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With U.S. exports to China related to about 1% of U.S. GDP, and the direct foreign investment by China in the U.S. being less than 1% of all foreign investment in the U.S., the slowdown in China is likely to have a small effect on the U.S. economy, say experts. China's slowdown will help service industries in the U.S., internet companies, software and entertainment companies. Positive factors include slower growth in manufactured imports from China, low commodity prices including oil for an extended period of time, access to more Chinese investment in the U.S. with higher returns, and more talented students from China staying in the U.S.

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Asked about his meeting with President Joe Biden Starmer says he was in good form and mentally agile, and covering topics in pace. The meeting lasted for an hour. Here is what Starmer said about Biden- “No, we had a really good bilateral yesterday. We were billed for 45 minutes, we went on for the best part of an hour,” he said. “We went through a huge number of issues at pace, he was actually on really good form.”

Starmer said: Biden was “absolutely across all the detail” in discussions on issues including Ukraine, Gaza and European relations, as well as defence issues around the Nato summit.

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Robert Reich, a former Labor Secretary, says that instead of "rebalancing" with Chinese consumers buying more American goods and China exporting less to the USA, things are headed in the opposite direction. Why? Because at the macroeconomic level China is devoting more of its country's resources to production capacity. Chinese consumers are taking home a smaller proportion of the total economy. In 2008 personal consumption amounted to 35% of the total economy, whereas in 1998 it was 50%. Capital investment in the same 10 years went up 35% to 44%. Chinese continue to save and these savings are going into infrastructure and manufacturing capacity. There is even a social twist to the savings, with fewer young Chinese women than men parents with boys have to compete in the marraige market and save assets for this. Households are also saving to support more elderly people as population is aging quickly with population policies. All this means that with all the talk (see links to Niall Ferguson and Krugman), the situation will likely roll on in this manner till things reach an impasse, or there is a strong political backlash in the USA which leads to stronger trade actions by the government, or there is a crisis. Meanwhile the trade deficit is headed higher and Chinese foreign reserves will go far above the current $2.3 trillion. And the Europeans will also be getting restless with their trade imbalance, as the euro edges higher and the yuan remians pegged to the dollar, leading to trade distortions. ...

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Zoom calls in the wee hours of the morning or night, and emails at all hours, the scrambling that happened during 2020 and 2021 during work needs some structuring and laying down of boundaries. The work day got kind of crazy. Here Rachel Feintzberg offers tips on getting back to a healthier and more productive worklife by setting clear work boundaries and hours. The key experts say is to be respectful but resolute. Some tips are to follow boundaries such as a 6.00 pm for last calls you take- to do this 80% of the time and compromise on remainder. If pandemic habits are hard to break try innovative ways, like getting out on sports, cycling or gym routines at 6.00 pm. Its alway good to remember and articulate to peers and bosses that you will be most productive and producing higher quality work when you have time for taking care of your health and healthy living. Its hard depending on the boss but over 6 months it gets you to a better place. German practice of Feierabend actually refers to when you stop working for the rest of the day and is done in Germany. It sets a clear demarcation or boundary between work and leisure hours needed for healthy living. ...

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The head of VW's truck operations Mr. Heinzmann will assume the new position on the management board overseeing Chinese operations. The head of the Chinese operations, Mr Neumann, was earlier expected to take this position, but will now be given another assignment. VW's sales in China increased by 17% to 2.3 million and worldwide sales up 14% to 8.2 million in 2011. VW has seen tremendous growth under CEO Martin Winterkorn.

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India lags behind in the number of tourists visiting the country. Part of the reason was the lack of good infrastructure in the country. Indian Railways and new highways, modern river transport has opened up remote parts of the country from the jungles of Assam to deserts of Rajasthan, the mountainous regions of Kashmir, Sikkim, Bhutan and Ladakh, Arunachal, and the river regions of the Brahmaputra river and Ganges to tourism. Compared to France with 100 million tourists a year India has about a tenth of that.  Tourism is now seen as an engine for job growth as small handicraft industries can tap into the tourist market, hotels and restaurants can add to employment. The new budget for 2025-26 recognizes this by almost tripling the 95 million euros budget for 2024 to 283 million euros in 2025. Delhi with images of pollution is a distraction yet the tourist from Europe or America can find much to see in smaller towns and metros in the country from Buddhist and Vedic civilizations thousands of years old and recent history after invasions from Western Asia and Europe since 1600, and interesting cuisine, culture, language and regional influences. ...

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Lois Boisson of France No.361 makes it to final 4 at the French Open, Roland Garros 2025. She entered as a wild car invitation and beat Jessica Pegula No. 3 on the clay courts.

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See these really remarkable black and white pictures of what happens in a period of decay for industrialized economies as old industries die out- as happened in the UK,  in the US with communities left without hope. Only now with Biden and Starmer a new sense of purpose for the US and UK to correct what went woefully wrong- no plans for transition to new industries and outshoring of the nation's industrial base. This exhibition of 20/20 of photos taken by Kilip and Smith in black and white is at the Parr Gallery in Bristol, UK- you can see it here by clicking on original article right now. It is the failure to plan for the transition that has led the Conservatives from Thatcher onwards to the situation today, and a similar situation in the US from Reagan onwards. The haphazard transition has let China take the lead in new industries with government support. Only now is America under Biden making a real transition and backing up new industries for factory jobs with government support and planning for the next 10 years. Britain with the Conservatives in charge is without a clue and financially strapped- the mood in Birtiain is now for Labour under Starmer to right things the way Biden is doing in the US.  ...

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Pope Francis takes an open attitude to listen before making up his mind in his meeting with Trump at the Vatican in May 2016. Landler and Horowitz describe the visit by Trump and his family including Ivanka, Melanie and Jared Kushner, accompanied by Tillerson and McMaster. The pope handed out rosaries and said before the meeting: "In our talk, things will come out, I will say what I think, he will say what he thinks, but I never want to make a judgement without hearing the person." 

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The Beige Book report of the U.S. Federal Reserve for April 23-May 25, 2012, showing moderate growth in 10 of 12 bank districts.

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Wealth and people migration in the US in 2020 is shown in this WSJ report. Latest IRS data released for 2020 shows migration of taxpayers and adjusted gross income from states in the midwest, on the eastern and western seaboard to states in the southern US and to mountain states in the west. Some of this is a result of the pandemic lockdowns and the shift to remote work which means that the trend for migration will continue for 2021 and 2022. The shift in income was as follows-Florida  23.7 billion, Texas $6.3 billion, Arizona $4.8 billion, North Carolina $3.8 billion, South Carolina $3.6 billion, Tennessee $2.6 billion, Nevada $2.6 billion, Colorado $2.3 billion, Idaho $2.1 billion, Utah $1.3 billion.  The biggest losses came from New York -$19.5 billion, California -$17.8 billion, Illinois -$8.5 billion, Masachusetts -$2.6 billion, New Jersey -$2.3 billion, Maryland -$1.9 billion, Ohio -$1.4 billion, Minnesota -$1.2 billion, Pennsylvania -$1.2 billion, Virginia -$1.1 billion. WSJ says the tax burdens in the southern and mountain states in the west are low. In four states there is no state tax- Florida, Texas, Tennessee and Nevada. By comparison says WSJ states losing wealth and population have high state taxes for property and income. Schools, quality of life and cost of living are also major considerations, with remote work opening up the opportunities to seek a better life in other states which offer more space for working at home.   ...

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April 2021- time to spend time outdoors and avoid congregating with others inside in spaces that are not as well ventilated. With spring here there is more of a sense of freedom being out in the fresh air and sunshine, and this is good for physical and mental health during this phase of coronavirus.

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The U.S. falls to 19th rank in the Social Progress Index. This Index is another measure of how well a country is doing in meeting the needs of its average citizen for education, health care, opportunities in life. Experts say GDP and GDP growth alone are a poor indicator of how well a country is doing. High levels of student debt, the aftermath of the mortgage crisis job losses and low interest rates that have slashed the average person's savings, lower access to education and health care with high costs, lower wages and job loss in manufacturing, are pushing the U.S. down the ladder in this ranking. It is also showing up in the domestic political unrest from poorer working class and lower middle class people. Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, Netherlands, do the best and are in the top ten in the rankings. 

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This is what former Attorney General Bill Barr has to say about Mr. Trump. "If you believe in his policies, what he's advertising as his policies, he's the last person who could actually execute them and achieve them...He does not have the discipline, he does not have the ability for strategic thinking and linear thinking, setting priorities or how to get things done in the system."

"And so you may want his policies, but Trump will not deliver Trump policies. He will deliver chaos, and if anything lead to a backlash that will set his policies much further back than they would otherwise would be."

This WSJ Editorial Board report says a lot of the work done during the Trump administration was a result of work done by the Federalist Society, Mitch McConnell, Mike Pence, Paul Ryan, other Republicans. Many of these Republicans will not support a second term or be actively involved in a second term, says the WSJ.

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Stanley Fischer and Daniel Tarullo are part of a new internal committee setup at the U.S. Federal Reserve to oversee efforts at the Fed to maintain financial stability. The idea was developed by Janet Yellen and Stanley Fischer to prevent future crises from developing.

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Online 1 year certificates of deposit have annual percentage yield of 4.75% in 2023 compared to less than 1% in 2022. This is a significant improvement for what the average American gets on his savings accounts. For two decades low interest rates on savings accounts hurt average Americans whose savings did not grow through interest accumulation.

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Tution fees in the UK are 9450 pounds. The cost of housing about 7500 pounds in 2024, up 15% over the last 2 years. In addition to the over charges on student loans for Plan 2 Loans in Britain that take it from 4.3% with a surcharge of 3%, there is the 15% inflation in housing costs in Britain that households and student have to contend with. This situation is true today for Britain, the US and Germany, and other countries in the EU leaving less for food and transportation costs. This is why there is an added level of worry and anxiety for young people in Britain the EU and in the US, and for their parents.

Others one with a business economics degree and a solicitor apprentice in a law firm face the same situation. He works in finance and just sees it as he says a tax on having gone to university.  Similar stories across the US. It doesn't have to be this way for advanced nations education is FIRST PRIORITY.

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As the price of oil hits $40 a barrel, and with the lack of investor confidence in China's economic policies in relation to the stock market and currency devaluation, global stock markets decline sharply in August 2015.

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Rand Paul of Kentucky is the new Head of the US Senate Homeland Security Committee. He plans to address questions about the CISA Cybersecurity Committee and interfering with the First Amendment free speech rights. It was set up to prevent foreign cybersecurity attacks by DJT in the first term.

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Lake county with 230,000 population in Ohio received 60 million pills. Ohio Counties say after the $650 million settlement verdict by US courts for CVS, Walgreens, that it cost them $1 billion for law enforcement, social services, and health services. The opioid crisis dealt another blow to communities in the US already devastated by the behaviour of banks in the 2009 economic crisis, the outshoring of entire manufacturing to China, followed by the pandemic in 2020. America is only now coming to terms with the failure of previous adminstrations as the Biden administration takes on this task of bringing America, its workers and families back to healthy thriving communities.

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Krugman points out the gains on three fronts evident from the Census Bureau report of 5.2% gain in median income of households in the U.S. He says the first is the growth in incomes of ordinary working class and middle class families, second the large decline in the poverty rate, and third the further rise in insurance coverage in 2015 for people without health insurance. He points to the steady efforts of the Obama administration to improve lives of ordinary families as working based on the Census report though results have taken time, and could have been better. The Stimulus, says Krugman could have been larger following the blow of the 2009 financial crisis and increased unemployment at the time. Janet Yellen at the inequality conference of the Boston Fed in 2014 pointed out the problems of 62 million households having net worth of about $10,000, and why this was running against the American idea of a better life for all Americans. In that sense the Census report is a movement in the right direction but a lot remains to be done.   ...

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WSJ reporter Bob Davis writes this report on the end of the China economic miracle in 2014 as he completes a 4 year assignment covering China. He says China's economy is slowing rapidly and he is pessimistic abou the future. Construction cranes visible across China's skyline says Davis, can no longer be interpreted as growth inducing. With rows upon rows of empty flats in third and fourth tier cities which account for the bulk of the increase in housing construction, the consequences of a debt fueled construction boom are easy to see. Davis cites the IMF on the dangers of credit fueled growth in China- only 4 countries have experienced as rapid an increase in credit to GDP ratio in 5 years. Each of the 4 countries Brazil, Ireland, Spain and Sweden experienced a sharp decline in GDP growth and banking crises following the credit bubble. Estimates of debt to GDP are as high as 250% for China. Krugman, Roubini and other economists have warned about the credit bubble, saying China is no exception to the rule for the risks posed by such a bubble. ...