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Senator Rubio, Republican nominee for Secretary of State, is given good points by the Wash. Post for helping negotiate a 2013 bipartisan deal on immigration that passed the Senate but could not pass in the US House of Representatives. And for his willingness to compromise.

On Ukraine and Eastern Europe after the invasion of Ukraine Rubio with Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) inserted an amendment into 2023 defense authorization bill that prevents any president from withdrawing from NATO unless two thirds of the Senate agrees.

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This is the first 5 match Test series since 1991-92 Tour of Australia by India- 34 years. It starts with Pat Cummins leading his Aussie team against  the Indian team led by India's captain Rohit Sharma on November 22, 2024 in Perth. India is coming off a 3-0 loss to New Zealand. Wicket takers for Australia in the last 2020-21 test series Cummins and Hazelwood, for India Siraj and Ashwin. Run scorers Labuschagne and Smith, Pant and Pujara.

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Kroger based in Cincinnati gets a new CEO Roland Sargent who headed Staples at one time. As the largest grocery chain inAmerica with 2700 stores in 35 states and many chains with different names such as Ralphs in California that it has acquired, Kroger now sets the prices in America for groceries that have hit Americans with high inflation.  This is why the judge who stopped Kroger's $24.6 billion acquisition of Albertson's in the western states in support of the FTC was on the right track.

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Peter Coy says that as long as unemployment numbers keep going up and foreclosures keep increasing as aresult of the job losses housing prices will keep falling. He says that they may have to fall 20% more than the level they are at today. And that the foreclosure levels could become atidal wave if it becomes easier for alot of people to just hand their keys to the banks. This was what Martin Feldstein warned aginst in the WSJ oped pages several times in 2008. As more people are under water it makes sense to just hand the keys to the banks, and as long as this goes on, the economic recovery will be put off. A study cited by Coy done by Reinhart and Rogoff shows that housing crisis of this magnitude last about 6 years before all the bad effects wear off. And in addition to housing there are other things at work in this crisis especially in the job loss rate which is increasing (663,000 jobs lost in March), and the readjustment in savings rate upto 6.4% according to BW for 2009 till March, which suggests a serious drop in the consumption rate is underway and may go on for several years crimping demand and increasing unused manufacturing capacity. The stories in the media and other information reinforce this statistical information. The bit of good new from hard hit housing markets in California and Nevada and other staes has to be seen as no more than a limited play in the foreclosure markets, that does little to the broad brush strokes that are ocurring on the national and world landscapes in job losses and consumption. Coy a veteran analyst who has covered the housing market and warned during the boom of the likelihood of abust in a cover issue at the time, brings experience and reflection to the developments, and urges serious caution in interpreting signals that may have no broad meaning....

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Fisher and Taub of the NYT look at the populist politics in Europe and the U.S. following the French election first round. Trump won in the U.S. with the deep polarization of politics in the U.S.- leading to the Republican Party to decide to support him to avoid the result of four more years of an administration led by Democrats, and with the support of discontented voters in midwestern states with falling living standards. The situation in Europe is different as the mainstream parties have united in the past to block populist politicians with negative messages on immigration and an open economy. This happened in the Dutch election, by the co-opting of the nationalist message of populist politicians by mainstream parties and mainstream politicians, and is likely to continue in the French and German elections in 2017. Fisher and Taub point to another development that is happening- shifting the debate to ethnonationalism vs. open economies, which has happened with Brexit and the UK Independence Party. They cite the 2015 British elections in which UKIP won 13 percent of the vote, as having influenced prime minister Cameron to call for a referendum on Brexit, in a effort to revive the fortunes of the Conservative Party. In the end this resulted in the 52 percent vote supporting Brexit.  Another way of looking at the populist movement is that with Trump it called attention to trade and the way working class Americans were being marginalized especially in the industrial midwest. With this problem being addressed in a Trump administration and a reviving economy, the mainstream parties have an opportunity to reassert themselves. In Europe the AfD called attention to immigration issues, and the Merkel coalition government of CDU and SPD by making changes such as the deal with Turkey, and returning economic refugees, is able to assert the role of mainstream parties. In Britain the situation could be a result of a brash decision by a Conservative prime minister Cameron, in making a bad miscalculation, that has put Britain on a course that is likely not in its best interest. The Brexit referendum yes vote galvanized opinion by showing an endless stream of refugees in their advertising- a development following the opening of borders by Germany and Austria to address the plight of Syrian war refugees. That situation has passed and is unlikely to happen again as both the SPD and CDU parties in Germany have pointed out that this was a one time situation that they responded to following the exodus from Keleti rail station in Hungary under special circumstances. With this kind of perspective populist politics can be seen as reflecting other voices in a democracy, that are heard and responded to, yet keeping the sense of balance and openness necessary in today's global economy and societies. This is also the perception of Germany's outgoing popular president Gauck in his final address, pointing to the need to listen to other voices in a democracy, and the need for openness in a democracy, as well as democracies always in the process of Becoming and evolving to adapt to new situations in economy, society, and politics.     ...

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Greece's pension system was unraveling even before the crisis. Generous provisions from earlier days of political influence led to early retirement by age 50 for some people. People taking early retirement after the crisis started has increased the number of retirees. The aging population has increased the size of the retirees relative to people working, especially with young people unemployed. About 16% of the GDP of Greece goes to pensions. Early in the crisis the retirement system took a hit of 10 billion euros on the declining value of Greek government bonds, wiping out 60% of reserves. Greece's banks were supported, but the retirement system was further weakened. In 2015 45% of the retirees of 2.6 million live at or below the poverty line, having seen cuts of 35-48% in the pensions since the crisis began. With the changes for retirees pensions of 900 euros a month are now about 700 euros for some of the retirees.

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Trump wins 32% of the vote in the South Carolina primary, to 22% for Cruz, 22% for Rubio, with Bush, Kasich and Carson winning over 7% each. Jeb Bush ended his campaign after the disastrous result in South Carolina. Trump showed support among independents and evangelical Christians. Undecided voters at the last minute voted for Rubio and Cruz.

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Tritch points out that in all the comments after the death of Andy Grove in March 2016, there is little mention of Grove's warning to Silicon Valley about the need for serious innovation, scaling up and creating jobs at home. In 2008 and 2010 Grove stated his strongly felt views on the subject in Business Week.

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President Obama is not greeted with enthusiasm during his speech on the need for financial regulatory reform and curbing executive compensationa adn bonuses on September 15, 2009. The President also showed a lack of clear direction and leadership on the issue, as bankers are not expected to have the same enthusiasm for change from past practices.

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The Monitor Group in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was paid $250,000 a month for work including writing the doctoral dissertation thesis of the Libyan leader Ghadafi's son Seif. Seif was a student at the London School of Economics. Sir Howard Davies resigns from his position at the LSE over links which the university had with the Libyan regime.

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The selection of Kazuo Inamori, who headed Kyocera and KDDI Corp, to lead the turnaround of Japan Airlines Corp. (JAL). Inamori is a supporter of the Democratic Party of Japan and advises the government of prime minister Yukio Hatoyama. Along with Soichiro Honda, Akio Morita, and Matsushita, Inamori is highly respected in Japan for his management and entrepreneurial skills

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Sorkin talks with Oliver Stone, director of the movie "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps." The movie opens this week in New York and shows life on Wall Street in 2008-2010. Its a sequel to his previous movie on Wall Street and shows the side of Wall Street that has been extensively covered in the media recently.

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Socialist candidate for president in France's runoff elections, Francois Hollande, says he will ask that the fiscal compact treaty completed in Dec. 2012 be renegotiated to include measures that promote growth in the eurozone. He praised ECB chairman, Mario Draghi's comments that uppermost in his mind was the need for a growth compact in the eurozone.

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Michael Cavanaugh, a former CFO of JP Morgan Chase, who was moved to the treasury and securities unit in 2010, will now head the Chief Investment Office (CIO) unit to replace Ms. Drew. He is a trusted aide to CEO Jamie Dimon, having moved with him when Dimon was fired by Sanford Weil at Citigroup in 1998.

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This NYT profile set includes ordinary people in Greece of all ages -a student, innkeeper, finance executive, restaurant owner, a Greek Orthodox priest, a vice mayor, a harbor traffic controller, a fishmonger, a technology salesman who is just married. Each person offers his views on what is happening today in Greece in 2015 and a sense of the future.

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Taylor on the Bernanke Federal Reserve's quandary over its exit strategy from a loose monetary policy. He points to the consensus among leading economists, Rajan, Meltzer, Feldstein, who share his view that the costs of a loose monetary policy outweigh its benefits, that the Fed's policies are not working, and the need for a more rules based monetary policy.

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JP Morgan Chase disclosed that traders in the Chief Investment Office may have tried to avoid showing the full extent of losses by placing inaccurate prices on their positions. A trader named the "London whale," may have been asked by his boss to mark positions more aggressively. CEO Dimon said this has "shaken our company to the core."

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Stewart says regulators let Barclays off lightly. Prof. John Cofee of Columbia University Law School, an expert on the subject, says the regulators were toothless in the LIBOR case. In fact under the settlement Bob Diamond was allowed to continue as CEO. He resigned only after UK prime minister David Cameron called for him to accept responsibility and resign.

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Observers describe the new Pope, Jorge Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, Argentina, as a person of overwhelming authenticity and compassion for the poor. The selection comes at a time when there is increasing global inequality and a period of slow growth and recession in many countries, particularly in Europe. His message should resonate with people in many countries.

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Marchione says in atalk at the Peterson Institute that Chrysler had alot of problems in bankruptcy that were not fixed, including not getting new powertrains and vehicles. "We're not perfect. We're going to continue to screw up." But he said that Chrysler is now doing alot less now than 6 months ago. This focus may help him deliver.

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Research on the human genes by Novartis researcher Dr. Rappouli has helped develop a vaccine for Meningitis B. In a unique collaboration with Craig Venter, the scientist who decoded the human genome, Dr Rappouli, an Italian scientist working for Novartis unit, Chiron Corp., describes his research effort and results to Jeanne Whalen of the WSJ in 2007.

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A former Fed Governor sees the advantages of a dollar depreciation for US exports when the USA economy is facing severe adjustments in other areas, and reducing the trade deficit as a bright spot in the generally poor economic situation. The dooar may be sacred but no particular exchange rate is, is the tone of his views.

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In endorsing Obama for President the New York Times says he has met challenge after challenge and put real flesh on his early promises of hope and change. It says leading America forward will require strength of will, character and intellect, sober judgement and a cool and steady hand, and Obama it says has these qualities in abundance.