Mitt Romney (photo, Gage Skidmore / Wikipedia)
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – US Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, whose estimated net worth is $190-250 million, has made public more than 500 pages of tax records after losing the South Carolina primary over the weekend to Newt Gingrich, who accused the former financial investment manager of not coming clean about his wealth. It is the first-ever disclosure by Romney, even though he earlier served as governor of Massachusetts.
Media reaction today in the US to details of the Romney fortune and the couple’s tax record mentions financial accounts in the Cayman Islands and in Switzerland, but focuses on the fact that he is one of the wealthiest candidates ever for the top US office. The Caucas, a New York Times blog, notes that “The Wall Street Journal and financial wire services showed a vast array of investments from a recently closed Swiss Bank account to holdings in Bermuda to the Cayman Islands, all underscoring the breadth and depth of his wealth.”
The disclosure and debate over it are part of growing evidence that a hot presidential campaign topic will be fiscal reform and the disparity between what the rich and other people pay in taxes.
State of the Union address Tuesday night may focus on economic inequality
President Barack Obama will give his State of the Union speech tonight and, according to CBS News, “Economic inequality is emerging as a central theme in the battle for the White House, with Obama trying to harness populist anger at Wall Street and corporations against a backdrop of chronically high unemployment. He plans to call for higher taxes on millionaires in his State of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday night, embracing an idea advanced by billionaire investor Warren Buffett and Occupy Wall Street protesters.”
Media references to the Swiss bank account are generally limited to implying that it is an indication of his wealth and noting that it was closed at the suggestion of political advisors. CBS News reports that “in a conference call with reporters, Brad Malt, Romney’s trustee, called the Swiss account ‘fully legal, fully disclosed’ but said it was closed in early 2010. He added: ‘The income earned on that account is taxed just as any other domestic or other bank account owned by the blind trust.’”
The news channel goes on to note that “pages and pages are devoted to foreign entities in which Romney is invested. Many are located in places like Luxembourg, Ireland and the Cayman Islands, all famous tax havens. None shows much income.”
Reuters, in an article widely picked up, writes 24 January, that “the emerging picture was of a man of great means who contributes mightily to charity. The documents showed he and his wife contributed $7 million in charity over the two years, much of it going to his Mormon church. That represents more than 15 percent of the Romneys’ income for those years”, more than the tax rate paid by the Romneys, with an
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – The head of the Swiss National Bank may have been pushed to resign by the governing board of the bank, Swiss media, particularly in German-speaking Switzerland, are suggesting Tuesday. Philipp Hildebrand handed in his resignation Monday afternoon, after a two-week scandal sparked by information about his wife’s purchase of dollars in August and profit from their sale two months later.
TSR carries a roundup in French of what several media are reporting today, noting that conservative Christoph Blocher, former head of the UDC People’s Party appears, for now, to be the winner in the political brouhaha surrounding the scandal.
Questions remain about whether or not Hildebrand will take legal action against anyone in the case, which involved private bank data being published by Swiss magazine Weltwoche, and what role Blocher played.
Background stories, GenevaLunch
Reuters profile of Hildebrand and his tenure, 10 January
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The United States will station 250 Marines in Australia starting in 2012, with the number expected to grow to 2,500 at some point, US President Barack Obama and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard agreed Wednesday 16 November. The BBC reports that “The deployment is being seen as a move to counter China’s growing influence. But Mr Obama said the US was “stepping up its commitment to the entire Asia-Pacific”, not excluding China.”
The Sydney Morning Herald, in an opinion piece, notes that ”‘It’s absolutely clear that this is all about China,’ says Hugh White, formerly the top strategy planner in the Australian Defence Department. And the real significance of yesterday’s announcement was that Australia’s US alliance is being shaped around the China threat.”
Xinhua, the Chinese state news agency, for its part makes no comment in its straightforward English-language news article on the agreement, but AFP/Yahoo, in an article where it refers to China being “rankled”, says “The deployment of US Marines to Australia’s tropical north came as the allies adapted their military posture to face a new security era marked by the rise of China, which sparked an immediate negative response from Beijing. ‘It may not be quite appropriate to intensify and expand military alliances and may not be in the interest of countries within this region,’ China’s foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said.”
Update 11:15 US President Barack Obama announced in the early hours of Monday 2 May, Swiss time, that Western nemesis and terrorist leader Osama bin Laden was killed in an attack in Pakistan. He was killed in a US raid on the luxury residence near a Pakistani military base where he was staying in Abbottabad, about 150km north of Islamabad.
Reaction in US and the international media has been swift, starting with crowds gathering outside the White House to celebrate the end to a 10-year search for bin Laden. Al Jazeera’s correspondents in Pakistan and Afghanistan say that reaction there has so far been muted, and while the news agency reports US media are saying the body was taken to Afghanistan and dumped at sea, that “having the body may help convince any doubters that bin Laden is really dead.” The White House has not yet confirmed the news, which is being attributed widely to “a US official”.
The Economist notes that “Pakistani officials were not informed of the mission ahead of time, a detail that is likely to exacerbate tensions with the country. While it is not surprising that Mr bin Laden was found in Pakistan, most believed he was hiding out somewhere in the remote tribal areas. That he was found in a relatively large city raises troubling questions about what Pakistan’s spooks actually knew about his location.”
Pakistan’s Nation underscored that Obama had telephoned Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari. The Globe & Mail in Canada in a long report reviews the history of al-Qaeda and bin Laden since 11 September 2001 when terrorism took centre stage in the US. The Guardian details the 40-minute firefight that took bin Laden’s life, where three other people were also killed. They reportedly included a son of bin Laden and his most trusted courier.
National Public Radio in the US carries a biography of bin Laden, reminding readers that the 54-year-old Saudi Arabian citizen was the 17th child of 57 of a millionaire construction company owner, and the son spent his youth playing soccer and riding horses, before discovering radical Islamist ideas at university.
Links to other sites: Aljazeera, Economist, Fox News, Nation, Pakistan, The Globe & Mail, Canada, Guardian, UK, NPR
White House video (9 minutes) of Obama announcement of bin Laden death and press briefing transcript at the White House
The United Nations reacted quickly to condemn Israel for its attack on a humanitarian aid boat carrying activists, although few countries went as far as Turkey in their statements. The six ships attacked were carrying Turkish flags. Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish foreign minister, said that “the distance between terrorists and state has been blurred.” The US representative, Alejandro Wolff, said the US was “deeply disturbed” by the attack, but the US and its ally Israel were unable to come up with a joint statement in the hours following the attack. The incident strains relations that have suffered in recent months following Israel’s poorly timed announcement that new housing would go up in the West Bank, during a peace mission by US Vice-president Joe Biden.
“At the very least, Israel has become more isolated than at any time in recent history, an isolation that may undermine global efforts to bring its arch-foe, Iran, to heel over its nuclear ambitions,” writes The Globe and Mail, Canada.
More than 10,000 protesters gathered in front of the Israeli Embassy in Istanbul, Turkey, Monday night.
Links to other sites: Globe & Mail, Huriyet Daily News, Turkey, New York Times, Times of India,
US President Barack Obama’s announcement 21 January that he intends to limit the size of some lucrative activities by American banks was cheered by France, but Asian markets have reacted negatively and the dollar lost gains it made earlier in the week. France’s Finance Minister Christine Lagarde told French media that the US was finally following her country’s lead and regulating markets for greater stability. Asian stock markets fell for a fifth straight day, with fears that China will raise interest rates coupled with concern that US banking curbs will weaken that country’s economic recovery.
Links to other sites: Bloomberg, Market Watch, NPR, Reuters,
(Reuters video) The European Union has two new leaders, in posts created by the Lisbon Treaty, which goes into effect 1 December 2009 following final approval by Ireland and the Czech Republic. Herman van Rompuy, Belgian prime minister, was named President of the European Council, a two-and-a-half year job. He was elected by a majority vote by the 27 members states. A key part of his job is to chair meetings of the European Commission. Catherine Ashton was made EU high representative for foreign affairs. She has been the EU’s trade commissioner for the past year.
The election of the pair, both of whom have relatively low profiles in international affairs, has been praised by the US, France and Germany but those who were hoping to see the first European president play a strong role are expressing disappointment. Turkey’s leaders are unhappy with Rompuy, who resisted Turkish membership and the UK media reaction has been more puzzled than enthusiastic.
Links to other sites: BBC, Die Welt (Ger), Guardian, UK, Le Monde (Fre), Le Temps (Fre), Times, UK
US President Barack Obama’s first 100 days in office are now up, and the world has a great deal to say about how he has done. Here are some of the reactions in major media:
- BBC‘s Washington team, assessment
- Financial Times, investment editor
- Fox news report on Obama speech
- Globe & Mail, Canada, report on Obama 100 days speech
- Guardian, UK, collection of articles
- Huffington Post (multiple voices)
- International Herald Tribune/NY Times, collection of articles
- Los Angeles Times, California
- Xinhua news, China, collection of articles
Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - When the US announced Thursday 19 February that it was filing a civil suit against Switzerland’s largest bank, UBS, it provoked a major debate in Switzerland, with harsh criticism of the bank, but also of the United States. Outside the country, moves against Switzerland’s banking secrecy appeared to build momentum over the weekend, starting with discussions to tighten global financial controls among the G20 (largest 19 economies plus the European Union) countries, meeting in Berlin.
The reaction was mixed in governors’ offices around the US, reports NPR (National Public Radio) to the $789 billion stimulus package agreed to by the Senate and House Friday night. The biggest complaint appears to be that the money is not as much as the states hoped they would receive.
Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The outcry at news Monday that bank UBS could pay up to CHF2 billion in bonuses to employees following a CHF25 billion government bailout was long and loud.
