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Plan B for US president DJT on Tariffs - Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act to place a 150 day 15% tariff. Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. Trade Investigations under Section 301. Much of this set of laws are already in place and being used by the US. A law passed in 1930 is another avenue for tariffs Section 338 of ther Tariff Act of 1930. The US government and US president DJT could also have Congress enact a new law as it has majority in both the Senate and the House and the president could make acase for the reasonable use of tariffs with the EU and Japan having taken advantage of trade to the disadvantage of the US. There is also broad support for fentanyl action by the president using economic action on tariffs on nations Canada, Mexico, China that continue to let the flow of fentanyl across their borders for use by drug trafficking gangs in Mexico to send over US land border at the 2000 mile long US-Mexico border.

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The new administration of Lopez Obrador takes the first step in its efforts to to end the rampant corruption in Mexico that has affected previous governments, in this story from the WSJ.  Lobrador campaigned on this issue and won an overwhelming mandate. Mexico's finance ministry is conducting an investigation into dealings of the steel maker Ahmsa in the sale of a fertilizer plant to Pemex during the period when Mr. Lozoya was CEO of Pemex.  Mr. Lozoya led Pemex from 2012 with the election of President Nieto of the PRI party to 2015 when he was replaced as CEO as Pemex finances suffered and Pemex failed to anticipate a fall in oil prices.  Pemex paid $475 million for the fertilizer plant. Mexico's government says the plant was worth about $50 million. The Brazilian company Odebrecht is also involved in the transactions, according to this report in the WSJ. Ahmsa is struggling to operate under court approved restructuring. Twenty years ago it defaulted on $1.8 billion of debt. Similar problems have plagued countries in other parts of the world. In Malaysia a new government campaigned on this issue with a 90 year old Mahathir Mohamed returning to head the new government  following the election.  ...

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Monica Langley provides a detailed account of the events leading to Microsoft CEO Ballmer's decision to step down in 2013. After listening to tough questions from Board member Thompson and other members through loudspeakers on a call with directors on a January morning in Seattle, Ballmer realized that he would have to step down for a transformation to take place at Microsoft. Around this time Ballmer met with Alan Mulally of Ford on Mercer Island to understand how Mulally had made the transformation at Ford Motor during a crisis. Ballmer realized by this time the difference between his style of internal competition and the teamwork and speed that Mulally had cultivated at Ford.

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Locals trying to do what they can using sugarcane buoys and barriers to soak up some of the 1500 tons of oil still on the leaking oil tanker. A French ship from Reunion island is the only help on the way. Mitsui OSK Lines owns the ship in Japan. It has recovered only 1500 tons of oil so far. No one knows why oil tankers can come so close to inhabited islands.

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A Phase 1 trial of over a thousand volunteers shows the Oxford vaccine works well with minimum side effects that can be handled with acetaminophen. Phase 2 trial is underway with volunteers in UK, Brazil and South Africa. Participants given the vaccine had significant increase in antibodies to neutralize the disease, and T cells for long term protection. About 70% reported fatigue or headaches which can be handled with acetaminophen. After the Ebola crisis of 2014 in West Africa the British government invested 120 million pounds to form a group to develop vaccines for top 10 likely threats dubbed "Disease X." On this list was the coronavirus. Scientists at the Jenner Institute at Oxford formed a team as part of this effort. Sarah Gilbert and Adrian Hill led the scientists at Jenner and pioneered research for  a new way to do this- to first replace a part of the virus with a component of the new virus. Then to remove the part of the virus that allows it to replicate in humans. This method is called recombinant adenovirus vector. The Oxford scientists used existing technology in new ways to increase the chances of getting a good vaccine early.  The first vaccine could be developed and tested for mass production by September. A 30,000 participant trial begins in U.S. in August. About 1 billion doses could be manufactured by end of 2020. India's Serum Institute has the manufacturing facilities to do this near Pune, India.  ...

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Claudia Sheinbaum's father was a biology professor at UNAM, her mother a chemical engineer. She studied physics at UNAM (Universidad Autonomo de Mexico) and did her dissertation for doctoral work comparing energy use of the US and Mexico at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory in Berkeley, California. She returned to the faculty of engineering at UNAM in 1995. In 2000 she was appointed energy minister in the Mexico City government by the city's Mayor Lopez Obrador.  From 2018 to 2023 she was Mayor of Mexico City and a close associate of Lopez Obrador who supported her for president in 2024. Mexico limits presidents to one six year term. This period was overshadowed by the migration crisis with the US, building of the Border Wall by Trump, the negotiation of the new trade agreement with the US and Canada, the pandemic and its impact on the poorer classes in Mexico. Obrador attacked corruption in Mexico that had become entrenched under previous parties to bring good governance. Under Obrador Mexico brought millions out of poverty. Sheinbaum's sweeping election win shows that Obrador is one of the most popular presidents in the world. Mexico has an opportunity to bring tens of millions more into the mainstream economy under Sheinbaum. As a neighbor of the US Mexico stands to benefit from a diversifying supply chain for the US that includes Mexico and India that will boost Mexico's manufacturing, create jobs and increase economic growth. ...

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Bide meets British prime minister Starmer in Wasnhington as Britain is ready to approve use of its long range missile systems inside Russia. This comes as Russia is about to gain control of the Donetsk region. Republicans other than Mr. Trump and his supporters are for stronger support to Ukraine following US policy of opposing invasion to achieve military goals since 1900 against the Japanese in China and the Vietnam War was fought on the same basis in the 1960's considering the South Vietnamese state as an independent republic, just  invaded by the north, by North Vietnam, just as the US had done in the Korean War between North and South Korea. In the Vietnam War nationalism played apart with the Vietnamese nationalism prevailing by 1970. Russians see Kiev as the origin of the Russian State in the 9th century, and eastern region of Donetsk as Russian if western Ukraine seeks to join NATO and EU. Britain has opposed Russia since 1750 as it saw Russia as the threat to an Empire it was building in South Asia, in India that financially supported its Empire worldwide for 200 years till about 1950. Britain engaged in the Crimean War against Russia so that along with the French it could control Turkey and its Ottoman states in the Arab Middle East under the guise of trade. This effort was pushed back by Kemal Ataturk in the 1920's when he founded the modern state of Turkey in Ankara. ...

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Beaverbook type media magnates from the 1900-1950's period managed events in Britain with control over newspapers in print. The wars of the 20th century had much involvement by these media magnates who could drive up passions and move Britain in different directions based on the whims and interests of the magnate, indifferent to the welfare and interests of the British people. Republicans and Democrats, patriots and well meaning citizens, need to encourage a level of literacy in the US that enables informed decisions. Lyrarc.com is about knowledge, about a form of cultural literacy that is world knowledge, that helps millions build educated and informed mindsets that shapes better lives and better societies in the spirit that George Washington and Jefferson laid the foundations for this Nation. This type of influence came to the US through Australia and Britain. It has led to Brexit in Britain and to a volatile political situation in America. America is only beginning to add up the costs and find away out of this morass with its democracy and its founders Washington and Jefferson's intent and effort protected following the long struggle with Britain in the 18th century, the Civil War fought under Lincoln that abolished the plantation system in the South, and the two Wars under Wilson and FDR that restored faith in the United States of America Washington and Jefferson created for new generations and for the World.   ...

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Hamdi Ulukaya on how he started the Chobani brand of yogurt and the company from an idea and a postcard about a Kraft yogurt plant put up for sale in Columbus, New York. Here Hamdi is interviewed by the WSJ's Sarah Needleman. He describes how he developed the recipe with a master yogurt maker from his home country of Turkey, knowing that he had only one shot to get it right. That included pricing because Greek yogurt is costlier to make. The idea came from the postcard which made Hamdi think about the fact that always astonished him- that there was no quality yogurt in the U.S. He hired five people in the plant, had the walls painted, and the master yogurt maker as the sixth employee. The yogurt was introduced in 2007. The pricing had to be right- costing betwen $1.00 and $1.30, not too high. He decided on giving out free samples to get people introduced to the product and had a sampling truck go around the country, similiar to what Ben & Jerry's did with their ice cream in the early days. To avoid costly ad campaigns Chobani was introduced using bloggers, Facebook and Twitter to reach consumers directly....

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The US president DJT says he is on both sides of the issue. He will never forget the farmers who supported him and he wants them to do well knowing their need for good agricultural workers. As the move to return illegal migrants proceeds under ICE DJT is considering a way to allow the farmers to keep the workers they know and be responsible for them. Agriculture Secretary Brook Rollins has told the president the importance of having the agricultural workforce for farmers in the US.

Even in the similar program under president Eisenhower in 1954 called Operation Wetback,  on which the current program is modeled, there was an effort to keep the agricultural workers on farms for essential agricultural activity. For a long time the Bracero program with Mexico was designed to do this with legal pathways to work in the US in the 1950's.

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DJT takes action sending in the Marines to Los Angeles to guard federal buildings, stop rioting June 10, 2025. At a White House briefing on fires including the fires in Los Angeles, US president DJT says the situation could have gone on for days as it did in Minneapolis when he acted after 7-8 days and the governor failed to call in the National Guard. DJT says he has seen this before and this is why he acted quickly before rioting destroyed the parts of Los Angeles that had survived the fires. 

Kristi Noem, the Homeland Secretary, a former governor, says action will be taken to enforce the nation's laws and that the comments by Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum that encouraged the protesters in contempt for US law enforcement were inappropriate and needed to be condemned.

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Australia's Traralgon coal plant will close in 2035 instead of 2048. Leadership changes at AGL energy company which owns the plant made this possible. It produced a large part of energy for the state of Victoria which includes Melbourne, and 3% of the country's emissions. This report in BBC shows the stubborn nature of coal emissions in Australia. Mr. Albanese the newly elected Labor party leader has promised to cut emissions- a 43% reduction of 2005 emissions by 2030. Australia is a big exporter of coal with $40 billion in coal exports to China, India and other countries, and cheap abundant coal supplies are part of the reason for its reliance on coal. Only in 2021 with the raging wild fires and floods in parts of Australia has awareness of the cost of its reliance on coal become evident to Australians.

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After sanctions were lifted in 2016 on Iran India and China increased oil imports from Iran. China and India ramped up imports each country importing 900,000 barrels of oil per day in 2016. Since then China has reduced imports from Iran to 500,000 and India has reduced imports to 600,000 in anticipation of possible sanctions. India received a limited waiver from sanctions for oil paid in rupees before sanctions were lifted. 

Chinese officials say alternatives for importing oil are available, and that it is more concerned about the price of oil.

Oil prices affect development because as in the case of Indonesia and India reduced oil subsidies and savings can be diverted into infrastructure development in Asian countries. The recent surge in the price of oil adds to the pressure on budgets and fiscal deficits in developing countries.

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Did Putin overreact as he did in Georgia. On the issue of Russian speaking people in neighboring eastern European countries Putin has strong emotional reaction, as evident in the 2008 Georgian conflict. In Ukraine the issue assumes significance because of the effect of western sanctions, adverse foreign investor sentiment and the tendency of rich Russians, similiar to Argentines, to shift assets abroad. Capital flight was $75 billion in the first 6 months of 2014. Add to this adverse effect on foreign investor sentiment on an already slowing Russian economy, and growth will be seriously affected. Car sales are expected to decline by 12% in 2014, according to a trade group. The rhetoric has been toned down on Russian television. And Russian analysts now say relations with the West must be maintained. Polls by state run polling company WCIOM show 66% of the Russian public oppose Russian forces entering Ukrainian territory.

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To get a right grasp of the situation as a whole from the bigger picture than the headlines, is to know that even in the current chaotic immigration handling of both parties, the US comes out a winner in long term by 2034. That it gives for the younger generation a better future. Congress's Budget Office economic report shows GDP higher by 2% from the higher immigration of 5.2 million added to the US workforce by 2034. US productivity higher by 0.2% and residential investment including construction up by a whopping 10%. The younger profile of immigrants will help the US compete with India's younger population, and as China ages to have what it and Europe is aspiring to have- a younger population. The best way to look at the immigration issue is for the short term- manage it better by organized method of immigration without chaotic border crossings by allowing potential immigrants to apply from their home country, a step taken by the Biden administration. What it or any Republican administration could not control is the immigration that happens from countries the US is at war with or in conflict with. It is important to recognize that this is what happened with Venezuela the largest component of the immigration border crossings in 2023. It was made worse by actions of both parties Democrats and Republicans and made worse in 2017 by more severe sanctions on Venezuela under the Trump administration.  Also part of the problem is Venezuelan mismanagement- providing oil at pennies a gallon, hurting imports and spiralling inflation that only worsened under US sanctions after 2017. Long term- To reflect that US sanctions on top of mismanagement by Venezuela is a warning for all developing countries in Latin America, Africa, Asia and for the US. It meant 7 million refugees a staggering quarter of Venezuela's population fleeing the country, that burdened neighbors Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile. By 2022-2023 many of these refugees were making their way up the Darien Gap to the US. Yet within this tragic situation for Venezuelan people how could the US best respond is to close the border as president Biden has proposed with McConnell and the Lankford effort in the Senate, which was blocked by the House under Mike Johnson. This gives time to assess the situation, correct US laws on asylum and parole that allowed this chaotic way to proceed under actions of both parties.And not let this destabilize the US by understanding that while Venezuela has suffered for its role in the crisis the US will ultimately have come out a winner, as pointed out by the Congressional Budget Office projections. CBO projections of this immigration impact by 2034 of increasing the workforce population by 5.2 million will provide higher GDP, more tax revenues, and higher productivity than without this group of Venezuelan and other immigrants in this special situation of 2022-2023. For the Immigration projections discussion given by Phillip Swagel, Director of the Congressional Budget Office see page 51 of the Budget and Economic Outlook 2024 to 2034. For this search for term Congressional Budget Office or CBO which brings up the report on PDF and turn to page 51 or just click on Original Article on Lyrarc.   ...

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Binyamin Applebaum of NYT looks at the situation today when tech companies pretend or act like they can perform the role of government. The pandemic has shown the need for a strong government role on many issues facing America and the world such as healthcare and healthcare infrastructure. This has exposed the dangers of the government not being strong enough and having a clear idea and vision for the interests of the public in health, education and infrastructure. A culture change is underway after decades of misallocation of resources and neglect of the public interest, neglect of essential investment in workers, students, and families.

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Accident investigators for the Ethipian and Lions Air crashes say Boeing faile to inform FAA safety inspectors and Southwest safety specialists of the deactivation of a feature that warns pilots about malfunctioning sensors. The new models of the plane had this feature made optional in a new automated stall prevention system called MCAS. Southwest Airlines management and pilots did not know about this in 2017 a year after the planes went into service, and learned about this only after the Lions Air crash in October 2018. After the crash of Lions Air plane Southwest had asked Boeing to activate the alerts on its MAX planes.

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US president Biden announces a 5 year offshore drilling plan that will allow some drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and in the Cook inlet of Alaska. The Atlantic, Pacific and the Arctic will be closed for drilling leases. Biden had to create a path between opening up drilling and not allowing any drilling following the shortages of oil and gas and high prices from embargoes on Russian oil and gas.

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The US House of Representatives led by Speaker Kevin McCarthy passes a debt ceiling bill with a close vote on largely party lines 217 to 215 votes. The bill raises the debt ceiling in exchange for spending cuts of 14%. President Biden cited Moody's analysis showing a loss of 780,000 jobs with such large spending cuts. The bill has no chance of approval in a Democrat led Senate.

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Indian financial and project assistance to Sri Lanka is making a huge difference for Sri Lanka. With a relationship that goes back to the time when the first Buddhist missionaries arrived on the island India has a long relationship with Sri Lanka. In addition to financial help India is planning major long term projects in renewable energy, port infrastructure and energy pipelines from southern India. Reuters looks at these projects in this report.

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Following an Indian proposal 2023 has been declared as the 'International Year of Millets.' Millet will be an integral part of G-20 meetings in India. There are about 6000 varieties of Millets cereal crops with varying colors and textures around the world. They are more nutritious than rice or wheat. For farmers it requires less water as millets do well on dry land, and require less fertilizer or pesticide.

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This NYT report on Hungary and Mr. Orban is critical of current events in Hungary, yet requires reading between the lines, as the country has a long history and experienced many changes. There have been difficulties under both free markets and socialist policy in Hungary and Mr. Orban is adapting policy to the situation in Hungary for ordinary people without adhering to either policy and adapting as he goes along.

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New Zealand faces the need to look for other overseas market following the changing situation for Australia that led to trade friction with China. Australia has diversified its exports to follow policies in the Indo-Pacific with the US, India and Japan as allies. Last weeks meeting of the New Zealand prime minister Ardern with president Biden led to a joint declaration by both countries on Pacific Ocean security.

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The effects of Tech in the economy dividing the workforce jobs into ones that pay extremely well at tech companies for advanced skills and a sea of other jobs in retail, hospitality, and logistics that may meagre wages. Wages even at tech companies like Amazon in logistics are for the most part low wage. Automation has depressed job creation in many industries putting pressure on wages for less skilled workers.

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China Cinda Asset Management Company's $2.46 billion IPO in November 2013. Cinda was originally setup to handle bad and non-performing loans in 1999. It was never shut down as happened for comparable institutions in other countries. In recent years it has operated on commercial lines.