Sluggish growth for Germany; Japan the model; Taking America off 'perpetual war footing'; 'We're at 1% of what is possible'; 'Kill Mittal' game targets Indian magnate

1 Sluggish growth for Germany (BBC) Germany's economy barely grew in the first quarter of 2013 as exports and investment shrank, figures show. But higher domestic consumption - thanks to rising wages - helped offset the declines in foreign trade and capital investment, raising hopes it will help drive a sustained recovery. Gross domestic product rose 0.1% from the previous quarter, but contracted 1.4% compared with a year earlier. The figure showed the economy narrowly avoided falling into a recession.

In the previous quarter, Germany's annual economic output shrank by 0.7%. A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of economic contraction. In the latest GDP data, which confirmed a preliminary estimate, only household spending was positive, growing 0.8%. Imports fell by 2.1% and exports dropped 1.8%,

Business sentiment also showed a surprise rebound this month after two consecutive months of declines, according to the closely-watched Ifo business climate index. But some analysts still warned that the recovery was fragile. Germany's economy lost steam last year as the eurozone crisis and weakness in China hit exports.

2 Japan the model (Paul Krugman in The New York Times) A generation ago, Japan was widely admired — and feared — as an economic paragon. Then Japan fell into a seemingly endless slump, and most of the world lost interest. The main exceptions were a relative handful of economists, a group that happened to include Ben Bernanke, now the chairman of the Federal Reserve, and yours truly. These Japan-obsessed economists viewed the island nation’s economic troubles, not as a demonstration of Japanese incompetence, but as an omen for all of us. If one big, wealthy, politically stable country could stumble so badly, they wondered, couldn’t much the same thing happen to other such countries?

Sure enough, it both could and did. These days we are, in economic terms, all Japanese — which is why the ongoing economic experiment in the country that started it all is so important, not just for Japan, but for the world. In a sense, the really remarkable thing about “Abenomics” — the sharp turn toward monetary and fiscal stimulus adopted by the government of Prime Minster Shinzo Abe — is that nobody else in the advanced world is trying anything similar. In fact, the Western world seems overtaken by economic defeatism.

It would be easy for Japanese officials to make the same excuses for inaction that we hear all around the North Atlantic: they are hamstrung by a rapidly aging population; the economy is weighed down by structural problems (and Japan’s structural problems, especially its discrimination against women, are legendary); debt is too high (far higher, as a share of the economy, than that of Greece). And in the past, Japanese officials have, indeed, been very fond of making such excuses.

The truth, however — a truth that the Abe government apparently gets — is that all of these problems are made worse by economic stagnation. A short-term boost to growth won’t cure all of Japan’s ills, but, if it can be achieved, it can be the first step toward a much brighter future.

Some observers have raised the alarm over rising Japanese long-term interest rates, even though these rates are still less than 1 percent. But the combination of rising interest rates and rising stock prices suggests that both reflect an increase in optimism, not worries about Japanese solvency.

3 Taking America off ‘perpetual war footing’ (Mark Landler & Mark Mazzetti in The New York Times) President Obama, in one of the most significant speeches of his presidency this week, did not simply declare an end to the post-9/11 era. He also offered a vision of America’s role in the world that he hopes could be one of his lasting legacies. It is an ambitious vision — one that eschews a muscle-bound foreign policy, dominated by the military and intelligence services, in favor of energetic diplomacy, foreign aid and a more measured response to terrorism. But it is fraught with risks, and hostage to forces that are often out of the president’s control.

From the grinding civil war in Syria and the extremist threat in Yemen to the toxic American relationship with Pakistan and the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan with no clear sense of what comes afterward, there are a multitude of hurdles to Mr. Obama’s goal of taking America off “perpetual war footing.”

One of the most daunting is a sprawling wartime bureaucracy that, after nearly a dozen years, has amassed great influence and has powerful supporters on Capitol Hill. It will be difficult to roll back what has been a gradual militarization of American foreign policy, even in an era of budget cuts for the Pentagon.
In a White House “fact sheet” issued this week about new standards for lethal operations, the administration cautioned that “these new standards and procedures do not limit the president’s authority to take action in extraordinary circumstances when doing so is both lawful and necessary to protect the United States or its allies.”

4 ‘We’re at 1% of what is possible’ (Nicholas Carlson in San Francisco Chronicle) At Google’s developer conference in San Francisco, Google CEO Larry Page gave a 10 minutes speech laying out his vision for the future of Google and technology. Here are some quotes from the speech:

“Technology should do the hard work so people can do the things that make them the happiest in life. We're really only at 1% of what's possible, and maybe even less than that...we're still moving slow. We should be building great things that don't exist. Being negative is not how we make progress. I'm sure people in the future will think were just as crazy as we think people in the past were. I think today we're still just scratching the surface of what's possible. That's why I'm so excited Google is working on the platforms supporting all your innovations."

5 ‘Kill Mittal’ game targets Indian magnate (Atish Patel in The Wall Street Journal) Indian-born steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal has become the target of a video game created by an independent French developer. ‘Kill Mittal’, available for free online, was inspired after ArcelorMittal, the company owned by the Indian billionaire, said it was closing two steel blast furnaces at its plant in the northeastern French town of Florange.

Mr. Mittal features as a robot in the video game. The ultimate aim for players, who take on the role of steel factory workers, is to defeat him. They can also throw cars and barrels at French police.  The game’s creator, Alexandre Grilletta, who comes from Florange, says he was inspired by happenings in his hometown. The steel factory workers “are only fighting to keep their job… so I developed the game telling myself I may bring interest of the audience to their cause,” Mr. Grilletta said.  A spokesperson from ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker, declined to comment. The company says it employs around 245,000 people in 60 countries. 

ArcelorMittal expects the process of mothballing the two blast furnaces in Florange to be completed by the end of June. The Luxembourg-based company struck an accord with the French government last year in which it promised the closure of the furnaces wouldn’t lead to lay-offs. The Florange plant will continue to make finished steel products and conduct research on reducing carbon dioxide emissions. 
Mr. Grilletta said the game is not meant to incite violence. It is just a “catchy name,” he said, referring to the title. “‘Kill Mittal’ is not to tell people to kill him… the game is not that kind at all,” he added.  According to Forbes magazine, Mr. Mittal is the world’s 41st richest man with an estimated personal wealth of $16.5 billion.