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BBC's look at Andy Burnham, whom it calls "King of the North" having won 60% of the vote as Mayor of Greater Manchester for three successive terms. A brief look at Andy Burnham's life. His father was a BT enginee and his mother a GP receptionist both strong Labour party supporters. He studied for a Masters degree in English at Cambridge. BBC says he was inspired to join Labour at age 14 years after seeing a documentary "Boys from the Blackstuff,"' about life in the city of Liverpool for the disadvantaged. He is a soccer player and Everton soccer team fan, who played for Lancashire schoolboys cricket team. He starts out as ajournalist working for trade magazines, then as researcher for the MP for Duwich, later joining the Blair movement that returned Labour to power. Under Blair he was junior minister, then MP for Leigh in the Manchester area. He moved to Cabinet Minister under Gordon Brown as chief secretary to the Treasury and Health Secretary. With Conservatives in power he was Shadow Home Secretary under Jeremy Corbyn in the Opposition. He ran against Jeremy Corbyn and Ed Milliband for the leadership of the Labour Party before being elected as Mayor of Greater Manchester three times with 60% of the vote. As Mayor he put the bus and transport system back under government control and built the Bee Network, which is one of his success stories in Manchester. He is seen as the only Labour leader who enjoys confidence of the British public from the way he ran the large local government of Manchester. With UK Reform winning local elections he is seen as the leader who can bring confidence back to Labour, and to Britain as it navigates the post Brexit environment and strives for renewal of Britain, its economy and role in Europe. ...

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"If you outsource your learning (your human knowledge then why exist?" asks Nadella, head of Microsoft. After all he says a company is a learning system. We at Lyrarc with our skepticism of the value of  robots and AI by themselves without the driving human component, thoroughly agree with Nadella of Microsoft. Nadella says the best thing is to have as many AI models as companies- hundreds of thousands of companies as learning systems keeping their individual human knowledge bases intact alongside AI supplements. The industry jargon for this is "open weight models" which is to take a basic core of AI and add your own individual learning component for an individualized learning system. To enable this Microsoft is offering multi models including cost effective Deep Seek and Cohere in its Azure AI Foundry, Amazon doing the same with Bedrock and Google following the same path. In an interview with Yash Patil cited in Business Insider, Nadella Explains, saying-  "My simple thing is there should be as many models in the world as firms in the world. Because after all, what is a firm? A firm is a learning system." "I don't want to be locked into any one model. I want to be able to use my own context, my own data — in fact, my own traces to maybe even take a much more open-weight, cost-efficient model or a fine-tuned model." "It can't be, 'Hey, look, I have two frontier models or three frontier models' or whatever, some finite set that have learned everything that is differentiated today in the economy because then it collapses.'" "You can always buy a tool, you can even outsource a task or even a job, but you can't outsource your learning. If you outsource your learning, then why exist?" ...

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Hormuz channel on July 13, 2026 -Iran Memorandum with US is meaningless as IRGC military in Iran and elected Iran government are in a power struggle. Every time the elected president confirms a ceasefire and opening of Hormuz by Iran to all shipping without tolls, the IRGC makes a show of agreeing under pressure from Pakistan, Turkey, Qatar and Egypt, then next day IRGC asserts that Hormuz is closed and all shipping take place on the Iranian side only with tolls. This means Iran is shutting down the Omani side of Hormuz channel which was opened by the US. This is against international law and open navigation of the seas for shipping. The result is that the US government and DJT have lost any confidence in negotiating with the IRGC who make the decisions. The US response is to restart the naval blockade, to be paid for by tolls at 20% to pay all costs of US to ensure safety of oil tankers. The news media is taking the Iranian side which is against the poor countries freely accessing energy and oil supplies at reasonable prices (Egypt, Indonesia, Philippines, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India and China a population of close to 4 billion people). Media does this by putting titles like "Iran is playing the long game," because of the opposition to the DJT administration by Democrats. The opposition Democrats fail to address the question about Iran having a nuclear weapon and the resulting danger to the region. DJT administration response is also to find alternative supplies to Hormuz so that India, China and other countries can meet their oil needs outside of Hormuz. As shown in Lyrarc this has already take place and China, India, Japan, cutting back its fuel use after prolific use of oil, and replacing it with renewable energy, more efficient use of energy. ...

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Spain Win World Cup 1-0 as Argentina struggles - Spain 17 shots on goal, Argentina 0. Without brilliant goal keeping by Argentine goalkeeper, Emiliano Martinez, with 11 saves, Spain would have been far ahead. Ferran gets the goal in overtime from a pass by Williams Jr. Other goals by Spain were disallowed for offside and foul. Spain's coach Luis de la Fuente said the win was because of Spain's footballing training discipline and its long tradition of training. As Sergio Ramos brought the trophy out Spain's new World Cup team connected with the team that won the World Cup in 2010. Xavi, Iniesta, Casillas and Ramos were from that team in 2010. Rodri, Ferran and Olmo, Unai Simon showed Spanish football at its best. In terms of fans having the game of their lives in this World Cup the third place finish game was a classic that surpassed every other game. England played France in a 6-4 game in which England put up 4 goals in the first half and France responded with its own 4 goals in the second half, Saka got a hattrick, Bellingham 2 goals, and Mbappe added 2 goals for France to become the leading goal score of this World Cup. Declan Rice, Saka and Bellingham played well for England, Mbappe, Barcola and Dembele for France. Because of Argentina fizzling out and poor performance in the final it appears as though England which surrendered its lead in the 86th minute of the game with Argentina when coach Tuchel pulled out Declan Rice and made some questionable decisions, were the better team than Argentina. Its almost as if it is Spain No, 1, England No. 2, Argentina and France tied for third place if one went by the quality of the game played. With Brazil out early it appears that world soccer is returning to its roots in England, France and Spain, with newcomers as Egypt. ...

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Tips on money saving from parents on childcare and groceries, and raising children.

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As Labour under Burnham heads to the Greater Manchester election with 2 million voters July 30 - Burnham wins Makerfield by election 55% to the 44% for Reform, Restore and Conservatives combined. It sets the stage for Labour's recovery from attacks by Reform with sensible policy on immigration, and focus on all the people left out in the British economy in the North of England under the Conservatives and neglected by Starmer and a Greater London focused economy. Britain's strength during the Industrial Revolution came from the shipyards of Scotland to the steel mills of Birmingham and the manufacturing industry in Manchester, as well as the financial strength gained from the Empire in India and concentrated in London.

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An Indian born researcher takes on the mission of saving German forests and making them more resilient to climate change. Somidh Saha is at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. In this video from DW.com he shows what is being done in Germany to protect forests.  Woodlands are under threat worldwide from urbanization and industry. About 80% of German trees are not in good health according to a German government study. Damage is shown being done by the bark beetle to trees already weakened for other reasons including drought. Saha says one has to be careful in evaluating how much of a country's space is healthy forests. In India he says it is sometimes said that 21% is forest land. Yet this includes plantations of many kinds- tea, rubber, coconut and so on. The healthy part of forests of high quality and suited to wildlife is a much smaller part of India. The COP26 in Glasgow was unique in one way- for the first time a zero deforestation target was set for the world. World leaders promised to end deforestation by 2030. Protecting forests protects the planet from climate change as forests act like a carbon sink.   ...

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Saving for child at 30 years when she is 7 years the situation for young family finances in 2025, with outrageous college tution up 40% in 10 years, and other costs such as child care. Colleges seem to be impervious to increasing college costs so called  "upper tier" college leagues intent on taking advantage of the disproportionate increases in upper class incomes exacerbating class divisions, and trying to perpetuate their brands with the notion that they offer a better education for undergraduates at $50,000 to $100,000 a year at a Northwestern or Brown when state universities in Michigan, California and Arizona among many in the whole Nation at $15,000 a year instate tution offer the same education as long as the student puts in the necessary effort to study hard.

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The situation in Boise, Idaho. Home to many electronics and high tech companies like Micron Technology, Boise has weathered many downturns with unemployment rates well below the national average. This time things are not looking at all like previous downturns, as the unemployment rate in Boise climbed to 6% from 2.7%- it has already approached the national average of 6.7%, and is climbing. This suggests that high tech is also being affected seriously. Unemployment is expected to reach 8% in 2010, about the same as the national average forecast according to Moody's Economy.com. Goldman Sachs forecast is for the 2009 savings rate to be between 6% to 10% by 2009. Families like the Capps and Muirs that have young children or children in teenage years, are now serious savers, as profiled in this description. Down to getting their meat from a calf grown on a family farm in the Rocky mountain region where Boise is located, cutting their own wood in the mountains, buying 11 dozen eggs and freezing the insides of the eggs, buying on deals like $8 winter coats at Old Navy's store, bulk purchases of sugar and staples, growing and canning vegetables, handcrotcheting hats and scarfs for sale on Craigslist and local bazaars. All this from Mrs and Mr Muir including starting a Moneysavers Club, an email group of 30 people. The Muirs are a young family with their first child 5 years ago, who have stable employment, with Mr Muir working as a grape researcher for the state Dept of Agriculture, and his wife a dental assistant. But having taken 2 mortgages to buy their $144,000 home because they could not afford the 20% down payment. The wife's 401K of $3000 going for insulation and fence , and the husband's 401 K savings down to $13,000- reduced to half by the stock market. Suggesting poor decisions on housing debt with low savings for a couple in their thirties. The Capp couple in its forties has also low savings, having $40,000 in student loans, and credit card debt of $11,000 just paid off by using the $10,000 severance package for Mr Capp. The Capps are economizing on everything from skiing to using washable rags instead of paper towels. He worked as a field service engineer for Electroglass, a semiconductor equipment manufacturer based in San Jose which fired two thirds of its field service engineers, including Capp. They also used a $25,000 line of credit on their home to buy a used Toyota 4Runner. Considering their economizing skills, their responding to the downturn by paring down debt as quickly as possible, the information of Mrs Muir's skills at saving, the Capps continuing to use their 253,000 miles Toyota Corolla- these are families that were not crazy spenders, but just families that did not take saving seriously. The Capps made $65,000 from Mr Capps salary and $10,000 from Mrs Capps work at a mental health clinic (after getting a BS in psychology), yet their $2700 in savings suggests no effort was made to save for a rainy day. What this saving and economizing means is that restaurants are closing in large numbers in Boise. Retail stores, including electronics and clothing, are shuttering, All this is leading to higher unemployment, leading to saving measures like those used by the Capps and the Muirs. Meanwhile the numbers for savings accounts at Home Federal Bancorp in Boise, Idaho, a $725 million bank with 15 area branches, shows savings accounts up 26% in December from the previous year. And says the banks consumer banking head, the balances are increasing even as the unemployment rate is going up. Which suggests that Rodriguez and Goldman Sachs may be right (seee link) that the savings rate may reach 10%, and even higher, from what is happening in Boise. Views on currency valuation and the dollar as indicated in the analysis of the article about Rodriguez /Grantham/Scheiff, WSJ, January 2, 2009, may have to be separated from the analysis of what is happening in savings, as the weakening of the dollar relates also to the weakening of other economies and currencies. This steep upturn in saving is likely to affect Chinese exports severely and the Chinese economy. This also affect the German economy, as China imports less from Germany, especially its midsized manufacturers. See links. What is happening on saving, on the other hand, is very real, and happening before our very eyes....

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With 3.4% inflation and higher interest rates it is still attractive option to keep money in Cash savings at higher interest rates.

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The cushion of pandemic savings of US households is thinning About 35% of it is spent already and by the end of the year 65% of it will be spent, says this report in WSJ. American households accumulated $2.7 trillion by the end of 2021 in extra savings during lockdowns that restricted spending and with stimulus government aid. At the exact time when transfer payments by the US government to households stopped there was inflation lowering the purchasing power and this has resulted in some households increasing credit card balances, dipping into savings and cutting spending. This is what economists are seeing at the Fed as resistance to price increases. Estimates show the percentage of disposable income saved in the US doubling to 16% in 2020 from 8% in 2019 with lockdowns, then dropping to 3% in 2022 with extra spending, and up to 4.5% by the end of 2023. This will have the effect of putting up resistance to inflation and lowering the Fed's interest rate increases to cut inflation. ...

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Sergio Ermotti returns to UBS as CEO to tackle the messy takeover of Credit Suisse. Ermotti was given the task of reviving UBS after its problems during the 2009 financial crisis. A rogue trader cost the bank 2.3 billion dollars. He ran UBS for 9 years closing its investment banking business to concentrate on banking for wealthy investors. He is from Lugano, Switzerland, the Italian part of the country.

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This title is misleading. 40% of Americans are unable to make their goal of decent living in retirement.

On the positive side a look at Fidelity's 24 million 401 K accounts at 25,000 companies shows people are saving closer to the suggested 15% with the average at 14.3%. Older baby boomers saving at 17%. Generation X at 15% and millenials at 13%. Companies are also moving people into higher and higher savings rates which is a good thing. 70% of the private workforce has access, companies automaticall enroll employees increasing participation.

Yet the average savings account is still very low at $127,000 and down 3% from 2024. If this is the saving of the well to do with Fidelity accounts then even the well to do are still far behind. And only about 5 million of 24 million are in 401 K savings accounts for 5 years or more.

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The prospect for increased consumer spending in China are not as strong as in the US. The increasing cost of living and the general uncertainty following the pandemic and release from covid restrictions mean that the average Chinese person is less inclined to spend. Savings pool is also smaller estimated at savings accumulated of $425 million during the pandemic years 2020-2022 compared to the US savings accumulation of $2.3 trillion in 2020 to 2021. US public also received cash payments which supported spending, and China by comparison had no cash payments.

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Issues of inequality and lack of upward mobility came up in the last presidential election. A Federal Reserve Survey for 2018 shows the financial fragility facing many Americans. One quarter of working individuals say they do not have any retirement savings. About 17% of households say they cannot pay all their monthly bills. About 40% of Americans say they do not have enough cash to cover an unexpected $400 expense, and would have to rely on credit cards balances or loans from family to make the payment. This survey by the Federal Reserve is done each year since 2013, after the financial crisis hit in 2009 it became more important. Still Americans are showing unusual resilience and upbeat spirit. About 75% say they were doing Ok or living comfortably up from 63% in 2013. And two out of three described lovcal economic conditions as "good" or "excellent."  This shows that the financial vulnerability resulting in the loss of jobs in the U.S. both from jobs lost in manufacturing going overseas,  jobs lost through automation or industrial decline in some sectors, and the hit from job loss during the financial crisis and its aftermath years of 2009-2014 is still leaving a lot of families financially vulnerable. Low interest rates and stagnant wages also meant savings growth for ordinary Americans was less than it should be in a healthy economy without booms and busts. This is also the environment in which the U.S. is tackling challenges to its technological leadership in 5G following a decline in sectors such as autos and electronics, with job losses to Japan and South Korea. New trade agreements are focussed on correcting the imbalance, first with Mexico, South Korea, and now with China. Focus is also on fair wages and labour overseas to raise American wages in key sectors. The damage done by a low interest rate to savings of ordinary Americans outside the stock markets is also being seen as a downside in the boom bust cycle, that includes loss of jobs for vulnerable American families. The rise of the tech sectors has diluted the traditional protections of working class Americans with the shifts and realignment of the major parties. ...

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The personal savings rate which fell below zero during the housing bubble went up to 6.9% in May, according to Commerce Department numbers. This is the highest it has been since December 1993. Consumer spending posted asmall increase, personal consumption up 0.3% in May after falling the previous 2 months. The rise in personal incomes in May was 1.4%, according to the Commerce Department. Consumer attitudes also rose for the fifth month in June, up to 70.8 in June from 68.7 in May acording to the Reuters-University of Michigan consumer survey. But the survey also shows amajority saying their financial situation had worsened with job losses, fewer hours of work, or income declines.

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The importance of microsavings in addition to microloans in poor parts of developing countries. In West Africa some businesses charge 40% to take deposits. In poor villages often money that sits around is spent on unnecessary things or gets wasted, especially when the savings can improve the lives of people there. Kristof talks about one family in rural Nicaragua that would spend alarge part of its savings $1.75 on three litre bottle of Coke. With Catholic Relief Services offering a padlocked woodbox in which villagers could put in one dollar or 50 cents, a culture of saving is developing. Now the Machado family buys Cke only once a week and the rest of the time puts the savings of$10 a month in the CRS box.

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Millenials group ages 18-49 who have decided to have zero children post pandemic is growing, as shown in this story in The Washington Post- with many graphs about what is really happening. A 2021 Pew Research poll shows 44% of childless adults ages 18-49 saying they do not want kids, or are not likely to have kids. This is up from 37% in 2018. And 56% of these people simply give no reason, just that- no kids. The difficult economic environment is part of this, so is the difficulty in raising kids that do better than their parents, the huge resources needed to raise good kids, all leading to this view among millenial women.

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It says a lot about America at this time in 2025, and should be reassuring to all that these women are standing tall in their effort to do this- to pursue satisfaction of contributing to national life and professional lives, and being good parents involved in raising children. Shown in this report in WSJ as examples of Conservative Women are Alabama Senator Katie Britt 43 years, May Mailman deputy assistant to the President, and ,Shannon Clark. Other women shown are former North Carolina governor Nikki Haley,  Karoline Leavitt, press secretary to the president, Huckabee Sanders, governor of Arkansas. They all say their faith, grit, family and spouse, and setting priorities, are helping them both make it in their careers and be engaged parents at the same time. Pew Research shows of women in both parties Republican and Democratic, about 70% want careers outside the home, and about 88% want good parenting at the same time.   ...

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Savings for China and Japan by increasing oil imports at low prices could amount to about 1% of the economy for each country. Japan imports of oil are one tenth of total imports, and amount to $75 billion. At prices half of what they were before coronavirus the savings are about $40 billion a year. This will offset some of the drop in economic growth of about 3% in the year ending March 2021.

For countries where the coronavirus has been relatively controlled with manufacturing and infrastructure projects ready to go ahead the benefit is greatest. China expects to see about 7% decline in GDP in the first quarter resulting in minimal growth for the year as long as export markets in the U.S. and Europe remain weak. For India it depends on how long the lockdown continues and how quickly economic activity can resume under new conditions.