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Actually some of this is a healthy development as more nations and people have a stake in the world economy. Take the Brazil situation for example . Clearly the Brazilian people are more favorable to globalization and its benefits than they were a decade ago at the height of the Asian crisis and the contagion effect on Brazil. Actually the advantages of free trade and a global trading system that benefits Brazil as well as China and India and other countries that buy its commodities such as iron ore is more now than ever because these nationas are benefitting from this trade. Because of the high prices of commodities and the agricultural products of Brazil, it has a currrent account surplus and its currency is strengthening. Instead of having to go to the IMF for assistance Brazil has large foreign exchange reserves that support its currency and which help it push up its investments as a share of GDP from 19% to closer to 25%, which should enable it to sustain about 5% growth year after year., according to Sergio Vale of MB Associados. A strong real, lower interest rates, and consumer credit have boosted the purchasing power of the middle class and the antipoverty programs of the Lula government have helped the poorer classes have a stake in the development. According to a recent Observador/Ipsos survey 23 million Brazilians have left social classes D and E and joined class C whose distinctive markings are a rented apartment, a car and some new gadgets. Actually quite to the contrary of the impression created by this article Brazil according to a former central bank governor is now showing a new enthusiasm for this kind of development which encompasses free trade and markets, a feeling that the stockmarket is not a casino and being part of the world economy is a good thing. The big discoveries of oil at Tupi and Carioca-Sugar Loaf in Atlantic offshore waters by Petrobras even though they are in miles deep waters and require special expertise must only have reinforced this mood. The danger to Brazil's enthusiasm comes not from nationalism of different countries trying to find better ways of meeting the aspirations of their people but from the risks in a global slowdown that started with the US subprime and mortgage crisis, the resulting credit tightening, and fall in consumption thats expected after years of overspending by the American consumer. Its now upto these individual countries, like Brazil, China, India and Russia, Japan as well as Germany France and other countries that are not directly part of the housing bubble and subprime and mortgage securitization mess affecting the USA, and the UK and Ireland and Spain to a lesser extent, to find ways of maintaining more modest but still substantial growth to meet the growing aspirations of people in these countries. In this sense the policy errors and regulatory errors made during this last decade in the US will actually have hurt the world economy and markets in a serious manner, and it is this that has now to be managed in a better way by these countries with the close cooperation between them and the USA. The situation in Brazil is repeated in the experience of India, China and Russia where for the first time there is enthusiasm for being part of the world economy. In the light of this development there is more reason for hope and more need for careful navigation mechanisms for these and other countries to weather the difficulties from a global slowdown and still sustain development that itself could help the USA work its way out of the current crisis through its exports....

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This is an high exceptional report in the NYT by Rosenthal, Fitzsimmons and Laforgia on the crumbling infrastructure in the U.S., taking the New York subway system as one of the most glaring examples of this failure of public administration since World War II. The woes of the system amount to a kind of defunding of the subway system for update, maintenance and technological improvement to meet the doubled ridership since 1950. Read this to understand why this is happening throughout the U.S. for clues to the possible causes, and what needs to be done. As this is now in the hands of ordinary citizens who suffer daily from the inefficiencies, delays, and rundown conditions on the subways compared to other subway systems in Europe, Japan and China. One report in the media in Nov. 2017 says Japan's Shinkansen railways apologized to customers for a train leaving 24 seconds early. Small details get accounted for in other countries, whereas they are ignored here in one of the largest cities in the world. A former New York transit system president from the 1970's calls it "heartbreaking" making him mad when he thinks about what is happening in the way New York subways are run. Financial deals have saddled the New York subway system with added $5 billion in interest on debt in return for  short term cash infusion. The result is that about 17% of the budget goes to paying interest on debt. In 1997 this was about 6%. So that needed maintenance and capital projects suffer. The New York subway system has only a 65% on time record,  the worst of any subway system in the world. And technology dates back to the 1930's with a signals system from that period,  says this New York Times report. Maintenance needs have suffered under the Cuomo administration says this report.  The system has suffered an enormous stagnation, leaving it in a shape that has not changed for decades. There are fewer miles of track than in 1950 after the war, while the ridership of 5.7 million today has doubled. The budget for maintenance has barely budged from 25 years ago. This report says the politicians who ran the city and the state of New York bear much of the responsibility for the crumbling infrastructure of the subways in New York.   ...

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BHP Billiton was known as Broken Hill Proprietary in the 1990's. The largest Australian mining company, it was based in Melbourne and simply known as the Big Australian. It had huge losses in that period - $3 billion in 1998-1999. The turnaround at BHP Billiton comes as a remarkable turnaround for the whole mining sector. BHP made $6.5 billion in profit in the year ending June 2005. Its not just rising Chinese demand that has made this possible. Billiton has taken steps to avoid past boom bust cycles in mining by taking a conservative approach to investing in new mines that might create an oversupply in the market. The company is run buy a banker. CEO Charles Goodyear avoids taking on large risky projects and has announced plans to return $2 billion to shareholders in stock buybacks. Even with this discipline compared to the past, some mining analysts believe the boom bust cycle will occur over time. HP has $10 billion worth of projects in different stages of development. One advantage the mining companies enjoy is the concentration of mining in a few companies- BHP, Rio Tinto, Xstrata PLC. This makes it possible to price aggressively for the nickel, copper, iron ore, and other metals. A 72% price increase was negotiated with steelmakers in 2005. Another part of the transformation is the use of risk-analysis tools. BHP uses "Monte Carlo analysis" to check all potential outcomes once a range of parameters- commodity prices, currency vales, interest rate scenarios- are entered that affect financial performance of a new mine or a new investment. Goodyear came in as CFO under a new team led by Paul Anderson, a former executive of Duke Energy Corporation, after the huge losses in failed copper mining investments in the late 1990's. Even with the recent success and the careful investing discipline there is a sense that things could change quickly if rising demand slows in China and other developing countries. And in that situation this discipline may prove insufficient and the models may only be good as the assumptions and information entered....

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Commodities prices hit a low in June before the second Greece election on June 16, with lower unemployment numbers in the U.S. and growth of 6-7% in India and China. Still average prices of oil in 2012 of $115 a barrel are higher than the level in 2011. And corn prices dropping to $5.25 a bushel are still high compared with prices earler. Corn farmers in the U.S. are adding to acreage. The relatively lower prices also give more room for smaller stimulus by central banks to stimulate growth. Freeport-Mining CEO, Richard Atkinson said in a presentation that the growth is coming on top of a bigger baseline for China, India and Brazil. China's copper consumption went up by about 6 million tons a year, averaging 13% growth a year in the period 1995-2010. Now even with slower growth at 6% a year, by 2025 he estimates China's copper consumption at 9 million tons per year. This is a structural change that is supporting commodity prices, says Amrita Sen, analyst at Barclays Capital.

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The trial of former Security Chief Zhou Yongkang is held in Tianjin, China, in secrecy. He is senteched to life in prison in June 2015. This is part of president Xi Jinping's fight against corruption in China.

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A public relations campaign by China about Japan's role as a colonial power in 1905-1945.

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Chavez and the changes underway in Latin America that required economies to be part of the global economy to grow and prosper. In addition Brazil, Mexico and other countries in Latin America have added social programs and benefitted from a global economy and exports to enlarge the middle class and improve conditions of the working class and poor. This has made a social program type economy financed almost entirely through oil exports less relevant and likely to fall behind in today's world. Venezuelans now want to connect back with the global economy and things to return to normal as in the neighboring countries. A lot is changing in Latin America including the demographics with fewer children, access to education and social benefits and the benefits of technology, and no country can remain isolated for long.

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Gen. Martin Dempsey took a cautious approach to U.S. involvement in Afghanistan and Syria. He did not approve of the way Gen. McChrystal expanded U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, and the hasty manner in which the Iraqi army was trained under his predecessors leading to some commanders being appointed who later became members of sectarian death squads. Under his command the U.S. limited its role in Afghanistan and Iraq and handed more responsibility to local forces. Gen. Dunford who succeeded Dempsey as chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff for the U.S. follows the cautious approach set by Dempsey. Dempsey's approach extends to what he believes is an Heisenberg effect in physics where when you you observe or touch something it changes the way it functions and operates. For critics such as Senator McCain, who served in Vietnam as a pilot, if Dempsey did not want to intervene in some country, he could invent the reasons not to get involved. President Obama exceeded the caution exercized by Dempsey, leading to a situation where the U.S. after hasty action under a Republican president seemed to lurch in the opposite direction under his Democratic successor by not taking action where U.S. presence was needed, followed by a corrective course to make up for this....

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An international arbitration panel gives Exxon $908 million for oil assets nationalized by Venezuela in 2007. This is much lower than the $7 billion claimed by Exxon. Exxon invested $750 million in its Cerro Negro oil operations in Venezuela. The operations had an estimated value of $2 billion and are located in the heavy crude oil region of Orinoco. Venezuelan oil company PdVSA showed net profit of $4 billion in the first half of 2011. Another case is pending for Conoco-Phillips.

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This WSJ editorial points out that the current corruption drive in China is opaque and politically driven. Transparency International in its Corruption Perceptions Index shows China at 36 points having dropped by 20 places because of the lack of transparency in tackling corruption. Whistleblower protection should be part of an effecive drive says Transparency International. Also needed is an independent judiciary, free speech and the rule of law, institutions China has still to develop.

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Friedman describes the leaks on income and expenses by wives of Chinese government officials after the officials took on mistresses. This has provided an unusually detailed acccount of the corruption of government officials in China.

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Shinzo Abe talks about China and Japan being similiar to competing powers Britain and Germany towards the end of the 19th century at a meeting in Davos.

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Rex Tillerson, U.S. Secretary of State takes a strong stand on North Korean missile testing and nuclear program in a visit to Seoul and Beijing. He said the U.S. would be forced to take pre-emptive action "if they elevate their threat of their weapons program"  to an unacceptable level. Continuing a policy of the Obama administration following missile tests by North Korea, the Trump administration has rejected any talks with North Korea. Tillerson said that "the policy of strategic patience has ended." It was also meant to signal U.S. intentions before Tillerson goes to Beijing from Seoul. President Trump commented on Twitter; "North Korea is behaving very badly. They have been "playing" the United States for years. China has done little to help." Because China sees North Korea as a bargaining chip with the U.S., Japan and South Korea, the situation has ended repeatedly in a impasse with the North Korean nuclear and missile program continuing during the Bush and Obama administrations. This has also meant that North Korea was unlikely to collapse on its own, with China pursuing a policy of using North Korea as part of its defense policies in the region, as pointed out by Sanger in this report. As the North's missile program continues the U.S., and with the North seeing the missile program as the only way to ensure the survival of the regime, the U.S. needed to come up with a new way to tackle the situation.   ...