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June 15 is going to be a very expensive day for Weatherford International Ltd. (WFT), a Swiss-based multinational company that provides products and services for oil and natural gas wells in more than 100 countries.  That’s the day when two top executives, Keith Morley and Jessica Arbarca, will leave the company but substantially increase their personal net worth.

Morley, the departing SVP – Well Construction & Operations, joined the company in 2001. Arbarca joined the company in 1996 and worked her way up to the position of Vice President — Accounting and Chief Accounting Officer.

The company filed a short 8-K on May 24, 2010 to announce the upcoming departures, name the executives’ successors, and note this one-sentence disclosure:

“In connection with Mr. Morley’s and Ms. Abarca’s exercise of their employment agreements, we anticipate recording an expense of $12.0 million in the quarter ending June 30, 2010 and making cash consideration payments of $24.5 million in the quarter ending December 31, 2010.”

Both executives signed new employment agreements with the company on December 31, 2009. One day later, on January 1, 2010, the company adopted a new Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan. In the 8-K that the company filed on New Year’s Eve, the filing stated that the new agreements contained changes pertaining to the company’s redomestication from Bermuda to Switzerland and revisions to ensure that the company’s plans complied with the Internal Revenue Code.

The company hasn’t yet disclosed how much of the $24.5 million will go to Morley and how much will go to Arbarca. However, Weatherford’s May 13, 2010 proxy discloses that Morley was eligible to receive nearly $17.5 million if he left the company for “good reason” (Arbarca is an executive, but not a NEO; thus, numbers for her are not stated in the filing.)  The company further noted that “…the freezing of the SERP may constitute ‘good reason’ for five of our executive officers, including Dr. Duroc-Danner, Mr. Becnel and Mr. Morley, to terminate their employment under their employment agreements.” Of course, it also added, “The actual amounts to be paid out can only be determined at the time of, and depend upon the circumstances surrounding, such named executive officer’s termination.”

Regardless of the final numbers, though, the size of their exit packages is surely a bitter pill for the thousands of employees who have been laid off in the past few years with comparatively tiny severance packages.

Image source: Photos8.com via Flickr

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Look out DC! An exciting, yet unconventional conference series is storming through the nation this year and the capital city is next on the target list.

On May 27^th, the Green Innovation in Business Network Solutions Labs come to Washington, DC!

Solutions Labs are one-day, interactive events where participants help craft the agenda and spend the day brainstorming ideas for accelerating green innovation while sharing their experiences and lessons. Solutions Labs provide leading thinkers and “doers” from business, academia, government and non-profit organizations the opportunity to explore the next generation of business sustainability—one in which we can grow profits for our companies and create positive impact on the planet.

What: Green Innovation in Business Network: Solutions Lab 2010 – Washington DC

When: Thursday, May 27, 2010 from 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM (ET)

Where: The George Washington University, Washington, DC

It is not too late to sign up for this event! See the full Solutions Labs schedule for 2010.

The Solutions Labs are organized by the Green Innovation in Business Network (GIBN), an online and offline community focused on creating a well-informed, well-connected, rapidly-learning network of innovators making business more sustainable and are made possible by Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), in partnership with DIG IN, Greenbiz.com, Net Impact, Sony, Ashoka and many others.

By Joe Wilcox, Betanews

About five years ago, when blogging as an analyst, I asserted that computing and informational relevance had started shifting from the Windows desktop to cloud services delivered anytime, anywhere and on anything. The day of Windows’ reckoning is come: 2010 will mark dramatic shifts away from Microsoft’s monopoly to something else. Change is inevitable, and like IBM in the 1980s, Microsoft can’t hold back its destiny during this decade. The Windows era is over.

What’s surprising: New competition encroaching on Microsoft’s Windows territory. Mobile device-to-cloud competition’s shifting relevance bears striking similarities to the move from mainframes to PCs, and it is a long, ongoing trend. Microsoft’s newer problem is sudden and unexpected: Competing operating systems moving up from smartphones to PCs or PC-like devices. Apple’s iPhone OS on iPad is one example. More startling: HP’s acquisition of Palm and plans to release WebOS tablets this year; and Android’s push upwards to Sony TVs.

Some readers of this post will balk at such assertion. Windows is a huge, profitable monopoly coming off version 7’s successful launch. Windows & Windows Live accounted for 48 percent of the five Microsoft divisions’ combined operating profit during fiscal 2010 third quarter — that’s without factoring in expenses or other charges.

Windows is a cash machine. But so was the IBM mainframe monopoly before the dawn of the PC era and for many years afterwards. The DOS/Windows PC didn’t destroy IBM or its mainframe monopoly, but simply diminish its computing and informational relevance. Windows is on the same track. The mobile device-to-cloud applications stack will merely displace Windows’ relevance. It’s inevitable.

Before the PC, computers were large and expensive. Only large corporations really could afford them. The PC extended computational and informational utility to more people, and at much lower cost. Information could be accessed in many more places, too. IBM’s mainframe monopoly made the company slow moving to adaptation, even when launching its own personal computer in 1981. The company’s huge ecosystem and customer base made executives cautious, with many decisions made for fear of losing customers.

Nearly three decades later, Microsoft’s situation is so similar to IBM at the height of its mainframe monopoly’s dominance. Microsoft’s main business is reselling to the same corporate customers running the company’s software, much the same as IBM 30 years ago. Many Microsoft business strategies follow a similar track: Making concessions and avoiding risks to keep existing customers coming back for more.

Sudden Changes are Long Coming

Still, it might not be obvious to many people that the Windows cash machine could run out. That’s because change can be dramatic and sudden, although the causes and progression tend to be long-time coming. The Berlin Wall fell suddenly in 1989, but not without Perestroika and a warming of the Cold War preceding it. Similarly, Windows’ dominance will seemingly change suddenly and, I predict, during the first half of this decade. A new era dawns.

Microsoft has long known this day would come. It’s why the company fought the browser wars with Netscape. During the US antitrust case, Microsoft repeatedly asserted it faced competition, not that the US Justice Department, suing state attorneys general or presiding judge believed it. The trial ignored how much Microsoft invested on sales, marketing and its huge channel of partners. The competition Microsoft feared has come, and there is some irony to it. Last week, Google announced the Chrome Web Store, which makes reality what Microsoft feared in the late 1990s: The browser as competing applications platform to Windows.

Microsoft lumbers along, avoiding risks, clinging to Office and Windows revenues.  Meanwhile, companies without Microsoft’s existing monopoly-bound customers drive change, and they are willing to take risks. The mobile-to-cloud service platform is to the PC what the PC was to the mainframe: It extends computational and informational utility to more people and places — and for lower cost. The Windows era is giving way to the anytime, anywhere, on-anything era. The most dynamic innovations are occurring outside the Windows monopoly.

Perhaps it’s no coincidence that 2005, the year Microsoft originally planned to release Windows XP’s successor, marks the beginning of dramatic changes affecting the company today. This month, YouTube celebrated its fifth anniversary — of posting the first video, anyway. The service opened to the public in late 2005. In August 2005, Google bought Android, while seemingly innocuous then it is hugely problematic for Microsoft today. In 2006, Facebook opened to the public and Twitter launched. In the vacuum left by Windows, innovators, well, innovated. Most of the popular transforming cloud services in use today didn’t exist before 2006. Then there is iPhone (released in June 2007) and Apple’s App Store (launched in July 2008). Google followed with Android and Chrome in autumn 2008.

The numbers show how dramatically computing and informational relevance is shifting to the mobile device-to-cloud app stack and how suddenly change can come:

• Firefox launched in late 2004; according to Net Applications, its usage share was 24.59 percent in April.
• Internet Explorer usage share dropped from around 95 percent six years ago to 59.95 percent in April, according to Net Applications.
• Android and iPhone OS outsell Windows Mobile on smartphones; Windows Mobile was ranked fifth in Q1 by Gartner.
• Google claims 100,000 new Android activations per day. Apple’s iPhone run rate is close but just a little behind based on first-quarter phone sales.
• App Store has more than 200,000 applications, and the Android Marketplace more than 50,000.
• Facebook has close to 500 million subscribers, up from 30 million in July 2007.
• Americans watched 31.2 billion videos in March, 42 percent of them at YouTube, according to ComScore.
• Apple’s market capitalization is $227.95 billion and Microsoft’s $228.47 billion. Apple’s market cap was $88.68 billion on Oct. 2, 2008 and Microsoft’s was $228.35 billion on Sept. 29, 2008. Mmmm, do you see a difference?

Unsurprisingly, all this competition — and innovation — is beyond Windows, much as the PC ecosystem was to the IBM mainframe during the 1980s.

Loyal Partners Go Rogue

Microsoft has a much bigger problem. Competition from without is to be expected. Competition from once loyal partners is something else. Nokia and Intel are partnering on MeeGo, which the companies plan to bring to mobile devices. In March I declared the end to the Wintel (Windows-Intel) hegemony when asking: “Which is eviler? Apple, Facebook and Google?” — all Microsoft competitors. Microsoft can no longer count on Intel’s loyalty, which has been in doubt since Apple shipped the first Intel-based Macs in 2006.

But matters are worse. Compaq was Microsoft’s most important partner. In the 1980s, Compaq popularized the IBM PC clone, which allowed Microsoft to broadly license DOS and later Windows. HP assumed the loyal partner role after acquiring Compaq, particularly for servers. Now, because of the Palm acquisition, HP is a turncoat.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer should have listened to me. In December, I gave 10 reasons why Microsoft should buy Palm. Had he bought Palm, Microsoft’s future phone strategy would be stronger and Windows wouldn’t be weakened by a major partner adopting an alternative-OS strategy.

HP already has announced a WebOS-based tablet. HP’s next, logical step is to release a laptop running WebOS. Losing HP is bad, but there may be more trouble coming. Sony is yet another traitor in the making. Last week, Sony announced plans to support Google TV by offering a television running Android. As part of a recent reorganization, Sony execs responsible for VAIO PCs are in charge of TVs. OS migration from Sony smartphone (the Xperia X10) or Google TV-based television to tablet or PC is logical next step. What about Dell, which already has adopted Android for smartphones? Windows is bloated and moribund compared to these lither mobile OSes pushing up into the PC market.

I’m making my proclamation today that the Windows era is over. But perhaps it’s slightly premature. The defining moment, where people look back and say, “Ah, ha!”, likely will be when Apple’s market capitalization exceeds Microsoft’s. As I write, $520 million separates the companies. How unbelievable is that?

[Update: Almost as soon as I posted, Apple’s market cap exceeded Microsoft’s — $225.98 billion to $225.32 billion.]

Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
















Microsoft – Apple – Windows Mobile – IBM – Google

In not-so-depressing news about the economy, the Commerce Dept. announced this morning that sales of new homes in April had jumped up 14.8% from March — the highest level in nearly two years.

But before you break out the trombone to start playing “Happy Days Are Here Again,” it’s believed that the bump in new home sales was the result of buyers needing to sign contracts by April 30 in order to take advantage of a federal tax credit.

Here’s how some analyst guy explains it to Reuters:

That is a big number, but my sense is that while this is great news, we’re drawing last-minute incentive sales from the future… We’ll probably see a few months of soft patches to make up for this.

In order to qualify for the credit, contracts needed to be inked by April 30 and closing has to happen by the end of June.

However, points out Reuters, the demand for loans to buy homes was still at a 13-year low as of last week, while mortgage applications to refinance home loans hit a seven-month high as rates neared record lows.

And while there was a spike in new home sales in April, the median sale price for a new home dropped to $198,400 — down 9.7% from the previous month and the lowest since Dec. 2003.

New home sales at 2-year high [Reuters]

Dreadlocked singer Crystal Bowersox should be the next American Idol, according to a new study conducted by HCD Research after Tuesday night’s final performances.

In a national study of 3,901 American Idol viewers, Bowersox, 24, was selected as the contestant who should win American Idol this season based on her three performances last night. Bluesy darkhorse Lee DeWyze — a 24-year-old former paint shop employee — finished a distant second in the voting after losing some of the confidence that saw him overshadow Bowersox in recent weeks.

Bowersox received 66.2 percent of the votes, while Dewyze received 33.8.3 percent of the votes.

In a first for Idol, the new song unveiled in the finale as the winner’s first release was replaced this year by two different cover versions of existing songs — U2’s “Beautiful Day” for DeWyze and “Up to the Mountain” for Bowersox.

Also on tonight’s Idol finale, Simon Cowell will end his nine season run as the judge Americans love to hate on, with no word on who will fill his shoes.

Article Tags: James Delingpole

“Can’t you find something else to talk about?” someone (a nice, sympathetic person, not one of my house herd of festering libtard trolls) commented below one of my previous blogs.

So let me explain, briefly, why I rarely can – with reference to the ludicrous story which was given the front page of today’s Times (formerly a newspaper of some note).

The story, enthusiastically headlined EU SETS TOUGHEST TARGETS TO FIGHT GLOBAL WARMING goes like this:

Europe will introduce a surprise new plan today to combat global warming, committing Britain and the rest of the EU to the most ambitious targets in the world. The plan proposes a massive increase in the target for cutting greenhouse gas emissions in this decade.

The European Commission is determined to press ahead with the cuts despite the financial turmoil gripping the bloc, even though it would require Britain and other EU member states to impose far tougher financial penalties on their industries than are being considered by other large economies.

The plan, to cut emissions by 30 per cent on 1990 levels by 2020, would cost the EU an extra £33 billion a year by 2020, according to a draft of the Commission’s communication leaked to The Times.

The existing target of a 20 per cent cut is already due to cost £48 billion. The Commission will argue that the lower target has become much easier to meet because of the recession, which resulted in the EU’s emissions falling more than 10 per cent last year as thousands of factories closed or cut production. Emissions last year were already 14 per cent below 1990 levels.

Source: blogs.telegraph.co.uk

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All systems are go for BP’s latest “top kill” oil spill fix, and they’re broadcasting the process live. The 21st Century: disastrous oil spills and the technology to let you watch them live. Video feed after the jump. More »










BP – Oil spill – Environment – Energy – Petroleum in the Environment

Are the bulls about to blow it again?

Right now it looks like it. At one point the Dow was up triple digits.

Join the conversation about this story »

[JURIST] Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty [official website] on Wednesday introduced legislation [text; official backgrounder] that would establish a single national securities regulatory body to replace the current system managed by individual provinces and territories. The Canadian Securities Act would establish the Canadian Securities Regulatory Authority (CSRA) [fact sheet], replacing the current “passport” system, which allows provincial authorities to issue registration recognized nationwide, with a single national authority with voluntary provincial participation. According to Flaherty, the CSRA is also intended to foster competitive capital markets and protect investors from fraudulent practices. It will be run by a board of directors accountable to the Ministry of Finance [official website]. The legislation would also redefine securities-related criminal offenses that would apply even in provinces not participating in the CRSA and would give concurrent prosecutorial jurisdiction to the federal and provincial governments. Flaherty explained the need [press release] for the legislation, stating:

Canada is the only major industrialized country that lacks a national securities regulator. This step will strengthen the stability, integrity and effectiveness of the Canadian financial system … [by] harmoniz[ing] existing legislation in the form of a single statute. … It proposes significant improvements in terms of governance, adjudication, financial stability, and regulatory and criminal enforcement, and provides a wide scope of authority to regulate financial instruments and participants in capital markets.

The legislation will be submitted to the Supreme Court of Canada [official website] to rule on the proposal’s constitutionality [official backgrounder], a process that could take 10 to 24 months. Quebec Premier Jean Charest [official website] sharply criticized [Montreal Gazette report] the proposed legislation, stating that it would interfere with provincial jurisdiction and that his government would pursue a legal challenge in the Quebec Court of Appeal [officials website]. The governments of Alberta and Manitoba have also been critical of the legislation, prompting another court challenge from Alberta.

The legislation is based on the recommendations of a seven-member panel appointed by Flaherty, which concluded in January that the global financial crisis [FT backgrounder] increased the need for a national securities regulatory system. It comes as a culmination of the efforts of successive Canadian governments to form a single securities regulator. The global financial crisis has caused concern over securities regulations in other countries as well, prompting the US Department of Justice [official website] in April to open a criminal investigation [JURIST report] of Goldman, Sachs & Co. [corporate website] for possible securities fraud in mortgage trading. Earlier in April, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) [official website; JURIST news archive] filed civil charges [JURIST report] against Goldman Sachs. The SEC alleges that Goldman made misleading statements and omissions to investors in early 2007 in violation of the Securities Act of 1933 [text, PDF] and Securities Exchange Act of 1934 [text, PDF]. Also in April, the German government announced [JURIST report] that it was considering legal action against the company. Britain has indicated that it may also pursue legal action [Bloomberg report] after it found out the scope of the allegations contained in the SEC lawsuit.

Black shoes are still needed for those summer night outings. Vanishing Elephant’s Felix model is a good option for either formal our casual evenings that may include some dinner and dancing. It features high quality leather with a wooden/leather sole combination. Truly a classic way to cap off your attire. Available at CryWolf.

This year at the 2010 BET awards its going to be mostly a battle of the Africans fighting for the Best International Act title. Nominated under this category is Hip-Hop Panstula (South Africa), P-Sqaure (Nigeria), K’NAAN (Somalia), M.I (Nigeria), Estelle (UK), Kojo Antwin (Ghana), Sade (UK/Nigeria), Chipmunk (UK), Dizee Rascal (UK) and Corinne Bailey Rae (UK).

Congratulations to all the nominees, including Idris Elba and Gabourey Sidibe who are nominated for the Best Actor and Actress category and Sade who also score a nomination for the “Centric Award”.

The Award show is schedule to air June ‘10 2010.

Yes – when we grow up we want a garage just like Jay Leno’s. Leno recently had the chance to get behind the 2011 Ford Mustang GT and seemed really impressed by the new GT (as he should be).

Click here to get prices on the 2011 Ford Mustang.

Hit the jump for the video.

Refresher: The 2011 Ford Mustang GT is powered by a 5.0L 4-valve Twin Independent Variable Camshaft Timing (Ti-VCT) V8 engine producion 412-hp with a peak torque of 390 lb-ft. Transmission choices include a 6-speed automatic and a 6-speed manual. The 6-speed automatic helps deliver an estimated fuel-economy of 17/25 mpg (city/highway).

2011 Ford Mustang GT:

Jay Leno’s Garage: 2011 Ford Mustang GT:

2011 Ford Mustang GT:

– By: Omar Rana

Facebook today announced a revamp of its user privacy controls, responding to widespread public criticism following its f8 conference product launches with systematic changes that it said came out of weeks of nights-and-weekends work by its top engineers and designers. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg called the release a “modern privacy system” that reflects what the site has become and incorporates feedback from users.

“We made a lot of changes at the same time, and a lot of what we were trying to do we didn’t communicate that well,” said Zuckerberg. He acknowledged users felt there were so many controls that they were overwhelmed and didn’t feel comfortable sharing.

Here are the most important changes, which will roll out to users shortly, heralded by a notice at the top of their homepages:

The main privacy settings page (see above) lets users toggle between sharing various types with everyone, friends of friends, and friends only. Facebook gives broad recommended settings or users can click to customize. This applies to all content retroactively and all content going forward.

What other users can see about you in the directory is limited. You don’t have to share your friend list with other users, and you don’t have to share what pages and interests you have connected to and liked. Facebook warns you that you should probably share some information so that your actual friends can find you.

You can now opt out completely of the Facebook platform. If you do, you won’t be able to access any applications, but applications will then have no information about you. Particularly importantly, if you opt out, your friends won’t be able to share your information with other applications. You can also more clearly opt out of the new instant personalization feature. Lastly, in the coming month, outside applications will have to ask for items of your personal data in a much more granular manner.

Related content from GigaOM Pro (sub req’d):

Could Privacy Be Facebook’s Waterloo?

Please see the disclosure about Facebook in my bio.

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Article Tags: ClimateGate, Iain Murray

Climategate starkly revealed to the public how many global-warming scientists speak and act like politicians.

The news that Dr. Andrew Wakefield, who popularized the idea of a link between the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine and autism, has been struck off the register of general practitioners in the United Kingdom testifies to the fact that, in many scientific fields, objectivity still reigns. Britain’s General Medical Council found that Wakefield had used unethical and dishonest research methods and that when his conclusions became common knowledge, the result was that far more children were exposed to the risk of those diseases than would have been the case otherwise. Unfortunately, in other areas, some scientists have been getting away with blatant disregard for the scientific method.

The most prominent example, “Climategate,” highlights how dangerous the politicization of science can be. The public reaction to Climategate should motivate politicians to curb such abuses in the future. Yet it was politicians who facilitated this politicization of science in the first place.

The economic historians Terence Kealey (The Economic Laws of Scientific Research) and Joel Mokyr (The Gifts of Athena) help us understand just how science progresses. Their central insight involves the recursive nature of the scientific process. In Mokyr’s terms, propositional knowledge (what politicians term “basic” science) can inform prescriptive knowledge (“applied” science). However, the reverse happens just as often.

Source: article.nationalreview.com

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Posted by Tribune staff at 1:40 p.m.

Gov. Pat Quinn today issued an amendatory veto of the McCormick Place overhaul
legislation, sending it back to the legislature with
revisions, including elimination of a hike in fees on airport taxi and bus rides
that would have raised additional marketing funds.

Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, and Senate Republican leader Christine Radogo of Lemont issued a joint statement vowing to override Quinn’s veto.

You can read more as the story develops from Tribune business writer Kathy Bergen and our Springfield bureau by clicking here.

Rokin makes new classic mens shoes, partly seasoned with influences from the West Coast of Sweden. One of the shoes in their lineup is the Rokin Ryder, which is available in this Cognac color. It’s a classic footwear silhouette that features high quality leather and a strong rubber sole. Available now at Urbana.

So, it’s happened. By at least one metric, for at least this very moment—it could change tomorrow—Apple is now bigger than Microsoft. Apple’s market cap passed Microsoft’s today, just two months after edging under Walmart. The latest showing from Google Finance puts Apple’s market cap at $225.98 billion to Microsoft’s $225.32 billion. More »










Apple – Microsoft – Business – Monopolies and Oligopolies – Economic

For a while I carried a USB drive on my keyring, but it never helped me rescue a computer lab damsel in distress like I had hoped it would. Maybe I’ll fare better with Scosche’s FlipSync folding USB key fobs. More »










Universal Serial Bus – Scosche – Hardware – Accessories – Cables

Posted by John Byrne at 1:35 p.m.



State lawmakers need to stop relying on borrowing money and start choosing their priorities in the state budget, Mayor Richard Daley said today.

 

With the Senate set to consider a measure to borrow $4 billion to pay public pensions next year, Daley said taxpayers will end up suffering through high interest payments down the road because lawmakers won’t make tough decisions.
"Just like the federal government, they borrow and print money, other states borrow money," Daley said at a news conference about summer tourism at the Institute of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture in the Humboldt Park neighborhood. "In the long run, it’s all going to come – find out how it’s going to effect every taxpayer here. It’s going to effect you next year, the following year, the following year."

"You have to bite the bullet. These are difficult decisions you have to make. Some times you have to cut things out, and you have to hold back on spending," he said. "You have to do these things if you want to balance the budget."

The city is looking at borrowing $170 million or so to cover back pay raises for police and firefighters following an arbitrator’s ruling on a contract dispute.

""Eventually we pay it right back. It’s a very small amount of money," Daley said. "That’s nothing compared to the state. We will pay that right back, because we have to do that."

The Chicago Public Schools could face cuts in state aid in the budget, which district officials have said could force thousands of teacher layoffs and bigger class sizes.

 

Education should be a priority in Springfield, Daley said.

 

"What are your priorities? That is the key," he said.

 

Daley also praised a neighbor who called 311 to report he hadn’t seen a pair of elderly neighbors recently around their home in the 1500 block of East 69th Street.

 

The couple was found by city workers trapped in their apartment by floor-to-ceiling debris.

 

"(The neighbor) made that call. Whether it’s 311 or 911, please make those necessary calls," Daley said.

 

There had been no other recent 311 calls to the home of Jesse and Thelma Gaston said.

 

"In October 2009 there was only one 311 call about garbage at that address, which the Department of Streets and Sanitation responded to," he said.

Bond guru Bill Gross makes this point:

Tougher sovereign budgets produce government worker layoffs, pay cuts, reduced pension benefits and a drag on consumption and the ability of the private sector to accept an attempted hand-off from fiscal authorities. Recession becomes the fait accompli, and the deficit/GDP ratio moves ever higher because of skyrocketing risk premiums and a plunging GDP denominator. In many cases therefore, it may not be possible for a country to escape a debt crisis by reducing deficits.

Me:  This certainly seems to be the case with Ireland, as it has for most countries trying this path to escape a debt trap. As I point out in this Weekly Standard piece I wrote, the best way to solve a sovereign debt problem is by cutting spending and boosting economic growth.