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Adriana Kugler a Labor economist at Georgetown is president Biden's nominee for the Federal Reserve Board. In 2021 she was nominated as Executive Director at the World Bank. Her work is on how labor and social policies can improve the lives of working people, help create jobs, and help the less well off get education and training. Asked about Biden nominating labor economists to top jobs she says-"This is the key issue of our time. This is what we need to fix." As the first Latina in this position at the World Bank, Kugler who is a Colombian-American says, "they view me differently," and have a sense of being heard by someone who understands what it is like ot grow up in a developing country.

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For an institution the size of the World Bank at a time when most of the developing world is suffering from debt burden and climate change, the skepticism on climate change of its head David Malpass was coming under heavy criticism from the Biden White House. He was appointed by president Trump in 2019. He resigned today. 

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Additional funding of $100 billion is proposed for the World Bank to meet the needs of Africa, and other countries in Latin America and Asia. These needs are for climate change investments, renewable energy, and for health and education that has suffered as debt repayments have increased with higher interest rates, putting 52 countries near default on debt. The US with 16% of the shares in World Bank would contribute $3.2 billion for this to happen.

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The deep deterioration in U.S. China relations as the U.S. sees itself in a disadvantage in trade with China and the Trump administration imposes tariffs, calls for changing existing supply chains and trade to safeguard U.S. interests. The lack of transparency from China about the coronavirus and the underreporting that led to the U.S. and Europe not taking the threat seriously enough or taking defensive steps is also seen as a part of the deeper problem as the U.S. and Europe bear the brunt of the coronavirus in terms of deaths and cases.  This presents a deeper problem than the trade issue by itself as the U.S. had a trade issue with Japan which was later resolved. The way the Trump administration sees itself as the only protector of U.S. interests in trade, security and international cooperation creates a new level of tensions. Other countries such as Australia, India, Japan, and countries in South East Asia are seen as having similar concerns as supply chains are being remade to reflect the new trading conditions and economic structures. ...

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The Pakistan army and its anti India mindset is at the root of the problem Pakistan faces. The army has factions that support the Taliban. Its intelligence agency, the ISI, helped create the Taliban as a way to get strategic depth (as they called it) in Afghanistan, for it sees as a necessary perpetual conflict with India. And the failure in Pakistan, the crisis of Pakistan, lies in the failure of elected politicians, the failure of the army, to provide responsible government and peaceful relations with India and with Afghanistan. By pursuing a Hindu-Muslim conflict agenda, and a anti-foreigner agenda for Afghanistan, Pakistan has ended up undermining its own government, institutions, and sovereignty over tribal areas and the North West Frontier Province. The US by getting involved in the Hindu-Muslim conflict agenda, and the anti-foreigner agenda during the Cold War, by supplying weapons and aid for this to successive Pakistani military governments, now finds itself as the foreigner in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Pakistan army's anti-foreigner agenda, now that the Americans are the foreigners, is not something that even the army or the civilian governments can control. The only thing the army knows, and its raison-de-etre, is the protection of the state of Pakistan and an antiIndian, Hindu-Muslim conflict agenda. After 60 years of doing this since its founding the Pakistan army knows no other way. Failure to do what it is doing would remove it from its critical role as the most important institution in Pakistan, and relegate its officers and the army to a smaller role, with smaller committments of resources, a smaller army, and the loss of its privileged role in Pakistani society. This is the answer to Holbrooke's question to Pakistani businessmen, and civilian leaders, in Lahore recently, what is the crisis of Pakistan? And these businessmen and civilian leaders also touched on the army's role. For America as it sees the need to build a new economic partnership with Asia that would help revive economic growth, there is the need for deep soul searching. The Pakistan military sucks up resources that are so badly needed elsewhere, for the kind of construction the Obama administration sees for America, of roads, bridges, schools, new energy infrastructure. How can what is good and planned for America not be whats good for South Asia, for India, Pakistan, SriLanka and the entire region? The resources that are sucked up by the Pakistan military and its actions to foster aconflict atmosphere merely adds to the way resources are sucked for the military in India, when they are badly needed for development, economic growth, and the same kind of infrastructure building and education that the Obama administration plans for the US. Without correcting this flaw in its policies in South Asia the Obama administration cannot create a partnership with Asian countries that could play a critical role in America's own economic growth....

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Khalid al-Falih, chairman of Saudi Aramco, says at the World Economic Forum in Davos, on Jan. 26, 2016- "If prices continue to be low, we will be able to withstand it for a long, long time." With $630 billion in foreign currency reserves the Saudis are following a long term policy of full production. Gasoline subsidies are being reduced, IPO of Saudi Aramco being discussed to raise additional capital, and other steps being taken to plan for long term oil prices. Flexibility for a change in policy is diminished with the addition of Iranian oil production to supplies following the lifting of sanctions. The events in 2015-2016 of Russian bombing campaign in Syria, and the cutoff of diplomatic relations with Iran, have worsened the standoff with Iran and Russia in the Middle East conflict. As a result it appears that the Saudis are settling down for a long term policy of full production which would keep oil prices low for the long term. India, Japan, China, the U.S. and the European Union, Turkey and other countries benefit from low oil prices when their economies need a boost in 2016-2017....

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European Union countries reopen for travel this summer. A new travel pass or digital Covid certificate is approved to promote freedom of travel as more people get vaccinated. About a third of people are vaccinated for first shot in France and about 40% in Germany, which means in coming weeks they will have the second shot and enough antibodies to make a return to normal life possible. The EU has negotiated this time with Pfizer for 1.8 billion doses and is building enough vaccine supplies. For the first time governments are stepping up with plans and resources allocated - in India the government now has plans to create supplies of 2 billion doses by the end of the year. This means there is new hope if the vaccination is accompanied by efforts to build booster shot supplies this time planning ahead. Managing the risk of those who are vaccine skeptical remains a problem to be tackled. Masks and other essential precautions also need to be followed in crowded spaces as this was neglected where there was a second or third wave. Public education for this is essential to better manage the pandemic. ...

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Most questions about the vaccines from Oxford, Pfizer and Moderna are answered in this Q&A in The Times.  The Oxford vaccine is the only vaccine that is being provided at cost to the public at a cost of 4 pounds, Pfizer using German technology at 15 pounds and Moderna from Cambridge, Massachusetts, at 28 pounds. The Oxford vaccine can be stored in a fridge, the others use mRNA technology of messenger RNA which requires ultra low temperature storage. Astra Zeneca could have handled the trials and methodology for results in a better way. As the two trials one that produced results of 62% and the other results of 90% cannot be combined to give results of 70% but are two distinct and separate trials. However too much emphasis has been placed on the vaccine, as other prevention measures remain important for 2021. Other vaccines are being developed in Britain with new technology and in India by ICMR which are in trials stage and about which not enough is known. The Russian and Chinese vaccines have not released detailed data limiting their use around the world. ...

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How Ratan Tata's vision of a small car for 1 lakh rupees or about $2500 for the Indian market may change the way the world looks at and buys cars. Note that the Indian car market is expected to become the fastest growing car market by 2013 at 14.5% compared to 8% in China according to estimates by CSM Worldwide. In 2008 Tata will come up with its new 1 lakh rupee car. What Tata's vision has done is challenge the world's leading car makers to come with versions of a small car for the Indian market of their own, with Renault-Nissan, Hyundai and VW and Honda all taking up the challengein the days and years ahead. This is also a challenge for Indian infrastructure, and for the road system in all of South Asia from Sri Lanka to all the way up the South Asian subcontinent to Pakistan and Afghanistan. It will also bring about greater integration of the whole region and create the conditions for significant economic development.

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India's central bank, the Reserve Bank of India, cut its cash reserve ratio by 0.75 percentage points to 4.75%. This provides banks with an additional 480 billion rupees ($9.5 billion) for banks to lend, and helps stimulate the economy. GDP growth slowed to 6.1% in the 4th quarter of 2011 after a series of rate hikes by the central bank.

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Retired Union Health Secretary Sujatha Rao answers questions about the role of the elected government in Delhi and the role of the Lieutenant Governor in running the administration. Rao says that Delhi as the national capital, should have been designated like Chandigarh as a Union Territory without a legislature. The current structure gives the elected government insufficient powers to fulfill campaign promises.

The IAS is still relevans Rao says as is evident in India's politics so that day to day running of the administration can always be carried out when there is no stable government, as in Tamilnadu today. This is the role Sardar Patel envisioned for the IAS.

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The vast expansion of the Indian middle class takes on a different dimension a few weeks before the election say experts, as India heads into a general election after the India Pakistan conflict in February 2019. This is because national security now has a wider constituency. It could help the incumbent party the BJP with urban voters and swing voters as the issue of security remained prominent in the northern states. In other states where caste and regional politics, farmer agricultural related issues are prominent, this could be less of a factor. Overlooked in this is the manner in which new investments in infrastructure have been pushed forward for rail, road and bridges, and in other infrastructure such as hospitals and universities. The government slogan is that what was once considered impossible is now possible. New metro lines are being inaugurated in many cities including Ahmedabad, Mumbai. The speed with which the Metro in Mumbai is being built, with the head of the project saying it should have been built yesterday, is an example of the urgency given to infrastructure. The government is pushing hard to convey the image that the next 5 years would lead to an infrastructure building boom that it has shown can be done. A recent report in the Guardian shows that China is pouring every 2 years more concrete than the U.S. did in the entire 20th century. This fact drives India under Modi as it heads into the 2019 election, the sense that previous governments had never pushed India's potential for modernization similar to its East Asian neighbors, Japan, South Korea and China.    ...

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There is only one way to interpret this. Putin and Russian influence have calmed down the Israel Iran war. DJT opening up discussions and talking to both Russia and China has created a sense in both countries that their vital interests are with the US, China on a trade agreement with the US, and Russia for a settlement of the Ukraine war on terms that it sees as fair. There is the issue of nuclear non-proliferation on which US, Russia, China, India, Germany and the EU, and the rest of the world are in agreement which meant action to end Iran's nuclear program. Putin met with Iranian Foreign Minister and looked for a way to end the war. Putin said: “This gives us a chance to…think together about how it would be possible to get out of this situation,” said Putin. From the point of view of a safer planet Biden's period of not talking to China during the balloon incident, and not talking to Russia with a single minded focus on Ukraine conflict, can be seen as not the way a responsible world power should act. DJT's emphasis to end the wars in the Middle East yet standing firm on Israel's right to exist and the non proliferation of nuclear weapons, and working to end the war on Ukraine by puting pressure on all countries, is proving to be an approach that gives all world powers a chance to reflect truly on their obligations to their peoples and the people of the world. To keep their and the world's sanity and composure while pursuing national aspirations. ...

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Two of three obese people live in developing countries. About 29% of the global population is obese in 2013, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington. Between 1980 and 2013, obesity increased by 47% for kids and 27% for adults in the global population. Dr Murray of IHME says no country was the exception. Diet and inactivity are the principal culprits. About 37% of world's men and 38% of women are obese. Obesity increased rapidly first in developed countries, becoming noticeable by 1980 and slowing since 2006, and now is growing fast in developing countries. Germany is a surprise No. 8 on the list. The U.S. No. 1 ranking tells a lot about the misguided priorities of living in the U.S., lack of education on healthy eating and healthy living, and not putting healthy habits at the top of things to do above making more money. An extreme case is South Africa where 42% of women are obese. The most obese countries are by rank - U.S., China, India, Russia, Brazil, Mexico, Egypt, Germany, Pakistan, Indonesia. Middle Eastern and North African countries have high obesity rates for children. The study is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation....

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Did you know that SUV's are the second largest source of emissions after Power. We hear a lot about aviation which is much smaller but little about SUV's in the impact on climate change. SUV's make up about 40% of cars in Britain, and higher in the U.S. at 43%, 40% worldwide an astounding sixfold increase from 32 million to 200 million since 2010. People may even be driving an SUV and talking a lot about climate change.

Any savings from electric cars expected to grow from 2 million to 20 million by 2030  will be offset by more SUV's on the road. This is the view of the International Energy Agency in its recent report. Again all the talk about electric cars as a way to address climate change misses what is really happening in automobiles. Even in China the SUV's make up 42% of sales, and in India 30%. It is more profitable to make SUV's and they are harder to electrify adding 25% to energy consumed compared to cars. 

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Labor problems at its Manesar plant, higher imported parts and royalty costs due to the rising yen, and sluggish sales led to a steep loss of 64% in net profit for third quarter ending Dec. 31, 2011- down to 2.06 billion rupees- for Maruti-Suzuki India Ltd. Demand is slower because of higher gasoline prices and higher rates on loans.

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Seen in a larger context, the Biden tax pledge seen from the southern and midwestern and less well off states is not about taxes, it is about federal revenues that build the infrastructure and services in these states that increase the standard of living. This happened in the 1930's and 1940's under FDR and Truman, in the 1950's under Eisenhower, in the 1960's under Kennedy/LBJ. And is happening again under Biden today. Lets not forget that president John F. Kennedy says in his speeches that these regions in America in the 1860's under Lincoln were in development close to what prevailed in the 1960's in India, Ceylon, Chile, Turkey or China. The Biden pledge not to increase taxes on anyone making less than $400,000 is significant because it grasps the situation in America where extraordinary gains in wealth since 1980 have gone only some of it to the top 1-2% in midwestern states and southern states, and most of it to the top 3-5% in coastal states population in the east and west, New York and California, where the finance and tech industry are based. In Michigan and Wisconsin only 2% of households make more than $400,000, in Pennsylvania, Nevada, Arizona and Florida 3%. WSJ shows a map of the US showing this for individual states. The core southern states have 2% of households with incomes over $400,000- including Arkansas, Tennessee, South Carolina, Alabama, Louisiana, Oklahoma, with Mississippi less than 1%. It is only segregation in the late 1960's and culture issues such as abortion that have turned them from Democratic states to Republican states as they were the largest beneficiaries of taxes diverted into investment in these places since FDR/Truman and John Kennedy/LBJ. It was JFK who came up with the phrase "a rising tide lifts all boats" when he opened federally funded projects in Arkansas. Seen objectively the large investments made under Lincoln, FDR/Truman, Kennedy/LBJ from tax revenues are what changed this region from conditions that prevailed in less developed countries that John Kennedy points out in his speeches, true for the midwest, parts of the west, and the southern states alike.  President Kennedy said on Feb. 25, 1963 to the American Bankers Association Symposium on Economic Growth: "Today, many Americans tend to think of developing underdeveloped countries in terms only of faraway nations. But in 1863, even measured by 1963 dollars, our own per capita income--and this should be a source of encouragement to many who are laboring with the problem of underdevelopment in far-off countries--our own per capita income was less than $1 a day, approximately the same as Chile's. Nearly 60 percent of our labor force was engaged in agriculture, the same percentage as is today engaged in the Philippines. An estimated 20 percent of our population was illiterate, the same percentage of the population of Ceylon. Only one-fifth of our 34 million people lived in towns or cities of over 5,000 in population, as is roughly true now of Turkey. In 1863, this Nation had fewer railroad tracks laid than India has today, and its children had a shorter life expectancy than a child born this year in Thailand or Zanzibar."   ...

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PM Narendra Modi is nominated in the historic old parliament building in New Delhi for a new five year term in office by the parties in the National Democratic Alliance on June 7, 2024. The importance of the event is because of the 294 seats of 543 in parliament of the NDA parties and the nomination based on achieving the vision of a developed country similar to the US, EU, Japan and China, by 2030. With the modernization complete by 2047, the 100th anniversary of Gandhi's struggle that won Hind Swaraj (Indian freedom), the title of a book put out by Gandhiji in 1909 as he negotiated a settlement with the British Empire for South African Indians and Black people. Leaders of every party in NDA cited this as the reason and the goal in their nomination speeches.

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U.S. president Trump announces withdrawal from the Paris climate change accords, saying the U.S. will consider re-entering the agreement  or coming up with a new deal. He said "I was elected to represent Pittsburgh, not Paris." Trump said he was concerned about the environment, and avoided saying climate change scientific evidence was not correct. He based his concerns on the idea that China and India were getting an unfair financial advantage over the U.S. The U.S. had pledged under the Paris accords to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 28% from 2005 levels by 2025. The WSJ's Stokols and Ballhaus point out that president Trump had the option because of the nonbinding agreements committing nations to a broader goal of reducing emissions to combat temperature change of of 3.6 degrees F, to have modified emissions targets and still remained in the Paris accords. For Trump the motivation may have rested more on politics to shore up support in the Republican party which has largely opposed climate change targets.  ...

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Stevenson and Gough describe the remarkable success of AirAsia under Tony Fernandes, who turned it into Asia's largest budget carrier with 43 million passengers in 2013. Fernandes acquired the airline for 1 Malaysia ringgit or 29 cents in Sept. 2001 from a Malaysian conglomerate. He is an accountant educated in Britain, originally from Goa, India, who worked as a Warner Music executive in Southeast Asia. Fernandes says he was encouraged by the founder of British budget carrier EasyJet, and hired executives from Ryanair. Expanding in Asia was accomplished with acquisitions and partial ownership in local airlines located in Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, India, Japan and other countries. Using the Ryanair model AirAsia has maintained a low cost structure, while increasing revenues with prices for addon options such as seat selection and checkin. It has revenues of $1.1 billion and is profitable. The airline uses relatively new Airbus 320 planes that are also used by other successful budget carriers. Fernandes has a hands on style of management reflected in this account of his handling of an AirAsia accident in Indonesia in Jan. 2015....

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This writer appeals to old Cold War views and even before that the views of Russia from the 19th century when it was seen as a threat to the British Empire and Turkey, when he says the conflict in Georgia threatens American interests in places like Afghanistan and Iraq. The mountains of Afghanistan make it appear remote even from India much more from Georgia but in the grand strategy view all this is of no importance. And the conflict in Afghanistan has religious overtones with Islamic militants and involves Pakistan and other tribal and communal interests and now has become intertwined with the opium farming in the south. Besides America has no other interests in Afghanistan except it being used by elements like the Taliban and Islamic terrorist groups and has after the Soviet withdrawal left Afghanistan to itself, and the situation in Afghanistan is more a result of a conflict between India and Pakistan and of communal conflicts and creation of Taliban by support from Pakistan at that time....

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Robert Putnam a 79 year old Professor of Public Policy at Harvard answers the question what is happening now- when everything seems to be stalling and solutions offered by parties of centre, right and left are all failing to deliver for improving lives of poor white people, black people, middle class white people. Failing to deliver on health care for all, on access to medicines, access to infrastructure, on access to public services. He sees this as a result of the over focus on "I' and on the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few people in the financial world or in Silicon Valley without concern for the needs of the country or the people.  Putnam compares this to the period of the 1870's onwards in America. when for several decades the emphasis was on selfish pursuit of money and wealth with everyone focussed on individual gain. It was only after this period brought America as a nation and the people of America into hard times people was the whole culture of "I" and overfocus on individual gain questioned and repudiated. The period of "we" began with Theodore Roosevelt breaking up the monopolies and Franklin Roosevelt fighting for a New Deal for American workers and the people of the United States. Putnam sees this happening again and America at a crucial juncture of repudiating the existing culture and values in the same way as it did in the past. The change in culture in America is part of a wider trend that includes all English speaking countries Britain, Canada, Australia and India. In all these countries the shift is towards rebuilding the culture that brings opportunities and hope to the working class and middle class, to rural areas, through a new vision for infrastructure, public services, healthcare and education. Putnam brings long experience studying the development of America starting with the book "Bowling Alone" published in 2000 which described the trend to rampant and unrestricted individualism in public and business life. In 2015 Putnam's "Our Kids" covered the issue of declining upward mobility and  failing to give opportunity for young people to make improvement in their social and economic aspects of their lives. The three books have extensive research and look at a lot of data making them academic of nature but they also serve a useful purpose. Any intuitive grasp of the situation also leads one to think in the same direction that the past carries lessons for the future, that there is a better way out, and that this situation cannot go on for much longer without damaging the nation and the people, not just America, but other English speaking nations Britain, Canada, Australia and India that share the same problems of lack of development, lack of infrastructure and services, and neglect of the common man, of everyman.   ...

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Pope Francis spoke against the effort by the European Union bureaucracy to limit the use of "Happy Christmas" and called it a form of "ideological colonization." He told reporters "many, many dictatorships" had tried this and all had failed on a trip back from Greece and Cyprus. The European Union bureaucracy then withdrew the 32 page guide on use of sensitive language.  Francis said European Union was "necessary" but warned against the EU bureaucracy trying to iron out the differences of culture and religion around the EU bloc countries. "This could end up dividing the countries and causing it to fail. The EU must respect each country as it is structured and not make them uniform." One of the main influences for the European identity, of western civilization, is Christianity. Less known is that King Alfred in his reign 871-899 AD, in one of the most stirring periods of British history, relied on Christianity as a civilizing influence on tribes of the Nordic countries that were invading Britain. The same process of bringing a civilizing influence on heathen tribes happened in mainland Europe. And a similar process took place in India with Vedanta and Buddhism as it spread to China, Japan, Sri Lanka and the rest of Asia. Civilization meant education, learning, wisdom, and came at this time through the ideas of the Bible or the Upanishads, or the Buddhist ideas.  Alfred struggles with how that wisdom once lost, may be retrieved by being written in the English language from Latin. He writes during this period of tumult and invasions- Learning had declined so thoroughly in England, that there were very few people on this side of the Humber who could understand their divine services in English. There were so few of them that I cannot recall a single one south of the Thames when I succeeded to the kingdom. Thanks be to God Almighty that we have any supply of teachers at all! Therefore I beseech you to do as I believe you are willing to do, as often as you can, free yourself from worldly affairs so that you can apply that wisdom that God gave you where ever you can. Remember what punishments befell us in this world when we ourselves did not cherish learning nor transmit it to other men. We were Christians in name only and very few of us possessed Christian virtues." What a contrast from the time of Alfred when Christian thought was identified with learning and wisdom, and the loss of learning and wisdom felt so deeply in this way. In the 12th century Dogen brought Buddhist thought and learning from China to Japan, before that Bodhidharma from India to China in the sixth century AD, and Buddhist thought evolved out of the Upanishads in the 6th century BC, in the same spirit of reflection.   ...