2013 September 07 « Dr Alf's Blog

White House portrait of Lawrence Summers. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Cropped picture of Joseph Stiglitz, U.S. economist. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: Janet Yellen being sworn in by Fed Chair Ben Bernanke (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Paul Krugman, Laureate of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2008 at a press conference at the Swedish Academy of Science in Stockholm (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This is a brilliant, MUST-READ article from Nobel Prize winning economist, Joe Stiglitz, published in the NYT. Check it out!

Why Janet Yellen, Not Larry Summers, Should Lead the Fed – NYTimes.com.

Personally, I endorse Joe Stiglitz’s view. I was surprised to see the other day that another Nobel Prize winning economist, Paul Krugman was assuming that Larry Summers was the increasingly favored candidate.

Whilst I respect Larry Summers intellectually, he comes across to me as smug and conceited; accordingly, I would worry about his style in a consensus building role.

I sense that if Janet Yellon wins then the financial markets will hit the stratosphere.

Any thoughts?

Related articles

Larry Summers vs. Janet Yellen (marginalrevolution.com)
Yes, the wrong, wrong, wrong Larry Summers is still a bad choice for chairman of the Federal Reserve (dailykos.com)
Yellen/Summers and the Twilight of the VSPs – Paul Krugman – NYTimes.com (dralfoldman.com)
Tweedle Dum vs. Tweedle Dee; Does Janet Yellen Have What It Takes? (americanbulwark.com)
Right now, Larry Summers is the front-runner for Fed chair (washingtonpost.com)
The media’s disgraceful acquiescence to Larry Summers’ White House boosters | Dean Baker (theguardian.com)
The Next Fed Chair? Not Larry Summers. (mhasegawa.com)
Handy comparison chart: Janet Yellen vs. Larry Summers (dailykos.com)
Former Senior White House Official On Larry Summers Nomination: ‘It Really Does Need To Be Stopped’ (huffingtonpost.com)
Anonymous Sources Working Hard to Make Larry Summers Fed Chair (cepr.net)

David Cameron (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This interesting article by Iain Martin in the Telegraph is a GOOD READ. Check it out!

via Well done David Cameron for sticking it to Putin and the defeatist Ukip moaners who hate modern Britain – Telegraph Blogs.

No doubt, President Putin will be briefed on this article and it is interesting to speculate on his thoughts.

Putin is interested in maximizing Russia’s geopolitical clout, and preserving his good name with the Russian people. He will be grateful that David Cameron did not attack modern Russia; he will be aware that David Cameron has dropped a few major clangers in his foreign dealings. To a hard-nosed, ex-KGB officer, President Putin will probably see David Cameron’s nostalgic, historical reflections of the UK as a sign of weakness.

As for David Cameron, he has done well not to upset anybody too much. Given the global media coverage of the G20, David Cameron was shrewdly trying to project the UK at above it’s fighting weight to the global audience; the G20 leadership know the realities of the UK’s difficulties.

So what next?

At the strategic level, David Cameron would be wise to build on the UK’s strengths and ruthlessly tackle the UK’s weaknesses. So far, David Cameron’s government has been essentially opportunistic and driven by Treasury constraints and inherently light on strategy.

With nobody able to understand Ed Miliband nor trusting him for stitching-up his own brother, David Cameron can perhaps still emerge as a formidable politician with a place in history?

Any thoughts?