Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Some New Year's Thoughts

My dear friends all over the world, a happy New Year to you wherever you
are. Elena and I are going to have dinner with a friend of hers from Argentina. At this moment of joy Elena also got the sad news that a professional colleague of hers had died of lung cancer. Life is so precious. Every day is a gift!

Some Special Words To My Niece Kelly Hobbs Balcony

A happy new year to you and all!!!!! I have not survived to 2015 yet. But I made my list of the wonderful and the sad things that had happened in 2014. Fortunately the wonderful list was much longer than the sad list. Two items on that list were you earning your master's degree and getting the job with Orleans Parish.

The Best Performing Stock Markets In The World

Last updated: December 31, 2014 2:00 pm

Russian equities worst performers of 2014

Andrew BolgerAuthor alerts

©AFP

The combination of the oil price collapse and the continuing conflict in Ukraine proved particularly toxic for investors in Russian equities.

Russia was by some way the worst-performing country in 2014 among MSCI indices, showing a total return of minus 42.3 per cent, calculated on a dollar basis, which includes dividends and share price movements.

By contrast Egypt was the best-performing stock market tracked by MSCI, showing total returns of 31.1 per cent.

ON THIS STORY

ON THIS TOPIC

Smart Money Chase sales and margin growth in Big Tech
The Short View Vintage year for investors despite unrest
Trading Post High correlations push ‘theme’ investing
Lex Yelp – positive review

Sign up now

FirstFT is our new essential daily email briefing of the best stories from across the web

Reform is not a defining feature of Egypt, where 18 months ago an army coup toppled the democratically elected government of the Muslim Brotherhood and subsequently led to the election as president of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a former army chief. But a relief rally after the turmoil of the Arab spring has led to the MSCI index for Egypt almost doubling since the middle of 2013.

Hopes for reform boosted Indonesian stocks, which have been among the best performers during the past five years and are again near the top of the table, with a total return of 26.6 per cent.

International fund managers are moving into southeast Asia’s biggest economy, attracted by the potential returns from managing Indonesians’ money. Investors have taken heart from early steps by the new president, Joko Widodo, to address some underlying economic problems.

Indonesia has just announced that it will ditch petrol subsidies and link retail prices to international oil markets, in one of the biggest reforms to its energy subsidies in decades.

Shares in the Philippines have grown steadily since the victory of the reform-minded administration of President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino in 2010. Its stock market shows total returns of 26.4 per cent.

Investors are attracted by a structurally advanced economy, with a service sector that accounts for more than half the economy. A big proportion of that income comes from overseas.

India was another top performer, with returns of 22.6 per cent. Investors have been cheered by election successes of the governing Bharatiya Janata party, which they hope will encourage premier Narendra Modi to press on with his reform programme.

Military rule has not prevented investors in Thailand receiving 16.8 per cent returns in 2014. The army coup in May in southeast Asia’s second-biggest economy was followed by pledges to tackle waste and eliminate corruption, although the junta has scrapped all polls and made only a vague pledge for their return.

There are also questions over the appetite for reform of Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The former Turkish premier, who was elected president in August, is keen to stifle dissent in business circles and punish those with links to the moderate Islamist Gulen movement. But this fractious political backdrop has not stopped investors getting total returns of 17.8 per cent from Turkish shares.

Given the strength of the US economic recovery and the surge in value of the dollar, it is perhaps surprising that the US ranks only eighth in the MSCI league table, with total return of 14.5 per cent.

Exposure to the tumbling price of oil has hit Norwegian shares, returns of which were minus 20.3 per cent.

But Portugal was the worst-performing European country in the MSCI, with total returns of minus 37.2 per cent. Investors were upset by the rescue of Banco Espírito Santo, which was split into “good” and “bad” banks as part of a €4.9bn rescue that protected taxpayers and senior creditors but left shareholders and junior bondholders holding only toxic assets.

Portugal was also hurt by growing unease that deflation in the eurozone would particularly affect peripheral eurozone countries and concern that its elections in 2015 would provide an outlet for anti-austerity sentiment.

Austria is seldom thought of as peripheral in the eurozone, but it too has been a laggard with total returns of minus 29 per cent. Analysts said this reflected the exposure of its banks to Russia and eastern Europe, which have been suffering from uncertainty caused by the Ukrainian conflict.

The stand-off between Russia and Europe over Ukraine has also hurt Hungary, where shares have suffered a return of minus 26.9 per cent for 2014. Hungary was one of the countries to express dismay when Russia abandoned South Stream, its $50bn gas pipeline across the Black Sea into Europe.

Hungary has alienated investors by taxing advertising revenues and forcing banks to compensate borrowers for what it sees as unfair conditions and charges on lending. However, in October Viktor Orban, prime minister, abandoned a plan for the world’s first internet tax following the largest mass demonstrations in Budapest in recent memory.

New Japanese Massage Episode 1 Part 3

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: Vermont Throws in the Towel on Inane Single-Payer "Medicare for All" Proposal; Live and Let Die; Why Does Single-Payer "Work" in Europe?

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: Vermont Throws in the Towel on Inane Single-Payer "Medicare for All" Proposal; Live and Let Die; Why Does Single-Payer "Work" in Europe?:

'via Blog this'

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

The cities with the largest homes in the nation - Houston Chronicle

The cities with the largest homes in the nation - Houston Chronicle:

'via Blog this'

Jack's South America: Argentina's Banking Talent Stays Away

Jack's South America: Argentina's Banking Talent Stays Away: Home World Africa Asia-Pacific Europe Latin America & Caribbean Middle East & North Africa UK US & Canada The Worl...

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: Gmail Dead in China, All Google Products Blocked; Reserve Currency Silliness Review

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: Gmail Dead in China, All Google Products Blocked; Reserve Currency Silliness Review:

'via Blog this'

Monday, December 29, 2014

Visceral Correction massage: Part 2thigh massage videoThai Hot Stem Mass...

Jack's South America: Petrobras In Deep Water

Jack's South America: Petrobras In Deep Water: December 29, 2014 12:39 pm Petrobras finds itself in deep water Joe Leahy in Brasília and Samantha Pearson in São Paulo Author ale...

Sunday, December 28, 2014

Boxing Day

Even at my advanced age I learn something new every day. Those of you who know me well know that i spent over 11 years of my life in Britain, Scotland, South Africa and Australia. These countries have a nice tradition of giving everyone an additional day of Christmas holiday falling on 26 December. I always appreciated the day off. I never looked deeply into why I was getting the extra day of holiday. I vaguely assumed that it had something to do with the sport boxing.

A wonderful friend of mine from Ireland named Dave set me straight on 26 December. Boxing Day is a holiday where the elites (ie Downton Abby) prepare small boxes for their servants and low-level employees. These boxes contain leftovers from the Christmas dinner and small gifts.

Jack's South America: International Contractors Caught Up In Brasil Graf...

Jack's South America: International Contractors Caught Up In Brasil Graf...: December 28, 2014 12:11 pm International contractors caught up in Brazil graft case By Joe Leahy in São Paulo Author alerts ©...

An Incredible Couple

Yesterday evening Elena and I went to a post Christmas party hosted by Dr. Al and Liz Globus. These people are incredible. They raised five of their own children. After the Rwanda massacre they took in 4 your people from Rwanda and raised them. We had a wonderful time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: Russia Debt One Grade Above Junk With Downgrades Coming, How Likely is Default?

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: Russia Debt One Grade Above Junk With Downgrades Coming, How Likely is Default?:

'via Blog this'

massage at the hotel

Massage for American women

Saturday, December 27, 2014

Japanese Style of Hoshino Massage therapy Part 1

Did Kiev Shoot Down The Malaysian Airlines Flight?

Russia's Investigative Committee has
confirmed the claims by a Ukrainian
airbase worker, who said he witnessed
the deployment of a Ukrainian warplane
armed with air-to-air missiles on the
day the Malaysian Airlines flight MH17
was shot down. He reports that the pilot,
Captain Vladislav Voloshin returned from
his sortie very frightened, saying, "The
plane was in the wrong place at the
wrong time."

These revelations would confirm why the
US and NATO satellite images were
withheld, why Kiev has refused to
cooperate with the investigation, why
Malaysia was barred from the investigation
and also why the crash site was so hastily
and obviously tampered with, as confirmed
by German investigators.

According to VT Editor, Jim W. Dean, it will
be a credibility disaster for Kiev [to say
nothing of US and NATO], if they continue
to frame the Separatists for the downing of
the airliner - and to continue to blame Russia
for indirectly supplying the ground-to-air
missile, which was NOT involved in this
incident.

Dean says, "The incident investigators,
especially the Dutch and the airline
associations failed horribly in their duties,
obviously standing down due to orders
from top political authorities. It is time to
begin a formal investigation of the
investigation to put the heat on whoever
obstructed justice.

"This case should be the watershed for a
complete makeover on how future
investigations can be done, with firewalls put
in place to block political interference and
punishments for violations including flight
sanctions for any country involved in
suppressing an air accident investigation.

"Blocking a proper investigation recreates a
9/11 type event, where the guilty still walk
among us, knowing they got away, scot-free
on 9/11, and instigates criminal negligence
from those sworn to protect us..."

As reported by Komsomolskaya Pravda
newspaper on December 23, a Ukrainian
airbase employee's has come forward as a
witness to the Ukrainian air force Su-25 combat
jet, which took off from an airbase in eastern
Dnipropetrovsk carrying air-to-air missiles -
and returned without them on the day the
Malaysia Airlines plane crashed in eastern
Ukraine last July.

The airbase worker interviewed did not
exclude the possibility that an Su-25 pilot
could confuse a Boeing passenger airliner
with a military jet. "This could be. There was
quite a long distance, he could have failed to
see what exactly that plane was."

The missiles carried by the Su-25 are capable
of targeting an object at a 3-5-kilometer
(1-3 mile) distance, and to an altitude of 7,000
meters (23,000 feet), the source stressed.
"With jet's raised nose, it is not a problem to
fix a target and launch a missile. The flying
range of this missile is over 10 kilometers,"
according to the airbase worker.

He further said that the missile is capable of
hitting a plane fuselage, whether directly or
from a distance of 500 meters. The density
of the objects which hit the MH17 was very
high, and these findings did not exclude the
downing of the plane by a missile. He says
there was such a missile: It explodes and its
shrapnel punctures the plane, and after that,
the missile warhead strikes it.

The Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 crashed
on July 17 in the Donetsk region, as it was
flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. All
298 people on board were killed. Two Kiev
air traffic controllers responsible for diverting
the plane into the war zone have allegedly fled
Ukraine and they remain in hiding.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqVQQrUN_fE

Attachments area

Preview YouTube video MH17 witness passes lie detector test, Ukraine denies jet in crash area

Friday, December 26, 2014

North Korea Farce Packs US Theaters

December 26, 2014 1:30 am

North Korea farce packs US theatres

Shannon Bond in New YorkAuthor alerts

A billboard for the film 'The Interview' is displayed on December 19 2014 in Venice, California

©Getty

The jokes were frequent and raunchy, the bloodshed comically exaggerated, and the audience ate it up at a sold-out Christmas Day showing of The Interview at the Cinema Village in Manhattan.

After more than a week of build-up, during which it was at times unclear whether the farce about the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would ever beshown in theatres, the simple act of going to the movies was embraced as a victory for free speech.

ON THIS TOPIC

IN US SOCIETY

Sign up now

FirstFT is our new essential daily email briefing of the best stories from across the web

“We are expressing the freedom to see, read, and look, at what we want to,” Lee Petersen, Cinema Village manager, told the audience to applause as he welcomed the crowd to the 3:05pm show, one of six screenings on Thursday at the independent art deco theatre in the east village. “I think this a very historic moment. And enjoy the movie. It’s funny.”

It was funny — in a deeply silly way familiar to anyone who has seen previous work by Seth Rogen, the film’s co-star and co-director.

Mr Rogen plays Aaron Rapoport, producer of Skylark Tonight, a television interview programme helmed by the shallow and self-assured Dave Skylark, played by James Franco. Aaron dreams of journalistic integrity, while Dave fears losing Aaron, who has elevated the show from its tabloid roots.

Their big break comes when Dave discovers that Kim Jong Un is a fan of Skylark Tonight and Aaron lands an interview with the reclusive dictator. When the CIA hears of the plan, the duo are recruited to assassinate the leader during their stay in North Korea. They are given poison, communication devices and clearly stated instructions. Vanity leads them astray with unsurprising speed, and predictable high jinks ensue.

The film careens down the path of its own logic: Dave bonds with Kim over basketball, margaritas and Katy Perry before opening his eyes to the reality of the failed state. Aaron tries to keep his partner on task. There are many jokes about anatomy.

The final act culminates in gun battles, gore, and the timely deployment of Ms Perry’s song, “Fireworks”.

In the end, the Americans get home largely unscathed and North Korea holds democratic elections. And the audience was fully along for the ride, laughing loudly throughout.

Had Mr Rogen and his co-creators made their villain the despot of an imaginary country, the movie would probably have lost some of its sharpness — and theatres would definitely not have been packed on Christmas Day, surrounded by television film crews pouncing on the emerging audience members.

Peel away the media attention, the blustering political rhetoric, the outrage at Sony’s perceived wavering in support of the film, and the embarrassing mess of the corporate hack attack which the movie apparently inspired, what was left?

A funny-enough romp, with politics unlikely to challenge the beliefs of most American viewers.

As one patron commented on leaving the cinema: “It wasn’t actually a serious comedy.”

North Korea has yet to comment on the release of the film.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2014. You may share using our article tools.
Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the we

Thursday, December 25, 2014

泡泡リンパ洗体エステ＆オイルリンパマッサージ大和康楽物語

The Magic Of Christmas 60 Years Ago

I have made it to Christmas day another year. For that I am thankful!!! I think back 60 years to the mid-1950's and what Christmas was like then. Dad had served in Europe in World War II. He developed a liking for European foods. He would bring home exotic crackers, cheeses, spreads and meats from one of his advertising clients; European Imports. He and mother would enjoy bourbon with their Christmas eve snack. My sister and I got to drink coke. It was a wonderful family get together time. Dad and mother would allow each of us to open one gift on Christmas eve. We would then go to bed full of excitement.

We would awaken at three in the morning and start to open our presents. Later Mom and dad would get up. My dear mother would work hard all day long in the kitchen preparing turkey, dressing and side dishes. Dad would entertain us by taking us to movies or other events around town. Around six in the evening we would sit down at the table at our humble house at 5715 Belarbor Avenue in Houston and have a wonderful Christmas dinner. Christmas was a magical time for us long ago! I hope that young children today have wonderful parents who work hard to help them to experience the magic of Christmas.

Three Ways To Get To Cuba From The US Right Now

Three Ways to Get to Cuba Right Now

Jenna Scatena | Photo: Courtesy GeoEx | December 23, 2014

How to get onto the island before everyone else does.

The U.S. may be opening diplomatic relations with Cuba, but don’t expect to catch a flight from SFO to Havana just yet. Leisure and tourist travel remains prohibited for the time being, as lifting restrictions for general tourism requires congressional approval. And that’s not likely to happen for a while.

But despair not, Cubanophiles. While you don’t have free rein to relax on the beach with a mojito yet, the policy shift has still managed to liberalize travel and trade with the country, making it easier to get there and more convenient to travel within the country.

President Obama will open general licenses to travel to Cuba for several reasons—public performances, workshops, athletic competitions, human rights and humanitarian work, private foundations or institutions—which previously required a case-by-case review and approval by the government.

The ban of US credit and debit cards has been lifted, making it much easier to spend within the country. Under the new policy, licensed travelers will also be allowed to import up to $400 worth of Cuban goods, including $100 of tobacco and alcohol products. Good news for Cuban cigars and rum!

The US will re-open its embassy in Havana, incentivizing permitted tour companies to increase tours and easing some peoples’ safety concerns. Cuba will also allow the International Committee of the Red Cross and United Nations human rights officials in the country for the first time in years.

Havana, which has had some of the worst Internet access in the world, has announced it will increase affordable access to its citizens and travelers. Under the new policy, telecommunication providers will now be allowed to establish necessary infrastructure for better Internet.

The lesson for restless travelers? It’s not as easy as flying to Mexico or Costa Rica, but if you want to go, it’s doable and easier than before. And if you want to see Cuba before it transforms, it’s best to experience it before the general tourism ban lifts completely (assuming it happens, of course). These three Bay Area-based operators offer legal, ethical, and immersive trips:

Presidio-based GeoEx offers 8-day custom private trips to Cuba for up to 16 people. Travelers can work with the company to create the perfect itinerary, and land introductions to local historians, artists, and musicians.

The Berkeley nonprofit Ethical Traveler is hosting a 10-day trip in April. Led by local journalist and Ethical Traveler executive director Jeff Greenwald, this tour focuses on art and culture, with visits to Cuba’s studios, galleries, and community art projects, as well as opportunities to collaborate with Cuban artists.

Over in the Mission, the human rights nonprofit Global Exchange has been bringing Americans to Cuba for more than 20 years. Tours connect travelers with organizations in Cuba to see what life if like for locals and hear about current issues on the ground.

Have feedback? Email us at letterssf@sanfranmag.com
Follow us on Twitter @sanfranmag
Follow Jenna Scatena on Twitter @Jenna_Scatena

- See more at: http://www.modernluxury.com/san-francisco/story/three-ways-get-cuba-right-now#sthash.hIRQvIZ2.dpuf

Japanese Style of Hoshino Massage therapy Part 2

Another financial meltdown in the making? | Fox Business Video

Another financial meltdown in the making? | Fox Business Video:

'via Blog this'

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Let Us Enjoy The Greatest Human Escape Of All

December 23, 2014 6:48 pm

Let us enjoy the greatest human escape of all

Martin WolfAuthor alerts

More prosperity is not necessary nor sufficient for improved health. It just makes it easier

he highest life expectancy recorded for women anywhere in the world has risen by a year every four years since 1840. This inexorable advance in longevity is, arguably, the most important of all the changes to human life in the past two centuries.

These gains in health are also widely shared: “India today has a higher life expectancy than Scotland in 1945 — in spite of a per-capita income that Britain had achieved as early as 1860.” This remark comes from a wonderful book, The Great Escape: Health, Wealth, and the Origins of Inequality , by Princeton University’s Angus Deaton, published last year, which documents the revolution in both health and wealth since the early 19th century. Of the two, the former is the more important. Who would not give up many material comforts if, in return, they could avoid the agony of watching their children die or enjoy the company of their loved ones in old age?

ON THIS TOPIC

MARTIN WOLF

Sign up now

FirstFT is our new essential daily email briefing of the best stories from across the web

No blessing is unmixed. Prolonged survival “sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything” is to be neither envied nor desired. Yet the revolution in health is still a blessing. As Professor Deaton notes: “Of all the things that make life worth living, extra years of life are surely among the most precious.” Someone whosestandard of living is twice as high and expects to live twice as long as someone else could even be deemed to be four times better off.

So what has happened?

Start with mortality rates (deaths per thousands) over time of three of today’s high-income countries: Sweden in 1751; the US in 1933; and the Netherlands and the US in 2000 (see chart). Back in 1751 the mortality rate of Swedish newborns was more than 160 per thousand people. It was more than 40 per thousand in the US in 1933. By 2000 it was below 10 per thousand. At subsequent ages mortality rates have become consistently lower over time, with the lowest rates of all for children aged about 10. Today we see a rise of mortality rates in the late teens, largely because of the riskier behaviour of young men. After a plateau in the late 20s and early 30s, death rates rise, but they do not reach 10 per thousand before age 60. US mortality rates are higher than those in the Netherlands, except for the over 80s. That is where the US concentrates its resources.

Back in 1850 life expectancy was about age 40 in England and Wales. Today it is close to 80. In the case of Italy it has risen from 30 in 1875 to above the English level. The chart also shows the devastating effects of the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918. This is explained by how life expectancy is computed: the assumption is that the risks of dying at a particular age are produced by the ages of death of the population in a specific year. In 1918 a large proportion of young people died in the epidemic.

This reduced life expectancy drastically. But those born in 1918 had far longer lives than these figures suggest. Similarly, a small proportion of the English and Welsh population actually died at 40 in 1850. Instead, a great many died aged as babies and many lived to be more than 60. Forty was merely the average age of death. Finally, notes Prof Deaton: “Saving the lives of children has a bigger effect on life expectancy than saving the lives of the elderly.” Thus, as death “ages”, the rise in life expectancy slows.

The health revolution has spread worldwide since the middle of the 20th century — dramatically so in east Asia; least so, alas, in sub-Saharan Africa partly because of HIV/Aids. A big element has been the collapse in child mortality. According to theGapminder website, mortality among Indian children under five fell from 267 per thousand in 1950 to 56 in 2012. Over the same period it fell from 317 to 14 in China. These improvements occurred at much lower income levels than was the case in today’s high-income countries. This is partly because of improved knowledge (oral rehydration, for example), partly because of medical technology (vaccination, for example) and partly because of public services (clean water and sanitation, for example).

Unfortunately, the improvements are not as complete as they should be. In Angola the under-five mortality rate is 164 per thousand. In Nigeria it is 124. Yet these are relatively well-off countries. In general, a link exists between prosperity and health. Yet greater prosperity is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for improved health outcomes. It just makes it rather easier.

The health revolution is not just a good in itself. It has beneficial consequences, the most important of which is the transformation of women’s lives. As child mortality tumbles, so does fertility: fewer births are needed to achieve a given family size. This is irrespective of religion: in Muslim Iran, for example, the number of children per woman fell from 6.5 in 1980 to 1.9 in 2012; similarly, in Catholic Brazil it fell from 6.2 in 1960 to 1.8 in 2012. As women live longer and have fewer children, they can invest more in each child and pursue their own careers. Thus the health revolution underpins another of the revolutions of our era: the change in the role of women.

What has driven the improvements in health, particularly among the middle aged? A decline in smoking is a factor. Improved treatment for heart disease is another. Even cancer is succumbing to treatment. Increasingly, in high-income countries, the remaining diseases are those of old age, including dementia. But in most developing countries the old afflictions linger, including poor sanitation, contaminated water and malaria.

Yet for all that remains to be done, and all the inequality of health services across the globe, it is important to appreciate the great and increasingly widely shared improvement in health. An increasing proportion of humanity has a good chance of living healthily into what has traditionally been viewed as old age. A rising proportion of children is reaching maturity. We cannot escape death. But we do keep out of its grasp for ever longer. That is to be celebrated.

martin.wolf@ft.com

RELATED TOPICS

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2014. You may share using our article tools.
Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.

Content recommended for you

Based on your browsing history

COMMENTS (59)

By submitting this comment I confirm that I have read and agreed to the FT Terms and Conditions. Please also see ourcommenting guidelines.

Newest | Oldest | Most recommended

Robbie21 hour ago

Isn't a "long" life a completely relative concept? The number could be 40 or 140? Surely the key issue is a healthy life?

Garmoco2 hours ago

Great article. We have much to be thankful for this holiday season. Yet only a few days ago, an Edward Luce article asked, "Is the West clinically depressed?" And The Economist has used the word "paranoid" for years to describe our mental state. Nearly a hundred years ago, Keynes said we'd spend a century pursuing material wealth but would then turn back to what's more important, meaning religion and spirituality. Might our hundred years be up?

Pepin2 hours ago

Yes it is to be celebrated and it is a fantastic thing for most of us alive today. But it may be at the expense of future generations I fear as modern medicine is removing most selective pressures for us humans whereas it is creating massive selective pressure for our enemies (disease causing bacteria and other pathogens).

georgi chinkov 44553 hours ago

see how Vivacom in Bulgaria is leading a kind of price war against Telekom Austria Mtel in Bulgaria and their acquisitions of clients in last two quarters in their reports. See even Telenor is acquiring after some kind of losing critical mass by Mtel. See "Also visited websites", and "Topics" form here http://www.similarweb

/website/mtel.bg (very popular data-science site today) to explain the queues in recent months in the main Malls in Sofia. See the same for A1.net and vip.hr ... is there going to be a deep pocket strategy reply at all if there is price war in Austria or Croatia, if one considers Telekom Austria Market Capitalization a few years ago and their market capitalization today after two capital increases. See Raiffeizen and Erste provisions in last quarter. See their capital increases (i remember some not absolutely precisely), the the stress tests, and the decline of their market capitalization. See assumptions in these companies credit rating reports.

georgi chinkov 44553 hours ago

Dear Commissioner JeanClaude Juncker,

What will happen next year with low Russian RUB (Similar to Turkish shock in 2014), when there will be high imports in Europe, CEE and Bulgaria from Russia and low export from CEE, Europe, Bulgaria to Russia? What will this mean for high unemployment, high bad loans, social tensions and currency pegs in the region? What will happen with the Austrian banks exposed to the region?

(If there is 2015 deficit of 2.3 BLN BGN for 18.24 BLN BGN incomes for 20.54 BLN BGN expenditure, then after 2-3 years with deficits from 2014 onwards (according tohttp://www.capital.bg/politika_i_ikonomika/eory/2014/11/26/2426982_deficit_i_oshte_dulgove_v_bjudjet_2015/), the debt will increase, but probably even this year Bulgaria credit rating may be speculative. So many companies and banks will also be with speculative ratings and you may check the default rate in wikipedia, often in such banks in Hungary or Greece the deposits decline and with currency board there will be a decline in GDP as well according to quantitative theory of money for a few years. So the budget policy may push the economy in crisis. When they realize what has been done and the deficit is paid back less then 16 BLN BGN expenditure will be possible compared with 20.5 BLN BGN in 2015. Provided tax rate are increased, less of taxes will be collected. There will also be interest for the new loan. So it looks like a stupid bluffing for the future of the country. Why is that? Because EU is loosing support in Bulgaria? Why EU is delaying its funds for Bulgaria and there is only verbal support, do they have reasonable doubts for their support in CEE?)

I) Last week 6.11.2014, by coincidence, I received the reciprocal reply to my letter for a possible Money Laundering by Telecom Austria (Carlos Slim major owner) you may see at facebook.com/pages/GeorgiChinkov In particular, I had announced to the Sofia Customs in Sept. 2014 that, when I've received a cheap ipcamera and separately a cheap minipc bananapi from china, they were announced from the online stores for lower prices and I have to pay additional VAT.

I received a letter from Sofia Customs and they tried to make me start a new procedure, as though I have imported by myself the goods, and in a document for presenting the goods to the Custom Manifest, it was stated that “there is a bank warranty”, which means that somehow, some bank promised to the Sofia custom to pay for all my imported goods custom obligations to some limit, while I have not required any warranty. This means that any good might have been added to the empty list and imported with my signature, had I signed the Manifest, and I managed sofar to retain the Declaration as a partial proof. There is completely different procedure for a Post Office parcel and they, by law have written a correct Manifest. So there was a request for a wrongcontent document (bank warranty) which is similar to Money Laundering, by chance, and I have a lot of enemies with writing the open letter for Slim, to Bulgarian Central Bankers to the European Commission and I see a lot of connections among them stated in the letter. I expect similar violations with property rights, human rights from your organization.

When, I've been working, for the Bulgarian Central Bank around 2008, I visited a conference on Human Capital by the Austrian Central Bank. For fireplace diner meeting, of the Austria Financial Minister and Austria Central Bank Governor, an Austrian professor was on the one side and a person presenting himself as Chief of Security of the Luxembourg Central Bank on the other. So the Austrian professor claimed that he is great friend with a Bulgarian governor and insisted several times … “you have to pay to commercial bankers to retain them !!!” Several main Bulgarian Commercial Banks are registered in Austria. To present my view for the conference in the European elite society style, as Sacher cake is not exactly a nice cake with some cream, but pretty expensive, so the Austria society at the moment does not avail with substantial human capital, as they rely mostly on CEE investments with a lot of external debt, and banks with high interest rate spread that prevents growth in CEE, but check the banks external debt from Statistical Office. Security and Operations is not enough for prosperity, as there is a lot of information, and we are scarce in analytics. Well, Austria seems to overfit seriously in their traditions, this is not the correct model and not occasionally your universities are not rated well. I think, even the names of people will mean something for models with such overfitting. It is not occasional Salieri poisoned Mozart, his understanding for the world is first biased, and then he should be overfitting in his elementary understanding. For Salieri, it is complete shock to understand the changing circumstances. Therefore, the current economic crisis in Austria is due to wrong real economy perhaps, and there is no need to take risks but to start thinking for knowledge in the economy, not gamble with hundreds of billions external private and public debt. For example read the rating agencies reports for Austrian Banks, see their market value and bailout assumptions. See also the ratings of CEE and Balkan countries and their economies in view of new sovereign loans, I will present the case of Bulgaria in two lines latter. I would never work for a European Union Supported company in Bulgaria as Telecom Austria Mtel, as support makes the companies with internal market ineffective (no external competition as other IT industries), which is clear from their results and there is always some influence from supporters and some hidden idea. I would expect similar results for EBRD supported Bulsatcom.

I stated the theory of Marx that when capital requires constant return, workers will protest as their wages decline as stated in Oxford Economics Dictionary especially true if we assume monopolistic structures. There were 12 bestsellers for reminding the Marx theory recently in UK. So consistently, there were two protests with more then 100 000 in Hungary and Brussels last week as well as selfburning people from poverty in Bulgaria again. To explain these sociological underpinnings with Bulgaria EC prognosis for example (ec.europa.eu

/economy_finance/eu/forecasts/2014_autumn/statistical_en.pdf):

There figures respectively for 2014 2015 2016 by indicators (comma separated)

GDP growth(yoy) 1.2,0.6,1.0

Potential GDP 1.5,1.6,1.6

Harmonised index of consumer prices 1.4, 0.4, 1.0

Total employment 0.3,0.2, 0.3

Net lending (+) or net borrowing (), general government (as a percentage of GDP 3.6, 3.7, 3.9

Primary balance, general government ¹ (as a percentage of GDP, 19952016) 2.8,2.8,2.8

Gross debt, general government¹ (as a percentage of GDP, 19952016) 25.3, 26.8,30.2

written by Georgi Chinkov. Support me as you like me at facebook.com pages GeorgiChinkov ..

georgi chinkov 44553 hours ago

II) So with very high budget deficit, the Government will try to compensate for high negative lending for three years, due probably to Austrian Banks new ratings after possible bailin directive from 2015, substantial bad loans in 2014 (writeoffs and losses); also the Government Gross debt will increase to 30.2 for these three years and the rating of the country will also be changed as credit agencies decide. For such case as Bulgaria, Romania (Balkans) CEE, it is relevant to see Balances of Commercial Banks in Greece and Hungary for example in view of their rating to have an idea of Austrian and Greece banks evaluation, if they do not change ownership in future. The Potential GDP, however increases a lot to provide opportunity for such substantial deficit or to keep the people away from protests (so typical for some years now), but I think employers and labor syndicates in Bulgaria, do Lucas critique to Government and strive for sustainable future for them and their kids without unnecessary debt. Is this geopolitics in EC forecasts, to look very risky, probably not optimal path for the economy of Bulgaria to stay without protest, so typical for EU last week in Hungary and Brussels or to keep the bad loans growth relatively low at the expense of country future? Do the calibration, see envisaged employment to have an idea how likely is this scenario.

Another interesting topic is digital surveillance in EU and private companies participation as in USA Snowden case, especially in view of EU support for telecommunication companies. I recommend the CEBIT presentation for analytics and tools overview (cebit.de

/en/conferences/conferenceprogram/topspeakersofcebit2014/mikkohypponen.xhtml) e.g. PRISM, and definition of privacy as human right (generally, one cannot sell his privacy and the idea for required localization by telecoms is not correct) classcentral.com

/mooc/1492/edxengri1280xwiretapstobigdataprivacyandsurveillanceintheageofinterconnection For example, many of my SMS for Email were delayed to endof the day for few years in Mtel, Telecom Austria and the Email may have been decrypted. There are sometimes other MAC addresses in my router, when possible to be broken. It is not clear how one my request for paying some 20 EUR VAT turned into a case with Bank Warranty Custom Manifest to be offered to me to sign. Is it occasionally now after writing the open letter for EC, Telecom Austria, Bulgarian Central Bankers and is there some information leakage?

When studying in Soros CEU Budapest some students went to EU institutions, some were admitted for a PhD in Stockholm, and other good universities and many, from Baltic Countries, work for Sweden Central Bank, and Sweden has some banks in Baltics, and some went to Austria, as Austria has banks in CEE. I already mentioned that there is some selfselection model in CEU and who do not accept the conditions and negotiations pays his scholarship with labor as I explained in the letter. In this case it is not WB, ECB, IMF, EC some other central western bank that takes the responsibility, but Soros or some other wealthy person as Slim hypothetically. Well power is mainly knowledge, and for advanced countries and unions we talk for trillions sometimes, not billions. This is why institution as WB, ECB, IMF, EC, countries or unions rule the game. If Baltics or CEE, Balkans have some EU protests and are disappointed from EU, I think this policy is intrinsic for EU institutions for at least 10 years now, and it is not a coincidence but persistent policy and a belief under EU ideals unfortunately. It is capital that drives EU now and the protests and interests in Russia from Poland, to Latvia to Bulgaria or Serbia is not occasional. This is the reason for digital surveillance of my communications, attempt to violate my human right and make me work for Austrian or EU supported company or inventing me Customs documents, for which somebody may profit, or I will be blackmailed. I am sure, there will be further attempts by involved institutions and the responsibility is from the President of EC as my calculations are back of the envelop, but there is also an envelop theorem. I do not want risk taking in EU countries with apossible Money Laundering by Telecom Austria (Carlos Slim major owner), but sustainable policy with accountability and democracy, which many people in Europe do not believe any more and go to protests.

written by Georgi Chinkov. Support me as you like me at facebook.com pages/GeorgiChinkov ..

georgi chinkov 44553 hours ago

Will Commissioner Juncker be involved with a possible Money Laundering by Telecom Austria (Carlos Slim major owner) and how is Commissioner Juncker connected to the Bulgarian Central Bankers partisan politics?

Open letter,

/First part/

Dear Commissioner JeanClaude Juncker,

Dear Journalists,

My name is Georgi Chinkov.

In view of the expected GDP slowdown/decline this Quarter 2014 (Q3 14 November data), I would like to state my case of abuse of my human rights and blackmailing by a network of European authorities so that the proper steps will be taken by the new commission if these great people wish to do so, and stop their myopic and abovelaw profit optimization. It is related with European Commission and Commissioner Juncker taking excessive risks because of loss aversion (not ready to decrease their wellbeing), even with some doubts for money laundering relations in Europe related with Carlos Slim acquiring Telecom Austria.

GDP is possibly declining or nonincreasing, because of inequality in Europe and lack of equal opportunities. Marx envisages in his theory a revolution, because the wealthy strive to keep their rate of return on capital, and so poor people wages decline, if there is slow technological progress.

Commissioner Juncker stated that this is the last commission if they do not manage to win back the trust of European people. This seems to be extremely important statement as there are not very clear facts e.g:

how THE FUTURE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION: TREND graph stays stable after sharp decline (http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/eb/eb81/eb81_first_en.pdf p.10)

My case

Commissioner Junker, do not endanger my relatives, for my awareness of how EC “convinces” many CEE EC employees to steal from their countries for your Governments or Companies. I rejected, so solve your problem personally with me.

Do not involve me with the The Bulgarian central bankers from research or EBRD any more or the CEU students. Stop Digital Surveillance for my IT (smartphone, PC, router other MACs, Encryption), I do not think it is useful for your personal image or European Growth. Stop blackmailing me with people involved in EU institutions for committing crimes (I describe below) in your companies as Telecom Austria for concealing your organization crimes. It is not possible for you not to know these people or my case, as these people have access to confidential data in organizations as ECB, EC, EBRD as permanent or temporary employees.

(1) I worked for the Bulgarian Ministry of Finance with the EU Delegation on preaccession funds initially.

(2) Then in 2004, I studied Economics in Soros' CEU Budapest, from where many students went to ECB, the European Commission, EBRD. They thought us theories for cartels and creating crises with the statement “Nobody leaves unconvinced”.

(3) When I came back to Bulgaria, Mihovska (Council of Europe, UNDP) said that there is an Union behind Soros and I could pay my scholarship of 20 000 USD with working in an international company, where the blackmailing from European Authorities started.

(3) Then, I worked for the Research of the Bulgarian National Bank just before the 2009 crisis related with Kalin Hristov, Statti Stattev, Mariela Nenova, Rosen Rosenov (IMF), Andrey Vassilev,

Stoevsky (ECB), Tsvetan Tsalinsky (EC,ECB), Karagyozova and they on purpose organized the crisis with providing a lot of cheap loans and the intention to increase later interest rate for profits, which led to low economic growth for the past 6 years and substantial bad loans as in CEE: e.g. Romania, Croatia...

(4) I worked up to recently in Telecom Austria (Mtel), for several years with the following attempts for involving me in crimes. /Telecom Austria is a company close to the European Authorities, check for EBRD loans and EU programs for them. There is also a loan for Bulsatcom from EBRD with the same schema. I've been a victim of surveillance by Telecom Austria with, stopping all my SMS during the day for a long period so that I will not check immediately my encryptionbroken Email for getting a job, where I am not endangered by their crimes. See also the sites Telecom Austria host for the Bulgarian Government and Banks in Bulgaria, this time for an idea what information they need to protect./

First, I had to work for three years overtime and during weekends to pay the blackmailing for my CEU “Scholarship”: 20 000 USD equivalent.

Then, Mtel introduced a billing system with wrong bills for several months, that led to more then a hundred thousand complaints and a crisis for the company. I had to calculate an equal percentage payback for all these complaints for weeks so that the customers will stay in the company, and in the end for so many work to safe them, Mtel added some 50 000 BGN in my calculations, so that, I will work for these money “free” for several year again. This has not happened as I noticed their crime.

Last Mtel Manager, tried to write in my responsibilities “their customer service budget to be absolutely correct and checked” while I am a statistician, not an accountant, which is completely misleading and an crime involvement. Then I left for their cheating, as well as the company is with such a bad image in Internet that customers are leaving.

Telecom Austria, which is a telecom, close to European Commission, was trying to involve me in a crime to conceal the Bulgarian National Bank Researchers crimes for creating the 2009 crisis. (e.g Stoevsky paper for Import that omits on purpose credits as an explanatory variable or Tsvetan Tsalinsky Economic Review that say that the high industry load before crisis means that there will be more investments...or Andrey Vassilev purposeful wrong assumptions in models for consumption smoothing in future).

georgi chinkov 44553 hours ago

/Second part/

Open letter,

Dear Commissioner JeanClaude Juncker,

Dear Journalists,

My name is Georgi Chinkov.

I. Please now check Telecom Austria incomes in the third quarter 2014. Incomes seem quite high compared to previous quarter, even achieving growth on yearly basis, especially in countries with weak legislation application, so there are doubts for Money Laundering by the new owner Carlos Slim sinc e now onwards.

For example this article from Economist, which is about overreporting Mexico exports to USA with some 15%:

economist

/news/international/21601537tradeweakestlinkfightagainstdirtymoneyuncontained

as well as the fact that, former owner of Mtel, Cherney is wanted by Interpol for similar activity and many of Mtel employees have been in the company since then. interpol

/notice/search/wanted/200921842

II. From external data: alexa, website visits for 2014 mtel.bg state surprising increase in interest contradictory to similarweb

/website/mtel.bg which is difficult to manipulate

Telecom Austria was involved in two serious scandals lately for Managers manipulating shares and Peter Hochegger bribing politicians in Austria both leading to sentences.

I would like to ask Commissioner Juncker, as Telecom Austria was involved in surveillance, they tried to involve me in a crime with cheating several times for blackmailing me to conceal the Bulgarian Central Bank Researchers crimes, and European Commission Involvement with the Telecom Austria company, if Commissioner Juncker is aware for money laundering risk Telecom Austria and Carlos Slim is involved now in Europe? For the previous crimes, my memories are that some 4 000 datasets were investigated, and now there are also serious doubts with the surprising change in income trend for Q3 2014?

The main reason for this is that Austria has quite high budget deficit this year, and their major Banks as Erste and Raiffaizen are with prognoses for serious negative profits this year. There is also going to be the bailin Directive from 2015 year and if you read their rating agencies reports some banks may be with speculative rating and very high interest on their obligations in future. The fact is that Austria has a substantial external debt of nearly twice their GDP (wikipedia.org

/wiki/List_of_countries_by_external_debt). Their market valuations, already have these facts envisaged in some degree. So calculate what is expected for Austria household disposable income, with high government GDP share and high interest on obligations or deposits (e.g see balance sheets of banks in Hungary or Greece).

It is also interesting, what is the valuation of the Bulgarian banking sector in view of Raiffazen, OTP, Unicredit shares evaluation for example and their respective share in assets. Please consider that the budget deficit this year in Bulgaria should be about 4% (including for bank problems) if voted,and there is about 1% decline in nominal GDP envisaged for 2014 (expecting to see what will be the agencies rating later this year) (capital.bg

/politika_i_ikonomika/bulgaria/2014/10/27/2407945_bliznashki_vnasia_aktualizaciiata_na_bjudjeta_v/)(deflation, reduction in tax incomes)... to what extent will badloans in Bulgaria increase and what this means for Bulgarian Banks Market Evaluation. For this reasons, it is likely risk to be taken as the recently Corporate Commercial Bank serious problems, or EUR 400 mn impairment in Mtel due to WACC with some 4.1 million subscribers Q3 2014 (Too high Subscriber base and too low ARPU some 6.2 EUR Q3 2014) and I would like to ask Commissioner Junker if he is aware for these Mtel Money Laundering risks?

The main profit for the European companies from now onwards, should be from the Cooper Mines in Bulgaria (Telecom are not very profitable, as actually Mtel is with very fast declining incomes for years, and bellow criticalmass network due to high prices, bad brand connotation according to forums (critical network mass: continuing decline in their group and in bulgaria other telecoms); badloans started to increase again lately although the substantial budget deficit...) and I am not sure they will be enough for net EU transfers. I think on some online news forums (with a million click per month) 8090% would prefer Russian orientation due to poverty of BG people and greediness of western companies.

I've send complaints to the UN Office on Drugs and Crimes in Vienna, Vienna Prosecutors Office, Interpol and Europol for the risk Telekom Austria to be involved in Money Laundering in view of the liquidity and solvency problems the major Austria firms (banks and the telecom) might face – occasional or not the day before the Austria financial minister resigned (he signed the deal with Carlos Slim for Teleokm Austria, if I remember correctly). Commissioner Juncker is completely aware of the situation with Telecom Austria as I've posted many times information on his Facebook page and European Commission and European Parliament, which have been deleted.

My lawyer advised me not to complain for such a topic in Bulgaria or I will be endangered, but in view of my involvement with the European institutions as the European Commission with their employees I've mentioned in the text so far, and their responses to my official complaint, that they are not responsible for the crimes on the territory of Bulgaria for some of which current EC are related, I would like to raise the issue if they are involved and responsible for Telekom Austria, as this is much less threatening for me and my relatives then the greedy, reckless and criminal geopolitics of the European Commission involving style revealed by Snowden but by EC.

Dear Journalists, please investigate my case for stories, I've posted in INTERNET that lead to this situation. My post have changed a lot of opinions, but also endanger me and my relatives.

georgi chinkov 44553 hours ago

If there is 2015 deficit of 2.3 BLN BGN for 18.24 BLN BGN incomes for 20.54 BLN BGN expenditure, then after 2-3 years with deficits from 2014 onwards (according tohttp://www.capital.bg/politika_i_ikonomika/eory/2014/11/26/2426982_deficit_i_oshte_dulgove_v_bjudjet_2015/), the debt will increase, but probably even this year Bulgaria credit rating may be speculative. So many companies and banks will also be with speculative ratings and you may check the default rate in wikipedia, often in such banks in Hungary or Greece the deposits decline and with currency board there will be a decline in GDP as well according to quantitative theory of money for a few years. So the budget policy may push the economy in crisis. When they realize what has been done and the deficit is paid back less then 16 BLN BGN expenditure will be possible compared with 20.5 BLN BGN in 2015. Provided tax rate are increased, less of taxes will be collected. There will also be interest for the new loan. So it looks like a stupid bluffing for the future of the country. Why is that? Because EU is loosing support in Bulgaria? Why EU is delaying its funds for Bulgaria and there is only verbal support, do they have reasonable doubts for their support in CEE? What will happen next year with low Russian RUB, when there will be high imports in Europe, CEE and Bulgaria from Russia and low export from CEE, Europe, Bulgaria to Russia? What will this mean for high unemployment, high bad loans, social tensions and currency pegs in the region? What will happen with the Austrian banks exposed to the region?

I would like to ask the Government and in particular BNB (former colleagues) to stop illegal digital surveillance (e.g I see in my router other MAC addresses, some Email encryptions are broken) and not to use their, administration, business (banks or telecoms) connection for crimes against me. I understand you have hidden from society objectives, and for me revealing them, you are ready to everything for getting rid of me.

I worked for the Research of the Bulgarian National Bank just before the 2009 crisis related with Kalin Hristov, Statti Stattev, Mariela Nenova, Rosen Rosenov (IMF), Andrey Vassilev,

Stoevsky (ECB), Tsvetan Tsalinsky (EC,ECB), Karagyozova and they on purpose organized the crisis with providing a lot of cheap loans with the intention to increase later interest rate for profits, which led to low economic growth for the past 6 years and substantial bad loans as in CEE: similar to e.g. Romania, Croatia... In view of the Corporate Commercial Bank supervision case, consider If you could trust them further, considering my arguments.

(1) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I would like to ask my former colleagues from the research of the Bulgarian National Bank a little bit before 2009 crisis, to read carefully the following lines of legislation, although one of them stated “In Bulgaria, everything is possible...” or “These commercial banks are to big we(BNB) t orule them”. I know you have a lot of connections in Government, Law, form the time with some of you I studded in Budapest, Soros CEU,but the political situation is quite unstable now and everything is possible. See from here a case with the Sofia Customs (who is behind this story and what else I might expect from them): facebook.com

for this story:

Районна митническа дирекция
Адрес: София, ул. "Веслец" 84
Уважаеми началник на ТМУ СТОЛИЧНА,
ЖАЛБА

Глава девета
ДОКУМЕНТНИ ПРЕСТЪПЛЕНИЯ

Чл. 308. (1) Който състави неистински официален документ или преправи съдържанието на официален документ с цел да бъде използуван, се наказва за подправка на документ с лишаване от свобода до три години.

(2) (Нова - ДВ, бр. 26 от 2004 г., изм., бр. 27 от 2009 г.) Когато предмет на деянието по ал. 1 са удостоверения за наследници или актове за гражданско състояние, нотариални актове или нотариални удостоверявания, български или чуждестранни документи за самоличност, документи за завършено образование или за придобита квалификация, свидетелства за управление на превозни средства, за регистрация на превозни средства, визови стикери, други документи, удостоверяващи прехвърляне или учредяване на право на собственост или на други вещни права, правоспособност, лични или регистрационни данни, наказанието е лишаване от свобода до осем години.

(3) (Нова - ДВ, бр. 26 от 2004 г., изм., бр. 33 от 2011 г., в сила от 27.05.2011 г.) Наказанието е лишаване от свобода до десет години, когато:

1. деянието по ал. 1 е с цел улесняване извършването на престъпление по чл. 108а, ал. 1 или 2;

2. деянието по ал. 2 е с цел имотна облага.

Чл. 310. (1) (Изм. и доп. - ДВ, бр. 26 от 2004 г.) Ако престъплението по чл. 308, ал. 1, и чл. 309, ал. 1 и 2 е извършено от длъжностно лице в кръга на службата му, наказанието е лишаване от свобода до пет години, а в случаите по чл. 308, ал. 2 и 3 - лишаване от свобода до дванадесет години, като съдът може да постанови и лишаване от право по чл. 37, ал. 1, точка 6.

georgi chinkov 44553 hours ago

See also, from the Facebook page , how Telecom Austria, which is a telecom, close to European Commission, was trying to involve me in a crime to conceal the Bulgarian National Bank Researchers crimes for creating the 2009 crisis. (e.g Stoevsky paper for Import that omits on purpose credits as an explanatory variable or Tsvetan Tsalinsky Economic Review that say that the high industry load before crisis means that there will be more investments...or Andrey Vassilev purposeful wrong assumptions in models for consumption smoothing in future).

Last week 6.11.2014, by coincidence, I received the reciprocal reply to my letter for a possible Money Laundering by Telecom Austria (Carlos Slim major owner) you may see at facebook.com/pages/Georgi-Chinkov In particular, I had announced to the Sofia Customs in Sept. 2014 that, when I've received a cheap ip-camera and separately a cheap mini-pc banana-pi from china, they were announced from the online stores for lower prices and I have to pay additional VAT.

I received a letter from Sofia Customs and they tried to make me start a new procedure, as though I have imported by myself the goods, and in a document for presenting the goods to the Custom Manifest, it was stated that “there is a bank warranty”, which means that somehow, some bank promised to the Sofia custom to pay for all my imported goods custom obligations to some limit, while I have not required any warranty. This means that any good might have been added to the empty list and imported with my signature, had I signed the Manifest, and I managed so-far to retain the Declaration as a partial proof. There is completely different procedure for a Post Office parcel and they, by law have written a correct Manifest. So there was a request for a wrong-content document (bank warranty) which is similar to Money Laundering, by chance, and I have a lot of enemies with writing the open letter for Slim and the Bulgarian Central Bankers to the European Commission and I see a lot of connections among them stated in the letter.

There were two protests with more then 100 000 in Hungary and Brussels last week as well as self-burning people from poverty in Bulgaria again. To explain these sociological underpinnings with Bulgaria EC prognosis for example (ec.europa.eu

/economy_finance/eu/forecasts/2014_autumn/statistical_en.pdf):

There figures respectively for 2014 2015 2016 by indicators (comma separated)

GDP growth(yoy) 1.2,0.6,1.0

Potential GDP 1.5,1.6,1.6

Harmonised index of consumer prices -1.4, 0.4, 1.0

Total employment -0.3,-0.2, 0.3

Net lending (+) or net borrowing (-), general government (as a percentage of GDP -3.6, -3.7, -3.9

Primary balance, general government ¹ (as a percentage of GDP, 1995-2016) -2.8,-2.8,-2.8

Gross debt, general government¹ (as a percentage of GDP, 1995-2016) 25.3, 26.8,30.2

georgi chinkov 44553 hours ago

For such case as Bulgaria, Romania (Balkans) CEE, it is relevant to see Balances of Commercial Banks in Greece and Hungary for example in view of their ratings, to have an idea of the Austrian and Greece banks evaluation, if they do not change ownership in the future.

e.g erstebank.hu

/en/financials for balance dynamics and erstegroup.com

/en/Investors/Ratings for ratings.

See Raiffeizen ECB stress test (end of 2003https://www.bankingsupervision.europa.eu/banking/comprehensive/html/index.en.html) and there market capitalization now markets.ft.com

/research/Markets/Tearsheets/Summary?s=RBI:VIE as well the stess-test threshold by ECB.

See what is the rating of Bulgaria now, tradingeconomics.com

/bulgaria/rating and consider the debt increase. See en.wikipedia.org

/wiki/Bond_credit_rating for how Corporate Cumulative Historic Default Rates increase for Non-investment grade speculative. Usually the companies have lower ratings than countries. What this means for banks, is obvious from Greece and Hungarian commercial Banks balances, there is also substantial external private debt. Consider also the quantitative theory for money that p*Q=M*V. I think for change in M (as envisaged by EC prognosis in credits, which should correspond to deposits /big deposits are not warranted by EU legislation and look for high rating banks/), initially there is change in Q. So make your own calibration for expected change in product. en.wikipedia.org

/wiki/Price%E2%80%93specie_flow_mechanism “Using a theory called the quantity theory of money, Hume argued that in countries where the quantity of money increases, inflation would set in and the prices of goods and services would tend to rise while in countries where the money supply decreases, deflation would occur as the prices of goods and services fell.”

(2) -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

- See Vivacom Mobile Subscribers at period end (in thousands 2014) 2 556(Dec13) 2 594(Mar14) 2 677(Jun14) 2 809(Sep14) to see acceleration of acquisition...

http://s2.vivacom.bg/files/financial_reports/53/document/Vivacom_results_KPIs_Q3_2014.pdf

- “Клиентите на абонаментните програми на GLOBUL продължиха да се увеличават през третото тримесечие на годината и достигнаха близо 2.8 милиона, с 4% повече от същия период на миналата година”. “Общите приходи на GLOBUL за третото тримесечие на 2014 г. намаляха със 1.3% в сравнение на същия период от предходната година”

telenor.bg

/bg/node/27702

Mtel revenues then should have an effect of including remaining-to-the-end-of-contract -payments at once for the last Q 2014 of leaving customers (because of Vivacom promotions). So Q3 2014 93.7 mill EUR revenues should include this effect. Then calculate according to your average bill (of people you know) how many are really capable-of-paying Mtel clients at the end of September and see how Vivacom and Globul new clients increase with acceleration. Networks usually have level (critical mass), after which they quickly decline (if there is a reason e.g. bad brand, high prices to incomes). Imagine some of your friends move to another operator – so it is cheaper for you to switch as well. See queues in Malls for leaving and new customers.

The Potential GDP in EC prognosis, however increases a lot to provide an opportunity for such substantial deficit or to keep the people away from protests (so typical for some years now), but I think employers and labor syndicates in Bulgaria, do Lucas critique to Government and strive for sustainable future for them and their kids without unnecessary debt. Is this geopolitics in EC forecasts, to look very risky, probably not optimal path for the economy of Bulgaria to stay without protest, so typical for EU last week in Hungary and Brussels or to keep the bad loans growth relatively low at the expense of country future? Do the calibration, see envisaged employment to have an idea how likely is this scenario.

Georgi Chinkov

Rainer5 hours ago

Martin Wolf is describing the Golden Age of Public Health. Unfortunately the Malthusian limits (200 years late) are beginning to kick in:

1) obesity. More people now obese than underweight, with huge consequences for health services and it is poorly and expensively treatable.

2) rampant non-communicable diseases - not just obesity and diabetes, but depression, alcoholism, the continued vitality of tobacco, and more

3) undermining of the conditions of good health due to overproduction and overconsumption, the impact being biodiversity loss, soil loss, deforestation, forest fires, climate change, water pollution, etc etc. We are now using several planets of resources.

4) Growing inequality. The OECD says that virtually all of its member countries have seen growth of economic inequalities, which will result in political disorder.

5) People are living longer, but with increase in unhealthy life years, more dependent on medical and social care and drugs.

6) Resurgence of infectious diseases. There are now more than 30 diseases which are not amenable to tradition prevention (immunisation, etc) and treatment (antibiotics)

7) Weakening of medical care responses. Antibiotics are declining in their effectiveness, in part due to the fact that Western countries use them in animal feed (accounting for around 75% by weight in USA). They are overused in medicine.

8) The world's population is too large if everyone receives and adequate standard of life and consumption. The planet cannot sustain cornucopia for everyone, in any case with consumerism life satisfaction begins to decline (the paradox of prosperity).

9) The productionist farming model - the means of escape from the Malthusian trap - is running out of ecological road due its energy dependency, water dependency and undermining of biodiversity. The more the world shifts to processed food the more the nutrition transition (and NCDs) kicks in.

I think I am running out of space. The point is that the focus on technological optimism and economic progress is far too narrow, unbalanced and unecological. In fact it applies a very narrow model of health (the world is old German meaning 'whole'). Diminishing returns have already set in, for reasons given above, and the Golden Age is on the wane. Neoliberalism looks resplendent and indeed trimphant... but only when looked at through rose-tinted spectacles Martin.

GSo6 hours ago

To those who did not follow the link to Gapminder ; Do it now, and let the statistics tell the story! The numbers are storytellers on par with Wolf this time.

jbx4 hours ago

@GSo And the Gapminder videos are great fun to watch too!

beachcomber6 hours ago

“Of all the things that make life worth living, extra years of life are surely among the most precious.” They certainly are, provided you have the funds to support your expected lifestyle.

And worse than “sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything” is sans funds.

The scenario of the elderly who have not provided for their non-working unproductive period at the end of their lives should be a thesis for many a PhD. Apart from the drain on the economy there are vast social implications of the legions of lonely elderly who need expensive health care.

And to all the FT financial experts who are about to comment that you should have provided for this, may I remind them that the finance markets are fickle and untrustworthy and who knows what your investments will be worth when you really need them?

Refer 2008/09 and did anyone see oil at $60 and perhaps lower?

WendellMurray9 hours ago

Good essay, as almost always, from the esteemed M. Wolf. I have not read the book, but will look for it now.

Three requests for Mr Wolf:

1. An autobiographical sketch that is honest and insightful and that addresses anything that Mr. Wolf deems important. The more honesty and candor, the better. He is a true treasure with regard to writing on economic issues, so I, along with most of the Financial Times readership, would be keenly interested in reading such.

2. An honest assessment of Karl Marx's and Friederich Engels' work. Leaving dogmatism behind, both were fascinating figures, who proved to be an excellent pairing in their work. I have always considered Marx's work to be the successor to that of the previous two geniuses on such matters, David Ricardo and Adam Smith. Although Marx's style of writing was different from that of each of his predecessors, he deals with the same issues and is one more in the long series of writers who stand on the shoulders of prior giants.

3. Mr Wolf should read some of the work of the possibly now retired Robert Evans, a Canadian economist who has written some of the best analysis of health and healthcare economics. A particularly interesting book, Why are some people healthy and others not, edited by Mr Evans among others, concerns health as opposed to healthcare and the correlation of longevity to social status. Exceptionally insightful as is his book Strained Mercy.

Adam Bartlett7 hours ago

@WendellMurray Totally second the call for a biography - though I'd rather he got someone else to write it as I think he might be too modest to do himself justice. Considering Wolf's achievements there's scant coverage in this regard, Im only aware of Julia Loffe's 'Call of the Wolf'. I only know one biographer, she's can write a short book in only 3 months, I asked her earlier in the year if she'd be interested in the proposal and she very much agreed that Wolf deserves a biography, but she said she was now too busy prepping for May (she's running to be an MP.) Must be many others who'd be keen for the job though, even if it was just an in-depth article.

jbx4 hours ago

@Adam Bartlett @WendellMurray I would be very keen to read MW's current views on Marx and Engels- they loomed so large as very serious challengers to prevailing wisdom as I was growing up, and there were so many people who said that China and Russia were not really applying their principles that I am a little suspicious that their disappearance due to the failures of socialism in practice may be a little too neat.

Jeannick10 hours ago

Nothing quite beat being alive ,

The Centrist11 hours ago

"No blessing is unmixed. Prolonged survival “sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything” is to be neither envied nor desired. Yet the revolution in health is still a blessing. As Professor Deaton notes: “Of all the things that make life worth living, extra years of life are surely among the most precious.”

I only understood the first statement above. Prof. Deaton's comment is difficult to understand. Why is extended life a blessing - 'sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything'?

Boleyman7 hours ago

The comment makes it clear that it isn't simply a blessing. It is a "mixed" blessing. A bit good and a bit bad. Unlike death, which is generally considerd wholly bad.

thanh178912 hours ago

Human population aging & atrophy has started on Earth. Just yesterday, India announces that very soon it will reach replacement fertility (2.1 births/female). What will happen to mankind when all nations modernize and reach German/US/Japan/Iran/... sub-2.1 fertility? Species-wide population decline?

Check out www.demographicfate.com and explore this possibility: what if our population aging & atrophy is the natural end-fate common to all intelligent life in the universe? What if intelligent species everywhere all follow a natural life cycle of blooming and fading, like wildflowers? Naturally and peacefully?

duvinrouge12 hours ago

Since the invention of agriculture humankind has unevenly progressed towards the abolition of want. Today humanity worldwide produces enough for there to be material abundance for all. Instead, we have famine, homelessness, poverty & war, whilst a few have so much money they don't know how to spend it. The forces of production have been developed, but the class system still holds back humanity.

There is hope though. Capitalism is only struggling on due to a Ponzi scheme of money creation. It can't go on much longer. People are looking for something better, something that delivers. This can only come from a system that isn't based upon producing profit for a few. A system based upon meeting human needs. A system based upon participatory democracy, where the means of production are commonly owned & controlled.

History is far from dead; it is very much alive!

jon7511 hours ago

@duvinrouge The forces of production have not been fully developed in many countries in the world. And why ought technology and those who create it, not themselves burst the fetters of the outmoded means of production - the proletariat? Technology shows us that there is more development to occur, something which command economics simply cannot deliver. It is not 1843 anymore - capitalism nowadays brings improvements in living quality.

Marx himself believed the class system originated in primitive divisions of labour, his own arguments undermine the idea of the inevitability of the destruction of class divisions.

Michael Broom Smith8 hours ago

@duvinrouge. But the system already exists! Get your ticket for North Korea and live the dream.

Merry Christmas or should I say Joyeux Noel!

Johnny Julius Johnson13 hours ago

Martin clearly begs the question. These oldsters take away more than they ever contributed. Plus, they, in conjunction with the democratically elected policymakers create flows of cash favorable to private bank accounts and at the same time, draining on the accounts that fund the continuation of benefits of people that were supposed to die already. And by begging the question, Martin is inflammatory.

No. By gratuitously rewarding themselves with favorable fiscal policy that drained public coffers, oldsters must die. It has to be. Irresponsibility must have its rewards and that is the crucial connection between policy and the people responsible for that policy.

jon7511 hours ago

@Johnny Julius Johnson Garbled and heartless. The only intelligible thing in your post is that you think other people should die so your life can be a bit better.

Ni Treasa15 hours ago

I'm 33 and have decided to expire my life at 60.

I'm in peak condition and have lived a wonderful life with an enjoyable job.

But it's obvious that a natural death is too protracted and undignified nowadays. It'll only get worse.

Since I put a limit on my future; I've become much more discriminating upon that which I spend my time on; and whom with.

Also, I need not worry about accruing assets, pension funds and that painfully hard goal of storing wealth.

Finally, the elephant in every room is Death and I have greeted him as a friend and a cure. Only he who is without fear is truly free.

Gentlemen, thanks for all those insightful and informed comments this past year; I've been grateful.

Have a Merry Christmas!

Johnny Julius Johnson13 hours ago

@Ni Treasa

I'll pull the plug. Merry Xmas.

Jeannick10 hours ago

@Ni Treasa Don't waste your breath , each age has its own enlightenment ,

get on the journey ......I'll be waiting at the end of the path .

WendellMurray9 hours ago

@Jeannick @Ni Treasa I agree with the ever-sage Yannick, bretonnais, but living for some unknown reason somewhere in the wilds of Australia.

Jeannick3 hours ago

@WendellMurray @Jeannick @Ni Treasa describing Sydney leafy eastern suburbs as wilds is pure romantisicm

Ealing8 hours ago

@Ni Treasa I'm 62. I promise you that when you reach 60 you will suddenly discover the most fun you have ever had. Your children will be grown and struggling with various issues that you remember you had, and you'll be able to help. Would you leave them to struggle without the wisdom of your years? (Ignore them when they say "I KNOW dad" because you're helping anyway.) The mortgage may be paid off and retirement, the only period you will ever encounter in your life where you get to do EXACTLY what you want, beckons invitingly.

After 60 years you have earned your time in the sun. And you would choose darkness instead?

No, you won't. That's a promise.

This comment has been removed

Ealing5 hours ago

@WendellMurray Hi Wendell. Can't see any video? Happy Christmas to you anyway. Here's to a more sane, but no less interesting 2015!!!

WendellMurray2 hours ago

@Ealing @WendellMurray The URL was appropriately and promptly removed.

Personal website where I put things and change things periodically, sometimes restricting access, sometimes not. Current "resources" show a tennis-ball launching machine in use that I bought about 1-1/2 years ago. Excellent machine which facilitates enjoyable aerobic exercise, not to mention invaluable for improving tennis strokes. The videos should stream well. If you accessed the site without success at viewing, I am not sure what might be the problem.

The point on this, as it relates to commentary here, is that even misguided Trotskyites or Stalinists want good health and physical fitness too, as they age. On-going good health is obtainable, needless to write, if one makes some effort.

Second, commenters here, like all people, have many and sundry interests. Thus there may well be coincidence of many other interests amongst commenters here whose political views otherwise differ substantially. None of us is remotely uni-dimensional.

Flaneur1 hour ago

@Ealing @Ni Treasa All fair points but @Ni Treasa didn't once mention children in her scenario.

Occamthebat8 hours ago

@ Ni Treasa: I suggest you read "The Fixed Period" by Anthony Trollope. The idea seems a good one, but less attractive as the date approaches.

aegian16 hours ago

We're on the eve of a new medical revolution based on gene therapy. That should change everything we know and think is possible health wise. Of course it needs funding. Any revolution which would affect everyone will have to be made possible by an efficient NHS free to everyone. How long will that be true? The future knocks on the door but will the door open?

Seasons greetings to all at the FT and all readers.

Johnny Julius Johnson13 hours ago

@aegian

When the benefit and entitlement policies were enacted, ostensibly (there are always conspiracy theories) longevity wasn't a word. So now talk of therapies is societal disaster because of the fiscal ramifications. What I recommend is internment camps for old people like martin wolf. Its like a camping trip only totally different.

Johnny Julius Johnson13 hours ago

@aegian

What old people like martin want to do is invest their money in IBB ( ETF for drugs prolonging life). So they get rich off the economy that prolongs their life in a virtuous cycle for themselves but impoverishes the youth.

greysuit2 hours ago

@aegian Reverse the dilution of the gene pool caused by the Great Flood and all live to the age of Noah or Methuselah. One wonders how much golf one could play if one lived to 969

JCJC18 hours ago

very interesting if Martin could address quality of life measures, DALYS.

Surely inconsistent that 93% of dogs are put down when their quality of life gets poor, but only c.1% of humans.

Paul A. Myers16 hours ago

@JCJC Dogs don't vote.

Chris_in_Oxford6 minutes ago

@JCJC

One problem in trying to measure disability-free life expectancy is that assessments of what constitutes "good health" is in some degree a subjective matter. It depends on what people expect to be doing, given their age, etc. So analyses of DALYs and such like are never as clear-cut as studying death. However, although the pattern varies a bit from country to country, quality of healthy life indicators are also geneally progressing at about the same rate as life expctancy.

Adeline18 hours ago

A celebration of life is not merely measured in terms of longevity. It is measured in terms of the quality of lives that are lead. Add that into an axis of young Europeans currently and things look none too pleasing. Simple measurements and graphs distort facts - present a more nuanced picture that presents the picture in Europe delineating prospects for the quality of life prospects for 20 somethings in Spain, Italy, France, Portugal, Greece outlining the public liabilities that they will be incurring in future. Add in the UK, NL and Germany for a more rounded picture and remedies to the issues that face a lost generation in dealing with it - money printing aside.

Johnny Julius Johnson13 hours ago

@Adeline

I sympathize with your sentiments but I harshly criticize your intellect. You have no right to judge the quality of peoples lives. The only exception is people that live in places and circumstances that are ridiculous. North Korea comes to mind. But there are places in Africa where young children are starving to death and its incorrect to blame them for their own demise.

Adeline7 hours ago

@Johnny Julius Johnson This is an economics article and there are plenty of measures of quality of life that an economist could use. Average earnings, crime rates, holidays per year, debt, rural green belt, suicide rates, drug usage etc etc..... a happiness index of sorts can be compiled with numerous data. Life expectancy is a big one clearly in developing countries since there is very little else that can be measured showing quality of life. But a subsistent rural farmer in Ethiopia may well have a better quality of life than an unemployed student in Gijon. A cancer patient's temperature may not be high. Measuring one thing does not present an accurate picture of wellbeing.

Chris_in_Oxford18 hours ago

There is an even more striking way of considering life expectancy gains.

Martin correctly points out that we have been gaining about one extra year of life every four years of time. This is 3 months each year, or 6 hours a day. So when you go to bed tonight, console yourself with the thought that, of the previous 24 hours, you have ony been charged for 18.

Nicholas Pye-Smith4 hours ago

@Chris_in_Oxford I think you mis-read Martin's first sentence. That rapid gain was for only the most extreme case and was averaged over 174 years from 1840. It is most unlikely to be continuing at that average rate now and certainly not for all of us. Sorry!

Chris_in_Oxford13 minutes ago

@Nicholas Pye-Smith @Chris_in_Oxford

Let me explain.

The work that Deaton and Martin refer to (initially a key article in Science (Oeppen & Vaupel, 2002) Showed that the longest life expectancy of any county in each year had been rising linearly from 1840s on at 0.25 years per year.

However, further research has shown that there has been substantial convergence of many countries towards the world's best. So now there is relatively little difference in life expectancy among OECD countries, and much of the developing world has been catching up too. Only Sub-Saharan Africa has missed out. The rest of the developing world (taken as a whole) is about were Britain was in the 1960s.

In fact, currently life expectancy for males in the UK is rising faster than the 0.25 years per year.

Hope this clarifies things a bit.

Adam Bartlett20 hours ago

I agree this should be celebrated, but want to note changes in life expectancy are not unidirectional. When free market thinking gets out of control, almost all the benefit goes to the elite, while the impact on regular people can drag down life expectancies of whole nations. For example, the US had a life expectancy of about 56 in 1800, but by 1850 this had fallen to only 43, partly due to the market reforms of the 1830s. Changes in the direction may have happened in Britain caused by austerity, with doctors noting a recent doubling in hospital admissions, and with the recent all-party hunger report finding that despicable benefit sanctions have been causing both mental and physical illness due to the resulting deprivation.

On the bright side, at least the world now has the formidable Martin Wolf frequently pushing back against free market extremists.

A very merry Christmas to all FT staff and readers!

Ian Campbell19 hours ago

@Adam Bartlett

What tosh you utter from idealogically tortuous pre-conception!

Improvements in health and life expectancy are a consequence of pockets of mankind being sufficiently free in time gone by, and hence open minded enough to experiment in improvements to anything moral beings chose to prioritise. It is no coincidence that these were grounded in the capitalist economies. And it is even less surprising that increasing prosperity was the enabler. To achieve such progress mankind will always swing the pendulum too far in the direction of those who stand to gain the most often at the expense of the least advantaged.

As mankind progresses it will become second nature to take account of those who get excluded from the early benefits of progress and that is how mankind will become more sentient without having to impose 'socialistic' systems of envy and Ludditiism to level the playing field for idealogical reasons of little practical benefit.

Happy Christmas.

Toffe17 hours ago

@Ian Campbell @Adam Bartlett It seems that you are uttering nonsense from an blind ideological perspective. Free markets are reasonably good at providing products, however an unbiased assessment of heath care systems in different systems provide plenty of hard evidence that both life expectancy (LE) and infant mortality (IM) are significantly better in socially inclined systems than in hard capital based systems. Compare for example UK/France or US/Canada. It might be that you are not interested for these averages to improve, then capitalism does indeed work well for the few.

Its a matter of what you are looking to achieve with a political-economic system, however if LE and IM averages matter, socialist countries do far better. Nordic countries being the best functioning socialist countries in the world, with the best statistics to go with it.

Johnny Julius Johnson13 hours ago

@Toffe @Ian Campbell @Adam Bartlett

Free markets are absurd. Of course everyone will rush to get everything for free. But who will supply goods to this market for free? Your mind is mush.

WendellMurray9 hours ago

@Toffe @Ian Campbell @Adam Bartlett True. Competitively-determined markets, not capitalism, by the way, work very well in the provision of many consumer and industrial products and services, but are irrelevant with regard to other social matters, e.g. law enforcement, military, health and healthcare and similar.

jon7512 hours ago

@Ian Campbell @Adam Bartlett

"As mankind progresses it will become second nature to take account of those who get excluded from the early benefits of progress and that is how mankind will become more sentient without having to impose 'socialistic' systems of envy and Ludditiism to level the playing field for idealogical reasons of little practical benefit."

Perhaps you could cite some sort of precedent for this utopia in which the winners in markets all voluntarily pay for the needs of those whom markets inevitably fail? I'm quite surprised that you would say that there is "little practical benefit" in socialised provision of public goods. Surely as another person said, the UK's socialised healthcare is provided universally at 8% of GDP as opposed to the USA's 15%+ for partial coverage. That seems quite practical to me. Besides all the infrastructure subsidy which is required to make a world which business can function in, let alone which people would want to live in.

You sound equally as misguided and ideologically fantasy-gripped as a hardcore Marxist with his utopian fantasies of the historical necessity of the revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat prior to the transition to communism.

COLOPHON6 hours ago

@Adam Bartlett

As always, your contribution is all too predictable.

Adam Bartlett6 hours ago

@COLOPHON - be that as it may, it's nice to know right wingers are reading, no point preaching just to the converted!

@Ian Campbell - sorry for the mistake, I missed the words 'for malnutrition' when I wrote that Drs reported a doubling of hospital admissions. Other than that Im seeing any 'tosh' in the comment. Im not saying markets are always bad, similar to most other commentators I think moderately free markets are great for many things. It's a question of balance. The point is there's stacks of empirical evidence that when free market ideology becomes excessively influential on policy, outcomes for regular people suffers, and there's reason to think than in the English speaking world we're in such a period right now.

COLOPHON4 hours ago

@Adam Bartlett

It's all about preaching then?

Pages

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Russian equities worst performers of 2014

More

ON THIS STORY

ON THIS TOPIC

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Monday, December 29, 2014

Sunday, December 28, 2014

Saturday, December 27, 2014

Friday, December 26, 2014

North Korea farce packs US theatres

More

ON THIS TOPIC

IN US SOCIETY

Thursday, December 25, 2014

Three Ways to Get to Cuba Right Now

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Let us enjoy the greatest human escape of all

More

ON THIS TOPIC

MARTIN WOLF

RELATED TOPICS

Content recommended for you

Based on your browsing history

MOST POPULAR

About Me

Blog Archive