Sunday, June 7, 2009

Points of View - June 7

Merkel Makes a Mark - By Bertrand Benoit - Financial Times - "When Angela Merkel ended a long and otherwise unremarkable speech about economic policy this week with a vitriolic attack on the world’s three mightiest central banks, the German chancellor was writing a minor chapter of her country’s political history."

Congress, the Banks and Derivatives - The New York Times - "The Obama administration has made a serious proposal to regulate derivatives — the multitrillion-dollar market in financial contracts that malfunctioned so disastrously last year. The plan goes further than many thought politically possible, especially in its call for federal oversight of all large derivatives dealers. But it does not go far enough."

Paying for Universal Health Coverage - The New York Times - "For Congress and the administration to keep the promise of comprehensive health care reform, they will have to find the political will to pay for universal coverage and other investments that are needed right away but will not produce quick savings. The cost could reach $1.5 trillion over the next decade."

The Only Statue That Is Smiling - By Peggy Noonan - The Wall Street Journal - "Ronald Reagan, cast in bronze, arrives at the Rotunda... Rather than recite a history lesson, he said, he'd note that in the 1980s, when the world said America was over, America said not quite, and when they said freedom was yesterday, America said I don't think so."

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