All posts by Alison Meadows

About Alison Meadows

Alison Meadows has a PHD in Economic Trends in Modern Times and is a known writer who focuses on hedge fund investments. Meadows, her husband, and three kids live in Boston, where she grew up and attended college. Contact Alison at alison[at]businessdistrict.com

China Investing Heavily in US Real Estate

Economy, Real Estate, ,

A recent study outlines the extent to which Chinese investors have been flooding money into the United States real estate market. According to the study a recent surge of Chinese buying of residential and commercial property as brought the five-year total investment to over $110 billion.

Conducted by the Asia Society and Rosen Consulting Group, the study shows that the huge size of the total investment helped the US real estate market recover from the real estate crash that began in 2006. The Chinese investment in real estate has also influenced other countries, inflating prices in developed markets such as Australia and the UK.

The study predicts that, despite the tightening restrictions of capital outflows by Beijing, the amount of investment will double to $218 billion.

“What makes China different and noteworthy is the combination of the high volume of investment (and) the breadth of its participation across all real estate categories,” including a “somewhat unique entry into residential purchases,” the study said.

Trump Suggests the US Solve its Debt Problem by Printing More Money

Economy, , , ,
Deutschland
In der Geldauflieferungsstelle der Reichsbank in Berlin.
(Aufnahme: Oktober 1923) Geldauflieferungsstelle der Reichsbank in Berlin.
(Aufnahme: Oktober 1923)
6823

During an interview on Fox Business  Donald Trump quoted newspapers who had claimed that “Trump wants to go and start negotiating with creditors.” His answer: “You don’t have to think about this, but we print the money.”

He repeated the same sentiment on CNN:

“People said I want to go and buy debt and default on debt — these people are crazy. This is the United States government. First of all, you never have to default because you print the money, I hate to tell you, OK? So there’s never a default.”

News outlets such as the New York Times annoyed Trump, the presumptive Republican candidate for president, when they suggested that Trump wanted to reduce the national debt by convincing creditors to accept less than full payment. The report said that such statements are a totally new frontier for modern political candidates.

Those remarks were based on an interview Trump gage to CNBC last week. He was asked whether the US should pay its debt in full, or maybe negotiate a partial repayment. Trump’s answer was:

“I would borrow, knowing that if the economy crashed, you could make a deal.”

Trump has described himself as the “king of debt” but added that debt is “tricky” and can be “dangerous.”

“I know how to deal with debt very well — I love debt — but, you know, debt is tricky, and it’s dangerous, and you have to be careful, and you have to know what you’re doing,” he said.

Panasonic Quietly Recognizes Same-Sex Marriage

Companies, News, , , , ,

Attitudes towards expansion of certain types of worker’s rights, such as same-sex marriage, do not get the same kind of wide-spread support in Japan as they do in the United States. In a move that is out of step with the prevailing cultural and business attitudes held in Japan, Panasonic has, albeit quietly, recognized the legitimacy of same-sex partnerships.

Panasonic decision is highly unusual, and although it is bold, it is unlikely to be the beginning of a new trend in Asia. “Coming out” is highly problematic in countries like China, South Korea and the Philippines, as well as much of the rest of Asia. Not only do the individuals coming out face extreme ridicule, their families also have to endure abuse and even ostracism.

Lenny Sanicola, an expert on employee benefits policy at a Washington DC-based non-profit called WorldatWork, thought Panasonic’s low-key approach to their announcement was a mistake. He said that “Panasonic would be a pioneer in Japan,” if they would announce their new policy loud and clear to the entire world. The message they would project would show that the company placed a high value on diversity, thus attracting younger talent to Japan, a country that is aging quickly.

Sanicola added that it is just a matter of time until the Asian countries adopt the same position as that held in Europe and North America.

Huge Breech in Security for Millions of Americans Uncovered

Tech News, ,

Tech support specialist Chris Vickery said that he uncovered a database with the names, phone numbers, addresses, birth dates, and more of about 191 million voters which was exposed to the open internet. He said it was open due to a mistake in the way the database information was configured.

The database also included party affiliations and emails of voters in every one of the 50 states and Washington, DC.

Vickery, an independent researcher of computer security in Austin, Texas, said that he uncovered the information while tracking down different kinds of information which is exposed on the web. He was hoping to raise awareness of the problem of data leaks.

The database took about one day to download. Vickery said he could not tell if anyone else had looked in the database. Most of the data is considered in the public domain. The danger lies in the fact that so much useful information is all gathered together in one easily accessible place. This cache of voter data could be useful, and highly valuable, to criminals who might be looking for large lists of potential targets of all kinds of fraud schemes.

“The alarming part is that the information is so concentrated,” Vickery said.

VW Sales Rise Despite Emissions Scandal

Automobile Industry,

As the Volkswagen emissions scandal deepens the seemingly embattled car company still posts increased car sales.

This past week US regulators announced that 800,000 additional VW cars have been found to have concealed their true emissions data through the use of tampered devices. Yet October sales figures are up by 0.24 percent over October last year for the same time period, with 30,387 additional cars sold.

Volkswagen thanked their customers for “their patience and loyalty.”

“Volkswagen is committed to making things right and actively working to restore trust,” said Mark McNabb, Volkswagen America’s CEO.

2009–2011 Volkswagen Golf (5K) 118TSI Comfortline 5-door hatchback
2009–2011 Volkswagen Golf (5K) 118TSI Comfortline 5-door hatchback

VW Jettas and Beetles suffered the most this year with sales falling by 41.5 percent and 34.1 percent respectively. VW’s Golf line however had 40.2 percent increased sales compared to October last year.

The German-based car company sacked the CEO who was aware of the deception, hired a new CEO, and apologized to its customers. The new report from the environmental regulators seemed to say that VW used the emission-concealing software many more times than was previously known.

“It’s the intentional deceit that bothers consumers and Volkswagen hasn’t laid out its plan for how it is going to fix this. They need to lay out a plan before they can begin to turn the corner,” said Michelle Krebs senior analyst for AutoTrader.com.