European Reform? Get Around Vested Interests First

Tata Power has accused entities with vested interests, along with some foreign NGOs, of spreading falsehood at its flagship.

[AP] - The European Central Bank's chief economist said a Greek debt restructuring would be a "recipe for catastrophe" as he blamed "vested interests" in Britain and the United States for fueling market pressure on the country.

A recent Free exchange column discusses the European Central Bank's troubles in providing support to peripheral economies (summary here). We are inviting experts in the field to comment on the piece and related research.

Managing significant changes to the U.S. patent system brought about by implementation of last year’s major patent reform law is not just a project that stays within our borders. Since many outside the U.S. seek a U.S. patent, other nations have a keen interest in understanding how the America Invents Act will work and may wish to file comments on the rules packages associated with implementing the biggest overhaul to U.S. patent law since the system was born over 200 years ago.Recognizing this interest, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO David Kappos undertook a European “road show” last week, visiting six cities in four days to conduct stakeholder outreach events and meet with the heads of offices from several European intellectual property offices. In conjunction with local chambers of commerce, Under Secretary Kappos covered three important topics during these stakeholder outreach events: an overview of the significant changes being made to the patent system by the America Invents Act and progress in its implementation; the need for further harmonization of the world’s patent laws; and the benefits of a work sharing mechanism known as the Patent Prosecution Highway, or PPH 2.0.

Axel Merk submits:European countries have been too slow in embracing structural reform and European financial institutions too slow in repairing their balance sheets; the markets are not waiting for them to get their acts together. Italy has become the most recent focus. What's different about Italy? It has a positive primary balance: before interest payments, the Italian government is generating a surplus of 1.8% as a percentage of GDP.

Today, we're fortunate to have Mark Copelovitch, Assistant Professor of Political Science and Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin, as a Guest Contributor. He is also author of The International Monetary Fund in the Global Economy: Banks, Bonds, and Bailouts (Cambridge University Press, 2010). In the wake of the global economic crisis, the IMF has returned to center stage in the governance of global finance.

By Russ Koesterich: A few weeks ago, the Wall Street Journal reported that a European court ruled that employees are not only entitled to long vacations- or at least long by American standards- but in the event they become ill while on vacation, they also get a "do-over."

Gary Greenberg submits:Since early 2008, the European Union has moved more forcefully to reform the securitization industry than has the United States. Both political entities have received enormous "push back" from the financial services industry and their legions of lobbyists.