 |
 |
| Expect More Fukushimas |
 The
gung-ho nuclear industry is in deep shock. Just as it and its
cheerleader, the International Atomic Energy Agency, were preparing
to mark next month´s 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl
accident with a series of self-congratulatory statements about
the dawning of a safe age of clean atomic power, a series of
catastrophic but entirely avoidable accidents take place in
not one but three reactors in one of the richest countries of
the world. Fukushima is not a rotting old power plant in a failed
state manned by half-trained kids, but supposedly one of the
safest stations in one of the most safety-conscious countries
with the best engineers and technologists in the world. Chernobyl
blew up not because the reactor... |
|
|
|
 |
| THE IKE PHASE |
| ON January 20, 1961, John Kennedy delivered
his rousing Inaugural Address. But this speech was preceded,
as William Galston of the Brookings Institution has reminded
us, by an equally important speech: Dwight Eisenhower´s
farewell address. Kennedy´s speech was an idealistic call
to action. Eisenhower´s speech was a calm warning against
hubris. Kennedy celebrated courage; Eisenhower celebrated prudence.
Kennedy asked the country to venture forth. Eisenhower asked
the country to maintain its basic sense of balance. While Kennedy
gloried in the current moment, Eisenhower warned the country
to "avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering,
for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of
tomorrow... |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Nikkei rally lifts Asian markets, but fails to enthuse Europe
AP
LONDON SHARES around the world failed to capitalise on a bounceback in Japanese stocks on Wednesday amid concerns about an escalating nuclear crisis in the wake of the country’s devastating earthquake and tsunami.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average closed up 5.7 percent at 9,093.72 as investors snapped up bargains after panic selling sent the index spiralling down nearly 11 percent the day before.
Another massive monetary injection from the Bank of Japan — to a total of almost $700 billion in short-term loans — and an indication from the government that it could buy into the stock market also helped shore up the Nikkei.
On Tuesday, the index closed at its lowest level in almost two years after shedding 16 percent over two days, its biggest two-day retreat in forty years.
Japan’s powerhouse exporters also rebounded.
Toyota Motor Corp, the world’s No 1 auto maker, shot up 9.1 percent, Sony Corp.
rose 8.8 percent, and truckmaker Isuzu Motors closed 10.5 percent higher.
Heavy industry shares rose as the shock of the disaster gave way to thoughts of rebuilding.
Kobe Steel soared 15 percent and Nishimatsu Construction Co Ltd.
jumped 5.8 percent higher.
The recovery in Japan’s market gave Asian stocks a lift, but the momentum failed to carry through to Europe, where most of indexes were down on concerns over some of Japan’s nuclear reactors.
In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 0.8 percent at 5,649 while Germany’s DAX fell 0.3 percent to 6,630.
The CAC-40 in Paris was down 1 percent at 3,743.
Wall Street was also set to open lower following big falls on Tuesday — Dow futures were down 23 points at 11,176 while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 futures fell 3.3 points to 1,272.10.
In currency markets, the yen remained buoyant, partly through its widely perceived status as a safe haven in times of stress.
By mid-morning, the dollar was down 0.3 percent at 80.68 yen, barely a yen above its post-World War II low of 79.75 yen, achieved back in 1995 soon after the Kobe earthquake.
The appreciating yen is an additional worry for Japanese policymakers as it has the potential to price already-vulnerable exporters out of the international marketplace.
Though the Bank of Japan has pumped colossal amounts of money into the money markets over the past couple of days to support liquidity, analysts said it may be tempted to buy up dollars to rein in the export-sapping rise in the currency.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
