LyrArc Article Gist
The US booster vaccine drive is lagging behind as only 30% of Americans fully vaccinated have taken the booster vaccine, according to CDC. Only half of Americans over ager 65 have taken the booster shot. In New York City only 1.5 million Americans out of 8 million have taken the booster vaccine. This report in NYT shows Dr. Oshita's 3 urgent care clinics in Sacramento, California, and no rush of people to get the booster vaccine. It is scary, he says, of the lack of a rush of people into the vaccine centers. This is happening as the new omicron variant is spreading.

LyrArc Article Gist
A Pew Center poll in Greece shows support for the Euro at 69% in 2013. The situation in Greece has improved in 2013 with the economy expected to decline by 4% in 2013 and return to growth in 2014. The current account deficit at 11% in 2008 is now close to zero. Unemployment is stabilizing and the competitiveness is being restored as labor costs per hour are down 30%, according to Alpha Bank. Ten year government bond yields are now below 8% in 2013, a dramatic improvement.

LyrArc Article Gist
Regional rivals in each of China's 31 provinces make it difficult for foreign retailers, such as Tesco, Carrefour, Metro AG, Home Depot, to scale up and increase market share. Metro AG says it will pull out of China after testing electronics stores for 2 years. After years of losses Home Depot shut down its 7 large stores in China in 2012. Profit margins can be as low as 2%, making it unprofitable without the scale needed. Tesco's market share in China declined to 2.4% of China megastore sales in 2012 from 2.9% in 2008, and Carrefour sales declined to 6.9% from 8.6% in the same period, according to Euromonitor. Tesco now plans to partner with China Resources Holdings to merge its stores with the larger domestic Chinese chain's 4100 stores under 10 retail brands, with Tesco holding 20% of the joint venture. The CR Vanguard brand of China Resources 3000 stores would be merged wih Tesco's 131 stores.

LyrArc Article Gist
Greece passed what prime minister Samaras called the last of the austerity cuts in November 2012 and called for action by lenders in the EU. The EU's Rehn says it is time to dispel the notion that Greece has not made progress in making the economic changes needed. Finance ministers of the eurozone meeting in Brussels agreed to give Greece two more years to reach deficit reduction targets. The cost of this to the eurozone will be 32.6 billion euros. A $40 billion payment to Greece is still on hold till Nov. 20, 2012. The cuts passed in parliament in November 2012 by the Samaras government will raise 17 billion euros over 4 years. The 2013 budget passed in parliament has cuts of 9.4 billion euros to salaries pensions and benefits, and raises the retirement age from 65 to 67. As of Nov. 2012 the bailout packages to Greece from the eurozone countries are at $240 billion.

LyrArc Article Gist
Solomon and Said give a detailed account of the events leading to the steep decline in oil prices to $61 a barrel by December 2014. The steep declines have caused a shock for OPEC and non-OPEC producers. A price decline of this magnitude may not have been anticipated by the Saudis, and there are divisions among Saudi officials and in the royal family about whether such steep cuts are best for Saudi Arabia. The price per barrel of oil for each OPEC country to balance its budget varies widely, according to IMF and IEA, WSJ, sources. For Saudi Arabia this estimate is $106, Iraq 101, for Russia $98. The Saudis have $750 billion in foreign currency reserves. At the high end are Libya at $184, Iran at $131, Algeria $131, Nigeria $122, Venezuela $117. The UAE is at $77, Qatar $60. Norway is at the low end at $40. On Dec. 19, 2014 the price of Brent crude, ICE for Jan. delivery was $61.38.

LyrArc Article Gist
The reduced availability of child care services, longer time it takes to get steady jobs in a slow growth economy, and the "safety trap" of becoming used to a freer lifestyle, areincreasing the average age at which Italian women have their first child. It has moved up from about 30 to 31.4 in 2012. As more women pursue higher education and get university degrees the trend is to focus on jobs and lifestyle. As grandparents get older and the lack of enough preschool centers this makes child care harder, in a nation where 68% of children under 10 are still cared for by grandparents. At present only half of Italian mothers work, according to the OECD, compared to 74% in France. This worsens the demographics with currently 150 people over 65 years for the 100 under 14 years, and the figures increasing with fewer young people to support retirees, according to Istat.

LyrArc Article Gist
Why for some countries base load coal based energy capacity becomes essential with lack of energy storage options. India has realized that without storage simply adding more renewable capacity will pose problems for grid managers. India will add 60 gigawatts of fresh coal powered base load capacity in addition to 21 gigawatts under construction to tackle the problem of intermittency. India now has 40% of installed energy capacity from non fossil sources, rising from 25% in 2013, with solar and wind making up 30%.

LyrArc Article Gist
A study published by UNICEF shows that of 55 countries only three showed increase in popular perception of the importance of children's vaccines- India, China and Mexico. The Vaccine Confidence Project is conducted by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The study says a total of 67 million children missed out on vaccinations between 2019 and 2021 the years of the pandemic, vaccination coverage decreased in 112 countries, and much backsliding in vaccination happened that needs to be corrected.

LyrArc Article Gist
China mourns the loss of premier Li Keqiang who served for over a decade with Xi Jinping. Li Keqiang died at the age of 68 years from heart failure. Li came from a humble background and was fortunate to be able to complete his education just when China was opening up to the world. He passed university exams soon after the end of the chaos from the Great Proleterian Cultural Revolution. He eager to absorb ideas about western constitutional government at the time.

LyrArc Article Gist
Germany is facing a shrinking market for its electric car exports to China as local makers dominate the market in China for the first time in 2023. BYD is China's largest e-car maker and is growing much faster than American or European makers. Every second e-car worldwide in 2023 is made in China. Germany's e-car exports are 60% of what they were in 2022. BYD sells 20 times more e-cars in China than VW.

LyrArc Article Gist
Flamanville 3 in Normandy is a new generation nuclear reactor in France. The last one was Civaux 2 in southwestern France. This is reactor with new safety standards and more productive. It produces 1600 megawatts MW enough for 2 million homes. The complexity- 12 years after original schedule and cost 13.6 billion euros instead of 3.3 billion euros. 

France gets 60% of its energy from nuclear unlike Germany which closed 3 of its last nuclear reactors under policy of Merkel. 

LyrArc Article Gist
New rules from the Biden administration make it easier for people ages 60-63 years to make up for putting less into workplace savings in earlier years with the impact of the 2009 financial crisis, loss of jobs or working parttime for a period, and smaller savings during the pandemic. People in these ages can now put in a 14% higher amount. And a maximum of $34,750 into their workplace retirement plans. This is one of the many actions taken by Biden-Harris, including increasing the amounts for Social Security, that combined with a stronger economy and job growth, lower inflation, is correcting many of the problems of the past that left seniors without enough money to retire in dignity and safety. Small steps taken in the context of bigger steps on infrastructure and chips, science, rebuilding manufacturing by investing in old unused plants and reviving them with new products- all this is creating anew future for America and the ordinary Americans. Higher wages also pushed by Biden- Harris will enable many Americans put away more in savings that the were not able to do over the decades when government policy neglected the needs of ordinary Americans. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Joe Nocera describes his personal situation which also reflects the situation of the average investor in his 401(K) for retirement - inexperience in handling the boom-bust cycles in the market and loss of savings, especially in the last two decades with sharp swings in the market. The Employee Benefit Research Institute statistics on savings of the average American are striking, dismal is the right word- only 22% of workers 55 or older have more than $250,000 set aside for retirement, and 60% have less than $100,000 in a retirement account. The average savings of an American near retirement are $100,000.

LyrArc Article Gist
The differing biological changes happening in the bodies of men and women as they age, the differences in longevity, how they age and their attitudes to aging are shown here by Clare Ansberry of the WSJ. This is relevant in the context of healthy living and also as both tackle the pandemic. There is a 5 year difference in longevity with men aging faster than women. Some groups of men have a tendency to eat less healthy and smoke than women in general which may account for some of the difference in longevity particularly in the U.S.

Men experience greater inflammation in the blood with aging, and lose anti-body producing B cells in the blood after the age of 65. Significant female advantages are seen in memory after age of 70. A look at protein level changes in blood showed more changes in men than women after age 65. Overall women's biology is seen by scientists as more stable than men's.

LyrArc Article Gist
Cadillac had between 60-126 days inventory for different models in Jan. 2014 compared to 38 days for imported luxury cars, according to Autodata. Cadillac XTS had 126 days and the Escalade and ATS 92-94 days.

LyrArc Article Gist
This Economist magazine editorial says the Republican plan for health care with its roll back of Medicaid expansion by limiting funding to states after 2020, and by scaling back subsidies especially for older Americans and not basing them on income levels, is likely to have its own problems just as the Affordable Care Act. One concern is that keeping healthy people in the market with a mandate that everyone have insurance is present but in a milder form with premiums going up by 30% in one year if they change their mind. There is concern that this may not work among insurers leading to an increase in premiums, pricing people out of the market in "a death spiral." This could lead to more people being priced out of the market as premiums rise. About 12 million people were added to Medicaid by increasing eligibility level to $16400, or 138% of poverty line- this reduced the uninsured from 16% in 2010 to 8.8% today. The Economist concludes that the Republican health care bill has its own problems, and that this bill does not clear up the problems in Obamacare by substituting Ryancare as the Republican bill is called. Peggy Noonan writing in the WSJ says this may have negative consequences for the new Republican base shift to populist support. Critics on the right like Rand Paul see even the reduced subsidies as an entitlement program, yet the Republicans can only change parts of the Affordable Care Act as they need 60 votes in the Senate where they only have a small majority.   ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Dealogic reports show 64 U.S. listed IPO's raised $16.8 billion in the first 5 months of 2013, up from the $13.1 billion raised by 73 companies in the same period in 2012. Recent price gains by IPO's are driven by the lack of alternatives to stocks for investors in a low interest rate environment.

LyrArc Article Gist
US Treasury Secretary Yellen calls for Congress to authorize regulation of so called stable coins. TerraUSD founded by a South Korean developer has seen its price fall to 67 cents. Yellen said -"this is a rapidly growing product and there are risks to financial stability." At a Senate Banking Committee hearing Yellen said "we really need a consistent federal framework."

LyrArc Article Gist
Former president Park Geun-hye is 68 years and in jail since 2017. Her 20 year sentence was confirmed by the Supreme Court. South Koreans are divided 48% favor and 48% against her release as the president considers a pardon. South Korea has swung from liberal to conservative governments since the days of dictator Park who was the father of this jailed president.

LyrArc Article Gist
Stuart Broad's remarkable achievement of 500 wickets as England beat West Indies in the Third Test at Old Trafford. He joins Glenn McGrath and James Anderson in an elite club of bowlers. He was made man of the match and of the 3 Test series after taking 10 wickets in the Third Test and hitting a quick 62 runs. 

LyrArc Article Gist
Cecilia Wang is herself a birthright citizen from parents on student visas from Taiwan hence her views reflect her position before the the Court on DJT Executive Order.  She says the admission of Wang Kim in an 1898 case to US citizenship is a 128 American tradition when history shows very little sentiment in the American public and in the US Congress favoring legal immigration of any form from Asia (Japan, China and India). In fact a deal made by Teddy Roosevelt with Japan included an understanding with the Japanese government in the 1900's that Japan would restrict immigration from Japan to the US. Throughout the period 1850-1960 for 110 years one finds very little immigration of Asians to the US- mostly European selectively in phases after 1900 by steamboat as can be seen at the Smithsonian museum exhibits in Washington DC. Thus the Court is taking up a narrative that was never true. It was only JFK and LBJ who changed this by the 1960's- if one reads JFK and his grasp of the events in Indonesia, India, of Asia in WWII from his experiences as a soldier in the Asia Pacific region- not as the narrative suggests as an extension of civil rights for Black people, but for a deep respect and understanding of Asian people's aspirations that he opened up immigration to the US in the 1960's for Asians. This is why it is a stretch of the imagination for Cecilia Wang to say- Cecilia Wang -"your ancestors could be on the Mayflower or be undocumented immigrants but you and I are exactly the same as US citizens." Even after 60 years of reading the speeches and writing of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, TR and FDR, JFK, of Carl Sandburg's volumes of Lincoln, the poetry of America of Walt Whitman, committing Robert Frost poems to memory, there is more a sense of humility and even greater earnest  desire to learn about this Nation, and of the scientific endeavors of Europe since 1600 that eluded Asia, than making statements about the first voyages and the people who ventured out on the Mayflower. One has to look with awe at the sculptures in Geneva, Switzerland, of these brave people in the 1600's who for religious and other reasons made their way in difficult voyages over the Atlantic to America, much less say were the same as them. It is more about honoring JFK's words in appreciation of his opening for Asia, on thinking more about what you can do for your country than what your country can do for you. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
The vote in Ohio in midwestern US for the Republican seat vacated by Rob Portman brings together voters concerned about crime, the Southern border and taxes. One of the candidates Mr. Vance, says problems closer to home are more important than Ukraine. This WSJ report looks at thinking in Ohio. About 88% of Republican have a negative opinion on Mr. Putin and 95% of Democrats. When it comes to helping Ukraine defend itself 35% of Democrats  and 62% of Republicans believe the US is not doing enough to help Ukraine defend itself.

LyrArc Article Gist
An excellent midlife health test for checking physical health, mental health and cognitive health. This can be done by anyone at home and is fairly simple to take. Also suggested are exercises that may help in each of 9 categories of the test. This includes the well known standing on one leg in yoga pose, press-ups, sitting and standing from a chair, linking fingers behind your back, calf raises. And for mental health drawing a clock face with the numbers, jotting down fruits and vegetables you can in 60 seconds.

LyrArc Article Gist
French president Macron now faces two no confidence motions one from the right wing parties led by Marine Le Pen and one from the  left wing parties led by Melenchon. Using Article 49 to push through raising the pension age to 64 was an action that bypassed parliament leading to this situation. Macron's action is seen as not appropriate to the moment when there is the cost of living crisis after a severe pandemic and energy shortages in Europe. Macron lacks a majority in parliament.

LyrArc Article Gist
After years of suffering from some of the worst polluted air in the world Beijing residents can now breathe a sigh of relief. Fine particulate pollution is cut by 63% over 2013 levels and 13% over last year, according to Beijing environmental bureau. The average for Beijing can now be improved further as it is still 4 times the level of London, England. This offers hope for New Delhi that where there is a will to do and take advantage of the technology improvements can be made.