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It was supposed to be a visual celebration but an official poster to mark the 68th anniversary of the Chinese navy has instead been a massive Photoshop fail for the Ministry of National Defence. The poster of the Liaoning, the country’s first aircraft carrier, was produced by the ministry and shared on its official microblog on Sunday. It pictured the carrier sailing the ocean waves with a flotilla and under a bright blue sky, declaring: “Happy birthday, People’s Liberation Army Navy!” But online commenters were quick to point out that instead of a Chinese jet crowning the vessel’s deck, the...

Over the last several weeks we have heard Congress caterwauling, stonewalling, stalling and wailing about so called "bank reform". So, cover your eyes and get the kids of out the room because this is about to become bi-partisan.* Here it is: According to both parties- I know you'll find this hard to believe- banks apparently aren't reformed enough. Yes, the problem that Barney-Frank and Chris-Dodd supposedly fixed with huge Democrat majorities from 2000-Obama to 2000-O'Tea Party, apparently isn't fixed, both Democrats and Republicans agree. For example, the other day we heard Barney-Frank both defend and condemn the Dodd-Frank banking reform...

Helping another person even when doing so could adversely affect you is considered a virtue by many. People are often applauded as heroes, as they should be, when they help others. But what happens when a well-intended action results in unanticipated harm? Expand that thought one more step: What is the effect if the resulting harm should have been known, but the persons taking action out of supposed "altruism" based their actions on emotions rather than on data? They meant to help, but they ended up hurting someone or some group -- either themselves, the intended beneficiary of the action...

<p>General Motors sold a record number of Chevrolet Volt sedans in August — but that probably isn't a good thing for the automaker's bottom line.</p> <p>Nearly two years after the introduction of the path-breaking plug-in hybrid, GM is still losing as much as $49,000 on each Volt it builds, according to estimates provided to Reuters by industry analysts and manufacturing experts.</p>

I need some help sorting through some ideas I have concerning the reason the banking system needs bailouts, and how to restructure it so that it won't. I also want to discuss how best to disperse the resulting proposition/argument. The root of the problem, as I see it, is that the banking system is fundamentally unsound. This because, while a bank holds assets backing its liabilities, the maturity of those assets (several years in the case of morgages) far exceed the maturity of the banks liabilities (zero/instant). In effect, the bank is backing fully liquid liabillities with illiquid assets, meaning...

If struggling U.S. commercial lender CIT Group Inc were to collapse it would be a "drastic mistake" as the small businesses that rely on it would have few alternate sources of funding, turnaround experts said at the Reuters Restructuring Summit this week. "I have a great fear of the collapse of CIT and that people don't understand the ramifications of what that can be," Lynn Tilton, chief executive of distressed investment firm Patriarch Partners said, adding she believed any collapse would result in millions of job losses at smaller U.S. companies. "I think it would be a very, very drastic...

Back home after the congressional circus recessed with no relief for the working men and women of America's auto industry, I was driving past a Detroit assembly plant when Bob Seger blared from my speakers: "The big line moved one mile an hour So loud it really hurt The big line moved so loud It really hurt Back in '55 We were makin' Thunderbirds..." It wasn't the "big line" that was so loud it really hurt during the House and Senate hearings on the auto industry's bridge loan. What hurt were the condemnations and ridicule both political parties, late night...