Share the View 2: Congress, Netanyahu and Obama

Share The View

THE LATEST OPINIONS FROM BLOOMBERG VIEW

JANUARY 23, 2015 bloombergview.com

MIDDLE EAST The Editors: "With Congress's invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session on March 3, the fight between President Barack Obama and his opponents on Capitol Hill over policy toward Iran has taken a bizarre turn." Read more... U.S. ECONOMY A. Gary Shilling: "U.S. housing activity remains weak despite six years of federal government aid, strong interest from overseas buyers, rock-bottom interest rates and massive purchases of mortgage bonds by the Federal Reserve. Does this mean housing may never spring back to its pre-recession levels?" Read more... WALL STREET John D. Arnold: "In late 2014 and now this past week, federal prosecutors indicted traders for violating anti-spoofing laws. ... Until I retired in 2012, I was one of the largest traders of commodity futures. ... I don't believe spoofing should be outlawed. Just the opposite: Given how markets now function, I believe that spoofers are beneficial." Read more... RUSSIA Leonid Bershidsky: The Vladimir Putin ideological apparatus -- both its public and private tentacles -- "is suffering ruthless cost cuts. For all its Soviet nostalgia, Putin's Russia is a quasi-capitalist corporation, after all."Read more... ECONOMICS Noah Smith: "It's become almost conventional wisdom that throwing more money at public education doesn't produce results. But what if conventional wisdom is wrong?" Read more... NEWS ROUNDUP Katie Benner (Read the news roundup) Who made what money on the Box IPO? Read more... Dan Primack and Erin Griffith explain why there are so many billion-dollar startups: Read more... CEO Tim Cook made $9.2 million last year, more than double his 2013 compensation: Read more... Matt Levine (Read the news roundup) Draghi reactions: Read more... At last, a Dollar merger: Read more... Virtual currencies: Read more... Jonathan Bernstein (Read the news roundup) Alan Abramowitz, at the Crystal Ball, looks at the relationship between presidential approval ratings and election results when the president isn't on the ballot: Read more... More research on public financing and polarization, this time from Seth Masket and Michael G. Miller at the Monkey Cage: Read more... I liked Dan Drezner's reaction to the Boehner-Netanyahu flap: Read more... Barry Ritholtz (Read the news roundup) McDonald's fixes its marketing, Chipotle fixes its product: Read more... Alternative assets approach $7T despite headwinds: Read more... Best books for investors: Read more...