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Jack Welch, former head of GE (General), says there is something that does not add up in the Labor Dept numbers for unemployment in Sept. 2012 showing that the unemployment rate declined from 8.1% to 7.8%, because experts estimate the economy has to generate more than 150,000 jobs each month just to keep up with population growth. The number of jobs generated for 2012 are lower than this number. Another measure of unemployment which shows the underutilization of labor in America, which the U.S. Federal Reserve's Bernanke looks at because it is ameasure of how effectively the U.S. is using the productive resources of the country, is U-6. U-6 covers people in parttime jobs who cannot find full time jobs and this has remained unchanged at 14.7% for Sept. 2012 according to the Labor Department.

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Comments by the banking sector and the central bank of Canada on the Volcker Rule.

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China had a trade deficit of $7.3 billion in February 2011. Experts say February is not a typical month because of the Chinese New Year.

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Investment strategies of China Investment Corp., China's sovereign wealth fund. WSJ's Lingling Wei's interview with Wang Jianxi, executive vice president and chief risk officer at China Investment Corp., in March 2012.

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Problems facing India as it searches for a way to modernize the country, build infrastructure, and create strong jobs growth. Glaring weaknesses are evident in a number of areas which have not been addressed: a weak public education system, food poverty for people at the lower end worsening with today's 10% food inflation, child malnutrition, weak infrastructure building capabilities, growth in services but not enough in manufacturing to create jobs, a growing black economy, and a general acceptance of illegal behaviour that has increased with the increase in opportunities for corruption and bribes in a growing economy. The political governance is weak. The dependence on smaller regional parties in ruling coalition governments weakens initiative at the federal government level. The general lack of new political leadership, and the failure to develop new leaders in the Congress party because of the six decades long presence of the Nehru family. Some striking facts- the role of the black or underground economy has actually increased over the years. Arun Kumar, chairman of the Center for Economc Studies and Planning at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, says his estimates show it was 40% of GDP by 1996, and 50% by 2006. This means more business activity evades direct taxes, and less money is available for investments in education, infrastructure and healthcare. It also indicates a widespread tolerance of illegal activity and corruption. The other striking facts are that the calorie consumption by the bottom of the 50% of the population has been declining since 1987, according to a 2009-10 economic survey by India's Ministry of Finance. The modernization of the country appears not to be following the path taken in East Asia- by Japan, S. Korea and now China- where people moved in large migrations from farms and rural areas to cities and manufacturing jobs, resulting in gradual urbanization. Manufacturing in India is only 16% of GDP in 2009, the same as in 1991, according to the World Bank. Certain regions are doing better than others- Gujarat and the Punjab in the north, Tamilnadu, Karnataka in the south- with large population areas in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar lagging behind badly. ...

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Pessimism about the pace of democratization in China with the continued dominance of the Communist party in the business and economc structures of the country. The interrelationships of the party with state owned companies and the role of its 80 million members in running all aspects of life in China. Experts in China say the 18th party Conress showed no signs of change in the party's control and no sign of experimentation to allow for change comng from within the system so that China could establish a constitutional democracy with the rule of law. Experts in China say the new leaders Jinping and Keqiang may not be able to make changes even if they wanted to, because of the party's control and the earlier presidents and prime ministers from the last two decades who still retain a strong influence on the direction of the country.

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China's economic planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission, has approved $156 billion in new infrastructure projects, new subways, highways and other projects in recent weeks. The response is more carefully planned than the stimulus projects in 2009-2010, which are now seen as excessive response creating the prospect of bad loans in the banking system and causing inflation. The stimulus spread over 2 years, 2009 and 2010, was by government's initial estimates about 4 trillion yuan and this does not include additional local government spending as the government encouraged spending. This time the stimulus is about 1 trillion yuan or $158 billion, 2% of GDP, spread over 4 years, with projects going through careful review, according to Nomura economist Zhang Zhiwei. The Chinese government wants to avoid losing gains made in controlling a property bubble and holding down inflation.

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The European Union Commission says Ireland must recover 13 billion euros in back taxes for giving tax preferences to Apple that are against EU rules. The EU Commission says Ireland allowed Apple to pay a corporate tax rate of 1% on its European profits in 2003, and .005% in 2014. The EU Commissioner says the use of Ireland as the place where Apple pays taxes on operations in Europe has no base in reality, as most profits are earned in other countries outside Ireland. Taxable profits of Apple "did not correspond to economic reality," according to Ms. Vestager, the EU Commissioner.  In the current environment where political upheaval is unsettling the democratic process in the U.S., Britain, Spain, France and Italy, as well as in Brazil and other countries in the developing world- because of deep recessions, and efforts to cut the deficits with deep cuts in state spending including in education and healthcare, basic services- the moves by companies to reduce taxes to these absurdly low levels such as .005% when other companies in the EU are paying 12.5%, is becoming increasingly unpopular. As pointed out in this BBC News article this sounds like the way Carnegie, Rockefeller and Vanderbilt operated during the late 19th century, and were seen as operating in a manner that was above the law. Janet Yellen pointed out at a Boston Fed Conference on inequality in Oct 2014 that the bottom half of the distribution or 62 million households in the U.S. in 2013, had a net worth of about $10,000, One quarter of these households had a net worth of zero dollars. The working class and blue collar workers in the U.S. provide much of the support at Trump rallies. Younger college educated people support Sanders, because of the situation of the working and middle class in the U.S., and a similar situation exists in Europe. It is for the sake of the democratic process and delivering services in education, healthcare, and other basic areas to all, that companies small and large need to pay their fair share of taxes, regardless of size, influence, or technological advantages. Today this is is seen by most leaders who draw public support as the right way forward for the U.S., Latin America, Europe and Asian countries, including proper allocation of resources to best serve the needs of working people. For example the 13 billion euros is equal to all of Ireland's healthcare budget, and 66% of its social welfare budget.    ...

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As the popularity of left party Podemos increases before the upcoming elections in Spain, it comes under increasing attack from the governing party and the Ciudadanos party for advisors from Podemos giving economic advice to the failing Maduro government. Venezuela's economy is in dire straits with high inflation and shortages. Podemos appears to have overtaken the Socialist party in Spain to become the second largest political party. The leader of Podemos, Pablo Iglesias, and other Podemos leaders are cited as having done advisory work for the government in Venezuela.

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A test supply of 170 megawatts from the Kudankulam nuclear project in Tamilnadu state is added to India's southern grid. Full supply of 1000 megawatts is to be added by the Nuclear Power Corp. of India Ltd. by end of 2013. India's Supreme COurt dismissed petitions questioning the project's safety in May 2013. India signed a preliminary contract for nuclear project in Gujarat with Westinghouse. The state owned Nuclear Power Corp. of India is in negotiations for a project planned in Maharashtra state. Over the next 20 years India plans to increase nuclear production capacity from 4700 megawatts to 63,000, a 12 fold increase. The first Kudankulam reactor going into operation in 2013 comes into operation after a delay of 7 years because of antinuclear and land protests as well as court cases. The slowing of growth in India, depreciation of the currency, and the acutely felt energy shortages as industrialization moves forward, are leading to a new perception of the importance of nuclear energy to supplement energy generated from coal and other sources. China is also moving forward aggressively with development of nuclear energy and working with Areva and other companies for safe nuclear energy development. The new planned reactor by Areva in the south of England is also likely to offset the perception of nuclear energy after the Fukushima nuclear disaster. For these reasons nuclear energy development in India is likely to accelerate without the long delays seen earlier....

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Greece's economy is expected to shrink by 6% in 2012 by many private sector economists in Greece. This means Greece will have a deficit closer to 10% of GDP. Antonio Samaras, leader of the New Democracy Party, is expected to win the elections in Greece to be held by spring 2012. Opinion polls show his party getting 24% of the vote, and Papandreou's Socialists getting 15%, showing how little support any party can gather in Greece. Samaras told the Journal in an interview- the contagion is spreading rapidly, and what he fears is political and social contagion from high unemployment and austerity measures. Samaras says his government would continue with the spending cuts, but also reduce the tax burden on Greek households and businesses, which he views as having worsened the recession in Greece.

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Economists using data from Greek banks estimate the tax evasion in 2009 through unreported income at 28 billion euros. Using a tax rate of 40% 11.2 billion euros of taxes were evaded by Greek taxpayers. This is one third of the Greek deficit in 2009. The economists say doctors and engineers were prominent in the tax evasion list and find that these groups have large representation in Greece's parliament. Italy has taken steps under the Monti government to crackdown on tax evasion, but Greece is still to take action in this area, which is particularly glaring considering that the previous Greek government agreed to cut the minimum wage in Greece.

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Mortimer Zuckerman of U.S. News and World Report magazine expresses his disappointment at the Obama administration's performance. He points to a "competency crisis" of the Obama administration and the President. On the Simpson-Bowles Commission's recommendations and President Obama's complete silence on its proposals, Zuckerman like other observers expresses strong disappointment. He says that he and other early supporters are no longer excited by the novelty of his candidacy and his presidency. Obama's single minded focus on getting re-elected is disturbing for Zuckerman.

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It is written in the Bhagavad Gita (Swarupananda) "Know that these (two prakritis) are the womb of all beings, I am the origin and dissolution of the whole universe, Beyond me, O Dhanajaya, there is naught. All this is strung in me, as a row of jewels on a thread." Indonesian president Subianto won election by 58% of vote with promise for 90 million children free school lunches. He was invited guest for Bharat (India's) Republic Day parade in New Delhi alongside prime minister Modi of Bharat (India). Indonesia and Bharat in this part of Asia, it has 1.7 billion people. The ancient god Hanuman is revered in Indonesia and Bharat, the people here are determined to breakthrough into the modern world of science and technology. Japan, South Korea and China made progress since the 1890's over 135 years. Bharat is poised with Indonesia to bring 1.7 billion people into the Modern World for Vikshit Bharat Developed Bharat by 2047, the 100th anniversary of Independence. For this much of the work was done by Mohandas Gandhi, and less well known the selfless leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1998-2004 and Modi 2016-2025. Without Vajpayee's leadership there would be no base for Modi's effort for modernization. Swami Vivekananda inspired in turn Gandhiji, Sukarno, Vajpayee, and Modi- the thread of yoga and Bharat runs right through it all as it is said in the Bhagavad Gita.     ...

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Lawrence Katz, Harvard labor economist, talks to Friedman about the jobs crisis in the U.S.. Katz identifies three jobs crises occurring at the same time today. One is the drop in the demand for goods and services that resulted from the longer term effects of the financial crisis of 2008, with rising foreclosures, weak housing markets, bad debt on the balance sheets of banks, and interest rates at close to zero reducing the scope of action by the Federal Reserve bank. The second, is the widespread long term unemployment with workers dropping out of the labor market. The third, is the nature of new factories and hiring. Work in new factories is done through increased automation, information technology and fewer workers. As a result job creation is a fraction of what it was in the past. Not mentioned here is the shrinking of the public sector under the strain of budget deficits for local, state and federal government. This leads to the question of how America will create jobs in the future. Katz believes the answer is creating more "hubs," networked urban areas like Austin, Silicon Valley, and Raleigh-Durham, by bringing together universities, high-tech manufacturers, software providers, and startup companies, to cooperate in creating new products that enhance people's lives worldwide. This has to be done by the private sector and government working together to build the infrastructure and make the investments in education, training of workers, and equipment for new job creation....

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The performance of stocks and bonds compared since 2000, and the view of experts for future performance.