Global Agenda articles from March 2005

Global Agenda archives from March 2005

Syria and its friends buckle under pressure; The Middle East; Syria and its Lebanese friends buckle under pressure.
March 2, 2005... Under growing pressure over its occupation of Lebanon and its alleged involvement in a suicide-bombing in Israel, Syria has handed over a half-brother of Saddam Hussein, suspected of fomenting Iraq's insurgency from Syria. Lebanon's...

The battle for Britain; The Buttonwood column; Stock exchanges: the battle for Britain.(London Stock Exchange PLC, Deutsche Borse AG and Euronext N.V. merger)(Column)
March 2, 2005... The scrap over the London Stock Exchange is more than good spectator sport AN ICONIC British institution is on the block. As the fans howl their protest, foreign moneymen press round, chequebooks at the ready. The End of an Era, the...

An end to killing kids; Capital punishment; Chipping away at the death penalty in America.
March 2, 2005... America's Supreme Court has abolished the death penalty for those under 18 when they committed their crimes. It is just another nibble at the edge of still-popular capital punishment--but does it show that America can sometimes be swayed by...

Dumping Tung; Hong Kong's chief to quit; Beijing seizes a good moment to dump Tung.(Tung Chee-hwa)
March 2, 2005... The reported resignation of Hong Kong's leader, Tung Chee-hwa, will be welcome news for the territory's pro-democracy groups. But the timing of his departure shows how masterfully Beijing is controlling political events in Hong Kong ...

An end to killing kids; Capital punishment; Chipping away at the death penalty in America.(Supreme Court abolishes death penalty)
March 3, 2005... America's Supreme Court has abolished the death penalty for those under 18 when they committed their crimes. It is just another nibble at the edge of still-popular capital punishment--but does it show that America can sometimes be swayed by...

Going off the (third) rails.(Alan Greenspan says about social security measures)
March 3, 2005... Social Security is too expensive, says Alan Greenspan. But reforming it may be too politically costly, fear the Republicans ALAN GREENSPAN is just a year or so from retiring as chairman of the Federal Reserve, but he shows a striking lack...

Going off the (third) rails.(pension benefits)
March 4, 2005... Social Security is too expensive, says Alan Greenspan. But reforming it may be too politically costly, fear the Republicans ALAN GREENSPAN is just a year or so from retiring as chairman of the Federal Reserve, but he shows a striking lack...

A victory by default? Argentina's successful debt restructuring; A painful new benchmark for creditors.
March 4, 2005... The successful restructuring of Argentina's debts has set a painful new benchmark for creditors IN 1902, after Venezuela defaulted on its sovereign debt, German, British and Italian gunboats blockaded the country's ports until the...

Enjoy it while it lasts.
March 4, 2005... Last year was one of the best on record for the world's steelmakers. But a huge rise in the price of iron ore seems likely to squeeze their profits this year. And China's booming steel output could yet propel the rest of the world's producers...

Can Stringer stop Sony malfunctioning?
March 7, 2005... Sony has ditched its chief executive and brought in the head of its American division to run the media and electronics conglomerate. But resolving the conflicting aims of its two main businesses may take more than a fresh face at the top ...

Can Stringer stop Sony malfunctioning? Sony's new, non-Japanese boss; Bringing in Stringer to stop the rot.
March 8, 2005... Sony has ditched its chief executive and brought in the head of its American division to run the media and electronics conglomerate. But resolving the conflicting aims of its two main businesses may take more than a fresh face at the top ...

Curbing terror or menacing freedom?(Tony Blair and George Bush are facing challenges to their anti-terrorism measures)
March 8, 2005... Tony Blair and George Bush are facing challenges to their anti-terrorism measures, which they insist are necessary but which critics say threaten basic liberties IN THE wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001, President George...

Made for walking; The Buttonwood column; Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the house-price bubble.
March 8, 2005... House prices and America's mortgage-finance giants have both grown too big for their boots. Will one trip up the other? BUTTONWOOD had to chuckle at the photos of Martha Stewart, the world's most tasteful jailbird, just released from...

Curbing terror or menacing freedom?(Tony Blair and George Bush are facing challenges to their anti-terrorism measures)
March 9, 2005... Tony Blair and George Bush are facing challenges to their anti-terrorism measures, which they insist are necessary but which critics say threaten basic liberties IN THE wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001, President George...

Still with us; The stubbornness of slavery; A plague that belongs to the past but still affects millions.
March 9, 2005... A botched release of slaves in Niger points up an ugly truth: bondage is alive and well around the world SLAVERY is like polio. Most westerners associate it with earlier, darker times in human history. Its eradication is a sign of human...

A misguided strike at the rebels' heart; The conflict in Chechnya; A successful but misguided strike at the rebels' heart.
March 9, 2005... Aslan Maskhadov, the leader of Chechnya's independence movement, has died in a raid by Russian special forces. But removing the relatively moderate Mr Maskhadov will only make the republic's long-running conflict harder to solve THE...

Justice arrives, slowly but steadily; The Yugoslav war-crimes tribunal; Kosovo's prime minister hands himself in, but where are Karadzic and others?
March 9, 2005... Kosovo's prime minister, Ramush Haradinaj, has resigned and surrendered to the UN's war-crimes tribunal in The Hague. It is the latest sign of the tribunal's slow but steady progress in bringing to justice those accused of atrocities in the...

Curbing terror or menacing freedom?(Tony Blair and George Bush are facing challenges to their anti-terrorism measures)
March 10, 2005... Tony Blair and George Bush are facing challenges to their anti-terrorism measures, which they insist are necessary but which critics say threaten basic liberties IN THE wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001, President George...

A misguided strike at the rebels' heart; The conflict in Chechnya; A successful but misguided strike at the rebels' heart.
March 10, 2005... Aslan Maskhadov, the leader of Chechnya's independence movement, has died in a raid by Russian special forces. But removing the relatively moderate Mr Maskhadov will only make the republic's long-running conflict harder to solve THE...

Justice arrives, slowly but steadily; The Yugoslav war-crimes tribunal; Kosovo's prime minister hands himself in, but where are Karadzic and others?
March 10, 2005... Kosovo's prime minister, Ramush Haradinaj, has resigned and surrendered to the UN's war-crimes tribunal in The Hague. It is the latest sign of the tribunal's slow but steady progress in bringing to justice those accused of atrocities in the...

Curbing terror or menacing freedom?(Tony Blair and George Bush are facing challenges to their anti-terrorism measures)
March 11, 2005... Tony Blair and George Bush are facing challenges to their anti-terrorism measures, which they insist are necessary but which critics say threaten basic liberties IN THE wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001, President George...

Time for OPEC to plump up its cushion.(Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries)
March 11, 2005... Oil prices rose to within a whisker of all-time highs this week, before falling back on profit-taking. If OPEC wants to keep its grip on the market, it will have to widen the gap between the amount it pumps and the amount it can IN SAMUEL...

Time for OPEC to plump up its cushion; OPEC and the high oil price; Opening the taps, and leaving itself exposed.(Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries )
March 11, 2005... OPEC has agreed to boost production by 500,000 barrels per day in order to cool oil prices, which rose to within a whisker of all-time highs last week. But if the oil producers' cartel wants to keep its grip on the market, it will have to widen...

A titanic struggle between supply and demand.
March 11, 2005... Oil hit another new high this week and OPEC promised to raise its production by another 500,000 barrels per day to help ease the pain. But with capacity tight and demand continuing to grow, high oil prices may be here to stay TALK about...

Big Blue becomes bountiful; Intellectual property; Patently generous IBM.(International Business Machines Corporation)
March 14, 2005... IBM is forgoing royalties on 500 of its software patents. In doing so, it hopes to make the computer industry more innovative and, in the long run, to make more money from collaborating with other programmers IT IS no coincidence that, on...

Time for OPEC to plump up its cushion.(Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries)
March 14, 2005... Oil prices rose to within a whisker of all-time highs during the past week, before falling back on profit-taking. If OPEC wants to keep its grip on the market, it will have to widen the gap between the amount it pumps and the amount it can ...

Justice arrives, slowly but steadily; The Yugoslav war-crimes tribunal; Kosovo's prime minister hands himself in, but where are Karadzic and others?
March 15, 2005... Kosovo's prime minister, Ramush Haradinaj, has resigned and surrendered to the UN's war-crimes tribunal in The Hague. It is the latest sign of the tribunal's slow but steady progress in bringing to justice those accused of atrocities in the...

WorldCom's cowboy bites the dust.
March 15, 2005... Bernie Ebbers, the former boss of WorldCom, has been found guilty in a federal court in New York of a massive fraud, and faces up to 85 years in jail. Prosecutors will hope that this points the way to convictions in other big fraud cases, not...

The end of AIG's Greenberg era; AIG's boss steps down; The Greenberg era ends amid regulatory probes.(Hank Greenberg)
March 15, 2005... AIG's legendary boss, Hank Greenberg, has been forced to step down amid regulatory probes into a range of company transactions. His successor, Martin Sullivan, inherits an insurance group with an enviable set of global businesses but a...

Starkers; The Buttonwood column: the dollar; The economic empire has no clothes.(foreign exchange trends)(Column)
March 15, 2005... The dollar may get another short-lived respite but it is heading inexorably down. The question is how much it takes with it ALL you need to get into Harvard Law School these days, it seems, is a pair of fuchsia-pink high-heeled shoes. Or so...

Unwelcome St Patrick's Day guests.(Irish Republican Army's political wing Sinn Fein)
March 15, 2005... Leaders of Sinn Fein are being spurned in America over the IRA's alleged involvement in the murder of a Belfast man and a huge bank robbery. But the Irish republican movement's response suggests it still is not receiving the message that it...

WorldCom's cowboy bites the dust.
March 16, 2005... Bernie Ebbers, the former boss of WorldCom, has been found guilty in a federal court in New York of a massive fraud, and faces up to 85 years in jail. Prosecutors will hope that this points the way to convictions in other big fraud cases, not...

The end of AIG's Greenberg era; AIG's boss steps down; The Greenberg era ends amid regulatory probes.(American International Group Inc.)(Hank Greenberg)
March 16, 2005... AIG's legendary boss, Hank Greenberg, has been forced to step down amid regulatory probes into a range of company transactions. His successor, Martin Sullivan, inherits an insurance group with an enviable set of global businesses but a...

Starkers; The Buttonwood column: the dollar; The economic empire has no clothes.
March 16, 2005... The dollar may get another short-lived respite but it is heading inexorably down. The question is how much it takes with it ALL you need to get into Harvard Law School these days, it seems, is a pair of fuchsia-pink high-heeled shoes. Or so...

A hawk to ruffle the World Bank's feathers; The World Bank; A hawk to ruffle feathers.(Paul Wolfowitz)
March 16, 2005... George Bush has nominated Paul Wolfowitz, one of the main architects of the Iraq war, to run the World Bank. Though this is normally America's prerogative, Europeans and others may object to the candidacy of so hawkish a figure FOREIGNERS...

WorldCom's cowboy bites the dust.
March 17, 2005... Bernie Ebbers, the former boss of WorldCom, has been found guilty in a federal court in New York of a massive fraud, and faces up to 85 years in jail. Prosecutors will hope that this points the way to convictions in other big fraud cases, not...

A hawk to ruffle the World Bank's feathers; The World Bank; A hawk to ruffle feathers.(nomination of Paul Wolfowitz at World Bank)
March 17, 2005... George Bush has nominated Paul Wolfowitz, one of the main architects of the Iraq war, to run the World Bank. Though this is normally America's prerogative, Europeans and others may object to the candidacy of so hawkish a figure FOREIGNERS...

The central bank takes stock; OPEC's quota increase; The central bank of oil takes stock.(Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries)
March 17, 2005... OPEC, the oil producers' cartel, has lifted its quota ceiling by 500,000 barrels per day in an effort to cool oil prices. That prices continued rising to new highs after the move suggests that someone is betting big against oil's kingpins ...

Stalling again; More bad news from General Motors; A profits warning sends shivers through the credit markets.
March 18, 2005... General Motors' latest profits warning is terrible news for the giant carmaker. Is it also terrible news for the credit markets? AT THE start of March, when General Motors (GM) announced sales figures for February, it was similar to the...

A hawk to ruffle the World Bank's feathers; Wolfowitz and the World Bank; A hawk to ruffle feathers.(Paul Wolfowitz's appointment and George W. Bush's foreign policy)
March 21, 2005... George Bush has nominated Paul Wolfowitz, one of the main architects of the Iraq war, to run the World Bank. Though this is normally America's prerogative, Europeans and others may object to the candidacy of so hawkish a figure FOREIGNERS...

The central bank takes stock; OPEC's quota increase; The central bank of oil takes stock.(Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries' planning to decrease peroleum prices)
March 21, 2005... OPEC, the oil producers' cartel, has lifted its quota ceiling by 500,000 barrels per day in an effort to cool oil prices. That prices continued rising to new highs after the move suggests that someone is betting big against oil's kingpins ...

Stalling again; More bad news from General Motors; A profits warning sends shivers through the credit markets.
March 21, 2005... General Motors' latest profits warning is terrible news for the giant carmaker. Is it also terrible news for the credit markets? AT THE start of March, when General Motors (GM) announced sales figures for February, it was similar to the...

A better UN, for a safer world.(United Nations' reform )
March 21, 2005... The United Nations' secretary-general, Kofi Annan, has proposed the most sweeping reforms of the body since its founding in 1945. If approved, these would answer many of the strongest criticisms of the UN and should help rebuild its damaged...

Taxing times; Germany's proposed tax cut; Is Schroder conceding defeat in the battle against tax competition?(Gerhard Schroder)
March 21, 2005... Germany's chancellor has proposed a cut in corporate income tax. This might put Germany in a slightly better position to counter "harmful" tax competition from other European countries, but tax reform alone will not revive its flagging economy...

Profile: Kofi Annan; Profile; Kofi Annan.(United Nations' secretary general)(Biography)
March 21, 2005... The United Nations' secretary-general has led the world body through one of the most turbulent periods of its 60-year history KOFI ANNAN was born in Kumasi, Ghana in 1938, into a family that was part of the country's elite (both of his...

Stalling again; More bad news from General Motors; A profits warning sends shivers through the markets.
March 22, 2005... General Motors' latest profits warning is terrible news for the giant carmaker. Is it also terrible news for the credit markets? AT THE start of March, when General Motors (GM) announced sales figures for February, it was similar to the...

Dodging the difficult stuff.(by European Union)
March 22, 2005... The European Union's leaders are meeting to rubber-stamp a deal thrashed out by their finance ministers, which will give euro-area governments more latitude to spend their way out of recessions. But boosting the EU's sluggish economy will...

People power, perhaps; Central Asian unrest; People power, perhaps, in Kirgizstan.
March 22, 2005... Protesters in Kirgizstan are rising up over a disputed election. Could Ukraine-style people power be coming to one of the least democratic parts of the world? Or might the protests spiral into chaos? COMPLETE the sequence: rose,...

Measure for measure; The Buttonwood column: bond markets; A crisis, the measured return of rational pricing, or neither?
March 22, 2005... Bond investors are becoming increasingly rattled by trifles. Does this imply a crisis, the "measured" return of rational pricing, or neither? BUTTONWOOD is not the only one who considers General Motors the slowest-moving car crash in...

Dodging the difficult stuff.(by European Union )
March 23, 2005... At their summit in Brussels, the European Union's leaders agreed to give euro-area governments more latitude to spend their way out of recessions. They also ripped up a plan to liberalise the EU's internal trade in services. Once again, the...

People power, perhaps; Central Asian unrest; People power, perhaps, in Kirgizstan.
March 23, 2005... Protesters in Kirgizstan are rising up over a disputed election. Could Ukraine-style people power be coming to one of the least democratic parts of the world? Or might the protests spiral into chaos? COMPLETE the sequence: rose,...

Measure for measure; The Buttonwood column: bond markets; A crisis, the measured return of rational pricing, or neither?
March 23, 2005... Bond investors are becoming increasingly rattled by trifles. Does this imply a crisis, the "measured" return of rational pricing, or neither? BUTTONWOOD is not the only one who considers General Motors the slowest-moving car crash in...

Dodging the difficult stuff.
March 24, 2005... At their summit in Brussels, the European Union's leaders agreed to give euro-area governments more latitude to spend their way out of recessions. They also ripped up a plan to liberalise the EU's internal trade in services. Once again, the...

A tulip revolution; Central Asian unrest; People power comes to Kirgizstan.
March 24, 2005... Protesters in Kirgizstan are rising up over a disputed election. Could Ukraine-style people power be coming to one of the least democratic parts of the world? Or might the protests spiral into chaos? COMPLETE the sequence: rose,...

Grokster and StreamCast face the music; Illegal file-sharers under attack; End of the peer-to-peer show?
March 24, 2005... The entertainment industry is taking its battle against illegal downloading to America's Supreme Court. But attacking the technology behind file-sharing could stifle innovation without tackling the industry's long-term problems THE music...

A proliferation of revolutions; Revolution in Kirgizstan; People power comes to Central Asia.
March 24, 2005... Demonstrations in Kirgizstan have reportedly forced the former Soviet republic's government from power. The tremors could be felt elsewhere in undemocratic Central Asia DOES three make a trend? Kirgizstan has become the third post-Soviet...

A proliferation of revolutions; Revolution in Kirgizstan; People power comes to Central Asia.
March 25, 2005... Demonstrations in Kirgizstan have forced the former Soviet republic's government from power. The tremors could be felt elsewhere in undemocratic Central Asia DOES three make a trend? Kirgizstan has become the third post-Soviet republic in...

A proliferation of revolutions; Revolution in Kirgizstan; People power comes to Central Asia.
March 28, 2005... Demonstrations in Kirgizstan have forced the former Soviet republic's government from power. The tremors could be felt elsewhere in undemocratic Central Asia DOES three make a trend? Kirgizstan has become the third post-Soviet republic in...

Dodging the difficult stuff.(European Union's trade policy)
March 29, 2005... At their summit in Brussels, the European Union's leaders agreed to give euro-area governments more latitude to spend their way out of recessions. They also backtracked on plans to liberalise the EU's internal trade in services. Once again, the...

Companies on a borrowing binge; The Buttonwood column: company balance sheets; Piling up the cash while they can.
March 29, 2005... America's companies are cash-rich, right? Then why have they started borrowing again? THE Family Buttonwood having callously decided to go skiing over Easter, your correspondent was left scrabbling solo at the coalface. And a good thing it...

Grokster and StreamCast face the music; Illegal file-sharers under attack; End of the peer-to-peer show?(StreamCast Networks Inc.)
March 30, 2005... The entertainment industry has taken its battle against illegal downloading to America's Supreme Court. But attacking the technology behind file-sharing could stifle innovation without tackling the industry's long-term problems THE music...

Two months on, still no Iraqi government; Iraq's continuing political discord; Two months on, still no government.
March 30, 2005... Iraq's parliament, which has again failed to choose a government, is looking like a poor advertisement for democracy, two months after its election. Unless agreement is reached soon, an opportunity to quench the still-raging insurgency may be...

Companies on a borrowing binge; The Buttonwood column: company balance sheets; Piling up the cash while they can.
March 31, 2005... America's companies are cash-rich, right? Then why have they started borrowing again? THE Family Buttonwood having callously decided to go skiing over Easter, your correspondent was left scrabbling solo at the coalface. And a good thing it...