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Casey describes the crucial policy errors in Brazil with over spending and lack of transparency in the years leading to the crisis in 2014-2015. Brazil raised interest rates half a percentage point in May 2015 to 13.25%. Inflation was at 8.13% in Brazil in March 2015. Brazilian companies have large dollar denominated debt accumulated during the boom years which needs to be refinanced as its currency the real declines. With current policies economic growth is likely to continue at 0-1%. Russia made policy errors with the departure of Kudrin as finance minister for Putin's second term as president. Policies to attract foreign investment, controlling military expenditures, and continuing growth were reversed as Russia took positions on Ukraine that led to western sanctions, capital outflows, and a sharp decline in the ruble. By May 2015 the ruble and oil prices had recovered from lows, but the ruble was still 35% below the level in June 2014, and the oil prices were still only two thirds of the peak in 2014. Russia sees the decline in the ruble as a way to reduce imports and increase import substitution for many products. The economy is weakened by high inflation- inflation was 6.9% in March 2014, going up to 16.9% in March 2015. In May 2015 Russia lowered the target repo rate by 1.5 percentage points to 12%. Russia faces stagflation- high unemployment with low GDP growth, and high inflation....

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In this highly informative piece WSJ's Scism shows why buying long term care insurance policies in the U.S. in 2015 should be weighed carefully, because of large premium increases, and fewer insurers willing to sell such policies. The period of stays in nursing homes is shorter than previously estimated, with more men and women spending some time in nursing homes as they get beyond age 65. A Boston College study in 2014 shows men and women have 44% and 58% lifetime risk of needing nursing home care, higher than previous research, but the stays are much shorter 10 months and 16 months for men and women respectively. And 50% of nursing home stays for men, 36% for women do not exceed 3 months, giving them coverage under Medicare 100 day maximum for stays following hospitalizations. This changes the earlier calculations. About 8 million people have long term care insurance, according to Limra, a research firm, and 131,000 such policies were sold in 2014, down 24% from 2013, and way down from the 750,000 a year in the 2000s. A typical basic policy provides $164,000 in potential proceeds by paying a premium ranging from $1,685 to $2,813 for a 60 year old couple, according to the American Association for Long Term Care Insurance....

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This WSJ editorial says the Corker-Cardin compromise that requires the U.S. president to submit any nuclear deal with Iran to the U.S. Congress for debate, is the best option for both Democrats and Republicans who are skeptical of such a deal. It says amendments by senators Cruz and Rubio will not be effective. What the Corker-Cardin compromise developed by senators Corker and Cardin of the Foreign Relations Committee accomplishes, is letting the American people through their elected representatives get a full and complete debate on the merits and demerits of the deal. Democrats in the Senate are also concerned about their election chances after Mr. Obama leaves office, and will want to have a fair debate of the pros and cons before voting, says the Journal. This debate will bring more light to the questions that worry critics the most- how will compliance by Iran be secured, and can snapback sanctions work if China, Russia and other European nations go the other way. Congressional review puts a higher level of scrutiny for any agreement before it moves forward. A requirement that the government submit a review every 90 days on compliance to Congress also gives president Obama's successor a chance to reassess the situation....

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Prof. Lasson of the law school at the University of Maryland, teaches civil liberties. He provides perspective on the situation in Baltimore by giving a brief history of the city, and going over the history of Catholics, Jews and black people in the city as they struggled to assert their rights. Thurgood Marshall did not apply to the University's law school because he feared he would not be accepted. He went on to be appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1967. The 1857 Dred Scott decision before the Civil War was written by Roger Tany, who was from Baltimore. Maryland was a slave state before 1865. The law library at the law school of the University of Maryland now has Marshall's name.