Word: baumohl
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...take more than appointing a former Soros investment director to turn the country around. "To regain the confidence of foreign investors and the IMF, Fraga will have to convince them that Brazil can close its budget gap and restore its financial health," says TIME senior business reporter Bernard Baumohl. "There may be a momentary rebound in the real, but only time will tell whether anything of substance has changed...
...Many of the changes demanded by foreign investors are beyond Fraga's domain. "Brazil's economic health depends on the central government's convincing state governors to cut spending and increase taxes," says Baumohl. "That's a political battle over which the central bank has no control." Still, anything that suggests speculative compassion from Soros -- however wishfully -- certainly can't hurt a vulnerable currency...
...plans. The central feature of the proposal would be to make the earnings on contributions in 401(k) plans tax-free when they are distributed at retirement, much like the Roth IRA. "Obviously, any attempt to increase savings would be helpful to both savers and the economy," says Bernard Baumohl, TIME senior economics reporter...
...nation's savings rate remains abysmal. "For two months back to back last year, the savings rate was less than zero," says Baumohl. "That's the first time since the Depression that there have been two consecutive months of negative savings." With the bulging Baby Boom generation edging toward retirement and Social Security coffers looking barer and barer, politicians are scrambling to come up with any proposal that will prompt people to take the financial responsibilities of retirement into their own hands. The Roth proposal may help some, but since the plan obviously benefits those who have money to begin...
...center-left governments now in charge in Europe weren't the ones who put together this deal," reminds Baumohl. "Politicians won't be able to deal with unemployment by cutting interest rates anymore ? that's now the job of the European Central Bank, which has to fit one monetary policy to 11 different countries. It's going to be very frustrating." If the euro works for Europe ? attracting investment, increasing efficiency ? look for a South American currency, or even an Asian currency, a decade or two down the road. But if this deal gets torn up over political squabbling, says...