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Obesity in the US is as high as about 40% in West Virginia, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. It is lowest about 25% in Colorado, Vermont and Hawaii. About 22 states have obesity rate over 35%. Compare this with China which is seeing obesity increase from about 15% in 2023 to 20% in 2034. Real competition between the two countries starts with areas like health care coming out of the pandemic when looking at the true interest of both peoples instead of geopolitics creating a huge distraction from problems of health, climate change and education. Meat intake has tripled in China and a return to more vegetable and fruits and ancient grains is something that is needed badly, also helping tackle climate change. The states in the South and midwestern US have higher rates of obesity followed by northeast and western states. This includes in the South Kentucky, Georgia, Texas, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, Mississippi, Arkansas. In Midwest it includes Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Kansas. It is useful to note that this is in Voice of America news which is aimed at an overseas audience and this kind of information is not seen widely in US media. Robust food programs ae needed especially for people living in poverty. Health consciousness needs to be emphasized in all aspects of life and worklife, workspaces, living locations and transportation options all need to be devised around this. Bussel of the Robert Woods Foundation says even ten years back no state had over 35% of the population being obese. Clearly headed in the wrong direction with all the discussion in media run by billionaires on everything but what most affects the quality and ease of living of ordinary people. ...

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Supply chains are back to normal with better shipping rates, delivery capacity and retailer inventory. This should have a restraining effect on surging inflation and is a good sign for the US Fed's Jay Powell in his fight against inflation.

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Joanathan Kanter is the Assistant Attorney General of the US. He was cleared to work on the Justice Department lawsuit against Google and antitrust matters. Kanter is critical of the way Google operates to act as a monopoly in its ad business.

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Companies in the US hiring older workers in the belief that older workers have a strong work ethic. WIth the Great Resignation and younger workers quick to quit jobs many companies are relying on older workers who are seen as more reliable.

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Children's scores remain below pre-pandemic levels for kindergarden, and for 1st and 2nd grades for students tested in 2023. Test scores of over a million students in the US show this sizable gap in school readiness for these younger children.

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The Great Salt Lake is shrinking to about one third of its original size and poses a climate change and ecological disaster. It is an economic engine for the Utah region. Severe drought in the western US is affecting the lake. 

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Los Angeles school teachers strike for higher pay. Teachers wages remained depressed for two decades leading to teachers ovrburdened during the pandemic shifting to other work. This has created a shortage of teachers in the US. A similar situation exists in Europe.

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With another $9 billion in relief for student loan borrowers president Biden takes it to $127 billion the amount of relief extended to 3.6 million Americans. The US Supreme Court earlier denied that kind of relief to student borrowers following the pandemic.

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There is a large multiracial population in the US that is growing rapidly. About 12 million Americans are multiracial, and under the age of 18 years 19% of Americans are multiracial. In California this rises to 25% under age of 18 as multiracial.

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The issue of high youth unemployment. The bulge in demographics and the emphasis on increasing the number of college graduates without increasing the jobs available, or providing apprenticeship type training and degrees in areas where jobs can be created, has created a major problem in the Middle East. High youth unemployment in the US, Spain and the UK also poses serious problems. Former primer Minister Giuliano Amato of Italy recently told Corriere della Serra: "The older generations have eaten the future of the younger ones." Older workers tend to hold onto their jobs as long as possible as retirement ages are being raised, and they have negotiated higher retirement pensions. In Spain the younger part time workers and immigrant workers are the first to be laid off and unemployment is highest in this group, which is also why the high unemployment has not attracted as much attention there. Younger workers will eventually have to support a higher proportion of these workers in retirement because of the demographics. The shift to higher parttime employment and employment at low wages has also created a class of workers who have no future, as their incomes are low, and are easily laid off. This shift has been taking place in the US, Europe and Japan over the last decade. Germany has fared better because of its long tradition of apprenticeship training, and employers working directly with young students at universities to provide on the job training. The financial crisis of 2008 in the US slowed down many industries and created a shift in industries creating jobs, the result was a larger mismatch of skills of job seekers and new jobs created. One way to address this is more on the job training and working directly with employers, and assistance to community colleges to fill education gaps. ...

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South Korean workers illegally in the US for Hyundai contractors flown back to South Korea. South Korean government obtained their release and sent a plane to fly them back home. It sends the message that even if they do not work directly for a Asian company, only for contractors or contractors of contractor, and are here illegally, they will be sent back home.

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The most elegant shot in tennis aside from the lob and the drop shot is the one handed back hand. At one time this was the only way tne back hand was played. Lorenzo Musetti and a Swiss youngster Henry Bernet are some of the best single hand backhanders today. Italian Musetti meets another Italian Jannik Sinner in the quarterfinals of the US Open.

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Anshu Jain, co-CEO of Deutsche Bank, will be replaced by John Cryan, a former UBS executive, who has no connections to investment banking. Deutsche Bank's investment banking operations would have to take on more leverage to be competitive with larger investment banks, according to experts. This would put the bank in serious problems with regulators. Another problem evident at the recent shareholders meeting is that the old management is perceived as part of the problem that led to large legal settlements with authorites. Anshu Jain leaves at the end of June, and the other co-CEO Jurgen Fitschen will leave in 2016. This closes a chapter in Deutsche Bank's history in which its image in Germany has suffered badly because of investigations.

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How travel and tourism including tourists in Spain and Croatia and other spots seeded a second wave of the coronavirus in Europe, and how this poses risks for the U.S. with increased travel. A new variant of the original virus is spreading in Europe and could be spreading in the U.S.

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Germany's SPD Deputy Chancellor says in Kiev on August 25, 2025 after the abortive effort by DJT in Alaska for peace talks that improved Russia -US relations as two leading world nuclear powers but did not have the basics in place for Ukraine- Russia direct talks, with Putin asking for territory in the east. "In the three and a half years that this war has been going on, we have always shown that we are not ducking away, but stand by the side of the Ukrainians. And that will also apply to security guarantees."  The big change is that the SPD under Klingbeil in Germany is now working with CDU's Merz to build up Germany's defense forces to act as a deterrent for Europe. There is a change in the mood in Germany and in Europe, from Sweden and UK , France, Italy, for concerted action in Europe that was not seen before. By taking on responsibilities for Europe with 2-5% defense expenditures this has removed the differences between the US and Europe. It means a prolongation of the war but also means this may lead to a stronger Europe, better Russia- US relations, and a Russian and Ukraine more willing to come to a peace agreement based on terms where no side appears to be the loser. Klingbeil added- It is important to have a "really strong Ukrainian army that is also capable of defense. And the second thing is that armaments production is also being ramped up here in Ukraine as well, thereby putting Ukraine in a position to defend itself and deter attacks." If European history since 1400 is any guide when the powers on either side were eventually counterbalanced the power that took a an aggressive position early had to settle for a peace settlement with both sides not appearing the loser. ...

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Brazilian central banker Fraga offers his views on the debt crises and high unemployment facing the eurozone and the U.S. He says that a system where losers don't pay or have the rules set in a way that they don't pay is both inefficient and extremely unfair. This is something that people don't accept for long. About markets he says they operate well when the regulatory system is working well, with both going together. On business cycles he points out that there is no way to get rid of the business cycle or the downswing and just have the upswing only- this just ends up being a delusion.

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Business investment has been extremely weak since the global financial crisis of 2008-2009. This covers spending on investment goods - on equipment, software, inventory accumulation, residential and nonresidential construction. Compared to the 1982 recession non residential fixed investment has staged a weak recovery. In the 2 years after the 1982 recession nonresidential fixed investment went up by 27%, whereas in the last 2 years it is up only 12%. Spending on business equipment and software declined twice as much in this recession as in the recession of 1982, according to Mankiw. The comparison with 1982 is because the U.S. experienced 10% unemployment during that downturn.

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The IMF's own stress test of U.S. banks shows that the banks would need $76 billion to create the capital cushion needed. In particular regional and smaller banks have an exposure to commercial real estate loans. In an adverse scenario these banks would have to raise $8 to $13 billion. The IMF review pointed to the issue of coordinating action for the bank regulation, with the Fed, FDIC and state regulators needing to coordinate action. The CFTC and the SEC need to coordinate for regulating futures markets. The IMF's Christopher Towe says Congress failed to provide clear regulatory authority and left the system with overlapping authority.

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Chrysler's second quarter loss of $172 million, follows a first quarter loss of $197 million. Operating profit for the second quarter was $183 million, compared to $143 million in the first quarter. Chrysler's forecast is to breakeven on sales between $40-45 billion. Revenue was up by 8.2% in the second quarter to $10.5 billion. Main problem Chrysler faces is an old product lineup. A slowdown in the economy in the second half of 2010 and in 2011 could hurt Chrysler more than the other automakers. Chrysler has available cash of $7.84 billion and additional $2.3 billion available from U.S. Treasury and Canadian government loan agreements.

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By a vote of 3-2, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission voted to pass the "proxy access rule." This makes it mandatory for companies to include the names of all board nominees, even if they are not backed by the company, directly on the standard corporate ballots. These ballots are distributed before company meetings. At this time shareholders have to mail separate ballots for their nominees, and have to have a campaign to get shareholder support. This made boards less responsive to shareholders without the means to take on a long costly campaign. The new rule goes into effect with the 2011 annual shareholder meetings.

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This WSJ editorial says the U.S. Federal Reserve's Operation Twist has not resulted in improving growth. The Fed has lowered its forecasts for growth in June 2012 after its effort in the first part of Operation Twist when it sold $400 billion in short term debt. It says the Fed cannot come with growth using monetary policy, only supply side policies, changes in regulatory policies and the efforts of private enterprise can do this. All it does is have financial markets hang on every word of the Fed chairman Bernanke, as it will for the next two months about the prospects for a QE III.

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Apple has 42% of the smartphone market in the U.S. A larger iphone with 5.5 inch screen could generate a meaningful upgrade cycle, say analysts, increasing Apple's market share by 11%. The larger device is especially important in emerging markets where the iphone serves as the main computing device. Samsung currently dominates the larger screen market with 34%, followed by Lenovo. The shift to larger screens is significant- market research firm Canalys estimates that 40% of global smartphone shipments were larger than 5 inches in the 2nd quarter of 2014, up from 21% the prior year quarter. This is the one area in which Samsung holds an advantage.

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U.S. companies with international operations or exports are seeing lower profits in 2015 with the surge in the value of the dollar, as it approaches parity with the euro currency in a short period of time. At the same time the dollar has surged to 120 yen to the dollar. The currency shifts are part of a new global dynamic in which the eurozone and Japan increase competitiveness and exports to boost their economies, fend off deflation, and help return the global economy to a sustained growth phase. Aggressive bond buying and QE by the ECB is part of this new dynamic in the global economy.

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According to analysts Yahoo's 24% stake in Alibaba and its stake in Yahoo Japan is what gives its share price momentum. U.S. Yahoo operations are estimated by Topeka Capital Markets to provide only about $10 of Yahoo's value per share. Alibaba's operations as a retailer in China account for $30 of the value per share, and Yahoo Japan $7 per share in value. Yahoo's current share price in Jan 214 is $40, having doubled in the past year. Analysts say there is not much CEO Marissa Mayer can do to reverse the slow decline in Yahoo revenues as it competes with Google, Facebook and other competitors for premium display advertising.

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Albergotti and Macmillan tell the story of Jan Koum of WhatsApp who immigrated from Ukraine as a teenager in 1992, and settled wih his mother in Silicon Valley. His interest in messaging apps stemmed from his interest in staying in touch with extended family in Ukraine, Russia and Israel, after losing his mother to cancer and his dad passing away in Ukraine before making it to the U.S. He met Brian Acton at San Jose State University, where he studied programming, and the two founded WhatsApp in 2009. In the early years after 1992, before joining Yahoo following graduation, Koum lived on food stamps.