It was the top item on a local radio news broadcast one afternoon this week. A well-regarded public elementary school, in a nice part of Washington DC, had just received a call from someone asking whether it might be able to accept in January two new students, girls aged 10 and seven, even though they did not live in the school catchment area. The caller declined to give his name. But he did provide an address: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
That address, of course, belongs to the White House - where young Malia and Sasha Obama will indeed be taking up residence in about eight weeks' time, and in need of a decent school. The call may have been a hoax, and Michelle Obama, their mother, was spotted the same day prospecting two smart private schools much closer to their new home. Stunt or not, the story is an illustration of how abuzz the US capital is with Barack Obama - the country's first African-American president - coming to town.
The scouting visit on Monday, when George and Laura Bush welcomed the Obamas in to inspect their new home for the next four (or eight) years was a sensation in its own right. Thousands of people jammed outside the railings of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, unaware that they had little chance of glimpsing the president-elect and his wife, who arrived in their tinted-window limousine at the more discreet south-west entrance for VIPs.
Outside in the street, meanwhile, workmen were already starting to put up the VIP viewing stands for January's Inauguration Day parade.
Every presidential inauguration sees the world's most powerful republic at its most monarchical. They are coronations American-style, where pomp meets populism, where hucksterism and social climbing come together as one. But this inauguration is special.
For one thing there will not have been a real one for eight years, when George W Bush was first elected. And that inauguration was low key, what with a transition shortened by the 2000 Florida recount, and Mr Bush's aversion to going to bed later than 9.30pm. Not since the gifted, but wayward, Bill Clinton came on the scene has there been a comparable pre-inaugural buzz.
But beside Mr Obama, even Mr Clinton's charisma pales.
Back in 1993 moreover, there was none of today's raw yearning for the change that the advent of any new president symbolises. America's dire economic straits only heighten the anticipation of an event that, for 24 hours at least, will take minds off plant shutdowns and home foreclosures, tumbling markets and job losses. For almost everyone, the hiatus of the transition cannot pass soon enough. The old is dead. Bring on the new - and the sooner the better.
In Washington, at least, transition does not only mean lost jobs (though thousands will be). It also means new jobs, and the rush is under way. Not just for the top slots at the state department, the Pentagon and the treasury, about which the media speculate every day, but for hundreds of lesser posts as well. The official "The United States Government Policy and Supporting Positions", aka "The Plum Book", lists 9,000 jobs subject to presidential appointment, "assigned on a non-competitive basis".
Of these, 1,000 require Senate approval.
Even the Plum Book, though, tells only part of the story. Thousands of other jobs open up when the White House changes hands. They are mainly for the young, the ambitious and the star-struck. Most of them are menial jobs in obscure policy offices.
But for many an Obama campaign worker, who has toiled in the field for months, often for little or no pay, they are a foothold on the bottom rung of a ladder that may lead ? who knows where?
Meanwhile, the celebrated revolving door is spinning full speed. Some of the Bush crowd will be heading home, but others are making beelines for high-paying Republican lobbying firms and conservative thinktanks in Washington.
For Democrats the stampede is in the opposite direction.
A president may not have his full team approved by Congress (and vetted by the FBI) for months or longer. Some transitions are not properly completed much before the midterm elections roll around after two years. But for a majority of ordinary Americans, this one will end in an explosion of history when Mr Obama takes the oath of office on Jan 20 2009.
That is why applications for the 240,000 free tickets for the event already run into millions. That is why scalpers are asking US$1,500 (Dh5,520) for a good seat at the parade. And that is why an inquiry at an elementary school in north-west Washington has a normally placid neighbourhood beside itself with excitement.
* The National
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
AUSTRALIA%20SQUAD
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UAE%20v%20West%20Indies
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The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
THE BIO
Favourite book: ‘Purpose Driven Life’ by Rick Warren
Favourite travel destination: Switzerland
Hobbies: Travelling and following motivational speeches and speakers
Favourite place in UAE: Dubai Museum
MATCH INFO
Juventus 1 (Dybala 45')
Lazio 3 (Alberto 16', Lulic 73', Cataldi 90 4')
Red card: Rodrigo Bentancur (Juventus)
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