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Elections in December in Britain are rare, with this election in 2019 in Britain being the first in one hundred years. It also poses big risks. There is the flu season, the National Health Service being stretched to provide services, the weather, and voter turnout.  It poses risks for Tories and Labour, and Boris Johnson's bid for Leave seats held by Labour is a bold one that could turn out either way. Labour plans to run on a positive program of change and not just the Brexit issue. Johnson will campaign without being able to have Brexit behind him. The close association with Mr. Trump and Mr. Cummings brash style could also play a part in the election creating another level of uncertainty. Mr. Hammond, a leading Tory rebel says he is not sure if he wants to see the Tories win, adding another level of uncertainty. The SNP in Scotland hope to take Tory seats in this election and the Lib Democrats are campaigning on canceling Brexit altogether to get Tory Remain seats. ...

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PM Modi describes situation of Indian Rail from Himalayas to Ceylon after 1947. The budget is now six times that in 2014. Action was taken to include Rail India under government of India's budget so that the government could directly invest in modernization of Indian Rail as top priority. Parts of northeast were not included in Indian Rail. Today the entire country is integrated in a modern network for the 21st century with Vande Bharat high speed trains. It opens possibilities of setting up these rail networks in other parts of Asia, Latin America, Africa, Europe with new technology trains at a fraction of the cost. This was the vision of John F. Kennedy in his New Frontier of the vast potential of India when he told the US Senate on March 25, 1958- "India today represents as great a hope, as commanding a challenge as Western Europe did in 1947- and our people are still, I am confident equal to the effort."   ...

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Maine's shift from heating oil to heat pumps. Maine is the state with the largest use of heating oil in winter, 50% of homes use heating oil. It was because utilities found it hard to set up transmission pipelines in a sparsely populated state that this happened. Now heat pumps which have no carbon emissions and take heat from outside and transfer it to the inside of homes are effective in the coldest weather and far, far better for Maine than heating oil. About 100,000 homes have heat pumps installed in recent years, and another 175,000 will have heat pumps installed by 2027.  State rebates cut the cost of $12000 for heat pumps to half that and there is another $2000 tax rebate. Users like the even distribution of heat and had problems with the cold parts of the house when using heating oil. Some rave about it. If all homes in America use heat pumps it would be like taking 32 million cars off the road, according to one estimate.

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In a massive intervention last week and again this week the Bank of England cut interest rates from 0.25% to 0.1% and launched a 200 billion pound program to buy UK government bonds and corporate bonds to support the economy and business. Investors sold UK government debt for short term cash holdings and invested in U.S. currency holdings as the safest asset they could find, as the economic effects of the coronavirus epidemic hit capital markets. Andrew Bailey, the Governor of the Bank of England stated that it was the government's job of preventing temporary "dislocation" becoming permanent economic "destruction." Business failures are expected as a result of the coronavirus impact and also layoffs resulting in a temporary jump in unemployment. The government needs to take steps to mitigate these effects in the UK as is being done in the U.S. by the Trump administration with $1 trillion in direct assistance to business and people affected by the crisis. ...

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David Segal takes a detailed look inside Apple's retail stores in the U.S. and talks with employees at different stores to find out what its like working as an hourly employee at an Apple store. World wide Apple's 327 global stores sold $16 billion in Apple products. Per employee the sales are about $473,000, but at an hourly rate of about $12 the average employee makes about $25,000 per year. After recent wage raises this could be up to about $36,000. The National Retail Federation says electronics stores have about an average of $206,000 in sales per employee. Contrary to what most people may think most of Apple's employees are not engineers and other professionals, about 30,000 of the 43,000 Apple employees in the U.S. work as hourly employees in the retail stores. Most are young people in the early 20's, single, with health insurance provided by Apple not costing as much for that age group. There is no career path and most leave after a couple of years. Because of the Apple mystique and the drive to create new user friendly products there are many young people looking for this kind of temporary work, especially now with high unemployment. ...

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Leaders of North Korea and South Korea, Kim Jong-Un and Moon Jae-in meet on April 27, 2018, at the military demarcation line between North and South Korea.  After handshakes and Mr. Moon stepping onto North Korean soil for a few minutes, Kim Jong-Un visits Seoul for peace talks.  This is a historic moment for the two countries as this is the first time since the Korean War (1950-53) that a North Korean leader has visited the South. No peace treaty was signed after the Korean War. During the period of six decades that followed the Korean War, particularly the period after 1980, the South Korean economy recovered from the war and expanded following the Japanese export model with large conglomerates such as Samsung. The North Korean economy has struggled in the period and North Korea is one of the poorest countries isolated for most of this period like Burma from the rest of the world. The development of nuclear weapons was pursued to prevent any external threats to the government, and decades of sanctions followed with aborted efforts to denuclearize the Korean peninsula. Recent ballistic nuclear tests and the installation of a new anti missile system in South Korea led to tighter sanctions with the cooperation of China. This heightened tensions, followed by the tighter sanctions. Kim Jong Un and the government are looking for ways to win approval in the international community, and find a way out of the tight sanctions. South Korea, Japan and the U.S. government are not sure whether this will lead to any results in denuclearization. The summit with Moon will be followed by a summit between president Trump and Kim Jong Un of North Korea. If a way can be found for the North Korean government and party leaders to transition to acceptance in the international community followed by integration of the North and South's economies over an extended period, there is a possibility that denuclearization could work, because it is to maintain the current government in North Korea that nuclear development was pursued in the North. Ideological conflict is now less of a factor in the conflict between North and South Korea as it was in the early days of the Korean War with the Cold War and Communism's advances in Eastern Europe and Asia the big issue at the time. Today China itself is more of a state run economy under the Communist Party following capitalism with Chinese characteristics than the old Communist model, and ideological conflict is not an issue between the U.S. and Communist run countries. This leaves open the possibility of a solution particularly as at some point just as in the case of Vietnam and the U.S., North Korea could see its future more allied with that of South Korea than with China. That leaves an opening for a timetable of transitional actions plus effective implementation stages, with incentives for the U.S. and Japan to negotiate a settlement. ...

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  Newly elected US president says he wants to end the Ukraine war and save lives- 300,000 dead, twice that number wounded. The Wall Street Journal conducts this important interview with Retired Brigadier General Kimmett on Ukraine. He says- the Ukrainian goal of restoring sovereignty over eastern Ukraine is unrealistic. Did European Union and American leaders making a principle of sovereignty of borders, and then applying it over the Donetsk Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine which share Russian culture and language, make an error.  About 4/5th of Ukraine is away from the battlefield frontlines and not involved in the war. Ukrainians in younger ages 18-29 are needed to rebuild Ukraine and same to rebuild Russia after the war with serious losses on all sides. Europe does not have the excess capacity, the industrial capacity and capabilities to supply arms and other materials to Ukraine. The newly elected US president says he wants to end the war and his goal is to save lives- about 300,000 dead and twice that number wounded. He also wants to save US strained resources with DJT saying every visit of Ukraine leader costs US $60 billion. Ukraine can hold intact its positions through 2025. But the point of prolonging the war is the issue when the goal of restoring sovereignty over eastern Ukraine and Crimea is unrealistic, and won't happen. ...

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Adam Neumann, the 40 year old startup founder of WeWork, which is basically a subleaser of real estate space, resigns. Aggressive brash attitude, a party heavy lifestyle, unpredictable decision making,  are cited by WSJ as reasons he lost the confidence of investors. Mr. Dimon of JP Morgan Chase was a key banker for the company. Chase under Dimon pursued startups in the hope of doing the IPO's. The company has substantial losses, and new management was brought in after Softbank decided Neumann should leave. Growth was fast, losses also mounted fast to $1.6 billion. WSJ says many investors decided that WeWork was not a tech company so much as a overvalued real estate company that engaged in business of leasing office space tricked out in millenial friendly decor. The greed for outsize returns has led to the accumulation of capital that could otherwise be spent wisely on infrastructure and other improvements in health and education, even though many of the gains in tech are behind us.  Recently the head of Uber was also asked to resign for an aggressive approach and questionable management style, also with substantial losses, and new management brought in. Fast expansion in an imprudent manner affects established companies. It led to collapse of India's Jet Airways, Britain's Thomas Cook in 2019. Yet the huge amount of capital of tens of billions of dollars wasted as investors seek outsize returns and are disappointed, is a pattern seen mostly in capital markets in the U.S. and to a lesser extent in Europe, China, Japan. The ideas piggyback on some aspect of tech already developed and are not major tech advances by and of themselves, and many as in the case of WeWork are touted as tech because of the catch and appeal of the word for everyone hoping to make an outsize return.    ...

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Japanese prime minister Naoto Kan says he has requested the suspension of operations of all reactors a the Hamaoka nuclear plant in Shizuoka prefecture. This plant is operated by Chubu Electric. Another plant on the Japan sea coast has been shut temporarily to investigate above normal radiation levels. With the government moving away from its policy of cooperating with the industry, there are questions whether other nuclear plants that are on earthquake fault locations may face similiar restrictions. This move will further restrict electricity supplies to companies in the local areas supplied by the plant. The Hamaoka plant has been described as "the world's most dangerous" by Japanese media because it lies near an active fault zone. Government estimates are for an 87% likelihood of a magnitude 8 earthquake in the next 30 years. Pressure is growing on premier Kan to take action to show he is listening to public opinion and not following old practices of collusion between bureaucrats, politicians and the nuclear power companies....

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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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A CEO of a digital company says the key business qualities he sees in successful business leaders and in careers are passion for one's work, authentic communication, and a bold instinct in business decisions. Humility and empathy are additional qualities that help people keep their bearings.

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German chancellor Merkel imposes a partial lockdown in Germany starting November 2. This is followed by an announcement of a lockdown across France by president Macron. On October 28 German daily cases went above 14,000. Only 25% of intensive care beds are now available, creating a very serious situation. Meetings in public will be restricted to just two households of up to 10 people total. No crowds at sports events. Restaurants and bars will close except for take away. Schools and kindergartens will remain open. Church services and protests will be allowed to continue. Shops will remain open with one customer for every 10 square meters or 108 square feet. Merkel called it a "very serious situation," and said "we must act now to avoid an acute national health emergency." She told Germans the number of people in intensive care units has doubled in last 10 days, and in many areas it was no longer possible to track and trace infection chains. In 75% of the cases the source of infection is unknown. People are encouraged to work from home and companies encouraged to make this happen. Companies with less than 50 employees and self-employed will get support from the government with  about 75%% of the income. Companies, institutions and clubs will also get federal aid. About $10 billion euros are set aside for this aid. ...

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About 12 million Chinese viewers on Weibo look at new VP pick Tim Walz hoping for better relations with the US, reports BBC. Walz was teaching English and American history at Foshan No. 1 High School as part of a Harvard University volunteer program. Walz says it is one of the best things he has ever done, and gives him a unique insight into China and the Chinese people. Tim Walz was fresh out of college when he joined the Harvard volunteer program to teach in China in 1989. One Weibo user reflected the sentiment on Weibo- Walz's "unique background gives him a real perspective on China", and he could "promote cultural exchanges between China and the United States at a time when... relations are extremely difficult". China was different back then somewhat where India was in 2014, a largely agricultural economy beginning its transformation into an industrialized nation like the US, Germany or Britain. Walz told a local newspaper inthe US when he returned-  there are "no limits" on what the Chinese could accomplish "if they had proper leadership". "They are such kind, generous, capable people," Walz said. Walz encouraged cultural contacts and educational trips after he returned. With his knowledge of China it could improve relations with Chinese people that were affected by the pandemic. The pandemic reduced educational and cultural contacts. ...

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This editorial in the NYT says Bill Clinton moved the Democratic Party to the centre in 1992. In 2016 about 25 years later, after the removal of the Glass Steagall Act led to the 2008 global financial crisis and a deep recession, after the trade relations with China led to loss of U.S. manufacturing jobs over two decades and the hollowing out of industry in the midwest, things have changed. The revolution led by Bernie Sanders, a shrinking middle class, smaller access to college education for the middle and working class, and wide disparities in income, are putting the Democratic Party closer to its roots and the days of FDR. The Democratic Party platform calls for a 21st century Glass Steagall Act to separate normal banking from investment banking, opposes the TPP to prevent any further export of jobs overseas, and goes for a $15 minimum wage. This was also evident at the opening day of the Democratic National Convention when Sanders told the gathering in Philadelphia that even though he was not the candidate, these are the planks of the platform that Hillary Clinton will be pushing for in her presidency. What the editorial does not point out is that the Republican economic platform also calls for reinstatement of Glass Steagall Act, opposes TPP and opposes any loss of American jobs to overseas locations. It differs on the minimum wage leaving it to the states, and it is likely to skew tax cuts towards the wealthy, but also possibly removing the lower income brackets from taxes as Britain has done under the Conservative Party. Both parties today are looking for support from the middle and working class and have directed their appeal to these two groups which are in upheaval. The election of Trudeau in Canada recently also followed this trend, after the hollowing out of Canadian industry in Ontario and Quebec in a similiar pattern as in the midwestern U.S.  ...

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Every day lost in the struggle with coronavirus is a big thing, which is why Itay's most affluent northern region has gone from being well equipped with resources of healthcare to seeing the health system overburdened to the point of disaster. This WSJ report shows why this has a lesson and an early warning for how the U.S. and other countries should design their response. It is also why the White House team that includes President Trump in the U.S. emphasized the plan for just the first 15 Days in the news conference at the Brady Room in the White House on March 16. It is saying the first 15 days are critical, not a day to lose.  It does not matter if you are an advanced economy with state of the art hospitals. Social behaviours must change, old rules rewritten and implemented throughout nations, quickly in days. Here WSJ shows lessons learned by Dr. Cereda at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania who trained in Milan and was in constant contact with colleagues in Milan and elsewhere. Many of the lessons relate to not overburdening hospitals and health systems and protecting health systems. This means mild to moderate cases are managed from home and not in the hospital, through massive deployment of outreach services and telemedicine. It means therapies can be delivered at home or through mobile clinics. The second major lesson from Italy is to protect healthcare workers and doctors. The entire White House team with Dr Faucci of CDC and Dr Brx, head of Infectious Diseases in the U.S. news conference of president Trump March 16, focused on the goal of protecting healthcare workers, doctors and hospitals, so they remained strong to take on the crisis. The second goal of the White House team is to protect the elderly with medical conditions. To do this only the most serious patients are treated in hospitals the rest for mild to moderate at home.  Studying the conditions in Bergamo and other parts of Lombardy and northern Italy, is helping U.S. medical leaders to prepare for the current nationwide effort, the 15 days plan announced by the White House. The lessons from the Papa Giovanni Hospital in Bergamo are important say U.S. medical leaders, including Dr. Brendan Carr, head of emergency medicine at Mount Sinai Health System in New York.  He says build capacity in hospital beds before we need it. Clear out hospital space and add new hospital beds.  ...

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MaC Group, a risk advisor to Spanish banks, says Spanish banks hold about 30 billion pounds of distressed real estate and unsellable land. Prices are down 28% from the peak in 2007, according to a report by the IESE Business School, and are expected to fall a further 15-20 percent in the next 2-3 years by some experts. Much of the bank owned land is far from city centers and there is no demand for this. One Madrid based consultant R.R. de Acuna Asociados, says 43% of bank owned land is poorly located and there may be no demand for unfinished residential units for decades. The new government of Mariano Rajoy plans to take action to cleanup the banking system. Louis de Guindos, director of PricewaterhouseCoopers and IE Business School Center of Finance is expected to become the new finance minister. Guindos says strict rules need to be implemented, with some banks able to handle this and others that won't. MaC Group's Cantos, a managing partner, says the gap is huge between prices offered by banks and what investors will pay- as much as 70%. Prime assets can be sold for 30% discount but the land, residential and commercial real estate will require discounts of 70%. Banks have made provisions for losses of 30%, and are now facing the prospect of another 40% in losses. As a result many of the medium and small sized banks which operate only inside Spain may have to be shut down or consolidated by the government of Mariano Rajoy. Only the larger banks like Banco Santander, Banco Bilbao, La Caxia, and Bankia are likely to surivive....

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Bob Dylan is the first American to win the Nobel Prize for Literature since Toni Morrison in 1992.  This is the first time it is awarded to a musician. The award was given for "new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition." Born as Albert Zimmerman in Minnesota in 1941, Dylan took the name of the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas for his musical career. In announcing the prize Sara Danius of the Nobel Prize Academy said Dylan wrote "poetry for the eyes," citing his album "Blonde on Blonde." Best known are his songs "Blowin' in the Wind" ans "The Times They Are A-Changin," songs that in the sixties reflected the mood of America towards civil rights for black people and against the war in Vietnam. This article by DW.com is exceptional in the way it gives an account of past Nobel Prize winners in literature and what they brought to readers in the way of resurrecting humanity in their own way and from their own experiences in different cultures and periods- 2015 Svetlana Calling of Belarus  and Herta Muller of German-Romanian background on the situation in their countries in the Soviet period, Clezio in 2008 of French Mauritius background on the cultures beneath "the reigning civilization or indigenous cultures of Africa and Latin America, and Orhan Pamuk on his native city in Turkey and the clash of cultures modern and old, in 2010, Vargas Llosa on cultures of Latin America of power and individual resistance, and 2012 Yan Moye of telling stories of today's China through folk tales. The common theme is the struggle between the individual trying to find hope, humanity, in the midst of political and cultural forces that he finds himself caught up in. ...

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IMV architecture for rugged vehicles and the Hilux brand of vehicles for emerging markets, are two favorable factors that Toyota hopes will generate half a million more sales than the old Hilux line. Toyota has spent $1.4 billion on building plants in India, Indonesia, Argentina and S. Africa and other countries to develop the new vehicles with new chassis, engines and other parts made in developing countries. These plants say chief engineer Hoskawa help reduce costs by 20-25% for the Hilux line of rugged vehicles with new chassis. But a port strike in India which makes the manual transmitssions, and a problem at the plant in Indonesia which makes gasoline engines- which are then shipped to plants for assembly in South Africa and Argentina- could cause problems. To cushion against such events Toyota keeps 2 weeks supply of engines and other parts in Thailand.

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Two German Patriot air defense systems are to be transferred to Ukraine and replaced by the US. The decision by Germany's Merz comes as Kyiv suffers a cruise missile attack that destroys an apartment block leading to 31 dead and 159 wounded on July 31, 2025. Five of 8 cruise missiles used evaded air defense systems.  The war brings ancient history important to Russia in the founding of the Russian state in European history before 1450 and complicated history after the Communist Bolshevik Russian revolution in the Ukraine region, the Cold War and Russia returning to its historic role of a Northern European Power. Russian commentary on Russian nationalism today suggests Russia seeks acceptance as a major European power without Wall Street's evaluation based on GDP of nations leaving Russia middling status. Wall Street gives disproportionate importance to China relative to India, Russia and Brazil three large nations on 3 continents for example. Witkoff is on the way as DJT emissary to Russia to seek some solution, but the war drags on as Russia sees itself making slow yet steady progress and seeks to end the war on terms favorable to it following huge loss of life estimated at hundreds of thousands. In August both sides including DJT are losing patience. DJT offers more sanctions but says at the same time that this may not deter Russia. Following SPD's Scholz frustrated yet restrained approach to the war, Chancellor Merz is investing in a rebuilding of Germany's defense forces and it's infrastructure. ...

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The show "Dreams About Russia," put together by Konstantin Ernst, director of Channel One, Russia' largest state owned television network. His emphasis on classical music and scenes from literature including Tolstoy, Gogol and ancient fairy tales mixed with a girl duo t.A.T.u for the preshow with the song "Not Gonna Get Us." Pulling it all together was Lisa Temnikov, a 11 year old daughter of two taxi drivers from Krasnodar in the Sochi region, who won the part in a casting call. She played Lyubov, which means love, and led the journey across centuries of Russia's past with domes of St. Basil's Cathedral seen in the background. As much a celebration of Russia's past as a break from decades of stifling of individuality under communism.

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Prime minister Renzi of Italy resigns after defeat in a referendum to change the constitution. Renzi had said he would resign if there was a "no" vote on constitutional changes to make it possible to pass further reforms. The results show the "yes" vote with about 41% of the vote, and 59% saying "no." About 65% of 47 million registered voters voted. The referendum called for cutting the size of the upper house Senate eliminating some constitutional bodies, and increasing powers at the federal level. Renzi may have made the mistake of making the vote for or against constitutional change a vote for his democratic left party, and not understanding the depth of public skepticism of established parties. Parties such as 5 Star M5S  have appealed to a public skeptical of how economic reforms would help bring more prosperity to the middle class, and a desire to try out new options. Virginia Raggi of M5S was elected mayor of Rome recently and Renzi's referendum move similar to the way prime minister Cameron moved for a referendum on an old issue of euroskeptisim, may have failed to grasp grassroots changes. The irony is that in 2014 elections to the European parliament Renzi's democratic left party won 40% of the vote and was seen at the time as a success, and the same size vote in the referendum is seen as a failure. In a referendum all other parties votes are added together from right to left parties and new parties. In the Brexit vote the Labor party "no" vote including Labor voters who never voted added to the votes of Brexit supporters and the newer UKIP party giving Brexit the slight edge needed. The singular feature of the trend is that working class voters are combining with right leaning voters to upset established parties, in the midwestern U.S., in the north of England, and in the north of France. In the medium to long run this means the left parties are likely to move to realign themselves with their base of support. ...

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HP CEO in aplanned reorganization will merge the printer business with the PC business. It is ameasure of how far the PC business has come since Mr Hurd was made CEO 4 years ago, and after he hired Mr Bradley a former Palm CEO to shake up the PC business. Mr. Bradley has made the PC division supply chain more efficinet especially in the fast growing consumer netbook PC business, and has cut costs. Meantime the printer business under Joshi has stagnated. The PC business was merged into printer business by Fiorina in the hope that Joshi could make a difference. Hurd separated the two and put Bradley at the PC division.Now its the PC business that is taking off and its head who will try to improve the printer business. Bradley has run alean business and improved PC margins even as prices of PC's have tumbled. HP also passed Dell in PC's sold. In the quarter ending July 31,2009 HP PC sales were$8.43 billion and $386 million in earnings, accounting for 12% of profits, printer and ink were $5.66 billion and $960 million in earnings for 30% of overall profit. Hurd told analysts in aconference call that he was disappointed in how the printer unit inventory was managed, and that HP had to get some internal stuff right. The ...

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Changes to Japan's corporate governance code being pushed forward by the Abe administration will give more importance to shareholders interests. This includes improving transparency and management structure, including more independent outside directors on boards, to breakup cozy relationships of executives running corporations in Japan. Improving return on equity is part of the plan proposed by Abe. The government has offered to cut the corporate tax rate down to below 30% in a few years as part of the new deal. Abe told the nation in a televised address that "there are neither taboos or sacred cows, only a singular strong devotion to see this through to the very end." Abe called for more women in the workforce, and the hiring of more foreign workers.

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John Taylor, says Obama and Alan Krueger (Obama's new head of the U.S. Council of Economic Advisors), said some of the same things in early September, 2011, that were part of Obama's old plan to revive the U.S. economy. And the old plan has failed to produce results. The part that puts construction crews to work on the roads, railways and airports was tried earlier in the stimulus plan. Because of a lack of showel ready projects, and the state governments putting most of the money in their state coffers, this only increased infrastructure by a miniscule 0.05 percent of GDP, according to research by Taylor and John Cogan. Taylor's sees the moves by the Obama administration and the Bernanke Fed as not only being ineffective, but having the opposite effect of lowering investment and consumption demand through increased concerns about the federal debt, another financial crisis or the risk of inflation or deflation. The U.S. private sector has the money to make the investments that create jobs but their concerns have led to holding back. Taylor points to the need for a comprehensive economic strategy to replace these temporary interventions. The debt limit agreement of 2011 is a part of this strategy, and he agrees with reducing spending in a gradual way in a weak economy. The other parts of this strategy he says are entitlement reform, tax reform, regulatory reform, monetary reform, including a reappraisal of the role of government in the economy. This should lead to a more stable and predictable economic environment and reduced uncertainty about the future, which is critical to improving supply and demand....

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AutoZone, O'Reilly Automotive and other U.S. auto parts stores for repairing cars are doing well as car buyers postpone purchases and try to fix their cars. The cold weather means cars wear out and break down faster.