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Four million small businesses may go out of business. The stimulus money helped business owners get through the first wave of the pandemic. This has been lacking during the second wave which could have a serious effect on small businesses. 

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The government of Pedro Sanchez has announced additional $10 billion in cost of living aid to take the total to $45 billion. It comes through reduced VAT and $200 one off payments to households making less than 27,000 euros a year. The government has been able to bring inflation down to 6.8%, lowest in the European Union, though food inflation is higher.

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The Chinese government looks with disfavor on the long work hours, the 80 hour weeks, that were once seen as away to success. China's courts and Labor ministry detailed 10 court decisions that mandated employers respect national work laws, with workers not being forced to work overtime. National laws require a 44 hour work week which has not been enforced till now.

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Nikki Haley calls TikTok "a dangerous social media asset" in a Republican debate for presidential hopefuls. Strangely the debate also had in a commercial break an ad for TikTok. Social media has been shown to have an harmful affect on the mental health of children. Use of social media also affects the reading ability and concentration of children and young people. 

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This WSJ report points out that upto this point the US volatility index in 2024 has been very low. The drop in the US stock market on August 5, started with the effects of monetary tightening in Japan and its effect on the market in the US. Because of this the underlying situation in the US, the underlying low volatility has not changed.

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The hidden costs of pollution are shown by the Forever Pollution Project in France. Le Monde and partners estimate the cost at euros 12 billion a year for cleaning up PFAS, with the smallest particles TFA widely present in water to be treated. The cost of cleanup in the US for PFAS must be vastly higher in the US and has not been estimated.

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Jeremy Carl is the nominee for Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs (including UN) in Feb. 2026. He is a research fellow of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. His BA is from Yale where he was president of the student union, and his Masters is from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.  From 2004-2005 he was a visiting fellow at the Energy and Resources Institute in New Delhi, India.This article says he has been critical of Jewish attitudes yet he comes from a Jewish family and is now a member of the Presbyterian church. He was Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior in the first term of DJT. His recent book is on the theme of how the culture and attitude of America was culture an attitude of vast majority of the population from 1600 till 1965 for about 400 years. The Immigration laws of 1965 under JFK/Johnson, he says were not intended to change this, yet a change and relaxation of tight immigration policy has led to the situation similar to what Eisenhower faced in 1954 that led to Operation Wetback- as Mexican immigration surged in the war years by the early 1950's. For 150 years before 1965 the US only opened up for Europeans immigrating to the US. The changes since 1965 coincided with deindustrializationn of the US and the failure of the governing class to do anything about the steady shipping out the nation's manufacturing sector to China. Which is why there is so much anxiety about America's position in the world and a sense of a culture that is being lost- of Robert Frost's poetry set in New Hampshire, of Shakespeare's plays and morals for Western civilization, of the values of Emerson and Thoreau that guided Gandhiji and other Asian leaders. ...

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China's dependence on an export sector that is uncertain 14% growth (EV's electronics) vs. 0.2% growth in domestic spending April 2026. Costlier energy inputs are affecting China in the way that is affecting Germany's economy in 2026. The US has increased tariffs, Germany and the EU are likely to do the same as they see their economy erode with Chinese exports in German markets replacing German manufacturing. China has set 4.5% growth target much of it from ramping up exports and depends on cheaper inputs for energy as Germany has done for economic growth. This is being gradually eroded as US/EU want to reindustrialize and make things and products realizing the errors in industrial policy of previous administrations Bush and Obama in US and Schroeder/Merkel in Germany. At the same time India wants to be a manufacturing hub like China. When that happens by 2030 China's growth will be similar to the US of 2-3% a year as exports decrease. Eastern India is the New East and South China with 700 million people for the first time in 2025-2026 under double engine governments. Double engine meaning state, local and federal governments all under the same party (the BJP National party) so that industrial policy is conducted along the lines of a Master Plan tested in western Indian states of Gujarat and Maharashtra. This has been seen before. As Japan rapid rise of the 1960's and 1970's slowed by 1980, China's rapid rise of the 1990's and 2000's slowed by 2025 and India in 2025 is picking up from China in the way China picked up from Japan. This means an industrialized US and EU, rapidly industrializing India will face a slowing China and aging China by 2030. Knowing this pattern helps US and EU leaders, Indian leaders, look at the long term in their plans, having confidence in their investments in industrial progress for the next 5 years. ...

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Edward Johnson and daughter Abby Johnson- Fidelity Investments succession turmoil and Abby Johnson emerging as CEO is covered in a new book- House of Fidelity by Justin Baer, Deputy Markets Editor WSJ. CEO Edward Johnson (Ned) failed to come up with a succession plan and executives under him were planning to sell the company to Chase or another bank. Ned had talked to Chase's Dimon in 2005 and said he was not interested in selling the company founded by his father. Yet this is what executives under Ned, Reynolds had in mind, who did not have confidence in Abby Johnson's leadership. Fidelity Investments has recovered from poor performance in that period and manages the pension plans of employers in the US, being the largest in this business. In 2026 Fidelity manages life savings of 20% of American adults and 50% of these customers signed up in last 5 years, says WSJ. After a period in her performance in the mutual funds business which was not great Abby was listed for demotion by executives under her father, who would sent her to run the philanthropy part of the business. It shows how awoman now 64 years struggled through this period and took the bold step of defying her father through control of 41% of the stock of the company to gain control of the company- a step that led to her father relenting and letting Abby run the company. It is a tale of how in such situations even the most favored can be put at a disadvantage by perceptions - in this case by Reynolds of Abby's leadership and ability- and need to act swiftly and decisively after impressions have been formed that lead to an outcome that doesn't need to occur. Her father Ned even though he in his younger period was a good stock picker, failed in two ways. By not planning a clear succession and lacking confidence in his daughter to overcome temporary obstacles. ...

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Germany's Interior Ministry and the Federal Press Office in the Chancellery are taking the lead for setting up the Center for Defense Against Disinformation, says DW.com citing Der Spiegel. Steffen Seibert heads the press office in the chancellery. Fines of 500,000 euros have been proposed for fake stories on Facebook.

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New efforts to control air pollution over New Delhi and the persistent haze that hangs over the city in winter months by controlling the burning of stubble in Haryana state. Red zones have been identified and farmers getting the equipment they need.

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Hillary Clinton is diagnosed by her physician as having pneumonia on September 11, 2016. Her physician Lisa Bardack, says she "has been experiencing a cough related to allergies." She was put on antibiotics  when the cough was diagnosed as pneumonia, and told to rest and modify her schedule for a few days.

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Krugman points out the gains on three fronts evident from the Census Bureau report of 5.2% gain in median income of households in the U.S. He says the first is the growth in incomes of ordinary working class and middle class families, second the large decline in the poverty rate, and third the further rise in insurance coverage in 2015 for people without health insurance. He points to the steady efforts of the Obama administration to improve lives of ordinary families as working based on the Census report though results have taken time, and could have been better. The Stimulus, says Krugman could have been larger following the blow of the 2009 financial crisis and increased unemployment at the time. Janet Yellen at the inequality conference of the Boston Fed in 2014 pointed out the problems of 62 million households having net worth of about $10,000, and why this was running against the American idea of a better life for all Americans. In that sense the Census report is a movement in the right direction but a lot remains to be done.   ...

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The opening of bars and restaurants risks restarting the coronavirus epidemic in South Korea again after a 29 year old man visited 5 clubs and later tested positive. Contact tracing identified the man but similar cases in the Itaewon neighborhood have led to the conclusion that about one third of 5000 people believed to be involved in bars have not been traced. Over 50 cases have been traced to this one person alone. 

It is now believed that the entire South Korean efort could unravel with the mistakes of a few people. Now president Moon says "its not over till its over," and that it will be a long time before the coronavirus is ended completely. He warned a new wave of infections could happen anytime anywhere.

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Enzo Signorelli goes back to an olive farm that has been in the family for 100 years. The farm is on the slopes of Mt. Etna in Sicily. Enzo finds new life in the rhythm of the mountains and the olive farm where some trees are 500 years old. Shown in NYT are beautiful pictures of the farm and the work in the olive picking season.

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23% of the green lung around Athens has been destroyed by fires. The result is that it is very humid and temperatures above 40 degrees C are affecting the elderly. Many of the elderly are now going to airconditioned spaces set up by the city government of Athens. The mayor and vice mayor are setting a goal of planting trees to restore some of the green cover.

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Legislation sponsored by US Senators Mike Lee, Ted Cruz, Amy Klobuchar and Richard Blumenthal that would breakup Google's ad business. Google dominates the online ad business in every aspect and segment of the business in the way Standard Oil dominated the oil business more than a century ago. Under Theodore Roosevelt that monopoly was broken up. Today Google operates in an environment where foundational anti-monopoly legislation has not been written for about 100 years says this report in WSJ. The Sherman Act of 1896, and the Clayton Act of 1914 form the foundations of anti-monopoly legislation. The Clayton Act was last updated in the 1970's. For 50 years no update has been done leaving the ground open for unfair advantage and conditions that are harmful to the American people say members of Congress sponsoring new legislation.  The Cruz-Lee-Klobuchar-Blumenthal bill would prohibit companies processing more than $20 billion in online ads from participating in more than one part of the online ad ecosystem. Google network has $31.7 billion in online ad business. ...

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Brinkmauer and Pfister of the German magazine Der Spiegel interview German Chancellor Angela Merkel in September 2017. The interview covers a range of topics from whether Merkel is addicted to power, why she chose to run for a fourth term, revolving door for CDU politicians as lobbyists for the automobile industry, the AfD right wing party, the refugee crisis and the CDU's historic policy of controlled immigration, and whether democracy is losing strength.  In characteristic Merkel fashion the chancellor takes up the idea of her addiction to power by saying she is careful not to let this happen to her by reading critical articles in the press and having her staff bring critical reports. Her discussion with her constituents in her electoral district are also frank and open, more so in 2017. About the idea that Helmut Kohl's fourth term as chancellor being not good for Germany and for the CDU, Merkel responds that she has given it considerable thought. She found that she still has the intellectual curiosity to learn new things, understands that she has much to learn about how the country and the world is changing. This has been decisive in her decision to run.  Merkel believes that someone who has worked in politics should be able to work in private industry following historic practice in Germany. On the government links with the automobile industry Merkel says her approach has been to look at what was best for an industry employing 800,000 people in Germany, yet deplores the diesel emissions cheating at VW. Has democracy lost momentum after the U.S. elections and the refugee crisis? Merkel says democracy is still strong, and that she will do everything to strengthen democracy in Germany and other parts of the world.  Merkel's view is that it is important that there be counterweights in democratic systems. In this way democracy is strong in America, and also in Poland and Hungary. The chancellor cites high voter turnout of 82% in 1998, 79% in 2002, 78% in 2009. Since then she says in 2009 it dropped to 71% and 2013  72%, yet  expects that with the issues in this election people will come out to vote in larger numbers.  For many years Merkel is seen as co-opting the issues of the left parties and the SPD, being careful to move to the centre. Der Spiegel puts this idea forward to the chancellor by asking her if she is the best SPD chancellor Germany ever had.  In her matter of fact style Merkel responds that voters do not think of it this way, simply expect her to her job as best as she can possibly do it.       ...

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A native of Cincinnati, Ted Turner, built one of the largest landholdings in the US. He bought 2 million acres which makes him 4th largest landholder in the US when he died this year in 2026 at the age of 87 years. One ranch alone cost him $100 million in New Mexico made up of 586,000 acres, which is now worth $500 million. Turner bought early when land prices were low in New Mexico and Montana. Much of this wilderness was turned into conservation areas. In this sense he will be remembered more for this public land and conservation than for a 24 hour news channel. Much of the audio and video media can be accessed over 24 hours anytime of one's choosing on the internet by 2026, which makes CNN redundant today. CNN and Fox News are more of a distraction today at best and a flawed presentation of the News because of their tendency to take advantage of the audiences and reinforce their bias for profit, CNN and Fox New on opposite sides. CNN has been acquired by Paramount CBS and is about to undergo major changes under the Ellison family. And the Murdoch family is split on how to run Fox News. Both television channels will likely dissipate in influence and viewers as Americans grow out of their biased and often incorrect interpretations of current news events. There is little they do that cannot be done by diligent effort to present the news in alternatives such as Lyrarc.com on the internet that present a range of views from major world newspapers and sites. And yet see America as a beacon of hope in the world and Europe as the place where the scientific and industrial revolutions that changed all our lives for the better started, giving the younger generation of Americans reason for hope in the future. ...

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The future both of Turkey and Europe at stake in the elections in Turkey. Turkey has been hit by inflation of over 60%, a severe earthquake, difficult relations with the EU and the US, a lack of foreign investment. The mayoral elections in Ankara and Istanbul went to opposition parties. A civil servant is heading the opposition parties contesting the election with Mr. Erdogan who has led Turkey for 2 decades.

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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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Mr Biden's bold vision for the US in infrastructure, in health and education, in competing in the world is outlined in this video in the NYT of his address to the joint session of the US Congress in April 2021. Biden is determined to move quickly and this comes across in the first 100 days. He says he "has never been more optimistic and confident about America."

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Heavy rains in western Germany, a weather pattern that has not been seen for 500 years, with storms making streams and rivers surge rapidly, are described here in the NYT. The speed of this flooding left residents in complete shock, with villages inundated in minutes. Weather patterns are becoming more unpredictable around the world. This is seen as one of the effects of climate change from overburdening industrial use in planet earth.

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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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The French team's Olivier Giroud works with Mbappe after the injury to Benzema meant France had to find a different style of play. Giroud 36 years brings experience and a rugged persistent approach to the game. Coach Deschamps says "Nothing has ever been handed to him,  He was put down and criticized a number of times, but he has this mental ability."