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18 year old Gukesh Dommaraju of India wins the World Chess title from Ding Liren of China on December 12, 2024. The Guardian provides details of every move in the chess game.

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A WSJ/NBC poll of Sept 20, 2012 showing Obama with a eight percentage point lead in Iowa, and a five point lead in Colorado and Wisconsin.

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What the French take for granted today- 99% of the French people are covered by national health care- started when Charles De Gaulle faced rising scial discontent in the postwar period, and accepted a demand for worker protections. During the postwar period Frenchmen are paying higher taxes, but in the first 30 years because French salaries were growing fast this was not noticeable. With slow growth and rising healthcare costs its getting harder to increase these tax deductions for overall social security, which have reached one third of apaycheck at the low end, say for ataxi driver in Marseilles. So you have the government running deficits of $15 billion in 2004, even after increasing co-payments for routine care and doctors visits. Experts say this could reach $40 billion in 2010 and $90 billion in 2020. In 2007 health care cost the government $300 billion, or 11 % of GDP, (OECD numbers) and the bureaucracy and rules are getting more complicated. This 11% is well below what Americans pay for asystem that leaves out about 50 million people. France ranked 8th on the OECD list in cost per capita, the US at the top. And the French life expectancy is higher at 80.98 vs. 78.11 for the USA, higher by about 3 years. For this cost the system is cost effective according to the OECD. And the French find the American debate abouthealthcare public option "altogether surreal", as the newspaper Le Monde put it. To keep the system in viable form the government is increasing copayments, such as the decrease in reimbursements from 80% to 65% for routine care and doctors visits in 2004. As aresult the deficit dropped to $6 billion in 2008. ut the global economic crisis and rising unemployment has made this grow to estimated $13 billion for 2009. Measures under consideration: increasing hospitalization copayments to $28 a day from $22. To fill this substantial gap for routine care and other costs the French system has private insurance companies called mutuals that offer different policies. Which is where the Fench notion for equal treatment in health care gets distorted because different people can have different coverage. The French though compare their system to the British system and say theirs is not as nationalized as it appears and the Brisih one is much more so. The French system though supervised by the government is different from government run health care as in Britain. French people are free to choose their own doctor who is often a private practitioner. ...

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Car sales in Germany are up 40% from ayear ago. This is not about to happen in the USA. The cash for clunkers program in Germany is broad and less complicated.In Germany eligible cars have to 9 years old and the subsidy covered the purchase of any new car, regardless of size and fuel efficiency. In the US the program just signed by President Obama covers a narrow profile of customers. In the US customers who benefitare economically challenged and in the midst of adeep recession. Cars can't be over 25 years old, and can't have a combined highway and city fuel economy rating of more than 18 miles per gallon as calculated by EPA. To get the full $4500 credit customers must buy either a new truck or sport utility rated 5mpg higher than the clunker or scrapped vehicle, or a passenger car rated at least 10 mpg higher.And the credit is given instead of the trade in value, so if the trade in value is higher it doesn't help. The German government is giving away upto $4500 but it started out with 1.5 billion euros to get 600,000 clunkers off the road, but because of the popularity of the program has expanded it to 5 billion euros for 2 million cars and extended it to end of 2009. The US program only has $1 billion for 250,000 cars or one eight of what the Germans are doing for amuch larger car market. Because of the dire shape Detroit and much of the midwest is in, because of the slump in the auto industry, this may be a mistake and a missed opportunity to do what the Europeans are doing, and get an even bigger impact. The American car market and industry is taking a severe blow from the deep recession. Because of the depressed region the impact of a real clunkers for cash program that targets a broader profile, with bigger financing and designed to give a boost to the market, could make a real difference. At this point it is more of a program designed to help people turn in their gas guzzling trucks for passenger cars, and those driving a $200 car are not likely to be the kind of customer who goes out and buys a new car say dealers. See the link to Alan Blinder's stimulus proposal in July 29, 2008, that suggested a $20 billion program even before the current crisis. The present program has only $1 billion....

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How the work ethic has changed in Japan through the last two decades as the country never really recovered from the low growth and deflationary situation since the early nineties. Places like the Tokyo Metropolitan government a destination for the city's elite say only 14% of eligible employees took the higher level exams for management positionsin 2007, down from 40% three decades ago. And information technology companies and electronics companies and other companies are finding that people are looking to switch jobs to get out of positions that are too demanding. A comic book series called "Otaryman"has become this year's hit. The new salaryman worries about his collleagues files spilling on his desk rather than trying to impress bosses. He is content and not ambitious, something the author 28 year old Yoshitani says "people my age find comforting," Another popular book is titled "Slow Career: Job Survival for People Not Rushing Career Advancement", with chapters like, "Forget goals, just stay true to yourself" and " Not everybody needs to become a leader." Dr Arai who has written about this says this situation has arisen because of the long slump in the nineties and early 2000's when younger workers saw older generations throw themselves at work only to face job and pay cuts in company restructuring. Also in Japan a promotion does not mean a big pay raise, so there isn't any real incentive to put off time witha girlfriend to put in late hours at work, or not have family time with kids to put in these long hours. The wage difference between managerial and rank and filepositions has actually shrunk over the past decade as companies cut compensation amid restructuring. In 2005 division mangers were paid 2.2 times the rank and file worker, down from 2.7 times in 1985. So younger Japanese have figured out that it makes sense to get more free time, and in fact to retain good employees companies are increasing wages without promotions, so that those not looking for bigger workloads can carry on at the company. In this story a office employee Nishikido looks with disapproval on a 31 year old female manager Ms Matsumoto, who leaves her sick baby with her husband at home, so she can be at work. Says 24 year old Nishikido, " thats definitely not the life I want, no way." For the younger generation the thinking goes like this: my job is important but its not what makes me tick. ...

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The significance of the economic relationship of UAE and India with the visit of prime minister Modi to Abu Dhabhi on June 28 on the way back from the G7 Summit from Germany. Under recent trade agreements trade with UAE will increase to $100 billion in 5 years. 8 million Indians live in the Gulf region with remittances of over $50 billion a year. During Biden's visit to the region there will be a meeting of a new grouping called 2I2U referring to Israel, India, US and UAE.

Mohamed Bin Zayed or MBZ is a clear proponent of a strong leadership by the US in the region and in Asia and maintaining peace in the region after so many disastrous wars.

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Why are the French  protesting so strongly against extending the retirement age from 62 to 64. It is a question of French identity, of hard won rights to work and leisure that are seen as defining France. It also affects women differently who have a harder time working longer so that their benefits would be affected. Age discrimination is large in France so that it works against extending the age till the culture changes. Worse it comes at a time of stress for working families, and a cost of living crisis.

NYT says that when this retirement system was introduced after World War II it helped bring a fractured country together. A hard won social and labor right not easily forfeited, says NYT.

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PM Modi opens the Vidya Samiksha Kendra, Command and Control Center setup by the Gujarat state Education Department in Gandhinagar. 

This center uses modern technology to monitor the work of 55,000 secondary schools, 400,000 teachers and 12 million students in the state. The aim is to improve learning outcomes, making certain teachers are conducting the classes, and tracking students if they migrate, looking out for possible dropouts. 

In the past it was seen that poor monitoring of teachers was leading to absenteeism and lack of seriousness. Dropout rates are also a concern and each child is tracked under the program, schools he or she has attended, tests taken and areas of the test where the student did not do well and should get help.

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Big banks in the US post big increases in profit and revenue in 2023. Chase bank posted 52% increase in first quarter 2023 profit and record revenue. Chase attracted $50 billion in deposits from midsized banks. The problems at midsized banks, including collapse of SVB bank, have not affected the large banks. Depositors shifted deposits from midsized banks to larger banks. The Fed's sharp increase in interest rates to 4.75%-5.0% from about zero% in 2021 have increased bank margins as interest rates on deposits have not been increased as much. The glut in deposits means banks could keep depositor interest rates lower. The result is that America's banking system is in strong shape during a localized banking crisis affecting startups and Silicon Valley.

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The revival of NATO in 2022 as America "prepares extensively and carefully" to meet the challenge from Russia as it invades Ukraine. President Putin launched the invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. Germany's Scholz and America's Biden form a partnership as the Europeans and Americans join together to defend the interests of Europe, America, Latin America, India and other Asia, Africa, the entire free world in a way that FDR and Truman, with Adenauer defended the free world after the Berlin Airlift in 1948. Biden tells Europe and America the days ahead will be hard but America and Europe and the allies in Japan, India and the rest of Asia, Latin America, Africa, are resolved to met this challenge.

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The French British collaboration effort will bring a new vaccine to the global effort against coronavirus. This vaccine was expected in February 21. It will be ready by the third quarter of 2021 just as vaccine supplies are being ramped up. The Sanofi Pasteur unit and GSK Glaxo SmithKline are the two companies in this vaccine venture. This vaccine will address the problem of new mutations of the virus in the British and South African versions and can be stored at normal temperatures. 
 

The new vaccines will boost supplies just when the situation is bleak for vaccine supplies in Latin America and Africa, South East Asia, places left out in the vaccine race in advanced countries and in India. Britain has ordered 60 million doses. 

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Britain is too dependent on China for 71 goods that are critical for infrastructure and the economy, says the Jackson Society. This includes industrial chemicals, metal products, and consumer electronics such as mobile phones and laptops.

A group of 20 conservative MP's are seeking an amendment for a trade bill going through parliament, and calling for an audit of imported goods from China, and efforts to make trade deals that reduce this dependency. The group of MP's has written to Liz Truss, the Trade Secretary, and includes former ministers Ian Duncan Smith, David Davis, Owen Paterson. The group of MP's says that the coronavirus pandemic has made all nations reassess their approach to trade and supply chains for security.

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US banks are awash with cash deposits by companies. During the pandemic companies borrowed- at rates close to zero set by the Federal Reserve at the height of the pandemic- in case they needed the money, and deposited cash at the banks. Verizon increased its cash holdings by 45% to 10.2 billion in the 1st quarter of 2021. Now banks in the US are turning down cash deposits by companies which have to carry it on their books earning no interest. Banks cannot lend out the cash deposits as there is not enough demand for loans.

Between late March and May 26 US bank deposits surged to $17.09 trillion, increasing by another $411 billion in April and May, according to the US central bank.

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Sector by sector infrastructure reviews chaired by the prime minister have resumed as the coronavirus cases fall below 50,000 a day on June 26. The prime minister has done a detailed review from a few ministries including transport and civil aviation. Before the pandemic such reviews were done every quarter. A separate presentation by each sector is given to the full council of ministers so that all ministers are aware of the problems and how they are tackled by each ministry.

Before the second wave of the pandemic the prime minister had met with private industry partners in infrastructure development to push forward with significant progress. The task now is for quick implementation so that time lost from the second wave can be made up.

 

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A cargo ship hits Francis Scott Key Bridge which crosses outer Baltimore harbour and the bridge collapses on March 27, 2024. Pictures capture the bridge actually collapsing right in front of our eyes, a reminder of the infrastructure building that was neglected for so long during a period of foreign wars in remote mountains and deserts of the Middle East, and a period of tech and other monopolies where corporations paid less in taxes than teachers, nurses and childcare workers, both depriving the government of needed revenues for nation building infrastructure, and needed investments in manufacturing, health, education, reversing climate change. A period of neglect and lost decades which president Biden and a bipartisan group of Congressman are only now reversing with no time to lose.

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Stancati and Walker report from Rome on Italy's latest election and the change in government as Giorgia Meloni wins 26% of the vote to form a new government. Her Brothers of Italy party has links to 1930's Italy, which Meloni is attempting to transform into a modern version that speaks for mothers, the Catholics and Italy. Italy has seen 70 governments in a short period with a highly fragmented and changing political scene. The analysis in BBC says this government could last only as long as it retains the support of people as governments have changed so quickly in Italy. Her partners in her coalition Mr. Berlusconi and Mr. Salvini have also won and lost public opinion in different periods in the last decade.

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Us stock market gains of 24% in 2023 are seen as a surprise after fears of Fed tightening leading to a downturn. Instead inflation has come down and with government investment in infrastructure and bringing factories back to the US, boosting US manufacturing, the US is building a stronger economy. A related WSJ article has graphs that show over 50% of US households owning stocks so that the gains in stocks since 2020 are now more widely shared in the US population. Along with wage gains and bringing down the cost of living and moderating housing costs it sets the stage for a recovery of America from the free market experiments that followed after Reagan leading to the 2009 financial crisis, neglect of manufacturing and shipping of factories overseas.

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How India finds and trains its youngest sports athletes is shown in this report from Fatehabad by Andrew Amson. A bricklayer's daughter Pooja set the Indian national record at 1.82 metres in high jump by winning silver at the Asian U-20 Games in South Korea. The amazing thing is that coaches discovered her talent for jumping even though she entered in training for yoga. With limited facilities she trained with bundles of haysticks for the pit to fall on and a bamboo stick to go over. This is also a story of how India is matching the development of sports of its neighbors Japan, China and South Korea by giving young people from every background and income level a chance to compete at the highest level. 

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 After a landslide win in the recent election with 56% of the vote, Gabriel Boric, 36 years, will work for a fair deal for ordinary Chileans. His win comes after years of street protests calling for a fair deal including pensions, transport services, and better income distribution. The protests called for writing a new constitution to replace the one written by dictator Pinochet. Chile has grown increasingly polarized with younger generation favoring change and fairness and many of the older generation favoring the system left by dictator Pinochet.

Chile is described as an economic success story but it is a highly unequal society with 1% of the people owning 25% of the wealth, and about half of the people seen as economically vulnerable, says this report in The Guardian.

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German Heath Minister Karl Lauterbach says vaccine mandates are the only way out of this pandemic. Speaking to German daily Welt he said, gaining immunity through infection was a "dirty vaccination" that made little sense as it would not protect one against a more harmful variant. He saiid that it "would be naive to think that omicron is the end of the pandemic." Omicron would not make one immune to the next viral variant. "No one can guarantee that a variant will not develop soon that is much more dangerous."

Lauterbach says 25 million doses of the Moderna vaccine have been procured that would be enough for 50 million booster shots to be done in the first quarter of 2022.

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The rate of people quitting their jobs to look for new careers increased in 2021. The rate of teachers quitting in education rose more than in any other industry in 2021, the WSJ reports. Many teachers were exhausted from the teaching under covid-19 protocols. The Great Resignation is then a process of shifting careers that has affected education in a big way. On Linked-In the share of teachers on the site who left for a new career increased by 62% in 2021. Many of them are going into careers in sales, IT services, consulting, hospitals and software development. There is huge potential for increase in pay and career potential. Teacher's ability to absorb and transmit information, to mutitask and manage stress make them attractive for companies.

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Without resources, the task of leveling up the north of England with the south of England after income gaps and inequalities, is anaemic and inadequate, says this editorial in the Guardian. It says the chancellor Rishi Sunak has no intention of spending the kind of money that is necessary so that the regions scarred by accelerated deindustrialization under Margaret Thatcher and hit by austerity under David Cameron can recover and get back on their feet. It cites an IIPR think tank study that shows spending from leveling up fund was 32 pounds per person in the north of England. In the austerity decade the drop in council spending for services was 413 pounds per person in the north of England. It is an example of so little coming so late.

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Wide gaps in learning persist for the British population. This analysis of GCSE, General Certificate of Secondary Education results in The Guardian shows 28% of grades awarded to students in London were at Grade 7 or above, in the northeast of England this drops to 18%, with gaps widening in 2023. GCSE is the part of the National Curriculum taught to students ages 14 to 16 years in years 10 and 11. The Grading system gives more attention to A's with three Grade 9,8 and 7 for A's and only Grade 6 for B's, and in this way puts more emphasis on one extreme top section of students than the middle to upper, which may be a mistake.

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The Argentina 2023 elections results show Sergio Massa, the current Economy Minister has 36% of the vote, and Javier Milei with 30%, and 24% for Patricia Bulrich a former security minister. The election rules require a candidate to get 45% of the vote or result in a runoff between the two leading candidates. Massa apologized for mistakes made by his administration. Milei calls for cutting budget for social welfare in a country suffering from steep 140% inflation and for abolition of the central bank, dollarizing the economy when it has $44 billion debt and a IMF program, ideas seen as extreme and risky. It is a sign of how the nation of 46 million is reaching for extreme steps as a result of failing in the fight against inflation and runaway spending.