Business & Politics

Hillary Clinton, the Democratic senator, has a new way to distinguish herself from other presidential hopefuls – dismissing the policy her husband initiated.

While Mr. Clinton pushed through the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1993, then wrapped up the Uruguay round of global trade liberalization in 1995 and finally ushered China into the World Trade Organization at the end of his term, Mrs. Clinton said last week that NAFTA and other trade pacts U.S. has signed should be reassessed and “readjusted” and any new free trade agreement postponed.

What is $5000 worth 18 years from now? If we put it in a money market account, the standard risk-free investment with a return of about 5 percent a year, we will end up with $12000 as interest gets compounded year over year.

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton should have done this math before she proposed last week a “baby bond” that would give every newborn $5000 to help finance their college education or housing down payment.

China is not a democracy. Nor does it have a First Amendment that protects people to petition the government, a constitutional right that has led to the proliferation of K Street brokers.

However, the autocratic regime and its murky legal system have not stopped Akin Gump, the fourth largest lobbying firm in the U.S., from offering last week to help fend off criticism of Beijing Olympics because of China’s shoddy records in human rights and the Darfur crisis.

Huawei, the Chinese telecommunication equipment maker, has made a comeback in the U.S following its pullout three years ago. It announced Friday a joint bid for 3Com, the U.S. networking group with Bain Capital, the private equity firm.

The deal is worth $22 billion. Bain will take more than 80 percent stake of 3Com while Huawei owns the rest.

For car buyers seeking an environmentally correct solution, hybrid models, especially those made by Japanese and Koran manufacturers, have offered a nice alternative.

Governments understand this. Ken Livingstone, mayor of London, embraced hybrid cars by inviting them into the city free of congestion charge. Arnold Schwarzenegger, California’s governor has promised to offer “green cars” good mileage ratings carte blanche in the state's car-pool lanes, even with only one passenger.

Was Mattel, the world’s largest toymaker, kowtowing to China when it apologized Friday for damaging the reputation of China-made products?

Mattel, once described by the New York Times as a role model for having high quality standards, has for the past three months announced recalls of about 21 millions boys made in China, where the company conducts 60 percent of its production.

The backlash against Borse Dubai's purchase of a 20 percent stake in Nasaq isn't economically sound. Politicians should focus more on business interests, rather than ideological rhetoric, in judging foreign purchase of U.S. assets.

K Streeters have reason to be worried, as President Bush yesterday signed into law a new bill that bans lobbyists from giving gifts to members of the Congress.

The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act, approved by the House this summer, has also imposed tougher penalties for lobbying violations. Anyone who “knowingly and corruptly fails to comply with any provision” of the Lobbying Disclosure Act will be subject to up to five years in prison for false certifications.

Lurita Doan, head of the General Service Administration, has proposed a new way of cutting America’s soaring greenhouse emissions. GSA, the federal government’s buying arm, will enable half of its eligible employees to telework by 2010, said Administrator Doan in a conference Wednesday.

Teleworking is another way of saying working at home or, as Ms. Doan put it, “from a telework center near your home”.

Barack Obama’s grassroots campaign is starting to pay off. The Financial Times reported that the Illinois Senator has raised money from 100,000 donors, more than any candidate of either party. As if to reiterate his commitment to the poor, Mr. Obama launched the most radical proposal ever last week in resolving the sub-prime mortgage crisis. In an article on August 28’s FT, the democratic presidential candidate wrote:

As elementary economics tells us, salary rises fastest in rapidly growing sectors. As an industry expands, demand for workers quickly exceeds what the marketplace can supply. Wages get bid up by competition for talents.

A recent application of the rule came this Monday, when The Washington Post reported that the House had approved a 3.5 percent pay rise for the civil service as part of the General Government Appropriations Bill in 2008.