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The Biden administration is proposing strict rules for the $7500 tax credit on new EV vehicles. Rules going into effect April 18 will restrict the credit only to certain models yet to be announced that fulfill strict criteria on sourcing of minerals in the US or friendly countries. The idea is to bring the supply chain for minerals critical for EV batteries back to the US and its partners, and shift it away from China that today controls that supply chain.

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Anything that smacks of the status quo or keeping the elites is frowned upon in 2026- Clinton/Obama and Bush/Bush elites that cost America $20 trillion in wealth transfer to China and EU/Canada/Mexico, 5 million manufacturing jobs, and reduced growth to 2% after 2000 (these are USTR Lighthizer and Jamieson estimates in 2026 Foreign Affairs magazine). Call it the TRIPLE BLOW- 5-20-2- or 5 million, $20 trillion and 2%.

 

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Amazon has installed 17000 EV charging points at 120 warehouses making it the largest private EV charging operator in the US in 2024.

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An account by Journal reporters based on over 25 interviews with eurozone policymakers shows how the central players in the eurozone drama acted to defend their national interests during the period April to July 2011. On one side France's president Sarkozy, Frenchman Claude Trichet at the European Central Bank, arguing in favor of the banks not to take bondholder losses or haircuts on loans made to Greece. On the other side the Bundesbanks Axel Weber, and Jens Weidman, Jurgen Stark and German Finance Minister Schauble. The Germans argued strongly for bondholder losses to take responsibility for bad loan decisions by French and German banks. French banks had committed more loans to Greece than German banks and had more at stake. German public opinion was strongly against German taxpayers paying for the losses, making German politicians insistent that European banks take losses on their bad loan decisions, or Germany would not support additional loans to Greece. Throughout April to July the two sides were locked in an impasse. The French feared losses for their banks and a Lehman Brothers bankruptcy style situation. The Germans at the Bundesbank and the Finance Ministry were equally insistent. A July 2011 summit meeting did not settle the issue. The events not covered here from the July to the December summit of eurozone leaders resulted in bondholders taking 50% haircut on loans to Greece, reducing the debt burden in Greece after austerity measures led to popular protests. The French pushed hard for the ECB or the EFSF to be allowed to make large purchases of bonds of troubled eurozone countries in an effort to protect Spain and Italy from contagion through higher bond yields. The Netherlands and Finland supported Germany's position. German bankers Weber, Weidman at the Bundesbank and Finance Minister Schauble opposed large scale buying by the ECB of Italy's and Spain's bonds and Chancellor Merkel said about a common eurobond that "this is not going to happen." Governments changed in Greece, Italy, and Spain by Dec. 2011, which committed to austerity programs and spending cuts. Italian Mario Draghi was appointed with German support as new head of the ECB. In late December 2011 Draghi launched the Long Term Financing Operation for lending unlimited amounts at 1% for three year loans to European banks and relaxing the terms to accept government bonds and other debt as collateral for loans. The effect of this was to provide a large infusion of liquidity into the banking system in Europe and drastically bring down the yields on bonds issued by Italy and Spain....

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Of the 12 regions in the UK the highest vote for Brexit Leave was from the West Midlands region with 59% of the vote for Leave.  This report shows the sentiment in this manufacturing hub is still strong for Leave even though people here are most likely to be hurt by the downturn in the economy. Studies by University of Sussex show a loss of 30,000 jobs or 1.2% of those employed even with asoft Brexit because of supply chains linked to Europe. An outsize hit of 4% is expected with a sudden Brexit. Aircraft workers in Flyde, auto workers in Stratford, workers in the northeast and other regions would also be affected. Risks spook people in Tamworth  where auto plants are located.

Feelings against immigration, for helping the poor and vulnerable, or accomodating British citizens first, were reflected in opinion in the West Midlands.

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Faiola points to public opinion in Ireland that shows the recovery in Ireland looks better on paper than it really is. Opinion polls show a large gap between the views of the government and of people in Ireland. EU estimates of growth in GDP of about 1% is inflated by profits of multinational companies such as eBay, Facebook and Google, a large part of which is repatriated. The multinational companies employ only 7% of the workforce. In reality consumer spending, retail sales and bank lending have suffered, and unemployment is at 14%. The feeling in Ireland is that the austerity cuts alone- spending cuts, higher sales and property taxes- with no effort to support growth, will leave the country in this situation for many years. A ruling by Ireland's attorney general that a referendum is required for approval of the new EU agreement on fiscal discipline, means that a referendum wll be held in June 2012. In 2001 and 2008 Ireland rejected EU treaties, only to obtain concessions and approve the treaty in second referendums. This time the referendum is expected to be seen as a vote on the three year agreement reached by Ireland with the EU, the IMF, and ECB in 2010, as its banks were on the verge of collapse in a property bubble. That agreement imposed strict austerity measures. Under the treaty terms only 12 of 17 EU countries have to ratify the treaty. The Socialist candidate in upcoming French presidential elections, Mr. Hollande, has called for renegotiation of the fiscal treaty to include measures to promote growth. For young people in particular, immigration- to Australia, New Zealand, Canada- is looking like an attractive option. For new graduates jobs are scarce, and cuts in university subsidies mean additional out of pocket costs of over $8000 a year with no student loan options....

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Hype and sales tactics by banks in sovereign bond issuance is coming under scrutiny by the International Capital Markets Association (ICMA). In one deal, a "covered bond" issued by Spain's Banco Santander SA in June 2011, with the collateral being Santander's loans to Spanish local and regional governments, this was clearly the case. The deal was managed by HSBC, Societe Generale, Commerzbank and Santander. One or more of these banks told investors they already had orders of 1.5 billion euros, which exceeded the original size of the 1 billion euro offering. After this deal found no buyers because of fears about Spain's debt situation, it became clear that the claims about orders were hype. The underwriting banks had to buy the bonds worth hundreds of millions of dollars.