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A move by the Obama administration to reenergize its Hispanic base with action on immigration three months before the U.S. presidential election of 2012. A new policy issued as a directive by President Obama allows one million young illegal immigrants to remain in the U.S. A 16 page guideline issued by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services states that applicants have to show they lived in the U.S. for five years and pay a $465 fee. The policy applies to people in the ages of 15 to 30, applicants must show they completed high school, or were honorably discharged from the U.S. military. The program will offer a two year renewable expemption from deportation and work permit to people coming to the U.S. as children. President Reagan was the last president who issued a directive of this type offering amnesty in 1986 to 3 million illegal immigrants. The Obama administration says this will help conserve enforcement resources are not spent on low priority cases of young people who came to the U.S. as children, as there are an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. The Dream Act legislation to legalize undocumented young people is stuck in Congress with no agreement on how to move forward. The states and cities where people mainly from Latin America and Asia would benefit are- California with 400,000 who could benefit, Texas with 225,000, and New York City with 55,000....

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A new bipartisan plan on comprehensive immigration reform with support from Senators Graham, McCain, Schumer, sets forth principles for legislation. This includes Democratic requirements for a pathway to citizenship for 11 million illegal immigrants and Republican requirements for stronger enforcement. A separate bill sponsored by Senator Orrin Hatch would expand the H1-B program for skilled immigrants and increase the number of green cards. Senator McCain said on a television news show: "We can't go on forever with 11 million people living in this country in the shadows in an illegal status."

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A survey of 414 National Association of Business Economics (NABE) economists shows Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson with 15%, overtaking Trump at 14% on who would best manage the economy. On protectionist views only 9% support this. 15% said they have no opinion and 55% said Hillary Clinton would do the best job of managing the economy. About 62% say the election uncertainty is holding back growth. Some aspects of Hillary Clinton's economic plan are the $275 billion infrastructure investment over 10 years, taking action against companies that ship jobs overseas, a capital gains tax paln that encourages long term investments, supporting $15 minimum wage, making upward mobility a top priority, providing government financed access to public colleges for working class and lower income groups. Donald Trump's plan has suffered form lack of specifics, shifting comments, lack of careful study, and excessive use of slogans. Both candidates oppose trade agreements that shift jobs overseas. Trump's plan also suffers from lack of credibility overseas as this is important in a global business structure, with fears of protectionism increasing. and reminding people of the protectionism under Smoot-Hawley that increased the damage from the depression of the thirties. ...

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Spain's prime minister Mariano Rajoy repeats his request that the $125 billion from the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), the eurozone rescue fund, be sent directly to recapitalize Spanish banks, instead of being sent to the Spanish government. Capital markets did not respond positively to the aid announcement and Spain's 10 year bonds yields were close to 7%, one point higher than before the aid announcement. Rajoy told the other leaders at the G-20 summit in Los Cabos, Mexico, that it is necessary "to break the link between risk in the banking sector and the sovereign risk," according to a Spanish official. The European Commission and some EU governments support this, but Germany remains opposed to such a move. Spain paid higher rates on 3.04 billion euros in short term debt financed on June 19, 2012. Spain plans to sell 2 billion euros of two, three and five year bonds on June 21. Part of the problem for investors is the lack of clear accounting and transparency of the total debt of regional governments in Spain, and bad loans at banks, which it is feared could be much larger than the $125 billion in rescue funds from the EFSF. This is a result of the housing and asset bubble in Spain of the last two decades since joining the EU. The $125 billion would take Spanish debt to GDP ratios to 90%, which is lower than Italy's but comes at a time of unemployment at over 25% and a declining GDP, increasing investor uncertainty....

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The devaluation of the Argentine peso from 9.8 to the dollar to 13 to the dollar in Dec. 2015 by president Macri is leading to higher inflation hurting the working class. The cutting of export taxes is helping farmers. Removing most currency controls is designed to help increase foreign investment by letting foreign companies freely repatriate profits. Also expected to be removed are bureaucratic procedures that limit imports of new equipment for manufacturers. Middle class voters see the moves helping the economy in the long run with new foreign investment and changing the outlook for investment. A former central bank president Mario Blejer points out that after 12 years of the previous Kirchner administration Argentina needs investment- by improving the outlook for investment and removing import controls the government plans to stimulate investment to lead to economic growth. Inflation is up 25% and Macri is keeping Mrs. Kirchner's price control programs in place to prevent a surge in inflation beyond the impact of the devaluation. ...

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The figures tell the story. One area where Mexico is having success is policy decisions for technical education in the past 10 years and building up enrollment in technical and engineering colleges. This will have a lasting impact on Mexico's future and the attraction of staying in Mexico vs crosssing the border for millions of Mexicans trying to build a better future from humble beginings. BW says 451,000 students are enrolled in fulltime engineering and technical undergraduate programs vs 370,000 in the USA. With the cost being one-third or less than that in the US, the proximity to the U.S., the dedicated hardworking eager workforce and the keen willingness of local authorites to help foreign companies, the future looks bright for Mexican engineers.

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Through 2015 oil companies expect to spend $15 billion a year on pipelines and to retrofit refineries to process heavy sands Canadian crude, and production of heavy sands crude is expected to go up to 3.7 million barrels a day by 2020 from 1.2 million barrels a day today. This is changing the way crude pipeline map looks as the diminished supply from Mexico and Venezuela means less crude going north, and more going south from Canada.