Obama will not accept the second place for the U.S. He wants trains as fast as Europe and China, maths and science students as brilliant as Indians, and a cumulative 14% growth in US exports. Tax breaks and budget allocations can deliver hard work, innovation, and all these; access to pornography and lure of gambling dens need not be curtailed.

Despite oil having plunged to 72-73 and volatility in currencies and commodities having disappeared mysteriously, politics and economics were divided into two distinct camps at Davos last week. Brown, Merkel and Sarkozy supported tax on financial trades while bankers held closed-door meetings to figure ways of countering the growing control appetite of politicos. Lloyd Blankfein, Jamie Dimon and Osama bin Laden did not attend; Osama issued statement denouncing the dollar and holding the developed responsible for climate change. Google wasn’t discussed at Davos; China didn’t want it discussed.

IMF says global GDP has probably grown 3.9% in 2009 and next year the rate may be 4.3%, while global trade in goods and services has grown from 42% to 62% of world GDP between 1980 and 2007. FDI rose from 6 to 32%.

US GDP expanded 5.7% (annualised) last quarter while consumer spending was up 2% but Bill Gates said it would take years to recover and even scolded Sarkozy to spend more on malaria than his own baldness. US budget deficit is expected to decline from 1.40 to $1.35 tn this year, Bernanke’s second term as Fed has been confirmed, every tenth American (every fifth black in 20-24 age group) is unemployed, and New York City may lay off 10,000 to balance its budget. The only inference one can draw is that the US is going to keep pumping money to keep the show going, at least for the time being.

China has overtaken US as the largest buyer of Saudi oil. Real estate prices in China were up 7.8% in December and George Soros says its stock market is overheating. However, China is quietly pushing its domestic consumption, largely with domestically produced goods.

Unemployment in eurozone hit 10% (15.8 mn jobless) last month. Greece says it isn’t going to leave euro; speculators are trying to weaken the eurozone as they perceive Greece to be the weakest link. German banks have doubled fees for drawing cash from non-affiliated ATMs. UK continues to lose £30 bn or £621 per adult because of fraud. Japan’s sovereign debt is expected to be close to $11 tn by March 2010, against reserves of about one trillion.

“Not investing in Africa is like missing out on Japan and Germany in the 1950s,” said somebody at Davos. Venezuela is now estimated to have 500 bn barrels of recoverable crude oil, twice Saudi Arabia.

Whether the financial industry is going to be regulated, and if yes, to what extent, is what will perhaps determine the future. Consensus in favor of control is apparently evolving but the developing world (including China) is stoically silent and exchanges in US are pushing for price quotes in increments of 0.10 cents! In the “biggest carry trade” of its kind, banks are buying interest paying treasuries with interest-free borrowings from sovereigns. Despite the cash hoard that is still growing, clean-tech investments seem to be withering.

Apple sold 8.7 mn iPhones last quarter and Mac sales too were strong in Asia and Europe, though views on its tablet vary. Interestingly, Google, not Nokia or Motorola, is emerging as its principal competitor. Cell phone companies around the world are rushing to upgrade infras. Meanwhile, Motorola’s revenue fell 20% last quarter, to $5.7 bn. Microsoft earned $6.7 bn on revenue of $19 bn. Morgan Stanley seems to be earning money in securities, as well as oil products trading.

A JV between BlackRock and Tishman has defaulted on $4.4 bn debt it had borrowed for buying a 11,200 apartment property for $5.4 bn in 2006; it is worth less than 2 bn now.

Ford Motor has reported a profit of $2.7 bn for 2009 and Hyundai profits are up fourfold but Toyota and Honda are being questioned for design efficacy as components suppliers are refusing to take the blame for problems like sudden acceleration, pointing out they existed before their supplies began.

As work on the $5.25 bn Panama Canal project that would enable larger ships to traverse the canal has started progressing, doubts are being expressed about the future of Buffett’s investment in railways. Eli Lilly revenue grew 14% to $5.93 bn last quarter as sales of psychotic and impotence drugs grew.

Wal-Mart and Macy’s are to cut 11,000 and 1,500 jobs, respectively, while Siemens is to eliminate 2000 jobs. DuPont revenue rose 12.3% to $6.42 bn last quarter, and Honeywell revenue slid 7% to $8 bn last quarter. Mattel’s Barbie dolls are selling well. Manchester United, the soccer club, has debt of $ 1 bn.

Tony Blair’s decision to attack Iraq post-9/11 was examined by a commission last week but the crucial question wasn’t even asked: Were there considerations other than the belief about WMDs? France’s move to ban face veils has resulted in Germany thinking on similar lines. There was some fire exchanged between North and South Korea last week.

One research work says men should sleep alone but women benefit from sharing beds. Italian Mafia impacts about 7% of the nation’s GDP and hasn’t suffered from the global meltdown; turnover is estimated at around $200 bn and its spending on bribes ($3.5 bn) appears miniscule compared to what the St and the City spend. Another researcher says it is best to jog without shoes and Ryanair continues to forbid its employees from recharging their phones with electricity paid for by the company.

In the latest Happy Planet Index rankings, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic and Jamaica were the top three while the US is at 114th, China is 20th, India is 35th and Hong Kong is 84th.

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