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Summit County median rents in the towns of Breckenridge, Dillon, Frisco, in the Rocky Mountains near Denver, Colorado now exceed $4000. This pushes low paid workers making $36,000 a year serving tourist visitors to the state further away to longer commutes along stretches of rural highway. This NYT report looks at the different lives in the state with 70% of homes vacant or rented out in Summit County as second homes, and the two different worlds based on family wealth and the workers serving these communities. The lack of affordable housing near resorts. Breckenridge and other communities in the Rocky mountains are giving homeowners thousands of dollars to add deed restrictions to limit renting to local residents.

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German economy contracts in second quarter 2024 by 0.1%. Growth is forecast at 0.3% for 2024 and 1.1% for 2025, according to country statistics office Destatis. The contrast could not be greater in Biden's management of the economy as US economic growth was much higher at about 2.8% in 2024. It shows the positive effects of Biden's effort to revive American manufacturing, and to support chips and science and American industry, and the investment of a trillion dollars from the Inflation Reduction Act in American infrastructure. Without these investments American recovery strong at this time would have hobbled along with much worse effects on jobs and inflation, and looming recession, under a Trump administration. Unusual factors such as the concentration of the supply chain in China have influenced US inflation, which Biden is correcting, and also bringing jobs at home. The economic management is excellent it  is the effects of the pandemic and broken supply chains, high mortgage rates and 20% price increases in apartment rentals that are making cost of living a problem for average Americans. Biden has taken cost of living action including canceling student debt and calling for limiting rent increases for apartment rentals to 5%. Harris has a program to support renters when housing takes up more than 30% of their income. ...

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Kamala Harris laid out her economic plan for Cost of Living Action at a rally in Raleigh, North Carolina. This includes action to restrict price gouging, excessive prices of supermarkets for groceries. It includes restricting rent increases to 5%, a first time home buyer help with down payment of $25,000, and a child tax credit of $6000 per child.

Kamala Harris said:

"Your salary should be enough to provide you and your family with a good quality of life … such as, no child should have to grow up in poverty. Such as, after years of hard work, you should be able to retire with dignity, and you should be able to join a union if you choose.”

“Our supply chains have now improved, and prices are still too high,” Harris said. “Many of the big food companies are seeing their highest profits in two decades. And while many grocery chains pass along these savings, others still aren’t."

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As Lyrarc would say a new culture is taking hold in America. Call it centrism or popularist, rejection of neoliberal whatever that term means, or any other term, it is basically about following good common sense, one's observation of real life and what is working or not working for ordinary Americans. Republicans and Democrats are shifting to policies that worked under Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower, and to views expressed by John F. Kennedy for a fair society that respects the work and dignity and quality of life of all Americans of every class and level of education. And oppose business monopolies, oppose efforts to restrict workers rights. There is a growing sense in both parties that the policies of Reagan, Clinton, Bush and Obama have not worked for ordinary people in America. These are seen as wasted three decades that plunged America into foreign wars, let manufacturing decline, reduced standard of living, let its infrastructure deteriorate. This is why president Biden has achieved remarkable success in putting together legislation with support from key Republicans including McConnell for chips, science, infrastructure and other investment spending. Leonhardt is hardly alone in seeing that this is the path America will take in the coming decades. What is significant now is that the culture and mental framework itself is being transformed. ...

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The surprise in Sweden is the culture ethic in the country that is universal that having and leading ordinary lives is best for all and the best way to live. This starts with everyone including the wealthy living like ordinary people as shown in a recent French Television TV5 Monde show on a weekend in Stockholm.There are many billionaires for a small country but they are seen as bringing industry and inventiveness in the country, and still living ordinary lives like everybody else. You could not tell the difference between the classes in the restaurants and the parks and along the green areas near the water on the many islands that make up Stockholm. This is a unique feature of this country found rarely elsewhere in the world. From the bicycles everywhere as the standard form of transportation throughout the many islands and bridges and parks that make up the country.  Personal income tax is 61.5% in Sweden in 2019. This helps finance public services and benefits that benefit ordinary and working class people in a way that reduces the impact of other aspects of concentration of capital in industry. Much more than this is the attitude that respects a culture ethic of everyone having good opportunities in life. ...

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Sir Anthony Hopkins talks about his new movie "The Father" about a man descending into dementia and his daughter who struggles with his disoriented behavior. Hopkins says the role has helped him become aware of human fragility and frailty. He says he realizes that we are all fragile, all broken in some way. He first watched his grandmother descend into dementia when he was 15. He remembers his father, a baker,  declining too, and he says in the end we are all alone. 

At this time of covid he talks about people in lockdowns and how many turn to increased use of alcohol. His own experience was to seek help in giving up alcohol in 1975 when he found himself in an Arizona hotel room not knowing where he was, and since then forty five years have passed without it. 

He finds contentment these days and is serene about the future. Some of this he gets out of believing in his own insignificance is this vast world.

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Professor Zoubida Charrouf of Mohamed V University in Rabat, Morocco, with the support of Morocco's Ministry of Agriculture is pushing cooperatives in Morocco that produce Argan oil to increase wages for women. Wages are sometimes as low as $50 a month for the women who work with piles of fruit in the countryside along the Atlantic coast. Many work for below the minimum wage in Morocco. Women do most of this work. Argan trees are native to this part of Morocco and Berber women have the skills for this work.  Argan oil is used in Morocco for dipping bread and a food. In Europe and America. Argan oil is used by the cosmetic industry. A similar situation is faced by people in agriculture in other regions. In Ghana cocoa farmers are faced with precarious prices for cocoa and struggle to make a decent living. In Morocco there is the threat also of industrial production of argan- harvesting and production of argan oil using modern machinery, cutting costs but also depriving these Berber women of a chance to earn a living. How can these different factors be processed in a way that leads to a win-win, fair-fair situation for consumers and producers? ...

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  In a way that recalls FDR Biden backed dockworkers on wages that fell behind.  Former Fed Governor chief economist at the White House, Lael Brainard, together with the Transportation and Labor Secretaries Buttigieg and Julie Su, with White House chief of staff Zient, all in a Zoom call at 5.30 am with shipping company management in the EU and Asia. Brainard made proposal the shipping companies accepted for 62% increase in wages over 6 years, increasing top wages $24. The dockworkers union Longshoreman's Association asked for 77%, a decent share in the large shipping company profits after decades when wages lagged behind cost of living. Zient told the shipping companies in that Zoom call- “I need the offer today — not tomorrow. I’m going to brief the president in an hour that you believe you can get this done today.” Stein, Duncan and Gurley tell the extraordinary story of how Biden backed the call for raising 45,000 workers wages on the port docks along the East.  Coast. ...

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Hernandez and Qin provide this exceptional account of the thoughts and feelings of the 150 million young people in China who are single children of parents, through intervews and description of this generation in Chinese media. Local media calls this generation very lonely because of the lack of a brother or sister, without cousins, uncles and aunts. These children were doted on by their parents and have grown up in an unususal way because of the extraordinary attention they received- unlike what is happening throughout the rest of the world. Were they lucky? Not really, because they now have to face the burden of supporting aging parents alone, without the help of siblings. And for the policymakers there is another shock of realizing that such a precipitate action of a one-child policy from 1990 onwards may have undermined other goals by creating a rapidly aging population and shrinking workforce to support them, especially when Latin America and other poor countries with high birth rates have seen these birth rates plummet over time as living standards and education improved. A 2013 study by Australian researchers shows these children having tendency to show selfishness, pessimism and risk aversion. The other shock for policymakers is that the cost of getting a good education and the scarce number of places in good schools, is leading parents to not have that second child. ...

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A WSJ ex Detroit Bureau chief looks at 5 myths in the Detroit automakers story, that they are not yet bankrupt, that management changes would be pointless, that bankruptcy would be fatal, that fuel economy mandates and executive pay controls alone can be enough, that a merger of Chrysler and GM would be a good idea and Cerberus would be giving up any profits on the upside of a sale of Chrysler.

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To gauge economic progress and improvement in living standards, instead of GNP alone look at number of indicators. Look at healthcare and education, cleaner skies and cleaner air, water and land. This is what areport commissioned by President Sarkozy of France, done by Siglitz and Amartya Sen, esentially emphasizes. And be careful when you see more cars and gasoline and more driving drive up GDP numbers and growth because this may actually work in the wrong direction, and have unusual negative effects as the SUV buildup and later collapse led to destroying companies and jobs in Michigan and the midwestern USA.

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This is what our energy wars, our climate change wars are about in summary. Europe has moved faster than the US, India and China in cutting fossil fuels use over 20 years 2005 to 2025. Europe going from 1525 trillion watt hours to 792- cutting use by half. The US from 2900 to  2553 trillion watt hours just 12%. And China...China tripled its use. This has come at a price as the costs of renewables push up electricity prices beyond what homes and industry can support. UK electricity prices 80% higher than US and half of UK energy users plan to ration its use 2025. Half of electricity costs in UK come from cost and delivery, other half of costs from subsidies of renewables and other. In Germany high electricity costs are hobbling industry and reducing economic growth. Lower electricity prices make the US more attractive than Germany as a place to invest. Another way to look at it- US and Europe cut fossil fuel use by about 1100 trillion watt hours and China increased its use by 4200 trillion watt hours or 4 times what the US and Europe cut in 2024 over 2005. Adding India, Brazil this would be 5-6 times what the US and Europe saved in 2024 over 2005. The "And "strategy of combining reduction in fossil with building renewable capacity is working out compared to dumping fossil in one shove and going all out renewable. There is also the question of equity. China and India argue equity means we should be allowed to use some fossil with renewable for 2.5 billion people's needs. The other side of equity is the US saying the same as "no fossil period" strategy puts the needs of the large part of the population for lower costs of energy  pushed aside as wealthy classes say it is OK. Even when the savings through cuts and sacrifices in US and EU are cut down, cut down by 5-6 fold increase in China, India, Brazil alone. In this kind of climate change war it makes sense not to go with labels such as climate change denial DJT vs China climate change affirming, when China is diluting US-EU climate change entire twenty year savings of 2005-2024 by a factor of 4, 1100 trillion watt hours wiped out by China's 4200 trillion watt hours added. And India, Brazil taking this to a factor of 6. This is why a lot of the discussion with self-righteous indignation becomes less purposeful. What is clear is that every action to cut cost of living in US and EU for large parts of the people is an effort in the right direction as it frees up resources for the fight against climate change, the sense that we are all in the same boat and in the same struggle. The fight against cost of living is part of the long run struggle against climate change. ...

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The changes taking place in Saudi Arabia under Prince Mohamad Bin Salman are the subject of this article from Prof. Mohsin Khan of Jindal Global University. Similar changes were initiated earlier under MBZ Mohamad Bin Zayad in the UAE which inspired the changes in Saudi Arabia. The effects are easy to see for Upward Mobility, Diversity, the economy, the relations with the EU and the US and other countries, the shift away from oil to renewables, women's participation in the workplace, and education in science and technology. During the last 50 years the wars in the Middle East have wasted resources in unimaginable ways, human and in trillions of dollars that could have improved the quality of life and ease of living of people. The result is that like Britain in the nineteenth century the US in the 21st shows no interest in Afghanistan or regions of South Asia which have scattered its resources. The shift now is to the seas and the region that covers the west coast of Africa through the Indian Ocean to the Pacific past Indonesia to Japan and the Hawaiian islands, the western coast of the US- called the Indo-Pacific. With the US, India, Australia, and Japan committed to freedom of navigation and international law in the region. It is all about investment, new supply chains, trade and growth, science and technology. And the UAE, Saudi now fit in within this larger framework, along with the European Union, and other countries in this region. ...

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Analysis by Sentier Research of U.S. census data shows U.S. median household income declined from $54,983 in Jan. 2009 to $50,964 in June 2012, adjusted for inflation. This is $4019 in lost real income. The decline is 8% from $55,470 in 2000 before the burst of the dot come bubble. Some of this is because of trends of smaller family, lower fertility rates and more Americans living alone. But as a look at the figures in this research by Catherine Rampell of the NYT, 8/23/2012 shows, the losses in income affects all demographics, hit blacks and people with some education like a high school diploma but no degree the hardest, and also reflects the persistence of long tem unemployment which lowers income.

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US Business has considerable apprehension about the former president in 2024 compared to its willingness to consider Trump in 2016. At the time executives from investment bank Goldman Sachs and heads of oil companies joined the Trump administration. This time US business and corporate interests are apprehensive about becoming the target of a tweet they might find the next morning under a Trump administration. They are not supportive of student loan forgiveness, but when it comes to the CHIPS and Science Act they see president Biden as effective and helping industry. Business leaders have a negative view on the Trump effort through appointment of 3 Supreme Court Justices of overturning decades old rights of women on abortion, and on this issue alone many will support Harris-Walz, overriding other concerns they might have. The visions of Harris and Trump are so vastly different with one calling climate change a hoax and hyping up social issues and infrastructure needs without any record of delivery when in office, and the other a strong position on climate change, wages and income, delivering on infrastructure and CHIPS that US Business. The result is that it leaves US Business with no better option in 2024 than to support the vision  that takes America forward. There are different sections of the business community which have different priorities.  Silicon Valley, and oil, pharmaceuticals because it profits most from light regulation which brings with it social costs is a special issue not addressed here. Other business, banking, automobiles, and a range of other industries have other priorities yet also see the need for the economy and the US to move forward with a different vision than one that simply ignores climate change, and fails to address child care, child poverty, wide disparities in wealth, and other issues facing of wages, cost of living facing most Americans.  ...

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Early warning about the danger of a small group of individuals deciding the future of an important technology that has dangerous potential if placed in a few hands. With the dangers ever present that the pace of development is outpacing regulatory effort, and the profit enabling a few corporations to stifle regulatory effort in America's flawed democracy. Sam Altman is seen by the board of OpenAI as "hindering the efforts of the board to carry out its responsibilities." The tension of the board with Sam Altman comes from the thinking at the board that the rapid expansion of commercial offerings was not giving time to consider the safety implications of the products rolled out. Watching Joanna Stern of WSJ interview Sam Altman and Murali Murthi gives the impression that Altman was  moving too quickly and Murthi was saying the right things but lacked the experience and capacity to tackle AI's vast responsibilities. This also stems from the fact that what young Stanford and other tech graduates in their early thirties have done in the last 2 decades ends a chapter in America's tech history. AI is an entirely different technology which requires the involvement of major parts of America's whole technological and scientific community and its society, not just a few individuals. This is also the lesson from the pandemic for virus research where not just the Cambridge, Massachusetts community needed to be involved, but vast parts of America'a health and medicine scientific community and the American public. A million lives were lost in the pandemic in the US alone, and millions all over the world. It is a lesson that should never be forgotten- that technology can get out of control. ...

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Emmanuel Macron graduated from Sciences Po University in 2004 with a degree in public affairs. He joins the Finance Ministry as an inspector and then buys himself out of government service contract by 2008 to join a private bank. He arranges an acquisition from Nestle and other business deals during this period. In 2012 he is appointed as deputy secretary general for the president's office after Francois Hollande a socialist is elected to the presidency. In 2014 he is offered the position of Minister of Industry and Digital Affairs in the second Manuel Valls government. He makes some changes to French government but opposes the wealth tax or tax on business, and is generally pro-business, though he acts as a member of the Socialist party.  He uses this period to build momentum for his own run for the presidency as support for Hollande falters having lost support from his working class base with Macron and Valls inspired changes.  Macron finally announces he will run for the presidency forming his own En Marche movement which he finances with his own fund raising. Throughout this period right up to the election in 2017 Macron has not run for public office. When he wins the presidency in that year he lacks the experience needed as the youngest president in French history at the age of 39. Like another young president Obama he handles his public image with the media for his En Marche movement promising to unblock France. This public image and his lack of experience makes him impervious to the social changes going on in France that lead to the yellow vest protests in 2018. This is a period when there are changes in the midwest as workers in Michigan and other midwestern states turn away from Hillary Clinton and Obama.  French workers are in the position of workers in the US with the decline of manufacturing, much of it shifted with the supply chain to China and Japan, and the gap opening between rural and urban tech educated areas. Macron follows Obama's quick rise from Senator to run for president yet lacks experience, and lacks sufficient grasp of the social changes with loss of manufacturing, the wide gaps between rural and urban tech educated people, conditions in the rural and farming areas. Macron survives this period, is reelected in 2022 with the help of socialist Melenchon voters. He says he will govern differently, less distant from average Frenchmen, but his instincts are to push for pension reform. At a time of cost of living crisis, and when the French budget office says the change in pension from 62 to 64 was not critical at the present time when inflation was hitting the public after the pandemic. Macron does this by Article 49 in the way he has done under the Manuel Valls government, by executive action alone. This time he faces a no confidence motion in parliament in March 2023 following some of the largest protests France has seen in years, with two thirds of the French according to FR24 opposing the change in pension law. Women see this as coming at a time when age discrimination hurts their chances of earning a living after 50 years of age.  Age discrimination is widespread in France, in a way it is not in Germany, say reports in the NYT. And with the cost of living crisis acts as a major hurdle for the average French person, if pensions are delayed without addressing these cultural issues in France. The result is that the protests have substance and Macron is seen as not sensitive to this at a time when he lacks a majority in parliament. ...

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It is about the fighting spirit of FDR and reviving and renewing the New Frontier of John F. Kennedy that was muddled by the Vietnam War. As Frank Bruni in NYT, and many others are saying US president Biden seen along with the team of Jake Sullivan at NSA, Anthony Blinken at State, Janet Yellen at Treasury, and Katherine Tsai at USTR, Pat Schumer Majority Leader in the US Senate and other cabinet members may be the best team in terms of experience and talent that the US has had in many decades, combining relative youth (Sullivan and Tsai) with many years of experience (Schumer, Yellen and the president). The president's experience in US Congress for about 40 years was invaluable in getting through Congress the Chips and Science Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the assistance to families during the pandemic. Only LBJ in recent post war American history had this kind of experience in getting Medicare and Social Security legislation through Congress. Combining this with the experience and negotiating skill for legislation of Pat Schumer Senate Majority Leader is something not seen since the 1960's. This team comes with a clear dedication and plan to restore democracy to the people by building infrastructure, rebuilding American manufacturing and protecting workers and families through cost of living action and higher wages. As Jake Sullivan NSA, a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice, and one who with the advice of the president has put domestic policy at the heart of foreign policy, puts it for workers and families in the US, these are goals he said at Brookings, "we must, we will achieve." Compare that with every other administration since FDR and Kennedy/LBJ for workers and families everything pales in comparison.  ...

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Perry told viewers of the Republican presidential candidate debate in Florida on Sept. 22, 2011, he supports Social Security and would work to fix it for younger workers. On immigration Perry defended his policies in Texas. He opposes efforts to build a fence along the long stretch of the U.S.- Mexican border. Perry said his policy of giving children of illegal immigrants in-state college tution, was backed by the Texas state legislature with only 4 dissenting votes. He added, "I greatly support it."

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Adam Bryant's exceptional piece that provides the essence of the Qualcomm Way. Qualcomm CEO Steven Mollenkompf, describes the high tolerance for uncertainty in which the company and its managers operate. It is better, says Mollenkompf, to take risks when throwing the ball than when holding it, a piece of advice from his father using a basketball analogy. This mean approaching the fire as he puts it, when opportunities arise but less is known about the details and a high degree of uncertainty prevails. Here he describes how he hires and how he evaluates employees giving them a lot of room to learn, as basically mistakes can be corrected in his experience. It is a culture that encourages and makes sure the A's and B's have what is needed to influence things, not to spend energy on bringing a C to a B level. For this to happen rewards are given for the right kind of behaviours, and there is no tolerance for negative behaviours (jerks for example)- smart people have to get along with other smart people and that is important to get the company moving in the right direction. In evaluating he looks at contributions made over a longer period, doing the right things so that the organization takes opportunities and succeeds 5 years from today. Qualcomm's ability to grow in a rapidly changing tech environment and seize opportunities as they arise, may be attributed to this style of management....

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Alas, economists and intellectuals such as Gita Gopinath of the IMF, just don't get it when they say the EU can increase growth by half percent meeting labor shortages using immigrants. As WSJ reports 50-60% of asylum seekers in Netherlands since 1999 are less skilled /less educated immigrants, are unemployed or on benefits.The new view across all parties is lets stop the immigration surges, its too overwhelming for the people to deal with, so that we can focus on cost of living and low wages for workers. Across Starmer's Labour in Britain, across Biden/Harris Democrats lined up with Republican Lankford in the US pledging to sign the legislation to close the southern Border, and in France Macron's premier Michel Barnier wants to do the same.   Mette Frederiksen of Denmark was a pioneer in the EU in showing that immigration acts as a distraction that hurts the working class as it distracts people from the key issues facing workers of cost of living and low wages, poor benefits. She was elected as a Socialist party leader in Denmark in 2015 and as prime minister in 2019. Sahra Wagenknecht, follows Mette Frederiksen, herself a daughter of immigrant, has formed her own party out of Socialist Die Linke in Germany which is now getting about 15% German voter support, 25% in the east, along similar lines to pause and stop immigration because it hurts the working class. In other parts of EU- France's Macron coalition has a prime minister who has called for a pause on immigration. US president Harris and Candidate Harris have pledged to sign bipartisan legislation drafted by Republican Senator Lankford to close the southern Border. The European Asylum Agency has the numbers at just over one million asylum seekers in EU in 2023 and agains in 2024 split by country- Germany 127,000 24% France 77,000 15%, and Italy and Spain 87,000 each 17% each Belgium, Netherlands and Austria 17,000 each at 3% each, Greece a bit higher. Some like the US and Germany with stronger economic base and industries can absorb the educated immigrants from middle class fleeing wars and strife, and less educated immigrants in construction and hospitality. The bigger danger is in creating support for parties that will use the issue to take whole economies and countries backwards by further depressing workers wages, benefits and rights, exacerbating social divisions around race and income that they say they will solve but have no economic policy to do this. All socialist and socialist democratic parties have grasped this in 2023-2024, some earlier by 2019. ...

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US president Biden's historic speech at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence was debated and written- "We believe that all men are created equal..." Since 1776 these lines have inspired people for 200 years and Biden says they will continue to do this for the next 200 years, as America stands as a beacon for the people of the world aspiring for a better life. Click on Original Article to see the You Tube video of this speech, and see below Lincoln's speech at Independence Hall in 1861.These are also the aspirations for millions of people in Asia, Africa and Latin America and in the US and Europe as the door opens this much wider for people all over the world because of America. Through the War of Independence and the events of the Civil war, and other events in America's life as a nation and a beacon for the world, Independence Hall has been a special place. President Lincoln also stopped by here in 1861 on his way to the White House as the Civil War began. Here is what president Lincoln said at Independence Hall on Feb . 22, 1861. "Mr Cuyler- I am filled with deep emotion at finding myself standing here in the place where were collected together the wisdom, the patriotism, the devotion to principle, from which sprang the institutions under which we live. You have kindly suggested to me that in my hands is the task of restoring peace to our distracted country. I can say in return sir, that all the political sentiments I entertain have been drawn, from the sentiments which originated and were given to the world from this hall in which we stand. I have never had a feeling politically, that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence. (Great cheering). I have often pondered over the dangers which were incurred by the men who assembled here and adopted the Declaration of Independence- I have pondered over the toils of the officers and soldiers of the army, who achieved independence. (Applause). I have often inquired of myself, what great principle or idea that kept this confederacy so long together. It was not the mere separation of the colonies from the mother land; but something in that Declaration giving liberty, not alone to the people of this country, but hope to the world for all future time. (Great applause). It was that which gave promise that in due time the weights should be lifted from the shoulders of all men, and that all should have an equal chance. (Cheers.) This is the sentiment embodied in that Declaration of Independence." "Now, my friends can this country be saved on that basis? If it can, I will consider myself one of the happiest persons in the world if I can help to save it. If it can't be saved on that principle, it will be truly awful. But, if this country cannot be saved without giving up that principle- I was about to say I would rather be assassinated on this spot than to surrender it. (Applause). ...

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Early elections in Turkey for parliament and the presidency called by president Erdogan are giving the opposition a chance. The economic growth during the early Erdogan years is beginning to fade with Turkey's rising debt levels, companies with large debt repayment, and the loss of half the value of Turkish currency Lira since 2014.  Muharram Ince of the Republican People's Party, CHP, is able to connect to religious voters from his secular base. The CHP has allied itself with the Islamist SP Party, and the nationalist party Iyi led by Meral Aksener. This alliance is now poised to challenge Mr. Erdogan in the coming election with a different combination of forces loosening Mr. Erdogan's grip on Islamist voters and nationalist voters, by bringing together the nationalist, secular and Islamist in a new way. The focus of this alliance is not dividing the country between Islamist and secular as in recent elections, but more along the lines of keeping some of the basic elements of democracy eroded in Mr. Erdogan's efforts to setup what the opposition leader Mr. Ince calls a "one man regime." As in Malaysia's recent election corruption is also an issue raised by the opposition. ...

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Policy on China in the second year of the DJT Administration- shift from adversary positions to cooperation. A shift in policy after the meetings with Chinese leaders Xi and Wang Yi at Busan, South Korea in 2025. WSJ Analysis looks at what happened in the first term of DJT, the Biden Administration that followed and in 2025 in US-China relations and how the posture changed, how Xi and his team built rapport with DJT and his team over the tumultuous period in 2025. US turned to Xi in getting Iran to the table for negotiations in Islamabad meetings after the month long effort to take out Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile program infrastructure. This was arranged in the early hours of Tuesday April 7th 2026. Throughout the US air campaign in Iran China pursued the policy it had set at Busan of not letting it affect US- China relations and the DJT visit to Beijing believing it sets the basis for the future course of US- China that affects the whole world beyond regions such as the Middle East where little headway has been made in bringing about peace. China US, EU, India, Brazil, Latin America, Africa, Indonesia, make up most of the world's population and China remains focused on ensuring the US and China can through their cooperation maintain peace in the world overall. This is reflected in this statement of China's Foreign Ministry on Busan meeting as the beginning of something new and big for the world- "Over the past seven decades and more, we have been working from generation to generation on the same blueprint to make it a reality. We have no intention to challenge or supplant anyone. Our focus has always been on managing China’s own affairs well, improving ourselves, and sharing development opportunities with all countries across the world. And that is an important secret to our success. China will further deepen reform across the board, expand opening up, and promote higher-quality economic growth while achieving an appropriate increase in economic output, and advance well-rounded human development and common prosperity for all. This will also expand the space for cooperation between China and the United States." This relates to China's worst fear, worst nightmare - that before it can become a fully developed economy for 1.4 billion people it would find itself in the situation that faces Japan of an aging society and weak growth something Japan faces as a fully developed economy much smaller of 120 million people. Japan per capita GDP is at $36,000 2.5 times China's at $14,000 and about a fifth of Germany's at $64,000, about a seventh of the USA at $92,000. So that if China does not continue along the path of development it has followed since 1990 working with the US and EU it faces the prospect of losing forever the prospect of joining Japan and fall into lower than middle income status when large parts of the interior of China a third of its economy that is rural are still living in poor economy status with per capita GDP of $3500, which is 8% of the GDP per capita of the poorest state heavily rural state of Mississippi in the US. Even Shanghai and Beijing with about $32,000 per capita GDP are only about 58% of the per capita GDP of Louisiana in the bottom one third of US states. Xi Wang Yi, Lifeng are doing what China must do to compete with advanced US and European economies and Japan- continue to work with the US on the development model that has worked the best for China since 1990. It is not about supplanting anyone China is serious when it says here- "Over the past seven decades and more, we have been working from generation to generation on the same blueprint to make it a reality. We have no intention to challenge or supplant anyone. Our focus has always been on managing China’s own affairs well, improving ourselves, and sharing development opportunities with all countries across the world." ...

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Three very important point about a soda tax. First, obesity was rated as the No 1 problem of concern for business leaders at a WSJ conference for business leaders at the beginning of the Obama administration in January 2009. If obesity related costs are taken out of health care, and even though they are not collected as statistics they must be significant, it would reduce the costs of providing universal health insurance. Especially considering that most diseases are exacerbated by obesity, and in some obesity figures as one of the leading causes. Second, Centers for Disease Control Data shows that a typical person now consumes 190 calories a day from sugary drinks, up from 70 a day in the late 1970's. That 120 calorie increase, an almost threefold jump in consumption of sugary sodas, represents one-half of the total daily caloric increase during that span per person, according to C.D.C. data. This is a crucial finding. Just one product alone can cause so much disruption in people's lives. Just as thrifty ways of living are becoming popular in America, better education in schools and communities on good nutrition and eating habits can become popular to reverse the bad habits acquired in the last 20 years, habits that are careless and reckless. Third, research shows that soda drinkers are price sensitive, so that in the past when soda prices went up by 10%, consumption dropped about 8%. So a tax on sugary sodas would make sense. The huge soda sizes at fast food places are one of the signs of the excess of this age with no regard for the consequences to health. living habits....