Finally, a big fish on Wall Street is hooked

A federal jury last week answered a challenge that armies of government regulators and enforcement officials largely have ignored: The jurors convicted a major Wall Street financial figure for crimes committed during the sleaziness that led to the 2008 financial collapse.Raj Rajaratnam, 53, once the manager of the Galleon Group, one of the largest hedge funds in the world, was convicted Wednesday

May 19, 2011

[Barbara Shelly] ‘Ruined’ health industry is making massive profits

Who would you figure to be America’s highest-paid CEO?Someone from the tech industry, maybe. Or bioscience. Or petroleum. And to be sure, some sweet compensation packages and bonuses are to be had in those fields.But according to Forbes, America’s highest paid chief executive officer hails from the industry that President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats are roundly accused of trying to de

May 19, 2011

[Trudy Rubin] Is bin Laden’s death the start of change?

Will the killing of Osama bin Laden really be “a game-changer” in the Afghan war?Defense Secretary Robert Gates said it may be. And this is the big question I’ll be exploring on a trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan.Will bin Laden’s demise speed the U.S. troop exit? My gut tells me it will make a difference, but not as big as Congress and a war-weary public would like.The state of play in Afghanistan

May 19, 2011

France’s reform anchors laws in constitution

PARIS ― A new and important acronym has entered the French political lexicon: QPC, which stands for the rather austere-sounding “Priority preliminary ruling on the question of constitutionality.” Under QPC, which was part of the constitutional reforms that France implemented in July 2008, any citizen involved in legal proceedings can now contest the constitutionality of a legislative provision.Thi

May 19, 2011

The dogs of war serving in the U.S. military

The Navy SEALs who raided Osama bin Laden’s compound aren’t the only members of the mission to be cloaked in mystery. The military dog the commandos took along is too. The government won’t even release his ― or her ― breed, although most military dogs are German shepherds, Belgian Malinois, Labradors or Lab mixes. We do know the canine was included in the very private meeting President Obama held

May 18, 2011

Sharia: The latest case of U.S. paranoia

A federal appeals court will soon consider a challenge to an Oklahoma measure prohibiting the use of Sharia, or Islamic law, in the state’s courts. The constitutional amendment is part of a national trend in which politicians ― including Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich ― argue that it is vital to prevent Sharia from insinuating itself into the administration of justice in U.S. cour

May 18, 2011

To restore jobs, U.S. has to ramp up exports

One school of thought about the so-called jobless recovery of the American economy blames high unemployment on the federal deficit. But that’s blaming the wrong deficit.To achieve an authentic recovery that includes new jobs, the deficit we need to cut is in trade.For 20 years, America’s exports have been surpassed by its imports, with a big bite of that trade deficit composed of oil imports. Addr

May 18, 2011

[Albert R. Hunt] Geithner emerges as Obama’s indispensable man

If, two years ago, reports of Timothy Geithner possibly leaving reached the White House, some advisers would have seized on them as an opportunity; President Barack Obama’s Treasury secretary got off to a very rocky start, and was considered a short-termer.Today, if rumblings that he’s thinking about stepping down made their way to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, there would be near panic. Geithner is a

May 18, 2011

[Simon Johnson] IMF to get chief from emerging markets?

Even before the shocking events of the past few days, the international policy community had been contemplating a successor to Dominique Strauss-Kahn at the International Monetary Fund.Strauss-Kahn, the IMF managing director, was expected to begin campaigning soon for the presidency of France. Now, whatever happens in the New York legal system as he defends himself against attempted rape allegatio

May 18, 2011

Pakistanis play the blame game with the CIA

So it has come to this. Pakistani authorities miffed about the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden leak the name of the CIA station chief to the Islamabad press corps.Pakistan is all for the red, white and blue until the check comes through. If there were ever a signal about the time to part ways, this is it.Prime Minister Yousuf Raza “Tumbleweed” Gilani was upset anyone would imply his country’

May 17, 2011

A short Arab spring succeeded by long summer

The wave of democracy that swept across the Arab world beginning in January appears to have dissipated. Most countries in the Middle East and North Africa remain under the rule of governments that are anything but democratic. In Tunisia and Egypt, where revolutions succeeded in removing long-time despotic leaders, there are uncertainties about whether liberal constitutional democracy can actually

May 17, 2011

Early child care pays dividends

The United States is sitting on a vast, untapped economic development tool that has received too little notice: our children.Investing in children before they enter school pays dividends, and yet child care subsidies are at risk as Congress mulls questions about how to reduce the federal deficit. Before you tune this out as the same old “it’s for the kids” chorus, consider:― Children in high-quali

May 17, 2011

[Kevin Steinberg] Lessons for living in a new world of risk

No matter how well we foresee and plan, some aspects of both man-made and natural risks will remain random and unpredictable. This uncertainty is inherent in the very nature of risk, and its chaotic and fickle nature has been reaffirmed by the recent tragedies in Japan. As the Japanese people and their government gradually shift from responding to the immediate safety and humanitarian aftermath of

May 17, 2011

[Hirokazu Yoshikawa] Citizen children and life under the radar

President Obama spoke last week about the economic reasons for providing a pathway to citizenship for the nation’s undocumented. This is clearly a polarizing issue, and there is much room for honest disagreement. But there’s one fact we can’t ignore: Undocumented immigrants in the U.S. include the parents of 4.5 million children who are legal citizens. What that means is that, on average, one or t

May 17, 2011