April | 2011 | AEIdeas

Friday, May 24, 2013

No Joy for U.S. in Indian Fighter-Jet Deal

Sadanand Dhume | April 29, 2011, 6:50 am

Ending months of anticipation, India has announced two finalists in one of the world’s single largest military contracts: the Indian Air Force’s $10 billion acquisition of 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft. They are the Rafale made by France’s Dassault and … read more >

Society and Culture

Silencing the Clacking Typewriter

Michael Auslin | April 29, 2011, 6:48 am

Most of us moved on years (if not decades) ago, but it is somewhat disconcerting to hear that the world’s last typewriter factory is closing. Located in Mumbai, India, Godjrej and Boyce was founded in 1897 and is now one … read more >

Carpe Diem

QI: Exxon Paid Almost $1M per Hour in Income Taxes and Its Effective Tax Rate Was 42.3%

Mark J. Perry | April 29, 2011, 2:42 am

ExxonMobil reported its first quarter 2011 earnings today, which came in at $10.65 billion, an increase of 69% from the same quarter last year when it earned $6.3 billion. While the huge earnings amount captured all of the media attention, … read more >

Carpe Diem

QI PCE Core Inflation Close to 50-Year Low of 0.9%

Mark J. Perry | April 29, 2011, 12:09 am

According to today’s BEA report, the annual inflation rate for Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) for the first quarter of 2011 is 1.6%, well below (less than half) of the average 3.6% rate back to 1960 (see top chart above). Annual … read more >

Carpe Diem

War on Walmart: Who’s Afraid of Cheap Groceries?

Mark J. Perry | April 28, 2011, 6:58 pm

Carpe Diem

Good Question About Oil Traders

Mark J. Perry | April 28, 2011, 5:58 pm

WSJ — At Mr. Obama’s request, the Justice Department announced Thursday that it has created a task force to investigate the oil and gas markets, a move some Democrats in Congress have advocated. “The attorney general is putting together a … read more >

Society and Culture

The Monarchy by the Numbers

Karlyn Bowman | April 28, 2011, 4:52 pm

The marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton has produced excitement about the monarchy not seen in years. It has also produced a slew of new polls of Brits on the institution of the monarchy, which seems to have revived … read more >

Foreign and Defense Policy, Middle East and North Africa

Syria Without Assad

Danielle Pletka | April 28, 2011, 2:36 pm

Yes, yes, yes. As the Veep says, “We can’t do it all.” But we’re not actually doing it all. We’re doing quite little on Libya, unless drones and calling Silvio Berlusconi to enlist the decisive Italian element is “it all.” … read more >

Carpe Diem

Introducing the ADS Business Conditions Index

Mark J. Perry | April 28, 2011, 2:35 pm

Every time I think I’m aware of all of the economic indicators available, I find a new one. This time it’s the Philadelphia Federal Reserve’s Aruoba-Diebold-Scotti Business Conditions Index, which was featured in this WSJ article on Tuesday: “This index, … read more >

Carpe Diem

The Era of Cheap, Abundant Natural Gas is Here

Mark J. Perry | April 28, 2011, 2:14 pm

Simply put, the era of cheap and abundant natural gas has begun. The price of natural gas is now less than one-quarter that of oil on an energy equivalent basis. Indeed, it has fallen more than 25 percent over the … read more >