The Great Debate UK
from The Great Debate:
Myths around China’s revitalization plan
-- Wei Gu is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are her own --
China investors should care about three major numbers this year: 8 percent economic growth, its 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) stimulus package, and the 10 industries revitalization plan.
The first is the government's economic growth target and the second is a spending plan to shield the economy from the global financial crisis.
A lot has been said about the first two numbers, but not enough about the third. Indeed, there are at least three misunderstandings about the latter.
First, perhaps misled by the word "revitalization," many people talk about the plan as if it is another set of recovery measures to boost investment demand. On the contrary, it mostly contains policy measures aimed at reducing supply.
from The Great Debate:
Goodbye to rugged American individualism?
-- Bernd Debusmann is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are his own. --
Shock!! Horror!! The United States is becoming more like Europe! The rugged individualism that makes up part of the country's self-image may be doomed. Paternalism threatens to throttle enterprise and initiative.
That has been the reaction of Republican leaders to the $787 billion stimulus package President Barack Obama signed this week after a contentious debate that echoed arguments made more than 80 years ago on the eve of the Great Depression.
from The Great Debate:
The case for a broadband bailout
- Eric Auchard is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are his own --
By Eric Auchard
LONDON (Reuters) - With world economies fast running out of steam, it may seem an unlikely time for cash-strapped governments to discover universal broadband access as an urgent national funding priority.
Yet in this financial plague year, the Great Broadband Bailout of 2009 is rocketing up the political agenda as the global economic crisis deepens further.
from The Great Debate:
Obama’s radical environmental strategy
-- John Kemp is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are his own --
Most successful elected leaders must disappoint their most ardent supporters at some point, as the bright hopes of an election campaign give way to the complex realities and constraints of governing, and need to occupy and retain the political center-ground to win re-election.
The trick of really successful leaders is to let supporters down gently to avoid turning disappointment into frustration and anger, retaining allegiance and support even when the maximum agenda goes unfulfilled and compromises must be made. Political supporters have to be given enough policy gains to be kept loyal, even as some cherished objectives fall by the wayside.
