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Changes to Venezuela's constitution planned by Chavez are likely to go through, an attempt to entrench his idea of a socialist revolution. Apparently it has the support of the working classes and the poor and rural areas, but the educated elite continues to shun Chavez's moves. The polarization does not help the country's development. As long as oil prices are high this works well, but a drop in revenues could make it difficult to finance the largesse such as 6 hour work days and other efforts to simply pour money to reduce poverty, without building employment in sectors of the economy other than oil. The Persian Gulf countries are facing rising population, and have gone through prior experience where even high oil revenues followed by dropping oil prices have made it difficult to support social expenditures because of budget shortfalls. However whether other governments in Venezuela have done better in terms of development and building employment is also uncertain. Chavez simply alienates the educated elite. Yet considering Venezuela's historical polarization of classes and politics could things really be expected to be different in a power shift is a question mark. Consider also that Simon Bolivar got his start here. ...

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Questions about the wisdom of Exxon's moves against Venezuelan oil company Petroleos de Venezuela- taking it to court for taking a majority interest in 4 big oil projects managed previously by large western oil companies. Responding to Venezuelan public concerns about the deterioration in the oil production and development in Venezuela, President Chavez is negotiating with Shell and Total to bring in technical expertise and capital from western oil companies, while working at the same time with Petrobras and other national oil companies from China and Russia to develop its heavy oil assets. With Brazil facing capital needs for its own huge offshore Tupi oil field discovery, the $10 billion that is needed for developing the Carabobo oil field in the Orinoco will have to be financed with other foreign help and expertise. Petroleos Venezuela cannot rely solely on other national oil companies as it had thought it could do before. With things changing in Venezuela, and possibly even a new more friendlier government in future elections, has Exxon found itself on the outside when the European oil companies can build their presence in Venezuela?...

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The pact of competitiveness is designed to bring a closer integration of the eurozone. It includes proposals for increasing the retirement age to 67, ending indexation of wages to inflation, and involvement of other eurozone countries in controlling out of control deficits in some countries. Germany sees this as necessary to convince the German public that financial responsibility is being exercized by countries in budget crises that get help from Germany. This may buy time but it does not come to terms with the reality of Greece being insolvent already, which may be true also for Ireland and Portugal. Some experts see the need for debt restructuring, and the need to start early, especially if Germany is unwilling to make large transfers to these countries.

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The health care system is designed to encourage procedure based specialist practices and discourages the patient understanding education and monitoring that occurs with a well designed preventive family physician practice. As a result a patient only spends 30 minutes ayear on average with family physician compared to one hour in other developed nations. In the USA there has been a steady decline in the level and quality and extent of family care and the close one on one rapport with well trained family physicians who enjoyed their work and understood their patients and kept up with their health conditions and provided good and regular advice on these conditions. There is no money in this care as a result first you provide an environment where a whole range of medical conditions can flourish and expand, and then you hit them with a whole series of tests to rule out specific medical conditions. It is a perfect way to expand the testing and let testing flourish, so it would appear that if someone had wanted to start with a goal of letting testing proliferate unhindered then this would be the perfect way to design it. ...

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House prices have risen 40% in Israel in the last 3 years. Rents are increasing rapidly at the same time. Protests in Tel Aviv and other cities about the cost of living.

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The transformation of S. Carolina textile manufacturer Milliken & Co. Milliken has rebuilt its business by using research and new technologies. Many other companies in the textile industry have gone out of business.

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The testimony of Paul Tucker, deputy governor of the Bank of England, before a parliamentary committee in the UK, defending his handling of manipulation of LIBOR rates by Barclays and other banks.

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Reuters reorganizes and hires new executives from other news organizations. Reuters' new strategy is to expand its offering to include general news and indepth reports to appeal to consumers of general news.

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Pope Francis appears healthy and active, says this report in BBC News, even though he is now eighty, the age when other senior church officials are expected to retire. Pope Francis plans to continue for a few more years to complete his reforms for "a church of the poor." In 2016 he has replaced about one third of the cardinals in the electoral college. Francis lives a simple life in a tiny suite in the Vatican guest house. CastelGandolfo, a summer residence of the popes, has been turned into a museum for the public. Some cardinals from Italy, Germany and the U.S. say the pope is not following traditional teachings, yet Francis in his open gregarious style says he doesn't lose sleep over this. His style is marked by directness, and the use of short phrases of the Buenos Aires dialect with which he is most familiar.

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Apple faces large hurdles in China with models made locally by Huawei and other Chinese companies that offer similar features at a price about one third less. Chinese buyers are also looking for products that are made locally by Chinese companies. As a result Apple's market share in China has declined from 9% in 2015 to 7% in 2016. The future for Apple does not look bright apart from a core group of Apple fans that look for new product launches every year. Social media comments cited here show the comments about the iPhone 7 that say buyers should not pay $159 for Air Pods, the cordless earbuds. With the economic situation changing buyers are careful to pay so much for the iPhone 7, when it looks so much like the iPhone 6. In India Apple iPhone price are much higher and remain a significant hurdle for price conscious buyers.

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This opinion in the Hindusthan Times points out that prime minister Modi's speech at Kozhikode following a militant attack in Kashmir in September 2016, reflects a long standing policy since the late 1970's of Congress party and BJP or Janata party administrations. The idea is to encourage cross border exchanges to reduce tensions. The emphasis in back channel talks between India and Pakistan also emphasize the idea of CBM, cross border movement. The prime minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, has also expressed in the past the importance of cross border movement and trade as ways to improve the economies of both countries. The idea of building up trade and increased exchanges between the two countries is supported also by the U.S. and other western countries. The example of Ireland and Northern Ireland where trade and cross border exchanges are considered important by all parties after Brexit, is an example of how important this is.

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The Obama administration's $38.6 billon loan program using Stimulus funds was intended to create 65,000 jobs. Two years into this program, with half the money disbursed, the program has created a mere 3,545 new permanent jobs according to Energy Department figures. The Energy Department claims its $5.9 billion loan guarantees to Ford Motor Company to produce energy efficient vehicles by upgrading plants in 5 states saved 33,000 jobs. Brookings Institution analyst, Mark Muro, says the administration appears to be counting all the workers at these plants and not the jobs saved. 33,000 is close to half the Ford hourly and salaried U.S. employees. Harvard Business School professor, Josh Lerner, says there is a tendency to do a lot of fuzzy math in these figures. Muro points to the need to set large expectations for short term political calculations. The Energy Department's own figures show 20 "green tech"companies won loans so far under this project by negotiating with the Energy Department. If these companies hire the people they agreed to they would hire 8,050 new permanent workers. Only 10 of these companies have created or saved jobs so far. Of the other 10 some won loan approval only recently. The whole process is time consuming. Even if the Energy Department were to create the 60,000 jobs under the revised estimate, each job saved or created would come at a cost of 640,000 dollars in loan guarantees. Using the figure of $19.3 billion disbursed 2 years into this program (half of the $38.6 billion) and 8,050 jobs created, would give a cost of $2.4 million in loan guarantees for each job created- an astoundingly high figure. Other factors to consider are the additional jobs created downstream by suppliers to these companies as the administration states, and the cost of loans if as in the case of Solyndra a company goes bankrupt. Solyndra received a loan of over $500 million and represents 3% of loan guarantees. The administration and Congress assumed a failure rate of 5-10% for this program. ...

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This excellent article by Peta Bee looks at how we can do anti-ageing efforts to keep our immune systems strong as we become older. She looks at work by an expert in immune cell biology, Janet Lord, who is head of the Institute for Inflammation and Ageing at Birmingham University. It is now proven that the link between ageing and immune systems can be guided in constructive ways. At sixty and seventy years age one can have the immune system of a 30 year old by doing a couple of simple things which are covered here from taking 10,000 steps a day, high intensity interval training on some days each month, occasional fasting on some days, high fibre diet and vitamin D. Walking, running or other forms of exercize affect a particular form of immune function called neutrophil movement in positive ways. Neutrophil movement because these cells are the main defense against the forms of bacteria that cause pneumonia. Neutrophils in older adults behaved in ways similar to that found in 30 year olds when doing 10,000 steps a day of exercize. Dr. Lord and other researchers have found. Dr. Jenna Macciochi, a lecturer in immunology at the University of Sussex, says about 70% of our immune system resides in our gut, making gut health very important for our immunity. Macciochi is the author of Immunity: The Science of Staying Well. Important for gut or gastrointestinal health is the eating of food that has prebiotic and probiotic effect. This helps reverse the decline of immunity coming with ageing.When we chew down on fibre in vegetables, fruit, beans or lentils we have beneficial byproducts called postbiotics that act as an interface between diet and immunity, that change the personalities of cells and circulate in our blood for regulation of immune system, says Dr. Macciochi. Postbiotics from eating dietary fibre tune up specific virus fighting cells that help us fight infections from flu and viruses, studies show says this report in The Times. Women in the UK get only 17g per day, men 20 mg per day of fibre. We need 30 mg per day of fibre and to do this we need to increase our intake of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, seeds and pulses. Also important is avoiding the inflammation that comes with ageing called inflammageing, says Dr. Macciochi. To do this do resistance training, weights, or using body weight such as lunges, push ups, squats. When our muscles move we produce hormones called myokines that help our immune cells function and keep inflammation down. She believes strength work is an absolute essential to rejuvenate our immune age. ...

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Talks on June 28-29 in Rome between President Francois Hollande of France and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany. They will be joined by the Italian and Spanish prime ministers, Mario Monti and Mariano Rajoy. Hollande has invited the opposition Social Democrats in Germany for talks in Paris to win support for his approach to the eurozone crisis. The growth initiative proposed by Hollande is fairly modest and Merkel has expressed her support for this. The tougher issues revolve around some acceptable form of mutualizing of eurozone debt to tackle a loss of confidence in financial markets without a surrender of sovereignty by France and other eurozone nations- a particularly sensitive issue in France. More Europe, would mean more German influence in decisionmaking. Germany rejects eurobonds and direct aid to banks from the ECB. Centralized banking supervision and close regulation by a new European regulatory authority would be needed as part of a new eurozone financial architecture. The immediate issues are of some form of deposit insurance for the eurozone banking system so that there is no run on the banks in Spain and other countries....

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Indian foreign minister Jaishankar tells a conference in Begaluru that what happens outside India affects each and every Indian. Inflation with prices of fertilizer, foodgrains and oil are affected by the war in Ukraine, coronavirus started in Wuhan, China, the incursions since 2020 in the Himalayas were started at our borders by China and began with its invasion of Tibet, what is happening on the border in Kashmir with crossborder terrorism happens with China's support of Pakistan.  Gaining access to pools of US and European capital and technology will involve action taken by foreign investors from outside India's borders in lands far away. This will affect the infrastructure and the speed and scale of India's industrialization and modernization, and will affect every Indian. It will also help India compete with other industrialized countries including China, and emerge as a leader of the Free World along with US and European Union. The world is where everything takes place and India's place is in the Free World. ...

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This is what former Attorney General Bill Barr has to say about Mr. Trump. "If you believe in his policies, what he's advertising as his policies, he's the last person who could actually execute them and achieve them...He does not have the discipline, he does not have the ability for strategic thinking and linear thinking, setting priorities or how to get things done in the system."

"And so you may want his policies, but Trump will not deliver Trump policies. He will deliver chaos, and if anything lead to a backlash that will set his policies much further back than they would otherwise would be."

This WSJ Editorial Board report says a lot of the work done during the Trump administration was a result of work done by the Federalist Society, Mitch McConnell, Mike Pence, Paul Ryan, other Republicans. Many of these Republicans will not support a second term or be actively involved in a second term, says the WSJ.

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Conditions such as these are simply unacceptable for average young American families and their children when they rent apartments. A business called syndicated apartments which pools together small investors with promises of high returns in apartment real estate is the focus of this report by the WSJ. As the mayor of Houston has pointed out it has created deplorable conditions for renters in his city, with similar conditions in other cities. In pursuit of profit apartment quality deteriorates creating difficulties for ordinary Americans who rent. This report shows the collapse of this as a business activity with losses for investors with the Fed's increase in interest rates. Another article in the NYT this week shows what a city friendly to renters can look like- Vienna, Austria, which is next on this page. With the increase in mortgage rates doubling home ownership payments more average Americans will look to rent. Conditions such as these are a gross violation of what America's implicit promise is to its people for quality of life. ...

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People at street protests in France are increasingly asking whether the pension reform from 62 to 64 years is that much of a priority in 2023 when people are just recovering from the pandemic and a cost of living crisis with high inflation and high energy costs stemming from the Ukraine conflict. The independent Pension Advisory Council stated "pension spending is not out of control, it is relatively contained." More people turned out than before in a second round of street protests by over half a million people in Paris. The reforms come down harder on women who worked part time to raise children. Age discrimination for jobs in France is widespread. The pandemic has created additional stress and burnout at work leading to early retirement in the US and other countries. Some of the pension changes are being used to finance an expansion of the military budget. Social justice is seen as at risk in France in a society that is socially fragmented.

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Gerard Baker in the WSJ says there is a dizzying collapse in the quality of leadership in  Britain and also in the US and other countries of Europe.  we are led by too many inferior people, he says. Liz Truss, Johnson and Sunak in Britain are examples of this, he says. They lack the experience and the capabilities needed. This is also true of Meloni in Italy, Macron in France and Merkel in Germany, ineffectiveness of Obama and Trump in some ways in the US.

Yet he says there is another problem for Brexiters in Britain and for Trump Republicans in the US. This is one of the abject chaos that emerges from trying to reconcile the desire for strong government and government support of working class supporters and the tradition of lower taxes and no deficit spending in the Conservative and Republican parties. This is he says a warning for the Republicans from what he sees happening in Britain with Truss, Johnson and Sunak after Brexit.

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The incomprehensible situation that the UK Tory governments have not asked Shell and other oil companies to pay a properly implemented windfall tax on record profits. Shell made over $30 billion in profits in 2022 so far says this report in The Guardian and paid no windfall tax, because Mr. Sunak as finance minister put a huge offset to taxable profits by giving back 91p for every  1 pound as tax breaks to oil companies for investing in extraction in North sea fields when he imposed the windfall tax. Shell made large investments in North Sea fields that nullify the windfall tax so no such tax is paid. Mr. Sunak thus completely negated the very positive effect of the windfall tax. This tax if paid would help the UK with its fiscal situation during the pandemic and reduce borrowing costs, provide credibility in financial markets, fund assistance to vulnerable segments during a cost of living crisis, at a time of crisis in UK finances in October 2022.  ...

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Austrian chancellor Karl Nehammer meets Russian leader Putin for 90 minutes and tells him that he has "lost the war morally" and that "in war both sides are losers." As shown by the World Bank today the Russian economy could be impacted by somewhere between 11% to 25% loss for its economy, for Ukraine the loss would be 45%. For Belarus, Moldova and former soviet republics of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Krygyz, the loss to their economies about 30% because the region is interconnected with remittances and other trade impacted. These would be devastating economic losses. The entire region in this part of Europe would be suffering losses. Many of the countries would have to turn to the IMF or the World Bank to remain solvent. One of Russian leader Putin's goals was to build a rival economic bloc from former Soviet republics and regions. Instead the invasion has done just the opposite. The economic losses will have impoverished the whole region.   ...

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Wages have gone up less in Europe than in the US. In the last 3 months of 2021 wages were up 1.2 % and inflation was up 4.7% for a fall in real wages of 3.1%, which has accelerated since then with the war in Ukraine and shortages of energy and food supplies. A YouGov poll shows that 15% of Germans cannot afford basic necessities and 53% are concerned about rising prices. Because basic things like food and energy where prices have gone up the most also take up large portions of the budget for lower income households. In Germany some unions are giving one off payments for energy bills and other costs to workers till negotiations lead to a settlement on increasing wages. The situation is similar in Greece, Italy and France. In Greece the government has given $3 billion for subsidies on gas and electric bills. Elections are now focusing on cost of living as in France where the second and third place winners in the first round Le Pen and Melenchon together took about half of the vote. ...

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Egypt's new capital city 40 miles from Cairo is shown here in the WSJ. The cost is about $45 billion. The Egyptian government will move ministries and public sector employees to the new city in 2023. Local developers are helping build the city and the Egyptian military is running the project. Cairo is overcrowded and densely packed with old buildings, with traffic congestion in the inner city. The capital is only part of a project that could cost 1 trillion dollars with help from oil rich Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and involves modernization of the Arab world's largest country- rail lines with fast rail in collaboration with German companies, and building new highways, airports, other infrastructure projects. 

The shift in building new infrastructure comes as India is building new cities including its own new smart city in Gujarat called Dholera in the Gulf of Kambhat (Cambay). Dholera is also a city built from scratch from the sand. 

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This Economic Times report provides details about the  remaining aspects of the Indian Mumbai Ahmedabad bullet train project using Japanese technology. The project is being expedited with the federal and state governments completing land acquisition and covering extra costs of the project. This was one of the projects coming out of meetings and close collaboration .between Modi and Shinzo Abe of Japan. The cost estimated at 1.1 lakh crore is financed for 81% of cost by Japan's JICA through along term loan. Some of the engineering work may be completed by Indian engineering firms to reduce the cost. Delays mean the project cost will increase and some of the cost can be adjusted by doing some of the work through Indian firms under Make in India. JICA or Japan International Cooperation Agency is a government agency that provides aid for development projects and technical cooperation with other countries. It is part of the official development assistance of Japan which was $16.1 billion in 2020, according to OECD. ...

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This report in theWSJ says Krysten Sinema received donations from the securities industry of $2.2 million and is opposed to taking out the carried interest provision that is a key source of income for private equity managers. Senator Manchin says it is time to remove carried interest and this would raise $14 billion over a decade. Sinema is in favor of climate change action and favors a tax on carbon emissions.  On corporate minimum tax Sinema has worked with Senator Elizabeth Warren for the tax change that would require a minimum 15% corporate minimum tax to be paid by corporations. On precription drug prices Sinema has worked with Democrats on what the list of drugs should be for Medicare to negotiate drug prices.  As many of these key points have been worked out with Kristen Sinema it now remains to be seen how Democrats get the agreement of Sinema and any other members in Congress to prepare for the passage through Congress of the Climate Change action bill Schumer has negotiated in the Senate. ...