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There may be psychological hurdles in China's growth with the effects on mental health from lockdowns in major cities, the revolt in the property sector with home buyers losing confidence in developers, the loss of confidence of foreign investors from US and EU. The dependence on the property sector to carry so large a burden of growth for the last 2 decades in China may now look like an error. The dependence on foreign investment may also be an error as the loss of confidence could mean some withdrawal and a lack of sustained investment.  It could even be said that restraints on both sectors property and foreign investors could have created alternative paths to growth, and reduced the shift of factories from the US and Europe to China that have now caused trade friction and and a reverse shift of investment back to home countries of US and EU. Trade friction has it appears backfired in a way that extends to the overall relationship which could have been prevented by preventing the hyper growth that happened. Greg Ip of the WSJ has argued that compared to Japan's growth in the sixties and seventies from a country of 100 million the hyper growth for a country of 1 billion for 2 decades created a massive impact on communities in US and EU that were dependent on factories that were lost to China. This has alienated large sectors of the public in the US and EU which could have been prevented by restraints on hyper growth in China. Ip says the growth was too large and too fast for the US to cope. It may have permanently damaged the relations between the two countries showing that trade and globalization had unintended effects when left to business and governments staying away from keeping an eye on how it was happening. ...

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The European Union Commission says Ireland must recover 13 billion euros in back taxes for giving tax preferences to Apple that are against EU rules. The EU Commission says Ireland allowed Apple to pay a corporate tax rate of 1% on its European profits in 2003, and .005% in 2014. The EU Commissioner says the use of Ireland as the place where Apple pays taxes on operations in Europe has no base in reality, as most profits are earned in other countries outside Ireland. Taxable profits of Apple "did not correspond to economic reality," according to Ms. Vestager, the EU Commissioner.  In the current environment where political upheaval is unsettling the democratic process in the U.S., Britain, Spain, France and Italy, as well as in Brazil and other countries in the developing world- because of deep recessions, and efforts to cut the deficits with deep cuts in state spending including in education and healthcare, basic services- the moves by companies to reduce taxes to these absurdly low levels such as .005% when other companies in the EU are paying 12.5%, is becoming increasingly unpopular. As pointed out in this BBC News article this sounds like the way Carnegie, Rockefeller and Vanderbilt operated during the late 19th century, and were seen as operating in a manner that was above the law. Janet Yellen pointed out at a Boston Fed Conference on inequality in Oct 2014 that the bottom half of the distribution or 62 million households in the U.S. in 2013, had a net worth of about $10,000, One quarter of these households had a net worth of zero dollars. The working class and blue collar workers in the U.S. provide much of the support at Trump rallies. Younger college educated people support Sanders, because of the situation of the working and middle class in the U.S., and a similar situation exists in Europe. It is for the sake of the democratic process and delivering services in education, healthcare, and other basic areas to all, that companies small and large need to pay their fair share of taxes, regardless of size, influence, or technological advantages. Today this is is seen by most leaders who draw public support as the right way forward for the U.S., Latin America, Europe and Asian countries, including proper allocation of resources to best serve the needs of working people. For example the 13 billion euros is equal to all of Ireland's healthcare budget, and 66% of its social welfare budget.    ...

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Sperling shows how Biden's economic plan rescued America and set the stage for America becoming the leader in the G7 economies. Gene Sperling is adviser to president Biden, coordinator of the America Rescue Plan, and had 8 years as adviser in 2000 and 2011 after the financial crisis to previous presidents. Here he says the arguments made that the trillion dollars investment spending Biden and a bipartisan group of senators have supported with legislation in Congress were causing inflation have proved not to be true. Inflation caused by bottlenecks in the supply chain, the pandemic shifts, and the Ukraine war, has come down to 3.4% in Dec 2023. By investing in the US economy, in US manufacturing and US jobs, the US under Biden now has the best economy of the 7 advanced economies with higher growth and unemployment below 4% for 24 straight months, lower inflation apples to apples. Sperling says there were 4 lessons learned during his work with the White House. The first to avoid harm to workers whose lives get scarred by loss of jobs. This happened in 1982 and again in 2008 after the financial crisis. Unemployment took 6 years to recover after 2008. And he says the unemployment rate was 15% for younger workers. For the first time economists like Sperling and Treasury Secretary Yellen have grasped what workers feel and have gone through. Sperling cites the devastation to people's lives - the mental health, the divorce, the loss of earnings and depression. The new policy after 2020 resulted in the fastest drop in longterm unemployment ever with black and hispanic unemployment reaching record lows by 2023. A first ever national eviction prevention policy led to 20% less evictions than prepandemic. Second Sperling says 650,000 jobs were lost by state and local governments in the three years after 2008 financial crisis. State and local budget cuts and mass layoffs seriously hit the economy. This time in after 2020 1.2 million jobs were added with the money in the Rescue Plan and lost jobs recovered in one third the time it took in 2008. Third state and local governments need to deal with the harm coming from the downturn and after 2008 the cupboard was empty. Whereas after 2008 only 154 cities and counties got help to tackle commericial blight, effects on communities, foreclosure and long term joblessness in 2020 Biden was able to send direct funding to all 20,000 local governments and 15,000 school districts. This helped tackle learning loss, crime, and address mental health needs. What a difference it made. Lastly one needed to anticipate something unexpected to happen that flattened projections of recovery. In 2011 3.7% growth projected was flattened when Sperling was senior adviser, and this was flattened by Fukushima nuclear disaster, Arab Spring spike in oil prices, and debt default negotiations. This time there was cushion in the plan so that when covid variants and unexpected Ukraine war happened the rescue could withstand and deliver with resilience. Growth was 3.4% average for the first 3 years of Biden's term and unemployment went down from 8% to 4% for 24 months. Coming from someone who had seen mistakes happen and corrected them, who had served three presidents and the last Biden ,this is a story of how Sperling, Yellen, with the help of Powell at the Federal Reserve, and the bipartisan support put together by a US president in Congress , one who has served the country in the Senate more than any other recent Senator and led the nation with courage, patience and determination. ...

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S. Jaishankar, Indian Foreign Minister speaks at the University of Delhi on his chapter in the new book Modi@20 Dreams meet Delivery. He also discusses the war in Ukraine, the Indian view on people and shortages created by the war of energy and food, and India's approach to Pakistan and China.

 

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The active role played by Harry Belafonte in the civil rights movement is the subject of this essay in the NYT by Wesley Morris. Belafonte was a close friend of Martin Luther King. Morris calls Harry Belafonte a folk hero who reached audiences of all colors in a subtle way that reminded them of their common humanity. NYT shows Robert Kennedy being interviewed by Belanfonte on television in 1968.

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The 1.4% decline on an annualized basis for the US economy in the first quarter of 2022 masks evidence of a recovery that is basically strong, says this report in the NYT. Consumer spending was up by 0.7 in the first quarter of 2022, even thought the omicron wave hit, and gas prices were high. This NYT report says the decline resulted mostly from the way inventories and trade figure in the calculation.

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DJT First 100 Days. The Promises Kept and some of the hurdles along the way- on transgender, stopping flow of migrants and the border, getting a level playing field by reshaping world trade, attracting investment in manufacturing and making America a manufacturing nation. All this from Day One as there was no time to lose because of midterms being only 24 months away and Year One being the target for delivery.

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WSJ committed to orthodox economic theory thinks of tariffs as tariffs such as Smoot Hawley from the 30's. This is why it is not true- It is about fentanyl flows that have led to 490,000 deaths over 12 years in the US and few in the US like to talk about it. Smoot Hawley had nothing to do with fentanyl, drugs trafficking and migrant trafficking that every nation not only has a right but a No.1 responsibility to its citizens to keep its neighborhoods and its children in neighborhoods safe. Smoot and Hawley were US Senators and US Congress was isolationist in mood. Their grasp of the world trading system was meager and they stepped in at a time when the world had economically not recovered from World War I, and the French against US General Pershing's advice had set the most punitive arrangement in Germany that crushed Germany after an armistice Pershing opposed that left the Kaiser's political structures intact. Tariffs is not DJT's idea. It is the solid experience of Deputy US Trade Representative, Robert Lighthizer under Reagan who conducted negotiations with the Japanese who stalled and stalled Lighthizer says, let negotiations drag on into endless nights, and Lighthizer and his team stood firm. The relentless Japanese relented and Lighthizer secured the agreements that ended this phase of trade relations in the 1980's. Lighthizer was Trade Representative in the DJT first term 2016-2020 and launched the negotiations with China. This is now 8 years since 2016 and 2016 itself was 35 years after Lighthizer negotiated with the Japanese. Today's US Trade Representative is Jamieson who was Deputy Trade Representative under Lighthizer in 2016. Each detail is carefully thought through to bring it to a fair conclusion in the interests of the world and the US. Information traveled slowly GM could not tell at any time how many cars were in inventory on its lots in 1920's. US lacked basic infrastructure for government that FDR and Labor Secretary added firt in New York in the 1930's and which was transferred to 50 states by 1940's. Today information is quickly at fingertips and consultation processes are built in between industry and government at all levels. A lot of information is carefully evaluated. USTR as DJT showed, the major study of USTR Office in the Rose Garden on April 2, 2025, has all trade barriers carefully analyzed in minute details for every country. And is working on this for 40 years. There isn't even a slightest  comparison between this and the Smoot Hawley crowd in the 1920's.  The goal not to beat anybody. Just to set the goal of a level playing field for world trade. That is the foundation of trade that is fair and respected, and is a win-win for all. WTO's basic foundation No. 1 principle is a level playing field. It is just that this was a kind of Marshall Plan for Asia of the US to let poor countries such as Japan war wrecked in 1950, and China colonial power wrecked by first Britain then Japan struggling and poor in 1990's, giving them some time to rebuild by ignoring unfair barriers to trade for 10-15 years 2005 for China. Barriers that never got dismantled and technology that leaked from the US 2005-2016 under the Obama administration. Smoot Hawley was not about the US Navy building its own ships and US shipyards in the 1920's. In 2025 US shipbuilding industry is stolen, this is why the words used "pillaged" "looted" were used in the Rose Garden. Little by little American private enterprise capitalism was superseded by a new form of capitalism in Japan then in China that combined state capitalism with private enterprise capitalism. This then was the threat America faced, and needed to redouble its energies and seek fair play.   ...

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Fiat acquires a 35% stake in Chrysler with the option to take a 55% stake and majority ownership at later date. The way Marchionne puts it offers clues to Fiat's thinking and strategy. He said this will offer Fiat the opportunity to gain access to a relevant automotive market. Fiat exited the American market in 1983 after years of poor quality. Under new leadership Fiat has come up with bestselling small and fuel eficient cars in Europe. So it is now in a position to bring these cars to the US, where even though the market is declining there may be room for the small cars Fiat is famous for like the Fiat 500. Chrysler received a $4 billion loan from the US government, and this government assistance under an administration keen on keeping a loss of jobs to a minimum must also have helped Fiat make its investment. It may also have been seen as an opportunity with a low cost for Fiat, as Cerberus Capital which owns Chrysler is eager to get out of its failed Chrysler investment. The US government would also be keen on seeing Fiat becoming an eventual owner of Chrysler, because of its innovative, evironment friendly, fuel efficient small car development and its offerings in Europe that might find appeal in the US....

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One Big Beautiful Act- how DJT Vance and officials cajoled Congress into the yes vote. 218-214 was the final vote with an all night effort by DJT and Speaker Mike Johnson. “We had the president himself, we had the vice president, we had attorneys and agencies answering questions,”  says Speaker Mike Johnson. Budget Director Vought came to Congress to talk directly and answer questions. Johnson was the right person for this effort as he truly believed in getting answers to any skeptical members of Congress. In the end only Rep. Massie remained opposed.  DJT pushed ahead with exhortations on Truth Social all the way into the early morning hours:  “What are the Republicans waiting for??? What are you trying to prove??? MAGA IS NOT HAPPY, AND IT’S COSTING YOU VOTES!!!”  ...

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The US president DJT says he is on both sides of the issue. He will never forget the farmers who supported him and he wants them to do well knowing their need for good agricultural workers. As the move to return illegal migrants proceeds under ICE DJT is considering a way to allow the farmers to keep the workers they know and be responsible for them. Agriculture Secretary Brook Rollins has told the president the importance of having the agricultural workforce for farmers in the US.

Even in the similar program under president Eisenhower in 1954 called Operation Wetback,  on which the current program is modeled, there was an effort to keep the agricultural workers on farms for essential agricultural activity. For a long time the Bracero program with Mexico was designed to do this with legal pathways to work in the US in the 1950's.

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The story of hand woven cloth or khadi is also the story of Mohandas Gandhi and India. Here in Scroll.in Pramod Kapoor tells the story of Mohandas Gandhi's search for the tools that would drive the independence struggle and how in 1921 in Madurai he found the idea of khadi. It was like the idea of the salt march. Always about the dignity of man. Kapoor tells the story of Pamela Hicks, daughter of Mountbatten, the first governor general of India, who says her father told Gandhi, that sending a piece of his hand woven cloth would be like sending the crown jewels. Later, years later, Elizabeth was to tell about this treasured possession to Modi during her two meetings with the Indian leader who started his own version of khadi with Har Ghar Jal, water, life's basic necessity, to all Indian homes by 2024.

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This editorial in the WSJ shows that culture wars distract even the major candidates of the Republican party from providing the American public with positions on serious issues of cost of living, healthcare, education, infrastructure, new technologies such as EV's, and renewable energy transition. The wars in remote parts of the world acted as a distraction during the Bush, Obama and Trump administrations from these serious issues. As the WSJ points out much of it ends up being effort to gain personal advantage in some way.

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New bicycle lanes in Paris, Milan, to Mexico City are changing the way cities see people getting to work or moving round. New bicycle lanes are popping up in many cities. In Paris the plan by order of the mayor is to provide 400 miles of pop-up bicycle lanes throughout Greater Paris. Car lanes are giving way and being transformed into bicycle lanes. 

Oakland has moved to have 10% of the roads for bicycle lanes. In Montreal extra 70 miles are added. Bogota added 47 miles.

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This editorial in the WSJ says the reinterpretation of Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution to allow collective self-defense in no way brings Japan back to its militarist past. It reminds readers that Prime minister Abe faces the Japanese public's skepticism as a majority of Japanese in polls show they do not favor the collective self defense interpretation. The New Komeito party in the coalition government also restricted the interpretation. South Korea's reservations have also to be considered by Japan. The revised interpretation lets Japan fill some needed changes in its role in the new situation where China has taken a more assertive stance on territorial issues in Asian waters near Vietnam, the Philippines, Japan and South Korea. In this manner the restricted interpretations lets Japan fulfill a role necessary for the U.S. to continue its presence and strength in the Pacific and Asian waters needed to maintain peace in the region.

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These days even the Lincoln Center is changing. Diversity can represent excellence, says Darren Walker of Ford Foundation, of the changes under Henry Timms breaking the walls that separate Lincoln Center from the neighborhood. The neighborhood under what was San Juan Hill changed with the building of the Lincoln Center, and Lincoln Center stayed aloof from the community around it. Timms was born in Exeter, England and went to school at Durham University, in 2008 he headed programming at the 92nd street Y. David Geffen Hall built to house the New York Philharmonic opened last year in $500 million renovation. Timms is changing the way New Yorkers approach their cultural institution and making it one for the community.

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A federal jury finds the NAR National Association of Realtors and residential brokerages liable for $1.8 billion in damages for keeping commission rates on home sales artificially high. The case was brought forward by sellers in midwestern states and the decision was announced by the jury at a Kansas City courtroom. Under antitrust rules the verdict could be tripled to $5 billion. At present the sellers pay their own agents commission about 5-6% of the home's selling price, which is shared with the buyers agent. As the WSJ report shows mostly all countries in the world charge lower commissions in the range of 2% and the US has the most realtors, many working parttime-1.6 million of them.

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Who is Caludia Sheinbaum, expected to be new president of Mexico? What would a Sheinbaum administration in Mexico look like? What would interaction with the US look like on immigration, the border and the economy? WSJ's Jose Cordoba, Santiago Perez and Steve Fisher try to answer these questions in this detailed report from Mexico City. Sheinbaum was mayor of Mexico City and was environmental chief during Lopez Obrador's term as Mayor of Mexico City. Obrador has remained popular throughout his 6 years as Mexican president with favorable ratings consistently of over 60%. Mexico limits a president to one six year term. Obrador's party Morena derives from Mexico's indigenous culture and reflects Mexico's history in the 20th century of passion for protecting its national assets including the oil industry from foreign domination or influence, and ardently seeks respect for dignity of Mexicans and Mexican culture. Under Obrador Mexico reached a level of living with organized crime gangs after decades of war against these gangs. The US needs support from Mexico for its border policies and control of border. Obrador was a son of a provincial shopkeeper and spent little time outside Mexico.  Sheinbaum sees him as her mentor after work supporting migrant welfare in California with Carlos Imaz, during a period when she finished doctoral work at UC Berkeley and Stanford. Her father was a chemical engineer and her mother a biology professor. Her grandparents were of East European Lithuanian and Bulgarian origin. Sheinbaum says she follows Obrador's principles, yet it will be Claudia that will run the government. Her policies include setting up 100 industrial parks for Mexico's development, and setting up professional police services to control crime throughout Mexico's different states. ...

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Prodigous investments in AI data centers is crowding out investment in essential infrastructure that would cut the cost of living in the US. Such as investment in pharmaceuticals in the US, investment in automobiles and rare earth processing, in housing and schools would reduce cost of living by bringing down prices and provide huge human returns for every dollar spent in addition to larger profits over a long period. Shown here is the AI data center for Microsoft in Atlanta. Microsoft has invested $34 billion the first fiscal quarter of 2025 alone, with similar investments by Amazon, Tesla, Google, and others for $400 billion capital allocation in 2026. Investments are also being crowded out in the replacing of the aging infrastructure of the US  of roads, rail, subways systems, transport systems, bridges, airports and ports. Some of these investments such as in ports and logistics are needed to make America a manufacturing and exporting nation. Economists loved to talk about crowding out of investment by the private sector when the government spending was significantly higher as during and after World War II. Today there is little talk about the massive misallocation of capital in the US economy. Where public infrastructure is ravaged by time and mismanagement as in New York political trends are calling for free public transport  and supported grocery stores in NYC, when the root cause the overall picture of the Nation's spending in rebuilding America is ignored or unaddressed, which would get to the root cause of the cost of living and quality of life issues that concern all the people of this Nation. ...

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A civic group plans to continue showing a woman's statue representing 'comfort women' in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul. South Korean media is critical about the lack of merit in generating goodwill of the agreement between prime minister Abe and prime minister Lee on 'comfort women.' Some South Koreans see an uncomfortable association between history showing Ms. Lee's father being an officer in the Japanese Imperial Army, and the agreement that does not do much to put the issue behind by offering $8.3 million. Japanese prime minister Abe considers the 1965 agreement normalizing relations between the 2 countries with no reparations as final, with no exceptions for the situation where many South Korean women were used by the Japanese Imperial Army. An exception might open up claims from other survivors of the war in other situations, Japan fears. Japan offered $8.3 million as an humanitarian gesture for the surviving 46 comfort women, which is seen as insulting for the women in the South Korean media. The women say they were never consulted. ...

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Amazon sales growth was 81% for AWS in the 2nd quarter 2015.

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Nova Poshta Ukraine's unstoppable Postal Service that delivers next day across Ukraine from Kviv to Kharkiv and Kherson in war zones. The Guardian gives this amazing story in Ukraine In Depth- Charlotte Higgins in Kviv and Mariana Matveichuk in Kharikiv show the resilient spirit at Nova Poshta postal service that quickly delivers millions of parcels across Ukraine and to millions of refugees from Ukraine in Britain, Spain, Poland, Germany and other countries.  Pictures show the automated lines that sort out parcels and get them ready for delivery in Kviv and in Kharkiv. Even in war zones the work goes on night and day even in nights when there is no electricity and water using generators designed for Nova Poshta with its own energy supplies. Ukrainians of all ages in all parts of the country depend on Nova Poshta for delivery and it is what keeps the country going through war and drone attacks from the skies, and on the frontline cities such as Kharkiv. This report gives stories of many people in Kharkiv and Kviv who depend on the postal service, of workers, and of troops at the front lines. ...

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This editorial in the NYT says Bill Clinton moved the Democratic Party to the centre in 1992. In 2016 about 25 years later, after the removal of the Glass Steagall Act led to the 2008 global financial crisis and a deep recession, after the trade relations with China led to loss of U.S. manufacturing jobs over two decades and the hollowing out of industry in the midwest, things have changed. The revolution led by Bernie Sanders, a shrinking middle class, smaller access to college education for the middle and working class, and wide disparities in income, are putting the Democratic Party closer to its roots and the days of FDR. The Democratic Party platform calls for a 21st century Glass Steagall Act to separate normal banking from investment banking, opposes the TPP to prevent any further export of jobs overseas, and goes for a $15 minimum wage. This was also evident at the opening day of the Democratic National Convention when Sanders told the gathering in Philadelphia that even though he was not the candidate, these are the planks of the platform that Hillary Clinton will be pushing for in her presidency. What the editorial does not point out is that the Republican economic platform also calls for reinstatement of Glass Steagall Act, opposes TPP and opposes any loss of American jobs to overseas locations. It differs on the minimum wage leaving it to the states, and it is likely to skew tax cuts towards the wealthy, but also possibly removing the lower income brackets from taxes as Britain has done under the Conservative Party. Both parties today are looking for support from the middle and working class and have directed their appeal to these two groups which are in upheaval. The election of Trudeau in Canada recently also followed this trend, after the hollowing out of Canadian industry in Ontario and Quebec in a similiar pattern as in the midwestern U.S.  ...

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The Hindu provides this look at the life and career of European Union president Ursula von der Leyen. Today Leyen is one of the prominent leaders in the European Union, and leads the fight against the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Leyen has visited places destroyed in the Russian invasion such as Bucha and talked to refugees, mostly women and children She has stated on Twitter after proposing a complete ban on Russian crude oil to Europe- "we want Ukraine to win this war." After a mediocre performance as Minister of Defense Leyen took the position at the EU headquarters in Brussels, where her father had served as a civil servant. Her father was  elected as Minister President of Lower Saxony province after working at EU in Brussels. Leyen went to secondary school in Brussels. Studying economics at London School of Economics before shifting to medicine, getting her degree in 1991. She followed her husband to Stanford University, and after her return to Hanover in 1996 was elected to the state parliament in Lower Saxony in 2003. She joined Merkel's cabinet as Minister of Youth and Family Affairs in 2005, deputy leader of CDU in 2010 and Defense Minister in 2013. ...

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Swiss regulators engineer UBS buying Credit Suisse for over $3 billion in an emergency rescue. This happened after the Swiss central bank made and infusion of $50 billion into Credit Suisse that failed to stabilize the Swiss bank. With outflows of $10 billion Swiss Francs in the week recently Swiss regulators had to quickly arrange UBS buying out Credit Suisse for over $3 billion.  In its early days in the nineteenth century Credit Suisse helped build the Swiss electricity grid and the Swiss rail system. After World War II it was part of the reconstruction effort in Europe. After 1990 it merged with banks in the US and engaged in international acquisitions, investment banking operations, and wealth management. This led to problems and the company had to make settlements for each of its businesses in the last three decades, leading to the current crisis. The bank is seen as lacking good governance, and taking on excessive risk in the pursuit of profit. A bank that was known for setting up key infrastructure in Switzerland in the nineteenth century succumbed to poor management and risk taking over one hundred years later as it fumbled in each of its businesses. ...