Bloomberg BusinessWeek Aug 13, 2012 (cover date)

choi

The issue is dubbed Interview Issue, for half of content is about interviews, some of which are highlighted below.

(1) Alan Greenspan Economist. The former Fed chairman talks to Devin Leonard and Peter Coy about Fed-speak, Ayn Rand, and why he quit playing the sax. And then there's his legacy * * *
http://www.businessweek.com/arti ... acy-and-the-economy

(a) Four Q&A:

"[BusinessWeek:] Is there anything you learned during the recent financial crisis that shook you, like that question that Ayn Rand asked you years ago, and changed the way you looked at things?
[Greenspan:] Yes, of course. I was on George Stephanopoulos’s Sunday morning show on Sept. 14, 2008, and he asked me, “Six months ago you were saying that the probability of a recession was greater than 50/50. Do you still believe that?” My answer wasn’t that forthcoming. The fact that question would be asked tells you …

"[BW:] Tells you what?
[G:] That one day before Lehman Brothers crashes, conventional wisdom was not even certain that we would fall into a recession. In fact, we learned many months later that the downward trend had actually started. How could we have possibly got it so wrong? I mean, I actually was saying, 'Yes, recession is coming, Not that we’re here yet.' We didn’t know that it had already hit.

"[BW:] It had actually begun in December 2007.
[G:] That’s what the National Bureau of Economic Research said. But they said it many months later. It wasn’t obvious at that time.

"[BW:] Is it humbling?
[G:] Indeed.

(ii) "[BW:] So you see Greece leaving the euro zone?
[G:] I just donot see how it can stay.

(b) My comment:
(i) The sax refers to saxphone.
(ii) Ayn Rand
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayn_Rand
(1905-1982; born Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum in St Peterburg, Russia; moved to the United States in 1926)
(iii) When Greenspan replied to Mr Stephanopoulos, "Not that we’re here yet." The former menat we were not in recession yet, but on the brink.

In late-1990s, I listened to a talk, at MIT's business school, of economics professor Lestor Thurow, who said nobody knew whether it was a bubble, about the good time under President Bill Clinton. Well, the bubble burst around general election of 2000.

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Nouriel Roubini Economist. A professor at New York University and chairman of a consulting firm that bears his name, Roubini earned the nickname Dr. Doom for predicting hard times before the financial crisis began in 2008. He talks with Peter Coy about his current outlook.
http://www.businessweek.com/arti ... -the-global-economy

My comment: His prediction about China is in web page 2. He says this as a fact: "The Chinese landing looks harder rather than softer."  The various predictions about world economy is vague--perhaps because he wants one to subscribe to his firm's newsletters.

choi

Paul Otellini President and CEO Intel. Since taking over as CEO in 2005, Otellini has focused on pushing Intel beyond the PC. He talks with Ashlee Vance about the high-stakes chip-making game and the company’s push into mobile devices.
http://www.businessweek.com/arti ... d-the-pcs-evolution

One Q&A: "BW:] What did you make of Microsoft deciding to make its own tablets?
[A:] It’s one more customer for us.

My comment: Very few smartphones or tablets uses Intel Atom microprocessor.   

choi

Reports:

(1) Dexter Roberts, A Brewing Pension Crisis in China.
http://www.businessweek.com/arti ... wing-pension-crisis

My comment:
(a) The summary in print:
> A rapidly aging population is stretching government budgets
> "Many say it will become a real problem in 10 years"
(b) At the end of the text is: "The bottom line: China’s pension system faces a projected shortfall of $2.9 trillion, calling the government’s credibility into question."

But the text does not mention "$2.9 trillion," let alone who came up with the number and how.

(b) Justina Lee and Vinicy Chan, The People's Republic of Discounting.
http://www.businessweek.com/arti ... blic-of-discounting

Note: The summry in print:
> China's economic slowdown has retailers wielding their markdown pens
> "Consumers are reacting with greater caution as the economy has slowed"