Manufacturing in India and China improved in December, a sign the world
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Declaring the American middle class in jeopardy, President Barack Obama on Tuesday outlined a populist economic vision that will drive his re-election bid, insisting the United States must reclaim its standing as a country in which everyone can prosper if provided “a fair shot and a fair share.”
While never making an overt plea for a second term, Obama’s offered his most comprehensive lines of attack against the candidates seeking to take his job, only a month before Republican voters begin choosing a presidential nominee. He also sought to inject some of the long-overshadowed hope that energized his 2008 campaign, saying: “I believe America is on its way up.”
In small-town Osawatomie, in a high school gym where patriotic bunting lined the bleachers, Obama presented himself as the one fighting for shared sacrifice and success against those who would gut government and let people fend for themselves. He did so knowing the nation is riven over the question of whether economic opportunity for all is evaporating.
“Throughout the country, it’s sparked protests and political movements, from the tea party to the people who’ve been occupying the streets of New York and other cities,” Obama said.
“This is the defining issue of our time,” he said in echoing President Theodore Roosevelt’s famous speech here in 1910.
“This is a make-or-break moment for the middle class and all those who are fighting to get into the middle class,” Obama said. “At stake is whether this will be a country where working people can earn enough to raise a family, build a modest savings, own a home and secure their retirement.”
For Obama, saddled with a weak national economic recovery, the speech was a chance to break away from Washington’s incremental battles and his own small-scale executive actions. He offered a sweeping indictment of economic inequality and unleashed his own brand of prairie populism.
He spoke for nearly an hour to a supportive audience, reselling his ideas under the framework of “building a nation where we’re all better off.”
Billed as an important address that would put today’s economic debates in context, Obama’s speech seemed a bit like two packaged into one.
The first was that of the campaigner, full of loft and reclamation of American values. The second was the governing Obama, who recited his familiar jobs agenda, his feud with Congress over extending a Social Security tax cut, even his fight to get his consumer watchdog confirmed.
Obama tied himself to Roosevelt, the president and reformer who came to this town in eastern Kansas and called for a “square deal” for regular Americans. Roosevelt said then the fight for progress was a conflict “between the men who possess more than they have earned and the men who have earned more than they possess.”
It is a theme Obama is embracing in a mounting fight for re-election against Republicans who, regardless of the nominee, will attack his stewardship of the economy.
One of the leading contenders for the GOP nomination, Mitt Romney, ridiculed Obama for comparing himself to Roosevelt.
Obama “said that he is like Teddy Roosevelt,” Romney said at a campaign event in Paradise Valley, Ariz. “And I thought, `In what way is he like Teddy Roosevelt?’ Teddy Roosevelt of course founded the Bull Moose Party. One of those words applies.”
Kirsten Kukowski, spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, said, “Maybe instead of trying to be like other presidents, Obama should try being president.”
Obama took aim at the Republicans, saying they would only return the same structures that led to America’s economic downturn. “Their philosophy is simple: We are better off when everyone is left to fend for themselves and play by their own rules,” Obama said. “I’m here to say they are wrong.”
The president conceded that the country is in the midst of a consuming re-examination on his watch, prompting national movements against both government spending and an economy that many feel disproportionately favors the elite. Obama went on the offensive about income equality, saying it distorts democracy and derails the American dream.
Responding to those who want to cut taxes and regulation in the belief success will trickle down, Obama said: “Here’s the problem: It doesn’t work. It’s never worked.”
Obama noted that Theodore Roosevelt was called a “radical, a socialist, even a communist” for putting forth ideas in his last campaign such as an eight-hour work day, a minimum wage for women, unemployment insurance and a progressive income tax.
Left unsaid: Roosevelt’s Bull Moose campaign in 1912 failed to return him to the White House.
Obama attempted to sum up the pain and peril for a society where the middle class is struggling. But he also called for individual responsibility.
“In the end,” he said, “rebuilding this economy based on fair play, a fair shot and a fair share will require all of us to see the stake we have in each other’s success.”
Obama also challenged he big banks that took bailouts from American taxpayers, pointing to “a deficit of trust between Main Street and Wall Street.” He said banks that were bailed out had an obligation to work to close that trust deficit and should be doing more to help remedy past mortgage abuses and assist middle-class taxpayers.
Federal monitors said this week they have found more evidence that Monsanto’s genetically engineered corn is failing to kill the insects it is designed to repel.
The US Environmental Protection Agency posted a report this week saying that corn rootworm — a major agricultural pest — is damaging Monsanto’s corn.
This summer researchers said they found evidence of problems in cornfields in Iowa and Illinois. The agency said this week, they also have found evidence of corn rootworm damage in Minnesota and Nebraska, and called Monsanto’s monitoring of the problem “inadequate.”
Researchers, in lab settings, have found evidence that the pests are growing resistant to a protein that is genetically engineered into the plants and designed to kill the pests after they consume it.
Monsanto issued a statement saying it takes the report “seriously and remains committed to working with farmers to encourage the adoption of integrated pest management practices when managing high rootworm populations on farm.”
Monsanto did not provide a company representative for an interview, but has said in a previous interview that the problem seems to be confined only to fields with high insect pressure. The company also says there is no “scientific confirmation” that the pest is developing resistance to the protein.
Martin Nisenholtz., a New York Times Co. executive who engineered the newspaper publisher’s expansion on the Internet and mobile devices, is retiring at the end of the year.
Times Co. Chairman Arthur Sulzberger Jr. and CEO Janet Robinson announced Nisenholtz’s retirement as senior vice president of digital operations in a memo to employees on Monday.
Nisenholtz, 56, was hired in 1995 to launch The Times Co.’s digital business.
Since Nisenholtz oversaw The New York Times’ debut on the Web in 1996, the company has built a popular digital network that has become an increasingly important source of revenue. The Times Co.’s websites include About.com as well as The New York Times, The Boston Globe and 16 other newspapers. Combined, they attracted nearly 73 million U.S. visitors in September, according to the most recent data from the research firm comScore Inc.
Last year, the Times Co. got about 16 percent, or $387 million, of its revenue from its digital operations. But the growth in that business hasn’t been enough to offset the steep decline on the print side.
With Nisenholtz in charge, the Times Co. began charging for unlimited access to The New York Times’ website in March in an attempt to increase revenue. At the end of September, The Times had 324,000 digital subscribers, including 43,000 who signed up since July 1.
The Times Co. hasn’t identified Nisenholtz’s successor.
Nisenholtz “leaves a lasting legacy that will be felt for a very long time,” Sulzberger and Robinson wrote in their Monday memo. “He developed a strong roster of executives and a deep bench of managers who are recognized leaders in our industry.”
The government is demanding that a one-time billionaire awaiting sentencing in New York for insider trading reveal his medical conditions that he argues should win him leniency.
Prosecutors asked a judge in a letter Thursday to unseal the arguments surrounding the medical conditions so the public can know the issue at stake for Raj Rajaratnam (rahj rah-juh-RUHT’-nuhm). The government says in the letter that a defendant waives his right to medical privacy when he makes medical issues the basis for seeking leniency guaranteed fast personal loans.
The 54-year-old Rajaratnam was convicted in May of securities fraud charges after a jury reasoned that he made trades based on inside information provided by friends and business associates. Prosecutors say he earned more than $50 million in profits from his trades. Sentencing is set for Oct. 13.
Man Dip has a six-month lease on life.
That’s about how long local grocery stores will give the spicy sausage and cheese dip, a new product from an unknown local entrepreneur, before they decide whether to keep it or dump it. But that’s a lot farther than most other food startups make it in the highly competitive race for grocery shelf space.
If it were up to Dr. Ted Mimlitz, the man behind Man Dip, the concoction he’s been whipping up for 15 years might have remained just a party favorite and inside joke among his circle of friends.
But about four years ago, Andy Wolf, a serial entrepreneur who has brought to market a number of items including a deer sled for hunters, took a bite of Mimlitz’s dip at a school-related event for their children.
“I said right there, ‘Have you ever thought about bringing this out commercially?’” Wolf said. “I pestered him for three months. Then he called me one December night and said, ‘Do you really think we can do this?’ I said, ‘Absolutely.’
That confidence belies the difficulty in bringing a product to market from scratch. Lots of folks flirt with the idea of branding and selling their homemade creations. But few people pursue it beyond their daydreams.
Local products face stiff competition from large food manufacturers with established brands, bulk negotiating power and money for extensive product and marketing research. Most local food products that have found success at area grocery stores are affiliated with local restaurants or well-known landmarks such as the Hill. Think Imo’s salad dressing, Zia’s pasta sauce and Fitz’s root beer.
“When people see that on your shelves, there’s that connection right away,” said Rich Wallace, Dierbergs’ director of procurement.
Another local example
President Barack Obama played golf and enjoyed some beach time with his family Sunday on Martha’s Vineyard, though not before getting briefed on developments in Libya.
Under sunny skies, Obama, wife Michelle, and daughters Malia and Sasha spent the morning on a private beach in Edgartown. The outing came on the third full day of Obama’s 10-day summer vacation and was his first excursion with his full family in tow. The president then parted ways with his family to play a round of golf at the Vineyard Golf Club.
First, though, Obama was briefed by national security aides on developments in Libya, where rebels advanced on Tripoli, threatening Moammar Gadhafi’s hold on power. White House aides have been at pains to show Obama is carrying out his duties as president even while on vacation amid international unrest, a shaky economy and high joblessness.
Obama also appeared on CBS News in an interview taped during his bus tour of the Midwest last week instant payday loans. He said he understood his low standing in the polls of late given public dissatisfaction with Washington and the poor economy. And he said he expected to be judged on the economy in next year’s presidential election.
“You’ve got an unemployment rate that is still too high, an economy that’s not growing fast enough,” he said. “And for me to argue, look, we’ve actually made the right decisions, things would have been much worse has we not made those decisions _ that’s not that satisfying if you don’t have a job right now. And I understand that and I expect to be judged a year from now on whether or not things have continued to get better.”
The president is scheduled to return to Washington next Saturday.
Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Europe’s largest oil company, reported Thursday a near doubling in second quarter profits as higher oil prices and one-time gains offset a drop in production.
Net profit of $8.66 billion was up from $4.39 billion a year earlier. The figure was helped by a $1.44 billion gain booked on a mix of tax credits, trading activities, and the sale of businesses.
The company’s CCS profit, or profit at its current cost of supplies, was $6.55 billion excluding one-time gains, up from $4.21 billion a year earlier. The nonstandard measure, which seeks to strip out the impact of volatile oil prices on the company’s earnings, is closely watched by analysts and came in slightly lower than they had forecast.
Though Shell has been investing heavily in new projects, production fell 2 percent to 3.05 million barrels per day. Excluding asset sales, production would have risen 2 percent, Shell said, with 285 thousand barrels of oil per day added from new fields in Qatar, Nigeria and Canada more than offsetting the impact of field declines.
“We have made important progress with new production in 2011, and the ramp-up of our new projects should drive our financial performance in the coming quarters,” said Chief Executive Peter Voser in a statement.
Profits at upstream operations were up 85 percent to $6.06 billion, including $641 million in one-off gains from tax credits, trading gains, and sales of operations, Shell said.
The downstream operations, which include the refining arm, saw profits drop 7 percent on a CCS basis to $1.08 billion, reflecting lower refinery intakes and worse margins. The non-CCS results included gains of $802 million, mostly from the sale of operations in Chile and the Dominican Republic.
Troubled car maker Saab Automobile AB has received a euro13 million ($18.4 million) car order from a Chinese company that could help pay salaries to its employees, its owner Swedish Automobile AB said Monday.
The company, previously known as Spyker Cars, claimed the deal would provide the ailing car brand with enough funds to also pay back parts of its debt to suppliers, but didn’t reveal the name of the Chinese company.
Last week, Saab said it had run out of cash to pay its 3,700 workers, raising doubts over how long the brand could survive.
Saab spokesman Eric Geers on Monday said the company hopes a prepayment from the Chinese company for the cars will allow it to pay the salaries, which were due last Friday, this week.
Swedish Automobile, which bought Saab from General Motors Co. last year, said it continues to hold talks with several parties to raise more cash for the brand. Among other things, it is in talks to sell and lease back Saab’s real estate.
Shares in Swedish Automobile rose by 21.4 percent to euro1.19 ($1.69) on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange.
Separately, Geers said two union members and Saab’s General Counsel Kristina Geers have resigned from the board of Saab Automobile, leaving Swedish Automobile CEO Victor Muller as the only board member fast payday loan.
“We very much regret the current cash shortage which is causing undeserved hardship to all and we are working relentlessly to resolve the current situation,” Muller said.
Muller said Russian businessman Vladimir Antonov is still interested in investing in Saab, but he has so far failed to receive the necessary approval from the European Investment Bank.
“Antonov can provide much needed financing and/or capital to Swedish Automobile/Saab Automobile at this critical time. We are pushing hard to obtain this vital clearance as soon as practically possible,” Muller said.
EIB spokesman Par Isaksson declined to comment on the bank’s review of Antonov, saying only that it examines all proposals to change the lending agreement thoroughly.
Antonov has previously said he is prepared to invest between $50 million-$150 million in Saab. He was forced out of Spyker as part of its deal with GM amid reports of money laundering. He has denied those allegations and has never been charged.
Pakistan extended a six-month pause in interest-rate increases as inflation eased and the central bank awaits the budget for signs the government will tighten fiscal policy and help contain prices pressures.
The State Bank of Pakistan left the discount rate unchanged at 14 percent, among the highest in the world, according to a central bank statement in Karachi today. The decision was predicted by all 10 economists and researchers surveyed by Bloomberg News.
The central bank raised rates in three consecutive meetings from July to November, blaming excess state spending for pushing inflation to more than 15 percent late last year. The government may be forced to cut spending in its budget after the discovery and killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan led some U.S. lawmakers to call for a reduction in aid.
“The budget will determine the future outlook for inflation and rates,” Sayem Ali, a Karachi-based economist at Standard Chartered Plc, said before the decision. “The fiscal conditions will be tricky especially after a possible slowdown in external financing with the Osama episode here, and not-so- encouraging developments with International Monetary Fund support.”
The budget may be announced in the first week of June, Dawn newspaper reported today. The finance ministry had said earlier it would be released May 28.
Pakistan’s government needs external aid to support an economic growth target of 4.2 percent for the next fiscal year, as it seeks to reduce the budget deficit to 4.5 percent of gross domestic product. The shortfall is expected to reach 5.5 percent this year, compared with the official target of 4 percent, the Finance Ministry said April 27.
Fiscal Pressures
“The government is mindful of fiscal pressures and has expressed resolve to address these issues in the budget,” the central bank said in its monetary policy statement today.
The International Monetary Fund told Pakistani economic officials in a weeklong review of the economy that ended May 17 that the government needs to keep cutting the deficit to take pressure off monetary policy and allow more credit to companies.
The Washington-based fund stopped disbursing money to Pakistan in May last year after the country failed to meet conditions attached to an $11.3 billion loan first issued in 2008. In December, the IMF approved a nine-month extension of the loan to give Pakistani authorities time to comply with some elements of the agreement, including implementing an overhauled sales tax.
Falling Rupee
The Pakistan rupee has fallen 0.5 percent to 86.18 against the dollar since the current financial year started July 1. The Karachi Stock Exchange 100 Index has advanced 23 percent this financial year after advancing 36 percent in the previous year ended June 30.
The South Asian nation has received $14.6 billion in economic and military aid from the U.S. since 2005 to help revive growth and fight Taliban militants along the border with Afghanistan.
Whether Pakistani government and intelligence officials shielded bin Laden has become an issue on Capitol Hill, where some senators have called for postponing any more U.S. financial aid until Pakistan’s commitment to fighting terrorism can be re- evaluated.
Senator John Kerry, the Massachusetts Democrat who leads the Foreign Relations Committee and was an architect of a 2009 bill committing $1.5 billion annually to Pakistan, said this month many members of the U.S. Congress are questioning that aid after bin Laden was found sheltering in the country. They say President Asif Ali Zardari’s administration must crack down on insurgent groups that target American forces in Afghanistan.
Terrorism, Floods
Pakistan’s $162 billion economy, sapped by terrorism and floods in 2010, is lagging behind emerging markets including neighbors India and China, which helped lead the global economic rebound from the deepest postwar recession.
President Zardari announced in March a 15 percent surcharge on income tax to counter losses from the nation’s worst monsoon flooding last year, and an increase in import duties to 2.5 percent from 1 percent. The government will also withdraw sales tax exemptions on fertilizer, pesticides and tractors.
The government raised domestic fuel prices as much as 12 percent on May 1, after increasing them 13 percent on April 1, to bring charges in line with international oil prices, according to the Islamabad-based Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority.
“The fuel-subsidy reduction and the tax measure indicate the budget will bring tight fiscal policy,” Saad Khan, an economist at Arif Habib Ltd. in Karachi, said before the decision. “Another reason not to raise rates is the easing in inflation last month.”
Pakistan’s consumer prices rose 13.04 percent in April from a year earlier, after a 13.16 percent gain in March, a Federal Bureau of Statistics report showed on May 3.
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