Mark
Zuckerberg’s Newark schools cash drop: “Everybody got paid but Raheem still
can’t read” - (www.salon.com) So what happened to the $100 million that Mark
Zuckerberg pledged four years ago to support New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and
Newark Mayor Cory Booker’s ambitious effort to “fix” the Newark public school
system? The short answer: The money has been spent, mostly on labor contracts
and consultant fees, and the Newark school district is still a disaster zone. The
long answer is contained in Dale Russakoff’s epic investigative report in the
New Yorker “Schooled”. Published
the day before a Newark mayoral election that will choose between
representatives of the teachers unions and the educational reform movement,
Russakoff’s piece is a fascinating deep dive into the complexities of achieving
reform in one of the worst-performing school districts in the country. It’s a
story about charter schools, political ambition, race and poverty. It’s a story
about a problem without an easy solution. Both Booker and Christie come out
looking less than spectacular, as they abandon Newark to focus on their own
political careers. (Booker is now a senator and Christie wants to be
president.) But what about Zuckerberg? What can we learn from his first major
foray into philanthropy? No. 1: An awful lot of money went to people who
weren’t directly involved with teaching kids in Newark:
[Bloomberg]
Russia Warns of ‘Deep’ Ukraine Crisis as Gas Deadline Set - (www.bloomberg.com) The
rebels will start an “anti-terrorist operation” against the Ukrainian military
if they refuse to leave Donetsk within 48 hours, the head of the separatist
group, Denis Pushilin, said by phone yesterday. Russian gas-export monopoly OAO
Gazprom informed Ukraine it must pay in advance for gas by June 2 and will
receive only those supplies it pays for, risking a cutoff, company spokesman Sergei
Kupriyanov said
in an e-mailed statement today. Ukraine owes $3.5 billion for fuel delivered in
2013 and through April this year, Gazprom Chief Executive Officer Alexey Miller
said. Ukraine, which depends on Russia for half of its gas consumption, has an
opportunity to pay, as it received the first $3.2 billion of an international
aid package last week, Medvedev said. Stopping shipments to Ukraine may have an
effect on the rest of Europe because about 15 percent of theregion’s gas supply travels through the country’s Soviet-era
pipelines.
Bundesbank
ready to support ECB action if it is needed - sources - (www.reuters.com) The
Bundesbank is ready to support European Central Bank policy action if it is
needed and this is not new, two Bundesbank sources said on Tuesday. Policymakers
are looking at all relevant data, and inflation forecasts for 2016 are
important but not the only decisive figure, the sources said. ECB President
Mario Draghi said last Thursday the bank is
ready to take action next month to boost the euro zone economy if
updated inflation forecasts merit it. "We have always said that we are
willing to act if this is really needed," a high ranking Bundesbank source
said. The second source at the German central bank confirmed this. Earlier, The
Wall Street Journal, citing a person familiar with the matter, reported that
the Bundesbank was willing to back an array of stimulus measures from the ECB
next month, including a negative rate on bank deposits and purchases of
packaged bank loans if
needed to keep inflation from staying too low.
EU
likely to block any UK intervention in AstraZeneca bid - lawyers – (www.reuters.com) The
European Commission would probably block any attempt by the British government
to intervene in Pfizer's (PFE.N)
proposed takeover of AstraZeneca (AZN.L)
as Brussels itself would rule on a deal of that size, competition lawyers say. AstraZeneca
has rejected the $106 billion (62.5 billion pounds) bid to create the world's
largest pharmaceuticals business. However, Pfizer is still pursuing its British
rival, and political pressure is growing on Prime Minister David Cameron to
show he can protect jobs should the New York-based company prevail. Cameron
initially signalled he would not interfere in the bid. However, the
Conservative leader - who faces a parliamentary election this time next year -
now says he wants further commitments from Pfizer before giving his blessing to
any takeover of Britain's second largest drugs group.
A Rescue That Worked, but Left a Troubled
Economy - (www.nytimes.com)
The mortgage market was starting to come apart on Aug. 16, 2007, when Federal
Reserve policy makers gathered for an emergency videoconference. The worst of the financial crisis was more
than a year away, but big problems were emerging. As the officials debated how
to help, Jeffrey Lacker, the president of the Richmond Fed, expressed alarm
that the planned public statement said nothing about the risk of inflation.
“Did I miss something?” he asked in a derisive tone, as Timothy Geithner
recalls in his new memoir. “No,” Ben Bernanke, the Fed chairman, said simply. In
retrospect, Mr. Lacker’s concern was spectacularly misplaced. He was worried
that the Fed’s efforts to help the economy could overheat it and unleash inflation. Instead, the
economy was on the brink of the worst downturn in 70 years. Yet Mr. Lacker said
something else during that meeting that looks more prescient – a concern Mr.
Bernanke, Mr. Geithner and other crisis fighters of the last seven years have
never successfully addressed: “We could easily be portrayed as helping banks
make a lot of money on this.”
[Irwin]
What We Learned From Tim Geithner’s Book - (www.nytimes.com)
China Regulators Said to Draft Plan for Bank Failure Risks - (www.bloomberg.com)
China Regulators Said to Draft Plan for Bank Failure Risks - (www.bloomberg.com)
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