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The success tackling coronavirus in the Indian state of Kerala
05/18/2020
Past experience with pandemics- most recently the Nipah virus in 2018 -helped the Indian state of Kerala set a unique state of preparedness of both the health ministry and the people in control of spread of coronavirus. Hardship is also a great teacher of solidarity- only recently in 2019 Kerala had the worst floods in a century from a cyclone that hit the coast of Kerala in southwestern India. It did not take long for people to take preventive action starting at the end of January when the first cases were being seen in Wuhan, China, led by Health minister Ms. Shailaja. She personally visited a region quarantined in the state to guide the effort.
Linked Articles
The coronavirus slayer! How Kerala's rock star health minister helped save it from Covid-19
The Guardian 05/14/2020
Coronavirus lockdown: Is India flattening the COVID-19 curve? | DW | 24.04.2020DW.COM 04/24/2020
Carlos Ghosn and Nissan discontent in Japan- the failing Renault-Nissan alliance
12/18/2018
Renault-Nissan's failure to invest in Japan and the lack of interest in Nissan under Ghosn added to worries in Japan about the compensation of Ghosn being larger than all nine top executives of Nissan combined. A deep sense of affront was felt in Japan as one executive put it -"where is the transparency and where is the frugality." This special report by WSJ shows how the ego based executive which is not typical of Japan failed Nissan. It also shows why this type of management is not healthy for companies or the employees and all stakeholders. Its hard driving nature with unhealthy lifestyles is also becoming unpopular today.
Linked Articles
The Fall of the House of Ghosn
WSJ 12/16/2018
Ghosn’s U.S. Push Irked Nissan ExecutivesWSJ 12/18/2018
Corporate America's choices between corporate buybacks and increasing stagnant wages/making capital investments in 2018
03/01/2018
Linked Articles
Boom in Share Buybacks Renews Question of Who Wins From Tax Cuts
WSJ 03/01/2018
Opinion | Corporate America Is Suppressing Wages for Many WorkersThe New York Times 02/28/2018
"Deaths of Despair", the causes and effects in a larger context, and the drop in America's ranking in the Social Progress Index to 19th in 2016
07/01/2016
How the middle aged white Americans 45-54 are faring in the current environment with fewer opportunities and greater vulnerabilities in health, education incomes, savings, quality of life, mortality, upward mobility, for this group. Tragically this means their children and the next generation is also affected in the way fewer opportunities are available in the future. The situation is unique to America with weaker social protection than Europe, and to Britain because of years of austerity. There are no quick fixes with easy slogans, and requires first a national awareness, national consensus, and may require the better part of a generation to solve and restore the hope and promise of Jefferson in making the "inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" available to all.
Linked Articles
Rising Death Rates for Middle-Aged White Americans Are Forcing a Policy Rethink
WSJ 06/30/2016
The U.S. Now Ranks 19th in ‘Social Progress,’ With Finland and Canada Topping the ListWSJ 06/30/2016
Jeremy Corbyn and the proposal in 2015 for a National Investment Bank in Britain to make investments in education, health services and infrastructure
09/11/2015
A new leader of the Labor Party in Britain proposes a National Investment Bank. Some of the funding would come from an estimated 20 billion pounds of tax debt, 20 billion pounds in tax evasion, and 80 billion pounds in tax avoidance, according to experts in the Labor Party. Corbyn says he would reverse the introduction of fees for university education by previous Labor governments and has publicly apologized for the fees. The fees plan would cost about 7.1 billion pounds and be paid for by a 2.5% increase in the corporate tax, slower deficit reduction or increase in the insurance tax, says Corbyn. Germany continues to provide free university education.
Linked Articles
Leftist Jeremy Corbyn elected leader of Britain’s Labour Party - The Washington Post
Washington Post 09/12/2015
Jeremy Corbyn, Unlikely Front-Runner for Labour Leader, Poised to Win Party VoteNew York Times 09/11/2015
Ford Motor's higher profits from larger vehicles in the U.S. and China in 2015- the redesigned F-150 pickup, SUV's, with higher fuel efficiency, lower gas prices and lower interest rates
07/29/2015
Linked Articles
GM, Ford, Flourish Out of the Limelight
Wall Street Journal 07/29/2015
Ford Bets on Fancy PickupsWall Street Journal 07/29/2015
Deep differences in 2015 between Alexis Tsipras of Syriza and the Merkel government in Germany on debt forgiveness and the bailouts for Greece
01/26/2015
The deep differences between Greeks and Merkel operate at two levels. On the level of austerity policies Greece shares the view with other EU countries, the governments of Hollande in France and Renzi in Italy that austerity is not the best course for the eurozone. This view is also shared by people in Spain facing unemployment exceeding 20%, though the government of Rajoy in Spain like that of Samaras in Greece lived with the austerity policies with some changes. At this level there is also support from within Merkel's coalition government from Social Democrats. The other level of deep differences is on debt forgiveness and bailouts where Greece has to find its own way out in negotiations hoping that the EU and the IMF will agree to make concessions based on action taken by Syriza to ensure prudence in fianncial management. On issues such as minimum wage one would expect Syriza to be firm and make concessions where the hardship does not fall on the poorer and working class, winning support from the Social Democrats in Merkel's coalition. Beyond the symbolic moves and posturing the actual negotiations are likely to take into account the eurozone's need for help on the fiscal side desired by the ECB's Draghi to support monetary easing to fight deflation, and the need to keep the eurozone intact at a sensitive time. Syriza for its part is aware that a majority of Greeks favor staying in the eurozone.
Linked Articles
Greece’s new prime minister wants Germany to pay for Nazi war crimes - The Washington Post
Washington Post 01/26/2015
A young, impatient leftist is Greece’s defiant new face - The Washington PostWashington Post 01/27/2015
The miscalculations and missteps of Russian president Putin in 2014 leading to a major crisis for the Russian economy in 2015
12/18/2014
A major miscalculation was totally misjudging Merkel and post-war German public opinion about policies that remind people about the period between the two World Wars- this is anathema to Germans who see the European Union as a way to build a new and different Europe. The other miscalculation was on how a foreign adventurous policy in Syria would affect Sunni world opinion, in particular Saudi Arabia. Just as Brezhnev took Russia into Afghanistan where Russia had no vital interest leading to eventual Soviet collapse, Putin risked alienating a key member in OPEC pricing moves and hurting Russia's economic interest. By not listening to Kudrin, the head of Sberbank, and other economic advisers from the first and second terms of the Putin-Medvedev administrations, Putin opened the door to two years of serious missteps, risking the very real accomplishments of the first and second term of creating a stable growing Russian economy with close economic ties to Europe. The only positive outcome of the crisis and low oil prices would be making the shift away from oil dependence, which was talked about but never seriously attempted in the Putin administrations. For this to happen major new investments would have to be made and technology links to the outside strengthened, both hammered by the missteps in 2013-2014. The irony of all this is that Putin gained the support of rural Russians in the countryside in the 2012 presidential elections by promising no return to the economic crisis conditions following earlier ruble collapses. Now by ignoring Kudrin and other wiser counsel from the first and second administrations he does just that.
Linked Articles
Putin’s Year of Defiance and Miscalculation
Wall Street Journal 12/18/2014
Russian President Vladimir Putin Seeks to Reassure on EconomyWall Street Journal 12/18/2014
The huge negative effect of tech on jobs in the U.S., and other countries- prioritizing solutions in 2015-2025
10/06/2014
The Economist and William Galston writing in the WSJ, look at the hugely negative effect on jobs as technology makes it possible to produce the same output in goods with fewer workers. Galston offers solutions for the U.S., and the Economist offers solutions for EUrope, Asia, and other regions that need to create jobs.
Linked Articles
Countering Tech’s Damaging Effect on Jobs
Wall Street Journal 10/15/2014
The world economy: Wealth without workers, workers without wealthEconomist 10/06/2014
Questions about whether justice and accountability were accomplished in the U.S. Justice Department's settlement with Credit Suisse
05/19/2014
A WSJ editorial and a separate piece in the NYT question the assumption that justice and accountability were achieved in the U.S. government's settlement with Credit Suisse. The nagging question- is Attorney General Holder simply burnishing his image after failing to establish accountability and justice following the 2008 global financial crisis, which dealt a serious blow to America's middle class. Collective wrongdoing starts with individual actions, and holding individuals responsible establishes accountability, so that the public is protected from future actions of this nature. Somewhere since the crisis this principle has been lost in the Obama administration. A churn in management for failures is considered healthy for other American companies, and healthy for free enterprise, readers are likely to wonder why this is not so for the banks.
Linked Articles
Credit Suisse Pleads Guilty in Felony Case
New York Times 05/19/2014
Holder Convicts SwitzerlandWall Street Journal 05/21/2014
U.S. household spending in a very gradual recovery as banks make home loans to people with high credit scores and younger buyers defer purchases
02/18/2014
Linked Articles
Americans’ Debt-Cutting Levels Off
Wall Street Journal 12/12/2014
An Ambiguous Omen, U.S. Household Debt Begins to Rise AgainNew York Times 02/18/2014
Faces of workers quitting work or reducing hours as they qualify for subsidies on health insurance under the Obama Healthcare Law
02/05/2014
Faces of the workers taking subsidies available to lower income workers under the Obama Health Care Law. The Congressional Budget Office projections for 2021 show about the equivalent of 2.3 million workers worth of hours reduced as a result of the healthcare law subsidies giving workers more choice. Many use the time to work on startup business or child care for grandchildren. The jobs freed up and the hours could be taken up by other workers looking for jobs. Gains in childcare would be another result.
Linked Articles
Health Law To Cut Into Labor Force
Wall Street Journal 02/05/2014
They quit their jobs, thanks to the health law - The Washington PostWashington Post 02/09/2014
Low wages for workers at retail branches of banks and fast-food retail outlets
12/04/2013
Linked Articles
Low bank wages costing the public millions, report says - The Washington Post
Washington Post 12/04/2013
Fast-food workers plan a new wave of walkouts across the nation - The Washington PostWashington Post 12/04/2013
Ashwini Bhide and the Mumbai Metro- getting infrastructure done in India on time
10/05/2019
The desperate need for good infrastructure and millions of people in Mumbai who have put up for too long with creaky infrastructure. The Mumbai Metro led by Ashwini Bhide is a path breaking effort to speed things up, as the WSJ points out. As before petitions and other methods are used to stall projects. This time the courts not only dismissed the petition about cutting trees in Aarey Colony, north Mumbai, but also fined the petitioners Rs 50,000 for filing a frivolous petition. Trees are important, as few trees as possible are being cut for the new Metro, and new trees are being planted to replace them.
Linked Articles
WSJ 05/08/2023
‘Activists should accept defeat honourably’: Mumbai Metro MD on Aarey rowHindustan Times 10/05/2019
Corporate America's choice between corporate buybacks and increasing wages/making capital investments for growth to help the middle class
03/01/2018
Linked Articles
Boom in Share Buybacks Renews Question of Who Wins From Tax Cuts
WSJ 03/01/2018
Corporate Tax Cut as Growth Elixir? Foreign Experience Suggests CautionWSJ 05/01/2017
Why initiating Brexit by invoking the Lisbon Treaty's Article 50 could go into 2017, or even past 2020 into new general elections- (3) the inclusion of key "Leave" supporters in Theresa May's cabinet
08/16/2016
By including a key member of the "Leave" vote, Mr Boris Johnson, former Mayor of London, in the cabinet as Foreign Secretary, Theresa May has given herself a lot more flexibility in tackling the Brexit issue so that it does not hurt the British economy. It would be hard for a key cabinet member not to be part of the team position on issues, and for the team to ignore the Bank of England's role in steadying the economy. By making the issues important to working class people in Britain her priorities Theresa May also lays the ground for everyone in Britain to gain moving forward as the economy recovers.
Linked Articles
Wait and see: Theresa May is in no hurry on Brexit | Europe | DW.COM | 15.08.2016
DW.COM 08/15/2016
Theresa May, New British Prime Minister, Gives Boris Johnson a Key PostThe New York Times 07/13/2016
The making of foreign policy in the Obama presidency- Barack Obama and Dennis McDonough
01/13/2016
Linked Articles
Washington Post 01/13/2016
Denis McDonough, the president’s chief of snooze - The Washington PostWashington Post 01/13/2016
China's efforts to transition to a new model for development in 2016-2017, based on consumers and not on heavy state spending
08/25/2015
Xi-Jinping and Li Keqiang face a challenge and choices not unlike the one facing Deng Xiaoping in the 1980's- now the challenge is how to move China beyond the middle income status it has achieved with all its accompanying problems of environmental destruction, corruption and aging population.
Linked Articles
Economist 01/23/2016
Political Risks May Foil Economic Reform in ChinaNew York Times 08/25/2015
The women's vote in 2016 U.S. presidential election and the antiincumbency mood of 2016- risks for Clinton running a cautious campaign and big risks for Trump
06/11/2015
Hillary Clinton needs a vigorous campaign away from the cautious instincts of the early days of her campaign, as Trump seeks to deflect criticism by attacking Hillary Clinton, say experts. The risks are high for Trump if the effort backfires alienating the vast majority of women, including Sanders supporters, independents and traditional Republican moderates. This is one of the wild twists of the campoaign of 2016- a candidate apparently making sexist comments to attract the support of white women voter- and men.
Linked Articles
Hillary Needs More Than the Obama Coalition
Wall Street Journal 06/11/2015
Donald Trump’s Gender-Based Attacks on Hillary Clinton Have Calculated RiskNew York Times 04/28/2016
Looking back at Hong Kong and China today and yesterday- China in 1842 and in 1945, nationalism and commercial interests of foreign powers
01/09/2015
A wariness with foreign powers in China stems from the influences left behind from the British commercial interests and the Japanese invasion of China. Compared to that period, the period of collaboration on an equal footing and playing field is is a short and recent one that has taken place for just three decades 1985-2015. Fears that the accelerated development in China could slow down without a strong central government, combine with the awareness of the need for western technology and open communications in today's global economy to accelerate the development, create in the Chinese mind a problem that needs to be tackled carefully to continue progress. Awareness of the huge inequalities and corruption in the rush towards modernization, need to tackle extensive contamination of air and water, and need for social security and healthcare for an aging population create a new urgency for careful policy making to sustain progress.
Linked Articles
Wall Street Journal 01/12/2015
‘China 1945,’ by Richard BernsteinNew York Times 01/09/2015
Tragedy in Africa (2) - Ebola virus and the breakdown for healthcare, running water, electricity, coupled with food shortages in West Africa
10/10/2014
Linked Articles
Liberia’s Ebola Crisis Puts President in Harsh Light
New York Times 10/30/2014
Rising Food Prices Make Africa Fight Ebola on Empty StomachWall Street Journal 10/10/2014
The Hong Kong legislature votes 28-8 to reject the Beijing election plan with 34 walking out- staying with the current system where a Chief Executive is elected from 1200 business and political leaders
09/29/2014
The current system actually may offer more choice of candidates as it provides for a Chief Executive to be elected from 1200 business and poltiical leaders from Hong Kong, compared to the Beijing plan to have a pro-Beijing committee vetting candidates. This realization led to the historic vote in the legislature after the failure to convince the government led by Xi Jinping to allow free choice of candidates.
Linked Articles
Hong Kong Votes Down Beijing-Backed Election Plan
Wall Street Journal 06/18/2015
Protests in Hong Kong Have Roots in China’s ‘Two Systems’New York Times 09/29/2014
The puzzling (and possibly disturbing) aspects of the April 2014 U.S. jobs numbers from the Labor Department
05/05/2014
Linked Articles
Positive Jobs Report Shows Economic Fault Lines
Wall Street Journal 05/05/2014
In Tepid Wage Growth, a Potent Sign of a Still-Fragile EconomyNew York Times 05/05/2014
Reviving Detroit- Darren Walker of the Ford Foundation and not giving up on American cities
02/15/2014
The Ford Foundation was founded in Detroit in 1936, the Knight Foundation also has roots in the city. Both foundations donated the money needed to revive Detroit in 2014. The state of Michigan under Governor Snyder also acted with exceptional courage and wisdom to save the floundering city after a decade of collapsing infrastructure and services. The state acted responsibly by obtaining a supervisory role over the city's troubled finances. With all the surrounding atmosphere and talk of Republican deadlock with Democrats in the White House and Congress, Snyder, Walker, Judge Rosen, and others showed rare wisdom and courage to come together for innovative solutions.
Linked Articles
Finding $816 Million, and Fast, to Save Detroit
New York Times 11/07/2014
Mediator in Detroit Bankruptcy Walks Fine Line Between City, CreditorsWall Street Journal 02/15/2014
McDonald's and a shift in nutritional habits in the U.S., especially in the younger age groups
01/17/2014
With about one third of the population in developed countries considered obese, there is greater awareness especially among younger people, about the need to read nutritional labels carefully, look for fresh food, and manage calorie intake. There is a shift also away from fast food to places where there is greater nutritional choice and to eating at home. The recession may have induced more people to consider eating less outside.
Linked Articles
Americans' Eating Habits Take a Healthier Turn, Study Finds
Wall Street Journal 01/17/2014
McDonald's Faces 'Millennial' ChallengeWall Street Journal 08/25/2014
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