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This editorial in The Economist magazine points out that the doggedness of prime minister Theresa May now looks like pig-headedness. The crisis is of poor leadership. It also exposes two deeper problems in the Leave campaigns distorted message that it is possible for Britain to leave the EU, "to take back control" without making it harder to for British business and the economy to trade with its partners in Europe. It also exposes concerns of democracy that see the referendum as the only message from the people- the general election of 2017 brought Conservatives to power without a majority in parliament changing the picture about the referendum's message. Particularly since the referendum Leave campaign presented a distorted  message leaving out what the cost would be for Britain.  Ejection from the single market, decline of industy from finance to carmaking, destablisation of Northen Ireland peace agreement, exit bill of 50 bill euros was not advertised in the Leave campaign. Buses with posters of immigrants streaming across borders in Europe presented an emotional message recklessly sold to voters. Representing the will of the people can be claimed now by all sides, says the Economist. Leaving Europe on March 29 deadline with no deal would be bad for Europe and economic upheaval for Britain. Discerning the will of the people should not be the work of squabbling MP's or backbenchers in parliament. The only practical and sensible way out of this mother of all messes is to go back to the people and get a new opinion with broad daylight thrown on the realities facing Britain.   ...

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The first rally for Harris in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The road to the presidency goes through Wisconsin and Harris received enthusiastic support with Governor Tony Evers putting it this way-On the Tony Evers excitement scale that goes from ‘holy mackerel’ and maxes out at ‘heck yes,’ I am jazzed as hell to be welcoming our next presidential nominee to Wisconsin: Vice President Kamala Harris.” Harris used the same lines she used in Wilmington at her first rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In her legal career, Harris said, she “took on perpetrators of all kinds. Predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain.” “So hear me when I say I know Donald Trump’s type”  On project 2025, the blueprint for the first 100 days in office of a Trump second term, the action items are ones that would jeopardize the safety of American institutions that were set up with so much care by Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and nurtured by the first president George Washington with little attention to himself, and protected by president after president through civil war under Abraham Lincoln, through 2 World Wars and The Great Depression under Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt, through recovery under Harry Truman and Ike, only to falter under a series of mediocre presidents Reagan, Clinton, Bush, Obama and be endangered by a NBC television show and construction business person with support from new social media networks that were unknown throughout America history till 2010 and television networks that had degenerated into recklessly divisive behaviours to win silo audiences. ...

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Kylian Mbappe was seen at his best recently as he scored France's only goal in a difficult game with Austria in the Nations League when it had fallen behind 0-1.

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About 6 million workers are in worker Unions in Britain in 2022 compared to 12 million in 1979. Unions have fallen into deep decline over three decades. About 4 million British workers today are in public sector unions and 2 million in private sector unions.

Worker wages have fallen behind inflation making it possible for Mick Lynch, head of the Rail Maritime and Transport Workers Union, to carry an effective message to the public. The government and employers of Britain's Rail network offered a 3% wage increase inadequate for tackling 9% inflation in Britain, leading to the rail strike. 

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When Airbus launched its superjumbo jet in 2000 with seating for 550 passengers large airports said they needed to upgrade facilities to meet the larger size. Technological advances and preference for smaller jets flying directly to many locations have doomed the Airbus A-380. Airbus announced it will stop making the A380 in 2021.

Technological advances since 2000 with lighter carbon fiber parts and super efficient engines make it possible to fly smaller jets directly to many airports reducing the need to use hubs. Airlines preferred these jets. Only Emirates flying out of Dubai which uses half of the A380 superjumbo jets has continued with the large aircraft which has 37 gates specially designed for 380 use. 

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What it is like in the biggest oil producing county in America- Lea County, New Mexico. What happens when renewables replace oil to address climate change?

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After rapid growth in 2021-2024 Austin is slowing down as a tech hub in 2025. 

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In extended diplomacy Carney visits Beijing, China and says middle powers are seeking ways to interact and trade in a world of big power rivalry. His visit is followed by visits by UK's Starmer and Germany's Merz, and preceded by Macron. At the same time Merz visits Ahmedabad for a kite festival and signs a new trade agreement with India, followed by Leyen and Costa of the EU who sign a EU-India trade agreement for 27 countries of the European Union. All this suggests carefully planned effort in Europe to create new channels of trade and reorient existing trade relationships that will be more resilient with the US shifting to focus on Monroe Doctrine idea of the Western hemisphere as its region of influence and security. This report shows pictures of Starmer and Xi meeting at the Plough Pub in UK in 2015 and reflects on how this has changed 11 years later with China now  a dominant power with the world's 3rd largest economy and a third of world's manufacturing and logistics. How does this change the relationship with China in 2026 for UK and Canada, and the EU? At the same time Germany-India and EU-India relationship creates a 2 billion people market with capital, technology and labor potential to create the largest potential driven economic group in the world, combining EU's 20 trillion to India's $4 trillion economy and mutually complementing, which has potential to rival the US at $30 trillion by 2030 as India grows rapidly in the new EU/Germany/India market and the EU gets a new boost with the complementarity of the two regions by 2035. This suggests that something new is happening and Germany after a lot of soul searching have hit on something we should see blossom by 2030 in the way China has grown since that picture with Cameron of Xi at the Plough Pub in UK. A problem China faces as it continues to push exports is that EU/ India and US will take in less exports and there is only so much it can put in Latin American and African market, UK/Canada market leading to industries with massive oversupply. Major economic redirection may result from the Merz/Leyen/Costa visit and firming up trade agreements with India if the EU, Germany and India have the determination to seize this opportunity in the 21st Century. As Leyen said it has the potential to create a stable world with values of the Bible, the Bhagavad Gita, and Mahajima Nikaya of the Buddha supporting the industrial states that emerged from the Industrial Revolutions. ...

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The Economist quotes experts saying that drug innovations would not be affected by price controls on drugs. Pricing reforms can accomplish the reverse, spur innovation by doing as Britain and Germany are doing- pioneering comparitive reviews of drugs effectiveness and cost-benefit analyses aimed at reimbursing firms for new drugs based on their performance. Sanford Bernstein, a financial advisory firm, says in its study that a 20% reduction in what Medicare pays for drugs would not kill off innovation, it would reduce earnings per share of big pharma firms by 3-8%. As drug research is now done in many countries, and its a globalized industry, innovation is not likely to be automatically affected by price reductions in one country like the USA, according to Alna Garber of Stanford University and Patricia Danzon of Wharton Business School.

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In getting the support of an overwhelming majority of Senators to support Ukraine aid Mitch McConnell plays a key role. His remarks on the floor of the US Senate underscored the gravity of this moment in the Congress: "Make no mistake: Delay in providing Ukraine the weapons to defend itself has strained the prospects of defeating Russian aggression. Dithering and hesitation have compounded the challenges we face. Today’s action is overdue, but our work does not end here. Trust in American resolve is not rebuilt overnight. Expanding and restocking the arsenal of democracy doesn’t just happen by magic.” President Biden's effort will be remembered. It is similar to what happened when Harry Truman had to persuade a war weary country and the US Congress in 1948 to pass bill for aid to Greece and Turkey to prevent an imminent Communist takeover with support from the Soviet bloc. McConnell will be remembered for his action, so will Speaker Mike Johnson and Senator Schumer and other Republicans, Democrats that worked hard to get a decisive vote for Ukraine aid of 79 For to 18 Against, with 15 Republicans and 3 Democrats voting against. Alabama Senator shifted to a yes vote saying most of that $61 billion of aid to Ukraine will be spent in the US to hire American workers in defense industries. A $10 billion loan provision with forgiveness included was a way to get the former president to support it. On the third try America's Congress gets it through in a decisive manner with overwhelming support. This is not unlike the efforts before, when Aid to Greece and Turkey had to be passed through Congress under president Harry Truman in 1948 with both countries facing a danger of Communist takeover supported by the Soviet bloc with only US support keeping democracy in both Greece and Turkey. Even in 1948 to a war weary country Harry Truman had to persist and get the support he did from the US Congress as president Biden did today April 23, 2024. ...

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Paul Volcker before the U.S. Senate Banking Committee on May 9, 2012, before the announcement of the $2 billion trading losses by J.P. Morgan Chase. The following day Chase announced the losses from trades made by JP Morgan trader Bruno Iksil- nicknamed the "London Whale"- who made a complex hedge on a group of corporate bonds, betting $100 billion that the bonds would not default. The Volcker rule as it is currently written would not prevent such a transaction. The problem as Volcker pointed out before the Banking Committee is that under "too big to fail," "the losses would be socialized with the potential gains all private."

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This report in the New Yorker provides a good glimpse at the problems of global warming and limiting climate change goal of 1.5 degrees centigrade. Sally Ann Ranney co-founder of the American Renewable Energy Institute answers questions from the New Yorker magazine. Limiting climate change warming of the planet to 1.5 degrees centigrade by 2100 is a goal enshrined in the Paris Agreement. In the absence of this the global warming would be 2.7 degrees centigrade by 2100. For this 1.5 degrees centigrade goal to be reached fossil fuel use and carbon emissions have to be cut by 50% by 2030 and 100% by 2050. 

The ice pack in the Arctic is part of a planetary cooling system and its accelerated melting is a good sign of the danger the planet faces. Ranney answers a number of these questions.

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Martin Feldstein points out why the recent agreement for a "fiscal compact" is no more than an empty statement about fixing the eurozone's finances. In this respect it is no different than the Stability and Growth Pact it replaces, with serious weaknesses. Feldstein cites the weaknesses in the language of the agreement. Each eurozone country is required to limit its"cyclically adjusted" budget deficit to 0.5% of GDP and bring its debt down to 60% of GDP. Compliance will be performed by the European Court of Justice and fines imposed. In practice the questions loom large- for a country like Spain with a 23% unemployment rate, isn't all of the 6% budget deficit cyclical? Again the agreement says deficits are calculated "net of one-off and temporary measures." Under this provision a lot of the stimulus programs would be considered in the category of "one-off." Other language lets eurozone countries frame budgets based on "exceptional circumstances" and "periods of severe economic downturn." Italy has declining economic growth, does it make sense to have a large budget surplus in that situation to lower debt to GDP, and how does that goal relate to "exceptional circumstances."...

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Iran's oil production filling up existing storage leading to oil well shutoffs May 2026. Tankers near oil fields are used as storage as Iran faces prospect of filled up storage tanks and ships at sea at some point in the next few weeks. It has slow throttled production, increased storage, yet with no oil getting out of Hormuz straits Iran will at some point in the next couple of weeks have to shutdown some of the oil wells. The oil tanks cannot be monitored for storage level and their is existing storage in refineries and other places making it difficult to say precisely when but it could be in the next couple of weeks. This plays a part in Iran's thinking looking for ways to settle the conflict. US insists on getting all nuclear material out of Iran as an indispensable condition and the full and entire reason for the war not anything against the Iranian people. It is a basic idea- non-proliferation on nuclear weapons. Why in the Middle East- the answer is that for 5 decades there are wars in the Middle East, many small nations created by the British and the French who take no responsibility today, and the prospect of spread is real, sectarian conflicts for centuries, and a situation worse than in the Balkans where World War I started. The region extends from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen, Pakistan, each nation destroyed by 5 decades of war including many Americans, Russians Europeans dead.  Costs of War Project at Brown University estimates are that 4.5 to 4.7 million people died in these wars. The US is not a colonial power like the British and the French, the Dutch. It seeks no oil as it is self sufficient, and it seeks no strife or involvement in the centuries old saga of the sectarian religious conflicts in the Middle East, having settled its own between Catholics and Protestants in the 17th century so that the Industrial Revolution and Scientific Revolutions could take place to create the Modern World of science, medicine, and industry we know today. Many of the nations of the Middle East seem averse to whole heartedly embracing the European contributions in this achievement as China, India, and America have done, in the process changing how their people think and live, and strive daily to further these achievements. ...

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Andy Grove makes this passionate plea for the dignity of workers in America in 2010. It is worth reading in 2020 what this founder of Intel Corp and pioneering spirit of Silicon Valley has to say. Andy Grove of Intel says there is something seriously wrong when the unemployment rate in the Bay Area is higher than the 9.7% national average for the USA. American companies have added jobs like crazy in Asia, but things are sputtering back home. Hon Hai has 800,000 employees and makes most of the electronic and computer products for American companies. Grove says startups are not the answer, unless they scale up and create jobs the way Intel did starting back in 1968, with a $3 million capital infusion by investors. The move from the first production model to mass production is critical, as companies hire thousands of people. Innovation and scaling up have to go together. He makes his point clearly by pointing out that Apple has 25,000 employees. For every Apple employee there are 10 employees in China working on Apple iMacs, iPods, iPhones. And he adds that the same 10 to 1 relationship applies to other U.S. tech companies. And here Grove asks the tough question by first posing an answer. He says it sounds like- no big deal, we keep the high paying jobs, we keep most of the profits, but what kind of society are we going to have with highly paid professional workers and lots of people unemployed? And he doesn't mention that there are a lot more young people unemployed. He says the US has become very inefficient at creating tech jobs, and it would be a great mistake not to act decisively early on. And adds that the investments in such areas as solar power and electric car batteries have to be made early on to maintain leadership in these areas. Grove faults academics like Alan Blinder and others who say loss of manufacturing jobs and whole industries was no big deal. The U.S. has forgotten the value of manufacturing jobs. He wants to see America focus on jobs and rebuild its industrial base. And less of transferring engineering knowhow and new technologies overseas, technology that can help bring innovation and scaling up of factories at home. In his view individual companies doing their own thing, in a misguided fashion that jobs don't matter, is not the answer to the situation we face. The industrial economies of Asia, China at the present day, have focussed on jobs and technology, and scaled up. Grove reminds readers of the situation in America in 1932, when jobless veterans demonstrating outside the White House in large numbers were dispersed by soldiers with live ammunition and fixed bayonets. This makes him shudder at the very thought of it, and brings back memories of his early years in Hungary, as a young man in 1956. Are we listening? ...

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Harry Kane Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford put England ahead in a 4-2 win over Croatia -openers in World Cup Soccer 2026, Harry Kane had 2 goals and was close to getting the third for a hat trick. It was an exceptional performance by Kane matching that of the French Bleu's Mbappe and Messi the day earlier. In the first half England and Croatia were 2-2. Coach Tuchel gave the English team a pep talk they took to heart to be the best they could be, "to be brave, courageous and tenacious on the front foot, and just go for it." This is what Tuchel told them in the words of Harry Kane- “He told us to take the shackles off, calm down and let’s go. He said what’s the worst that can happen? Show the world who we can be.” “We came out in the second half full gas and they couldn’t live with it, and that’s the level we have to set in every game. The way we controlled the game once we went ahead, we never really looked like we were in danger and then scored on the counterattack. We had a spell where we could have scored three or four. Credit to everyone: the first game of the tournament and a great result against a tough side.” This is how coach Tuchel described his pep talk to the team at half time- “I told them to calm down. We just conceded the goal. To calm down, calm their nerves. And encourage them to do it our way. I told them that my perception of them in the last 17 days will not change no matter what the result is. I want them to do it their way. Our way. I want them to be brave, courageous and tenacious on the front foot. And just go for it.”   ...

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This editorial in the Economist magazine says the banks have paid large fines for wrongdoing but individual accountability has not been achieved. Only one individual conviction has been achieved related to market rigging in Britain. The penalties paid by banks between 2009 to 2014 worldwide add up to $245 billion, according to CCP, a research group. The problem says the editorial is that without individual accountability this is likely to be seen just as a cost of doing business. For the culture at banks to change individual acountability has to be established, and only now are banking regulators realizing that the public's disillusionment with the political parties in power during the last decade in Europe and the U.S. has its roots also in the way accountability has been tackled. Editorials in the WSJ and the NYT have addressed the same theme and expressed the same concern. The May 21, 2014 editorial on the U.S. Justice Department's legal settlement with Credit Suisse. "Holder convicts Switzerland," was critical of the Justice Department because this settlement did not bring accountability or justice. Columnists Eavis and Reilly in the WSJ, Protess and Greenberg in the NYT, were also critical of the settlement. Other legal settlements followed the same pattern throughout 2012-2015. Another aspect of this and a larger problem is that the same management has remained in place in some places. Shareholders expressed their feelings at the recent Deutsche Bank meeting in June 2015 when one shareholder association asked the question: "Mr. Jain are you the solution to the problem or part of it?" questioning how the same management that created the problems was going to fix the problems. A week later the two co-CEO's departure was announced and a new CEO appointed. BaFin, Germany's regulatory authority was described as not providing effective oversight on management at Deutsche Bank, by Eyk Henning in the WSJ March 28, 2014. It is too early to say if the public's frustration with the slow pace of establishing accountability and generating culture change is at long last registering with regulators and the political parties running the government. Prime minister Cameron and chancellor George Osborne's decision to put $1 billion into communities throughout Britain from the fines, described in the WSJ May 31, 2015, and an additional $227 million pounds from a legal settlement with Deutsche Bank in April 2015 for creating 50,000 apprenticeships, is the first sign of a conviction developing in political parties that instincts of fairness and the compact between the people and their government handed down over many, many years and generations, need to be respected. In the U.S. communities devastated by the recession and foreclosure crisis, especially inner cities, could benefit from Cameron and Osborne's exceptional idea. For the political parties and the political elites in Europe and the U.S. it is a way to restore some of the trust lost in the last decade. For banks a change of management, cultural change, will benefit the employees and shareholders, and improve relationships with customers, restoring trust over the next decade....

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Share of US Counties where 95% of Kindergarteners are vaccinated against Measles drops to 28% from 50% in Washington Post Investigation of 44 states December 2025. 95% vaccination rate is what experts say is needed for "herd immunity" or overall protection in a class. Washington Post examination of data shows marked deterioration from 2018-2019 school year to 2024-2025 school year data and public records. That is 5.3 million children are exposed from lack of herd immunity from measles now compared to 3.5 million children earlier increase of 1.8 million children. This Wash. Post investigation shows 19,000 schools are exposed and one can go to this article to find on a map how your school district and country are doing in the 44 states. A big problem is emerging from public skepticism and politics in vaccination. For generations schools required vaccination proof- by 1980 all 50 states had laws covering students first entering school. And caught in vaccine politics legislatures are creating religious and other exemptions that have weakened laws. Wash. Post says it's examination shows not a single County in Idaho, Louisiana, Oregon Tennessee, Utah, and Wisconsin meet the 50% vaccinated requirement for measles required for herd immunity. This could mean more of these diseases will be brought back home including whooping cough to affect elderly and infants. Democratic districts such as in St Louis and Chicago also see drop in measles vaccination rates. In the sense that newly decolonized countries since 1950 such as China and India have emerged with good health systems and mandated vaccination , other public health action, there is a great need for the US to focus on bringing back the public awareness that existed after the 1940's in the US that resulted in significant advances in public health in the US in the FDR, Eisenhower, Kennedy, LBJ and Reagan administrations. It shows there is no victory in public health. A lot of work needs to be done, as much of the gains can get undone by events and public awareness is necessary. As pharmaceuticals, chemicals and plastics and bad nutritional habits took over American lives there is an effort under Kennedy at HHS to tackle that health crisis, but it brings with it challenges that date from the pandemic and different responses in different parts of the US to mandatory vaccination which also have to be met through education not social media. ...

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This report in The Guardian shows that nature can be prescribed as therapy by doctors taking a lot of pressure off the overburdened national health services of many countries. It is proven that even two hours of walks in nature settings can make a huge difference for mental health. Three decades of industrial progress and urbanization have left most countries with a new generation that has lost the benefits of this type of energizing and invigorating exercize, that does a ton of good for physical and mental health just when it is most needed during a massive pandemic.

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  US reaches agreement that would restore oil supplies and bring down oil prices. The supply chains may have to be reconstituted for replacing much of the 20% of the oil that flows through Hormuz if the US, Europe,China and India, Japan, rest of the world are to gain from this experience. The only way to understand the change of mind of the DJT US government and the Saudis/UAE/Qatar for bringing an end to the war without immediately fulfilling required nuclear conditions is from the Saudi point of view it has sought to avoid damage to its oil facilities from Iranian drone and missile attacks. From the US point of view it may see that the US + ramped up Venezuelan production by 2027-2028 with increased push for supplies in other parts of the world with better security than Hormuz, could make up for most of the loss in supply from Hormuz. For the remainder acceleration of the renewal energy in Europe and in China, India could reduce dependence on oil from Saudis/Iran.  US Energy Information Administration forecast is for oil prices currently $103 for Brent crude oil to stabilize at $89 at the end of 2026 and $79 in 2027. The year started in 2026 at $60 per barrel. The UAE oil agency ADNOC says it would take 4 months to get 80% of production back on stream and full flows by 1st quarter 2027. Rystad Energy estimates repair and restoration at oil facilities to cost $58 billion. The MAGA base which opposed wars by Bush and Obama in the region would then look at it this way. The billions that Obama poured into Iran for Iran to rebuild its nuclear program would not happen again, as the US would continue its sanctions till all nuclear materials are removed from Iran. Iran would stall in negotiations that are now put off with only a Memorandum to show for commitment of Iran- though an agreement would only be a piece of paper that Iran may not implement as the failed Obama agreement showed- but yet not have the billions of dollars to support its nuclear program. It would give the US, Israel, and the world 10-15 years in which to respond to another nuclear program by Iran. Iran will need $270 billion to repair the damage to industrial facilities, which shows the cost of the war for the Iranian people just to get a nuclear weapon is prohibitive, considering that the Iranian economy was already in trouble before the war. Inflation and the overall economy will be in difficult shape for many years. Public sentiment in Iran may change the future course of Iran away from the course currently pursued. The entire Middle East  region has not benefitted from its dependence on oil. For the rest of the world finding alternative sources of supply is the best way and EU, China, India should accelerate renewable technologies and goals for energy independence shortening the transition from fossil fuels. ...