The Academic Paper That Broke the Volkswagen Scandal - The Atlantic

Updated on September 25 at 3:36 p.m. ET

Every day since the story first broke a week ago, the ripples of Volkswagen’s scandal have extended further and further. Initially, the Environmental Protection Agency ordered Volkswagen to recall nearly half a million vehicles after discovering illegal devices intended to cheat emissions testing. Then, Volkswagen announced the number of vehicles affected is closer to 11 million worldwide—and that the company has set side $7.2 billion to fix the problem. Volkswagen’s CEO at the time, Martin Winterkorn, soon resigned.

On Friday, the company’s board named Matthias Mueller, the chief executive of Porsche, as the new CEO. There are reportedly nearly 30 class-action lawsuits pending from car owners in all 50 states, plus 5 provinces in Canada. All these furious drivers bought their cars believing that they were highly fuel-efficient—which appears to not be the case, affecting their resale values significantly.

But how did this whole thing begin? At a small lab in West Virgina, it turns out. In 2012, a group of researchers at West Virginia University won a $50,000 grant from the International Council on Clean Transportation to do performance testing on clean diesel cars. Arvind Thiruvengadam, a research assistant professor in mechanical and aerospace engineering, told NPR this week that the team was merely excited do the research—which involved driving the clean diesel cars outside the lab—and write a journal paper based on the data. They never expected that they would discover one of the biggest frauds in automotive history.

When Thiruvengadam and his colleagues tested Volkswagen’s clean diesel cars, they found discrepancies up to 35 times the expected emissions levels. The researchers suspected cheating, but couldn’t be sure. David Carder, another researcher on the West Virginia University team, told Reuters that the fallout at hand is surprising because this data was made public over a year and a half ago.

The stakes were upped when the Volkswagen cars in question were tested by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) in an investigation starting May of last year, and the CARB and EPA started discussions with Volkswagen on why there were such discrepancies. Volkswagen insisted to EPA officials that the discrepancies were due to a technical issue rather than deliberate cheating. Only when the EPA threatened not to approve Volkswagen’s 2016 clean diesel cars for sale in the U.S. did the company finally fess up.

Volkswagen will survive this scandal (even though its stock has plunged 30 percent, wiping out a quarter of its market value), but now the future of diesel cars are at stake and it’s expected that the consumers who wanted clean diesel cars for their greenness will likely switch to hybrids, while those who care for performance might try to dodge the recall. Either way, Volkswagen will be held responsible for clean diesel’s coming existential crisis.

The Academic Paper That Broke the Volkswagen Scandal - The Atlantic:



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Trading Emotions & Psychology - Forex The Secret of Getting a Winning Ps...

Published on Jan 20, 2015

http://www.learncurrencytradingonline... This is an excellent documentary on why, emotions cause most traders to fail and how to avoid the mistakes of the losing majority. Learn how to get a winning trading psychology. The documentary shows you how to avoid the mistakes of the majority and get the right mindset, to make money trading Forex. Learn to trade like the worlds best professional traders...

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Hedge Fund : Documentary on Traders and the Making of a Hedge Fund (Full...

Published on Nov 10, 2014

Hedge Fund : Documentary on Traders and the Making of a Hedge Fund (Full Documentary).

2014
Learning and Education are fundamental and important in today's society and becoming increasingly more accessible and convenient online. The availability of important information which is also entertaining helps everyone grow mentally and emotionally as people both individually and as a whole. Documentaries are the resource of choice of the information and internet generations of students around the world. The documentary here along with the other documentaries on this channel relate to important times and people in history, historic places, archaeology, society, world culture, science, conspiracy theories, and education. 

The topics covered in these video documentaries vary and cover about everything you could possibly want to know including ancient history, Maya, Rome, Greece, The New World, Egypt, World wars, combat, battles, military and combat technology, current affairs and events, important news, education, biographies, famous people and celerities, politicians, news and current events, Illuminati, Area 51, crime, mafia, serial killers, paranormal, supernatural, cults, government cover-ups, the law and legal matters, corruption, martial arts, sports figures, space, aliens, ufos, conspiracy theories, Annunaki, Nibiru, Nephilim, satanic rituals, religion, christianty, judaism, islam, strange phenomenon, origins of Mankind, monsters, mobsters, time travel, planet earth, the Sun, Missions to Mars, The planets, the solar system, the universe, modern physics, String Theory, the Big Bang Theory, 

Quantum Mechanics, television, archaeology, science, technology, nature, plants, animals, endangered species, wildlife, environmental concerns and issues, global warming, natural disasters, and many other educational and controversial topics. Please enjoy and Learn Responsibly

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Lumberjacks

How to Make Money Like Top Hedge Fund Managers: Secrets of America's Finance Industry (2013) - YouTube

Published on Aug 7, 2013

A hedge fund is a collective investment scheme, often structured as a limited partnership, that invests private capital speculatively to maximize capital appreciation. Hedge funds tend to invest in a diverse range of markets, investment instruments, and strategies; today the term "hedge fund" refers more to the structure of the investment vehicle than the investment techniques. Though they are privately owned and operated, hedge funds are subject to the regulatory restrictions of their respective countries. U.S. regulations, for example, limit hedge fund participation to certain classes of investors and also limit the total number of investors allowed in the fund.



Hedge funds are often open-ended and allow additions or withdrawals by their investors. A hedge fund's value is calculated as a share of the fund's net asset value, meaning that increases and decreases in the value of the fund's investment assets (and fund expenses) are directly reflected in the amount an investor can later withdraw.

Most hedge fund investment strategies aim to achieve a positive return on investment regardless of whether markets are rising or falling ("absolute return"). Hedge fund managers typically invest money of their own in the fund they manage, which serves to align their own interests with those of the investors in the fund. A hedge fund typically pays its investment manager an annual management fee, which is a percentage of the assets of the fund, and a performance fee if the fund's net asset value increases during the year. Some hedge funds have several billion dollars of assets under management (AUM). As of 2009, hedge funds represented 1.1% of the total funds and assets held by financial institutions. As of April 2012, the estimated size of the global hedge fund industry was US$2.13 trillion.



Because hedge funds are not sold to the general public or retail investors, the funds and their managers have historically been exempt from some of the regulation that governs other funds and investment managers with regard to how the fund may be structured and how strategies and techniques are employed. Regulations passed in the United States and Europe after the 2008 credit crisis were intended to increase government oversight of hedge funds and eliminate certain regulatory gaps.



During the US bull market of the 1920s, there were numerous private investment vehicles available to wealthy investors. Of that period, the best known today, is the Graham-Newman Partnership founded by Benjamin Graham and Jerry Newman which was cited by Warren Buffett, in a 2006 letter to the Museum of American Finance, as an early hedge fund.



Financial journalist Alfred W. Jones is credited with coining the phrase "hedged fund" and is erroneously credited with creating the first hedge fund structure in 1949. Jones referred to his fund as being "hedged", a term then commonly used on Wall Street, to describe the management of investment risk due to changes in the financial markets. In 1968 there were almost 200 hedge funds, and the first fund of funds that utilized hedge funds were created in 1969 in Geneva.



In the 1970s, hedge funds specialized in a single strategy, and most fund managers followed the long/short equity model. Many hedge funds closed during the recession of 1969--70 and the 1973--1974 stock market crash due to heavy losses. They received renewed attention in the late 1980s. During the 1990s, the number of hedge funds increased significantly, funded with wealth created during the 1990s stock market rise.[9] The increased interest was due to the aligned-interest compensation structure (i.e. common financial interests) and the promise of above high returns. Over the next decade hedge fund strategies expanded to include: credit arbitrage, distressed debt, fixed income, quantitative, and multi-strategy. US institutional investors such as pension and endowment funds began allocating greater portions of their portfolios to hedge funds.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedge_fund

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How to Make Money Like Top Hedge Fund Managers: Secrets of America's Finance Industry (2013) - YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=66&v=PlyZSxd3sRk

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Innovation

Schumpeter

The innovation machine

Two gurus look at the perspiration side of innovation

Aug 26th 2010, 10:50 | From the print edition

IN HIS new book, “Still Surprised: A Memoir of a Life in Leadership”, Warren Bennis, a management theorist, tells a story about Sigmund Freud's flight from Vienna to London in 1938.

How the Economic Machine Works [Animation] by Ray Dalio

ECONOMIC PRINCIPLES

HOW THE ECONOMIC MACHINE WORKS

English

How does the economy really work?

This simple but not simplistic video by Ray Dalio, Founder of Bridgewater Associates, shows the basic driving forces behind the economy, and explains why economic cycles occur by breaking down concepts such as credit, interest rates, leveraging and deleveraging.

RESEARCH PAPER

Take an in-depth look at how the economy works and why countries succeed or fail economically.

I. HOW THE ECONOMIC MACHINE WORKS

• A Transactions-Based Approach1
• Productivity Growth6
• Long-Term Debt Cycle11
• Short-Term Debt Cycle

•   19

II. DEBT CYCLES

LEVERAGINGS & DELEVERAGINGS

• An In-Depth Look at Deleveragings25
• U.S. Deleveraging, 1930s60
• Weimar Republic Deleveraging, 1920s120

III. PRODUCTIVITY AND STRUCTURAL REFORM

WHY COUNTRIES SUCCEED & FAIL AND WHAT SHOULD BE DONE SO FAILING COUNTRIES SUCCEED

• The Formula for Economic Success173
• Economic Health Indices by Country, and the Prognoses that They Imply240
• The Rises and Declines of Economies Over the Last 500 Years286

AN EXAMINATION OF HOW THE ECONOMIC MACHINE WORKS

A thought-provoking interview between Ray Dalio and Larry Summers, President Emeritus of Harvard University and former US Treasury Secretary.

Download the podcast through iTunes

How the Economic Machine Works [Animation] by Ray Dalio:



http://www.economicprinciples.org/



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http://www.economicprinciples.org/

Hedge Fund Definition

A hedge fund is a collective investment scheme, often structured as a limited partnership, that invests private capital speculatively to maximize capital appreciation. Hedge funds tend to invest in a diverse range of markets, investment instruments, and strategies; today the term "hedge fund" refers more to the structure of the investment vehicle than the investment techniques. Though they are privately owned and operated, hedge funds are subject to the regulatory restrictions of their respective countries. U.S. regulations, for example, limit hedge fund participation to certain classes of investors and also limit the total number of investors allowed in the fund.

Hedge funds are often open-ended and allow additions or withdrawals by their investors. A hedge fund's value is calculated as a share of the fund's net asset value, meaning that increases and decreases in the value of the fund's investment assets (and fund expenses) are directly reflected in the amount an investor can later withdraw.
Most hedge fund investment strategies aim to achieve a positive return on investment regardless of whether markets are rising or falling ("absolute return"). Hedge fund managers typically invest money of their own in the fund they manage, which serves to align their own interests with those of the investors in the fund. A hedge fund typically pays its investment manager an annual management fee, which is a percentage of the assets of the fund, and a performance fee if the fund's net asset value increases during the year. Some hedge funds have several billion dollars of assets under management (AUM). As of 2009, hedge funds represented 1.1% of the total funds and assets held by financial institutions. As of April 2012, the estimated size of the global hedge fund industry was US$2.13 trillion.

Because hedge funds are not sold to the general public or retail investors, the funds and their managers have historically been exempt from some of the regulation that governs other funds and investment managers with regard to how the fund may be structured and how strategies and techniques are employed. Regulations passed in the United States and Europe after the 2008 credit crisis were intended to increase government oversight of hedge funds and eliminate certain regulatory gaps.

During the US bull market of the 1920s, there were numerous private investment vehicles available to wealthy investors. Of that period, the best known today, is the Graham-Newman Partnership founded by Benjamin Graham and Jerry Newman which was cited by Warren Buffett, in a 2006 letter to the Museum of American Finance, as an early hedge fund.

Financial journalist Alfred W. Jones is credited with coining the phrase "hedged fund" and is erroneously credited with creating the first hedge fund structure in 1949. Jones referred to his fund as being "hedged", a term then commonly used on Wall Street, to describe the management of investment risk due to changes in the financial markets. In 1968 there were almost 200 hedge funds, and the first fund of funds that utilized hedge funds were created in 1969 in Geneva.

In the 1970s, hedge funds specialized in a single strategy, and most fund managers followed the long/short equity model. Many hedge funds closed during the recession of 1969--70 and the 1973--1974 stock market crash due to heavy losses. They received renewed attention in the late 1980s. During the 1990s, the number of hedge funds increased significantly, funded with wealth created during the 1990s stock market rise.[9] The increased interest was due to the aligned-interest compensation structure (i.e. common financial interests) and the promise of above high returns. Over the next decade hedge fund strategies expanded to include: credit arbitrage, distressed debt, fixed income, quantitative, and multi-strategy. US institutional investors such as pension and endowment funds began allocating greater portions of their portfolios to hedge funds.



Source:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedge_fund

How to Make Money Like Top Hedge Fund Managers: Secrets of America's Fin...

Published on Aug 7, 2013

A hedge fund is a collective investment scheme, often structured as a limited partnership, that invests private capital speculatively to maximize capital appreciation. Hedge funds tend to invest in a diverse range of markets, investment instruments, and strategies; today the term "hedge fund" refers more to the structure of the investment vehicle than the investment techniques. Though they are privately owned and operated, hedge funds are subject to the regulatory restrictions of their respective countries. U.S. regulations, for example, limit hedge fund participation to certain classes of investors and also limit the total number of investors allowed in the fund.

Hedge funds are often open-ended and allow additions or withdrawals by their investors. A hedge fund's value is calculated as a share of the fund's net asset value, meaning that increases and decreases in the value of the fund's investment assets (and fund expenses) are directly reflected in the amount an investor can later withdraw.
Most hedge fund investment strategies aim to achieve a positive return on investment regardless of whether markets are rising or falling ("absolute return"). Hedge fund managers typically invest money of their own in the fund they manage, which serves to align their own interests with those of the investors in the fund. A hedge fund typically pays its investment manager an annual management fee, which is a percentage of the assets of the fund, and a performance fee if the fund's net asset value increases during the year. Some hedge funds have several billion dollars of assets under management (AUM). As of 2009, hedge funds represented 1.1% of the total funds and assets held by financial institutions. As of April 2012, the estimated size of the global hedge fund industry was US$2.13 trillion.

Because hedge funds are not sold to the general public or retail investors, the funds and their managers have historically been exempt from some of the regulation that governs other funds and investment managers with regard to how the fund may be structured and how strategies and techniques are employed. Regulations passed in the United States and Europe after the 2008 credit crisis were intended to increase government oversight of hedge funds and eliminate certain regulatory gaps.

During the US bull market of the 1920s, there were numerous private investment vehicles available to wealthy investors. Of that period, the best known today, is the Graham-Newman Partnership founded by Benjamin Graham and Jerry Newman which was cited by Warren Buffett, in a 2006 letter to the Museum of American Finance, as an early hedge fund.

Financial journalist Alfred W. Jones is credited with coining the phrase "hedged fund" and is erroneously credited with creating the first hedge fund structure in 1949. Jones referred to his fund as being "hedged", a term then commonly used on Wall Street, to describe the management of investment risk due to changes in the financial markets. In 1968 there were almost 200 hedge funds, and the first fund of funds that utilized hedge funds were created in 1969 in Geneva.

In the 1970s, hedge funds specialized in a single strategy, and most fund managers followed the long/short equity model. Many hedge funds closed during the recession of 1969--70 and the 1973--1974 stock market crash due to heavy losses. They received renewed attention in the late 1980s. During the 1990s, the number of hedge funds increased significantly, funded with wealth created during the 1990s stock market rise.[9] The increased interest was due to the aligned-interest compensation structure (i.e. common financial interests) and the promise of above high returns. Over the next decade hedge fund strategies expanded to include: credit arbitrage, distressed debt, fixed income, quantitative, and multi-strategy. US institutional investors such as pension and endowment funds began allocating greater portions of their portfolios to hedge funds.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedge_fund

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The Trend Is Your Friend

By Gerald Celente
TREND ALERT:
Currency wars, trade wars... world wars
Publisher, Trends Journal

KINGSTON, NY, 19 August 2015—History is repeating itself. While the times are different and the names have changed, the underlying circumstances and basic fundamentals remain the same. The Crash of ’29, The Great Depression, plunging commodity prices, currency wars, trade wars, world war. Now, four score and six years later: The Panic of ’08, The Great Recession, plunging commodity prices, currency wars.


Are trade wars and world war next?

Commodity prices' continuing downward dive is indisputable evidence of a deteriorating global economy. For many, the Great Recession is depression. The equation is simple: there’s a glut of product and not enough people with enough money to buy them.


And today – just as it was prior to World War II when countries were denounced for devaluing their currencies to gain competitive export advantage – world reaction to China’s recent yuan devaluation continues to intensify.


Trends are born, they grow, mature, reach old age and die. As evidenced by Ben Bernake’s appearance before the US Congress in 2011, the war of words against China is a trend in progress:

Bernanke criticizes China over currency

The chairman of the US Federal Reserve has accused China of damaging prospects for a global economic recovery through its deliberate intervention in the currency market to hold down the value of the renminbi.

Speaking just hours after the Chinese government sharply criticized a US congressional bill that would punish Beijing for alleged currency manipulation, Ben Bernanke told a congressional committee that an undervalued renminbi was preventing the rebalancing of global demand towards emerging market economies.

“Right now, our concern is that the Chinese currency policy is blocking what might be a more normal recovery process in the global economy,” he said. “It is to some extent hurting the recovery.” (Financial Times, 4 October, 2011)

Trade Wars

The day before Bernanke’s accusation, the US Senate voted overwhelmingly to open debate on a bill to impose tariffs on imports from countries with undervalued currencies. In response to the bill, the Chinese government warned that if passed, the legislation would lead to a trade war. Now, some four years later, and with scores of currencies substantially devalued, we forecast growing political pressure among nations to raise tariffs and/or impose import quotas.

World Wars


The 14-year Afghan War, the longest war in American history, continues with no end in sight. The 12-year America-led Iraq War has re-ignited. Since the overthrow of Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, the war-torn nation grows more violent. Syria’s war ravaged, Yemen’s being bombed and throughout Africa, civil wars and cross-border wars rage. Bomb blasts in Bangkok, unrest in Egypt, massive protests in Brazil, war in Ukraine … and civil unrest ready to explode in countries where commodity prices have plunged, unemployment soars, debt levels grow and corruption is rampant.


Is world war on the horizon?

Trend Forecast: In the environment of currency devaluations, failing economies, global conflict and social unrest, we forecast gold will be valued as a safe haven commodity.



Link: http://trendsresearch.com/stories/Currency-wars-trade-wars-world-wars,3482

A Conversation with Ray Dalio

 Ray Dalio, founder and co-chief investment officer of Bridgewater Associates, L.P., discusses global economics.

This meeting is part of the Corporate Program's CEO Speaker Series, which provides a forum for leading global CEOs to share their priorities and insights before a high-level audience of CFR members. The series aims to educate the CFR membership on the private sector's important role in the policy debate.



SPEAKER:

Ray Dalio

PRESIDER:

Maria Bartiromo



http://www.cfr.org/business-and-forei...

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Gold Mining

How smaller Canadian gold miners are thriving despite today’s gloomy price environment http://natpo.st/1P9rzPs 

Financial Post ‏@financialpost  4h4 hours ago

The Fed may not have hiked rates, but investors better prepare now for when it does http://natpo.st/1P9A2SK 

MMon

Home accessibility tax credit worth the wait for qualifying renovations

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Jamie Golombek

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