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This editorial in the WSJ after the U.S. presidential election is critical of extreme positions on immigration in the Republican party. It reminds readers that George W. Bush won 40% of the Hispanic vote with some passable Spanish and a friendly attitude on immigration, Romney managed only 29%. It says supporting immigration is a natural position for Republicans because most immigrants are culturally conservative and hard working. It call deportation in large numbers morally wrong and not workable. It also comes as immigration from Mexico is down significantly and many Hispanics are returning to Mexico. Hispanics suffered from the high unemployment in the U.S. following the 2008 crisis making it less attractive to come to the U.S. Growth is also increasing in Mexico with a large middle class and a falling birth rate.

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The WSJ provides an excellent guide to working at home, how to overcome the struggles and get some of the benefits from working at home. A large part of the struggles in working from home is not being able to unplug, and working like you are in an office. Working from office is different because of meetings and office distractions, and one gets less done, maybe 4 hours of decent work in a workday. So that in solo work one would say work 5 hours and accomplish what one would have done in 8 hours at the office.  At home consistently working 5 or 6 hours at a stretch can get a person exhausted and isolated.  Don't look at the clock for it to say 5 pm. Take breaks early, if one reaches ones limit or gets restless it is time to take an extended break or get outside for a walk, or do some stretches, yoga, or something else. Loneliness is another part of the struggles. Important to setup some video calls to make sure you get human interaction. Get some chance to refresh and talk to humans, get some interaction.  Leave stuff such as clearing inbox and less brainy tasks for the evening. Set top 3 priorities for the day or week so you have an idea of progress in a larger task. Time theming is a way to set aside certain days or time periods to get specific things done. Staying physically fit and mentally rejuvenated is the big challenge.  Exercize routines, stretches, yoga, meditation early morning, help keep ones mental and physical health. They are most important. They form the basis for the whole day and lay the foundation for getting things done. This is where the process sets the tone and helps get the best results. Once this is established one can let the ebbs and flow of work motivation and feeling ready to work happen, seeing them as natural, without concern that one won't get done what needs to be done to be effective. ...

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Iraq's oil ministry wants to move ahead faster in developing its oil fields and will let foreign oil companies bid for contracts to develop 6 oil fields and 2 natural gas fields by end of 2008. About 40 foreign oil companies from USA, Europe, Japan, China, Russia have been approved for bidding on contracts. According to BP PLC statistics Iraq produces 2.5 million barrels a day, up from 1.9 barrels a day last year, but far below the 3.5 million barrels a day produced in1979. The Iraqi goal is to produce 1.5 million additional barrels a day, but obstacles are the lack of a hydrocarbon law which is not moving quickly, and the Kurdish region signing its own deals, and this announcement may be an effort to go ahead and not wait till a hydrocarbon law is passed and sign agreements which would be technical service agreements for foreign expertise for a fee. Oil revenues are helping stabilize Iraq and as security improves oil can be a big stabilizer with increased production and financing development and job creation and building infrastructure damaged during the war and infrastructure that never existed....

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India has reduced imports of oil from Iran from 12% in 2011 to about 9% by the end of April, 2012. A senior state department official from the U.S., Carlos Pascual, will be in India in mid May 2012 to assess the energy situation and see what specific energy facilities in India need to do. Some of the refineries in India are designed to handle only the kind of heavy oil Iran supplies. For the U.S. the issue is keeping up the pressure on Iran during the talks in Istanbul, Turkey, on Iran's nuclear program. For India it has the vital trade and economic relationship with the U.S. balanced against cultural ties to the region and the need for oil supplies.

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Alex Frangos and Sudeep Jain's interview with Duvvuri Subbarao, the governor of the Reserve Bank of India, India's central bank. India's economy is slowing with higher inflation, higher interest rates, inability of the government to make firm decisions on foreign investment, a declining currency, and a growing deficit. Subbarao has come under criticism for keeping interest rates low for too long after the 2008 financial crisis, and then as higher inflation persisted making a number of interest rate increases in 2011, which reduced the credit flows in the Indian economy. Subbarao's defense of his policy of not acting earlier on interest rates and then raising interest rates repeatedly, is that the economy need stimulus in the years after the global financial crisis. He says the inflation in the early stages was a result of a supply shock in food prices and would not have responded to interest rate adjustments. Inflation declined from 9.1% in November 2011 to 7.5% in December. Subbarao says the interest rate increases are over and he is looking for the right time to increase credit flows in the economy. His remaining concerns are with the fiscal deficit, and he called on the finance minister to map out what he plans to do for the fiscal deficit. He expects the deficit for the current fiscal year to increase from 4.6% to 5.5%, as the cost of fuel subisides rises and tax receipts decline. He calls for the removal of subsidies on liquified natural gas and electricity, but concedes that this will be difficult in an election year. Looking back Subbarao sense is that the central bank's policy actions were well calibrated....

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Sakhalin II and consolidation of Russia's natural gas industry under Gazprom to include holdings in new Siberian exploration held by Shell Oil.

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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....

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Yannis Stournaras, economcs professor at the University of Athens becomes the finance minister in the new administration of prime minister Antonis Samaras. He holds a doctorate from Oxford University in economic theory and policy, lectured at St. Catherine's College, Oxford and at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. He was special advisor on monetary policy to the finance minstry and Greece's central bank. His public official positions include vice chairman of the Greek natural gas company and board member of the public debt management agency. He is well qualified to lead the effort for Greece to remain in the European Union with modified terms that extend the achievement of deficit targets by 2 years to 2016, and offer tax cuts and other growth oriented measures to get the Greek economy back on the path to recovery and growth after 4 years of declining GDP. He also brings a sense of committment to the EU, because he was chief economic advisor to Greece's Finance Ministry in 1994-2000 and took part in the negotiations that led to Greece's joining the eurozone in 2001. His strong views about changes needed to Greece's overregulated economy which favors special interests also coincide with the moves for labor and other reforms taken by the Monti and Rajoy governments in Italy and Spain. ...

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Experts in the U.S. say the U.S. made a mistake in not supporting the idea of a new financial institution to meet the urgent needs of development and infrastructure financing of Asia's developing countries. India, Australia, S. Korea, Britain, Germany, France and Italy are joining as founding members in 2015. China has offered leadership in providing resources for the new bank. Jane Perlez says China is looking for the best talent worldwide to help write the charter for the bank and to run it. It is a project pushed forward by China's president Jinping, and was discussed at the 2013 G-20 meeeting in Moscow as a critical part of the agenda. Laurence Brahm, who supported Chinese premier Zhu Rongji in 2001 for entry into the WTO, says it is natural for China to look for ways to use its extra capacity in steel, concrete and pipes to build projects in other parts of Asia, which would mutually benefit China and the region. Paul Haenle of the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center in Beijing, says the U.S. lack of support is shortsighted, as the existing U.S. sponsored institutions World Bank and the Asian Development Bank are sorely lacking the resources to deal with the huge infrastructure challenges in Asia. China's Finance Ministry is looking for the best talent worldwide to write the charter and run the bank. Natalie Lichtenstein, a lawyer with 30 years experience working at the World Bank will write the bank's founding charter. ...

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Brandenburg Berlin metropolitan region of which Brandenburg and city of Berlin are separate states remains a strong economic region. This is where Germany has evolved under ruler Frederick since the end of the Thirty Years War in 1648. Dietmar Woidke of ruling Social Democrats is expected to win a fourth term in office with the SPD expecting 25% of the vote in the important state of Brandenburg next to Berlin. Even though the AfD right wing party is expected to do well approaching 25% of the vote, there are other factors at work. Sara Wagenknecht has rebranded the Die Linke Left party with immigration policy that is similar to policies now being accepted in Denmark, France, Netherlands and other EU countries that see the need to restrict immigration, drawing 15% support. A good example being Mette Frederiksen, Social Democrats in Denmark. A coalition with the Christian Democrats CDU with about 15% expected vote and Greens with less than 5% is likely for about 45% of the vote. Other factors that show a stable Brandenburg are the economy with the new regional airport hub of Berlin Brandenburg airport, a new Tesla factory, rich natural resources a third of the state of 2.6 million people being filled with forests and lakes, and a stable population after the reunification in 1990 without rural depopulation as in other parts of East Germany, only 12% people of immigrant background including Wagenknecht.   ...

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CERA study of 811 oil fields show that depletion rates will be 4.5% worldwide. Schlumberger's estimate is higher at 8%. CERA is on the optimistic side when it sees two Irans making up for one Iran lost. CERA estimates by 2017 33 million barrels a day will be lost from depletion. still it believes production would go up by 59 million barrels a day to 112 barrels a day. How can it say 59 its anoptimistic estimate of new stuff that will come out of the Caspian, Africa, Russia and other places in Asia and upto now unknown places. The reason its hard to estimate depletion is that OPEC and Russia are not sharing the data. CERA's estimate includes also stuff that comes from biofuels and natural gas liquids as half of that 59. As that 59 is 6 times today's Saudi output the estimates are coming under criticism and not widely accepted. IEA estimates demand will go up by 2.3% to 87.8 million barrels a day. But things may change as fuel efficiency becomes a big factor in reducing consumption and as millions of Asians join the world economy from rural areas the impact of more cars may not be as severe with cars that give 60 or so miles per gallon like the Tata Nano and the competitors it creates. And in the west the USA may not be so wasteful as it has been to make up for the increases in Asia of new motorists and industrial uses of energy. Meantime the gains from exploration at today's prices may provide additional output though not by what CERA's overestimate. ...

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Expanding trade between Eastern Europe and Russia . Exports from Eastern Europe went from $2.3 billion to $10 billion from 2000 to 2006. And Russian exports mostly oil and gas went up from $14.5 billion to $24.1 billion in the same period. The trade is expected to grow significantly in coming years. Russia grew by 7.5 % in 2007 and Eastern Europe by about 6%, according to the Viennna Institute for International Economic Studies. Consumer spending on both sides has grown and with it the trade is growing. And with manufacturing investment in Eastern Europe from Germany and other countries there is demand in Russia for these products with higher quality such as the Skoda made in the Czech Republic by Volkswagen.

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Fisher and Taub in NYT give a brief history of Venezuelan politics and government since the 1950's to help readers understand today's economic and political crisis under president Maduro. How did a country with huge oil resources end up with depleted cash reserves to the point of creating shortages of basic goods on supermarket shelves, how did inflation reach over 700%, and how did the economy contract by over 10%, by some estimates close to 20%, in 2016? Venezuela's story is a reminder that populist movements do not hold the answer to political or economic problems, as they create corruption of their own as new groups of people try to perpetuate themselves in power, and new economic problems as they try to win favor with their own support base. Also through economic mismanagement worsened by economic changes such as oil prices or some other adverse development in the global economy. Internal divisions means the capacity of the country to respond is weakened. Brazil has shown the problems of corruption with new political groups and the weakening of government finances. Venezuela is the extreme example of how a lot can go wrong over time after the initial response to a new populist group is positive as it was in Venezuela in 1998, even with advantage of rich natural resources. Change that fragments a country and polarizes a country instead of pulling together the country's human talent around a program that all groups agree to support, is a signal of future problems. The rule of law is an essential component not just of democracy, but of economic development and progress of any country. These are the lessons of Venezuela for today. Economic crises in the eighties led to loss of public confidence in the two main political parties which alternated in power since the founding of democracy in 1958. In 1998 a military officer named Chavez won the election on the platform of returning power to the people and reducing corruption. Chavez reforms initially were popular. Popular protests in 2002 led to the military briefly taking power before returning power back to Chavez. This led to Chavez moving further towards consolidating power leading to a polarization of society. The oil company workers who went on strike were fired replaced by Chavez supporters and oil funds were diverted to popular programs. In the process Chavez isolated Venezuela from the world economy, leading to lack of foreign investment, and Venezuela falling behind other countries in Latin America, even though it had large oil resources. To retain control of the streets this report shows Chavez helped organize the colectivos or local supporters organized as vigilante groups, which has led to further polarization. Corruption in the military and with the colectivos has led to power being fragmented between different groups. The oil companies fund reserves were depleted by corruption depriving Venezuela of an essential cushion as oil prices dropped. Chavez died of health problems with Maduro winning the election in April 2013 by 50.6% of the vote. The parliamentary elections led to the opposition parties winning by a landslide in December 2015. The current problems with daily street protests stems from the economic crisis, with inflation as high as 700% and shortages of basic goods, the economy declining by over 10% in 2016. The uncontrolled printing of money has fueled rampant inflation.The efforts by president Maduro to nullify the powers of Congress in an effort to control the country and override Congress, has worsened the discontent with the government.   ...

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Germany's largest utility plans to spin off its conventional power generation, exploration and production units to focus on renewable energy. The fossil fuel units are restricted by German regulation as Germany moves to increase use of alternative solar and wind energy. The German government sees this as a positive step for energy transformation. German government support for green energy, including large subsidies, is resulting in a power surplus and lower prices for wholesale power. This makes traditional power plants unprofitable. In addition the ruble is negatively affecting Russian operations, Brazilian operations are unprofitable- these assets will be part of the fossil fuels unit, a kind of "bad bank" of assets, say analysts. E.ON shares went up by 4.3% on the DAX exchange, Dec. 1, 2014, showing positive investor perceptions of the move.

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France's GDF Suez takes a $20.4 billion writedown. The European power generation industry is taking large losses as a result of the growth in wind and solar energy.