This is what passes for crisis resolution in the new Rome. Yesterday, groups concerned about America's huge public debt hosted a "budgetball" tournament on the Washington mall, the stretch of green where the city's federal offices, museums and monuments are gathered.
Budgetball, this column is informed, is a derivative of ultimate Frisbee developed "to build awareness, especially among young people, about the nation's growing financial challenges and the trade-offs involved in solving them".
Team sheets were filled from a cadre of university students on one side and government officials and heads of aid groups on the other.
The event was sponsored by the Peter G Peterson Foundation, which has been sounding the alarm about America's borrowing binge for years, though sadly to little effect.
Unless they demonstrate a level of courage and sacrifice not seen in Washington since the British burned it in 1814, this country's ruling elite are poised to be slammed by a train of debt as they peer between the tracks in search of spare change.
That, in essence, is the conclusion of a report making the rounds in Washington about the pedigree and perils of America's record deficits.
Authored by Alan Auerbach, an economics professor at the University of California at Berkeley, and William Gale of the Brookings Institution, the study projects federal deficits will average at least US$1 trillion (Dh3.67tn) for the next 10 years.
And that's assuming the economy recovers completely from the global crisis and the stimulus packages introduced by Barack Obama, the US president, are allowed to expire in two years.
The report estimates the federal debt will account for between 7 and 9 per cent of US GDP for the foreseeable future, its highest level since the Second World War.
Such a rate of borrowing may be impossible to sustain, the study suggests, and default on the five-year US treasury bill is a distinct possibility.
The authors urge politicians to respond to the country's debt trap with the same resources and alacrity as it would to a national security threat.
"Although fiscal policy problems are usually described as medium and long-term issues, the future may be upon us much sooner than previously expected," they wrote.
The report lays much of the blame for America's financial woes at the feet of George W Bush, the former president.
When Mr Bush assumed office in 2001, the congressional budget office estimated that the government would manage an average annual surplus of more than $800 billion a year from this year to 2012.
Thanks to eight years of Bush tax cuts, fiscal extravagance and two costly wars, the US economy is now a ward of creditor governments from Beijing to Riyadh.
Through little choice of his own, Mr Obama has continued his predecessor's bank bailout, as well as rescue packages and a huge stimulus programme of his own.
The Obama administration seems to appreciate the urgency expressed in the Auerbach/Gale report. This month Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, urged Congress to cut long-term budget deficits to avoid "an unsustainable situation".
Last week, Mr Obama met legislators and announced he would revive the "pay-as-you-go" law, which requires that tax cuts or new entitlement programmes be paid for with budget cuts or tax increases.
But the so-called "pay-go" law did little to control spending when it was in effect from 1990 to 2002 because Congress routinely made major funding programmes exempt.
The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank that criticised Bush profligacy long before Mr Obama arrived, called pay-go's revival "a distraction" from the real work of fiscal restraint.
Now that America's baby boom generation is shuffling into retirement age only the wholesale reform of major entitlement programmes, starting with the national health and pension fund, can restore the country's economic security.
The past two US presidents tried to do just that. Mr Bush made restructuring social security the touchstone of his second term, while Bill Clinton unveiled an ambitious healthcare plan almost immediately after his swearing in. Both men were handed their heads by an unco-operative Congress.
It is now Mr Obama's turn in the breach and he has not a moment to lose. Last week, the rating agency Standard & Poor's issued a report with a warning, however oblique, about the precariousness of America's financial position.
According to S&P's, several governments in East Asia, which until now have met Washington's borrowing needs with a cheap and reliable credit line, risk debt downgrades due to heavy borrowing associated with their own stimulus and bailout packages.
That means the appetite for US treasuries may continue to wane - yields last week reached their highest levels in a year - and America's debt habit will become increasingly costly to support.
Enough Frisbee. Enough budgetball. It's time for some chin-level political hardball.
sglain@thenational.ae
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut
Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”
Seven tips from Emirates NBD
1. Never respond to e-mails, calls or messages asking for account, card or internet banking details
2. Never store a card PIN (personal identification number) in your mobile or in your wallet
3. Ensure online shopping websites are secure and verified before providing card details
4. Change passwords periodically as a precautionary measure
5. Never share authentication data such as passwords, card PINs and OTPs (one-time passwords) with third parties
6. Track bank notifications regarding transaction discrepancies
7. Report lost or stolen debit and credit cards immediately