Share the View: Saudi Family Business

Share The View

THE LATEST OPINIONS FROM BLOOMBERG VIEW

JANUARY 24, 2015 bloombergview.com

MIDDLE EAST The Editors: "Saudi Arabia's new king, Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, has promised continuity, and there's no reason to doubt him -- he has been running the country during his half-brother Abdullah's sickness preceding his death. When it comes to Iran, however, King Salman needs to make a clean break." Read more... Justin Fox: "There's a whole academic literature on family-business succession, the basic conclusion of which is: it's hard. ... Let us then consider the challenges of succession at one especially significant family business, the petroleum enterprise known as the House of Saud." Read more... CLIMATE CHANGE Francis Barry: "Some rare good news came out of the U.S. Senate this week on climate change: There are at least 60 senators who believe that climate change is real and caused by human activity." Read more... POLITICS Christopher Flavelle: "If Republicans are serious about fighting stagnant wages, but don't want to expand government or tax the rich, here's an idea: Why not strengthen unions?" Read more... Francis Wilkinson: "Republican Representative Steve King is trying to do for his party's aspiring presidential field what he's already done for its congressional wing: cover it in the neon hues of his own blazing intolerance." Read more... Jonathan Bernstein: "Can we please stop this nonsense before it gets started? The Fix's Chris Cizzilla looks at the Republican presidential field and breaks out the hackiest of clichés." Read more... TAXES Megan McArdle: "Why target a tax benefit that goes to a lot of your supporters (and donors), that tickles one of the sweetest spots in American politics (subsidizing higher education), and that will hit a lot of people who make less than the $250,000 a year that has become the administration's de facto definition of 'rich'?" Read more... ECONOMICS Leonid Bershidsky: U.S. hedge fund manager Ray Dalio pointed out in Davos "that talk of purposeful currency devaluation to make up for an economy's inefficiency -- the engine of currency wars -- is a 'conversation that is not polite to have.' He is, perhaps, a little behind the times." Read more... SPORTS Kavitha A. Davidson: "With all the questions that have yet to be answered in Deflategate, one in particular stands out: Where, oh where, is Roger Goodell?" Read more... HEALTH Stephen Mihm: "To sit or to stand? That is the question for a growing number of office workers. ... Rebellions against excessive sitting are nothing new." Read more... AUSTRALIA William Pesek: "Few central bankers in modern history have had a better run than Australia's Glenn Stevens. He steered his country around the global financial crisis, drove its currency to record highs and extended its recession-free run past the two-decade mark. That's all in jeopardy now."Read more... LATIN AMERICA Mac Margolis: "Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has played many parts since she took over the Casa Rosada seven years ago. But few of her roles have been as dramatic as the one she's taken on since Jan. 18, when federal prosecutor and Kirchner arch-nemesis Alberto Nisman turned up dead." Read more...