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Improving business conditions and lower unemployment are helping president Macron of France recover from a drop in popularity following the yellow vest protests. Macron tackled the crisis by changing his style of governance from top down to a listener style with regular town hall meetings and meetings with people who were critical of his government. Recent poll from Elabe shows 33% approve of the French leader compared to 23% in December 2018 at the height of the yellow vest protests. The yellow vest protests were from people who felt left out at the lower end of the wage scale who were protesting increasing inequality. Macron also offered minimum wage earners billions of dollars and shelved his economic agenda till he had a better grasp of the French public's opinions. The recovery in the economy means Macron has more flexibility in taking up priority items in the national agenda. The French pension system is fragmented with about 43 different plans, with some plans for transport workers offering generous retirement by age 52. The system is also likely to go into deficit of 10 billion euros in 2022. Brazil has run into major economic crisis from generous pension plans taking up a major part of the budget. Macron wants to increase the number of years people work before they collect pensions, not just increase the retirement age of 62. Most major European countries are at 65 years retirement age, the U.S. is at 66 years. Transport workers paralysed the nation's transport system including subways and bus systems recently to keep their generous benefits. Macron sees himself as promoting a national agenda similar to India for GST, and other countries tackling shortfall in pension systems by increasing the retirement age, even though in the short run people who benefit from the old system oppose it. By addressing grievances at the lower wage levels and tackling glaring issues in the way benefits such as pensions are distributed Macron can win enough support to offset the opposition of entrenched groups. Lawyers will see their pension contributions double for lower benefits and are opposing the pensions overhaul. For decades workers in different groups or sectors took to the streets in protest making any changes even if well thought out and in the national interest hard to make in France. By taking on entrenched groups tactically and first letting the groups express their sentiment before announcing top down changes, and by being an empathetic listener, Macron is showing that he has learned a lot from the past year without losing his sense of what is best for France. It just maybe that in the short run there is an offset gaining some support from neutral groups and losing support of entrenched groups. Yet in the long run when the dust settles there is more overall support particularly through empathetic listening and carefully planned flexible approach to making changes that improve the economy and reduce unemployment. ...

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Columbia University Professor and Nobel Prize winner, Edmund Phelps, gives suggestions for reviving the economy. He sees structural problems in the economy and recommends more inclusion. Higher employment, he says, will require a higher level of investment activity, higher business investment and new technology and products. Inclusion will require more attention to jobs gained at all levels. He suggests a program similiar to Singapore's, with a program of tax credits for companies employing low-wage workers.

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The astounding fact in this French FR24 report on the Paris Climate Change Agreement and country carbon emissions show that China's emissions accelerated to rise 3 fold in 2015 to about 12 billion tons of carbon emissions from about 4 billion in 2000. US remains at about 6 billion. India is at about 3 billon tons of carbon emissions, about where China was in 2000 when it had about 4 billion tons of carbon emissions. This is shown in the graph on carbon emissions from FR24. The US, European Union graph curves on tons of carbon emissions since 2000 are all flat or declining, India rising slowly from a small base, China's curve is rising straight up from a large enough base at an unbelievable and dangerous rate. What has happened and is it getting worse? China's economy expanded too quickly as globalization was accelerated by banks, and business in the US and Europe, and by the Chinese governments at the local level and the state level. This had negative consequences for US, Europe and China. The too fast growth in China at rates of 10-15% based solely on False GDP indicators that did not take into account damage to the environment and workers was that it hurt manufacturing and working class in US and Europe and contaminated the environment. This was not like growth of Japan in 1960-1980, a smaller country in the way it affected the US and European working classes. Hyper Growth at 10-15% of a large country with 1 billion people compressed over a short period, is cited by Greg Ip in the WSJ as the cause of the negative impact on America.  It hurt China through pollution of rivers and land at an accelerated pace. It hurt China as trade with US and Europe became unsustainable with the loss of manufacturing in the US and Europe leading to a trade war. From these graphs of emissions it now appears that the 3 fold rise in carbon emissions from about 4 billion tons in 2000 to about 12 billion tons in 2015 is the result of unregulated business activity of all those who preferred to push hyper growth in China purely for reasons of profit such as investment banks and corporations in US, Europe, and state or local companies in China.  This has also aggravated inequality in US, Europe and China, and hurt rural populations. Xi Jinping is attempting to correct this in China, Biden is trying to correct this in the US, and Scholz will now attempt to correct this in Germany and the European Union. It is also to be noted that China in 2000-2015 did not have the benefit of the newer technologies that India now has access to, which is why India says it is able to reduce carbon emissions per each unit of GDP by 35% from 2005 levels by 2030. It is this efficiency in producing units of GDP with newer and newer technologies that China lacked in its period of hyper growth 2000-2015 that now looks to have hurt China- with overflow of highly polluting steel mills and other factories which it would prudently and wisely have cut back on. Looking back at this period one sees the wholesale transfer of highly polluting plants in Germany being sold and put up in China, a poor developing country in 2000. Was this a good decision for Germany or for China? In this way the banks and large corporations in the US and Europe who use economic indicators that are limited such as dollar profits, without overall indicators that include negative effect damage to the environment that requires huge investments to correct, problems of trade wars leading to political conflicts, are acting like a person walking blindly in one direction.  With some foresight China and all its trading partners would have done better with slower but more careful Chinese growth of 7-8% that would have better met societal goals in US, Europe and China, avoiding high carbon emissions segments of industries from Day 1. Jinping is doing this in China, and Biden is doing this in the US- cutting out highly polluting factories and segments of industries- but in a climate of mutual distrust, which could have benefitted the world when conducted in a climate of cooperation and trust. The pandemic made the situation even more difficult. Power shortages in factories and blackouts in Chinese cities have led to a reversal of policies on use of coal in China months before the COP26 Glasgow conference and G-20 summit leaving a huge gap. Without the presence of Xi Jinping at COP26 in Glasgow and with Chinese participation uncertain significant progress on climate change is elusive. Estimates by US Renewable Energy Agency is that it would cost $131 trillion to pay for limiting emissions to global warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius. Some major share of this cost can be attributed to the increase from about 4 billion tons in 2000 of carbon emissions in China to about 12 billion tons in 2015, increase by 3 times. One can clearly see from this sudden jump in carbon emissions in China that policies of hyper growth with unregulated polluting industries adding to GDP growth figures was bad policy for China, bad policy for US, and Europe, even if it offered temporary profits for individual companies. India has the advantage of learning from this experience and charting its own wiser course as a partner with US, Europe and Japan and by Modi's vigorous efforts in renewable energy. The lesson- look at all indicators of progress, including climate and society, not just economic indicators in profit or dollar terms, take the tough decisions early in regulating polluting companies and industry segments, and bring full and active public participation with transparent access to data on climate damaging activity in real time because climate and the environment we live in free of polluting substances belongs to all the people, belongs to all life on the planet from trees to animals and birds, not companies that can choose to ignore it. ...

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Porter cites research by Andrew Berg and Jonathan Ostry of the IMF, which shows the strong connections between having a vibrant middle class, lower inequality and the sustainability of economic growth. In countries with higher inequality growth comes in spurts which fizzle out, and there are sharp contractions. Having good income distribution is important according to Berg and Ostry, if the process of economic growth is to be sustained. This logic is also supported by the need for a strong middle class for consumer spending, to provide the demand that supports growth.

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Debbie Wasserman Schultz's vigorous efforts to fire up the Democratic party's base after the waning of support since the 2008 presidential election. She says it is a make or break moment for the middle class and drawing attention to the problems of the middle class is not class warfare. She was chosen by Obama as the Democratic National Committee chairwoman as the party heads into the 2012 presidential election.

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Friedman describes the development of a tablet computer by a team led by Prof. Kalra and two professors of electrical engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Jodhpur, which costs less than $50 to produce. The new price point is needed to reach over 200 millon students in India who need such a device to escape poverty and poor teaching. The new tablet computer enables them to reach out to knowledge in language, sciences and math, and the humanities in the world outside them. This is an I-Pad like, internet enabled, wirlessly connected tablet. The average Indian family in rural areas saves $2.50 a month, and government support for its educational benefit could subsidize a portion of the cost. The tablet would bring distance learning, teach English, to students and help track commodity prices for farmers. The invented device uses the Android 2.2 operating system, a 7 inch touch screen, 3 hours battery life, and can download YouTube videos, PDFs and educational software. The governmment is expected to subsidize wireless connections to students. The name of the tablet is Aakash, Hindi for sky....

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The government of China increased allocation of funds to build low-income housing from 780 billion yuan in 2010 to 1.3 trillion yuan ($198 billion) for 2011. The target is to build 10 million units of subsidized housing in 2011, up from the 5.9 million units started in 2010.

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James Q. Wilson points to the link between educational levels and inequality. He says the poor face too few skills and too few opportunities. The link with education is critical. He cites information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics which show that between 1979 and 2010, hourly wages for those with a college degree went up 33% for men and 20% for women. For those without a high school diploma wages declined 31% for men and 9% for women. It appears that men have been more adversely affected than women. Minorities have done poorly especially Hispanics and Blacks. Social factors such as unwed mothers aggravate conditions for the bottom fifth in incomes. As the demographics of America shift to higher population of Hispanic immigrants, the situation worsens. High schools in Hispanic areas of New York city with high dropout rates, to take one example, can affect income inequality as more immigrants take jobs at the minimum wage level. The 2008 financial crisis has also taken a higher toll on minorities and people with modest incomes by reducing their savings and through the large number of home foreclosures....

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China's agriculture based on small farms is undergoing a change as the government pushes automated farming and large farms in the face of limited imports from the U.S. China put tariffs on agricultural imports from the U.S. in retaliation for U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports. China's Agriculture Ministry says it will build 254 "strong agricultural industrial towns" as models for the country. President Xi stated on a visit to northeastern province Heilongjiang, that "unilateralism and trade protectionism are rising, forcing us to take the road of self reliance." The yield per hectare in the U.S. for soybeans is about twice that in China. Mechanized farming is limited in China because it would eliminate many jobs in rural areas. As the state has ownership of land and farmers merely use land, farmers are less likely to take risks with large long term investments. It can be risky for farmers to rent their land use rights to others, which would lead to consolidation.  Now a separate "Made in 2025" plan makes upgrading farm machinery and equipment one of the 10 goals. China may lift ban on genetically modified seeds now that ChemChina has acquired Swiss seed company Syngenta. China plans to partner with Asian Development Bank to provide $6 billion of loans, grants and investment to fund a list of development projects in rural areas, to modernize agriculture. WSJ cites a project of consolidation into an 8200 acre farm in Shandong province that  has increased yields 43% by investing in new farm equipment and planting machines, pesticide spraying drones. Scaling up has made this possible.    ...

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A poll conducted twice each year by the University of Hong Kong researchers since 1997 shows Hong Kongers increasingly identify with their city including Hong Kong diaspora returning to the city from overseas. The latest June poll shows this identification increasing in intensity as time passes. Compared to 1997 and 2007 more Hong Kongers identify themself with Hong Kong and much less with "citizen of the People's Republic of China." After "Hong Konger" the identification next is with "Asian," "global citizen," and "members of the Chinese race." Culture is one major aspect of this, the other is the sense of being drowned by mainland people, by the large number of people from the mainland cities buying housing in Hong Kong, driving up prices and making housing unaffordable for the local people. Other aspects of this are the mothers going to maternity wards so their children can get Hong Kong residency, and the slots in elite schools going to mainlanders. Even the tycoons and large business interests are seen as distanced from the local Hong Konger because of the increasing inequality in society, their benefitting from business ties with the mainland with willingness to give up Hong Kong's local interests. At another level one can see this local identity across other parts of mainland China also, as the educated middle class in Shanghai and Beijing see themselves as apart from the "country bumpkins" and migrants from surrounding rural areas. This is a cultural phenomenon quite different and apart from the ideological concerns of the Communist Party, cultural difference which always exist below the surface. The business elite of the Communist Party can relate more to the environs of Sydney, Australia, than to the rural areas around Shanghai, just as much as the business elites in Bombay with connections to a ruling party can relate to Sydney or Toronto. Not everything about humans fit neatly into ideas such as "China Dream," or a "India Dream." And this may be a good thing when all is said and done- only human nature seeking not to be disturbed. ...

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Yan Xuetong, is professor of political science and dean of the Institute of Modern International Relations at Tsinghua University, Beijing. He is the author of Ancient Chinese Thought, Modern Chinese Power. In this essay translated from the Chinese, Xuetong says China's new leaders should borrow ideas from ancient Chinese philosophers and theorists like Guanzi, Confucius, Xunzi and Mencius who pointed to the importance of morally informed leadership as the key to success in the long term. Xuetong presents this as the best way for China to compete with the U.S. At the same time it gives Xuetong a basis for calling on the new Chinese leadership to create a less unequal society, with attention paid to social justice and balanced development free from corruption, similiar to the calls made in the U.S.

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This Times editorial questions whether Mayor Bloomberg did the right thing in the manner in which he ousted protestors from Zucotti park in the financial district of New York city. Now that the protestors have been forcibly removed from the park, it is the responsibility of the Mayor to keep his promise to let the demonstrators continue their protest against income inequality, says the editorial. The concern is that the end of the protests at Zucotti park could end up quashing the entire protest movement, which serves to draw attention to serious issues in a democracy.