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See Liz Claiborne, 11 July 2007, WSJ. How a new CEO at Liz Claiborne is tackling the problems of a bureaucracy, layers of management from acquisitions, lack of clear direction, responsibility, and out of focus organization. A problem that is coupled with too many brand labels so that there is no focus for marketig and advertising and distribution dollars to obtain a winning advantage. And the added problem of designers not having the opportunities to come up with winning products in a constantly changing fashion field with changing consumer tastes and trends. McCom is a top manager at J&J before this and handled the Tylenol brand after its crisis, so he's seasoned. His approach also makes sense given the need for focus and the need to be able to develop a new model for sales not dependent on others. He sent out an email to 200 senior managers asking them to identify the biggest barriers to success. What is common between the jobs at Mitsubishi, Liz Claiborne (Tylenol), and

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China's sharp slowdown in growth to below 4% is likely to reduce inflation in the US, Europe and the rest of the world. This means less demand for oil and gas, other commodities, that China absorbed for the higher growth, in a degree that was disproportionate when compared to the needs of the rest of Asia, Latin America, Africa, the US and Europe. The inflation in other parts of the world with inflation now exceeding 10% in Britain, is driven by the war in Ukraine cutting off supplies of Russian oil, and by supply chain issues. Lower demand for fossil fuels in China could compensate for the loss of Russian oil supplies by adding that much oil and gas to oil markets. Supply chain issues are being resolved though this may take some time. And a new supply chain is being built that replaces the old one that was too stretched out all over the world without emphasis on making at home in the US and Europe, India and other countries. US shale oil companies have not invested in increasing production and this could change adding to oil and gas supplies. Moderating inflation and a winding down of the war in Ukraine could help the economies of the US, Europe, India and other countries. ...

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A carefully managed event for the return of 2000 fans to London's newest and largest soccer stadium of Tottenham Hotspur. A Tottenham fan describes the crowds and enthusiasm for new coach Jose Mourinho of Portugal as Tottenham moves to the top of the English League. The soccer stadiums played arole in the outbreak of the pandemic in Italy in March, just as the Austrian ski resorts have led to a surge in central Europe. This event is a test of whether it is safe to have fans in stadiums with the necessary precautions and strict procedures.

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How China nurtured talent at its best universities to come up with a AI solution using different methods to make up for lack of full access to advanced chips.

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The Bank of International Settlements warns that China's "credit to GDP gap" is 30.1. A figure of 10 normally is considered to be high and needs watching. The People's Daily carried an article presumably by president Xi Jinping warning about the consequences of the debt that had been growing "like a tree in the air." The debt to GDP ratio was at 255% at the end of 2015, and is up 107% since 2008 when the financial crisis led to a huge stimulus that has accelerated debt growth. The corporate debt is at 171% of GDP. The article in the People's Daily warned about reflexive stimulus every time growth slows and said that China cannot any longer "force economic growth by levering up." Cross border liabilities is one area of progress falling by a third to $698 billion, as companies cut debt quickly before the U.S. Federal Reserve raises rates. In the future China is more likely to roll over debt as Japan had done following its debt surge and bad debt with zombie companies, which would in turn lead to lower growth. In the past the government was able to absorb the growing debt because it was not as high as it is today, and the economy was growing rapidly. This is no longer the situation, the reason for alarm at the situation facing China. A spike in interest rates of 250 basis points is cited as one situation which could affect China adversely. ...

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View from Le Monde in France on the visions of Macron, Merz,, and Rubio for rebuilding the transatlantic alliance.  France under Macron sees less hope for the rebuild of the transatlantic friendship. The Germans under Merz and Soder of Bavaria see it differently. As shown in Nina Haase's interveiw with Johann Wadephul Germany's Foreign Minister, he sees Marco Rubio's speech very positively and like Merz wants to rebuild the relationship. It is not fully understood in Europe that Vance was also. partly reflecting his own views and his own tendency to sound and act like DJT. RUbio was once a candidate for the presidency in 2014 whom DJT had to defeat in the primaries. Rubio's recent book on how the elites have failed US and Europe shows a man of his own convictions. He and DJT agree because he brings out the best that is in the Republican party today to look back at its heroes from the past, Teddy Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln with a profound belief in western civilization and America's role in it. When seen in this context it changes everything- all that talk of Vance means little because Vance is a much less experienced politician from the midwestern state of Ohio compared to Rubio with his long years in the Florida legislature and in the Senate in Foreign Affairs. Rubio speaks for the United States so much more so than an inexperienced and very young politician from Ohio who has emerged only in the last 5 years, compared to Rubio's 20 years in public service. ...

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Bob Woodward of the Washington Post says of the Obama administration's handling of the information surrounding the Benghazi incident in Libya, as not being Watergate but showing members of the administration acting in a Nixonian manner.

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Players in World Cups past, Kurt Hamrin for Sweden in 1958, Guillermo Sepulveda for Mexico in 1962, and Tarcisio Burgnich in 1970, share their memories and pictures of playing against Brazil and Pele in The Guardian. He is remembered by Kurt Hamrin as a rare talent who was humble and kind. He was Hamrin says "incredibly humble." After the first Brazilian World Cup title win in 1958 against Sweden Hamrin recalls- Pele took the Swedish flag draped around him and circled the stadium to show respect for his opponents. Who does that nowadays. Something is lost. No, a lot is lost and needs to be recovered of the way we played and lived. Asen, Marshall and Romano conducted the interviews for The Guardian.

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Sandra Day O'Connor always carried a copy of the US Constitution with her and worked to expand civic knowledge of the younger generation through iCivics from 2009 when she left the US Supreme Court after 25 years service. As she lies at the Supreme Court after her death at age 93, president Biden who was ranking member of the US Judiciary Committee when O'Connor was nominated in 1981, remembers her as "gracious and wise, civil and principled." Biden said: "One needed not agree with all of O'Connor's decisions to recognize that her principles were "deeply held and of the highest order, and that her desire for civility was genuine... She empowered generations of American women in every part of American life." 

 

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The CDU runs the state of Baden-Wurttemberg (Stuttgart, Tubingen) in a coalition with the Greens. The Greens premier is retiring. Merz is hoping for a win in the state in an upcoming election. The AfD is polling at 20%, SPD is losing ground.

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Shigeru Ishiba was reappointed LDP party secretary-general in Japan. Ishiba served three terms as defence minister, is popular with the rank and file and the public. He has a good grasp of security issues. He will be the No. 2 person in the cabinet after prime minister Shinzo Abe. Ishiba was the first LDP official to give a specific trading range for the yen by publicly calling for a range of 85 to 90 yen to the dollar. The yen closed at about 85 yen to the dollar on Dec. 25, 2012. Two women join Ishiba and Abe in the leadership positions. Seiko Noda is now chairwoman of the party general council. And six term parliamentarian Sanae Takaichi is policy chief for the LDP.

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The world of video games has changed since Nintendo brought out its first video game. It is not likely to recover its earlier momentum.

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Workmen are busy installing many miles of bicycle lanes in Paris and its suburbs, as French people shift to more frequent use of bicycles to get to work and to go outside.

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The need for institutions that promote cultural contact between the US, Europe and the countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America particularly during and after the pandemic. This is something that cannot be outsourced to the private for profit sector. The Guardian calls "bizarre" and "self-sabotaging" the British governments outsourcing of some of the important work of the British Council that was founded in 1934 in an effort to begin the hard work of building relationships with the rest of the world. The Goethe Institut of Germany is also doing this work of building relationships with better funding, better funding, and good leadership, an effort to reverse flow the direction so that the German public gets a better understanding of Africa and other developing countries in the world. The reverse flow is a vital and necessary concept because of the ignorance or lack of knowledge in US and Europe of rapidly developing countries in the rest of the world during a period of great technological change and youthful populations. ...

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The ruble has stabilized by April 1, 2014 following Russian intervention in the Crimea and western sanctions. It reached record lows of 37 to the dollar from a range of 29-33 rubles to the dollar since 2011. To stabilize the ruble the Bank of Russia says it spent about $24 billion in March 2014. The Russian Finance Ministry held its first auction of Treasury bonds on April 2, 2014 with yields increasing to 9% from 8% in February. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov says the ministry will resume daily purchases of foreign currencies of about $100 million- stopped since March 4, 2014- to replenish its sovereign wealth fund. Bank of Russia head, Ms. Nabiullina, says consumer inflation will exceed the target of 5% and economic growth is likely to fall below 1%. The crisis come at a bad time for Russia as it has slowed economic growth when growth had already fallen sharply in 2013. Russia plans to introduce its own payments system to reduce dependence on Visa Inc., and introduce its own credit ratings system as S&P, Moody's lowered its credit ratings....

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The Sulina Channel on the Danube a 40 mile waterway with protection of NATO and of Romania, makes it possible to ship 20 million tons of Ukraine grain. Soon it is expected to double as this waterway offers a way to ship grain out of Ukraine after Russia pulled out of a grain export arrangement out of Black Sea ports. Russia has used drones to attack Ukraine grain infrastructure. The Danube is seen as the efficient route even though it is congested.

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In private conversations, Paul Volcker has advised administration officials, that in implementing the Volcker Rule, regulators should follow the practice in money laundering laws. There the government bans a certain behaviour, and then the burden is on the banks to screen for red flags and to ensure compliance. His advice is to ban banks from trading with their own funds if they benefit from any kind of government guarantee. Banks would be required to police their own actions, and the Fed examiners ensuring they are in compliance. The recently passed regulatory reform bill left a lot to the regulators, who have to fill in the blanks. Volcker's concern is that narrow rules would invite gamesmanship from the banks to evade the intent of the law. At one Congressional hearing Volcker suggested a Potter Stewart type of approach- Stewart as Supreme Court Justice said about pornography: "I know it when I see it." For Volcker bankers know what proprietary trading is and is not, and he does not want to let bankers tell anybody anything different. Thw new Financial oversight Stability Council is charged with the task of coming up with a course of action by January 2011, and then writing the rules by October 2011. The fear among a group of 18 senators is that bankers will weaken the Volcker rule protections. A letter pointing this out was sent by the group to the Oversight Council last week....

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Is a Win-Win possible for the US/Israel and Iran possible with the US/Israel strikes and operations started March 1, 2026. Not just for the American and Israeli people, but for the people of the Arab countries and for the people of Iran, and for the people of Russia. Greg Ip in the WSJ, Marc Thiessen in the NYT, and Bret Stephens of the NYT have looked at this in this way and offer an alternative view of what might happen, even though the tendency of the WSJ and the Washington Post is to be skeptical and the NYT with an opposition to all things DJT offering pessimistic version. First, all the anticolonial writings that were read by Khamanei in Moshaad are no longer the case as the US is no longer acting to secure some benefit to itself as the British and French colonial powers did for themselves or their oil companies in pre1960's Iran. Second the US truly wants to learn the lessons of 30 years of troubles in the region at every level of the DJT administration which is to extend a true olive branch to the subdued foe as it did to Germany and Japan under generals Eisenhower and McArthur. Third moderates in Iran could emerge as in Germany ( Adenauer) and in Japan Shigeru Yoshida who worked to adopt the 1947 Japanese Constitution under Gen. Douglas MacArthur. Behind the student protests and now national protests there is a realization in Iran that living perpetually under sanctions is not the way to live, that it can increase oil production, get investment in its industry, and raise standards of living, by doing something different. That nuclear weapons development, supporting movements overseas, perpetual conflicts with Arab states, these things have been tried and are not working. That this is the last chance to build a prosperous Iran before fossil fuels are replaced by renewable energy over 10-15 years and which will make it that much harder to modernize and develop Iran for the benefit of Iran's future 110 million people. The gap with India will only widen as India catches up with China, the way China caught up with Japan. It is better to accept that these anticolonial writings that emerged from decolonizing Arab North Africa applied to the British and the French, and that the world is a different place today as the Indians and the Chinese have realized modernizing ancient societies with ancient religions is possible with the help of the Americans and the Europeans, working with the Americans and the Europeans. Theodore Roosevelt says in his Autobiography that one should be careful to judge people as the best have some negative aspects and the worst have some positive aspects, an experience he described in his dealings with progressives and those who opposed changes. Adenauer and Yoshida had contacts and dealings with earlier governments defeated in the war, but wanted to search for an entirely different path for rebuilding their countries having learned from experience. A thoughtful moderate Iranian outcome is possible as happened in Germany and Japan and which is beginning to develop in Venezuela.   ...

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As he assumes the presidency for the second time, Putin is under pressure from insiders in industry and others in government who have benefitted from the Putin regime to take a tougher stand against the democracy activists. At the same time progressive members of his government are urging him to let the democracy activists vent their anger at flawed elections.

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WSJ and NYT, Wash.Post exaggerated defense of Denmark's claims to Greenland. DJT says there is nothing in writing that says Denmark owns Greenland. The NYT, WSJ cite 1916 Treaty that transferred Danish West Indies to US for $25 million.  The agreement in 1916 said Denmark would extend its economic and political arrangements across Greenland, which was the status quo, but this did not give ownership of the island to Greenland. In 1947 US president Harry Truman offered $100 million for Greenland. This was a generous offer and would be around $1.5 billion in today's terms. The agreement of 1916 is superseded by Admiral Perry leading the US Navy's exploration of Greenland all the way to the north of Greenland at the Arctic northern most points in Greenland. The US planted its flag on Greenland at the time. DJT on Truth Social planting the flag is nothing new. Admiral Perry is never mentioned by NYT, Wash Post and WSJ, the television media and Google internet other AI, which gives the Denmark government an opportunity to misrepresent US claims to Greenland since 1890's and leave out Adm. Perry's discoveries in Greenland. By comparison a few Danish boats and Norwegian boats landed in Greenland. Worse it sets up the Europeans for actions that Scott Bessent says are "unwise". It is mainly Denmark and the Nordics who are in opposition, the rest of Europe has no stake in Greenland and would be better off with the US owning Greenland. Danes were a colonial power and cannot bring up the Greenland Inuit population of 50,000 smaller that what would fit into a baseball stadium as they had never sought to help the Inuits. As recently as 1803-1848 Denmark was struggling to abolish the slave trade in its colonies in the West Indies- it is something that can easily be looked up. It was the US with it's Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson that laid out the vision of a free people which also fought the Civil War under Lincoln by the 1860's with loss of millions of lives for a free and fair society, something the European colonial powers failed to do. Denmark should accept the offer of $1.5 billion from the US consistent with the US offer from Harry Truman in 1947, and not use the European Union to create dissension within Europe as it has done so far in a misleading effort that does not serve the interests of Europe. ...

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Boris Johnson made many gaffes, with inappropriate comments and patronizing attitudes, sometimes looking boorish, during his short period in office for 2 years 2016-2018 as Foreign Secretary. Johnson was a journalist who pushed for a hard line on Brexit and appealed to extreme right wingers in the Conservative Party.

Former prime minister Harold Macmillan described the persons holding the job of Foreign Secretary as either being dull or dangerous. Johnson rarely showed a dull moment tangling with foreign leaders at every opportunity and as he said once creating "opportunities for fresh disasters."