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Germany's EVG transport workers union reached an agreement with Deutsche Bahn on wage increases. EVG asked for 650 euros a month. After months of 1 day strikes both sides agreed to arbitration in June. The new agreement gives workers wage increases of 410 euros ($443) a month in 2 stages over 25 months, 200 euros in December and 210 euros in August 2024. And a tax free one off payment of 2850 euros in October. Negotiations of DB with the train drivers union GDL lie ahead with GDL asking for increase of 550 euros a month and one time payment of 3000 euros. For the first time as in the US with president Biden the German government of SDP and Greens of Scholz supports agreements that provide workers with wages adequate to meet the cost of living and dignity of living.

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President Biden visits Nevada and calls for a 5% cap on rent increases by corporate landlords with over 50 rental units. The WSJ report July 15 shows 25% of people renting apartments in the US pay over 50% of their income just to pay rent leaving little for food and transport, education and healthcare. This is a severe problem in Nevada and in the US across all 51 states. The president is closely following mortgage rates that went up from 3% to 8%, creating affordability issues for prospective homeowners. Another proposal of the president that he can act on as it does not require Congressional action is to use federally underused land and repurpose it for building 15,000 affordable housing units in Nevada. Such proposals across the 51 states are needed today to address acute rental housing shortage and price increases of about 20% by landlords.

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Instead of $20 billion proposed before Argentine elections when the country was facing economic pressures, banks will lend $5 billion in a short term facility, according to this report in WSJ November  20 2025 

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U.S. president Trump signs an executive order on March 28, 2017, reversing the American commitment to the Paris climate change agreement. The executive order also lifts a moratorium on the sale of coalmining leases on federal lands. The Obama administration 2015 clean power plan was designed to restrict greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. It was blocked by courts in 2016. Trump says he is reversing president Obama's war on coal. Earlier he approved the Keystone pipeline for bringing oil from oil sands in Canada to the U.S.. Under the Paris agreement the U.S. agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions 26-28% by 2025 from 2005 levels. Market changes including the availability of cheap natural gas from technology advances fracking and hydraulic fracturing is leading a shift away from coal, apart from Obama administration regulations. Another factor is the long term trend towards cleaner energy, with large energy producers such as American Electric Power and other companies planning for the long term which is likely to be in the direction of cleaner energy. These companies see the Trump administration changes as a situation that may not be for the long term. ...

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Barbara Wesel of DW.com says 2017 will be a difficult year for the European Union. Elections will be held in the Netherlands, France, Germany, and possibly in Italy. The Netherlands election is coming up this month and the far right party led by Wilders is likely to gain as much as 25% of the vote but have to negotiate with other parties in a fractured parliament to form a government. Elections in France show Marie Le Pen winning the first round, with an uncertain result in the second round between Le Pen and Macron. A win by Le Pen could lead to the unwinding of the EU. In Germany another coalition government is expected with the SPD playing a larger role as it regains favor with the voters under the EU's Martin Schulz. Wesel says Germany and Merkel are looking like a beacon of stability and hope as the world looks for leadership with America looking inward to fix problems at home.

 

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DJT on Iran and the midterms-  "voters understand that" about Iran not having a nuclear weapon and calls for Saudis, Qatar, Pakistan, Oman, Turkey, to sign the Abraham Accords. He says the electon results in some states May 26 showed Republicans and much of the Nation with large majorities for candidates endorsed by DJT- voters understand the president's policy to not let Iran go for a nuclear weapon. This WSJ report cites concerns of Republicans about the midterms yet as soon as it appeared that the president was about to reach a  deal that would be similar to Obama's- that failed and financed Iran's third effort for nuclear weapons- over the weekend, as soon as this appeared to be the course many Republicans and the WSJ Editorial Board, said this was a bad idea. The president paused that effort. At a Cabinet meeting DJT said  about the Arab states signing the Abraham Accords- the Saudis and Qatar, Oman, Turkey,Jordan, “I think they owe that to us to be honest.”  “I’m not sure we should make the deal if they don’t sign." On Iran getting funds from the US which could go right into making a nuclear weapons program again as it did after the Obama administration did this, DJT had this to say- “We’re not talking about any easing of sanctions, no giving money. When they behave properly…we’ll let them have their money.” Repeatedly at campaign events and rallies across the country for 10 years DJT has said Obama made a serious mistake in handing over funds that were put right into building a nuclear weapons program with a ballistic weapons program, for a third time. This has happened before in North Korea. Obama allowed 11 tons of uranium enriched at 20% to be shipped to Russia- that did not stop Iran from a new nuclear weapons program and a threat to Israel. There is also considerable Republican skepticism about any deal that does not remove nuclear weapons. About sending the Iranian uranium to Russia or China DJT said- “No. That would not make me comfortable.”  About Iran's economy DJT said inflation is "at 250% "and they are negotiating on fumes." DJT calls it a "conflict" (the blockade not committing US troops) and not an open ended war. ...

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According to a report from China's Environment Ministry for the first half of 2013, only 4 cities met the acceptable air quality standards. The national grade 2 standard in China is for 35 micrograms per cubic meter for levels of airborne particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrograms in diameter. WHO standard is for 25 micrograms per cubic meter in a 24 hour period. The 4 cities with acceptable air qualty out of 74 cities monitored by the Environment Ministry are Lhasa in Tibet, island city Haikou, coastal town Zhoushan, and Pearl River Delta city of Huizhou.

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A native of Cincinnati, Ted Turner, built one of the largest landholdings in the US. He bought 2 million acres which makes him 4th largest landholder in the US when he died this year in 2026 at the age of 87 years. One ranch alone cost him $100 million in New Mexico made up of 586,000 acres, which is now worth $500 million. Turner bought early when land prices were low in New Mexico and Montana. Much of this wilderness was turned into conservation areas. In this sense he will be remembered more for this public land and conservation than for a 24 hour news channel. Much of the audio and video media can be accessed over 24 hours anytime of one's choosing on the internet by 2026, which makes CNN redundant today. CNN and Fox News are more of a distraction today at best and a flawed presentation of the News because of their tendency to take advantage of the audiences and reinforce their bias for profit, CNN and Fox New on opposite sides. CNN has been acquired by Paramount CBS and is about to undergo major changes under the Ellison family. And the Murdoch family is split on how to run Fox News. Both television channels will likely dissipate in influence and viewers as Americans grow out of their biased and often incorrect interpretations of current news events. There is little they do that cannot be done by diligent effort to present the news in alternatives such as Lyrarc.com on the internet that present a range of views from major world newspapers and sites. And yet see America as a beacon of hope in the world and Europe as the place where the scientific and industrial revolutions that changed all our lives for the better started, giving the younger generation of Americans reason for hope in the future. ...

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Kerala state of 35 million people who speak the language Malayalam, is one of the rare places today that has only 4 deaths from coronavirus, 524 cases confirmed and no community transmission. Here the Guardian looks at the reasons why. The Health minister KK Shailaja started very early on January 23, with a meeting of her rapid response team when the virus was still in China.  She setup a control room and instructed Kerala's 14 districts to do this on Jan. 24. When the first case arrived on Jan. 27 on a plane from Wuhan, Kerala had already adopted the WHO  protocol of test, trace, isolate and support. These passengers were checked for temperature, tested and quarantined. With some at a nearby hospital and others in home isolation. This is all the more amazing considering that Kerala is a state in southern India on the west coast that has a large number of people living and working overseas. Many are in the Gulf countries and the arrival of these refugees could have triggered a second outbreak. This was prevented by careful testing, and contact tracing of clusters.  When one group was evasive and concealed information from an airport surveillance team -arriving from Venice, Italy,  in late Feb- a case was detected back to them.  Contact tracers tracked down all of the hundreds whom they had been in contact with and quarantined them.  By 23 March all flights to 4 Kerala airports from overseas were stopped, including Cochin and Trivandrum. On March 25 India went into lockdown.  Some of the achievements in Kerala include quarantining 170,000 people early. with strict surveillance, which is now down to 21,000. Accomodating and feeding 150,000 migrant workers from other states, before returning them on charter trains to their home areas. A big reason for the success is the high literacy rate in the state. A big emphasis on education and healthcare is a part of the Kerala model. Shailaja is a secondary school teacher, and Health minister. From the days since independence of India in 1947 the state has a strong socialist tradition of taking care of the basics- health, education and public services. It also generates a part of its GDP with income from workers who are overseas.  Another reason for the success in dealing with coronavirus is experience. The state had a virus epidemic called Nipah in 2018 which has become the story for a movie called Virus in Malayalam. There is decentralized public health system in the state and people value their health care facilities, understand and trust the health care authorites. There are hospitals at every level of administration and 10 medical colleges. But trust and education, experience tackling the virus before, are key. Kerala is showing that poor countries can deal effectively with the virus, and create a better life by adopting the right model of creating good societies that value education, healthcare services, better economic structures and distribution of wealth, and  a degree of trust and responsibility found in a state that values public spiritedness. ...

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Prime minister Theresa May of Britain announces her plan to spend an additional 20 billion pounds a year on the National Health Service. Over five years the commitment is for an additional 70 billion pounds. By 2023 this will bring the UK to the point where it is spending the same proportion on health care as France. This also fulfills a promise made by the pro Brexit campaign. May says some of this would come from higher taxes, and 9 billion pounds that the UK contributes to the European Union each year would go to pay for the additional funds to the NHS. The 2017 British election with Labor winning 40% of the vote has affirmed the shift in public sentiment to greater commitment of funds for health and education. Poorer communities in Britain that were left behind tended to vote for Brexit, with a large gap widening between London and the rest of the country. Higher commitment to NHS is part of the shift in perception that the needs of health, education and underserved communities are the new priorities. ...

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DW. com looks at the controversial effort of privage equity firms Blackstone and Carlyle to buy stakes in Bundesliga soccer clubs. Approval of 24 of 36 clubs sets out a plan to attract 1 billion euros of funding for digitalization, internationalization, in return for an 8% share of TV rights revenues for a period of 20 years. Experts say any effort to take international preference for the Premier League will be difficult. There is also the 50+1 rule in Germany where the ownership stays with the clubs not investors, so that the ticket prices are affordable for the club fans and the clubs belong to the fan base. For the fans and locals the situation is better without private equity.

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A New York Times/CBS poll shows 69% of Americans polled between March 21-25, 2012, feel the U.S. should not be involved in a war in Afghanistan. This is up from 53%, in a poll only 4 months before this poll.

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Management changes as Blackberry sales fall by 25% in the last quarter include the exit of founder, Jim Balsillie, from the Board. Also leaving are Jim Rowan, the chief operating officer, and David Yach, the chief technology officer. RIM shares are now down 75% this year, falling to $13.73 on March 29, 2012. In the 4th quarter ending March 3, 2012, revenue decreased by 25% compared to same quarter prior year. Blackberry is facing unsold new models of products in stores and is writing off $267 million in unsold Blackberry 7 models. Blackberry 7 models are its latest product introduction. The iPhone now outsells the Blackberry in its home market of Canada. In a conference call, Thorsten Heins, the new CEO, said the company was conducting a strategic review including the option of selling the company.

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A major example of how the Ukraine war has pushed the financial situation to the brink in other parts of the world is Egypt. Egypt has borrowed $20 billion from the IMF and is turning to the IMF again. Egypt imports two thirds of its wheat from Ukraine and Russia and the war has sent prices of wheat soaring with shortages. This wheat is subsidized by the Egyptian government for decades as part of the social contract. In recent years foreign money entered the short term debt market, with the crisis some of these inflows have reversed. The Egyptian currency was devalued recently in response to financial crisis with significant part of earnings going to finance interest on loans. On June 24 the IMF approved a standby arrangement for Egypt. Because Egypt has borrowed $20 billion in 3 loans since 2016, and has now reached the limit allowed by its drawing rights Egypt has sought a cosponsor for additional borrowing. This comes through Saudi Arabia which deposited $5 billion in the Egyptian central bank recently. Saudis, Qatar and UAE have offered to invest in Egypt in a show of solidarity. Of this $10 billion were offered by Saudi public wealth fund and $5 billion by Qatar public wealth fund. In addition UAE plans to invest $2 billion by taking stakes in companies listed on the Egyptian stock exchange. ...

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British regulators say they have"absolute confidence" in the Pfizer vaccine after analysis of over 1000 pages of data on the vaccine. The vaccine was approved by the Medicine and Health care products Regulatory Agency. The first vaccines to be shipped to Britain are being packed in Belgium. Britain has secured 40 million doses enough for 20 million people. Vaccination will begin as soon as doses reach Britain. The NHS will prioritize, first care home staff and residents, then healthcare workers, followed by people over 80 years age. Clinically vulnerable people will get a jab alongside people ages 70-74. People with severe obesity and underlying conditions will get jab after people over 60 years, followed by people over 50 years. About 34% of the 66 million population of Britain is over 50 years age, which is about 22 million. This means the Pfizer vaccine ( with doses already secured by Britain enough for 20 million people) covers over 90% of these people or 19 million people and the 1.1 million workers in NHS. Rapid progress in vaccinating these people would make Britain the first country in the world to have done this, a remarkable achievement. By the end of the year the Oxford vaccine should also be available making it possible to proceed with vaccinating the rest of the population of 46 million people. ...

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Spain's economy contracted 0.3% in the fourth quarter of 2012, according to the Spanish central bank. Unemployment reached 23% in January, 2012. For workers under 25 years age the unemployment rate is 48.6%. The new government of prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, plans to pass labor reform legislation to give companies flexibility to hire new workers, lower dismissal costs and make hiring easier. The economic crisis has a larger effect say experts, because of rigid labor laws. This make it easier to layoff workers than adopt alternatives of lower wages, and which make firms hesitant to rehire. One example is higher dismissal costs- the cost of unfair dismissal is 45 days of pay for each year worked, and 20 days for fair dismissal, which is hard to prove under Spanish laws.

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Spain's Socialist Party emerged as the largest party in parliament with 123 seats in the Spain's 2019 general election. The Socialists increased their share of the vote from 23% in the 2016 elections to 29%. With the help of the centre left Podemos Party led by Pablo Iglesias it has 165 seats in the 350 member parliament, 11 short of a majority. Its leader Pedro Sanchez who called the snap election after a no confidence vote in 2018 brought the Socialist Party to power, said after the win that he would work to reduce inequality, promote co-existence and women's rights. Spain's Popular Party (Partido Popular) which has alternately governed Spain with the Socialist Party since the shift from the Franco era, and which governed Spain till March 2018, won just 66 seats down from 137 in the last parliament.  It lost support to the far right nationalist Vox Party which opposes secessionist sentiment in Catalonia. Vox won 10% of the vote and won 24 seats in parliament. The right parties in Spain are now fragmented with the Ciudadanois party a centre right party winning 57 seats.  A coalition with Ciudadanos is unlikely, and the Socialist party with its ally Podemos party looks for support from other parties. It will try to stay away from secessionist parties from Catalonia because of the general sentiment in Spain opposing the separation of Catalonia from Spain. Turnout was 76% up by 9% from the last election. The Secesionist ERC party in Catalonia has 15 seats.  The right wing parties Popular Party, Ciudadanos and Vox Party fought the campaign saying the Socialist Party supported Catalan separatism. ...

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Unemployment in Spain among people ages 16-24 is 42.9%. This is the highest rate in Europe, and it is double the overall rate of 19.3% for Spain. By comparison the overall jobless rate in the USA for workers ages 16-24 is up to 19.1%. Why this high an unemployment rate for young workers? Greece has youth unemployment rate of 25%, while Ireland has a youth unemployment rate of 28.%, and Italy 26.9%. The rate in Poland is 21.2%, down from 35% a few years ago. In Eastern Europe overall the rate is 27.9%. This puts Spain at a level higher than Eastern European countries where youth unemployment has traditionally been higher. Worse, this is a result of a spike in unemployment from 17% at the height of the boom three years ago, to the currrent 43%. Alfonso Prieto, deputy secretary general of employment studies at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, says this high rate in Spain is a result of a disproportionate share of Spanish youth employed on temporary contracts. During the boom years a large number of young workers joined a culture of temporary work, with the term "mil euristas," used for workers on 1000 euros a month. With the economy in trouble these were the first people laid off. Low skilled and immigrant workers who lost jobs are also reflected in the statistics, as Spain witnessed an influx of millions of immigrants during the boom. Still worse the government is under tremendous pressure from the EU and bond markets because its budget deficit reached 11% of GDP in 2011, and austerity measures are being adopted. Spain is spending 30 billion euros in unemployment benefits, but the money is not doing much to prepare workers for jobs in new industries or new vocations for the future. ...

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As Arnold Schwarznegger's time as governor of California comes to a close, the state is still short of $20 billion to pay for all the services that it provides. Arnold's popularity is down to 27% and he has failed to bring financial order to the state- the state is simply broke. Hikes in tution for the state's university system and other moves haven't been enough. And Arnold is down to warning the federal government that California's safety net faces further shredding- with more pain for the elderly and children, and in the schools.

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20 million barrels a day  of oil flow through Straits of Hormuz. 2.6 million barrels a day by pipelines to Oman. 70% of it going to Asia- China, India, Japan, South Korea. Iranian exports go through these Straits also making it difficult for Iran to generate oil revenue if the Straits are closed to shipping. Would Iran risk closing the Straits and what would it take to open the Straits? The answers are given in the adjoining article by Wald in The Atlantic Council publication. It says even if Iranian waters are closed in the Straits of Hormuz oil can still flow through the longer route in UAE waters. Wald says the bigger risk is for Suez and Red Sea shipping which is restricted by the Houthi rebels supported by Iran, with the US Navy operating in that area to keep shipping lanes open.

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100 ships pass through Straits of Hormuz daily 5-6 daily in March 2026. BBC Verify looks at the kinds of ships from India, Pakistan, Iran, and Greek shipping that have made it through the Hormuz shipping lane.  Some of these ships go close to the Iranian coast and not in the middle of the channel. The mountainous terrain along the coast, the peculiar geography of the channel have made it difficult to secure the Straits of Hormuz for international shipping . The channel is itself narrow at one point about 24 miles of water separating Oman from Iran. The shipping lanes are 2 miles wide, a separation zone of 2 miles between inbound and outbound ships. This makes it hard to secure from fast speedboats, missiles, and drones without securing both sides of the channel on mountainous terrain. 

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This New York Times editorial says a smaller Wall Street and growing jobs in other fields will be good for New York as well as good for the country. It says New York politicians should focus on finding new ways for New York to broaden its tax base and get new businesses and new opportunites in fields such as media, advertising, entertainment, health care and tourism. Especially welcome are initiatives such as the science and tech campus of Cornell University promoted by Mayor Bloomberg. Tighter financial rules and higher capital requirements are good for the country and for New York the editorial emphasizes, because they help control reckless banking practices that destroy capital and opportunities for growth elsewhere in the economy. It points to Kevin Rose's Nov. 21, 2011 account in the Times showing a healthy culture shift in New York and the country with the status jobs being seen not at Goldman Sachs but at Google, Apple and Facebook. Rose's account shows that in the last 3 years the number of Wall Street employees of ages 20-34 declined by 25%....

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The German parliament will try to set an example by turning down thermostats to 20 degrees centigrade from 22 centigrade and turning off hot water boilers that provide warm water to the wash basins. There are 736 MP's and 5000 parliamentary staff in government buildings in the government district of Berlin.The CDU wants all ministries to follow this example. Only 63% of reserve supply storage is filled in Germany for gas that heats the country in winter and a cutoff of Russian gas supplies could happen at any time.

Chancellor Scholz says an average family of four could have energy bills this winter go up significantly calling it "social dynamite." One estimate is for it to go up by 2000 euros per year for a family of four. Vonovia, Germany's largest residential landlord says it will turndown thermostats to maximum of 17 degrees centigrade in winter.

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The ruble plunges from 83 to the dollar to 111 for its largest single day fall on record on Feb. 27, following the swift American and European response to the Ukraine invasion. The Bank of Russia raised interest rates to 20% from 9.5%. The situation is reminiscent of August 1998 when the government devalued the ruble and suspended payments on debts, leading to collapse of the banking system. That situation led to emergence of Mr. Putin as the Russian economy was stabilized in the years following the collapse. By acting quickly with sanctions on Russia's central bank and on its other banks the trade in the ruble has essentially seized. Russia this WSJ report says may default on its debt as it would not be able to use its $600 billion in foreign currency reserves to support the ruble or its banking system, pay off outstanding debt payments.

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The $1.2 trillion bill that was negotiated a day before March 22 deadline will be voted in the House on Friday. Senator Ms. Murray of Washington state and Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut secured spending on child care and education programs- a 9% increase in Child Care and Development Block Grant, and a $275 million increase for Head Start, $120 million for cancer research.For the Border the spending bill puts in a 25% increase in funding for technology at the southern border, 8000 more detention beds (Congress funded 34,000 beds), 2000 new Border Patrol agents. Shalanda Young, Janet Yellen and Jared Bernstein of the Biden economic team went before a Appropriations committee in the House. Rep. Steny Hoyer said the Congress that passed the Inflation Reduction Act, the Science and Chips Act and other Biden legislation to aid the economy was the best he has seen in 40 years in the US Congress.