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Sanford Weill built Citigroup into a mega bank through repeated acquisitions. He was the strongest voice for the repeal of the Depression era Glass Steagall Act banning banks from risk taking activities in investment banking. The Glass Steagall Act was repealed in 1999, and repeal legislation was given the name of "Citigroup Authorization Act." On July 23, 2012, Weill told CNBC: "I am suggesting that they (the big banks) be broken up so that the taxpayer will never be at risk, the depositors won't be at risk... Mistakes were made." Weill said that the housing bubble and the financial crisis has proved that the repeal was a mistake.

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All government workers are ordered to return to their offices full time by executive order of the president.

The Secretary of the Treasury says he will be in the office all days of the week and expects every worker at his agency to be in the office.

This will have some other consequences-

As workers return to offices it will increase the efficiency of government and its responsiveness to the people after the pandemic years.

It will set a model for the private sector to get people back to the office. As people return to offices this will reduce the demand for remote work travel that put upward pressure on prices of airline travel and hotel travel that increased the inflation in this area and sector of the economy.

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David Stockman, director of the Office of Management and Budget under Reagan, is interviewed by Tom Keene. Stockman says the US has $52 trillion of debt on a $14.5 trillion economy, a ratio of 3.6 times GDP. Historically, before 1980, it has been around 1.6. This debtification of the US, he says, is the major problem facing the US today. Stockman sees little or no economic growth in the next 5 to 10 years, as debt reduction progresses.

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The losses for investors from mortgage loans won't go down by much by Treasury's plan. Barclay's Capital Research estimates that losses could go down by 1% point from 13 to 15% losses that are expected on the subprime loans. And the economy would only be helped at the margins according to Roubini, a NYU economist who heads Roubini Global Economics, who doesn't see it doing much for the foeclosures and defaults leading to a housing recession for the next 3 years. Out of some 1.8 million borrowers, 600,000 not current on their payments will get no help, and of the remaining 1.2 million only 600,000 who are current on their mortgages but need help will qualify, those with better credit scores such as above 660 and having the means to pay will be excluded.

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 Lincoln's words in 1858 "political matters now bear a very mixed and incongruous aspect" as Douglas tried to be on the side of the free states in the North when he was actually with the South, can be used for what is happening now with DJT and Ukraine, as seen from Europe by European leaders.  Alain Frachon gives the French view in Le Monde. He cites the founder of the French Institute for International Relations Montbrial in his recent book that the problems started with the false hopes and chimeras about the fall of the Berlin Wall. It marked not just the fall of the Soviet Empire in Eastern Europe but also of the Russian Empire. And the fall of an Empire has repercussions that are being felt today. Franchon says the liberal order neglected to see in its naivette that peoples are driven not just by strategic and economic interests alone but by passions, that includes their sense of what they had lost in the Russian role in that past of Europe in history. ...

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Frederick Harris of Columbia University says there is a price to be paid for a black president and it may just be too much for the average black person. There is a difference betwen symbols and substance, betwen a role model and accountability in a representative democracy, which is sadly lacking when the black elites, clergy and politicians fail to debate the issues about the problems facing the black community. Problems related to the increasing poverty among black Americans, and the 14% unemployment for black people. There is he says a strange reticience among the black elite to hold the president accountable on these issues just as they would have done for any Democratic president, even one who was as popular with blacks as Mr. Clinton. He says the experience with Obama is not even remotely comparable to the transformative nature of the work of Rev. Martin Luther King in the black community. It may stem from Obama's multiracial background, growing up in many countries, his elite education and being part of a liberal elite more than of the black community. The price is too high in economic and social terms for the poor or average black person and it has created a divide between the average black person and the black elite, with different concerns and different priorities. Harris points out that poor and poverty are words not mentioned often by Obama. Related to this is the foreclosure crisis in which ordinary black people were hardest hit with no effective help from the president to homeowners badly needing relief. Sheila Bair of the FDIC and Martin Feldstein advocated aggressive help for homeowners under water which did not come from the president. Showing not just the limits of a black presidency, but false hopes, inexperience and lack of leadership in issues that mattered to all Americans in the housing and foreclosure crisis. A populist from Kansas, as Sheila Bair describes herself, had the right instincts and courage of convictions which the president lacked and the entire country needed....

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David Brooks says the Paul Ryan Budget proposal is a bold step forward that is badly needed in this debate on health care, even though it has some grave weaknesses which need to be corrected. It is a bold step forward because he says Democrats say they want no middle class tax increases, or are not willing to say what kinds of tax increases they support, and yet they believe the Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security programs are worth preserving. This is'nt based on reality. He cites the weaknesses, beginning with the one discussed in David Leonhardt's column in the New York Times on April 7, 2011. Too many Americans pay too little into Medicare taxes and expect to collect several hundred thousand dollars more in Medicare benefits. The example given in Leonhardt's column is from a study that shows 56 year olds with average earnings pay about $140,000 in dedicated Medicare taxes over a lifetime, and then go on to collect $430,000 in benefits. Middle class and affluent boomers can't get off paying their share like everybody else. Its just the right way for their children and the nation's children. Ryan's plan excludes older people reaching retirement in ten years. The other major weakness is that the cuts are too deep. Things like the Pell grants which Ryan proposes to cut back to 2008 levels need to be preserved, and more money has to go into science, education and research and early childhood education for the U.S. to be competitive with China and India. The Ryan proposal places cuts that would be required so that tax revenues need to be at 18% of GDP. The number where a larger consensus exists is for tax revenues at 20% of GDP (also supported by business and the Wall Street Journal's editorial columns). This would preserve programs that are most productive for the economic future of the U.S. Ryan's proposal lets the hope for reducing costs of medical care rest entirely on future retirees deciding how much medical care (tests, procedures etc) they consume through larger cost sharing. Yet a structure and framework is needed to manage these costs effectively, and some combination of incentives to retirees to control costs and an effective structural framework is needed. ...

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Exxon CEO Tillerson established the early links with Russia for oil exploration projects. He says large investments in oil exploration in Russia are unlikely to be affected by the political risks in U.S.-Russia relations.

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Many of Cerberus executives and advisers are former GE employees and Nardelli was part of the group looking at Chrysler for Cerberus. He is being hired mainly for the work he did at GE, for his work promoting Six Sigma and quality control which would come in useful at Chrysler, and his work in doubling the power generation business at GE with large earnings increase. His experience at Home Depot has been discounted, probably seen as a bad fit for Nardelli. Moreover even as CEO he will have to work closely with the owners and theadvisers and with La Sorda who has experience running Chrysler, and he won't be involved with a retail market or with shareholders in the way it happened at Home Depot. As far as huge compensation which could alienate the unions Nardelli will be compensated on the basis of ownership in the new Chrysler if it meets its goals. So it could be a way to take advantage of experience at GE, carefully limiting the downside of Nardelli because of the nature of the position in the Cerberus owned Chrysler. And Cerberus may be thinking also that Nardelli would have learned from his recent experience and also that he is motivated to do his best to rebuild his reputation....

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Ontario ad on tariffs uses Reagan's word out of context- does not say Reagan speech was to impose tariffs on Japan till problems get fixed. Problems that had arisen in the 1980's because of Japan's use of unfair trade practices. This is the issue of Canada, Mexico, China and other nations that use unfair trade practices that then hurt American workers. Reagan was saying he understood that Senators Smoot and Hawley got things wrong when they imposed tariffs in the 1930's, that he was doing this in a very different situation the use by Japan of blatantly unfair trading practices. This is the case with Canada, China, Mexico and other nations today, that have acted as if they know nothing about these unfair trade practices. Healthy world trade requires every nation to follow the rules of fair trade practices. Canada is saying that we will shame you as being against world trade so we can keep violating fair trade practices. China is saying we will act as the guardian of world trade and shame you in this way so we can keep violating fair trade practices. ...

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Stephen Bosworth was appointed by Hillary Clinton as U.S. Representative for North Korea Policy. He is one of America's best diplomats who served in several postings overseas before becoming Dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts. Prof. Drezner points to the work done by Bosworth in keeping dialogue with North Korea alive, till a solution can be found. He also cites Chinese analysts who say pressuring China comes from a worn playbook, that China would not agree to reunification on the Korean peninsula, to bring U.S. influence right up to its borders. South Koreans have been wary of reunification because of the decade long experience of integrating East Germany. As a result new solutions need to be found and the valuable work of diplomats like Bosworth is badly needed to keep dialogue alive for a solution to be found.

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The government bailout of Fannie and Freddie was expected to cost hundreds of billions of dollars according to some estimates during the financial crisis in 2008-2009. The costs peaked at $187 billion in 2011. The transfer of $59.4 billion by Fannie Mae to the U.S. Treasury in 2013 lowers the net cost to $60.5 billion. The net cost of the Troubled Asset Relief Program or TARP has decreased to less than $23 billion. At one point the cost of TARP reached $419 billion for the U.S. Treasury. The government sold the last of its shares in private insurance company AIG and made $22.7 billion in gains. Treasury and Fed loaned $182 billion to AIG and at one point owned 90% of the company. Chrysler exited the TARP bailout program in 2011 at a net cost to the U.S. government of $1.2 billion. So far in May 2013 the GM bailout cost $19.6 billion, this would come down to about $11.82 billion if the U.S. government sold its GM shares at the price in May 2013. The U.S. Federal Reserve says it has not lost money in any of its emergency lending facilities, even though some loans are outstanding. The FDIC says its fees from rescue programs exceed losses....

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Development of the C919 aircraft by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac). The C919 would compete with the Boeing 737 and the Airbus 320. China accounts for 22% of Airbus's orders and 15% of Boeing's orders. Comac has orders for 90 C919's from state owned airlines and two leasing companies. It also has help from suppliers GE and Honeywell. Says Bob Smith, chief technology officer of Honeywell, which has 4 joint ventures with Chinese companies to supply parts for aircraft projects from flight controls to wheels and brakes: "we are not just here to build an aircraft, we are here to build an industry." Zhang Xinguo, vice president of AVIC, a state owned company helping build the plane, says the government wants to see jumbo jets, regional planes, business jets, helicopters, all made in China by Chinese companies.

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Spain provides 14 public holidays that are mostly Catholic holidays, and an additional 22 vacation days, which is similiar to the the EU average. Unlike the practice in the U.S. and Britain to have these holidays fall mostly on Fridays and Mondays, in Spain many of these holidays fall in the middle of the week. This disrupts productivity as Spaniards use bridge days or puentes to create long weekends during which many offices and factories are empty, disrupting productivity. Most companies cannot plan for meetings and work because counterparts may be using the bridge days during these holidays, and working with international clients is difficult and hard to explain. Spain's new prime minister is determined to increase Spain's competitiveness, and bring Spain to the level of competitiveness of countries that do well in this measure, including other European and Asian economies. He describes this in his book "En confianza. Mi vida y mi proyecto de cambio para Espana." ("In confidence. My life and project of change for Spain") In his inauguration address he said Spain should correct "the work calendar to make the rights of workers compatible with the competitiveness of our companies." Vacations are a sensitive issue in Spain because tourism generates 10% of GDP and employs 10% of the workers. Alberto Nadal, who addresses labor issues at the main business association in Spain, says a change of mentality is needed in Spain, and doing away with bridges shows Spain is grasping the idea that things should be done differently for the eurozone community of nations. This also shows some of the differences in the Iberian peninsula countries of Spain and Portugal, where the countries are embracing the change and there is less unrest even with high unemployment, as compared to Greece. In Greece the changes are being resisted by politically connected groups, where political parties enjoy little support and there is much unrest, making the project difficult. Mariana Rajoy, Sarkozy and Merkel are from centre right parties in Spain, France and Germany, and have had a close association for years before Rajoy was elected- during EU meetings of centre right parties, as is evident in Rajoy's book. They also share a similiar business and political orientation. ...

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Uniqlo plans to open 20-30 new stores a year in shopping malls in the U.S. for the next 8 years. Uniqlo's strategy is to go for larger size stores and get more visibility to stand out because the name is not well known to shoppers in the U.S. The Japanese retailer markets to price conscious customers who want basics in clothing.

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Lee, Nicholas and Harris of the WSJ describe the responses being considered by president Obama to Russia's hacking of DNC, and other cyberattacks during the U.S. presidential election. Obama said the goal will be "to send a clear message to Russia or others not to do this to us because we can do stuff to you." He said some of this would be done publicly and other things would be done where the Russians know but not everybody else. Mr. McFaul, a former ambassador to Russia, is cited here saying that declassification of intelligence by president Obama in the remaining weeks in office is needed so that all ambiguity about Russian involvement is removed. Elections are coming up in Germany and France in 2017 and both president Obama and the Republican Congress leadership see the need to prevent any further cyberattacks on the U.S. or Western Europe.

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Justice Kavanaugh as part of majority opinion in the US Supreme Court, concurs that illegal migration is an issue in the Los Angeles area. Solicitor General Sauer contended that the area has 2 million undocumented migrants. Kavanaugh writes that race can be a factor for police checks to tackle illegal migration.

“To be clear, apparent ethnicity alone cannot furnish reasonable suspicion; under this Court’s case law regarding immigration stops, however, it can be a ‘relevant factor’ when considered along with other salient factors.”

 

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The head of ISRO, India's Space Agency, is an unassuming man of simple needs and simple living. He studied in the Tamil medium, doing his Bachelors in Science from Kanyakumari Hindu College. He comes from a farming family in a village of Kanyakumari.  Used to walking barefoot, wore a dhoti, and only wore slippers when he went to Engineering college. Even with modest rural means, helping his father in his fields, he got his Masters in Aeronautical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology in Madras, pursued Aerospace Engineering at Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, and PhD. from IIT, Bombay. He is meticulous about details, and would cancel a meeting till errors found were corrected. Behind the unassuming simple manner is a extremely diligent person who has worked in every phase of rocket design and technology for 36 years at India's Space Agency. India achieved a world record by sending 104 satellites into space with one flight of PSLV, a third generation satellite  launch vehicle with liquid stages, in February 2017- Sivan was a key scientist in this endeavor. He is in every sense a vindication of Gandhi's idea in Hind Swaraj written in a steamship coming back from London to South Africa in 1910 that India would have to go back to its own language, culture, bring opportunity to the mass of rural India, before adopting new technologies from all places. He is also a vindication of the idea that the most diligent and dedicated scientists and engineers willing to persevere over decades are the key to progress for Asia's developing nations, and similarly for a bright future in Africa and Latin America. ...