Eve, according to a statement it released on Tuesday. Meanwhile on the day after the Christmas Day, e-tailing giant Amazon is crowing about signing up more than one million Amazon Prime members last week and that it registered record number of orders. Later Amazon said it would offer shipping refunds on packages affected by the UPS delays. Both events are linked, and here is why.\n\nThe reality check\n\nAmazon’s great success doesn’t have to be UPS’ failure, but in this case the culture and expectations of the web met the real world, and the real world experienced what the web kids call a “fail.” There are some obvious reasons for this, such as UPS’ decision to let its workers take Christmas day off or people’s general tendency to wait until the last minute to order a gift online. The physical world is no different, as anyone who hits a mall on Dec. 23 or 24 could see.\n\nPerhaps sometime in the near future, with drone delivery Amazon can solve this problem, but the situation illustrates two big problems we’re going to keep bumping up against as we transact more of our business and lives online. The internet has turned us into slaves of instant gratification. When we want to listen to a song, we click and stream. When we want to read the latest book, there’s another click and it’s on our tablet. However, this is creating an expectation that is challenged by the physicality of the real world.\n\nSo the first problem is that the gap between the online expectations where everything moves pretty much instantly (or at least within tens of milliseconds) and the real world, where crossing thousands of miles means actually crossing thousands of miles over increasingly congested and crumbling infrastructure is going to seem ever larger.\n\nMaking the real world elastic involves tradeoffs\n\nThe second is that you can’t prepare the real world people or infrastructure for peak demand. Most of our roads are literally set in stone. Our workforce is not as fluid as a flexible internet-like network needs to be and it’s not clear if that’s the society we want or should want to build. We are shifting to the web economy faster than the real world can keep up.\n\nYet, the internet and digital mediums reward and even encourage peak demand — be it a viral video or hundred of thousands of people downloading Beyoncé’s new album overnight. To bridge the gap between real-world limits and internet demands we need to have a more accurate understanding of the real world, perhaps through sensors and data for incredibly accurate predictions.\n\nThere will be a need for intelligence — even in the dumbest of machines. Until then, we need businesses and governments to consider how to manage the internet expectations in the real world. For example during last week’s peak demand Amazon cut off some people’s ability to sign up for Prime to avoid crushing the system for its existing members.\n\nOn the UPS side, more data and insights about the health of its fleet and workers might have helped it establish its own limits and set a stopping point after which it would have to declare the system overloaded. At that point, its management could make a cost benefit analysis associated with staffing up or buying more trucks to meet the peak. Unfortunately for employees, this sort of elasticity tends to lead to contract work, unless we radically rethink how we employ people.\n\nAlso helping “solve” the problem of employees and peak demand will be robots. Amazon’s delivery drones or warehouse robots are an example of how these can help. Unlike UPS employees, robots don’t need Christmas Day off.\n\nThe combination of the expectation gap and the conflict between the internet’s encouragement of sudden peak demand and the physical world’s inability to deal with that demand economically will be one of the defining business and technical challenges of the next decade. Robotics, data and the internet of things will help, but we’re going to have to adapt societal institutions to make it work.\n\nOr we can just accept a few late Christmas presents.", "publicationTitle": "", "publisher": "", "place": "", "date": "", "volume": "", "issue": "", "section": "", "partNumber": "", "partTitle": "", "pages": "", "series": "", "seriesTitle": "", "seriesText": "", "journalAbbreviation": "", "DOI": "", "citationKey": "", "url": "http://gigaom.com/2013/12/26/amazons-holiday-success-and-ups-holiday-fail-highlight-the-internet-economys-problems/", "accessDate": "", "PMID": "", "PMCID": "", "ISSN": "", "archive": "", "archiveLocation": "", "shortTitle": "", "language": "", "libraryCatalog": "", "callNumber": "", "rights": "", "extra": "", "tags": [ { "tag": "corliss group online financial mag" } ], "collections": [], "relations": {}, "dateAdded": "2013-12-28T00:03:12Z", "dateModified": "2013-12-28T00:03:12Z" } } ]