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Indonesia's Lion Air makes an order of $24 billion new single aisle jets from Airbus. Lion Air ordered 234 A320 and A321 series jets. This includes 60 of this generation A320s and 174 of a new series of A320 and A321 aircraft with more fuel efficient engines. Deliveries will begin in 2014 with the planes averaging $92 million to $117 million at list prices.

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Delta Airlines CFO, Hank Halter, warned that high fuel prices pose a threat to Delta's profitability. At current prices he estimates fuel costs will increase by $1 billion in 2011.

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Reliance Industries plan for new 4G telecom network in India using the latest technologies.

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Migrant workers in China are not allowed to bring their children with them when they move to work in factories located in urban areas. This is the large price being paid for the rapid industrialization in China for 2 decades 1990-2010 by the 61 million children of migrant workers. Lixin Fan's documentary "Last Train Home" documents the life of children of migrant workers separated from their parents for long periods of time. Analysis from the All China Women's Federation shows 75% of the 61 million children left behind by migrant workers have parental visits once a year mostly during the national Spring holiday. 82% of these children want their parents to come back home and 42% say they have no one to talk to when they feel bad. A large proportion of the children are missing parental attention at the most sensitive age when they most need it- 38% left behind are ages 1-5, 32% ages 6-11.

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Tempelhof airport is chosen as place for additional housing space for thousands of refugees arriving in Berlin in 2015. Berlin is expecting 40,000 refugees under the quota system. Housing space is hard to find to accomodate refugees arriving in large numbers in September 2015. The airfield has been preserved by conservationists as a place for children to play frisbee and as outdoor park space. Now the hangars at Tempelhof can be used to create housing space as winter approaches and tents become inadequate. During the Berlin Airlift 200,000 flights by the air force of U.S., Britain, Canada, Australia, South Africa, participated in sending food and medical supplies to the people of Berlin when the Soviets blockaded Berlin on April 1, 1948 till May 12, 1949. It was lifted when it was clear as much in supplies were delivered by air as before the blockade. As this time Germany takes on a similiar humanitarian challenge the memories of that period provide inspiration for the effort.

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Inflation and asset price bubbles in India and China, and low inflation or near deflationary conditions in the US and Western Europe. With the US depending for about half of its growth on exports in 2009 and early 2010, according to Commerce Department figures, the tightening of credit by central banks in the high growth countries of Asia will crimp America's economic prospects.

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Al-Naimi Saudi Oil Minister talks about OPEC and the current oil supply situation while taking a walk in Vienna, where OPEC headquarters are located. Naimi says OPEC is a business organization, not a political organization. He says OPEC operates more like a de-politicized business organization. Yasser ElGuindi of Global Medley Advisors says OPEC's goal is to get the maximum price it can to meet the budgetary needs and investment plans of the countries and keep their economies growing, while at the same time making certain that demand is growing in the rest of the world. The Saudis believe that price is between $50-60. The Saudis play a critical role in keeping price in the $50-60 range, with less chance of a price decline as demand is steady and not likely to drop.

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ECB's German representative and chief economist Jurgen Stark resigned from the ECB's Executive Board to express his opposition to ECB bond purchases of sovereign bonds of Greece, Spain and Italy. This follows the resignation of Axel Weber as head of the Deutsche Bundesbank in June 2011, who raised similiar concerns. The concern is that the ECB is exceeding its charter by buying sovereign bonds, taking on a political role and adding new risks. Stark wrote in an op-ed in the German newspaper Handelsblatt- as government efforts so far have failed, "far-reaching reform of the mechanism for decisions and sanctions is needed... We find ourselves in a situation in which massive sustainability risks in public budgets are eroding financial stability."

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BP's new strategy is to increase wind energy from 2.5 gigawatts in 2019 to 50 gigawatts by 2030, in the next 10 years. It will partner in  offshore wind projects in the U.S. done with Norway's Equinor. It will invest in 50% of leases with Equinor for $1.1 billion. Another $3 billion will be needed to spend on the first of four wind farms planned for New York and Massachusetts in offshore locations. It expects a 10% return on its investment.

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Airline flight prices increased in 2022 and 2023. The pricing appears to be unsustainable as business travel has declined. Leisure travel remained strong in 2022 and through summer 2023, but this demand is unsustainable. Prices for travel in the US and to Europe are expected to fall in September and bottom out by early October, says this report in WSJ. Overall prices are expected to come down to 2019 levels as travel comes down to normal levels after pent up demand from the pandemic is released.

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Andrew Sparrow of The Guardian describes the prime minister's questions in the British parliament in October 2016. Opposition leader Corbyn brings up Brexit after avoiding the topic for some time. Sparrow uses a tennis analogy that Corbyn as usual has a good serve, asks good questions, but fails to follow up, and so lacks a return of serve. With the pound falling, and more uncertainty about the economy, May says yes to a Brexit debate in parliament, but makes no commitment for a vote.

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Resistance to EU reforms for a Single Sky Plan by controllers and national aviation agencies. The EU Transport Commissioner, Sim Kallas, is pushing the Single European Sky plan. This is being planned for January 2012. With the creation of the Single Sky national barriers would fall, national air traffic bureaucracies would give up powers, and controllers in European countries will have to work more efficiently and may face job cuts. Europe's air traffic system is splintered. There are 39 national agencies, and Eurocontrol with 64 control centers. Europe has twice as many bureaucrats and support staff compared to the U.S. European air-traffic agencies costs per flight are 75% higher than the FAA's, mostly because of labor costs. According to Eurocontrol, air traffic in Europe went up 1% in 2010 over 2009, but delays went up by 34%. Over 40% of scheduled flights in Europe were over 5 minutes late in 2010- the comparable figure for the U.S. is a little over 25%. This splintered situation became an obvious drawback during the volcanic eruption in Iceland, when the lack of a single regulator meant the lack of a common standard. In 2009, the EU presented its own program that would group 32 national agencies into nine units called airspace blocks, which would given the task of breaking down internal barriers and integrating operations A common set of standards for all air traffic agencies would be set, and advanced technology would be used to support safety and efficient flight management. This program is now set for initial implementation in January 2012. As part of this effort European governments like Spain are tackling their high air trafffic controller costs....

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According to a report from the Southern Education Foundation about 51% of the students from pre-Kindergarden to 12th grade in the U.S. were eligible for the federal program of free and reduced price lunches, using an analysis of 2013 federal data. With the highest proportion of students in poverty concentrated in states in the southern and western U.S.. States all across the south, including Texas, show high concentrations approaching 60-70%, and states in the west such as California show about 50-60%. Midwestern states such as Illinois and Michigan show rates over 50%. The implications of this data are that these children from poor and sometimes chaotic backgrounds trail other children in educational development, are less likely to have educationally enriching activity, and more susceptible to dropping out or never attending college. Kent McGuire, president of the Southern Education Foundation says the map showing this is striking. He points to the disinclination to invest in young people today, compared to the focus on leadership in areas of creating opportunity and upward mobility in the decades of the 50's through the 80's. Michael Rebell of Teachers College at Columbia University, says reaching this point where a majority of public school children are from poor backgrounds has happened sooner, and the trend has accelerated over time. ...

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This exceptional report from rural areas in France by Roger Cohen shows why the support is growing for the far right and the far left in rural areas and smaller towns outside the large cities which have suffered from high unemployment and neglected as technology and capital moved to other areas. Cohen talks to Nicholas Bay, secretary general of the National Front, who says this election is about patriotism, the nation state vs globalization, as the National Front tries to portray its opposition as being less pro-France, and less pro French culture. The centrist candidate Macron stands in front of a statue of Alexandre Dumas in Picardy, an hour northeast of Paris, and says he is for an "open patriotism" that embraces people of different origins and embraces refugees. Cohen attends a Le Pen rally in Metz, Lorraine, talks to a National Front mayor in Picardy and left party supporters in the town, talks to foreigners in the banlieu of Sevran. Cohen says a National Front victory is possible if enough voters who support the far left party of Melenchon do not vote for centrist candidate Macron, and enough voters of centre right Fillon supporting French culture and nationalism drift to Le Pen. As in the Dutch election with Moroccans derided by the far right the immigrant issue is a factor. Against this background is how events play out in the last weeks of the election. In March and April the events in the U.S. show a Trump administration moving to the centre, adopting a quieter and more constructive tone towards Mexico and immigrants. Relations with Russia have worsened after the U.S. response to the chemical attack in Syria, and the French public may now see this as a common threat to NATO and the European Union. As in the Dutch election a lot depends on the last weeks of the election and how well the centrist parties, the centre right and the centre left get their message across about what is to be gained by building anew on the foundations of the past without risking a lot on an uncertain path of referendums and exit from the European Union.   ...

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A Kazakh oil project that is $30 billion over budget, with no oil produced years after the project was started in 2005, is an example of what western oil companies can run into when tackling complex projects with many partners. It also shows why oil is becoming more costly to produce, keeping upward pressure on oil prices. The project is already costing western oil companies over $50 billion. This includes Italy's Eni, Shell, Total SA, ConocoPhillips, and Exxon. The project started in 2005 with collaboration between the state oil company LMG and the western companies led first by Exxon, and then as a compromise by Eni. Part of the problem is the requiredment of the Kazakh government to hire local employees who lack the necessary experience. The gas from wells has 17% hydrogen sulfide and it took 2 years to adapt infrastructure to this type of well. Housing for staff delayed the project for a year. In 2008 a target date of 2013 was set. In 2013 the project was stopped because of pipeline leaks which have still not been fixed. Causes relate to defects in pipe and in the way the pipe deteriorates in contact with the hydrogen sulfide. Kazakh government officials have responded to the delays by adding fines for the western oil companies, including a $735 million fine related to the pipe failure and gas burning. This may have reduced the motivation of the oil companies to give priority to tackling the issues. On the Kazakh side the problem is seen as being on the outside and lacking participation in the management of the complex project....

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There are serious issues facing crude oil production from Alberta tar sands which stem from environmental concerns, and the captal intensive, energy intensive, nature of production from tar sands. According to a recent RAND study energy production from tar sands causes 10-30% more greenhouse gas emissions. Add to that destruction of boreal forest, destruction of bird life, and the contamination of water supplies from the lake size tailings ponds used to store spent water from oil sands projects. Large amounts of steam are needed to separate the dirt from the oil in the tar sands. According to Environmental Defence about 4 billion litres of contaminated water leaked from these tailings ponds and this seepage is polluting rivers in Northern Canada. The technology for trapping and storing the carbon dioxide from the production process is still in the research stage. The other hurdle facing the tar sands development is the price of crude which is around $49 a barrel. While some older tar sands plants can operate even at $30 a barrel, newer operations need $60 or $70 per barrel for acceptable returns, according to Prof. Leach, a professor of environmental economics at the University of Alberta. For these reasons Canadian tar sands production which is now at 1.2 million barrels a day is not likely to go much higher or approach the 3.5 million barrels a day predicted for 2015. Petro-Canada said it would suspend 23.8 billion dollars of expansions in Alberta to tar sands projects, and Canadian Natural Resources is cutting its capital spending in half. ...

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Charlie Hebdo weekly is part of a long tradition of satirical magazines that poke fun at leaders and organized religion including Catholicism and Islam. This dates back to the days of the French Revolution. The magazine received many threats from Islamists. In January 2015 attacks by 3 young terrorists killed 12 journalists, a policeman and a police woman.

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Seib of the WSJ compares the Reagan election in 1980 with Trump's bid in 2016. He finds the idea of an outsider when the public mood was for change favoring Trump, but says the comparison with Reagan falls short because Reagan had behind him 8 years as governor of the largest state in the country, and a bid for the nomination 4 years earlier. He also had personal positive approval ratings of about 70 percent compared to 27 percent for Trump.  Reagan's first trp after the convention in 1980 was to Alabama to win the support of George Wallace people in the Deep South. His focus was on reuniting all parts of the Republican Party something absent in 2016. Seib's comment about Trump being stronger on the economy is not clear. With the economy recovering, and slowing down as the presidential election approaches amid increasing uncertainty, it is possible that voters would not want to risk abrupt and sudden changes with an untested candidate. Working class voters could still see some of their concerns for change addressed by the Bernie Sanders part of the Democratic platform with help in college tution, addressing wage concerns, and opposing export of jobs, when Trump's program gives few specifics. Another difference between Reagan and Trump is that Reagan had put together an economic team under Shultz which was able to win credibility with an actual plan to implement in the first 100 days. ...

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The tax plan offered by Jeb Bush in September 2014 is based on simplifying the tax code to three rates, lowering the corporate tax rate to stimulate business investment and growth. It will pay for this by limiting itemized deductions to 2% of adjusted gross income, removing state and local tax deductions, by generating higher growth of estimated 0.5% per year which translates into higher tax revenues, and by increasing the deficit by $1.2 trillion. In the last tax debate economists such as Martin Feldstein and other experts proposed removing or limiting the itemized deductions. Simplifying the code and lowering corporate tax rates has been favored as a method to jumpstart growth by many experts, but was not taken up during the deep recession following the 2008-2009 financial crisis when the stimulus added to the deficit. The 3 tax rates changes the current 7 brackets to 10 percent, 25 percent and 28%, with the coporate tax rate lowered to 20%. The plan removes the alternative minimum tax, the estate tax, marraige penalty tax, leaves charitable deductions as now. To help the people at the lower end in incomes and the middle class- the standard deduction is doubled, the earned income tax credit expanded. Companies would be allowed to deduct capital investments, and there would be a gradual phase out of taxation on income American companies earn overseas. Hedge funds will not have access to a loophole called "carried interest." The plan comes as the American economy is in recovery mode, making it more likely that increased growth would generate extra tax revenues....