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Chinese plant not inspected by the FDA made an active ingredient in a blood thinner for Baxter International. The blood thinner led to 4 deaths. Baxter has temporarily stopped production of its version of Heparin. China has 14% of the $31 billion market for active drug ingredients according to a 2007 report from Credit Suisse. Only 7% of foreign drug making facitlites are inspected each year by the FDA, so its way behind in inspection, and at this rate it would take 13 years to cover all the foreign plants.

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West Bengal elections in April-May 2026- the elections come after Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal, nearby countries, all changed governments following protests about corrupt governance, mismanangement of the economy. Inside India there is a profound change that is not even covered in the  established media such as the BBC and DW.com. The states of Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, and Bihar, in the northeastern part of India had landslides in voting for the ruling BJP party and NDA alliance for Clean government and Modernization of the economy. A similar vote took place also with a landslide for Clean Governance and Modernization in the state of Maharashtra in the western part of India with the commercial hub of Mumbai (Bombay). In the southern part of India in Kerala, the capital city local government in Thiruvananthapuram has also shifted to this Clean Governance and Modernization under the BJP government that governs at the federal level in New Delhi. India is like China and Japan before it, going through massive change to modernize the country with new infrastructure building and rapid development including investments in hospitals, universities and airports, trade logistics, factories for industrial production. The magnitude of the change is reflected inthe population of most of these states being close to 100 million in each state West Bengal(105 million), Maharashtra(130 million), Bihar (133 million), almost the whole population of the US in just 3 of the many states- witnessing huge changes that could mean 20-25% growth rate a year n the next couple of years to 2030 doubling their GDP. ...

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Horowitz provides a rare portrait of Donald Trump's father, Fred Trump. This is  useful in understanding Donald Trump because as Trump says frequently many of the traits- self-promotion, aggressive business promotion, taking advantage of political connections to advance the family business, penny pinching for construction sites- are all traits he inherited from his father. His father did not want to go to Manhattan as business was already nice and easy in Brooklyn and other places. The son went into Manhattan and put his name on Towers he built in the city. Fred Trump benefitted from the FHA and depression era programs setup under the New Deal by FDR, and the flow of immigrants and returning veterans, the zoning allowances given by politicians. Without this the business would be nowhere as successful as it was. Making it self-made only upto a point, in the intensity and the individualism displayed. Fred Trump was born in 1905 to German immigrants who spoke mostly German at home. His brother John was into books, and went on to teach at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, so the family was certainly aspirational immigrant. Fred was the doer and started his business with his mother at the age of 21, and by 28 had won the mortgage services business of a failing German bank, by 1938 at 33 he had setup property developments in Brooklyn. Federal Housing programs were the key- homeownership was emphasized in the New Deal with F.H.A. 25 year mortgage loans- as affordability was an issue in the Depression era period. Fred Trump keenly used these loan subsidies with price tags so it would be a stretch to say the business simply went up on the intensity and the business skills.  ...

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Only after the FDA made it apparent that it would take atougher stand against taranabant did Merck decide on scrapping this obesity drug which has psychiatric side effects.

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The new low cost Abbott test is about the size of a credit card and can be adminstered in a doctor's or school nurse's office. Test results are given in 15 minutes. Abbott says 97% of positive cases are detected. Plans are to increase production to 50 million in October from tens of millions shipped in September. It sees this test as the kind of test that can help schools and offices reopen. It is called the Binax Ag Card. 

It searches for virus proteins and is intended for use within 7 days of coronavirus symptoms. It involves a nasal swab given by a health care worker or nurse.

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After recalls of some Propofol anesthetic product in July 2009, Teva Pharmaceutical has decided to stop making the anesthetic. The FDA had found significant manufacturing violations at Teva's Irvine plant.

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The new coronavirus test for antibody detects antibodies Immunoglobulin G and M. It is designed for people with symptoms and is a quick test used in China, and to be deployed in Britain. The FDA approved the first antibody test for coronavirus developed by Cellex. Immunoglobulin M is made a few days after infection. Immunoglobulin G is made later and is designed by nature in the human body to neutralize the invading virus. The test gives a positive or negative answer whether these antibodies are present to overcome the virus. Unlike the swab test for the nose this test takes only a pin prick and is quick with quick results. For asymptomatic people the swab test is needed as it detects the material in the nose which carries the virus itself.

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About 30 rail routes in Germany will be renovated under a massive renovation program of Deutsche Bahn that begins July 15. Repeated delays and cancellations of an antiquated rail system is causing frustration for rail users in Germany. Deutsche Bahn's deficit is euros 2.4 billion and the debt euros 34 billion. It paid 133 million euros just for delays over 60 minutes to customers last year, up by 43%. Germany is not investing in the rail system as it should because of a culture that has spread since the 1990's that investment in public infrastructure and public services is not essential. The CDU party and the FDP have adopted this culture as their own, and the people have not voted this out as the FDP is part of the currrent coalition of the Socialists and the Greens under Scholz and FDP's Lindner controls the Finance Ministry. This is the challenge facing Europe and the US, dismantling a culture step by step that does not believe in investment in public services and infrastructure for far too long allowing it to fall apart when financial markets invest and waste capital in dubious projects. In the US inventing a new golf ball gets 100 million dollars in this dysfunction in financial markets in the EU and US, the list is endless which adds up to tens of billions of dollars.  ...

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For 2025 US stocks S&P 500 returns 19%, foreign stocks in Europe 36%. An extraordinary year for foreign stocks with Germany's big investments in the economy. Actually the average S&P stock was down 3.7%. It was the large investments in AI that propelled the US stock markets S&P 500 to the 19% gain.  AI investment may take a long time to be profitable and some companies may lose money yet the building of data centers creates demand for construction activity, and tariffs are bringing larger investments into the US economy. Media skeptical about tariffs led to many missing the surge in stocks. It was the same overseas after years of Merkel and limits placed in the constitution on needed spending, and the SPD coaltition struggling to get through FDP obstruction to investment spending. Chancellor Merz of CDU joined the SPD to make a big $1 trillion investment in German infrastructure and defense, and removed the constitutional brake on investment Merkel had unwisely put in, with so much of Germany's infrastructure and digital in bad shape. This pushed up European stocks that had languished under the austerity logic of Cameron/Johnson-Merkel. This also was missed by many as the old logic was suddenly and quickly taken out with Russia emboldened in Ukraine taking over much of the eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region. Defense is now a rapidly growing part of the German economy. 2025 was a year of sudden and rapid change in the world economy with tariffs, US investment deals, and Germany taking on defense and infrastructure, which few could predict. And in which the media created confusion by saying the opposite of what was required from investors. ...

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Yale's internal report on its failure on price, value and political polarization.  “In its report, the committee calls on Yale to reflect on and take responsibility for our role in the erosion of public trust.” Maurie McInnis, Yale president  wrote- “I accept this judgment fully.” The report cites one fault as tilting admissions in one direction- to the children of the rich and connected. Report has 20 recommendations including removing the tilt to legacies, varsity athletes, children of faculty, staff, donors. This is not the institution or institutions of higher education that promote the social mobility that happened under FDR and throughout the 20th century to create what emerged as a society that made it possible for people of all incomes to rise. This is also what Marco Rubio has made his main complaint in his book -Decades of Decadence How our Spoiled Elites Blew America's Inheritance of Liberty, Security, and Prosperity. How a immigrant family from Cuba was able to raise a child (Rubio) with a decent income from factory work making steel chairs in a Florida factory and give him a good education.  Something Rubio says is no longer possible today. Much of this factory base was shifted to China under the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations, and no longer exists. In its place is a financial services business that does nothing for workers and ordinary Americans and a business culture that puts costs further and further away and out of reach for education in the nation's universities and colleges. ...

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Avandia may lose additional sales to Actos a competing drug from Takeda Pharmaceutical if the warning label further discourages users of the drug because of heart risks. There is considerable debate within the FDA itself.

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The Christian Democrats (CDP) under Angela Merkel received only 23% of the vote in the 2011 Berlin elections. The Free Democrat party (FDP) with 2% of the vote did not reach the 5% threshhold for seats in the Berlin legislature. This was the fifth time the FDP failed to win enough votes to get seats in the regional parliaments. This endangers the CDP-FDP coalition. The FDP campaigned against Merkel's policy of financial support for Greece. The Social Democrats support the euro currency union and issuance of euro bonds, which suggests voters are not choosing parties based on opposition to bailouts of troubled European Union countries. The Social Democrats-Green coalition will have a majority in the state legislature, as the Greens won 18% of the vote. The Pirate party of internet free-speech activists and leftist voters dissatisfied with existing parties were expected to win 9% of the vote, which is a first for regional parliaments for a party of this type. Some of this vote could have increased the Greens vote....

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Rosalynn Carter attended Cabinet meetings and took notes. She said "If I did'nt, there is no way I could discuss things with Jimmy in an intelligent way." In some ways she was more active and advised on decisions made by the president than Eleanor Roosevelt with Franklin Roosevelt FDR.

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Ada Colau and her fight to introduce fair practices for mortgages and change Spain's mortgage banking laws. Her organization is PAH- Platform for People Affected by Mortgages. The need for consumer protection in Spain's mortgage laws.

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The White House faces alarm as the U.S. president's valet and vice president Mike Pence's press secretary tests positive for the coronavirus. The cramped quarters at the White House and lack of the recommended social distancing at meetings of the U.S. president, most of the meetings being conducted maskless, are also cause for concern. 

Admiral Gilday of the Joint Chiefs will quarantine for one week. Self-isolating for 2 weeks are Dr. Fauci, Dr Redfield head of the CDC, and Dr. Hahn head of the FDA.

A senior economic adviser to president Trump, Kevin Hassett, says on CBS television program "Face the Nation" that it is scary to go to work now.