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Biden's ultimate faith in the fairness of the American cause and the American people gets him two big wins with the $280 billion semiconductor bill, and the $369 billion climate change action bill. Biden says about this when many had given up hope- "The work of government can be slow and frustrating, and sometimes even infuriating. Then the hard work of hours, days and months from people who refuse to give up pays off. History is made. Lives are changed." With Europe at war and struggling to get through the winter with gas rationing it was up to America to lead the way as the world faces ever increasing floods, fires and heat waves that affect food supply and environment. And Schumer? The New York Democrat asked about the effort quoted his father who passed away last year. "As my late father said: you need to persist. God will reward you." For months Mr. Manchin a critical vote in the US Senate had opposed the Democrats proposed bills. Then Senators Mark Warner of Virginia, Chris Coons of Delaware, John Hickenlooper of Colorado took a different approach. They did not openly criticize Mr. Manchin, and appealed to his sense of history, his zeal for playing a leading role in a high stakes legislative deal. Schumer and Biden were willing to make some concessions for fossil energy now that with the war in Ukraine the US needed to export LNG to Europe to replace Russian supplies. China and India were still going to be using fossil fuels after COP26 and after the pandemic induced lower growth. The US had to find a different approach some fossil fuel concessions would make it possible to use it as abridge towards the larger goal of getting ahead on renewable energy in a big way. This opened the way for a deal that centrists could support.  ...

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How the shorter workweek is being tried at places such as Microsoft Japan, Toyota Gothenburg, Australian software company Icelab, and South Korean e-commerce company Woowa Brothers, with good results. Results include better collaboration, setting priorities effectively, and mutual respect for time. Workers get time to think, gain new perspectives, gather new ideas, and recover from weekly pressures. This WSJ reporter looked at over one hundred companies and found that if  done right it can improve company profitability and productivity. In a 4 week trial Microsoft Japan improved productivity by 40%. Alex Pang shows how this is being done in a new book - "Shorter: Work Better, Smarter and Less- Here's How." One way the shorter workweek works is by making everyone think what was not working during hectic work weeks without desired results, more work just adding to pressure and not producing results. For instance meetings had to be shorter and confined to certain hours only. Distractions had to be cut down effectively. Even soft music could help people concentrate. Building a new culture also helps bring people closer and find ways to work more effectively than in the past. The reinvigoration and ability to recover from pressures works wonders say experts and brings a new level of concentration, motivation and effectiveness. It is interesting to note that some of the pioneering effort in this area is coming from Japan and South Korea where long hours were tried and people began to realize that this approach to better results had serious drawbacks, and there had to be better ways.    ...

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The prospects for direct U.S. talks with the Taliban after the planned opening of a Taliban office in Qatar. The preliminary efforts were started by U.S. special envoy for S. Asia, Richard Holbrooke. Holbrooke died in 2010, and his successor, Marc Grossman, a former ambassador to Turkey, has continued the efforts as senior representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Grossman now has a team of officials from the Defense Department, the State Department and Intelligence agencies working with him. After a decade of war, a shift in public opinion in the U.S. to domestic issues, and a withdrawal date by the international forces set for 2014, the time appears right for the negotiations that would end this war. Grossman has the backing of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in this push for a negotiated settlement with the Taliban. The recent deterioration of U.S. relations in Pakistan to a breaking point, the complex relationship between the Taliban and the Pakistan military, the growing unpopularity of the U.S. in Pakistan, the meaningless struggle with a Taliban with intrinsic links in the Pakistan military, and the fragility of the elected government in the country are other factors that may be leading the U.S. government to look at the bigger picture and grasp any opportunities towards a negotiated settlement. ...

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George W. Bush, talks about his book on his father's presidency "41: A Portrait of My Father," at the Bush presidental library in College Station, Texas. This follows his book "Decision Points," on his own presidency. George W. says his father's accomplishments are overshadowed by the work of a transformative president (Reagan) who preceded him. The short period of four years in office also affects the assessment of the elder Bush. There is now greater appreciation of the work done in this period, especially the period when the Berlin Wall collapsed and the Soviet Union dissolved and the role played by the elder Bush in the transition. Bush describes the relationship with his father when he was president as one in which it was the comfort and help that counted for more than looking for any particular advice, especially as he admired his father. The elder Bush, 90, was in the audience. Remarkable for the longevity of the father-son pair compared to Adams and John Quincy, as Adams passed away 16 months after his son became U.S. president. And more so because his brother, Jeb Bush, is likely to run for president in 2016....

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People in Japan are living longer healthier lives. So much so that people are working well into their 70's. In Nagano, Japan, people say that those in their 40's and 50's are like a child with a runny nose, and people in their 60's and 70's are in the prime of their careers. In this WSJ report, 38 years old Norohiro Aizawa is a part time farmer, who says he plans to work into his 70's like many farmers in Japan. Today his father in his early 70's is active and in charge. Sachiko Kobayashi runs a crafts business, has a job making box lunches, and a garden full of pumpkins and radishes. She is 65 and gets up at 3 am. In Nagano she is called by the term pre-elderly, not elderly. For elderly she has a long way to go. Japan has 29% of the population in under over 65 years group, Europe 21% and US 17%. Yet something else is happening. People are just taking better care of themselves and their health, and living, working longer. A 70 year old today in Nagano is in health status like a 60 year old one or two generations ago. Perceptions of what is elderly have changed.    Japan's White Paper on the Elderly in 2021 shows studies suggesting that many in the 65-74 year group do not share traits associated with the term elderly.  Only 6% require care by others. Half of 65-69 year olds hold jobs, and a third of those in their early 70's also hold jobs. Life expectancy in Japan stretches into the late 80's for women, and early 80's for men. This is almost 5-8 years more than countries like the UK with a strong national health service. In April 2021 a revised Employment Law took effect, telling big employers to offer work to workers until age 70, up from previously government sanctioned retirement age of 65 years. Government says it is meant to protect the right of people to work longer. There is even a term called late-elderly.  Oshima 82 of Nagano, leads a volunteer group that shoots video of community festivals and works late into the night, and is cited in this WSJ story as saying that even if people called him late elderly, his response is oh yeah? I don't care. It is all about living a full life, terms don't matter at all when one stays healthy.   ...

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Matthew Tsien, a vice president in GM China, will be the new president in Jan. 1, succeeded Bob Socia. Tsien will report directly to Dan Akerson, CEO of GM. Tsien is currently vice president of planning and program management and has experience working wih GM's joint ventures. The direct report helps to provide direct contact at the highest level with CEO Akerson. GM China chairman is Tim Lee, who is also executive vice president of global manufacturing. China provides about 30% of GM's global vehicle sales. GM is taking a new look at its China operations as increasing competition is eroding its market share. VW sales in China increased by 18% to 2.35 million cars and SUV's, in comparison GM sales were up 11% to 2.31 million, for the first 9 months of 2013. GM's plans going forward are to invest $11 billion in China through 2016 for 4 new assembly plants. This will boost annual production to 5 million vehicles in China by 2016.

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During the early weeks of the Libyan people's struggle the Wall Street Journal was one of the rare voices that stood up for freedom in Libya, saying the U.S. had to have the will and was not so overstretched that it could make a difference working with its allies in NATO. It took some time for the Obama administration to make up its mind by which time the Gaddafi forces would have entered Benghazi. It was the leadership of Sarkozy of France and Cameron of Britain that made the decisive difference at the right time. And as the tide turned it was the young people of Libya who could be seen in the video footage who showed bravery against the organized heavily armed forces of the Gaddafi regime. The lesson from the U.S. support for the Libyan people's movement for democratic government is that the U.S. can make a moral difference and a strategic difference when it follows the right instincts that have guided the country since its founding.

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Mike Clancy of The Prospect writes in The Times of London that he has found that two thirds of remote workers working from home would like to have the right to unplug from work and not be expected to connect with the office at some point in the day, and that this would have a hugely beneficial impact on mental health.   The biggest problem that workers working from home have found during this pandemic for one year now is that it blurs the line between work and life outside of work having a negative impact on one's mental health. Surveys have found that about half of remote workers like the idea of working from home, having time from commute and being able to be have more freedom from being tied down to the office space. Companies are looking at cutting about 25 to 50% of office space but have not looked at the problems workers have and not set new rules about when the line for work is set and workers can cut off from work and not be expected to be reachable by the office. Clancy even goes on to say that companies have looked at the problems of the last century not this one and largely stayed away from tackling the real problems of workplace- stress, burnout and surveillance. Lyrarc recommends readers look at the way Germans approach this idea of blurred distinctions between work and life outside of work in the idea of "Feierabend" that literally means breaking away from work at some point say 4.00 pm or 5.00 pm to take a bike ride or walk or do something else. ...

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Addressing the UN General Assembly in a virtual setting Mr. Trump tells delegates that China should be held accountable for certain actions in letting the coronavirus pandemic spread. He included the denial by China of human to human transmission very early before Feb-March, and its allowing Chinese flights to go overseas when it had completely banned flights domestically. He said flights were allowed to leave China after the virus spread from Wuhan even after Mr. Trump banned flights from China to the U.S. This spread the virus from China to Europe and to America.  Mr. Trump says the WHO is controlled by China. And this happened after foundations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation and other foundations partly replaced the strong role played by the U.S. government at the world health agency during the post war period maintaining strong U.S. and European oversight in the earlier period. The lack of cooperation by China to let American experts into Wuhan immediately in January played a role in delaying the U.S. getting a first hand look at the coronavirus at the epicentre. Instead a 2-3 week delay left the U.S. Europe and India unprepared for the speed and havoc caused.  The only way to tackle the coronavirus was with speed and that speedy response was doubly needed because Europe and the U.S. had no recent experience with epidemics. Even India and rest of Asia, Latin America, Africa have no experience with this type of transmission and spread making time absolutely critical.  This speed was affected because China and the WHO acted as stumbling blocks in this view of what happened. The result was that in past pandemics were fought together, this pandemic was fought on a country by country basis, a bad precedent. ...

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Cygnus is the rehearsal for a full blown pandemic that the British government conducted in 2016. After preparations accelerated following the SARS crisis in 2009 and the H1N1 pandemic in 2015, the British government accelerated its preparations for H2N2 the next pandemic. The exercize took place in October 2016 for 3 days, for a worst case scenario flu pandemic affecting 50% of the population and causing 400,000 extra deaths. For 3 days people were told to imagine being in the 7th week of the pandemic, facing peaks in demand for health and hospital care. Cobra meetings were to be held. This report in the Guardian gives details on the Cygnus exercize. It showed a lack of UK readiness.  By July 2016 prime minister Cameron was replaced by Theresa May in the Conservative Party and a full blown crisis emerged for Brexit. Britain lost interest in Cygnus or the pandemic prevention effort as Brexit consumed Britain's energies. Soon it was forgotten by the time Boris Johnson became prime minister and won the Brexit election. This shows how even a sincere effort and preparation over years of planning can result in nothing. This also happened in France. See France 24's coverage of this and our groups and links on this. One insight was that while every agency acted there was no coordinated response with someone in the central authority guiding the entire effort step by step. Care homes entirely privately run were also identified as a concern and anticipated significant pressures because of staff absenteeism at these social care centres in a pandemic, as reported in the Guardian ...

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Paul Krugman reviews a book by Robert Gordon, a distinguished American economist and historian, on the improving standard of living for Americans after the war in the period 1940 to 1970. This period brought some of the major changes in the standard of living which have since stalled. Gordon points to the developments in science and technology between 1870 and 1940 providing the largest boost to standards of living as the quality of life improved- especially the conditions in which people lived using modern sanitation, electricity, automobiles, and work saving appliances. The period 1940 to 1970 enabled the spread of this to the country as a whole. The IT revolution's developments occuring between 1990 and 2005 are also behind us. This process between 1870 and 1970, with the followup period to 2000, is seen by Gordon as a one time development in the scale of change and the improvement of quality of life. The future does not hold a similar level of progress in standards of living, says Gordon. Set against the current stagnation in incomes, widening inequality of opportunity, and the political discourse, this review raises important questions about the future. Quality of life potential now rests in improvements through personal involvement in health improvement, improved education, renewable sources of energy, and other ways, which are more soft knowledge improvements than the hard improvements of the past- which may require more personal involvement than in the developments of the last century of progress, with some improvement coming from renewal of the old physical infrastucture using the new technologies available. Just as the developments of the last century required dogged persisitence and effort, these developments will require dogged persistence and effort, with some of the easy stuff currently posing as technological development not qualifying....

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The riots in Dublin, Ireland, covered in depth in The Times, started with a stranger approaching an Irish language primary school in Parnell Square East, and attacking children there with a knife. A deliveroo driver on a motorcycle moves to the scene and using his helmet hits the attacker felling him to the ground where he is disarmed. Minutes later the scene is replayed over social media channels TwitterX, Whats App, and far right figure puts it in a Twitter account that a "foreign man entered the school and stabbed five people," setting off marauding youth to riot on the streets A tram and several police cars, shops in the centre of Dublin, a hostel for asylum seekers, are damaged or set on fire.  In September 2023 200 people protested high immigration outside the Irish parliament. As in Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Utrecht area  housing in Dublin is unaffordable to the locals. Immigration has surged particularly from Ukraine all over Europe in 2022. It is an issue in UK, Netherlands and Ireland. With the cost of living crisis, the aftermath of the pandemic with people suspicious of the state, overcrowding in socially deprived inner city areas Parnell Square being one of them,  and record homelessness; immigration has become a scapegoat. The suspect in this situation was a naturalized Irish citizen who has lived in Ireland for 20 years and is of French-Algerian origin. The Deliveroo driver who came to the rescue is a 43 year old Brazilian Caio Benicio. It took three hours after nightfall 6.00 pm for police to restore order. ...

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We live in a period of anxiety, some anxiety is natural but when facing extended periods of anxiety for over 6 months causing distress and impacting day to day life, do something about it, says this expert. About 18 percent of people in America over the age of 18 will suffer from anxiety disorder each year, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America. This increases to 28 percent in the course of a lifetime for Americans. Take a walk, reduce alcohol intake because of the association with anxiety, exercize, deep breathing, and yoga. Meditation is highly recommended and a natural way to combat anxiety and stress in life. As anxiety includes an excessive focus on future that we don't feel we control, it helps to let go. In meditation practice start with 5 minutes and deep breathing called pranayama in yoga. Yoga routine with simple basics can be part of the morning exercize. Any yoga studio can help or it can be done at home. Creating a safe space that is calm and healing helps a lot. Medical experts also recommend spending time with nature and natural surroundings. It takes away some of the stuff that is worrying oneself, and shifts attention to the  to the trees, nature outside. Turn off the phone ringer and put away the iPhone. Reduce other activities that crowd one's schedule to focus on calming activities such as these.  At other times read poetry or a book that relaxes, or a program showing scenery on television. Being with other people in settings such as volunteering to help others, and connecting with friends and family in a comfortable setting are also part of healthy living.   ...

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Biden gave a passionate and vigorous speech at the Democratic Convention in Chicago, Aug 19, 2024 comparable to what he did in the State of the Union message to the US Congress and people in January 2023 and January 2024. Gone was any semblance of the bad day at the debate that came after covid symptoms. The first night at the Democrat Convention brought before Biden's speech speakers Hillary Clinton, Governor Beshear of Kentucky, touching personal accounts of trauma of women who were denied abortion in rape and incest and mother's health conditions, Steve Kerr, US Coach men's basketball team at the US Olympics, and three members of Congress. Steve Kerr said it was the duty of Americans to protect American democracy and the respect for the dignity of people, workers and families, that is part of the values of the American people for two hundred years, values Biden exemplified and Kamala is shaped by. Ashley Clinton reminded people of her father's love for the country and family- telling the country how her father took the train from Washington D.C. to Wilmington Delaware just to see Ashley, Jill and the family for her birthday when she was just seven years, stayed for a few minutes at the station and after blowing the candles headed right back to D.C. Dignity, decency, values, personal sacrifice, courage, these are the values that Coach Steve Kerr said America expected from its leaders. Thes are the values of Joe Biden of Delaware as he went through 50 years int he US Senate, 8 years as Vice President and his term as president. And above all Biden used this experience to pass legislation  for the Renewal of America that makes him many speakers say the most consequential president since FDR. ...

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Yaroslav Trofimov gives his reflections on what the war means for Russia in this Essay in WSJ, and the sense within Russia that the war itself was a mistake. A result of miscalculations and a result that leaves Russia in no way better than it was in 2021 before the conflict. Hard won economic gains achieved by Mr. Putin during the last two decades have in fact been compromised by the conflict. No discussion has even been done on the transition away from fossil fuels that have been accelerated by the conflict. This is particularly relevant for Russia where the question of redundant fossil fuel assets during the rapid transition to renewable energy is a problem that needs to be tackled. The Ukraine diversion in this way affects the Russian economy and acts as a distraction from important economic goals. Global public opinion is also affected in ways that do not look favorable for Russia the longer the war goes on particularly the effect on food insecurity in poor countries, and energy security in Europe for poor households, the senseless destruction of infrastructure in Ukraine and millions of women and children displaced, all creating a sense of overwhelming moral failure. Mr. Modi of India is reported by FR24 to have told Mr. Putin at a meeting on September 15 that "this is no time for war." This is shown on today's pages in Lyrarc. How could it be a time for war when the pandemic has taken lives of over 1 million people in the US, over 2 million in Europe, millions in Asia, Latin America and Africa, and the world is only now coming out of it. The competition is not between countries for major power status but between countries on achieving better lives for its people, stronger economies, and better job, health, infrastructure and services to ordinary people, tackling problems on a common basis such as climate change. In most situations even the advanced countries of North America and Europe are facing the same problems faced by middle income countries such as China,Russia, and developing countries such as India- how to combine market economy with State participation in the economy and government ensuring fairness to all, better distribution of incomes and wealth, ensuring that there is a level playing field for all and opportunities for all. ...

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Chrysler looks the weakest of the big three US automakers. Now that Daimler is out of the picture Chrysler depends on Cerberus for support and financing. And not much of this is there because Cerberus is having problems of its own. The GMAC investment of $12 billion for Cerberus has soured because of subprime loan losses in GMAC. All this is going on while Chrysler looks more like a company in disarray and Daimler does'nt appear to have left it in any good condition, considering that Cerberus finished its acquiistion of Chrysler only 4 months ago, and only now are executives like Mr Nardelli and Jim Press getting familiar with the company, its people and its products. Chrysler will have to come up with new fuel saving technologies but how is it going to fund this is losses in 2008 don't look much better than 2007 as is now expected. With a 15.5 million car year as estimated by industry experts Chrysler looks to lose more sales. Nardelli was shocked to learn that Chrysler was running its plants based on a forecast of 17 million sales in 2008 which goes to show that things are in disarray at Chrsler. The models which lost money on each car sold Pacifica, Magnum and Crossfire should have been discontinued by Daimler a long time ago, but this decision was reached only recently. And a program that was supposed to save $250 million was actually saving only $1 million in parts executives at Chrysler found. Its a difficult environment for engineers to work in especially when on one hand the direction is to improve quality and on the other hand to reduce cost, all in an environment in which no major new investment funding is seen fromCerberus or other sources and the sales outlook doesn't look good at all with competition well financed or better financed and with greater resources....

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Rio Tinto took a $8.9 billon writedown for 2011 on its Alcan aluminium acquisition. In total Rio Tinto has now taken a writeoff of $18.2 billon of the $38 billion paid for Alcan. CEO Tom Albanese says this is because of the heavy price Rio Tinto paid. He will forgo his 2011 bonus as a result. Analysts say Rio Tinto paid a higher price trying to outbid Alcoa and because aluminium prices which were $3000 at the peak in 2007 when Alcan was acquired, have since dropped to $1500. Chinese production expanded from 12.5 million tons in 2007 to 17.8 million tons in 2011.

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A former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors during 2010-2011 offers his reflections on the quantitative easing policies of Fed chairman Bernanke. He points out that the Fed was simply offsetting the effects of tight credit channels when it employed QE to prevent this from damaging the economy at a sensitive time. Inflation would have increased as critics say, only if the Fed did not reverse its policy with tapering as it is doing now. Bernanke offers a similiar assessment and says Fed critics refuse to look at todays inflation numbers which are below 2% for 2013- and also below 2% for 2012.

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The deep cuts in Chrysler's engineering staf, with 40% of the engineering staff gone under Daimler and Cerberus, is hsowing up at job fairs. Jim Badhorn was a Chrysler engineer for 21 years before he took the buyout. He designed the rear doors of the Chrysler 300 sedan. Badhorn put much of the $75,000 into acollege fund for his 2 daughters. He hits the gym everyday. He is arenter so his home in Birminghan isn't like the other owners who have lost 40% of their home value. And he can't even find the end of the job line when he goes to a job fair for a military contractor.

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Whites are gradually coming back to the cities just as black people are leaving the cities for the suburbs and Hispanic people are skipping the cities entirely and heading directly for suburbs. The change is gradual and slow except for some cities like Atlanta and San Francisco where the change is becoming significant. As demographic changes take years to play out this change means that at some time in the near future America's cities will look differentas whites return. This change will only accelerate as more whites abandon long commutes from the suburbs as the price of gasoline keeps climbing and move closer to places of work in the cities.

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Early warnings that the cost cutting of Musk DOGE was a lot of PR and controversy, where instead Republicans are disciplined and persevering. Could Musk and DOGE controversies have done more harm than good by not having disciplined cost cutting that people respect as needed. One should remember that it is not on party lines- all parties should be disciplined about federal spending to preserve the strength of the US dollar and the economy. Democrat Jimmy Carter in 1976 proposed Planning Programming Budgeting Systems where every year last year's budget is irrelevant, the budget for the new year is built from scratch and offers discipline to avoid unnecessary costs in the budget, items from previous years simply pushing up deficits. PPBS courses were taught at Northwestern Business School and I took it at the time- not offered now. Once a bureaucrat has a budget no matter what his politics he wants to keep it. Democrat Harry Truman in 1940 went on the shipyards and into factories to supervise firsthand the federal spending in the war making hime known for the first time in Congress. Prudence in spending is everyone's responsibility.   ...

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Ireland's prime minister Enda Kenny says following the Brexit vote that is seen as a disaster for Northern Ireland-"My first interest is Ireland's interests, the protection of the common travel area, the peace process, the open border." Other issues facing Ireland are economic- British people will find Ireland's exports costlier by 10 percent, and make Ireland costlier for British tourists who make up 41% of all Ireland's tourists. Ireland's effort to build an all island health system is also at risk. As Ireland tackles this economic problem it is also moving to attract new business to relocate in Dublin. Among ordinary people the fears are more basic- no one wants to go back to the old days and the sectarian strife and conflicts. For most people the open borders mean a great deal- an achievement that took a long, long time, and no one can see this being reversed overnight, which is why Northern Ireland voted 58% to remain in the EU. ...