Is the activist shareholder going to save the public company?  Msybe suggests the Economist,  Passive index funds sell at the first sign of trouble.

Acitivist hedge funds take small stakes  in firms and act like political campaigners.  They solicit other shareholder support for demands to be represented on company boards, cost-cutting spin-offs and returning cash to shareholders. Acitivists are often loathed by public -company bosses for their belligerence and opportunism,

Activists have funds which are worth $100 billion and in 2014 attracted a fifth of all flows into hedge funds,  In 2014, they launched 344 attacks against public companies.  One-half of all the companies of S&P’s list o fmost valuable firms had a big activist on its shareholder register.  At least one in seven of these firms has been attacked by an activist.

They seek to improve a firm’s board, and win the support of big money managers.  Activists don’t losd up on debt, just 5% or so.  There is no takeover premium and they extract fairly low fees.  Poor performance resulting from nderperforming companies, poor managers and lazy capital can be overcome by the activists.  When they lead a revolt, they may give a company a new lease on life.

by Claudio Munoz

Roads are the arteries of the nation, and the automobile has been the centerpiece of American culture for decades. Despite Americans’ love for their cars, however, the rush hours are no more pleasant, and not everyone wants or can afford a car. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 9.1% of American households did not own a car in 2013. According to a review of carless households in American cities, residents in some urban areas are far less likely to own a vehicle. In New York City, 54.4% of households did not have a car, the highest percentage nationwide. Based on the percent of households who did not own a vehicle in 2013.

Curitiba in Brazil with a population of about 2 million instituted a bus system where buses ran every thirty seconds, you bought your pass in an attached shelter and exited from the other end of it.  Cited by ubran planners throoughout the world, Curitiba is one answer to getting rid of cars.

Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine agreed a deal on Thursday that offers a “glimmer of hope” for an end to fighting in eastern Ukraine after marathon overnight talks.

But all four leaders said there was a long way to go and accusations from Kiev of a new, mass influx of Russian armour into rebel-held eastern Ukraine further undermined the prospects for peace.

The deal envisages a ceasefire between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed.  Emerging separately from more than 16 hours of negotiations, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, one of the sponsors of the talks, differed with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the reasons they took so long.

Putin accused Kiev of prolonging the talks, the culmination of a dramatic diplomatic initiative by France and Germany following an upsurge in fighting in which the separatists tore through an earlier ceasefire line.

Merkel on the other hand, said Poroshenko “did everything to achieve the possibility of an end to the bloodshed.”

It is likely to ease pressure in the United States for Washington to send military aid to the stretched Ukrainian army, and from some in Europe for tighter sanctions against Moscow, due to be discussed at a European summit later on Thursday.

The agreement could also help protect Putin from any fallout from the deaths of Russians in the fighting, said by Ukraine to be soldiers. Moscow says they are volunteers.  As the deal was reached, Ukraine was offered a $40-billion lifeline by the International Monetary Fund to stave off financial collapse.

Russia’s economy has also suffered, from the sanctions imposed over its support for the separatists in eastern Ukraine and annexation of Crimea last year. Russian shares surged on Thursday after the deal was announced and the rouble gained, but then slipped back.

The agreement addressed a demarcation line between separatists and Ukrainian forces.

Ukraine will also get control of its border with Russia, but in consultation with the rebels and only after the regions gain more autonomy under constitutional reform by the end 2015.

The ceasefire and heavy weapons pullback would be overseen by Europe-wide security body, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

French President Francois Hollande said there was still much work to be done on the Ukraine crisis, but the agreement was a real chance to improve the situation.

The talks in Minsk took place as an International Monetary Fund mission agreed a bailout to save Ukraine from bankruptcy.  The Fund provisionally agreed a $17.5 billion facility with Ukraine, part of a $40 billion funding package, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said.

On the Russian side of the border, Moscow has begun military exercises in 12 regions involving more than 30 missile regiments, RIA news agency reported on Thursday, citing a Defence Ministry official.

Potential GDP is not the nation’s productive maximum, as would occur if all factors in the economy were employed to their fullest extent, but rather it is the maximum output that can be achieved over a prolonged period without straining productive capacity and thus increasing the risk that inflation will rise above the Federal Reserve’s goal.

GDP has never equaled potential output for a sustained period. Instead, there usually is a gap (expressed as a percentage of GDP) between the economy’s actual and potential output. Typically, that gap is negative during economic recessions and early in subsequent recoveries, when actual output is less than potential.  The gap has been positive, however—and in some cases substantially so—during later phases of economic expansions. CBO’s estimate of the output gap provides a measure of the slack or the overheating in the economy, and that assessment in turn can provide useful information to policymakers as they consider the economic consequences of various actions.

CBO’s projections of potential output guide its projections of actual output. For roughly the first half of its 10 year projection period (which currently runs through 2025), CBO projects the growth of actual output by estimating both the potential and the cyclical components of economic activity. For the latter part of the projection period, however, CBO does not estimate cyclical components. Instead, it projects that actual output will grow at the same rate as potential output but remain about one-half of one percent below potential, on average. According to CBO’s analysis, from 1961 to 2009, the nation’s actual output was below its potential by about that amount, on average, and below its potential, on average, during each of the past five complete business cycles (since 1975).  Congressional Budget Office GDP-Projections

The Greek government wants to overhaul 30% of its bailout obligations, replacing them with a 10-point plan of reforms.

The EU-IMF bailout for the debt-laden country expires on 28 February and Greece does not want it extended.

Instead the new Athens government is asking for a “bridge agreement” that will enable it to stay afloat until it can agree a new four-year reform plan with its EU creditors.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s government won a confidence vote with the support of 162 deputies in the 300-seat parliament.

The Athens stock exchange then fell by 4% ahead of the emergency Eurogroup meeting, which will see Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis unveil the controversial debt proposals.

The Syriza-led government says the conditions of the €240bn (£182bn; $272bn) bailout – sweeping spending cuts and public sector job losses – have impoverished Greece.

The government’s proposal for overhauling its bailout is:  1. Greece would co-operate on 70% of its bailout conditions but wants to scrap 30% – replacing it with 10 new reforms to be agreed with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). It is unclear what these would be. 2.Bond swaps 3. Reduce the primary budget surplus target for this year to 1.49% of GDP, rather than the 3%.

A swift deal with the EU is considered unlikely. Most finance ministers – including Germany’s Wolfgang Schaeuble – are insisting that Greece must not renege on its bailout conditions.

Speaking ahead of the Eurogroup meeting, its president, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, said he did not expect a deal with Greece on Wednesday but that the group would listen to Greece’s ideas.

Meanwhile the head of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, praised Greek officials as “competent”, but warned that reaching an agreement would take time.

On the eve of the meeting, Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis did not rule out clashing with his eurozone counterparts, saying: “If you are not willing to even contemplate a rift, then you are not negotiating.”

The stakes of the talks are high because of fears that a Greek debt default could push it out of the euro, triggering turmoil in the EU.

Greece’s debt currently stands at more than €320bn (£237bn) – about 174% of its economic output (GDP).

Last month’s election win by radical left-wing party Syriza has led to suggestions that Greece could forge closer ties with Russia, although Greek officials have downplayed the idea.

After meeting his Greek counterpart Nikolaos Kotzias on Wednesday, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow would consider a request for financial aid from Athens if it came – despite Russia’s own financial difficulties caused by Western sanctions over the crisis in Ukraine.

The Greek Defence Minister, Panos Kammenos, previously said Greece might seek funding from Russia, China or the US if it failed to reach a new debt agreement with the eurozone.

Mohamed el a Erian writes:  Six and a half years after the global financial crisis, central banks in emerging and developed economies alike are continuing to pursue unprecedentedly activist – and unpredictable – monetary policy. How much road remains in this extraordinary journey?