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Tom Rees the head of the Orniston Academies Trust with 35000 pupils in the UK says the status quo is unacceptable. In France a government report says restrict internet enabled phones to children over 13  years and to social media 16 years. This is the headline in today's The Guardian. Tom Rees says- We are seeing huge and real concerns around mental health, post-pandemic. These are not just self-reported, we’re also seeing real concerns about self-harm, attempted suicide, A&E admissions – these are facts from across the world involving young people and adolescents. “We’re seeing a clear correlation between that and mobile phone and social media use, in particular. Not all mobile phone use is equal and the relationship between that and adolescent mental health, we think, is overwhelming. “There is a responsibility for society to respond, and a responsibility for schools to make it harder for children to access inappropriate content through the school day and restrict the draw of social media.” ...

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"Cancel Culture"- how Democrats and Republicans Conservatives and Liberals see the shaming of people for their views on social media- it is having accountability for some, and seen as censorship or punishment by others. Pew Researchers show the views of different people by age, gender, political affiliation, on the idea of "cancel culture." Some say does it even help doing this on a platform like social media as it tends to exaggerate and is rarely helpful to educate people and create real conversations to increase knowledge. When people are being shamed for racism or sexism, there is little idea of getting people to change or for patient forgiveness, or educating on why certain behaviours are wrong. Yale University's 58 page document on where it went wrong on "holistic admissions" and "cancel culture," is an example of how "cancel culture" when adopted inadvertently at universities and colleges across the Nation can be misguided and not result in positive actions. In the process can this denigrate the achievements of western civilization through the Renaissance of ideas, the awakening of knowledge in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, the Enlightenment, and the Scientific Revolution that resulted from this. Followed by the Industrial Revolution unique in Europe and the US that created the Modern World and the standards of living, of literacy, education and healthcare, and transportation we know today. This is the question Yale and other universities are asking today in 2026. ...

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How to get smaller supply chain companies with less than investment grade ratings to shift to renewable energy contracts that last 5-10 years when banks have strict lending criteria. Walmart has a solution working with Schneider Electric. Consider that companies are tackling emissions across their entire supply chain. For Walmart this means cutting one billion metric tons of emissions by 2030. Under Gigaton PPA Walmart suppliers can form a group to buy energy. So that Amy's Kitchen, Great lakes Cheese, and Levi Strauss collectively purchased a12 year renewable energy purchase agreement  from a wind farm in Kansas operated by Danish energy company Orsted. Energize is a similar program funded by drug companies Pfizer, Biogen and others for their supply chain and delivered by Schneider Electric. Consider that for Microsoft's 13 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, 96% come from the supply chain. It needs to cut emissions by half by 2030, a big challenge. In the European Union the solution being considered is for the European Commission to offer state backed and market backed guarantees for deals. Guarantees would be offered by member states of the EU or banks and insurers to provide backing for purchase agreements buyers to overcome credit constraints. ...

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China's manufacturing sector contracts in June with the PMI index dropping below 50 - to 49.0.  Exports were also coming in lower. Experts say the increase in interest rates by the US is reducing imports of Chinese goods into the US. This comes as local governments are strained in their finances by $900 billion, and a budding revolt is taking place from property buyers with developers in financial trouble, as reported in the WSJ. Psychological hurdles now loom in the loss of confidence in the public in the property sector, loss of confidence of foreign investors with many constraints in operating, mental health issues for the population in many cities with the covid lockdowns.   The growth has slowed to 0.4% and there is now a realization dawning that there was overdependence both on property sector and foreign investment that set up new factories offshored from the US and Europe that alienated the public in these countries. Unlike wih the situation of Japan in the sixties and seventies for modernizing its economy growth of the scale China was pushed into by misguided and self interested  business interests in the US including its investment banks and local government officials in China without restraint by the central government in Beijing, ultimately led to trade friction and permanent damage to US China friendly relations. Communities in the US and the EU simply could not cope with the hyper growth from hyper shift of factories from the home countries to China that pushed this hyper growth. The property sector played the same role in the domestic front with too big a burden carried by it resulting in hyper growth. This did not have to happen. It happened because of a lack of understanding that this would have consequences in the longer run which is now showing up. ...

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GE Vernova turbine maker Ford Motor and Dollar General retail replace Apple Tesla Google in stock market growth in June 2025. This is a healthy sign for the US economy.

Lower growth of 0.8% in the first two quarters was expected as the US recalibrates its position in the world economy as a manufacturing powerhouse. Inflation is moderate even with tariffs says Fed chairman Powell -close to 2.4-2.8 percent. Unemployment is low, with no layoffs and companies waiting to invest with the 3B Big Bold Beautiful Tax Cuts Bill provisions on expensing investments 100 percent provision. The attention is not on tariffs as agreements with UK will be followed by EU and Japan. Attention is on the Tax Cuts Bill compromise of Senate and House versions.

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The new Chancellor of the Exchequer in Britain, George Osborne, put forward a new budget that marks a big change from the past. In an effort to cut the budget deficit by $180 billon over 5 years, Osborne announced a cut in spending for the public sector and welfare spending. There will be cuts in the budgets of government departments of 25% by 2015 except for health and international aid. Reduced spending on public housing benefits, disability benefits and other costs in the $285 billion welfare budget is part of this budget. He announced a 2 year wage freeze for public employees, and new medical screeing for persons claiming disability benefits. On the tax side the value added tax on many goods and services goes up from 17.5% to 20%. Capital gains tax goes up to 28%. And overall the proportion of tax increases to spending cuts is 1 : 4. Osborne referred to rich people in Britain "paying less than the people who clean for them" in instituting higher taxes, and he removed entirely 900,000 of the poorest people in Britain from the income tax system. Corporate taxes will be reduced from 28% to 24% over a 5 year period....

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The French British collaboration effort will bring a new vaccine to the global effort against coronavirus. This vaccine was expected in February 21. It will be ready by the third quarter of 2021 just as vaccine supplies are being ramped up. The Sanofi Pasteur unit and GSK Glaxo SmithKline are the two companies in this vaccine venture. This vaccine will address the problem of new mutations of the virus in the British and South African versions and can be stored at normal temperatures. 
 

The new vaccines will boost supplies just when the situation is bleak for vaccine supplies in Latin America and Africa, South East Asia, places left out in the vaccine race in advanced countries and in India. Britain has ordered 60 million doses. 

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This Washington Post article by Henry Farrell explains the implications of the 2016 EU ruling on Apple asking it to pay 13 billion euros in back taxes. Other countries in the European Union are upset that Ireland is taking away business and siphoning away tax revenues from their country, and giving most of it back to Apple. Normally the European Union Commission does not have authority over taxes in the member states. However considering the social and political implications at a time of deep recession and political upheaval in the EU and the U.S., the European Union Commission under Margarethe Vestager has seen it proper to look at arrangements in which companies come up with tax arrangements that deprive member states unfairly of tax revenues- revenues that could support social welfare and basic education, healthcare services at a time of painful cuts. A tax rate of .005% in 2013 for Apple is cited by Vestager as she points out that Apple's taxable profit does not correspond to economic reality, as most operations are conducted outside Ireland. Ireland is just on paper the tax location for EU operations. Vestager has thus come up with a legal approach based on Ireland's tax arrangements being a form of illegal state subsidy, which is not allowed under EU rules, and gives the EU Commission authority to require that it be reversed by paying the back taxes of 13 billion euros. Farrell answers the question why the U.S. Treasury is saying that Apple should not have to pay these taxes, as the U.S. also hopes to get some of these taxes at some future date with Apple repatriating profits to the U.S. under a still to be set tax arrangement. ...

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The failure to reach an agreement between the U.S. Justice Department and BP over liability in the Gulf Oil Spill. The Justice Department says BP was grossly negligent in the spill. BP's position is that responsibility was shared with Transocean, Halliburton and other companies, so that BP by itself was not grossly negligent. The case now goes to trial.

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Protestors on the side of governor Walz and mayor Frey both Democrats opposing the efforts of federal law enforcement create a situation where a car driven by Renee Good moves into the area with parked officers and leads to alleged car ramming and shots fired. An impasse in Minneapolis, with federal law enforcement efforts of immigration laws to remove migrants with criminal records opposed by Walz and Frey.  Following a surge in immigration under Biden, similar to that in World War II surge of migrants, which was followed by Operation Wetback in 1954 under Eisenhower. Walz was vice presidential candidate under Harris for the presidential election won by DJT. Political infighting and a alleged misuse of state funds have complicated the efforts. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem says today that the federal law enforcement by DHS had worked in Tennessee in cutting crime and made the city of Nashville safer, that there a Democrat Mayor had cooperated with federal law officers.She says about 490 people with criminal records were released into the city of Minneapolis by the state and local authorites under Walz and Frey, and not turned over as requested by DHS and Noem, under US law. On January 24, 2026, a man with a handgun and magazine of ammunition was in protests and in a confrontation with law enforcement was shot by a 6 year veteran of the federal law enforcement force. ...

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Pete Pyhrr is interviewed by the WSJ's David Kesmodel 40 years after his zero based budgeting method became popular in the Carter administration. Pyhrr developed the method as a controller at Texas Instruments in the 1970's, and says it is a great tool in difficult economic times or periods of rapid technological change to make cost reductions. WIth zero based budgeting budget figures are not simply adjusted upwards or downwards from last years numbers, but the budget is developed from scratch to reflect purposes served in the current environment. It brings costs and benefits of each expenditure into focus, so that more profitable projects can be financed over less profitable projects. Pyhrr published "Zero-Based Budgeting: A Practical Management Tool for Evaluating Expenses," in 1977. It was used by President Carter in managing the budget process in the state of Georgia and in the Carter administration, but fell out of favor in the Reagan administration. Pyhrr says he sees the need for using the method in today's budget cost reductions for government agencies to help taxpayers. As with TQC under Deming, which came back to the U.S. following Japan's use of quality control methods developed decades earlier in the U.S., zero based budgeting is coming back to the U.S. through its use by private equity firm 3G Capital Partners of Brazil in its Heinz operation....

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Andrew Roth describes a situation in Russia where president Putin is more popular than the ruling party. The United Russia Party was shown having support of 45% in pre election polls. The election campaign used Putin posters and the slogan "the party of the president," to increase voter support.  Some voters see Putin working really hard to improve the economic situation. Samuel Greene, director of the Russia Institute at King's College, London, says that even after efforts to increase support United Russia Party has failed to generate voter enthusiasm. Voter turnout was low especially in Moscow and St Petersburg. The election result is seen by experts as a way to give Putin support to tackle the economic problems facing the country, and ensure stability. About 343 members of the parliament out of total 450 are from the United Russia Party. The budget shortfall of 3% is being met by the government  by using state funds, and one of the sovereign funds is likely to be exhausted in 2017. One of the options is to cut back on social entitlements, increase the pension age. Prime minister Medvedev has already said state pensions cannot be indexed because "we don't have the money right now." ...

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Pulling back from the surge in both ICE agents patrolling Minneapolis streets and protestors going to the streets in a confrontation Border head Homan says this was not the right way of going about law enforcement. Homan said “I do not want to hear that everything that’s been done here is perfect." Instead of street sweep patrols by Border Patrol agents Border head Homan says after meeting with Atty Gen. Ellison of Minnesota, ICE will get people charged with crimes from the jails. In earlier remarks by Kristi Noem, Homeland Security Secretary, she had mentioned that Minnesota state and local authorites were not cooperating and releasing people from the jails to the streets making ICE job more difficult. The Minnesota local authorites now agreed to cooperation with federal immigration authorites for better law enforcement. Minnesota is unique because the governor of the state and mayor are Democrats, and governor Walz was the VP candidate of Kamala Harris for Democrats, with a certain amount of belligerant opposition in that state to DJT and Homan. The lack of cooperation and the antipathy between the federal and local officials carried over, and more and more Border Patrol and immigration personnel were sent to the state reaching 3000. Compared to other Democrat states or cities- California and Tennessee, Washington DC, where initially there was criticism in the state of ICE Minnesota turned out to be different. The president was critical of the way Somali immigrants were settled in the state and the reported fraud for state benefits. The presence of ICE and Border Patrol under Bovino on Minneapolis streets led to more protests and confrontation. The DJT administration and Congress, other states are learning from this experience. ...

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Le Monde reports from Havana Cuba in 2026- 2 million people have left since 2021, the situation is looking increasingly hopeless. There is the 800,000 called the "walking generation" that walked to th southern border of the US during the Biden administration 2020-2024, How did this happen the country of Cuba losing so many people, a third of its population? In 1960 it was 7.1 million. Taking Mexico as an example Mexico's population was 37 million in 1960, it is now 133 million up threefold. At the same rate Cuba's today would be about 20 million in 2026, today it is about 10 million. Instead of 20 million it is half that. About 3 million left the country and population growth simply stopped as the country went from crisis to crisis. Was the revolution worth it, were people in Europe, the US and Latin America who looked to Cuba as a model completely mistaken and was the story oversold to the point where someone like Chavez would try to bring that revolution to a developed economy such as Venezuela as late as 1998, when Cuba was already without US cooperation a state that had fallen behind, by 2026 it was like going back in time 50 years. Could the US offer something better to these countries in the western hemisphere. Did Kennedy JFK promise so much in 1960 and did later US administrations leave Cuba  in a state where it would not get foreign investment and be sanctioned and blocked from access to new technology in so many ways. There is much to reflect on the failure of Cuba, the story of glorious narrative that was told that overlooks the poor condition of the country and benefitted the people the least.  ...

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NYT Graphs showing Effect of 17.2% overall US Tariffs positive on US Trade Deficit (significant shrinking) Prices (less than 3% increase in index). Overall effect is surprisingly quite positive, yet media has given misleading reports and misrepresented tariffs. Tariffs were used when everything else failed and had to be applied in the real world with skill, and backtracking where necessary, repositioning tariff, and continuing to use it when the opposite side including European, Japanese, Koreans, Taiwanese, were only interested in their own gains, indifferent or negative to fairness for US gains. Even where the tariff was placed on a partner the results were surprising the carving out of exemptions such as electronics semiconductors and iphones, made it possible for India to increase exports, so that it was done thoughtfully. This shows that tariff application was done by DJT/Bessent/Jamieson in a way that gave countries options to manage their trade to come out doing well. Germany and EU without US tariffs may not have signed the deal with India this quickly, and India may have used its agricultural protection to prolong and not look for areas in common and work out a deal. Germany might still be thinking India depends too much on Russia for defense, instead it looked for areas for defense cooperation. Result the huge India- German, India-European Union deal that connects to form a 2 billion strong market. Nobody really noticed its importance except for 2 billion people- it comes when it is a highly motivated 2 billion people with strengths in technologies, industry, people skills, and between 2 civilizations the Buddhist/Vedanta Hindu and the Christian civilization, each discovering the other and the richness of its partner's civilization. ...

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FDIC program for loan modification at IndyMac Bank. About 3500 loans were modified, and 15,000 borrowers contacted in recent weeks with offers for lower affordable monthly payments. FDIC's innovation is to create a comprehensive program with clear guidelines so that a lot of loans can be modified without doing it on a case by case basis which would take too long. Loans are modified by reducing interest rates and the principal amount so that the payments are affordable each month, and the FDIC has come up with 38 to 40% of the previous monthly payment as about the right amount. It also looks at tax information to verify earnings. There have been complaints about the responsiveness of FDIC Indymac call centers which may have inadvertently turned down some homeowners looking for help. A big problem is that the FDIC can do little for loans sold to other investors so that out of 653,000 loans serviced by Indymac Bank only about 47,000 are eligible for FDIC modification program. ...

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This Guardian report alongside the Carter Center report plus independent tallies by The Washington post and the Associated Press, shows the 2024 election in Venezuela was won by Opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez. Notably it happened in the light of 8 million people, about a third of Venezuela's population leaving the country as refugees. And inflation at  300 percent in the worst mismanagement of the economy in that region in a century. As the US asserts the Monroe Doctrine in the western hemisphere the US acts to see that the needs and rights of the people of Latin America are preserved free from interference by European colonial powers.  By colonial European powers as was intended by president Monroe in 1823, and by any foreign powers under its version in 2026. The rapprochement with Russia was also achieved so that the Venezuelan people can finally see the light of a free country that respects the aspirations of all the people. The US involvement comes from the drug trafficking by gangs and other groups in Venezuela and Mexico that has destroyed hundreds of thousands of lives in the US over two decades- more than the Korean and Vietnam wars combined. Making US action imperative, essential for preserving the way of life of the American people and the rights of people all over the Western hemisphere. ...

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Applebaum talks to two researchers at the University of Chicago and Princeton, Prof. Sufi and Prof. Mian, on the record of U.S. president Obama and Fed chairman Bernanke in helping homeowners facing foreclosure and underwater borrowers, comparing that record with their record in helping the banks. The issue is relevant as the policy and handling of homeowners had to be part of an overall effective plan for recovery in the U.S. economy, because ultimately without the U.S. consumer any recovery would be weak in the long run- a situation the U.S. faces in early 2014. The response to the issue of irresponsible homeowners borrowing beyond the limit without an equally robust response to irresponsible bank management that allowed wildly excessive leveraging of assets, and successful aggressive lobbying by banks in a shortsighted policy of going through with a wave of foreclosures; besides creating questions of fairness and equitable handling of the problem, also had major ramifications for the future of the U.S. and global economic growth. Here Christina Romer and other administration advisors say Bernanke was right in tackling the problem from the perspective of the banks needing to be recapitalized. Thoughtful advisors looking at the entire problem, Martin Feldstein and Sheila Bair strongly pushed for providing the same help to homeowners without getting caught up in the issue of who was responsible home buyers or the banks, and looking at the interests of the U.S. economy and the U.S. people. Proposals by Feldstein and Bair were equally robust in helping banks as they were in helping homeowners, only the banks understood their interests narrowly and had more access to policymakers in the Bush, as well as the Obama administration, Paulson as well as Geithner. This leaves us with the ultimate irony of the Obama administration pushing for the minimum wage, even to the point of electoral posture, when lasting damage had been inflicted on homeowners from the weaker portions of America's middle class by a policy that went against what two respected financial and economic experts from the Reagan period, Sheila and Bair had strongly advocated. See links and groups on Feldstein and Bair. Applebaum has followed most aspects of this problem closely and continues to provide exceptional reporting including the piece on the thinking of new Fed chairman, Janet Yellen. Private enterprise rules that require management at banks just as for other companies to take responsibility for failures, and be replaced with new management, was largely avoided leading to a fundamental failure in how a free market economy such as the U.S. and western European economies are supposed to function. Rules aggressively pushed by Geithner's mentor Treasury Secretary Rubin for a vigorous cleanup at banks in South Korea during a similiar situation in 1997, were not followed in any way here, also setting wrong precedents for the long run. ...

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Republicans wanted to see money spent in the states on the idea that states best knew where needs were. Democrat Clinton called it "ending welfare as we know it," and signed the bill for TANF where $16 billion was sent to states in anti poverty programs and $15 billion added to this by the states. This is how TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) started under Clinton in 1996. It was put under Department of Health and Human Services. A lot of latitude was given to states on how to spend the money. In 2026 much of this money is not spent wisely. GAO government agency audits show 37 states had 56 severe deficiencies with "opaque accounting practices." This includes Florida, Louisiana, and Connecticut. The Government Accountability Foundation calls the lack of accountability "fraud by design," saying that one fifth of the $31 billion never reaches the people it was intended to benefit. Both Republican and Democratic states are not using the funds the way they were meant to be used. Needy families getting help have come down from 1.9 million in 2010 to 850,000 in 2025.  ...

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India's 267 million farmers 44% of the workforce that make it difficult to reduce 39% tariff on imported dairy and grain. Older Americans have lost the memories of famines in India including one in Bihar in the 1960's, not to mention the Bengal famine during the British rule in 1944 in which Britannica says 3 million people lost their lives. By 1965 India depended on US grain. Dhume reminds readers that in as recent as 1966 9 million tons, a quarter of US wheat crop, was sent to India to prevent famine. China had a similar situation of famine and starvation in the 20th century. This is why India and China have focused effort on achieving self sufficiency in food, and  agricultural productivity is one of the great achievements of the 20th century ranking with electricity and other inventions. When it comes to other upscale agricultural products such as walnuts, blueberrries, and almonds, and other, India's middle class would benefit from nutritional benefits of US agriculture in these fields at low or no tariffs. This suggests there is room for opening some sectors other than dairy and grain that are staple to the Indian diet of the vast population. US 50% tariff is motivated by India going from 2% Russian oil imports in 2019, to shifting importing from Saudis and UAE to Russia so that Russia now makes up a third of it's oil imports by 2024. In May it reached 4 million barrels a day dropping to 2 million barrels a day by July 2024.   ...

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Strident tone of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defending tariffs, the economy, and affordability. Bessent defends the DJT administration's tariffs plan, its effort to bring back jobs, its policies on gas prices that have cut inflation, and the president's Big Bold Beautiful Bill with it's provisions for Businesses to expand investment in the economy using a rapid depreciation provision. He has called the critics as having "Trump Derangement Syndrome." Part of this is based on his economic experience and understanding of how tariffs can be used to level the playing field where the EU, Japan, China, Mexico and other countries have taken advantage of trade policy for their own gains to the detriment of the US and communities in the Nation that lose jobs and factories. One of the assets to the current administration of DJT is Bessent's grasp of financial markets, his extensive experience in the field as a business person. He was able to convince the president to withdraw tariffs or mitigate tariffs to adjust for the effects on financial markets in the US and worldwide.  ...

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“The world needs more energy. The world needs more resources, and U.A.E. wanted to be unconstrained by any groups” says UAE energy minister, Suhail Al Mazrouei. On May 1, 2026 UAE with 12% of OPEC cartel production (3.6 million barrels a day) will leave OPEC. It is a change in strategy of where and how to sell oil production in the future. UAE including Abu Dhabhi oil company says it is time for it to pursue its own national interests. As its economy is diversified including tourism and other sourcesd of revenue, UAE puts volume before price support. Saudis are not diversified and seek to maintain price support and keep fossil fuels way into the future. Qatar and Ecuador have already left the cartel. Since the old days of OPEC US has emerged as the largest producer, Venezuela is coming back as a major producer, changing the situaiton now that UAE is  also not betting on and supporting efforts for keeping prices high. This is good news for India and China, Japan, major buyers of oil and with large populations increasing demand. It also helps the US because of its diversified economy. ...

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This report in the NYT says South Korea is putting itself at a disadvantage by investing in the US and with its commitments for buying LNG from the US. It like other articles in the NYT sells America short. The goodwill earned by Japan and South Korea by the approach to trade agreements that acknowledges the unfair treatment the US put up with from both partners for decades is something that will be remembered by the American people. Any agreement South Korea and Japan make with the US will be to the lasting benefit of the two Asian nations as it is built on shared goodwill of the American people and the people of Japan and Korea. Agreements with China are largely temporary adjustments in a larger situation of competition between the US and Europe with China and are transient arrangements.

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Baked goods salty snacks and other ultraprocessed foods made up 55% of calories of all Americans in 2021-2023. 62% for children and adolescents, says CDC in 2025. It is an astonishing figure and shows the neglect of health nutrition by business and previous administrations in the US, in an alarming and dangerous way. RFK Jr. at Health and Human Services department, and Rollins at Agriculture department, have made it their life's mission to get America healthy again. And fight the battles, conduct the policy changes that have to be made to do this. Education of the public and making healthy choices available and affordable, are a big part of the challenge today. Individual states such as Iowa and West Virginia, Texas and Florida are already taking it up at the state level in a concerted effort.

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British budget cuts announced in Parliament by Britain's Finance Minister, George Osborne. About 83 billion pounds in cuts by 2015 were announced. But Joseph Stiglitz, writing in The Guardian, argued that the plan was a big gamble, as declining tax revenues with lower growth, would lead to smaller deficit reductions. The gamble is that the private sector will pick up, and make up for the reduction in public outlays. If this does not happen, this risks sending the economy into a tailspin. Osborne said that 490,000 jobs will be lost over the next 4 years, some from attrition. Payments to the long term unemployed will also be cut for those who fail to seek jobs, saving $11 billion a year. A new 12 month limit will be imposed on long term jobless benefits. Increase in the retirement age will start in 2020, from 65 to 66 years. At the same time free eye tests, prescription drugs and bus passes remain. Premier Cameron promised not to make cutbacks in health care in the period before the election. This was his way of helping the Conservatives make a comeback to power....