October 2013 – Schirach Report

From Energy To Health Care Big Public Policy Initiatives Fail To Work As Intended Our culture now assumes that markets are imperfect or bad, while smart technocats will come up with flawless plans that will achieve goals. Obamacare is just one example of this mistaken belief

By Paolo von Schirach October 31, 2013 WASHINGTON – Paolo Scaroni, the CEO of Italy’s ENI, one of Europe’s largest...

Major US Corporations Are Buying Trucks Powered By Liquefied Natural Gas – Much Cheaper Than Diesel This change is part of a broader energy revolution caused by natural gas. Trucks powered by LNG will mean reduced oil imports, billions of dollars saved and enhanced energy security

By Paolo von Schirach October 30, 2013 WASHINGTON – A recent lead story in the MARKETPLACE section of The Wall...

The European Central Bank Will Assess The Strength Of The Eurozone’s Lending Institutions – Amazing That We Have Gotten This Far Without Clear Data Previous stress tests were meaningless. Now most Eurozone banks feel compelled to disclose their non performing loans. And the figure, now at 1.2 trillion Euros, keeps getting bigger

By Paolo von Schirach October 29, 2013 WASHINGTON – What is truly troubling about the news of a more...

South Africa Does Not Grow Enough – 2% Is Nothing For A Country That Needs At Least 5% – Meanwhile Social Unrest Grows In a country with enormous income inequalities, labor unions are fighting hard to get higher wages, this way making South Africa even less competitive

By Paolo von Schirach October 28, 2013 WASHINGTON – Any Eurozone government would be ecstatic hearing a forecast of a 2%...

China Will Not Privatize State Owned Enterprises – 100,000 Companies, 50% Of The National Economy, Still Run By The State SOEs are mostly instruments of political control. However their inefficiency slows down overall growth

By Paolo von Schirach October 27, 2013 WASHINGTON – A relatively short article in Bloomberg Businessweek on China’s state-owned enterprises,...

The Failure of Obamacare Medical Exchanges Is A Failure Of Public Policy – Government Is Unable To Manage Large Scale, Sophisticated Programs Big Government follows bureaucratic incentives. Even when it makes major mistakes, it does not go out of business

By Paolo von Schirach October 26, 2013 WASHINGTON – The radical Tea Party Republicans engaged in a disastrous political battle to...

A Tea Party Dominated GOP Is A Sure Loser – Republicans Need A Message Of Hope And Inclusiveness A mostly Southern, strident fringe has tainted the GOP. The Republicans need to be proponents of immigration reform, education reform and they need policies that help women

By Paolo von Schirach October 17, 2013 WASHINGTON – America needs to be re-energized. This requires pro-growth, pro-enterprise policies....

Bernard Tyson, Kaiser Permamente CEO, Argues That The US Health Care Industry Should Re-Focus On Prevention We spend immense resources treating diseases that could be prevented. The "fee for service" model does not help save any money

By Paolo von Schirach October 16, 2013 WASHINGTON – Whatever the eventual fate of Obamacare, let’s be clear that this law is...

Larry Summers Argues That Washington Should Focus on Growth, Not The Debt Cutting spending should not be our number one priority. America's problem right now is slow growth. Republicans and Democrats should find common ground on pro-growth policies

By Paolo von Schirach October 15, 2013 WASHINGTON – Larry Summers did not manage to become the new Chairman...

Europe Invested Massively In Renewables Without Improving Air Quality Despite subsidized solar and wind, cheap coal and expensive natural gas mean higher emissions, and more green house gases

By Paolo von Schirach October 13, 2013 WASHINGTON – There is global warming, no doubt about it; and it is beginning...