Nehemia Shtrasler

The 0.4 percent rise in the Consumer Price Index in September was bad news, proving to all of us that inflation is still alive and kicking. A month ago we hoped that maybe we were heading back to Western normalcy. It seems it was too soon to celebrate.

Moshe Mor definitely has a refined sense of humor. Otherwise, he wouldn't have written in his letter of resignation from the board of Industrial Development Bank that everybody is to blame - except for him.

"I have no intention of raising the interest rates in the near future. We will wait until the normal time at the end of the month [October]," David Klein told Ha'aretz.

Israel stopped raising money in the United States in the first eight months of the year following indications that if executed, it would have been required to pay a rate of interest that represents a downgraded credit rating for the country.

Nehemia Strasler interviews Finance Minister Silvan Shalom

In December 2001 David Klein signed the package deal in which he lowered interest rates, giving the green light to shekel depreciation.

International credit ratings have grown in scope and influence over the past two decades and will no longer rate a company higher than the country it operates in.

Yaakov Lifshitz didn't think of this. The previous chairmen also regarded the annual conference of the Israel Center for Management (MIL) as a serious event devoted to issues of management, economics and society.

The Airports Authority has taken to strike action, causing havoc at Ben-Gurion Airport. They have disrupted outgoing flights, prevented baggage distribution to incoming passengers, and caused difficulties for tourists.

It has been a long time since we had negative inflation. The last one, in December 2001 (-0.1 percent), was followed by seven months of high inflation, which led analysts to project that in 2002 inflation would hit 8 percent.

Once upon a time, to get the matriculation certificate, you had to put in quite an effort. Whoever wanted to get a truly good grade knew it wouldn't be a walkover, and realized that it called for sweat and hard work.

For some time we have known there is no limit to the maleficence of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the Shas spiritual leader, and that his malicious tongue has no restraints.

Just before the Jewish New Year we asked a former finance minister, MK Avraham Shochat, if he too believes the crisis is behind us and we are now on growth tracks, as the prime minister and finance minister have been saying.

About ten months ago the Labor and Social Affairs Minister Shlomo Benizri set up a special unit to look into fraud among those who claim unemployment and supplementary income benefits.

Up to a few weeks ago, Ra'anan Cohen was considered a lucky soul who knew when to jump off the rolling wheel of the Labor Party and into a plum job with good perks. His colleagues said with envy: He certainly knows how to use his political contacts at the right time.

The High Court last week agreed with a Movement for Quality Government petition and overturned a Knesset decision to grant pensions to MKs who didn't even complete a single term in office. The decision affected 22 members of the previous Knesset who were not re-elected to the current legislature.

To truly appreciate the collapse of the American capital markets, we have taken the Metromedia telecommuncations company as an example. Its share a year ago was trading at $2.50, while today it is hovering at around 7 cents.

This week, the first stretch of the Trans-Israel Highway between the Eyal and Nahshonim interchanges opened to traffic. On its first day, over 5,000 vehicles used the road (much more than anticipated).