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American Enterprise Institute, conservative think tank, supports Kiel Institute of the World Economy figures that say European Union aid is about double that of the US to Ukraine. Quite the reverse was stated in casual seemingly reckless fashion to 67 million viewers by former president Trump. Moderator David Muir should have had the facts right before him to correct this as this was a much anticipated topic and perennial Trump gripe. The US is not getting creamed- no way, the Europeans are paying up and keen on doing so $187 billion to the US $98 billion. Even with the best of intentions on fact checking this is not good enough from ABC News, or for that matter the rest of the television media - the CBS's, Fox's, NBC's, CNN's, not to mention the internet media, a disservice to democratic process that is built on facts not delusion.  To someone working 2 or 3 part time jobs, or the less literate who can't do quick fact checks that can be time consuming, or educated viewers who hav little inclination to check so much that is being thrown at them- what does it mean to have grievance and grudge thrown at them leaving the impression that the US is incapable when it is in fact greatly strengthening NATO alliance including Sweden and Finland and ties with Western Europe that were damaged over time since the Reagan period in the 1980's.   ...

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Israeli attack on South Pars Field and Iranian response with attack on Qatar North Field- this happens on March 18, 2026. About 10% of total global oil supplies are affected about 7 million barrels a day. Attacks on oil facilities and fields are a different order of magnitude compared to closure of Straits of Hormuz, as oil tankers can still deliver the oil when it is safe to cross the sea passage. Attacks on oil fields and facilities will take a long time to repair. The US president calls on Israel to stop such attacks. The Pars gas field supplies homes in Iran and is used for fertilizer production in Iran. It also supplies Turkey which would have to get alternative supplies from Russia or on the world market.Oil briefly hits $116 a barrel before settling at $96. The situation resembles the one in Ukraine when Ukraine grain production could not be sent from the Black Sea ports to Europe and Middle Eastern countries like Turkey, Egypt and Morocco, and fertilizer exports could not be sent to Asia. The Russian attacks on Ukraine ports led to global shortages of fertilizer and grain. ...

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Pictures of Queen Elizabeth in India in the Hindustan Times. Nehru receives Queen Elizabeth at Palam Airport.

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India UK trade has been neglected over the years. In 2021 India accounts for less than 2% of total UK trade. During the period before the pandemic 2010 to 2019 UK exports declined by 3%. During that time the US increased exports to India by 79%, Canada by 62%, and France by 58%, says this report in The Guardian. This happened even though India is the leading country in the British Commonwealth and one would expect much stronger trade ties. This is one reason UK prime minister Boris Johnson is putting a high priority on building up trade with India during his visit to India. UK Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan seeks to double the current 22 billion pounds trade between India and the UK by 2030.

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During the campaign and in the crucial Iowa primary Obama used newspapers, small and large, to get his ideas across. At one point he gave six interviews to one columnist for the Daily Times Herald of Carroll, Iowa, (circulation: 6,000). He chatted with reporters from papers like the Mason City Globe Gazette, Fort Dodge Messenger, and met with editorial boards of papers throughout Iowa. Some of these media may just be curious to hear a new kind of message, and Obama could use the communication skills developed in years of writing to express his ideas and his vision all in a casual setting, seeing faces, expressions, feeling the way the way people responded, and all the time listening to what they had to say. Now the same approach is to take world newspapers as another outlet through the Tribune Media Services which enables him to run an oped column in 30 papers around the globe. Here is the list: Arab papers are Al Wataan (Gulf States) Asharq Al Aswat (regional paper in Arabic), Gulf News (Gulf States), Saudi Gazette. European papers are: Corriere della Sera of Italy, Die Welt of Germany, International Herald Tribune of Paris, Eleftyropiea (Greece), Kristeligt Dagblad of Denmark, Le Monde of France, Lidove Noviny of Czechoslovakia, NRC Handelsblad of Netherlands, Svenska Dagbladet of Sweden, WPRost of Poland. South American papers: El Mercurio of Chile, Estado Sao Paulo of Brazil, Clarin of Argentina. South Asian and Asian papers: Hindusthan Times/ The Hindu of India, The News of Pakistan, South China Morning Post of HongKong, Straits Times of Singapore, Yomiuri Shimbun of Japan, Bangkok Post of Thailand. In South Africa the Sunday TImes, in Australia the Sydney Morning Herald, and The Australian, and in the USA, the Tribune papers which are Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun. These are all distributed through the connection and means of the Tribune Media Services. The key point inthis communication effort is to signal something that may not have sunk in, in many parts of the world. A deep and all pervasive truth that is emerging from this crisis. We are all in this together in ways you can't imagine, as were in one boat and we float or sink in it together. Leave language, culture, borders aside, its aprofoundly new world in which the Obama story itself of multiculturalism may just be scratching the surface of really deep pervasive changes that are happening. Obama may actually not have hit this point hard enough. "Once and for all, we have learned that the success of the American economy is inextricably linked to the global economy.There is no line between action that restores growth within our borders and action that supports it beyond. If people in other countries cannot spend, markets dry up- already we have seen the biggest drop in American exports in nearly four decades, which has led directly to American job losses." This is dramatically proven by the latest Commerzbank estimates that show the 2 largest export based economies, Germany and Japan will see a contraction of GDP of 7%, USA 4% contraction and China, Eastern Europe and other parts of Asia and Latin America will also be impacted severely by the same phenomenon of markets drying up around the globe. And Obama offers the simple message that the United States is ready to lead, and asks its partners in the G20 to join with a sense of urgency and common purpose. Obama goes on to say that " we need not choose between a chaotic and unforgiving capitalism and an oppressive government-run economy. That is a false choice that will not serve our people or any people." ...

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Six of seven letters to the NYT shown in this report say that president Biden is right to run for a second term and that age is not a factor considering what he has set out to do. And the potential for American renewal in infrastructure, manufacturing, and reviving communities and towns across America, for a "transformative president." One reader puts it plainly- saying "shame on you" to New York Times, and reminding the New York Times that Mr. Biden has navigated on of the most divisive and difficult times in American history with dignity and good judgement. And asks why so much potential that Mr. Biden now offers should be thrown away just because of an ingrained bias against older people.  Recently columnists and the editorial board of the New York Times, and not just the NYT, the WSJ and others also, have shown this type of bias against older people and a willingness to throw away so much transformative potential that Mr. Biden has shown. Some readers here say it is just the media that has shown this attitude, that the public understands and grasps the opportunities Mr. Biden is creating for America. For Biden too there is a message- that he must truly commit to saving the soul of America and that for this the road is a long and arduous one ahead. ...

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Washington Post Analysis and reporting shows Russian economy is now sensitive to cuts in oil purchases by India. Russian economy with $213 billion a year in the war effort would suffer from higher inflation and interest rates higher than current 18% if India cuts Russian oil purchases of about $119 billion a year. A shift may be already taking place as India buys more from Saudis, UAE and Iraq. Studies by CLSA cited in the Economic Times show India gaining only about $1 to 3 billion by buying Russian oil. India has much more to gain by shifting away from Russian oil. Russian inflation is at 9% and the economic growth is about 0.4%.  A further increase in interest rates from 18% in a war time economy could kill the civilian economy say experts in Russia the Washington Post has talked to. About 17% of Russian refineries production is removed by Ukrainian strikes on refineries in Russia, leading to higher prices for oil. More crude oil is being exported instead of refined product as a result. This explains why the US under president DJT decided to take the difficult step to deter India from Russian oil purchases as it would not have been able to get China to reduce its $136 billion Russian oil purchjases each year the way it could for India. This was done to end the war even though it is little understood in India.  ...

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Independent contractors rule reinstated by DJT administration following employee status push by Biden and unions. This affects 11.9 million workers in the US. Independent contractors cannot unionize and lack some of the protections of labor law. The independent contractors get to choose where they work for remote work days and get to choose the projects they want to take up, set their own hours which can help for childcare or care for parents. It includes workers in real estate, construction, arts, design, and personal care, where most of these independent contractors work. Only a small part is in Uber drivers or DoorDash delivery gig workers. This Editorial Board opinion in Wash. post cites Bureau of Labor Statistics that says from a 2023 survey that 80% of this worker group prefers independent contractor work to full time traditional employment which has less flexibility.

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A good way to prepare for travel to the Scandinavian region is information given by Sean Newsom in The Times.

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Lots of things one can do to avoid polluted air in urban areas are shown here in The Times.

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IMF forecasts are always behind the curve and come out a month or so after some event has happened. For fast paced events the lag makes the forecasts obsolete in a short time. Even so the IMF says the impact will be to reduce world growth from 3.2% to 2.5% based on situation today, a slight drop in growth. More impacted are the country's with weaker financial situation going into this period including countries in the Middle East and Africa, Asia. There are also indirect benefits from the naval blockade which is to accelerate the move to renewable energy reducing fossil fuels as a percentage of each country's energy mix with more room for nuclear and solar energy, and getting more efficient use of energy with Germany and Japan as examples.

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New habits better than old ones are what builds character. And character cleaves through all manner of difficulties.  Experts say the wrong way to do this is to draw up lofty resolutions that are big steps and gradually lose hope through the year as carrying it out runs into problems.  It is best to go small, to take many mini steps towards a goal and associate each mini step with positive feelings. The goal should also be fairly simple and something you already wanted to do, or always wanted to do.  Going small one can set new habits in motion through little actions done through the day at particular times. It may even start taking no more than a few minutes, that is just fine. Its the accumulated actions, and the learning, the positive feelings, that set up a new habit. Gradually without thinking too much about it this changes us over time whether it is trying to meditate, do yoga or some other exercize, tackle some priority, or do something fun that is also vitally helpful for our growth and development. ...

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Paletta, Hilsenrath and Solomon give an exceptional journalism report on the silence and tension in the room at the meeting on Monday, October 13, 2008, at 3.00 pm in the Treasury building. It was an historic meeting between Treasury Secretary Paulson, Fed chairman Bernanke, and FDIC chairwoman Sheila Bair on one side, and the head of America's leading banks on the other side. The situation was explained, the bankers asked questions, bankers were not allowed to negotiate, and at one point Bernanke had to intervene saying there was no need for this meeting to have a confrontational tone. Wells Fargo's Kovacevich asked why banks had to accept a capital injection. Kenneth Lewis of Bank of America softened the tone of the meeting by saying that "any one of us who doesn't have a healthy fear of the unknown isn't paying attention." Even before the meeting an anxious John Mack of Morgan Stanley asked Paulson for the reason for the meeting and Paulson told him, "come on down, you will be pleased." John Mack who had fought so many rumors of the firm's demise, was surely pleased with the $10 billon injection of capital in Morgan Stanley by the government in return for preferred share and a dividend of 5%, which helped assure markets about Morgan Stanley's future. Goldman Sach's also received $10 billion. The meeting was ended at 4.30pm. Before this Timothy Geithner, head of the New York Fed, acting as the point man went around handing each CEO a term sheet with a place to sign. Another meeting was setup for 6.30 pm and at that time all the term sheets were returned - and all were signed. There was no meeting. Treasury officials and Fed officials and others had hoped that the intervening time would give CEO's a time to talk to their boards, to think things over, and clear their heads. In a few hours the government took preferred shares in the nation's leading banks and injected $125 billion into the largest banks. Treasury injected $25 billlion in Bank of America, Citigroup, and JP Morgan Chase, And between $20 and $25 billion in Wells Fargo, and $3 billion in Bank of New York Mellon, and $3 billion in State Street. Another $125 billon would be injected into other smaller banks in coming days. Officials at Treasury, Fed and FDIC and other government officials hoped this would give a "confidence shock" to the nation's banking system. ...

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Mikaela Shiffrin of Edwards, Colorado, and her original coach her mother Eileen, her candor, and her fighting spirit- at the Milan Olympics 2026. It shows the struggles of an American athlete before the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in 2026. Her dads death in an accident, her fiance's accident in Wengen, and her accident at Killington, left this ski racer in turmoil and wondering with her therapist about the nuances in PTSD- everything she would wrestle with in those dark days when she even wondered whether she wanted to continue. This is told by Shiffrin with complete candor- something that endears her to her fans and to all the people around her- her ability to tell it all and tell it straight, about everything that is going on inside her, a remarkable gift. "For me, when I’m able to dig in and really understand something, for whatever reason, that allows me to be less scared of it. Less afraid.  And, thankfully, after a while, my body … it has started to remember what to do again." She runs through the race at Killington again and again trying to tell herself that it was ok hundreds of times, nothing happened, she was OK, she would be OK.  After the 100th win in Alpine ski racing downhill in Cortina in Italy in slalom racing- which requires a sharp precision of body and mind in perfect unified composure to turn within the slalom poles in fractions of a second- Mikaela feels "she can breathe again." ...

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Under PM Trudeau of the Liberals Party Canada opened its door to immigration and meeting labor shortages. This put a strain on housing and social services when in 2022 1 million people were added to the population, now 41.6 million. Canada under Mark Carney of the Liberals party sets new temporary residents target from 670000 in 2025 to 385000 in 2026 and 370000 in 2027 and 2028. 

"We needed to bring our immigration level to a more sustainable level," says Canada's finance minister, Francois-Philippe Champagne. For the first time there is a drop in population of British Columbia and Ontario. Only Alberta increased population. There are 2.8 million non permanent residents mostly international students and temporary foreign workers or 6.5% of the population in 2025.

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Adjusted for the 35,000 workers on strike at Verizon counted as unemployed, the 38,000 jobs figure in the government report is still considered quite low. Especially striking even as unemployment drops for May from 5.0% to 4.7% is that the drop is attributed to people dropping out of the work force. The average monthly gain for the March through May is 116,000 jobs well short of the 240,000 jobs added on average in 2014-2015. Average hourly earnings were up 0.2% in May and up 2.5% for the year. A widely accepted measure of unemployment that includes workers too discouraged to look for work or working part time because of a lack of full time job was at 9.7%. The labor force participation rate was at 62.6%.

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Boris Johnson has quietly given his approval to the 30 billion pound Sizewell nuclear power station says this report in The Times.

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Rupert Murdoch makes a $80 billion offer to Time Warner for a merger with 21st Century Fox. A deal would add HBO, TNT and TBS to Fox's broadcast network and its cable portfolio including Fox News channel. Most sports content such as NBA and NCAA games are watched live, attracting more advertisers compared to other content where commercials are skipped using DVR's. A key problem for Time Warner investors and management is that the way the proposal is structured- with supervoting shares going to the Murdoch family that controls Fox- gives too much control to Mr. Murdoch and too little say to Time Warner investors on how the future company should be run. An added complication is that Time Warner CEO Bewkes is 62 and has put in place its strategic plan after divesting some units. By comparison Rupert Murdoch of 21st Century Fox is 83, and his sons are seen by Time Warner as not having the experience to handle a company of the size resulting from a merger.

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This editorial in the Times says it is in the best interests of Pakistan for the current civilian government to continue in office till fresh elections are held in 2013, at which time Pakistanis can decide on choosing a more competent government.

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De Aenile describes the volatility in stock markets after the Brexit vote. Earnings growth is slow and expectations are declining. Indexes of emerging markets are trading at 10 times earnings, say experts. The S&P 500 ended the quarter at 19 times earnings, compared to historical average of 15, according to this report. Uncertainty remains high in Europe and the U.S., and monetary policy is stuck in a low interest rate environment.

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This Times of London analysis on the resignation of Boris Johnson says it comes from someone only interested in his personal interest.

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The corruption inquiry in Turkey in 2013 on prime minister Erdogan and the AKP's ties to the construction industry. The rift between sufi preacher Fethullah Gulen, and the prime minister of Turkey, over policies that steer Turkey away from the west and the concentration of power in the AKP. Huseyn Gulerce, who is close to Gulen, says Gulen is critical of Turkey's drifting away from seeking membership of the European Union and not conducting democratic changes. Gulen and Erdogan worked together to bring the AKP to power in elections and reduce the military's influence in politics and government. Gulen left Turkey in 1999 after being accused of trying to turn Turkey into a Islamic state and has settled in Pennsylvania, U.S.. Erdogan is a one time Mayor of Istanbul, and critics say the construction industry business interests and Erdogan have ignored zoning laws to move ahead with haphazard development of the city pushing out old time residents. This was also a complaint of protesters in the summer 2013 protests in Taksim Square, Istanbul....

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Peter Navarro who has advised the DJT administration on world trade says even when there is no war the perceived risk from the narrow straits at Hormuz and the threats posed by militant groups financed by Iran had led to a premium being baked into oil prices. Navarro says on the Iran Premium (perceived threat risk premium) thatis is about $15 in oil prices. That it reduces growth in global output by 0.4% or $10 trillion over 25 years or $4 trillion over 10 years. As this perceived risk comes down oil prices will come down even further - even into the $50-$60 per barrel range, says Navarro. He cites different economic studies that show even in normal times the ballistic missiles and militant threats posed add up to $15 premium in oil prices to reflect this risk. What this means is higher oil prices and lower growth across the world- in poorer countries and in the US and Europe as a result of this. The current war he says gives the opportunity to reduce or remove this premium paid for perceived risk. The loss in global output he cites is about $450 billion a year adding upto $4 trillion in a decade and over 25 years about $10 trillion. Confronting the threat is not just a matter of national security, it also means this drag on growth on poor and better off countries from Sri Lanka, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan to UK, Spain, Germany, and Italy, countries that can be so much better off with much of that $10 trillion tax or burden on world economies removed. ...

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So many Republican districts jobs depend upon the Clean Energy investments in the Inflation Reduction Act. Kasey Carpenter, Republican of Dalton, Gerogia says- “So much money has been spent building these facilities. The last thing you want to do is get it all built, and then jobs disappear.”  From August 2022 to December 2024 the private company investment in clean energy is four times greater in Republican Congressional districts than in Democratic districts. NYT provides visual graphs showing this. The investments being $118 billion Republican districts vs $35 billion in Democratic districts.These are investments under the Inflation Reduction Act one of the achievements of the Biden administration that are reflected in the strong economy in 2024. This allocation was for $390 billion for Clean Energy over 10 years. A similar situation is happening for the CHIPS and Science Act investments opf the Biden administration. Lael Brainard of the Biden administration says- "They are not going to want to undermine those jobs and those businesses that we know for the first time are really strong in so many districts around the country that have been left behind under trickle-down policies."   ...