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People to Watch in 2015YEAR AHEAD A6-9 | MARKETPLACE: THE JOB MARKET IN 2015

CONTENTSArt...................................... D5Books........................ D1,2,4Corporate News B2,3,5Global Finance............ C3Heard on the Street C8In the Markets........... C4

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What’sNews

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World-Widen The White House willsteer away from using exec-utive actions, looking for amore legislative strategy. A1n A stampede in Shanghaikilled dozens, calling intoquestion whether officialsprovided enough security. A10n The Affordable Care Actwill appear on tax forms thisyear, though reduced IRSstaffing could mean light en-forcement of some rules. A1n Pressure is growing foran Iraqi push to retake Mo-sul from Islamic State. A8n Rough weather stalledthe search for victims, de-bris and the body of thecrashed AirAsia plane. A10n The major contributor tocancer is random geneticmutation that happens whencells divide, research said. A3n Kim Jong Un made an ap-parent offer to hold a sum-mit with South Korean presi-dent Park Geun-hye. A10n The incoming Congresswill try to sort out the futureof U.S. surveillance programswith provisions of the PatriotAct set to expire in June. A7n Cleveland hopes to passthe investigation of theshooting death of Tamir Riceto an outside agency. A4n Global health experts arepreparing to test new treat-ments for Ebola in Africa. A8n Died: Mario Cuomo, 82,former New York governor. A4

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The test for the U.S. econ-omy as it enters 2015 with

strong momentum is whetherit can continue to thrivewhile so much of the rest ofthe world is stumbling. A1 The Dow industrialsposted a sixth straight an-nual gain, despite a selloff on2014’s final day of trade. C4n General Motors issuedthree new safety recalls, bring-ing its 2014 total to 84. B3n Russia bailed out its third-biggest lender, Gazprombank,with a $660million injection. C3n Startups are holding backon going public as they raisehuge sums in private deals. C1n Fed policy makers willlikely appear more unified in2015 as previous dissentersrotate out of voting seats. A2n Activist investors, whomade boardroom waves in2014, will likely be as busy,or busier, this year. B1n A growing number ofsmall-business owners arestarting the new year with arosier economic outlook. B1n The drop in crude andnatural-gas prices has takenthe shine off the partnershipsthat drill for the fuels. B1n A small U.K. hedge fundhas an outsize presence inthe world’s copper market. C1n China has proposed al-lowing foreign investorsand brokerages to tradesome futures contracts. C3

Business&Finance

The U.S. economy enters 2015with the strongest momentum inat least a decade and as the fit-test of all the industrialized na-tions. The question is whetherthat muscle can help yank therest of the world out of its dol-drums.

“Our expectation is for a fairlyrobust U.S. economy, and that’s

where the goodnews starts andends,” saidAdolfo Laurenti,chief interna-

tional economist for investmentand advisory firm Mesirow Finan-cial. “Everything else in the worldlooks choppy.”

The nation added 2.7 millionjobs in 2014 through November,the best year for employmentgrowth since 1999. Economic out-put registered its best six-monthstretch since 2003. Claims forjobless benefits have been run-ning lower than at any pointsince 2000.

But after six slow years of eco-nomic recovery, the test for theU.S. is no longer just about over-coming employer reluctance tohire and lingering damage fromthe housing bubble. It is whetherthe U.S. can thrive when so muchof the world is stumbling.

Plunging oil prices, while goodfor consumers and their spendingpower, are expected to slow eco-nomic growth in petroleum-pro-ducing regions ranging from Rus-sia to Africa to Latin America.Geopolitical worries from theMiddle East to Eastern Europehang over swaths of the globe.The eurozone remains lethargic

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BY JOSH ZUMBRUN

OverseasHeadwindTestsU.S.Economy

HONOLULU—The White Houseplans to pivot from President Ba-rack Obama’s reliance on execu-tive actions in the coming yearand invest more in a legislativestrategy aimed at trying to ad-vance key policy goals with thenew, Republican-controlled Con-gress, senior administration offi-cials said.

The new approach reflects aWhite House acknowledgment

that Mr. Obama has already takensome of the most significant ex-ecutive actions in his arsenal aswell as the idea that several ofhis top priorities might actuallybe more easily achieved withoutDemocrats in control of the Sen-ate, senior administration offi-cials said.

The question is whether thetwo sides can get past rancor ofthe past several years by agree-ing to disagree on certain issueswhere their philosophies’ diverge,

and engaging on issues wherethere is room for compromise.

Republican leaders, aides say,want to work with Mr. Obamabut are skeptical that he willcompromise and that even if hedoes, that he will deliver thevotes needed from his party.

“If he’s going to run aroundthe country talking about thingsthat have no chance of passingrather than running around thecountry focusing on the areaswhere we agree, he’s not going to

be very productive,” said DonStewart, deputy chief of staff toincoming Senate Majority LeaderMitch McConnell (R., Ky.). “Wejust had an election on his poli-cies.”

Messrs. Obama and McConnelldiscussed trade, taxes and infra-structure as areas of compromiseduring a one-on-one meeting af-ter the November elections.

Mr. Obama’s aim is to drawonly a few red lines on issues

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BY CAROL E. LEE

Obama Pivots to LawmakersNew Plan to Advance Policy Goals by Working With Congress Draws Skeptics

China Mourns Victims of New Year’s Eve Tragedy

KevinFrayer/G

etty

Images

Health LawIs CreatingA TrickierTax Season

BANGALORE, India—A. Ragini earns around$130 a month as a nanny in this city of nearly 10million, just about the average wage in India. Afterpaying for food and shelter, she has little cash tospare.

Ms. Ragini recently noticed the price of her fa-vorite soap, Unilever PLC’s Hamam, had gone upto 24 rupees, or about 39 cents, from 16 rupees. Italso had new packaging, and some variations of-fered different ingredients.

Even though it stretches her budget, Ms. Ragini,49, has continued to buy the soap. “I’m so used toit, I don’t want to change it now,” she says.

BY PETER EVANS

NEW FORMULA

World’s Poor Open WalletsFor Premium Products

The first year of the Afford-able Care Act is in the books,and now comes a tricky tax-fil-ing season for millions of Amer-icans.

The law’s requirement thatmost Americans carry health in-surance means all filers must in-dicate on federal tax formswhether they had coverage lastyear and got tax credits to helppay for it. Those who didn’thave coverage could face a fine,although reduced staffing at theInternal Revenue Service andcertain changes to the law meanthe so-called individual mandateis expected to be lightly en-forced this year, tax preparerssay.

Meanwhile, millions of Amer-icans who got subsidies underthe law may find they are get-ting smaller-than-expected re-funds or owe the IRS becausecredits they received to offsettheir insurance premiums weretoo large. As many as half of theroughly 6.8 million Americanswho got subsidies may have torefund money to the govern-ment, based on one estimate bytax firm H&R Block Inc.

“The ACA is going to result inmore confusion for existing cli-ents and many taxpayers maywell be very disappointed bygetting less money and possiblyeven owing money,” saidCharles McCabe, president ofPeoples Income Tax and the In-come Tax School, a Richmond,Va., provider of tax preparationand education. “The whole im-plementation of Obamacare willbe frustrating for tax prepar-ers.”

But the season could be a lu-crative one for tax firms. Lib-

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BY STEPHANIE ARMOURAND LOUISE RADNOFSKY

BRUSSELS—A storm in a beerglass is raging in Belgium. Tradi-tional brewers are sour about“beer creators”—Internet-savvystartups who create recipes thenemploy other Belgian brewers tomake the final product.

“They don’t get their handsdirty, they don’t have pain intheir backs, theonly thing thoseguys do in aworkday is sit infront of a com-puter,” saidYvan de Baets, aco-founder ofBrussels’ Bras-serie de la Senne, a brewery inthe Belgian capital. “They makea lot of noise on social media.”

Contract brewing—wherebrewers make beers for clientsranging from Michelin-starredchefs to discount supermar-

kets—has long existed. Butthings are turning bitter in Bel-gium. Some brewery owners arefoaming with rage about “beerarchitects” who create a recipethen get it brewed under con-tract.

The country’s traditionalbrewing prowess is legendary.Cantillon, another brewery inBrussels, still uses brewing

equipment over100 years old,making acidicgueuze beerswith wild yeastfloating in theair near theRiver Senne.Westvleteren,

rated by some the world’s bestbeer, can usually only be boughtfrom the front gate of the Trap-pist monastery where it isbrewed.

In Monk, a bar popular withPleaseturntopageA12

BY FRANCES ROBINSON

A Brouhaha Erupts in BelgiumOver New-Age Beer Designers

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Brews Flavored With Cucumber, Insects,Rile Old Gueuzers; Oyster Stout, Anyone?

Marketers are counting on many more reactionslike hers throughout the developing world. For de-cades, consumer-goods companies expanded inemerging economies through rock-bottom pricesand small, affordable pack sizes. At Unilever, theworld’s second-largest consumer-goods maker byrevenue after Procter & Gamble Co., that meantone-use sachets of Sunsilk shampoo and 3½-ouncebars of Lifebuoy soap.

But now, with the global economy sluggishand emerging-market sales growth waning forthe first time in years, companies are employinga developed-world strategy with their poorestcustomers: Pack more features into basic prod-

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DEADLY STAMPEDE: A makeshift memorial arose Thursday along the Shanghai waterfront where at least 36 died in a crush of revelers. A10

Year-End Review& Outlook

The year ahead for marketsand finance. R1-12

Annual change in GDP*Different Pace

*Estimates for 2014, projections for 2015

2015PROJECTIONS

Source: IMF October World Economic Outlook

The Wall Street Journal

U.S.

3.1%

JAPAN

0.8%

EUROZONE

1.3%

CHINA

7.1%

10

–2

0

2

4

6

8

%

’11 ’12 ’13 ’14 ’15

Four new votes at the Fed..... A2Wild card in housing.................. A2 How forecasts fared................... A2

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