The world has a lot riding on the upcoming U.S. presidential elections. Overwhelmingly, non-US citizens favour Barack Obama’s re-election over a victory for his challenger, Mitt Romney – and for good reason.
American presidential elections have historically been close affairs; with just four presidential candidates in the past have receiving more than 60 percent of votes across the electorate. But while the American electorate may appear to be deeply and persistently divided, the reality is that most elections are simply elections of relative indifference.
President Obama’s fundraising campaign is set to raise US$1 billion and that does not even include the massive ads funded by the Super PACS. Meanwhile, in Washington, the billions spend on lobbying rises ever year. The result is a conservative political system stifled by the influence of big business elites.
Energy and taxes have come up as important topics in this year’s race to the White House. From energy independence to tax breaks for the oil industry, affordable gas prices and environmental protection – these are the issues that can and will affect the vote. But with Big Oil working behind the scenes and funding U.S. politicians, the industry’s influence on politics cannot be underestimated.
The US Federal Reserve’s third round of quantitative easing, or QE3, has many observers arguing that the effects on risky assets could be greater than in previous rounds. But, despite the Fed’s commitment to aggressive monetary easing, QE3’s effects on the real economy and on US equities could well be smaller and more fleeting.
In the aftermath of its disastrous invasion of Iraq back in 2003, the U.S. has learnt critical lessons on the consequences of intervention, which has led to the emergence of a new foreign policy doctrine based on ‘reality’. As demonstrated by its actions in Libya, Syria and possibly Iran, the U.S. now appears to have entered a period in which it has moved from military domination to more subtle manipulation; and more importantly, they have begun to allow events to take their course.
An industry survey has found that almost half of Wall Street employees are looking forward to higher bonuses this year.
A survey by eFinancial Careers has found that 48 percent of Wall Street workers are anticipating higher bonuses this year. That’s an increase from last year, when the survey found that 41 percent believed their bonuses would jump.
Apart from the problems stemming from the 2008 financial crisis, the U.S. economy is now also being weighed down by little monopolies, or quasi-monopolies, which reduce economic efficiency, slow economic growth, and reduce the average income of every U.S. household. Can the U.S. government once again unleash the “curse” of competition on businesses, in order to revitalise the economy?
The need to address America’s fiscal situation has just been magnified by a warning from Moody’s that the US could lose its top credit rating if Congress fails to make progress on medium-term fiscal reforms. But why didn’t the imposition of a “fiscal cliff” in 2011 succeed in focusing US politicians’ minds?
NEWPORT BEACH – It sounded like a really clever idea: Use a very public and sizeable threat to get bickering politicians to collaborate and compromise. Well, it has not worked so far, and the already-sizeable stakes just got bigger.
According to a report by the OECD, the U.S. spends more on healthcare than any other country in the world. Yet the country also only has the eighth-lowest life expectancy in the OECD, while Japan who spends about $2,878 per person — about $5,000 less than the U.S. — has the highest life expectancy among developed nations.
