LyrArc Article Gist
Baby boomers and older Americans are beginning a huge wealth transfer, the largest in modern history. Americans over 70 years in age had net worth of nearly $35 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve data. This is 27% of all US wealth, up 20% from 1990. This wealth is 157% of US gross domestic product, more than double what it was in 1990. Gift tax exemption today is $11.7 million for individuals and $23.4 million for couples. It is scheduled to go down to 2017 level of $5.49 million per person adjusted for inflation in 2026. Annual gifts were $75 billion in 2016. The Biden administration proposed reducing a $40 billion annual tax break in some of these wealth transfers. Some of this would go into infrastructure spending. Other ways the transfers could help the communities in the US revive after the twin crises of 2009 and 2020, one financial and one health, is how some of this money goes into funding many of the needs of communities in America today. $9 trillion is expected to go into helping communities from the $35 trillion. The Buffett children foundations have purchased farmland to create an agricultural hub in Kingston, New York, on the Hudson River north of New York city. They also set up a food cooperative in an old Honda dealership, and setup a ad free community radio station Radio Kingston. More of this kind of work is needed from individuals and couples in the American tradition of community awareness and solidarity, and in communities across Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America during this pandemic following the same practice. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Olympus kept losses dating back to the bubble in the 1990's off its books for 2 decades. Then covered up the losses by paying inflated fees to advisors for acquisitions unrelated to its core camera and medical equipment business. Three companies in health food, resource recycling and cookware manufacturing were acquired. The coverup of losses was disclosed by the company's first British born CEO, Michael Woodford, who lasted only 2 weeks. He was fired for damaging Olympus's reputation when he made disclosures about the coverups. Olympus paid about $687 million in advisory fees to a firm in the Cayman Islands, for a $2 billion takeover of medical instrument company, Gyros, in 2008. Shares of Olympus have fallen 70% as a result.

LyrArc Article Gist
Whats the breakdown of costs for Detroit's Three Auto Companies. The following infomation is from documents submitted by Ford Motor Company to Congress. Detroit Auto Companies Foreign Makes like Toyota Hourly cost Hourly cost Hourly wage for workers $29 $26 (Toyota Kentucky plant) Holidays and Vacation pay & pay for Detroit laid off workers $14 $9 Cost of Health Care and Pensions for $16 Toyota has only 300 retired retired workers workers Overall cost $71 $49 The biggest difference is in the cost of paying laid off workers, jobs banks, and in the cost of paying the health care and retirement pensions of retired workers. And for GM there are about 1 million of them, (96,000 active workers, 497,000 retired workers and also the dependents of retired workers) costing GM $4.8 billion on health care. At $1500 per car for GM costs on health care vs. $200 per car for health care costs at Toyota. The difference is $1300. If this is factored in to the profitability of small cars then the field is skewed one way. On a $23,000 car that is a 5% margin right there for adiffernce of $1100 in health care costs. If this is the way profit is calculated on small cars with this health care differential factored in then there is always a muddleheaded tendency to product he bigger cars and trucks because they can absorb this differential better. But it doesn't make sense that this should dictate how the business is run. And it could lead to serious mistakes which appears to be the situation at the Detroit companies, the way they went into the downturn right into 2008 with a product mix that was going to be hit hardest by a change in customer preferences. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
PM makes a point at G7- should not the 1.4 billion people of India most of whom are poor have the same access to energy as the people in the rich countries of the G7? It is to ensure this access to energy for the over 1 billion people in India that India has sourced oil from all countries when geopolitical tensions have made the price of oil to jump to new highs. Modi told a session at the G7 meetings- "All of you will also agree with this that energy access should not be the right of the rich only- a poor family also has the same right to energy. And today when energy prices are sky high due to geopolitical tensions, it is more important to remember this thing." Modi said that it was by "taking inspiration from this principle" that "we delivered LED bulbs and cooking gas door to door in India and showed that millions of tons of carbon emissions can be saved while ensuring energy for the poor." Never before in history has this been done on this scale as hundreds of millions of women have benefitted in poor areas where cooking was done by burning wood, and electricity did not exist. Water by tap water in every home, cooking gas, and electricity are now within the reach of every family in India.  Has G7 even thought of these things? And of the scale of the challenge that is being met and the future challenges for climate, technology and health that are being tackled on an unprecedented scale? ...

LyrArc Article Gist
This report in the Economist points to the improved situation for Mexico after the scare from Trump's plans to build the wall and deport large numbers of immigrants. The peso dropped by 15% between mid November 2016 and January 2017, but has since recovered, and non-oil exports were up 5.5% in February 2017 over prior year with the manufacturing growth in the U.S.  Growth forecasts are now up from about 1% GDP growth previously to 2% for 2017, close to the 2.3% in 2016. Much of the change in mood in Mexico is a result of the failure of the early travel bans being blocked in the courts, the failure to get health care legislation through Congress, and the effort by the trade advisers and economic advisers around Trump to move Trump's positions more to the centre and closer to traditional Republican party positions. Wilbur Ross, the Commerce Secretary, says " a sensible agreement" can be reached with Mexico. Peter Navarro, trade adviser, talks about making "a mutually beneficial regional powerhouse." Robert Lighthizer, a veteran from the Reagan days, is likely to be made the new U.S. Trade representative. Still as the Economist points out the "20% border adjustment tax" continues to be supported by Paul Ryan in Congress to pay for tax cuts. But certainly the mood has lifted in Mexico in the first 100 days. This is true for economic policy in relation to China and Germany, and the close circle of Ross, National Economic Council head Gary Cohn, and Secretary of State Tillerson is moving Trump to the centre in policy statements to get things done. Mexico is faced with internal challenges of reestablishing the rule of law, improving infrastructure, reducing red tape and corruption, addressing problems in the education system, to promote economic growth. These challenges may prove to be as large as the external challenges were once thought to be. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
The surprise in Sweden is the culture ethic in the country that is universal that having and leading ordinary lives is best for all and the best way to live. This starts with everyone including the wealthy living like ordinary people as shown in a recent French Television TV5 Monde show on a weekend in Stockholm.There are many billionaires for a small country but they are seen as bringing industry and inventiveness in the country, and still living ordinary lives like everybody else. You could not tell the difference between the classes in the restaurants and the parks and along the green areas near the water on the many islands that make up Stockholm. This is a unique feature of this country found rarely elsewhere in the world. From the bicycles everywhere as the standard form of transportation throughout the many islands and bridges and parks that make up the country.  Personal income tax is 61.5% in Sweden in 2019. This helps finance public services and benefits that benefit ordinary and working class people in a way that reduces the impact of other aspects of concentration of capital in industry. Much more than this is the attitude that respects a culture ethic of everyone having good opportunities in life. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Britain's National Health Service has setup a medical review of gender treatment of young people. It's conclusion after 4 years of research- "The reality is that we have no good evidence on the long-term outcomes of interventions to manage gender-related distress.” This NHS review found no clear proof that  gender dysphoria in children or teenagers was resolved or alleviated by what is called gender-affirming care, where a child's declared “gender identity” is affirmed and supported with social transition, puberty blockers and/or cross-sex hormones. After Cass the British government issued an emergency ban on puberty blockers for children under age 18. A similar approach is being taken in the Scandinavian countries, and in Netherlands, France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, the move is away from medical treatment of gender issues. American medicine, Cass says is “out of date,” and has put politics ahead of science.Not one American medical association or governmental official has reached out to discuss Britian's Cass report. Says Cass- “I think that’s where you’re misleading the public. You need to be honest about the strength of the evidence and say what you’re going to do to improve it.”   ...

LyrArc Article Gist
This is an exceptionally humorous operating room story of Dr. Trump and Dr. McConnell by Kristof of the NYT. Sometimes humor tells the story- and Kristof does this using a story of a surgeon president Trump in the operating Room trying to address the concerns of the patient Janet, as he keeps telling her she needs a new heart with great benefits, great benefits, before she implodes or goes down failing. Flat out take the old heart out even if a replacement hasn't been found, believe me great benefits the surgeon tells her, just that the patient just isn't getting convinced as its happening to her. The analogy is with replacing a health care plan, not just the Obama plan, any plan without something to take its place. For a few days before this article by Kristof, the Republican effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act without having a replacement was presented as a good idea. Janet is like the three Republican women- Collins of Maine, Capito of West Virginia, and Murkowski of Alaska who wanted to keep the heart they had till a replacement was found, against the surgeon Trump's advice. In a way it is about politicians in the last decade who never had any discussions as they rushed through with their own agendas, as the Republican and Democratic health care plans were rushed through Congress with relatively little participation and debate to hear all viewpoints. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Gujarat has a mortality rate of 6.2% compared to 2.8% for India. In total number of confirmed cases Gujarat comes fourth after Maharashtra, Tamilnadu and Delhi, with 21,500 cases. Most of the deaths are in the city of Ahmedabad and mostly at the city's large Civil Hospital. This report in the BBC says the deaths can be attributed to the reluctance of people in the city to go to the Government Civil Hospital because the quality of care is not good. Many patients come to the Civil Hospital only after failing to find a bed at other private hospitals. This means the patients condition is getting worse as he is not admitted rightaway but days afterwards when his condition has deteriorated. The weak health infrastructure of the state and the lack of quality care at the Ahmedabad Government Civil Hospital say experts has led to increasing number of deaths in Gujarat from coronavirus. Gujarat has been known for its improvements in transportation and roads infrastructure. This has not happened with health infrastructure. This situation is being seen also in China where not enough money is being invested for quality health care. Ahmedabad's Government Civil Hospital is one of the largest in Asia providing low cost care to a large population. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
1209 N. Orange Street, Delaware, U.S.- the legal address of 285,000 U.S. businesses, including Apple, American Airlines, Bank of America, Coca Cola, Ford G.E., Google, Wal-Mart. Here they only have a drop box. Delaware has more public and private corporate entities than population- 945,326 to 897,934. Officials of many American states say these listings take away much needed revenue during a period of tight deficits and spending cuts on education, health care and infrastructure. The World Bank also points to problems arising from these listings.

LyrArc Article Gist
Christian Seifert, chief executive of the German Football League acted quickly to get the Bundesliga played by teams in empty soccer stadiums but reaching millions on televsion. Following the example of the Bundesliga which started with games on May 16, the La Liga in Spain starts on June 11, and the Premier League in Britain on June 17. Two rounds of play are done and seven more to go for Bundesliga. Even the sounds of fans were brought back for television. Bayern Munich played Borussia Dortmund in  1-0 game that brought the old games and rivalries back to life for sports fans on television. Seifert says he was just doing his job. It helped that the German health infrastructure was good and handled the coronavirus well, making it possible for sports not to be seen as a potential burden for hospitals. The empty stadiums- all the teams and team fans accepted this. It wasn't that some teams had different views on how to proceed. A $300 million broadcast rights payment was one more incentive to get going and still be safe by keeping the stadiums empty-  and everybody calmly accepting that as a necessary aspect of the modified way for 2020. You could still enjoy the game and be thankful you could - on television. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Poland has a huge shortage of doctors and nurses. The ratio of doctors to every 100,000 of population is the lowest in the European Union. It is twice that in Germany whose relative success in tackling covid pandemic comes from having foreign doctors and nurses treat patients. Consider that the average age of Polish doctors is 53, only a few years from retirement. The situation in terms of immigration reminds pone of East Germany and its depopulation of young people who left for West Germany. Something like this has happened in Poland in health care.  In similar ways other countries in the EU, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania stocked up on ventilators but now have few doctors and nurses left to operate them. It is stretching the limits of human endurance as this report shows in WSJ, with doctors working 36 hour shifts and working 73 hours a week.  Here we see Dr. Rotnicki, who works these long hours at a hospital in western Poland and says that it is like the Second World War, that it is hard times in Poland for health care workers. This report says Italian and British hospitals, not just German ones, are tackling coronavirus with Polish, Hungarian and Romanian doctors and nurses. This report shows that headhunters in Germany drive in to western Poland blanketing windshields with pamphlets promising 5 times more pay, 2 years of free language classes and housing. In Slovakia a third of all nursing graduates leave the coutnry immediately after graduation. In Poland not nursing pay has lagged behind with fewer going into nursing schools. Staff remaining in the region are older and educated under communism when less English was taught, or have returned back home from years overseas. Forcing doctors to give up private practice and work in public hospitals during coronavirus pandemic is not working in Hungary, where surveys find 6 out of ten medical school graduates intending to leave Hungary. These doctors say they are better off working at Aldi and Tesco if needed and making more pay, plus getting weekends off. Poland only recently increased pay for healthcare workers, some even survived on cash given to them by patients. Not a good situation for a country to be in and reflecting the wrong priorities not just in the U.S. and western Europe, but also in eastern Europe, during the last 3 decades. These priorities shifted money away from health care, education and infrastructure priorities. The people simply lost control of their spending allocation to "financial markets" that shifted money in a way that benefited only small group in society neglecting others and national interests. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Phased retirement is becoming a popular option for many Americans nearing retirement. An example is a employee taking 25% less income for 13 weeks of additional time off to spend more time with a reitred spouse, for vacation, and for trying out new locations for retirement. It gives working Americans an opportunity to gradually adopt a more relaxed lifestyle, to better understand what it would be like in retirement. This option also has the advantage of using good health to add some working years and improve the retirement portfolio, with less demands of work.

LyrArc Article Gist
The Washington Post gives the green light to most of the nominees of DJT except Pete Hegseth at Defense, RFK Jr. at Health and Human Services, Tulsi Gabbard for National Intelligence, and Russell Vought for Office of Management and the Budget (OMB). RFK Jr has support for his stand on obesity and drug costs, if he convinces the Senate on vaccines. Jamieson Greer was Deputy Trade Representative under USTR Robert Lighthizer, Greer and Stephen Miran at Council of Economic Advisers give DJT the resources to create a level playing field for America in world trade, business and manufacturing at home, to reverse the lack of government support of three decades that destroyed much of American manufacturing. Elise Stefankik is a good choice of young Congresswoman from upstate NY who has potential to put America's position before the world.  Kristi Noem brings good experience at Homeland Security as 2 term governor of South Dakota, and experience in Congress. Dough Borghum is a two term governor of North Dakota and is a good choice for Interior Secretary. Tom Homan as Border Security Head complements Noem and Borghum as a Border Patrol Agent who has worked, the WSJ says, under 6 administrations including the Obama administration and is likely to combine immigration goals of DJT with realism. Homan would focus on getting immigration right so that the migration issue is resolved cutting out crime, illegal migration, and restoring the southern border.    ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Amy Hood growing up in a small town in Kentucky, then a move to Nashvile, Duke and HBS. She joined Microsoft in 2002 on its investor relations team. She moved into management the same time as Nadella who is CEO. Before the pandemic Microsoft's capital expenditures and investments cost about $16 billion. It is now 4 times that at $64 billion. It is Amy Hood's job as Chief Finanacial Officer to see that all that money is well spent for products with demand. AI services bring in about $10 billion annually.  Yet this may just be deflecting by Wall Street of the real question about the funding needs that are being neglected in education, health care and child care, when huge amounts of capital are being diverted by capital markets in ways reminiscent of the warnings of Franklin Roosevelt at the Democratic Convention of 1932. Warnings that the whole capital markets system was not working right, was only defunding the vital needs of the American people. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
After the 2008 election of president Obama rural whites left the Democratic Party, Following the election of president Trump educated suburbanites left the Republican Party. These two trends have accelerated as seen in the 2018 U.S. Congressional elections. Democrats won in and around major cities, and Republicans won in rural and small town America. Democrats won 27 GOP Republican COngressional seats to win the majority. Republicans added 2 seats to their Senate majority.  The electorate is sharply divided in terms of education in a way that is regressive and not good for America, and in a way that has never happened before. Republicans share of of House districts with lowest shares of college education bachelors degrees increased from 44% in 1998 to 60% in 2018. Democrats share of House districts with the highest share of Bachelors degrees went up from 50% in 1998 to 81% in 2018. Much of the Democrats support from educated suburbanites comes from lopsided support from educated women. The result is that the Republican Party is trading faster growing counties for slower growing smaller counties and now has a base of older voters. The Democrats have to find a leader who can rally support from this new combination of educated suburbanites, younger voters, and minorities. And big issues are at stake. About 77% of people in recent polls now support a national health care insurance like than in the UK and Canada. Poor reading skills and reading comprehension in school tests show a need for greater investment  in education. Infrastructure investment is a big priority for a decade that has yet to be tackled directly. Of the 50 new Democrats in the House of Representatives 24 campaigned on a promise for a national health insurance like that in Canada or UK. The focus on economic issues would move the Democratic Party back to where it was in all the post war years till the distractions from cultural issues  in the last decade shifted its focus from its historical base support of working class voters. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
A look at Israel at 70 by the Economist magazine shows a country that has combined early achievements of socialist governments such as free health care system and good education system with the addition of 1 million immigrants from the collapsing Soviet Union, to build a highly trained technically skilled workforce and international companies.  It says the Israeli Arabs are still poor and unable to integrate. With ultra Orthodox Jews they make up 30% of the population, and many of them who do not work. Infrastructure has suffered from lack of investment and public transport is in poor condition. About 4.5 million Palestinians in West Bank and Gaza remain a continuous source of tension with no settlement in sight. The shift of the capital to Jerusalem is recognized by the U.S. Trump administration, a win for Israel, but leaving the divisive politics of Mr. Netanyahu in place. So that with the growing economy, there are social problems and political division which need to be addressed as much as the economy. A problem left for another administration, another leader from possibly a revived Labor party and another day. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Friends, Context matters here. Helgi library shows Sweden sugar intake per capita was 44 grams in 1994, dropping to 32 grams in 2021. US sugar intake per capita is 126 grams. UK per capita sugar intake is 100 grams or 20 teaspoons. Lowest recommended intake is 11 grams per person or per capita, staying under 36 grams is important. Then one can say that 32 grams of 9 teaspoons a day of sugar is about right not to cause ill effects. Consumed in a  Swedish Fika tradition in a social setting with friends at street cafes is good for mental health, so Swedes are about right at 32 grams per day, don't you think?  And have a message for all of us? 

LyrArc Article Gist
Issues raised by the huge mismatch between revenues and investment for AI. $400 billion estimated investment by 5 Tech firms in 2025 alone with revenue of about $40 billion and huge uncertainty about when AI will produce returns. Articles seen this week of November 17 in the WSJ and NYT on this issue, podcasts, discussions in other media outlets. Could this lead to a dot com bubble type economic crisis? Could that lead to a recession? Alongside these articles another article in the WSJ on Nov 17 shows the benefits small firms get by using AI, benefits which are on the fringes of their business, not essential but with some experimenting firm owners/managers able to tweak AI information for use in business. Nothing significant which firms will pay much money for. The uncertainty is a major factor. Should geopolitics trump all these concerns? Is the competition with China require this scale of investment, and is China following a more utilitarian approach as reported in a WSJ article this month, of investing in AI in a utilitarian way targeting its use in improving manufacturing, improving infrastructure, and not wildly throwing money at experimental uses that are unlikely to yield much result. In geopolitical sense would the country that not only promoted AI but used it efficiently and cost effectively, used it in ways that promote the overall public good, get the WIN. In short it behooves everyone of us to ask hard questions of AI, to dehype the hype, to look for the public good that comes out of this from it's efficient use. To ask the tough questions when $400 billion generates only $40 billion in 2025 and the $3 trillion planned investment over 5 years is half unfunded, is it going to crowd out energy needs for homes and business, push renewable energy targets back, crowd out essential investments in the crumbling aging infrastructure of the US and Europe, crowd out essential investments in education, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and manufacturing, that hold better promise for our People. Will it also put retirees at risk when corporate bonds from retirees money fund the unfunded portion of AI? This means making the political dimension not about migration, settling the illegal migration issue that was meant to be settled a long time back, or about cultural issues that have little day to day impact on our lives which are about groceries, childcare, housing that are non ideological. Making the political dimension not about remote countries that one knows little about except when it affects public safety and health as with fentanyl. Capital allocation decisions to the vital needs of America can then be free of politically induced error, so that it can be subjected to the test of how best it serves the public interest and the people of the Nation. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Some startling statistics on U.S. wages and incomes and the increase of part-time workers, by the publisher of U.S. News and World Report, Mortimer Zuckerman. He cites the Pew Research Center reports that show one third of Americans identifying themeselves as lower class or lower middle class compared to one quarter before 2008. This affects social mobility with the increasing gaps in incomes, education and social behaviour acting to reinforce each other and leading to even lower future mobility. Industries that are showing growth are in low wage occupations. The Bureau of Labor Statistics shows growth in future in industries noted for low wage part time work- health care, social assistance and retail, with some jobs lacking minimum wage and overtime protections. Revealing in this respect is that in the last 2 years fully 43% of net employment growth is in the 1.7 million jobs added in low wage work in food service, retail and employment services industries. The number of Americans working full time declined by 5.9 million since Sept 2007, part time workers increased by 2.6 million. The effects of higher part time workers and job recovery predominantly in lower wage industries is likely to affect consumer spending and slow growth....

LyrArc Article Gist
Speaker Mike Johnson says democracy is "messy," as Rep. Greene of Georgia calls for a resolution for him to step down for violating a rule that no legislation would be brought up that lacks majority support. Only 101 Republican members of the House supported it less than half. How then would the funding of the federal government its departments of defense, homeland security, education, health, operate as the deadline for funding it is tonight? This is left unsaid. One can see the Senate and House live on C-SPAN television at this very moment. It appears that the older senior members of the Republican party have not done a good job of talking to their younger less experienced colleagues and building agreement, that the mediocrity of leadership in both parties for the past three decades, even four, is the cause. Unstable politics in the Republican party as it is split with older senior members on  one side and younger many first time elected organized by the Freedom Caucus group on the other.  Many are from the Southern states and some from rustbelt midwest showing the deep divides that still shape the US. Democrat Steny Hoyer the House Minority leader who has worked in Congress for over 40 years called it on the House floor, and he said its a harsh word delaying and "dissemble." Democrats call for compromise to govern, the compromise was finally reached today March 22 to pass the $1.2 trillion spending bill with something for each side or somethings that both sides wanted, funding at border and child care. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Lessons can be learned about careful reopening in fighting the coronavirus from other countries. Here the Netherlands experienced a rise of cases by 500% within two weeks of reopening after some poor decisions. The Mark Rutte government decided to open all bars and nightclubs resulting in a twelve fold surge in these locations in one week. Most of the new coronavirus cases were in people 18-29. Data from Dutch public health institute shows 4 out of 10 new cases linked to bars and nightclubs with 262% surge in cases for young people 18-24 years. This goes to show that with the vaccination drive what we see is the cases shifting to younger people, the unvaccinated, and to activities like nightlife. People going to work, or doing hybrid remote work with trips to the office, workers in factories, people doing essential shopping, are not causing the rise in cases. Much can be learned from these examples in working out reopening that does not lead to new crises with surging cases in new waves of coronavirus. Earlier in 2020 summer tourists who ignored mask and social distancing restrictions in Croatia brought on a post summer coronavirus wave to Germany and Austria. This time Greece and Portugal are introducing restrictions. Greece plans to make vaccine health pass required effective July 21 to go into restaurants. Another lesson from Netherlands this week is that a 20,000 person music event of 2 days in Utrecht where QR codes were required showing vaccination or PCR tests failed. About 1000 cases were attributed to the Utrecht event alone. Reasons given are that people faked the QR codes, or that the covid testing system produced too many false results as much as 20%. The same QR code system was followed at nightclubs resulting in big problems. One can never be sure that things work as expected and the risks are great as this adds up. Even vaccines offer limited protection and only if fully vaccinated depending on the type of vaccine. One dose of the vaccine is simply inadequate, and obesity, other morbidities can lead to problems. Withdrawing the mandatory use of face masks in most situations is also a risky decision of the Dutch government. Face masks offer the added protection at a time of variants that spread quckly, and when large parts of the population have only one dose of the vaccine, some elderly are still not vaccinated, and young people have not been vaccinated in large numbers. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Calin Georgescu of Romania who won the first round of the Romania election is interviewed by The Times of London.  An advocate of life lived close to Nature and religion,  who agrees with RFK Jr., and a skeptic of UN and NATO wins the first round of the Romanian election in 2024 with 23% of the vote. Social media Tik Tok videos helped Georgescu come out of obscurity into a lead in the election. This interview was conducted in darkness after a blackout at a friend's home outside Bucharest.  He says of the war in Ukraine that it is not our business, we are interested only in Romanians. His main concern agricultural independence for Romania as sovereignty, which means food water and energy. He wants respect, health and sovereignty for Romanians.  Georgescu is not sold on the British/French/German/Japanese narrative of the Ukraine war, as he sees Putin (and DJT) as patriotic in sentiment. He says Romania is fine in the EU and NATO but will negotiate what is in the interest of Romanians. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Many of the achievements of Jindal in the areas of education, and competitiveness and health care and infrastructure for the state of Louisiana are now at risk because of an anticipated deficit of $2 billion in state revenues for 2009 and in the current year the $865 million surplus has evaporated and turned into a$365 million shortfall all in a short time. The state budget used afigure of $84 abarrrel for oil in calculating the state's revenues related to oil revenues generated in the state from offshore drilling but with oil at $40 a barrel things are not lookin good. The total intake from oil and gas from royalties and leases accounts for 17% of the Louisiana state budget. The state rolled back atax increase and increased expenditures on much needed higher education and health care and infrastructure spending. Louisiana needed these programs because it continues to lose people to migration and is the only southern state to do so. The expected cuts are $109 for education and an additional $160 million for health care cuts much from Medicaid. It also shows how quickly things can change for states that are overdependent on natural resource revenues and in this deep downturn for a range of states from California, to New York to Louisiana....