LyrArc Article Gist
Putin was born in St Petersburg, then called Leningrad, where his father worked in a factory making railway cars. He studied law at Leningrad State University, graduated in 1975 and went through KGB training before going to Dresden in 1985, where he remained with the KGB till 1990 and the collapse of the Berlin Wall. By 1990, the Soviet Union collapsed and from 1990 to 1996, Putin worked in St. Petersburg first as assistant and then as Deputy Mayor with Anatoly Sobchak, a law professor at Leningrad State University, and Mayor of St. Petersburg. After Sobchak narrowly lost the election, Putin left for a position in the property department in the Kremlin, joining other Sobchak associates who worked in the Kremlin. From 1996 to 1999, Putin moved up quickly in the chaotic Yeltsin years. In 1998 he was promoted to head the FSB, the successor to the KGB. And in August 1999, Yeltsin appointed Putin Prime Minister. In December 1999, Yeltsin appointed Putin acting president. Putin named Medvedev, deputy chief of staff in 2000. The five years in the St. Petersburg city administration and the years in Moscow in the Kremlin under Yeltsin were chaotic years for Russia and for Putin, as he observed first hand the lawlessness and general breakdown in Russia. This may have influenced the early Yeltsin years enthusiasm for democracy, to an appreciation of the problems for democracy in the actual environment that he was facing in Russia. He developed a distrust of the innocent enthusiasm of Americans for a wholesale transfer of American and British political institutions to the Russian environment. This was a period of great shock in Russia, as even the lifespan of Russians was declining rapidly in this period, and there was a lot of poverty. The struggles between the Mayor and the city council in St Petersburg, even as the city was facing food shortages and economic collapse, and the latter Yeltsin years may have convinced Putin of the need to combine democratic society and elections with a strong central administration, with authority concentrated in a Presidential system and not a parliamentary democracy. In bringing central direction he brought in his KGB connections, but in choosing his successor he turned to a law student at Leningrad State University of Sobchak's, who is quite different from Putin's KGB associates. Medvedev is a softspoken thoughtful administrator and intellectual compared to Putin, and his experience covers the 10 years both Putin and Medvedev spent together both in St. Petersburg and Moscow in 1990-2000, and the period from 2000 to the present day- when Medvedev served both as Putin's head of staff and as head of Gazprom. See the link to the St Petersburg Times, November 6, 2007 on Medvedev. From his St. Petersburg days Putin clearly understood the need for foreign investment and the need to create a climate for attracting foreign investment. This seems to be happening as Russia draws more foreign investment for industry and infrastructure. His background with the KGB shows up in the centralization of authority in the light of the chaotic years and economic collapse preceding it. And his days as part of Sobchak's efforts to bring democracy to St Petersburg shows up in his continuing respect for democratic elections and the Russian constitution. One compromise was made in the process- a consolidation of the media so that opposition's access to the media may not be what it could be, and at the same time it does reflect the tide of popular opinion in Russia that credits the economic recovery and progress and optimism for the future to the Putin administration. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Mauricio Pochettino played for PSG at one time. The Argentine soccer player is now coach for France's PSG as it takes on Manchester City in the semi finals of the Champions League. Pochettino talks about his years as a player and then a coach in this interview in The Times. He says nervousness as a coach never bothered him as he was always so absorbed by the game and the players, and it could be a bit genetic too.

He was not active as a coach for a year after his departure from Tottenham Hotspur. Today he is seen as an effortless manager, with a natural disposition for the sport and a developer of talent.

There is an emotional attachment because he was close to PSG. "We took the decision because of our heart, not because whether it was the right moment to arrive in Paris or not," he says. "Now after 3 months we leave a very, very tough period."

LyrArc Article Gist
Bishop Droge of the Evangelical Church Berln-Brandenburg, with over 1 million members, speaks to DW.com before the services at Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church following the Christmas market attack near the church. Bishop Droge reminds Germans that the church itself is destroyed from the war and still in ruins as a reminder of what violence and hate has done and can do. Not only is it a reminder of this, says Bishop Droge, it is a church of reconciliation, a reminder of reconciliation. In the rubble of the bombed out ruins of the Coventry Cathedral in England, the church's provost pulled out nails to form a cross.  The Kaiser Wilhelm church contains this "Cross of Nails." This he says is the message of the Kaiser Wilhelm Church, and the message that carries one through the difficult times, which itself were apparent before the Christ child appeared in that far away period because of the oppression at that time. A quietly stirring message from Bishop Broge that all Germans can hear. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
German automobile companies have made some bad bets on China sales. Sales in China have collapsed for Porsche as Chinese are buying local Chinese products and local Chinese autos are competitive. NYT reports on Porsche and the bad bet on China sales, then as tariffs hit serious problems.

Oliver Blume Porsche CEO says-

"Our market in China has literally collapsed. U.S. import tariffs are weighing on our business.”

“We already faced massive headwinds last year — now we are experiencing a violent storm."

Audi, Mercedes and BMW have been caught in a storm by making most of their US sold cars in Germany. The warnings from the first DJT term were ignores as they were by Apple in the US which continued to make in China. These companies are now facing problems of acting within a short time to take action to build in America to avoid tariffs.

LyrArc Article Gist
Canada's foreign minister in a speech in parliament says Canada will now "set its own clear and sovereign course." This follows a speech by Angela Merkel of Germany saying " the times in which we could fully rely on others, they are somewhat over." Both countries plan to take a bigger role in international affairs as the U.S. under president Trump is seen as not being able to or not wanting to lead. The U.S. withdrawal from the Paris climate change accord has shaken confidence in the U.S. role in international affairs in 2017.

LyrArc Article Gist
A quick look at the graph in this Times Report shows the carbon dioxide CO2 emissions for the US, European Union, China and the Rest of the World in 2020. For the EU it is about 3.0 billion tons of CO2 emissions, for US it is 5 billon tons, for China 10 billion tons and the Rest of the World 16.0 billion tons. What this tells us is that a lot will depend on not just China, but India and other countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia in the developing world for how much CO2 emissions can be reduced to tackle climate change and other environmental problems.  For that 16 billion tons in the rest of the world reduction will depend on renewable supply and technologies to do it, rapid growth of economies in India and other countries to generate the resources and technology initiatives to get a shift from coal. Meanwhile it is a choice between having electricity for homes in rural areas in India or not. This is where bright spots such as solar technology in India that are giving quantum leaps for renewable solar energy with new technology cutting cost in successive waves of development can play a part.  ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Akio Toyoda, CEO of Toyota may be out of step with the times. As other companies move forward in leaps in developing electric vehicles, Toyota moves slowly and deliberately. Now he is stepping back and Toyoda who is 66 years old is giving the CEO position to 53 year old engineer Koji Sato. When it comes to digitization, electrification and connectivity, Toyoda says that he belongs to an older generation and he wants the younger generation to decide what future mobility will look like.  Toyota under Akio Toyoda has concentrated on hybrids and plug in hybrids which make up about 30% of global sales. Toyota has fallen so far behind in Ev vehicles that it is not even in the top ten car companies making EV's in the US. Its belief was that from an emissions standpoint hybrids do just as well as EV vehicles. By 2035 only zero emission vehicles will be allowed in the EU. In California this includes plug in hybrids only by 2035. Toyota is now making a U turn after studying Tesla's approach and using a new platform dedicated to EV's and set a goal of 3.5 million EV vehicles by 2030.   ...

LyrArc Article Gist
The doubts among the unvaccinated and America's pandemic of the unvaccinated in the south and west of the country, difficulty reaching a consensus on things as basic as spending $45 billion or 2% of the $2 trillion Biden plan for workers and families on 2 years of community college, or finding a way to stem what is an alarming decline in enrollment in college of young men in America, all go back to a standoff between Republicans and Democrats. Tennessee in the South is Republican yet passed a bill supporting state paid community college with a supermajority, yet at the national level it is lacks support of Republicans and centrist Democrats. To see how this happens this NYT report presents the picture from the Democrats side of how Montana residents blocked a National Heritage area in the state. Other stories relate to distortions from the other side from the Republican point of view. One man, one vote is not entirely the way Democracy was designed by Jefferson, Madison and other founders. The Senate of the US is based on one state one vote, giving Montana an equal vote as California or New York. At one time Mike Mansfield, Democrat of Montana was the Senate majority leader. The intent was to design a system that looks not just for democracy but checks on majorities of the moment.  This means unity is the way to renewal of America, for building its infrastructure, education and health care. If Tennessee feels that way about community college it should express it, so should other states in supporting president Biden's plan to Build Back Better. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Dipti Deshpande writes in the Economic Times that how India's economy recovers depends a lot on how well the government tackles the problems of vaccine supplies, vaccination staff and incentives for vaccination to the public, vaccination logistics, and vaccination skepticism. Vaccination plays a large role in the reduction of fear and permits resumption of normal activity as seen in the US, UK and France. Government education of the public on vaccine safety should be conducted on an organized basis across the country starting now for the gaol of vaccinating the entire population by December 2021. In the 200 days remaining in 2021 the government would have to administer over 1000 million doses or at the rate of 5 million doses a day just for the single dose population, with the second dose meaning additional supplies and logistical effort, organized health staffing, all to be organized.  The thrust of this article is that the economy and especially laggard sectors such as services would gain a fully powered recovery if the problems of vaccine supplies and vaccination drives are resolved early with preparation, lessons learned, and proactive action all taking place immediately. The period after the decline in cases to below 50,000 a day which is fast approaching for India is one that needs to be used to take deep yogic breaths, and prepare the Indian mind for the next challenge for government and nation.   ...

LyrArc Article Gist
To preserve and protect the industrial base of America that was shipped overseas starting with Tim Cook and Apple in 2000, and without this industrial base the consequences not just in jobs and manufacturing knowhow lost forever but in loss of leadership of the Free World  which depends on industrial strength, the US president has to decide in 2025. A decision that comes after 25 years of deindustrializing America. DJT says- “I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhone’s that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else." “When they build their plant here, there’s no tariff, so they’re going to be building plants here. But I had an understanding with Tim that he wouldn’t be doing this. He said he’s going to India to build plants. I said, ‘That’s okay to go to India, but you’re not going to sell into here without tariffs,’ and that’s the way it is,”  “The iPhone, if they’re going to sell it in America, I want it to be built in the United States.”  ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Forecasts show global oil output exceeding demand by 630,000 barrels a day for the fourth quarter of 2012. This is partly the result of extra oil supplies coming in from Saudi Arabia to counter the situation with Iran at the same time as oil demand is slowing with the economic slowdown in the U.S., Europe and China. Prices of crude declined to $85.73 a barrel on the Nymex, and $107.85 for Brent crude on the ICE Futures Exchange on Oct. 24, 2012. Goldman Sachs cut the 2013 price forecast for Brent crude to $110 a barrel from $130. Earlier the QE III monetary easing by the U.S. Federal Reserve had rallied oil prices because of a weakening of the dollar.

LyrArc Article Gist
Jack Hough points out the problem with TIPS, Treasury Inflation Protected Securities. The CPI-U that is used to calculate the inflation for TIPS is not representative of inflation for the average household. It understates the cost of gasoline, tution increases for kids in school, and price increases for prescription medicines. Prescription drugs have a weighting of only 1.25%, college tution only 1.53%. The CPI-U index went up by about 3.9% in 2011, and at the same time the gasoline portion increased by 33%, for households spending a lot on commuting to work. Another problem is slowing inflation- with inflation slowing to 2%. Compared to TIPS the alternative of dividend payments by cash rich companies with secure market positions are a better hedge against inflation.

LyrArc Article Gist
The controversy surounding Greece's purchase of submarines from Germany costing about 1 billion euros. This at a time when public pensions are being reduced by 5%. A vice admiral of the Greek navy resigned in protest citing this reason, and it is reported that the deals are politically motivated, with the Greek deputy prime minister saying that he feels "national shame" about the decision to buy the submarines. Reports question whether the German and French effort to rescue Greece involves efforts to continue military sales to Greece. Chancellor Merkel denies this. In a visit to Athens Turkey's Prime Minister Erdogan said that both Greece and Turkey do not need fighter planes and submarines, and need to reduce military spending to help build their economic future.

LyrArc Article Gist
Economists at Goldman and Citigroup see a loss of another 2 million jobs, with job losses into 2010, for total job losses of about 4 million jobs, even after the jobs saved or created of 2.5 million jobs from the large stimulus of $700 billion that the Obama administration is said to be planning. A lot depends on smart policy from the new Obama administration because it will require enough stimulus and public investment to break the loop of falling unemployment, and at the same time allow private investment and business to get back to work with new investments in plant and equipment without getting bogged down in industrial policy with the government trying to do alot more than it is capable of.

LyrArc Article Gist
The EU agreement with Mercosur representing South American nations Argentina and Brazil is unlikely to go through with protests by French farmers who see exports threatening their livelihood at a time when costs of fertilizer, electricity, and other inputs are increasing. The French prime minister Attal says "France is clearly opposed to signing the Mercosur Treaty." French farmers are conducting a siege of Paris with tractors in long lines along the highways traveling from regions 300 miles away. A treaty with New Zealand allowing import of muttton is also opposed by farmers. EU treaties were used to increase export of cars and other industrial products from Germany, in exchange for allowing in agricultural or commodities such as lithium or metals, and soyabeans. Farmers in other European countries including Germany have also conducted protest in recent months about high costs of inputs and lack of enough government support. Dutch farmers were able to block some environmental measures on methane taken by the Dutch government and leading to a new government in the recent election. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
The migrants moving north from Central American countries is a result of gangs taking control of neighborhoods with extortion rackets and little control from the authorites. In one country San Salvador gangs control most of the nation's municipalities. Unlike the drug gangs these gangs a residual of the guerilla wars in these countries and other gangs, operate in their own neighborhoods. As  this report points out the gangs employ about three times as many people as the largest 2 employers in San Salvador Hanes Brands and Fruit of the Loom. The cost of this is about $4 billion or 16% of GDP according to the country's central bank with a major loss being human, losing the best people and lost investment.

LyrArc Article Gist
Simon Wilde of The Times Analysis of a Test cricket series for the Ages, India vs England 2025- showing 10 Key Moments in the Series of 5 Tests over 25 days of cricket. He compares it to Ashes cricket series back to 1981, 2005, and 2023. I would go furhter back to the West Indies Australia series of 1960 which ended up tied, with both sides having the same score down to the last run. It was a series in which Richie Benaud and Gary Sobers played major roles. Siraj has Christiano Ronaldo on his phone screen with the words BELIEVE! as he prepares for the final day's bowling. The catch of Siraj that did not count as he went over the boundary line for Brooks, and the last ball of the match at the Oval that flattened the wicket of Atkinson, the fielding effort of Woakes that cost him a dislocated shoulder and his heroic effort to come out for the 10th wicket when it was painful to run, the burst of sixes and fours knock of Sundar as India went up to 396, and the tense nervousness of the crowd in the final moments, Gill's perplexed face as he arranged the fielding deep at the boundary lines to avoid fours and the final sigh of relief when Siraj bowled out Atkinson- these were the moments that linger in the memory of the final test at the Oval in London. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Half of the 17 percentage points of lower investment in Britain between 2016 and 2023 came from administrative barriers with EU and of Brexit. Britain had deindustrialized and hoped to get growth from so called "clever industries" such as finance, media, and higher education. The Tories party led by Johnson and then Sunak painted a rosy picture for Britain leaving the European Union and doing better without it by working with China and the US and connecting to global supply chains. They ignored the actual facts of the globalization cycle reversing itself leaving Britain exposed in the storm.The slump in investment from Brexit hit Britain hard, the Ukraine war meant higher prices for energy imports from Norway and the US. The result is that only about half percentage point of 2 percent cumulative GDP growth in Britain between 4th qtr 2019 and 4th qtr 2023 came from jobs growth compared to about 3.75% in the EU economies. Eurozone growth at 4% was twice that in UK, and the US with higher productivity and job growth was growing at four times that in UK and twice that in EU at 8% over this period. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
The Sanders and Clinton campaigns work together to limit damage for party unity at the Philadelphia National Convention of the Democratic Party. This follows DNC email leaks showing DNC bias against Bernie Sanders.

LyrArc Article Gist
After a gap of $25 at times between Nymex and Brent crude prices in 2011 and 2012, the gap is now about $9 in Feb 2014. Analysts expect this gap to narrow further as U.S. bottlenecks ease and prices increase due to low inventories.

LyrArc Article Gist
Angela Merkel of Germany and other EU leaders decided to back "global supply chains" and declined to support the EU Commission in Brussels at a virtual summit attended by 27 leaders of the EU states. It was also attended briefly by Joe Biden. Ursula von Leyen said 21 million doses of vaccine had been shipped from EU to Britain, of which 1 million were from Astra Zeneca and the rest from Pfizer and other makers of vaccines. A total of 77 million doses made in the EU wer shipped to 33 countries since 1 December 2020. Governments of Netherlands, Ireland, Belgium and Sweden were not in favor of blocking shipments from the UK because of the effect on supply chains. Pfizer is strongly opposed to the move to block shipments. Merkel emphasized the need to respect the global supply chains while making efforts to ensure EU countries get a fair share of vaccine supplies. The problems of UK vs Britain on vaccine supplies comes from the yield problems at a Belgium plant of Astra Zeneca and the company's refusal to divert supplies from the UK. Of the 120 million promised only 30 million could be delivered to EU. The UK's contract with Astra Zeneca states that supplies from its plants in Oxford and Staffordshire must be delivered to Britain first. The UK is facing an acute shortage of second doses even though it has given 31 million jabs. At this time 45 out of 100 people in the UK have jabs, compared with 13 out of 100 in the EU.   ...