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Among the things that make the U.S. different from Britain, that Roberts does not mention, is the character of the U.S. as a nation of immigrants. As true today as it was for millions who came to these shores from Ellis Island at the turn of the century. This makes for a much more adaptable society with different strains of thinking. Another point that makes the U.S. different is that it has striven to be an anticolonial power in its policies- working to ease the transition to independence of countries in the former French and British empires. The U.S. business and economic system has worked to bring development and economic progress in all parts of the world, as a partner in contrast to a colonial power. In this sense the U.S. has a very different character and a different capability for renewal than the empires of an earlier period- and new basis for belief in itself renewable from period to period.

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The new fiscal 2012 budget proposed by the Obama administration projects this years deficit will reach $1.6 trillion. This includes the renewal of the Bush tax cuts and the temporary cut to the payroll tax that was part of the tax deal reached in December 2010. This is up from the $1.3 trillion deficit in 2010. At this time both the Democrats and Republicans are choosing to leave Medicare and Social Security out of the picture as they deal with the 15% of total spending that is discretionary and unrelated to defense and security. Both parties are hesitant to propose changes to the popular Medicare and Social Security programs without getting the other party to join in the proposed changes. As this could affect voters perceptions. Social Security, Medicare and other entitlement programs will take up 60% of all federal spending or $2 trillion next year, not counting the interest on the federal debt, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

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Leonhardt points out that public workers receive lower salaries and higher benefits than private workers. They are being paid in the wrong ways. For example with health insurance coverage that require little or no co-payment, which lead to overuse of healthcare services that don't necessarily improve health. Politicians and unions appear to have accepted this practice over the years. Public sector unions have blocked efforts to improve efficiency and find better ways of doing things from the classroom to work in government offices. Reforms in states such as Indiana have produced some results. But even these improvements do not address the magnitude of the problems facing the U.S. which stem from the public's desire to have it all- from large defense spending, public services, low taxes and no changes to Social Security and Medicare. Polls show Americans want to reduce deficit spending, but the same polls show Americans unwilling to make some difficult choices.

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Reviews of "End of Wall Street" by Roger Lowenstein and the "Big Short" by Michael Lewis show not only how the traders like Michael Burry and Steve Eisman built up credit default swap positions and bet that the housing market with subprime lending would collapse. The Big Short says Gross is a portrait of misfits, which is how the traders are shown in their personal lives. For Eisman a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the Harvard Law School, his own wife is quoted as saying, that even on Wall Street he was seen as "rude, obnoxious and aggressive." About lives of the men of finance, Lowenstein describes one incident in which Vikram Pandit is spotted at lunch in "Le Bernardin," a top rated restaurant in New York. Pandit sees nothing by the glass and orders a $350 bottle so he could savor a glass of wine worth drinking. All this for doing what Loyd Blankfein described as "doing God's work."

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The simple fact that countries like Greece and Portugal cannot adjust their exchange rates under the existing euro currency arrangement remains a critical problem says Krugman. Krugman points out that till 2007 Greece's budget deficit was no higher than America's as ashare of GDP than the deficits America ran in the 1980's, and Spain actually ran a surplus. The global financial crisis changed all that as inflows of capital dried up, revenues plunged and deficits jumped. Now membership in the euro area becomes a sort of trap in that Greek costs which rose quickly in the boom years now need to come down in relation to German costs, and the only feasible way of doing that would be to devalue the Greek currency, now impossible under the euro currency arrangement. The euro currency he says is in serious danger unless forceful action is taken to avoid a chain reaction that starts with a Greek default.

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Investors in China fear that the overheated economy and property bubbles, may see a sharp turn with excessive tightening of monetary policy. China rebounded quickly after the 2008 crisis, but did this with a huge stimulus and by encouraging excessive lending levels. Some of this local government lending is suspected to have gone into low quality projects with the danger of bad loans. Inflation was 2.8% in April, and as lending tightens the Shanghai Composite Index has fallen 16% in the last month. The crisis in Europe, the extremely short 2-3 month horizon of mainland Chinese investors, the excessive supply of shares- attempts to raise $74 billion in share issuance in mainland and Hong Kong markets and an IPO of $30 billion for Agricultural Bank of China- all put pressure on stocks. OECD index of leading indicators for March 2010 show a drop from February, and the Chinese economy grew 11.9% in the first quarter 2010.

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Goldman founder, Marcus Goldman's son, Henry Goldman, helped create the concept of valuation of companies based on their earning power at the turn of the century. Around this time public finance was in its early stages and credit was based on balance sheet assets. Goldman took public companies like Studebaker, Sears Roebuck and May Department Stores, and formed a partnership with Henry Lehman of Lehman Brothers. He maintained close contacts with Germany during that time. The book by his grand daughter June Breton Fisher is titled- When Money Was in Fashion: Henry Goldman, Goldman Sachs, and the Founding of Wall Street. It an apt title about the Goldman style and culture. When Henry Paulson, former CEO of Goldman was asked during a college reunion what languages he had learned and all about his travels by a classmate, Henry replied that he had learned the language of money and that was the only language he would need.

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Geely's plans for Volvo are to build a presence for Volvo in China. This includes plans for additional local manufacturing facilities. One near Shanghai, another in Chengdu, and another being considered for Daqing. Each plant would produce 100,000 cars, with the Chengdu plant nearly complete and the others still to be built. Geely has received $444 million and $148 million respectively from the municipal governments of Daqing and Shanghai. Geely executives pointed to the need to upgrade Volvo's S80 sedan to compete with the likes of Mercedes Benz S-Class and BMW 7 series. Volvo hopes to sell additional cars to the Chinese government and state run companies. Risks associated with expanding car manufacturing were cited by Chen Bin, senior official of the China National Developmet and Reform Commission, at an auto industry conference recently. He said the combined capacity to build cars in China for all companies willl reach 31.24 million vehicles by 2015, up from the 13.95 million vehicles at end of 2009. ...

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Analysis by the Wall Street Journal shows companies in the S&P 500 stock index earned second quarter profits of $189 billion. This was up 38% from 2009, without the inflation adjustment. For all American companies, Commerce Department estimates second quarter after tax profits rose to an annual rate of $1.208 trillion, up 3.9% from the first quarter, and up 26.5% from year earlier. Companies are doing this with layoffs of workers, closing less profitable units, and shifting work to cheaper locations, and introducing more efficient processes. Texas Instruments shut down a unit making cellphones, Electronic Arts pruned its videogames by about 50%. These profit increases were achieved by reducing costs on flat or declining sales compared to 2008, just prior to the financial crisis. Companies are not expected to increase spending through new hiring or adding equipment in the current economic environment. From the Journal's analysis of the 500 S&P companies, it shows sales were 6% less than 2008, with second quarter profits 10% higher....

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Fitch raised its ratings on Ford debt to triple B minus from double B plus. GM and Ford ran up losses since 2005 faced with labor costs that were not competitive, high health care costs for retired employees, and underutlization of factory capacity as American buyers turned away. The result was that credit ratings agencies cut their debt to junk status in 2005. In 2006 Ford faced with a financial crisis took out loans of $23.5 billion, putting up all of its assets as collateral including its logo. Ford survived bankruptcy with these loans. By the end of 2011 Ford had $13.1 billion in debt, down from $33.6 billion in 2009. For Ford to have the collateral released credit ratings agencies must now move Ford to investment grade as the next step in this story of disaster and renewal over seven years of an American icon- of toil, sweat and tears back to a rebirth in the eyes of American buyers.

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GM will pay Prudential Insurance $29 billion upfront to take over $26 billion in pension obligations for its salaried retirees. Pension buyouts will cost about $3 billion. GM said on May 31, 2012 that it will turn over the responsibilities for all assets and obligations of its salaried retiree pension program and management of the obligations to Prudential Financial Inc. This will be done by purchasing of a group annuity contract. GM says retiree payments will be kept the same. About 42,000 of the 118,000 salaried retirees will be given the option of a one time payment. Ford has made a similiar plan. GM has $134 billion in global pension obligations, with a $25 billion shortfall, which affects its debt ratings and draws investor concern. This is one step in addressing this problem. GM plans to do the same for the pension obligations of union retirees which is about twice the size of the salaried workers plan.

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Japanese prime minister Naoto Kan says he has requested the suspension of operations of all reactors a the Hamaoka nuclear plant in Shizuoka prefecture. This plant is operated by Chubu Electric. Another plant on the Japan sea coast has been shut temporarily to investigate above normal radiation levels. With the government moving away from its policy of cooperating with the industry, there are questions whether other nuclear plants that are on earthquake fault locations may face similiar restrictions. This move will further restrict electricity supplies to companies in the local areas supplied by the plant. The Hamaoka plant has been described as "the world's most dangerous" by Japanese media because it lies near an active fault zone. Government estimates are for an 87% likelihood of a magnitude 8 earthquake in the next 30 years. Pressure is growing on premier Kan to take action to show he is listening to public opinion and not following old practices of collusion between bureaucrats, politicians and the nuclear power companies....

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As its economy slows and facing high debt levels, China benefits by an estimated $18 billion a month from lower oil prices in 2015. The estimate is from Starfort Holdings, investment and private equity group. The estimates as China benefits from lower prices of all commodities, including oil, are of about $250 billion annually as China replenishes its stocks of commodities. With $12 million barrels imported daily China is a major emerging market beneficiary, along with India, of the drop in oil prices. Continuing pressure on prices from the expected resilience in shale oil production in the U.S. with learning and the development of new production methods means the benefits are likely to continue. China has also not renegotiated price points in deals made earlier at higher prices with China and Venezuela, as it pursues its foreign interests. Stockpiling of grains and edible oils are being increased by 33% in 2015 by $24.7 billion.

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Abigail Johnson, brings a different style of management to Fidelity Inc. compared to her father "Ned" Johnson. Both are quiet and like to stay out of the limelight, but Abigail is more methodical. Her father was known to take risks to build the company. Abigail is cautious and likely to study each situation very carefully before making a decision. She also requires input from managers at Fidelity who are not accustomed to this. "Ned" Johnson rarely asked for advice and made decisions on his own. Abigail believes actively managed funds will do well once the market performance improves. Critics say this trend is not temporary, as investors have shifted funds into passively managed equity funds at Vanguard, and into ETF's. Morningstar shows about 17% of all mutual funds are now passively traded funds compared to 10% in 2006, a shift of about $700 billion. On ETF's Abigail preferred to partner with Black Rock, because it had more experience in the field.

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McGurn reminds readers that LBJ's war on poverty started not from a inner city area but from a poor white home in Martin County, eastern Kentucky. This has fostered the same degree of dependency in Martin County, eastern Kentucky, as it has in inner cities in the U.S., says McGurn. He also compares South Korea in the sixties, emerging from years of neglect under Japanese occupation and following this with the devastation of the Korean War, and pulling itself up in the next three decades to the point where it is a modernized economy with high living standards. Strong families, education, a strong work ethic, are vitally needed ingredients for building strong communities. Economic opportunity is another ingredient. In Baltimore the loss of the steel industry, and in Martin County the loss of jobs in coal mining, have reduced economic opportunities. How to put all the ingredients together is the challenge for decisionmakers.

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The differences in the negotiations relate mainly to taxes and pension cuts. Greece agreed to to phase out a special grant for pensioners with low income by 2018, but rejected immediate cuts to pension payments. Greece agreed to lenders conditions for increasing restaurant value added tax to 23%, if hotels can be kept at 13%. Greece wanted to keep a 30% discount on all value added tax rates in the Aegean Islands. Greece initially suggested increasing corporate taxes to 29%, which creditors rejected seeing that reducing economic growth. Greece then proposed increasing this to 28%. Some experts believe the two sides are not that far apart, and the bigger problem is a breakdown of trust. Antonis Samaras, the opposition New Democracy party leader, and former prime minister in 2014, said Mr. Tsipras "was bringing the country into a total deadlock." The referendum on July 5 he said, "is essentially yes or no to Europe."

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Migrant workers in China are not allowed to bring their children with them when they move to work in factories located in urban areas. This is the large price being paid for the rapid industrialization in China for 2 decades 1990-2010 by the 61 million children of migrant workers. Lixin Fan's documentary "Last Train Home" documents the life of children of migrant workers separated from their parents for long periods of time. Analysis from the All China Women's Federation shows 75% of the 61 million children left behind by migrant workers have parental visits once a year mostly during the national Spring holiday. 82% of these children want their parents to come back home and 42% say they have no one to talk to when they feel bad. A large proportion of the children are missing parental attention at the most sensitive age when they most need it- 38% left behind are ages 1-5, 32% ages 6-11.

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A simple sentence from Ms. Aslam, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesman -as she confirms Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif will attend the swearing in ceremony for prime minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, May 26, 2014- says it all: "Pakistan sees peace with India as a precondition for economic development." A long established truth that applies to a large degree in reverse, that peace with Pakistan is also a precondition for a singleminded focus on economic development in India. How else can India tackle the problem of 1 million young people joining the labor market every month for the next 15 years, according to the UN Department for Social and Economic Affairs. The figure is much larger when including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Myanmar (Burma). And would approach 2 million a month if Indonesia is included, the entire region sharing the Buddhist-Hindu-Muslim legacy and lacking the strong engine for growth provided in East Asia by Japan and China.

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EU leaders and proposals to limit tax avoidance by digital companies by requiring the companies to show the profits in the countries where they are made. This would require changing bilateral treaties. France is looking at proposals to tax companies by the number of clicks or user data. Large digital companies, including Apple and Google declare most of their European revenue in Ireland using legal loopholes in that country to shift profits to lower tax locations. A Senate report in the U.S. in May 2013 shows Apple using technicalities in Irish and U.S. laws to pay only a small amount in corporate taxes in four years 2009-2012 on $74 billion. Fredrik Reinfeldt, the prime minister of Sweden stated the argument for fairness in tax policy- "These companies ask for a lot of investment in infrastructure, in research and development, they want to have well educated staff members. Well, let's keep that together: Pay your taxes so we can afford all of these investments."

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Denning points out the shift in Mexico to becoming a net oil importer from the U.S. by August 2013, that put new urgency to the passage of the oil law in Mexico for attracting foreign investment. Mexico's exports of crude oil were about 0.9 million barrels a day in August 2013. U.S. refinery products imported by Mexico including gasoline on an oil equivalent basis were 0.8 million barrels a day. Mexico became a net importer of energy in March 2013. Another negative factor in the energy trade between Mexico and the U.S. is increasing U.S. oil production and refineries in the coast of the Gulf of Mexico being full. As this U.S. production increases Mexico would have to offer competitive discounts in the future. Pemex drillled in all 25 deepwater wells in the last decade, according to Sanford Bernstein. The U.S. in the same period drilled 1500 ultra-deep water wells alone, showing the urgent need for foreign investment in the Mexican oil industry.

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Krugman has some legitimate concerns. Noting that 600,000 jobs were lost in February, 2007, which would mean several million jobs lost, anywhere from 5 to 7 million jobs lost in 2009. In the face of this generating 3.5 million jobs by the end of 2010 as Obama plans to do, looks like not having done enough, and letting the worst effects of the downturn go on. And the lack of a plan to resolve the situation of failing banks, which are only drawing more of the government's capital, leaves continued weakness in credit markets and the economy that will hurt the unemployment picture through 2009. So in spite of all the rhetoric and good intentions, the lack of experience in dealing with a crisis of this magnitude, political deadlock, and an element of trial and error, learning and observing, as the President and his advisors deal with the evolving crisis, leaves the American economy exposed to many risks.

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Obama cites "Seneca Falls and Selma and Stonewall" in his second inaugural address after failing to push strongly enough to address poverty and civil rights, housing foreclosures impact on minorities, and immigration during his first term. Stevenson says the address was filled with King's "urgency of the now," in pushing for progressive values in an unabashed manner. Freed from the constraints of the first term Obama senses the urgency of the moment if he is not to lose the opportunity to have contributed to the march of progressive values in America during his term as president. A cautious president feels the urgency of the progressive spirit that marked his early years, his first book, his work as a community activist and Illinois legislator; if all this is not to be lost in the burdens of the presidency, the pressures of politics, the fundraising machinery, election manoeuvring and vote getting that secured the presidency.

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Governor Jerry Brown of California's call for fiscal restraint. In his annual State of the State address Brown said the emphasis must be on fiscal restraint and prudent spending so that the budget does not swing back to deficits. Brown was able to achieve a budget surplus of $28.9 million after spending cuts and temporary tax increases. In doing this Brown is seting a new tone for the U.S. of fiscal prudence after the budget surplus of the Clinton years was followed by swelling deficits. This also comes from the U.S.'s most seasoned governor, from the largest state in the Union, who has seen all sides of the picture. Brown said: "It's cruel to lead people on by expanding good programs only to cut them back when the funding disappears... We're not going back there." This may be the lasting legacy of Brown in his second effort as governor after two decades.

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Alexis Tsipras, leader of Syriza, Greece's second largest party, is interviewed by WSJ's Bret Stephens. Tsipras describes the problems inside Greece. He describes the bribery in healthcare, tax evasion, burden of taxes on the middle class and honest citizens, a large and inefficient bureaucracy. In its current state Greece would build up debt and deficits all over again if the debts were forgiven tomorrow, says Tsipras. He is for Greece remaining in the eurozone. Tsipras understands the problems Germans have with putting money into Greece with the current state of economic management and lack of conscience of its elite, and why they see this as not fair. He suggests as a model for solving the Greece debt crisis, the London Conference of 1953 forgiving half of Germany's debts and putting the rest on a 30 year scheduled repayment. This would have to come with results in cutting bureaucracy, reducing corruption, and efficient tax collection for Greece democracy to work.

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The percentage of credit card balances owed by subprime customers, according to Keefe Bruyette and Woods, is 30.3% for Bank of America, 29.8% for Capital One, 27.9% for Discover, and 27.3% for Citigroup. The companies ranked by market share in private label cards are GEneral Electric 39.2% and Citigroup 21.7%. All these companies that have turned risky customers into cash cows with hefty fees and interest rates will see much of this disappear with the President's new law banning some of the practices of these companies that hurt consumers. Most of the credit card industry has operated without some of the basic consumer protections one would expect in a highly educated and literate society with democratic governance. Even retailers like Target depend on this for profits. Target which has its own credit card operation earned $355 million in credit finance charges and $87 million in late fees and other revenue in the last fiscal quarter.