| 奥巴马真的不配当我们的总统 通过在再生能源领域的大手笔投资，来刺激经济和确保美国的能源安全，曾经是三年前奥巴马竞选总统时最得意的一笔，也是我们作为纳税人亏损最大的“投资”之一。 我一直觉得，奥巴马除了在行夸夸其谈之外，对于如何管理国家，似乎不是有太多的概念。乱花纳税人的辛苦钱，谁都会干。只是，奥巴马做的胆子更大，更舍得罢了。 不久之前，鲁冠球的公司曾经希望通过注资来挽救下面文章提到的这家电池公司，可是，就是因为这家公司是通过来自奥巴马的救助计划的资金才起家的，所以，出于国家安全的考虑，出于纳税人的钱花掉了不能让中国人得益的考虑，最终，政府宁可选择让这样的公司破产，也不乐意看到中国的企业来注入资金，来保护美国的就业机会。 这，就是美国的政治的肮脏，和奥巴马政府的低效率。 再者，你看看奥巴马阵营的拉票广告，大量的诬陷之词和颠倒黑白，不知是在向世界显示自己的无知，还是要表现自己的权力强势和无敌天下！ 可怜了，美国人民。很可能，我们还得再继续忍耐四年被奥巴马继续放血的经历了。 结果，我们看到的，就会继续是部分利益群体的大发国难财，和多数人的买单，和下一代、几代人的负债累累。 浪费纳税人的钱不说，还借钱来浪费。 这，就是真实的奥巴马的“领导”才能！ 奥巴马大言不惭，说在自己的领导下，美国经济回升不错。看看今天来自谷歌的盈利报告，恐怕大家更能够明白，这到底是一个什么样的忽悠了。美国经济很可能再次跌入了萧条之中。最近几个月，消费者的消费欲望明显下降，这也是一个非常让人悲观的信号了。 连接： 到底什么值得在美国本土制造？ （关于鲁冠球收购A123的新闻） 
这亏损掉的，可都是我们纳税人的钱！ A123 Bankruptcy Stirs Criticism of Short-Term Subsidy Policies 10/16/12 | Dow Jones By Yuliya Chernova The bankruptcy of battery manufacturer A123 Systems Inc. (AONE) has renewed a criticism of government-subsidy programs that was heard even among supporters of renewable energy--that the short-term nature of such programs means their impact is also temporary.
A123, which as of June 30, had drawn on about $130 million of a $249.1 million grant from the Department of Energy, follows in the footsteps of solar company Solyndra LLC, which controversially failed after receiving a $535 million loan from another program.
The federal stimulus programs have featured in the campaign for the U.S. presidency, being attacked by Mitt Romney as a flawed attempt to pick winners and defended as a way to create jobs by President Barack Obama.
Keith Martin, a partner at law firm Chadbourne & Parke LLP who works with renewable energy companies and investors, said that the problem with the boost from the grant and loan programs was that it didn't last.
"There was a visible quick effect on the renewable energy market to such a degree that the volume of transactions ramped up quickly," he said. Now, as those programs wind down, there's a slowdown in activity again, said Mr. Martin.
Thomas R. Burton III, chair of the Energy and Clean Technology Practice at the law firm Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo PC, said that a more effective approach would be to encourage innovation through setting standards. Higher fuel economy standards for cars are already generating technological innovation, he said.
"The government ought to be prioritizing adoption of standards over subsidies," said Mr. Burton. "The business community would love to see certainty, and if they can have certainty, they can create balanced predictions, and then private money will follow."
Results are spotty from the $90 billion-plus subsidy program for clean technology that was part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. It actually consisted of multiple programs, from research-and-development grants for early-stage "breakthrough" projects to manufacturing support for large companies, from tax credits for consumers to subsidies for new renewable power plants. Many of these programs kicked in over a period of a few months from passage of the law, and provided benefits over several years.
Some of the programs appear to have worked better than others. Mr. Martin pointed to a program from the Treasury that substituted a tax credit for renewable power projects with cash to the developer. Implemented quickly and run smoothly, the program "allowed the banks to start lending against the expected grants," said Mr. Martin. Some companies also benefited from the early-stage research-and-development program for energy technologies called ARPA-e.
"It was very, very critical. Without that money we would not have made the disruptive leap in battery technology, and without that disruptive leap, the car companies would not have confidence that electric cars would be cheap," said Atul Kapadia, chairman and chief executive of battery-technology developer Envia Systems.
Envia received a $4 million ARPA-e grant in 2009 and used it to set the world record in battery power density, at a time when venture investors were wary. Envia also appears to be an example of one aim of the program, to get start-ups to the point where they will attract large private investors. A year after getting the government grant, Envia received a $17 million investment from General Motors Venture LLC, Japanese conglomerate Asahi Kasei Corp., and others.
On the other hand, several companies beyond A123 and Solyndra that were recipients of grants and loans have failed, including Beacon Power Corp. and Abound Solar Inc.
Google Stock Plunges: Trading Halted After Earnings Report Shows 21% Decline Year-Over-Year
October 18th, 2012 Mac Slavo: Following the trend of shipping company Fedex, the largest advertising venue in the world is showing signs of strain in a weakening global economy. Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), whose accounting firm mistakenly released their quarterly report prematurely, saw a 9% tumble in the share of their stock today after weaker than expected earnings. It’s not clear why Google’s results were posted in a regulatory filing early, but the weaker-than-expected top- and bottom-line figures threatened to leave the stock with its steepest one-day decline since the 2008 financial crisis. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company said it earned $2.18 billion, or $6.53 a share, last quarter, compared with a profit of $2.73 billion, or $8.33 a share, a year earlier. Year-over-year Google saw a 21% decline in earnings. While the company indicates more businesses are advertising with them, they are no longer willing to pay as much per click to drive visitors to their web sites: Google said its paid clicks jumped 33% year-over-year and 6% from the second quarter. However, the average cost per click declined 15% annually and 3% from the second quarter. We may be able to attribute this to just a single bad quarter, but given that the US economy has more than likely already slid back into recession according to some analysts, it would make sense that Google is starting to feel the pressure of a small business user base that is struggling to survive. With consumers being more careful about how they spend their money due to concerns about the job market and price inflation that is affecting not only retail customers but manufacturers and distributors as well, Google’s small business customers are no longer able to pay as much for advertising expenditures as they were five years ago. After Fedex’s poor showing last quarter in which they cited weakening global economic conditions surrounding their global shipping business, and Google’s results now suggesting that advertisers are paying 15% less this year for attracting visitors to their web sites than in 2011, the tell-tale signs of an economy on the brink are becoming more apparent. Google’s stock just saw its largest one day decline since the meltdown of 2008. Are traders on Wall Street getting nervous and no longer believing the hype about a strong recovery? It doesn’t take much to cause a Wall Street panic as we’ve seen repeatedly throughout history – and panic is exactly what we saw on Wall Street today. Is this an isolated incident currently being managed and controlled by the plunge protection team with happy days soon to return? Or is this just the beginning? 连接： 到底什么值得在美国本土制造？ （关于鲁冠球收购A123的新闻） | 
