Bernanke Reflects on the Financial Crisis

September 2008 was a month of falling financial market dominoes: the federal take-over of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, followed one week later by the Lehman Brothers failure, the Bank of America agreement to save Merrill Lynch, and the first taxpayer lifeline to American International Group (AIG). The expression “systemic risk” became the new clarion call for policy-makers and regulators as they took unprecedented steps to avoid a collapse of the global financial system.

On September 15, one year after the Lehman collapse, the Brookings Institution will host a forum to explore the tumultuous events of last September, where financial markets stand today and the status of regulatory reforms designed to prevent the next financial crisis. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will give the keynote address, followed by a panel that includes Brookings Senior Fellow and Director of the Initiative on Business and Public Policy Martin Baily; Co-director of Economic Studies Ted Gayer; Senior Fellow Eswar Prasad, Glenn Hutchins—co-founder and co-chief executive of Silver Lake; and AEI Resident Scholar Vincent Reinhart.

Brookings President Strobe Talbott will give introductory remarks, and Brookings Vice President and Co-Director of Economic Studies Karen Dynan will moderate the panel.

Speakers and panelists will take questions from the audience.

İPJONE 3 G

Introducing iPhone 3G.

With fast 3G wireless technology, GPS mapping, support for enterprise features like Microsoft Exchange, and the new App Store, iPhone 3G puts even more features at your fingertips. And like the original iPhone, it combines three products in one — a revolutionary phone, a widescreen iPod, and a breakthrough Internet device with rich HTML email and a desktop-class web browser. iPhone 3G. It redefines what a mobile phone can do — again.

Multimedia Bed - The RUF-Cinema

Why watch a TV from your couch when you can turn your bed into a movie theater experience? That’s the theory behind the RUF BETTEN RUF-Cinema, a multimedia playground for adults. The site describes, “To go to the cinema in your pajamas, stretch out your feet as much as you want and snuggle down into your pillow? That’s not a vision with RUF-Cinema, the first multimedia bed of the furture, it’s every evening’s reality. Interesting perspectives, visionary technology: RUF-Cinema looks just as good from the rear as from the front. The most striking features: futuristic punched metal cover and spectacular cable channel. Looking good: a home cinema rack fitted between the two headboard bolsters offers enough space for items such as a beamer, DVD player and games consoles. The lit frosted glass top with infraared touch sensor is an eye-catcher.”
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High Tech Luxury Offices - Cybertecture Egg

Cybertecture Egg is a new office design set to be built in India. The smart architectural egg is a design based on interactive building designs of the future, a term being referred to as Cybertecture, dubbed by company, Cybertecture International.

When it is complete, The Cybertecture Egg in Mumbai, India will be one of the world’s most high tech office buildings. The structure, which appears to be resting on an angle, does not have a rounded tip, but instead the top of the 13th floor on the 32,000 sq m building is flat. In it rests a sky garden that will perform thermolysis.

“PV panels will be installed on top of the building and a wind turbine on the sky gardens will generate electricity,” World Architecture News says. “A water filtration system will also be incorporated into the building to recycle grey water for flushing and irrigation purpose.”

The building is packed with elements intended to give those working in the building the top in terms of office luxury, including health monitors in bathrooms that are capable of performing on-site testing like weigh-ins and blood pressure checks.

They’ve estimated the project will be complete by the end of 2010.

Obama says won't guarantee Ahmadinejad a meeting

Democrat Barack Obama underscored his willingness to talk to leaders of countries like Iran that are considered U.S. adversaries but said on Monday that does not necessarily mean an audience with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Obama, the Democratic Party front-runner vying to face Republican Sen. John McCain in the November race for the White House, has said he was willing to meet with leaders of countries such as Iran, Syria, Cuba and Venezuela without preconditions.

McCain has criticized that view, saying that sitting down with someone like Ahmadinejad would give the Iranian president a spotlight and send the wrong signal to U.S. allies such as Israel.

Iran does not recognize Israel's existence and Ahmadinejad has called the country a "stinking corpse."

Obama, an Illinois senator, said Iranian presidential elections in 2009 would be a factor in the timing of any meetings, as would considerations of who wields the power.

"There's no reason why we would necessarily meet with Ahmadinejad before we know that he was actually in power. He's not the most powerful person in Iran," Obama told reporters while campaigning in New Mexico.

Under Iran's system of clerical rule, the Islamic Republic's religious establishment has final say in all state matters.

The McCain campaign accused Obama of backtracking.

"Over the past year, Sen. Obama has repeatedly confirmed that he'd meet unconditionally with Ahmadinejad and the leaders of Syria, Cuba and Venezuela," said McCain spokesman Brian Rogers.

Republicans have accused Obama of inconsistency on his policy on talking to adversaries. In recent weeks, Obama and his aides have emphasized that, while there would be no "preconditions" for potential top-level meetings, there would be extensive staff-level preparations.

In the case of Iran, Obama said, "Preparation means that there are low-level talks in which there's clarity about our concerns around the nuclear weapons program but that we're willing to listen to their perspective."

Obama said his position has been consistent.

"I've said that with sufficient preparation I would be happy to meet leaders from other sovereign states including countries like Iran or North Korea or Venezuela," he said. "I have said that it is important to make sure that it begins with low-level diplomatic engagement and that there's a clear agenda so that any meetings would be constructive."

The World's Most Expensive Cellphones

The World's Most Expensive Cellphones

There is no cellphone more anticipated this year than the next generation of the Apple iPhone. But for some high rollers, the ultimate iPhone is a diamond-encrusted version from London jeweler Amosu. At 20,000 pounds ($39,600), the creation ranks among the world's most expensive phones.

Even a $40,000 iPhone seems tame compared with the 8800 Arte from Austrian designer Peter Aloisson. The luxury Nokia (nyse: NOK - news - people ) phone is posh to begin with, featuring designer ringtones and wallpapers and an 18-karat white gold finish. Encased in more than 680 pink and white brilliant-cut diamonds--sparing only the screen and slide-out keyboard--the embellished phone is a marvel. And, at 85,000 euros ($134,000), it's also the price of a college education.

In Pictures: 10 Lust-Inspiring Phones

These super high-end cellphones are a fascinating anomaly within the cellphone industry. While handset makers like Nokia, Samsung and Motorola (nyse: MOT - news - people ) churn out millions of $40 phones for developing markets such as China, Russia and India (see "Cellphones Your Wallet Will Love"), smaller firms like Amosu and Peter Aloisson focus on serving a much smaller population at the other end of the market.

It's a trend that shows no signs of halting. Fashion firms and automakers continue to show interest on the designer side. Last week, Christian Dior (other-otc: CHDRF.PK - news - people ) unveiled a $5,000 phone that resembles a sleek cosmetic compact. Watchmaker Tag Heuer is coming out with a $6,000 phone with a crocodile leather back. Porsche (other-otc: PSEPF.PK - news - people ) and Lamborghini have phones. Ferrari collaborated with Vertu, a U.K.-based luxury phone manufacturer owned by Nokia, on a special-edition phone last year.

Luxury firms say the steady march of cellphones across the globe is further expanding the market by popularizing the notion of luxury phones. "Mobile phones are becoming more and more an object of desire for people," says Alberto Torres, president of Vertu.

So what does a multi-thousand-dollar phone have that a $100 or $200 phone lacks? In the case of Vertu, whose phones range from $4,000 to $300,000, the difference begins with materials. Its handsets are crafted using scratch-proof sapphire glass screens, titanium frames, ruby bearings (for minimal wear and tear), fine leather and, in some models, gold and platinum.

Design inspirations are similarly highbrow. The brand's "Signature" line features d

etails from jewelry and watchmaking. Its "Ascent" line is based on luxury automobiles and incorporates carbon fiber and rubber. (Torres uses a red Ascent handset.) Vertu's newest phones, the "Constellation" line, are meant to evoke images of classical aviation.

Then there is the painstaking construction. Though Vertu phones incorporate Nokia technology, they are developed and manufactured separately. Some models have more than 500 mechanical pieces, all assembled by hand in Europe. Torres compares the process to that of other luxury goods, such as cars, watches and handbags.

The phones are manufactured with longevity in mind, both in terms of tough construction and classic design. Vertu tests some phones by running a car over them. The goal, says Torres, is to make the phones functional for 20 years, even if users are likely to swap phones long before then.

The combination has attracted high-profile fans, such as former Ferrari Chief Executive Jean Todt, Beyoncé, Gwyneth Paltrow, Catherine Deneuve and Michelle Yeoh. Strikingly, most of these people shelled out money for their Vertu handsets. "We are very careful about gifting phones," says Torres. "We think it's more important that people buy into the brand and have a commitment to it."

According to luxury phone firms, plenty of people can afford to buy their wares. Vertu had triple-digit growth in 2006 and 2007 and is now in expansion mode, opening more stand-alone boutiques, including its first U.S. shops, in the Wynn Las Vegas and Plaza (New York) hotels. Despite a slowing economy, Torres says, the U.S. is the brand's fastest-growing market.

He thinks luxury phones will eventually ring up billions in sales. But some luxury analysts say upscale cellphones and other electronic gadgets will never be as popular as designer watches, handbags and cars. The rapid pace of innovation in cellphone technology means phones don't appreciate in value the way a Rolex does, notes Pamela Danziger, a luxury marketing expert. And phones, which most people carry everywhere, but rarely secure to their bodies, can be easily lost or misplaced, making them risky investments, she adds.

"It is a very, very limited market," says Danziger.

The two exceptions, she says, are young men, who are increasingly forgoing luxury watches in favor of using cellphones to tell time, a habit that could make them more receptive to spending thousands on a phone. The other: wealthy people she calls "exfluents" (or "extreme affluents"), who "go for the best of the best in everything they purchase."

In the end, as with any extremely expensive accessory, buying a $10,000 phone isn't about logic. Torres compares luxury phones to vintage Ferraris. "They might not last forever or have the latest technology, but they're beautiful things to drive."

Democrats divided; McCain surges clear

John McCain claimed he was the front-runner in the contest for the Republican U.S. presidential nomination after piling up big primary wins across the country on Super Tuesday, according to CNN projections.

John McCain and wife Cindy arrive at the U.S. Senator's Super Tuesday party in Phoenix, Arizona.

But the race for the Democratic Party nomination remained wide open between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama with votes evenly split between the rival senators.
Although CNN projections showed Obama winning more states overall, Clinton claimed victory in several key states with higher delegate counts, including New York, which she represents in the Senate, and California.

Latest estimates suggest the pair could be separated by as few as 20 of the 1,678 delegates at stake on Tuesday.

Some of the biggest prizes of the primary season were up for grabs on Tuesday, including Illinois, New Jersey, Missouri and Georgia, as voters made their party choices in 24 states and the U.S. Pacific territory of American Samoa.

On the Republican side, CNN projected Arizona Senator McCain to win his home state, along with California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Missouri, New Jersey, New York and Oklahoma. McCain wins big; Huckabee shines

CNN projected Republican Mitt Romney to take Alaska, Colorado, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota and Utah.

CNN projected Republican Mike Huckabee as winner in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee and West Virginia.

In the Democratic races, CNN projections indicated wins for Clinton in Arizona, California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Tennessee Arkansas, where her husband, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, was once governor, and American Samoa. Clinton takes California in tight Democratic race

Barack Obama has CNN-projected wins in his home state of Illinois, plus Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, and Utah.

More than four-fifths of the 2,025 delegates needed to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination and more than 1,000 of the 1,191 necessary delegates on the Republican side were at stake on Tuesday.

The delegate count is key when looking at the results. Candidates need to notch up enough delegates -- rather than voter numbers -- to secure their party's nomination. See which states are the most important »

McCain turnaround
For the Republicans, it was a day that cemented McCain's remarkable turnaround since he was written off last summer as a viable White House contender by many political commentators.
On Tuesday the four-term Arizona senator, a 71-year-old former Vietnamese prisoner of war who also ran for the Republican nomination in 2000, finally felt comfortable enough to call himself the front-runner.

"Although I've never minded the role of the underdog and have relished as much as anyone come-from-behind wins, tonight I think we must get used to the idea that we are the Republican Party frontrunner," McCain told reporters as results came in. "And I don't really mind it one bit."