Aa’s Weekend Reading (October 30,2009)

Friday, October 30th, 2009

Here are this week’s selections of articles for your weekend reading pleasure. Wishing you and your family a safe and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

The History of Jack O’ Lanterns - History.com

October-23-09, 12:50 PM

Pumpkin carving is a popular part of modern America’s Halloween celebration. Come October, pumpkins can be found everywhere in the country from doorsteps to dinner tables. Despite the widespread carving that goes on in this country every autumn, few Americans really know why or when the jack o’lantern tradition began. Or, for that matter, whether the pumpkin is a fruit or a vegetable. Read on to find out!

Fight Off Back Aches & Pains This Winter With Extra Vitamin D

October-26-09, 4:29 PM

It’s no wonder that many people feel extra soreness and aches in their backs during winter months — they’re often not getting enough vitamin D. The body makes vitamin D from the sun’s ultraviolet rays, so it’s known as the sunshine vitamin. However, even in the sunniest parts of America, this essential vitamin for keeping bones healthy is in short supply during late fall and winter.

French women don’t get fat, but they do get work-life balance - The Globe and Mail

October-27-09, 9:32 AM

Five years ago, Mireille Guiliano rejected the notion of American-style deprivation diets in her international bestseller French Women Don’t Get Fat. Instead, her pleasure-oriented approach to staying thin combined classic principles of Gallic gastronomy, time-honoured secrets of French women and common sense. In her new book, Women, Work & the Art of Savoir Faire, Ms. Guiliano tackles women and their careers in similar style - applying her joie de vivre to the topics of advancement, leadership, risk-taking and, above all, achieving pleasure and balance.

Having pasta? Put away the sauce and grab the wine - Today: Food: Recipe

October-28-09, 10:38 AM

Add a new taste to pasta: Red wine spaghetti

Michael Chiarello’s delicious dish is a celebration of bold Italian flavors
TODAY recipes
updated 5:34 p.m. ET, Tues., Oct . 27, 2009
Tired of your same old spaghetti and tomato sauce dishes? Michael Chiarello can help. The chef and author shares his bold and flavorful recipe for red wine spaghetti with spicy broccoli rabe and Pecorino Romano.

David Sax wants to Save the Deli - Book Portal

October-29-09, 11:57 AM

Sometimes my job is so tough. Twist my arm, I had to read a fascinating book about Jewish culture and deli foods, then meet the author for a delicious and decadent lunch (red meat AND french fries is decadent, wouldn’t you say?).

Raising Money-Savvy Children - Oprah.com

October-30-09, 10:36 AM

If your child wants something at a toy store, bring the toy off the shelf and talk to him about how much it costs and how he could devise a plan to one day buy the toy. “I’m not going say, ‘No, you can’t afford that,’ and ‘No, you can’t have it.’ I’m going to bring it down and talk about it and try to empower the child so that they feel able, capable and responsible and also learn some things about money at the same time,” Chick says

Sources: History.com | Medical News Today | Globe and Mail | MSNBC.com | CBC | Oprah.com

Tags: Book Women, Classic Principles, Delicious Dish, Dinner Tables, Doorsteps, Fall And Winter, Food Recipe, French Women, Globe And Mail, Globe Mail, Halloween Celebration, Happy Halloween, International Bestseller, Jack O Lantern, Jack O Lantern History, Mail Advertisement, Medicalnewstoday, Michael Chiarello, New Taste, Oriented Approach, Pumpkin Carving, Reading Pleasure, Red Wine, Source History, Theglobeandmail, Ultraviolet Rays, Vitamin D, Weekend Reading, Women Work, Work Life Balance, Www History
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Central Banks Giveth, Central Banks Taketh Away

Friday, October 30th, 2009

Two articles published within a few weeks tell a compelling story of cause and effect. The first by Michael McKenzie, FT.com, is a history lesson. The second, by one of the finest financial columnists, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, serves as a warning.

Central banks fuel risky assets, By Michael Mackenzie in New York

October 16 2009 20:56 | Last updated: October 19 2009 09:24

Thanks to generous liquidity support from central banks, risky assets have been moving in a broad relationship for some time, and this week several markets reached or approached key levels.

Of all the major markets, equities are the main barometer of risk taking. This week shares in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Russia, Europe, London, Brazil and New York all hit fresh peaks for at least the past 12 months.

Rising appetite for risk was perhaps most apparent in the US crude oil price breaking above $75 a barrel, which was its high in late August and had presented a barrier for oil bulls since June.

Central banks chill asset rally, by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, October 30, 2009

The liquidity tide is turning. Authorities across large parts of the world have either begun to tighten the spigot or are taking steps to wean their economies off emergency stimulus. This is a treacherous moment for markets.

Oil-rich Norway raised rates a quarter point to 1.5pc on Wednesday, the first European country to move since the crisis. Governor Svein Gjedrem said asset prices have “risen sharply and probably excessively”. The Norges Bank is taking pre-emptive action to choke off a property bubble, though manufacturing remains sluggish. The era of “asset targeting” has begun.

Australia took the plunge earlier this month. It dodged recession over the winter and has since been lifted by China’s torrid demand for commodities. Israel kicked off in August.

Source: FT.com | Telegraph UK

Tags: Ambrose, Asset Prices, Cause And Effect, Central Banks, China, Commodities, Crude Oil Price, Emerging Markets, Evans Pritchard, History Lesson, India, Last Updated October, Late August, Liquidity Support, Michael Mackenzie, Michael Mckenzie, Norges Bank, oil, Quarter Point, Risky Assets, Russia Europe, Spigot, Taking Steps, Telegraph Uk, Torrid
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Recession is History, Economy Back in Business

Friday, October 30th, 2009

This post is a guest contribution by Asha Bangalore * of The Northern Trust Company.

The recession is behind us. Real gross domestic product of the U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 3.5% in the third quarter after a 0.75 drop in the prior quarter. This is the first increase of real GDP after a string of four quarterly declines. Real GDP has declined in five out of the six quarters of the recession.

The Business Cycle Dating Committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research will make the official announcement after it confirms the turning point based on revisions of economic data. This recession is the longest on record in the post-war period and the deepest also. Real GDP has declined 3.8% from the peak in the second quarter of 2008 to the trough in the second quarter of 2009. This is the largest peak-to-trough decline of real GDP in the post-war period (see table 1).

In the third quarter, consumer spending accounted for the largest part of the growth in real GDP, followed by exports, inventories and residential investment expenditures. Of these four components, exports and inventories are most likely to continue to make large contributions in the quarters ahead. Consumer spending is projected to advance in the quarters ahead but at a noticeably slower pace. The surge in auto sales from the “cash for clunkers” program in the third quarter provided the temporary lift to consumer spending.

Residential investment expenditures grew at an annual rate of 23.4% in the third quarter, after a string of fourteen quarterly declines. Third quarter spike is encouraging but it is unclear if the robust pace will remain durable. The $8000 first-time home buyer tax credit program helped boost home sales in addition to low mortgage rates and home prices.

Final sales to domestic purchasers increased at an annual rate of 3.0% in the third quarter. The 2.3% increase in government expenditures is expected to show a more robust gain in the near term, which should show the impact of fiscal spending plan envisaged for 2010. The GDP price indexes suggest that inflation is contained, again underscoring that inflation is not the primary issue at the present time.

Going forward, the lift to the headline GDP number in the third quarter is partly from future auto sales, which implies that consumer spending and GDP growth are most likely to show more muted growth in the fourth quarter of 2009 and first quarter of 2010. The Fed is hold for several months until it is confirmed the unemployment rate has peaked.

Source: Asha Bangalore, Northern Trust Daily, October 29, 2009.

* Asha Bangalore is vice president and economist at The Northern Trust Company, Chicago. Prior to joining the bank in 1994, she was consultant to savings and loan institutions and commercial banks at Financial & Economic Strategies Corporation, Chicago.

Tags: Auto Sales, Business Cycle, Consumer Spending, Economic Data, Economic Recession, First Time Home, First Time Home Buyer, First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit, Government Expenditures, Gross Domestic Product, Inventories, Low Mortgage, Mortgage Rates, National Bureau Of Economic Research, Northern Trust Company, Post War, Real Gdp, Residential Investment, Time Home Buyer, War Period
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George Soros lectures on Capitalism versus an Open Society

Friday, October 30th, 2009

This post features video recordings of a lecture series by George Soros at the Central European University in Budapest, discussing capitalism versus an open society.

Part 1:
Soros explores the “agency problem” and its impact on both markets and politics. The principal-agent problem, in which those who are to represent others tend to place their interests ahead of those they are supposed to represent, poses a risk to ethical considerations, and in Soros’s view undermines values necessary for the operation of an open society.

Click here or on the image below to view the video clip.

Part 2:
He analyzes the agency problem inherent in the American political system. He believes the main culprit is a decline in public mortality which he says is fostered by the rise of market fundamentalism.

Click here or on the image below to view the video clip.

Part 3:
Soros states that while capitalism is not directly opposed to an open society, it poses a major threat to its survival. Because of opposition, he believes market and political participants should operate in separate spheres. Soros summarizes the lecture with a postulate that a focus on the “cognitive function” and on focusing on the public good will allow representative democracy to function better, and even only a small number of adherents to this would allow a new middle ground to be rediscovered.

Click here or on the image below to view the video clip.

Click here for a transcript of the lecture.

Source: Financial Times (here, here and here), October 29, 2009.

Tags: Adherents, Advertisement, Budapest, capitalism, Cognitive Function, Culprit, Decline, European Capitalism, Financial Times, George Soros, Lecture Series, Market Fundamentalism, Mortality, Opposition, Participants, Principal Agent, Representative Democracy, risk, Separate Spheres, Survival, Video Clip, Video Recordings
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Dimon: “Better regulation” is needed

Friday, October 30th, 2009

Source: CNN Money, October 27, 2009.

Tags: Advertisement, Cnn, Cnn Money, October 27, Video Source
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