LyrArc Article Gist
Jean Claude Juncker, the newly elected president of the European Commission, was prime minister of Luxembourg for 18 years. During that period Luxembourg pursued policies that enabled large corporations to evade taxes by setting up in Luxembourg and paying taxes below 1%. A prominent British MP says it is outrageous that Juncker should be looking after tax issues in Europe with such a dismal record on taxes. He was elected with the support of Germany over Britsh objections, because he was supported by the largest elected bloc in the 2014 EU elections. But a new study by London based Open Europe shows the centre right parties supporting Juncker's candidacy won only 9.7% of the vote. The candidacy also did not receive the close scrutiny that should go with a position of such importance. The result is that the European Commission will suffer from a lack of credibility during his tenure at a time when the Commission was criticized for its bureaucratic structures, and back room deals. The criticism from Britain is especially strong. Ironically German chancellor Merkel supported Juncker to bring some element of democratic support from the EU parliament into the process of selection, which now appears to be weak....

LyrArc Article Gist
The step that Osborne took to lay out Britain's Conservative party's plan to tackle Britain's awful deficit of $280 billion, and making this journey through the bleak landscape ahead is forbidding but enormously useful, says the Economist. Everyone shares the burden equally and the Conservatives will keep the 50% tax on higher incomes, raise the age for pensions, freeze public sector pay in 2011, take away middle class tax breaks.

LyrArc Article Gist
This editorial in the Economist says Scots should get fiscal autonomy, and manage their own affairs including setting minimum wage, and tax rates. It says England should not subsidize Scotland as it currently does, and this will lead to Scotland bearing additional cost of about 8 billion pounds. It reminds readers that only about 50% of Scottish voters voted for the Scottish National party in the 2015 general election, and once Scotland has to balance its own books voters would have a chance to rethink the level to which they want a welfare state. As in Quebec the nationalist party may not have the same voter support when it has to tackle the difficult tasks involved in self government. This also means Scots would not be voting on how to manage affairs in England, leading to a federation for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

LyrArc Article Gist
Gordon Brown outlines Scotland's shared interests with the rest of Britain at the time of a referendum on Scotland's independence. He describes Scotland's key role in the shipping industry and the industrialization of Britain, the period since the loss of the shipping industry, and the search for alternative sources of employment and development in a period of globalization. A key figure for Brown is the average income of people in Scotland, which is similar to that of its neighbors in England, showing that development has kept pace with the rest of Britain. For Brown it is these social and economic rights that underpin the union of different ethnic peoples and heritage of Irish, Scottish and English origins.

LyrArc Article Gist
Gordon Brown, Britain's prime minister and the finance minister Alistair Darling have lifted their reputations with their decisive plan and execution of it to inject capital and take majority ownership of British banks RBS and HBOS/Lloyds. This comes after earlier missteps which led to a bank run on Northern Rock bank. Their plan is now held up as a model plan around the globe and is being followed in the US and in other countries. It could not have come at a better time, as in the US Fed chairman Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Paulson were having some missteps of their own with their plan to buy up troubled assets. That turned out to be difficult to carry out and may take months- very costly missteps leading to freezing up of global credit markets and criticism from most economists and experts. An account of how the plan was developed as daily events unfolded for Britain's banks.

LyrArc Article Gist
Millions of people who are first time users for whom affordability is an issue in countries from Nigeria, Ivory Coast to India, Indonesia, are connecting to the internet. This time not with smartphones made by Samsung or cheaper Chinese smartphones made by Xiaomi or Huawei, but by using a new smart feature phone that cuts down the price such as the Jio phone by Reliance Jio in India. This costs only about $25 compared to $100 to about $300 for lower cost smartphones These phones provide basic features, some apps, messaging, internet access at low cost. About 3.4 billion people without the money to buy costlier smartphones are turning to this just like people did 20 years ago with lowcost Nokia basic phones until smartphones appeared. Monthly cost for mobile data access to internet is $2.50 a month for all the mobile data he needs or Rs. 1750. Batteries last for days in countries where electricity is unreliable. A fruit vendor in New Delhi makes $80 a month or  Rs 5600. A Jio phone fo him costs Rs 1400 compared to paying Rs 7000 or $100 for a Chinese smartphone. Reliance partnered with Hong Kong's KaiOS Technologies Inc. which makes the most widely used operating system powering smart feature phones. Jio sold 60 million Jio phones and 370 million such smart feature basic phones are forecast to be sold in 3 years by 2022. Reliance Jio is being imitated by others. Orange SA of France has launched an inexpensive smart feature phone bundled with inexpensive mobile data plans in Ivory Coast, Burkina Fso and Cameroon and plans to put this in other former French colonies in Africa and Arab countries. WizPhone plans to introduce a $7 phone in Indonesia. KaiOS is working with Brazilian manufacturers to roll out cheap phones there.  In advanced countries Nokia is offering revamped versions of its candy bar shaped phones with added web access to enthusiasts. These cost $100. A whole new group of people who could not afford a smart phone are now being connected after Jio's pioneering effort in India. ...