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Lack of euro treasury key to crisis and to recovery

Thursday, January 02, 2014

THE architects of the euro knew that it was incomplete when they designed it.

By George Soros

European authorities were confident, however, that if and when the euro ran into a crisis, they would be able to overcome it. After all, that is how the EU was created, taking one step at a time, knowing full well that additional steps would be required.

With hindsight, one can identify other deficiencies of which the euros architects were unaware. The euro was supposed to bring about economic convergence, but it produced divergences instead, because its architects did not realise that imbalances may emerge not only in the public sector, but in the private sector as well.

After the euro came into force, commercial banks could refinance their holdings of government bonds at the discount window of the European Central Bank, and regulators treated government bonds as riskless. This caused interest-rate differentials between various countries to shrink, which generated real estate booms in the weaker economies and reduced their competitiveness.

At the same time, Germany, suffering from the after-effects of reunification, had to tighten its belt. Trade unions agreed to concessions on wages and working conditions in exchange for job security. That is how the divergences emerged. Yet the banks continued to load up on the government bonds of the weaker countries in order to benefit from the minuscule interest-rate differentials.

The consequences of the lack of a common treasury first became apparent after the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in 2008, when governments, in order to prevent financial markets from collapsing, had to guarantee that no other systemically important financial institution would be allowed to fail.

At that time, Angela Merkel rejected a Europe-wide guarantee, insisting that each country should guarantee its own institutions. Interestingly, interest-rate differentials widened only in 2010, when the newly-elected Greek government announced that the previous government had vastly understated the true fiscal deficit.

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Lack of euro treasury key to crisis and to recovery

More and more cities are investing in ways to get bikers on the road, but London has been particularly preoccupied with keeping them safe.After a particularly brutal spate of deaths last year, Mayor Boris Johnson drew the ire of cyclists when heinsisted theres no amount of traffic engineering that we invest in that is going to save peoples lives.

Actually, about $360 million of engineering should do it. Thats according to plans for SkyCycle, a 137-mile network of elevated bike paths that would allow Londoners to pull a Mary Poppins by riding above the citys traffic. Unveiled this week by a team of architects including Lord Norman Foster (the guy who designed thatgiant egg-shaped building), the design is two years in the making and would take about 20 years to complete.The Guardian has more:

The project, which has the backing of Network Rail and Transport for London, would see over 220km of car-free routes installed above Londons suburban rail network, suspended on pylons above the tracks and accessed at over 200 entrance points. At up to 15 metres wide, each of the ten routes would accommodate 12,000 cyclists per hour and improve journey times by up to 29 minutes, according to the designers.

Lord Foster, who says that cycling is one of his great passions, describes the plan as a lateral approach to finding space in a congested city.

By using the corridors above the suburban railways, he said, we could create a world-class network of safe, car-free cycle routes that are ideally located for commuters.

As bike enthusiasts andinfrastructure wonks alike keep themselves busy arguing over whether SkyCycle is even a good idea, the design firms still trying to raise money just to study its feasibility. But hey, cities can dream.

Correction 1/2/14 3:45 p.m. ET: A previous version of this story quoted the estimated cost of SkyCycle at $3.6 million. The correct amount is $360 million. Salon regrets the error.

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Architects unveil plan for $360 million bike path in the sky

Alfonso Architects will design the Museum of the American Arts and Crafts Movement (MAACM) in St. Petersburg on behalf of collector Rudy Ciccarello and the Two Red Roses Foundation (TRRF). Scheduled to open in early 2016, the four-story, 90,000-sq.-ft. museum will include rare and one-of-a-kind works by leading craftsmen and artists of the early 20th century. A reference library, furnished with period pieces such as Stickley furniture and Tiffany lighting, will house books and catalogues on the Arts and Crafts Movement and the TRRF collection.

The museums architecture is inspired by the Arts & Crafts Movement in its detailing and customization of materials and joinery, architect Alberto Alfonso said in a statement. The spaces will embrace natural light and respond to the different scales of the objects they hold. It will be a building of our time that celebrates this immensely important period of art, architecture, and American history.

Plans also call for spaces for special exhibitions, events galleries, a small auditorium, restaurant, caf, gift shop, and bookstore.

Original post:
Alfonso Architects Selected for Arts & Crafts Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida

Visitors to Davenports River Heritage Park along the Mississippi River will find history reflected in the guard railing along the seawall.

The 808 feet of decorative railing features a design that suggests the arches of the nearby Government Bridge. The subtle, yet eye-pleasing element of Davenports newest city park, located at East 3rd Street and River Drive, was designed and manufactured by Crawford Co., Rock Island.

This railing that combines a historical motif with a safety function joins a gazebo already in place at the seven-acre park. Among the features yet to come is a proposed foot bridge that will enable park visitors to cross River Drive. The foot bridges design was inspired by the Mississippi Rivers first railroad bridge, an 1856 structure whose western terminus was located at the park site and is part of the rich history that the attraction celebrates.

Participating in projects such as River Heritage Park, where architectural elements contribute to both the esthetics and historical complement, is nothing new for Crawford Co. While it is known for its industrial and residential plumbing, heating and cooling services as well as metal fabrication, the company also performs unique custom architectural work.

That specialty can be seen at several high-profile landmarks in the Quad-Cities.

In addition to the River Heritage Park guard railing, such projects include protective canopies at the historic Clock Tower building, the headquarters of the Rock Island District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Working with divisions within the company as well as outside vendors, Crawford manufactured and installed the canopies at three entryways of the historic landmark, completed in 1867 as the Rock Island Arsenals first building.

The structures include a curved thumbnail shaped overhang at the main entrance and two 35-foot long canopies at the sides of the building. With fiberglass decking supported by stainless steel frames in a color scheme in keeping with that of the original building, they feature decorative cast aluminum finials in oak leaf patterns matching the oak leaf designs incorporated in the historic fencing on the property.

The guard railing at Davenports River Heritage Park consists of 101 eight-foot long sections of powder-coated, galvanized steel incorporating the trapezoid shapes of the Government Bridges arches.

Keith Gerks, Crawfords division manager for weld/laser sales, said the project posed challenges.

More:
Architectural products shine the spotlight on Crawford Co.

History is one of the favorite channels in our home. I particularly enjoy the shows where they rescue the rusty gold and send antiques for expert restoration. The transformation of various vehicles, toys and other items present amazing before and after stories.

There seems to be plenty of need for restoration in our lives and in our country. I could sure go for some restoration of separation of powers in our national government.

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Michael Zimmer: Embrace restoration in the new year

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NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) -

Con artists are using a clever combination of building permits and the good names of reputable companies to scam Middle Tennessee customers.

Well-known Nashville roofing company Mr. Roof says some of its customers are being targeted by the scammers, who look for homes where there's been recent construction. Then, they show up, claiming to do follow-up services for an additional fee.

Mr. Roof has spent 50 years building a reputation, so you can imagine how rough it is to find out someone is out there impersonating you.

"They are pulling building permits and finding out where we've installed roofs or other trades," said Jeff Kinney, with Mr. Roof. "Essentially, what they'll do is they will approach the client, knock on the front door, and say, 'Hey, we are from Mr. Roof. We'd like to do a visual inspection of your roof - just quality insurance.' In some cases, they're charging the clients just do the inspection. Then, if they say they've found something that's not been done correctly, they'll charge them to fix it correctly."

The company found out about the scam when a would-be victim called the company directly to double-check the house call. That homeowner wasn't out any money, but others haven't been so lucky.

"We're trying to scramble and figure out what these people are doing out there. We don't know what's going on. We don't know to the extent these people have told them. We don't know if they've taken money from them. So it's very disheartening these people have been out there trying to represent us and our reputation," Kinney said.

Kinney says other roofing companies are reporting the same type of scam. It's a terrible thing to do to people, especially elderly people, but it's also a difficult thing to stop.

"We'd love to catch them," Kinney said.

The Better Business Bureau advises that if someone claims to work for a company, check that out. They remind customers that:

Original post:
Scam targets roofing companies' customers

Summary: We are upgrading our recommendation on Beacon Roofing from Underperform to Neutral, with a target price of $42.00. Fourth-quarter 2013 adjusted earnings of Beacon dropped 7% year over year to $0.56 per share, due to lower gross margins. The company will benefit from continued focus on acquisition and its strong balance sheet position. U.S. housing starts also jumped to the highest level in five years, in November. While, pricing pressure, general market softness and competitive market remain headwinds for top-line growth. Further, the Architecture Billings Index fell to 49.8 in November, from 51.6 a month earlier due to uncertainty in demand. Moreover, higher mix of non-residential roofing products and sales mix will negatively impact gross margins in the near term.

Overview:

Founded in 1928, Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc. (BECN) is one of the three largest roofing material distributors in the United States and Canada, with more than 90% of its sales coming from the U.S. Besides selling roofing materials asphalt shingles and single-ply roofing to both residential and non-residential markets, Beacon also deals in complementary building materials such as vinyl siding, doors, windows, insulation, and waterproofing systems. The company operates 236 branches across 39 states in the U.S. and 6 provinces in Canada. Its competition is primarily from local and regional roofing supply distributors. Local contractors dealing with roof replacement make up the bulk of its sales.

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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc.

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Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc. (BECN): New Analyst Report from Zacks Equity Research - Zacks Equity Research Report