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With the 15% mandated cuts to energy use in the European Union countries and the shutoff of Russian gas supplies, three remaining German nuclear plants can be run for an extended period to take off some of the strain on the German economy. Sentiment for nuclear power is changing in Germany. A Spiegel opinion poll is cited in this WSJ editorial that shows 78% of Germans favor keeping the three remaining nuclear plants operating till summer 2023, and 67% say it is a good idea to keep them running for 5 years.  The issues of nuclear vs solar, or coal and gas vs solar is not a yes or no proposition anymore as shown in the negotiated measures to allow some coal and gas operations in the US in the Biden Climate Change bill that passed the US Senate on August 7, 2022. This is not merely a concession to a fossil fuel dependent state (West Virginia) and Senator Manchin, this is a realization that the transition can be better managed economically and the same results for renewable energy and climate change emissions goals can be met with a carefully planned  strategy that allows for LNG exports to Europe, and fossil fuel production flexibility in the face of the embargo on Russian fossil fuel supplies. ...

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How Integrative Medicine, changes in lifestyle and diet, yoga and exercize, meditation, no smoking habits, can add up to changes in the nation's health that work more effectively than new drugs to prevent or delay the onset and progression of chronic diseases like diabetes, asthma, heart disease and of obesity, etc that consume 75% of the costs in the $2.1 trillion spent on medical care in the USA. Shockingly 95% of these costs are incurred after the onset of the disease, proving that prevention is simply not an important part of the equation.

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The Vickers commission, has been appointed by the Cameron government to look into the British banking system and the largest banks. Ringfencing to protect retail deposits from the bank's other investment activities has been suggested. The focus is on increasing capital requirements as critical to protecting British taxpayers and the banking system. This means going beyond the Basel 3 requirements to build an extra safety buffer for the types of situations the British government was faced with in HBOS, where losses were even greater than average. Determining this should be coordinated with EU and Basel regulators.

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City authorites are bulldozing vacant lots in Chicago, Pittsburgh and Detroit. Hundreds of vacant lots can be a problem for cities. Clearing these vacant lots is the first step to building new housing that is badly needed today. Detroit's population has fallen by two thirds, Pittsburgh by half, and Chicago by a quarter since 1950's. Detroit's land bank holds 63,000 vacant lots, Pittsburgh has 13,000 city owned lots being transferred to a land bank. Chicago has 10,000 vacant lots and 16,000 lots caught in a mess of unpaid taxes and unpaid fees. The city is working on new laws to speed up the clearing and development of these lots. Many are in Black and Latino neighborhoods once known to be redlined, meaning the banks denied the places mortgages and speculators engaged in blockbusting to sell declining white neighborhoods from the shift to suburbs to black people. 

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The median household headed by a person 60-62 years of age with a 401(k) account has less than one fourth of what is needed to maintain a standard of living at retirement, according to data from the Federal Reserve and analyzed by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College for the Wall Street Journal. Including Social Security and any pensions or other savings, the savings are way short of what is needed for retirement. Households used in this data had a median income of $87,700 in 2009. The 85% needed for a decent standard of living upon retirement is $74,545. Social Security would provide an estimated 40% of pre-retiremment income, or $35,080 for that median family, leaving $39,465 that has to come from other sources. The median 401(k) account has $149,400 which would only provide a fixed income each year of $9,073- only one fourth of the $39,465 needed. To generate that $39,465, households have to have $636,673, and only 8% of American households approaching retirement have that amount. Half of the families have other pension income of $26,500 a year, which added to $9,073 in 401(k) income gets the total income up to $35,573. Other studies using different data by the Employee Benefit Research Institute show results that are largely similiar. The Employee Benefit Research Institute, is supported by 401(k) providers. Its estimate of the median person is based on individuals in the 60's who have worked at the same company for more than 30 years. This data shows an estimated median person having about $158,754, not much different from the Fed data. Why is the amount in most Americans 401(k) savings so low? There was a mistaken sense that a 6% annual contribution, with a 3% company match would be enough. Vanguard Group says the current median amount that people contribute is 9%, counting the employer contribution. Now Vanguard is advising people to contribute more, 12 to 15%, including the employer contribution. Other problems for the low savings is that saving started late, or contributions were suspended after a job loss, or medical emergencies, other debt. The stock market collapses of 2000-2002 and 2007-2009, added to the problems, by wiping out a portion of the savings. The low rate of interest on savings for most of the last decade hurt even conservative investors and lowers the kind of retirement account income used by seniors. The way people are coping with this is to work longer, in some cases into the 70's, cutting down on spending for food, travel, and taking greater risks for higher returns, risks that could make the situation worse....

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See the World Economic Outlook November 2007 which talks about this phenomenon in Chapter 5 on the moderating influences in the global economic cycle, the drop in volatility in the global economy, and the expansion of the economy being across most countries in the global economy. Is this a period or a phase the global economy is going through as most emerging economies and developing countries are improving living standards and developing infrastructure, or will it last for several decades with broad sustained economic growth and foreign trade. Some smaller crises are to be expected for example the stock bubbles in China and India(?) will pop if this bubble phenomena continues in these countries. The pressures for expression of public opinion and environmental degradation in China are further challenges and at some point China's development might slow to a more sustainable longer term rate. Will India then pick up as it urbanizes and develops its manufacturing industry?

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The reference Bazooka man comes from Scholz's hard work putting together the 750 billion euro funding package to help German businesses and workers survive the coronavirus pandemic. At the time Scholz said-"This is the bazooka that's needed to get the job done. We are putting all our weapons on the table to show that we are strong enough to overcome any economic challenge that this problem might pose." Scholz gets high marks for his hard work during the Covid crisis as finance minister putting together the funding packages. This BBC report says Scholz chaired cabinet meetings when Merkl went into self-isolation as a precaution. BBC says it gave Scholz the platform he needed to go back to his roots as Mayor of Hamburg when he stood up for social cohesion and help for workers and families. Before he announced his SPD candidacy when asked if he would run he would say - "we need to work, not indulge in vanities." Scholz also played an important role in European solidarity. He was the lead architect with France of the European Union 750 billion euro recovery fund. This brings him strong praise from France, and also support from Italy, Spain, Portugal and other countries in the EU. French foreign minister Bruno Lemaire has praise not only for Olaf Scholz but also for his brother Jens Scholz, who airlifted 6 critically ill French patients to an hospital in Kiel. Says Lemaire "It really is a great German family." Scholz grew up in Hamburg, becoming a Socialist youth leader and studying labor law. He was Mayor of Hamburg from 2011 to 2018. In 1998 he entered the German parliament, the Bundestag.   ...

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The damage done to India and China by the Opium Agency, and the British East India Company through the forced growing of poppies in northern India and the sale of opium in China. Two wars by Britain opened up China for sale of opium. Britain gained access to the port of Hong Kong as a base for this trade. BBC New gives a new perspective on the situation in Hong Kong and the questions about the rule of law in Hong Kong today by showing the story on the other side, that of China and the Shenzen region which suffered the consequences of British enroachment on China's sovereignty during the 19th century. Young people in Hong Kong today may be oblivious of the history of the region under colonial powers, and how far China has come from the situation of hopelessness of the 19th century.

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New regulations permit foreign investors to invest at least $100 million to setup multibrand retail operations in cities with populations of more than 1 millon people. Foreign multibrand retailers are at this time not permitted to directly invest in domestic retailers selling to consumers. A government panel "the Committee of Secretaries," proposed the change, which now goes to the federal cabinet for approval. The change means international retailers like Wal-Mart can sell to Indian consumers through partnerships with Indian retailers, and can own upto 51% of such local joint ventures. Of the investment at least half must go to setting up back-end infrastructure such as cold storage and laboratories. India has a huge retail market of an estimated $450 billion but much of the retail sector has fragmented smaller operations and mom and pop stores. Tata, Reliance, Bharti, Godrej and other local companies have made an effort to change this and formed alliances with Tesco, Wal-Mart, and other international retailers. One of the pressing needs is the building of back up infrastructure- cold storage, retail facilities, etc. This change means Wal-Mart, Carrefour, Metro AG can now enter the retail market. The prior efforts of these companies were restricted to wholesale stores such as Metro Cash & Carry India Pvt. Ltd, Wal-Mart's technical support for Bharti's retail brand of Easyday stores, and UK based Tesco's back-end support to Trent Ltd's Star Bazaar stores....

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As Governor of South Carolina for two terms 2011-2017 Nikki Haley played a major role in getting Boeing to expand its operations in the state and attracting auto companies and other manufacturing industries. South Carolina had suffered from the decline of its textile industry from an earlier industrialization era. She personally helped recruit smaller companies such as Kent Cycle to set up plants in the state.  Nikki Haley's father Ajit Singh Randhawa  is from Amritsar, India, and went to the University of British Columbia on a scholarship for advanced studies in 1964. He was a professor at Punjab Agricultural University before going to Canada. His wife Raj Kaur had a law degree from University of Delhi and after getting a Masters degree in education taught in public schools in South Carolina for 7 years. Ajit Singh moved to South Carolina as a professor of biology at Voorhees College after receiving his PhD. in 1969. Nikki Haley graduated from Clemson University in 1994 with a Bachelors degree in Accounting and Finance. After working for FCR she joined her family's clothing business started by her mother. From 2005 to 2011 she served in the South Carolina House of Representatives. The report from Politico on Haley's career shows her to be resilient and sticking with her beliefs and principles even as she found herself to be the only immigrant  prominent in southern state politics of South Carolina. She also served as US Representative at the United Nations 2017-2018 following two terms as governor of South Carolina.  ...

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Indian salary growth is expected to be 15% a year and salaries for professionals doubling every 5 years based on GDP growth for Vikshit Bharat 2047 of 12% per year. This is why India will seek to limit migration to legal migration only and further limit the brain drain by creating attractive opportunities in India, including ones from GCC's or global capability centers of foreign corporations in India that are expanding as US reduces its overdependence on China for manufacturing and returns jobs and factories back to the US.

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This podcast in WSJ tells the amazing story of the development of a vaccine for malaria by a British scientist that took forty years. In a world of short run startups this tells the story of medical and indirectly other research include research on renewable energy to tackle climate change that takes years to develop and makes a lasting change in our lives. This is also true of the mRNA vaccine developed by two German scientists of Turkish descent who developed the Pfizer vaccine. The Novavax vaccine in the US also has a story of resilience in the face of many challenges. Mr Scholz of the SDP, currently vice chancellor of Germany and winner of the German election said recently he wanted to expose the myth that was created of the self-made man that has penetrated our culture over the last 2 decades. One cannot even conceive of self made people at a time when the whole world depends on vaccines developed such as mRNA vaccine by these 2 German scientists at university labs that are the first line of defense against the coronavirus. Both scientists took only half a day off when they got married. Both are children of immigrants to Germany from Turkey. They both cycle to work. Mr. Shin says "I don't have a car. I am not going to get a plane. What's life changing is to be able to impact something in the medical field." The electric batteries used in today's electric cars use technology developed by a Japanese scientist and professor who also worked at Toshiba in the face of many challenges. ...

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Voters took note of the quality of each candidate, and Democrats were scrappier  in the fight this time around to give a tight result. Voters did not know much of what Mr. Biden had done to cap healthcare costs in midterm elections for 36 governors races and for control of the US Congress. The pocket book issues mattered to voters with sharp increases in the price of oil and groceries, but less so than made out earlier and voters may have grasped the bigger picture.

The quality of candidates mattered and on the Republican side the influence of Mr. Trump in the primaries led to choosing weaker candidates because of their loyalty to Mr. Trump. In the end with a large turnout of voters on both sides the election was much tighter than expected. Democrats in each state did better using their own initiative and effort this time and were much scrappier in the fight for the Governors races and the Senate.

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The Labor Department says the US lost 598,000 jobs in January 2009. And the figure for December 2008 was revised upwards from 524,000 to 577,000. The figures from December 2007 were revised upwards by 400,000 and is at 3.6 million jobs lost. First time jobless claims reached ahigh of 626,000 last week. The current unemployment rate of 7.6% does not correctly reflect the true unemployment rate because it excludes those adults who have given up looking for a job after failure to find anything. One estimate of this based on labor force participation at the level it was when President Bush took office, is 9.4%, by Peter Morici, economist at the University of Maryland. Though the Fed is creating money at a prolific rate to support failing financial institutions and support consumer debt, having more than doubled its reserves from $900 billion to $2 trillion, the problem remains one of creating demand. Falling demand as nervous and shaken consumers reduce buying of all kinds of products, leads to buildup of inventories, cutting production, layoffs, and even more incentives to save leading to the downward spiral. As more companies layoff there is a general tendency for all businesses who already face tight credit to plan on a longer downturn and not to invest. The self reinforcing pattern is just as strong in a downturn as it is in an upturn....

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Greg Mortenson runs 78 schools in remote poor areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan on a budget of $2.8 millioon he raises through small donations to his foundation, the Central Asia Institute. The Pentagon is listening to Mortenson and he has met privately with Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. THe military has specially sought him out. And General Petraeus has read his book Three Cups of Tea and passed it on to his staff for reading. He also has been asked to speak with senior officers of the Special Operations Command. Greg Mortenson believes getting amoderate education for these children is the best way to prevent the spread of Islamic extremism. In addition to the 78 schools he also runs 48 other schools in refugee camps in the region and 28,000 children in the 2 countries attend Mortenson's schools. In atalk to the Pentagon uniformed officers in 2002 he told them that the $840,000 spent on each of the Tomahawk cruise missiles fired into Afghanistan could have been used to build dozens of schools. He asked them which would you think will make us more secure? ...

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Electric cars are seen as not affordable for ordinary Americans facing a cost of living crisis. Sales for electric cars lag behind milestones set by California. Only 7% of American cars are electric. GM is pushing for scuttling of the California ban on gas powered cars in 2035. The US Senate is set to vote next week to revoke California's emissions waiver. About 35 Democrat members of Congress support Republicans in this effort to scrap California's ban on gas powered cars in 2035. Zero emissions vehicles make up 20% of sales in California far behind the goal set of 35%. Enthusiasm for electric cars is waning after the lack of technological advances in cutting cost. The lack of rare earth minerals such as dyspromium for electric magnets that is 94% controlled by China means less of it can be imported into the US. China has invented refining technologies to convert the mining materials into the rare earth mineral giving it a monopoly as shown in the WSJ. ...

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DJT plans for 25% tariff on all imported cars goes into effect April 2, 2025. It is intended to promote additional investment in the US auto industry, boosting jobs and wages in the US. These countries have now wrapped their behavior around national sentiment even though they very well know how the US has looked out for Europe, and especially China throughout cataclysmic events in the 20th century and the 21st century such as foreign occupation and failures in modernization. By 2015 the US which had given Europe the Marshall Plan and helped Japan rebuild from the ashes of World War II, South Korea rebuild from the devastation of the Korean war, and China rebuild after the failed industrialization experiments of the 1960's and 1970's, was now facing nations that only saw this as a One Way Street, making the US look stupid and showing a degree of irresponsible behaviour on fentanyl, drug and migrant trafficking  by Canada Mexico and China that has few parallels in history. The narrative from the US is that the US allowed Europe, Japan and South Korea, and Mexico as a manufacturing base for these countries 25 years since the 1970's when Japanese Toyota vehicles made inroads into the US market to help these countries recover, a post Marshall Plan benefit given to Europe and Asia. During 1995-2015 a series of weak administrations Clinton-Bush-Obama allowed the US manufacturing base to decline under a falsely premised globalization that served US financial interests but hurt US manufacturing towns and communities across the country.  This means BMW, VW cars imported from Germany, Subaru, Toyota, Nissan, Honda cars from Japan, Hyundai and Kia cars from South Korea, Chinese EV vehicles, and cars made in Mexico for Asian and European makers, all will face this tariff. ...

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This WSJ podcast is a new series on hackers from Russia and other places and how the US is fighting back for cybersecurity.

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About 1.5 million mothers of school age children in March 2021 are missing from the US workforce as mothers are slow to return to the workforce. Both men and women had lower labor force participation, but as men's is rebounding the mothers are still slow to rebound. One mother in Brooklyn, New York, with 3 school age children is typical. She decided to hastily quit work to take care of children at home during 2020 at a stressful time, and has found it difficult to return to work in 2021. It has brought men and women closer to their children but also made it harder to pursue their careers.

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Mr. Trump says he will wear a mask on a visit to soldiers at Army's Walter Reed Hospital. Trump says its "a very appropriate thing. I have no problem with a mask." As cases hit 3 million in the U.S., close to 1 million in India and Russia, Mr. Trump joins the movement for masks worldwide. Early on Mr. Trump  took up the issue of transmission from Wuhan by banning flights from China, failed to get WHO and China to respond quickly to the pandemic requests from U.S. by providing information and allowing a team to visit Wuhan quickly in January. A stumbling block appeared within the health ministry in the U.S. with poor leadership which Trump had to overcome by relying on Vice President Pence to lead the stop coronavirus team at the White House.   Trump's reopening decision came under criticism and he says he had to balance the damage to jobs and economic well being that also affected health. Some of the states and young people responded in ways that led to public gatherings that have led to surges in the south and the western states such as Calfornia. The WSJ reported that in Los Angeles County on June 20 half a million people went to bars after they reopened, showing that culturally even counties in states like California lacked what is accepted good sense. For instance Tokyo bars were paid by the Japanese government not to reopen, according to one report. By wearing a mask Trump is simply acknowledging facts about transmission - a German study shows 40% reduction in cases with face coverings. ...

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Elbridge Colby memo led to slowing of US shipments to Ukraine in July 2025 just as Russia expanded its drone and missile attacks on Ukraine. Leading DJT to resume all shipments and override Colby as he supported shipment of Patriot systems to  Ukraine, with Germany willing to pay for the cost. Who is Colby? Colby 45 years, was made undersecretary of defense for policy in DJT second term. He is the grandson of a former CIA director, attended school in Japan where his father was working at an investment bank, and later at Yale Law School. Colby's view is for the US to focus on Asia, specifically on China and the defense of Taiwan, the Philippines and Japan. He does not favor Ukraine in NATO, sees Russia as a potential partner, and is a Republican who opposed the war in Iraq as a monumental waste of American resources. Some of his views are controversial such as focus only on China when US faces other threats around the world. Colby opposed an attack on Iran and even argued that US could manage a nuclear armed Iran which he has now retracted. ...

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Extreme German dependence on Russian oil and gas that happened under the administration of Angela Merkel and the high oil prices today from a a lack of development of alternative renewable energy resources created the situation that provided the financing for Russia's war in Ukraine. This is now unwinding as the European Union and the US set a price cap of $60 for Russian oil. This cap will in future reflect the cost of production of oil in Russia among other factors, and the lower demand for fossil fuels as renewable energy production is accelerated quickly, and the inflation fighting efforts of the US central bank. Gradually the mechanisms and environment is being created for an end to the conflict in Ukraine.

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A short video showing how the Sustainable Development Goal of Clean Water for every rural household brings Swaraj to India's villages. Clean safe and easily accessible through home tap water for all rural households is the goal of the Har Ghar Jal Mission with target date of 2024. India will have modernized by 2035 as a nation but never could one forget the humble beginnings with Har Ghar Jal and Swacch Bharat- of clean drinking water and sanitation as basic human rights. Setting the pace for all of Asia, Africa and Latin America. Japan has embraced the UN's 17 SDG's, so has India in its own way, both setting an example for the rest of the world.