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The Economist magazine says the difficult process of Brexit is now being put by Theresa May into the hands of the pro-Brexit ministers, Liam Fox, David Davis and Boris Johnson. Just staffing the Department for Exiting the EU under Davis, and the Department for International Trade under Liam Fox is taking a lot of time. And the differences between Fox and Davis also figure into the time it will take to invoke Article 50. It says the points put forward by Brexiters that Britain could revert to WTO rules do not work so well in practice, and it takes years to negotiate new trade agreements with other countries. It sees many problems, and says it is no wonder that Theresa May has told the Brexiter ministers to come up with answers as they are the ones who have sold this idea to the country.

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The mood inside Beijing during the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong during 2014. Comments by some Bejingers and no comment by others unwilling to talk much about politics.

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Chnages to Mexico's labor laws passed in Congress and to be signed by president Calderon include companies having to pay only one year of back wages to laidoff workers for lawsuits on unfair dismissals. The law also formalized part-time work and temproary training contracts. The effort is likely to foster greater formalization of the workforce and push fewer workers into the underground economy. About 29% of Mexican workers are in the underground economy, where worker protections and legal benefits are lacking. Also made part of the law an yearly audit of union finances and election by secret ballot for unions. Mexico's large public sectors form a core base for support of the newly elected PRI government.

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The major provisions of the Republican House healthcare bill that passed by a vote of 217-213 are- 1. To help people buy insurance coverage the bill offers $2000 to $4000 a year, upto $14,000 a year in credits based mainly on age, reducing them for families making $150,000, individuals making $75,000. 2.  Under the Affordable Care Act insurers cannot charge older Americans more than 3 times for same coverage they offer to younger people, the new bill makes this 5 times. This would increase premiums for older Americans and reduce it for younger Americans. This is the most controversial part of the bill. Older Americans supported the Republican party in the presidential election. 3. The new bill ends Medicaid as an open ended entitlement and places this on a budget with cuts of $880 billion over 10 years. 4. To mollify conservative Republicans a provision allows state to opt out some provisions of the ACA that requires minimum benefits such as maternity care and emergency services. It retains coverage for pre-existing conditions to mollify moderate Republicans. The bill provides states with $138 billion over 10 years to subsidize premiums, provide coverage for pre-existing conditions, mental healthcare and drug addiction. 5. The bill removes the taxes imposed under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on high income people of about $300 billion over 10 years by repealing a payroll tax increase and tax on investment income. This bill and the ACA offer 2 competing visions on healthcare, both bills passed only by a margin of 4-5 votes in the House. The ACA overlooked the impact on premiums causing discontent among middle income Americans. The new bill lets premiums rise for older Americans in order to keep premiums down for other Americans. This shows the many tradeoffs involved and choices being made, and the lack of a consensus on the issue of healthcare in the U.S., becoming a highly politicized issue instead of the way it is treated in western Europe.     ...

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Gerald Seib of the WSJ points out that the winners in the passing of the Republican healthcare bill in the House by a 4 vote margin are Speaker Ryan who never wanted the job in the first place, and president Trump who showed he could cajole Republicans into getting it passed because he likes winning. Now comes the hard part says Seib, when it goes to the Senate- House conservatives are not going to be happy when they find major changes they dislike. If the bill clears the Senate in a modified version Republicans will now have to own any issues with healthcare, including says Seib things that may not work out for pre-existing conditions- or for groups that are disadvantaged, including older people.

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Nigel Farage is making a comeback in European Union elections in Britain. He led the Independence party and has formed a new Brexit Party to contest the elections. He says the Brexit supporters were deserted in the way the Conservative Party bungled Britain's leaving the European Union. As a result of loss of support for Theresa May with the mess created by repeated failures to pass Brexit deals in parliament, some polls show the Brexit Party surging to 34% of the vote inEuropean elections. The Conservative Party at 11%, and the Labour Party at 21%. The Liberal Democrats at 13%. The Conservative party fragments, and the Labour Party loses supporters to the Greens and Liberal Democrats. Another change is that some of the pro-Brexit supporters of the Labour Party in the middle and the north of the country may shift their vote to the Brexit party. The Conservative party's losses of support are a result of the failure of Theresa May to hold her party together. In the case of the Labour party even though it had 40%  of the vote in the last British election, it is faced with the fact that it has an odd mix of supporters. In the north and the middle of the country its working class support comes partly from Pro-Brexit supporters, and in the cities and London the support is from more liberal, better educated people. This puts both the main parties in the situation which they never thought they would be in.  Mr. Farage says its OK for Britain to leave the European Union without a deal. Prime Minister May has taken great pains to forge a deal, even a cross party deal with Labour if necessary. This has alienated the most fervent Brexit supporters in the Conservative Party who favor a no-deal Brexit. Much of this comes from caution that a no-deal Brexit would hurt Britain's economy and lower growth. A large majority in parliament believes a no deal Brexit would be disastrous for Britain. Nigel Farage does not have to deal with such distant matters as economic growth, the British pound and GDP.       ...

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Marina Force of the WSJ gives this excellent report on Carles Puidgdemont, head of the Catalan party that is holding a referendum for independence from Spain in October 2017. The referendum is to be held on Oct. 1, 2017, and will be held in a tense region divided by pro and anti independence supporters, with the central government of Spain declaring the referendum illegal, and police obstructing voters. This has pushed Spain into a major crisis, as Puigdemont says he will declare independence after the vote, and the possibility that many voters may not have voted at all in this tense atmosphere. Here Marina describes the recent history of Spain that dates back to the period under General Franco's dictatorship when state rights in the Basque region, in Catalan region and in the northern region in Galicia, as well as other regions, were suppressed. Today there is regional autonomy and the languages in the regions such as Catalan are used in the autonomous regions. Prime minister Rajoy is from the Galicia region. His family suffered under Franco's dictatorship as he points out in his book- Mariano Rajoy, En confianza, Mi vida y mi proyecto de cambio para Espana. As a result Catalan leader Arturo Mas and other Spanish leaders including Rajoy from Galicia worked hard to establish autonomy for all the regions in Spain, including use of the local language in Valencia, Catalonia and the Basque region, a variation of Spanish. As in Scotland for most of the period after the end of the Franco dictatorship in the nineties, this focus on regional autonomy was seen as a big step forward. Puigdemont is journalist who was editor in chief of a Catalan newspaper in the 1980's. In 2006 he was elected to the Catalan parliament. In 2013 he was elected mayor of Girona, a city just north of Barcelona. It was in this period that the movement for Catalan independence moved forward setting the stage for the 2014 referendum with 81% voting for independence. In 2016 pro-independence parties won a majority in the Catalan parliament. This set the stage for a confrontation with the central government in Madrid that is now taking place. ...

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Leo Apotheker, former H-P CEO, points to H-P's statement that most of the accounting improprieties "pre-date its acquisition by H-P" and offers to cooperate with the investigation.

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GDP per capita levels in the U.S. expected to return to pre recession levels in 2007 by the end of 2013. Gradual recovery in housing and consumer spending expected in 2013.

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India reaches $400 billion in exports for 2021-2022. This is a significant increase from the pre covid export figure of $330 billion in 2018-2019 which slipped to $313 billion in 2019-2020. Frequent lockdowns marked the period of the pandemic.

India's industrial sectors play a large role, including cotton yarn and the apparel industry. With the global supply chains being restructured and shifted away from China, India is gaining a more significant role. Australian exports are up 94% and US exports up 47%. India is making an effort to become a key part of the new supply chain arrangements of US and Europe, along with Vietnam and Japan. As part of the supply chain India is increasing imports from other countries with imports reaching about $600 billion, up about one third in 2021-2022.

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The last days of the pro-Russian Donetsk People's Republic in eastern Ukraine, as Ukrainian government forces under the government of prime minister Poroshenko defeat separatists by July 2014. Russia decides not to intervene further. Opinion polls show a majority of Ukrainians in Donetsk do not favor separatism, and opposition is based on alienation from the poor quality of governance in Kiev. With the Poroshenko government committed to respecting the rights of Russian speaking Ukrainians, Tymoshenko soundly defeated in elections, and Russia's economy at risk in the adverse impact on foreign investor sentiment, Russia's sees little to be gained from supporting the separatists.

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The European Union Commission president Manuel Barroso announced a multiyear $15 billion package of loans and grants for the new Ukrainian government on March 4, 2014. No immediate conditions were specified. Barroso said, this is "designed to assist a committed, inclusive and reforms oriented government in rebuilding a stable and prosperous future for Ukraine." This is meant to replace the help offered to the previous pro-Russian government by Russia and now cancelled with the ouster in street protests of that government. The U.S. has offered $1 billion in loan guarantees. For Ukraine this offers the prospect of making a new start under EU and possibly IMF guidance. The needs are estimated at $35 billion in international assistance loans over 2 years by the Ukrainian government, because of the dire state of the Ukrainian economy.

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Jim Tankersley of the NYT is the author of the book- The Riches of This Land- The Untold, True Story of America's Middle Class. He is NYT's White House Correspondent with a focus on economic policy, and has written for more than a decade on the decline in opportunity for American workers. Here he tells readers why president Biden's plan to invest in human capital as well as the tangible capital of infrastructure building is so badly needed in America today. Human capital is found in education of children and college students, in support to women to get back into the workforce during this pandemic to bring their skills and talent to the workforce. This means financing education pre K through college, and paid leave for caregivers who are mostly women. Also part of the plan is investment in a rapid transition out of this period of dependence on fossil fuels and in the nation's scientific and technological capacity to come up with new solutions.   ...

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 A look up close at US Foreign Trade Representative Katherine Tai, focused on a trade policy that is fair to American workers and workers families. She says "I'm a bicultural kid." One of two children of immigrants in the Biden cabinet, the other Kamala Harris.  With Jake Sullivan and Biden doing everything so that American trade and supply chains are based on pillars of resilience, fairness, respect for American workers and families, to support climate change action and build infrastructure. She has been with the US Office of the Trade Representative and in trade related positions in US Congress since 2007. Tai says what helps is bringing a very disciplined approach, as she deals with the PRC to stay on the message, on what the problem is. As she goes about her work the spirit from her dad carries her everyday- "to go out and win it" for America, for the common people of America. ...

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Women voters made up 53% of the voters in the 2012 election. The 2016 U.S. presidential election in unique because of the first women candidate for president with advantage in the women's vote. Also unique is the split between the college educated and the non college educated voter, something that has into happened in an election in this way for a long time. A pro business party such as Republicans finds itself with a significant part of the non college educated vote.  Another difference is the huge turnout of Hispanic voters, and questions raised about how their loyalty may have shifted for decades with Republican positions on immigration and deportation. The demographics have also shifted with college educated voters in suburbs of southern states such as Georgia, Colorado and North Carolina. States that once dominated the national election such as Ohio with a larger number of non college educated voters are now not as significant as in the past. As a result the picture is changing in the electoral map. ...

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One cocoa pod gives enough cocoa for one chocolate bar. Cocoa farms in Ghana and Ivory Coast are the world's largest producers of cocoa. Production declined in 2024 by about 25% in the two countries from bad weather with rain in the dry season and not enough rain in the west season. To protect farmers both West African countries decided to give farmers a fixed price for their cocoa. With surging prices farmers do not get to benefit from the higher price. Government fertilizer support is lacking.

With buyers in Europe insisting that no trees get cut on forested land for new farming, farmers are restricted to their old plots and have to take out old trees which costs more. As a result of these factors cocoa farms are shifting to other crops including palm oil in Ghana.

Other countries in West Africa including Cameroon and Nigeria are also producing cocoa. Outside of this region Ecuador and Brazil also produce cocoa.

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A student of international law at Georgetown reflects on a career in the State Department and at NSA and CIA. Avril Haines head of National Intelligence Agency says the law can only take you so far, finds what she is doing in government conflicts with her own beliefs on what is right, that building a more ethical society is still an aspiration.

The adjoining story in the WSJ says Avril Haines headed the NIC during it's meeting with president Biden on Aug 24, 2021, on the origins of a plague like crisis- that resembles the Black Death in Europe which took 25 million lives and after which Brittanica says it took Europe till the 16th century to recover pre-1348 population. At that meeting says WSJ FBI WMD scientist Banaan and FBI, and the DIC scientists were excluded from sharing their views with the US president on the origins of the Covid virus that took 7 million lives and three times that number in unreported deaths.

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Court ruling throwing out Bush Administration's proposed year old standard for light trucks because it does not take pollution issues into consideration.

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Nitish Kumar, a former leader of the BJP party in the populous Indian state of Bihar, and the state's chief minister, wins the Nov. 2015 Bihar state assembly elections running against the BJP led now by Narendra Modi from Gujarat state. Mr. Kumar allied his new party with the party of an old style politician Lalu Yadav, (who is part of Bihar politics for many years), and ran on his pro-growth record of improving development in Bihar. The election provided a landslide for Nitish Kumar's coalition. Mr. Modi now has to find a way of working with states such as Bihar run by politicians formerly part of the BJP, who have also developed a pro-growth record.

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A short biography of one of India's best leaders after Gokhale, Tilak, Vivekananda, Mohandas Gandhi. He may well be the best leader of India after 1950- who set India on the course to modernization and becoming one of the 3 largest economies in the world. Without him one would find it hard to imagine Modi having the opportunity to make the experiment of modernization in Gujarat state in 2000, that is now being carried out throughout India. Nehru's leadership held great promise but like Mao's failed to achieve the modernizaton and rapid economic progress that both the Indian and Chinese people sought and aspired to. Much of this is achieved through hard work, and ambitious efforts, steady planning and investment, in cooperation with America and Europe. China in 2025 is with it's efforts to bring Taiwan into the PRC, is a different China than the one that modernized working with US, Germany and Japan over 2 decades. India under the leadership of Vajpayee and now Modi is in a position to work in cooperation with the US and Germany, Japan for modernization and rapid economic progress to show the vitality and strength of the parliamentary systems that have evolved from the British model for 500 years since 1500 and the scientific advancement that happened after the Renaissance in Europe after 1600. ...

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With the increasing unpopularity of the PRI party government, after corruption scandals and othe problems, the turnout in the midterm elections is expected to be low. In the state of Nuevo Leon, with the capital at Monterrey, the business establishment is backing a independent candidate Jaime Rodriguez, as an alternative to the PRI candidate.

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The LDP's landslide victory in the Dec. 2012 elections is not seen as a mandate for Shinzo Abe, the new LDP prime minister. Abe acknowledged this when he said: "We recognize that this was not a restoration of confidence in the Liberal Democratic Party, but a rejection of three years of incompetent rule by the Democratic Party." The LDP won 294 seats compared to the 308 seats won in the landslide win by the Democratic Party of Japan three years ago. Abe campaigned on a stronger stance in Japan's disputes with China. Yet he is committed to maintaining relations with China, a key trading partner. On China Abe says: "Our goal is to stop China from making these challenges, but we do not intend to allow an overall worsening in relations." Osaka Mayor Hashimoto's Japan Restoration Party was expected to do well but his campaign lost momentum after joining with Shintaro Ishihara, a nationalist politician. The Tomorrow Party which campaigned on the nuclear issue and anti-nuclear sentiment petered out after voters sensed the impact of electrical shortages and prices. The LDP is pro-nuclear and plans to reverse some of the anti-nuclear steps taken by the DPJ. The Democratic Party of Japan gained only 57 seats, and the former DPJ prime minister during the earthquake and tsunami, Naoto Kan, lost his parliamentary seat. Just as the PRI, a party that held a long monopoly of power was returned to power in Mexico in 2012, the LDP is returning to power, but very dependent on voters aspirations for good governance and its performance in office....

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The centre right parties led by Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats lose their commanding position in the European parliament, with new EU elections in May 2019. The EU parliament's 705 seats are to be filled, and the party getting the most seats gets to name the president of the European Commission. The European People's Party which includes Merkel's CDU party has dominated the parliament for two decades, and secured the top posts for European Council and European Commission. Manfred Weber is the new lead candidate of the EPP. The EPP may have to join the Centre left Social Democrats or the pro market Liberals to form a new coalition.