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Strategies & Market Trends : Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tommaso who wrote (40938)	11/10/2005 11:59:06 AM
From: Knighty Tin	Respond to of 116555

Holland is loaded with legal torture houses, but I don't think they call them spas. I used to travel to The Hague a lot and Monika always wanted to go with me. But she never had the money for the full treatment.

To: Tommaso who wrote (40938)	11/10/2005 12:11:40 PM
From: mishedlo	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 116555

Boeing plane wins distance record [This allows cariers to avoid refueling at airports with big landing fees. - Mish] A Boeing plane has broken the record for the longest non-stop passenger airline flight, after a 12,500-mile trip from Hong Kong to London. The 777-200LR Worldliner jet landed at Heathrow Airport just after 1300 GMT, some 25 minutes ahead of schedule, and 23 hours after the start of the flight. The flight was central to Boeing's belief that the future of flying lies in point-to-point long-haul flights. Its arch-rival Airbus believes in flights between hub airports. Fuel-saving aim The plane's journey, which in kilometers was more than 20,000km, took it east across the Pacific, then over the US and onto the Atlantic. It was crewed by four pilots and was carrying 35 passengers and crew, including Boeing representatives, journalists and airline executives. Boeing has now beaten its previous world record for the longest non-stop commercial airline flight, which was set in 1989 by a 747-400 jumbo jet flying 10,500 miles from London to Sydney. The airline hopes its latest record success will encourage airlines to offer non-stop flights across the world, saving fuel and time spent on stopovers. It is facing fierce competition from European manufacturer Airbus, which earlier this year launched its A380 double-decker passenger jet with the aim of capturing the long-haul market. First orders The Boeing 777-200LR competes directly with the widely-used Airbus A340-500, which has a flight range of 10,380 miles. Due to come into service next year with Pakistan International Airlines, it will be able to carry 301 passengers. Qatar Airways, Air India and Taiwanese carrier EVA Air have also announced orders. The plane uses lighter composite materials to improve range and fuel efficiency. news.bbc.co.uk

To: Tommaso who wrote (40938)	11/10/2005 12:28:48 PM
From: mishedlo	Respond to of 116555

The "Game of Chicken" (or Roosters?) between the ECB and the EU fiscal authorities..and how will Bernanke deal with the US fiscal time bomb? Created: Nov 10 2005 There are different ways to interpret the decision by the ECB to make explicit that it will not accept bonds with a credit rating below A- as collateral against the liquidity that it provides (via Repos and other collateralised lending operations) to commercial banks. One interpretation is that market discipline to discriminate between the bond issued by Eurozone governments is not working, in spite of the very different credit ratings and fundamental fiscal discipline differences ( in debt to GDP ratios, fiscal deficit, primary balance, primary gaps) among the Eurozone governments. Why there is no market discipline? Buiter and Sibert argue - in a very interesting paper - that the operating procedures of the ECB in its repo operations imply an effective subsidy to the use of inferior collateral, i.e. the government debt of poorer credits with higher sovereign risk. Thus, while Buiter and Sibert propose an even more radical change in operating procedures than the one that will now be followed by the ECB, the recent ECB decision can be thought as a way to reduce such subsidy, restore some market discipline and induce fiscally-challenged Eurozone members to seriously tackle their unsustainable fiscal deficits. A complementary interpretation is that the ECB is now trying to restore a first-mover advantage in the classic "game of chicken" between a monetary and fiscal authority. The "fiscal theory of the price level" suggests that fiscal deficits may or may not lead to high inflation depending on whether there is "fiscal dominance" or "monetary dominance" in this game of chicken. If there is "fiscal dominance", reckless deficit policies of a fiscal authority will eventually force the central bank to blink and to monetize the deficit, i.e. to increase seignorage and use the inflation tax to finance an exogenous fiscal deficit path. If there is "monetary dominance", the central bank commits not to monetize the deficits and then the fiscal authority is forced to blink and adjust it budget policy (cut spending or raise taxes) to satisfy its intertemporal budget constraint. .... .... rgemonitor.com

To: Tommaso who wrote (40938)	11/10/2005 12:56:56 PM
From: mishedlo	Respond to of 116555

ELECTION 2005: Growth Measures Division over East Bay growth Measures win in Pittsburg, Antioch; lose in Brentwood, Livermore Developers won two of four ballot initiatives they pushed to expand growth boundaries in eastern Alameda and Contra Costa counties, and those on both side of the issue said the campaign's relative success would lead to more "ballot box planning" that cuts local authorities out of the process by placing proposals before voters. Although such tactics have been used with only moderate success since the early 1990s, developers and politicians alike said Wednesday that that believed the Bay Area's go-go housing market and incessant need for new homes had created a more favorable climate for the tactic. Environmentalists fear the success of the two measures in Contra Costa County may spur similar efforts in the North Bay and in booming areas of the Central Valley. "This election cycle is the beginning of a long-term trend where I think developers are going to put their measures on the ballot," said Sam Singer, spokesman for the Yes on P campaign, which persuaded voters in Pittsburg to expand the city's growth boundary so Albert Seeno III could build 1,700 homes. "This is a fundamental strategic shift in real estate development." In a nutshell, the four measures on Tuesday's ballot called for expanding the existing growth boundaries in four communities, allowing developers to build on land previously protected by local and county ordinances as open space or farm land. Pittsburg's Measure P passed with 51.6 percent of the vote, and voters in Antioch supported Measure K with 59 percent of the vote. But those victories for developers were offset by the failures of Measure L in Brentwood and Measure D in Livermore. Despite those two setbacks, Singer said taking proposals directly to voters effectively bypassed planning commissions and elected officials who might oppose the developments, and also allowed developers to respond more forcefully to criticism to their projects. "Developers are no longer willing to ... be on the defensive and let opponents define the debate," Singer said. "Developers are saying 'I'm going to tell my own story.' " Elected officials bemoan the tactic, even as they concede it will become increasingly common. "I think we will see more ballot box planning -- it is something that many communities like ours are going to face," said Livermore Mayor Marshall Kamena, who opposed Measure D. "There's too much money involved for the developers not to give it a whack. "If they spend a few million and make a billion, those are good numbers." Pardee Homes spent about $3 million to sell Measure D to Livermore voters, a campaign that ultimately failed to persuade residents to support building 2,450 new houses in a section of north Livermore previously designated as open space. The developer pitched the project as a "green community" in which every home would be solar-powered and a model of smart development. Voters in Brentwood also decided they didn't want to see 2,800 new homes in their community. The largest development approved Tuesday will allow Seeno to develop 2,000 acres above the Concord Naval Weapons Station and along Kirker Pass Road. In Antioch, Measure K -- backed by Castle Companies -- will allow the developer to build 700 executive homes on Roddy Ranch. The developer also promised to give $1 million to Antioch schools and build a sports center. Contra Costa County Supervisor Federal Glover said taking such proposals directly to voters usurped the methodical approval process that is the cornerstone of city planning -- especially in a region as congested as eastern Contra Costa County. Developers can frame the debate on their own terms, casting their projects in the best light while deflecting criticism, environmentalists said. The Greenbelt Alliance, which opposed the four growth measures, said voters wanted smart growth but were duped by a high-priced campaign by developers who outspent their opponents by more than 10 to 1 and promised that their projects would limit growth and reduce traffic. "Developers tried to buy their way around the planning process," said Greenbelt Alliance spokeswoman Elizabeth Stampe. "Fortunately, in Livermore and Brentwood, voters saw through the developers' deceptive language and voted no on sprawl. In Pittsburg and Antioch, unfortunately, developers were able to pass their measures by calling them growth control. That's what people want, but it's the opposite of what these measures do." sfgate.com