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Jens Spahn, CDU leader and minister in Merkel's government says it is OK for Germany to leave the European Commission for Human Rights if it is slow to grasp that refugee status is about protection and also about how many asylum claims the people of a country are comfortable with. Denmark, Poland, Hungary and Austria, the UK and the US, and many Germans now feel this way and feel unease at the high levels of migration asylum, illegal and other that they face. Migration to Germany slowed but has picked up again. Failed states, economic distress, civil wars,  in Africa and Latin America have led to illegal immigration from Syria, Libya, North Africa, Arab world, Afghanistan, Central American countries and Venezuela. Is Asylum automatic? Are there decisions that have to be made in Europe and America if whole states are mismanaged or face climate distress or gang conflict leading to mass migration? These questions have to be debated and not decided by a Merkel at whim or some other leader. ...

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The American pope's brother is John Prevost, 71 years, a school educator and principal, who lives in New Lenox, a community of 27,000 people 40 miles southwest of Chicago. He says of his borhter who was with him at his home for a couple of weeks last August 2024- "The best way I could describe him right now is that he will be following in Francis’ footsteps, they were very good friends. They knew each other before he was pope, before my brother even was bishop.” Pope Francis (Bergoglio) made the new American Pope bishop of a small Peruvian town in 1998, then archbishop and cardinal in Peru, before he returned to the US in 2014. At that time the new pope drove a white pickup truck to carry food and blankets to remote regions in the Andes mountains of Peru. Francis of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and the new pope have a passion for seeing to the needs of the poor and the forgotten in society. ...

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Rottgen says that the low point of the Copenhagen talks was reached when it was becoming clear the China was not even willing to accept unilateral pledges of the industrialized nations to reduce emissions by at least 8% by 2050. The Chininese he says said that was too little for them. At which point the Europeans said we could perhaps offer 100%, but that would have to be the end- for mathematical reasons. and Rottgen points out that at that point he and others realized that the Chinese were not concerned about agreeing on CO2 reductions, but rather with preventing them. It was at that poit that US President Obama went in for face to face talks with Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao. Rottgen also faults the US where he says the elites realize that something has to be done about Co2 but cannot get the majority of people to support the changes and sacrifices required because of political reasons. Says Rottgen about the Americans "they prefer to have cheap money to consume, and they don't want to limit their CO2 emissions, so that they can continue to do things their way." Rottgen also sees the CO2 targets as away to get Germany and other nations to develop the most advanced technologies, and because of the German lead in this area he sees it as a way ensure Germany's economic future....

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Speaking for the Biden administration Anthony Blinken says that "on the current trajectory, if we don't do more, if the entire world doesn't do more, the entire world won't be vaccinated until 2024." What is needed he said is to "speed this up, and get that done, I think, in a much shorter time." Experts say the immediate impact of the Biden decision to give waivers on transfer of patents technologies is to get drug companies to cooperate with each other and for them to voluntarily join in the manufacture of vaccines globally. This would be done through global manufacturing alliances in major pharmaceutical manufacturing nations such as France, India and other countries that can quickly ramp up manufacturing if they have access to the technologies involved and the knowhow itself. The Biden decision is then the first of many decisions that would lead to voluntary action by pharmaceutical companies cooperating say Novartis and Sanofi in France and Switzerland with a Pfizer or Moderna in increasing manufacturing capacity or a Serum Institute or Reddy Labs in India working with Pfizer and Moderna or Novavax. These companies already have the basic structures to ramp up. This would take months yet the process has to start immediately. Today many companies such as Glaxo Smith Kline in UK and US are in a position to get involved in manufacturing but need access to the technologies and knowhow. Leadership by the US plays a huge part in making that happen.  ...

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The situation in nursing homes and eldercare is a huge black eye says this report from Canada. The situation is poor also in the U.S. and Britain. All the Anglo-Saxon countries appear to have the same problem of neglect of eldercare and homes for older citizens compared to say Japan, Germany or France with different healthcare systems and more invested in these areas of health and older citizens.Look at the numbers- in Canada 80% of deaths from coronavirus among older people in nursing homes. Next Ireland at 62%, and the U.S. at 40%. This report says these elder care facilities in Canada are run down, poorly equipped and understaffed. Canada's armed forces sent medics to the nursing homes in Quebec and Ontario and their reports are described as distruging and worrisome by prime minister Trudeau. In these countries lawmakers and policymakers have failed, and the culture of investing in areas other than health and public services and infrastructure, has failed the people. A poor scorecard for this generation of politicians, lawmakers, and leaders both in business and the government. ...

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The British pound fell 5% against the yen and to a 7 year low against the dollar, and the Lloyds Banking Group led stocks down with a drop of 31%. There is doubt that the government moves this week will work as the huge losses at RBS led to larger support from the government. On Tuesday JP Morgan and other bank stocks fell more than 20% in the US.

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Argentina's government of president Alberto Fernandes is making a state takeover of Vicentin, a soyabean exporter which filed for bankruptcy in 2019 and is in ongoing court proceedings. Mr. Fernandes says he is doing this to rescue the century old agricultural firm to protect Vicentin workers, and 2600 farmers who sell crops to the company. Vicentin is Argentina's top exporter of soy meal and soy cooking oil. Mr. Fernandez says the company is a very important asset for the entire Argentine economy. Argentina's farm exports are its main source of earnings in dollars.  A drought in Argentina's farm sector in April 2018 led to a drop in export revenues and worsened Argentina's financial position leading to the 2020 default on Argentine debt. In 2018 the farm sector lost a third of its crop value and 1.5% of GDP. Growth in 2017 was 3% but declined to 1% in 2018. A number of other factors including overborrowing using dollar denominated debt led to the economic crisis in 2020 right in the middle of the pandemic in May 2020. Fernandez is a moderate compared to the previous Kirchner administrations and was elected in 2019 to get Argentina out of the debt crisis after confidence in president Mauricio Macri declined. Fernandez has tackled the coronavirus crisis with an early lockdown compared to neighboring Brazil which has not taken decisive action making Brazil the second largest after the U.S. in cases. This gives Argentina some room to tackle the debt crisis and negotiations with the IMF, lenders. ...

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Senior officials from Russia and OPEC producers meet in Jeddah in April 2018 to work out plans to continue cuts in production to reduce inventories and lift oil prices. The deal was first made in 2016 to reduce the glut then prevailing that led to a slump in oil prices to the $50 per barrel level. The agreement has worked to remove about 2% of world oil production. Healthy demand in 2018 from economies of Europe and America has helped lift oil prices with the cuts in production in place to $70 per barrel. A reinstatement of sanctions on Iran could limit supplies from Iran. Venezuelan production is down in its current economic crisis. Russia says it is 100 percent committed to compliance with the agreement with Saudi Arabia and OPEC countries. It was the lack of agreement between Russia and Saudi Arabia with each going its own way following the Russian intervention in Syria favoring Iran that increased the glut in oil supplies in 2015 leading to a fall in oil prices. For some time this hurt the Russian economy and Russia responded by actively devaluing its currency to maintain economic stability and internal growth. The Saudis were hit too by the fall in oil prices limiting new investments in the economy. The new agreement between Russia and the Saudis/OPEC comes after mutual interest has prevailed in the relations of OPEC  and Russia over the geopolitics in the region between Iran supported by Russia and the Saudis. It also comes as relations between the U.S. and Russia are worsening, with increasing investments in the military. ...

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More than one in four houses in Australia have solar panels on the rooftops. In Queensland and New South Wales half of homes have solar panels. This includes Sydney. This is more than most places, including California, Germany, U.S. Britain, France. In California less than 10% of utilities customers have solar panels in their homes. Rooftop solar provides 5% of its electricity in Australia, compared to 1% in the U.S. 

Much of this is because of states offering incentives and it saves money for homeowners. Australian conservatives see this as a way to promote their rugged individualism.

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WSJ Analysis of government data shows on Feb 22, the actual savings from cutting fraud and waste, misspent funds of $2.6 billion less than the $7 billion shown on the DOGE website. Of this 2% of savings are attributed to DEI closures. What it shows is that generating savings is a long term effort requiring weeks, months and years of hard work with patience and perseverance, as shown by the Truman Committee of 1941-1948 of the US Congress during the War and the early part of the rebuilding of Europe. DJT corruption, fraud and waste cutting efforts owe it to the American public to take a long term view similar to the Truman Committee of 1941. That Committee was setup with unanimous support in Congress for Resolution 41 of Senator Harry Truman of Missouri in Feb 1941. This type of unanimous support remains a hope, yet just as the efforts of president Biden were needed for investment in crumbling infrastructure, there is also today the need to see that $4 trillion in the US budget is wisely and prudently spent, even if this effort is led by the opposite party. As the articles alongside show the Truman Committee lasted till 1948 for the better part of the decade. It helped Harry Truman replace Wallace for the Vice Presidency in 1944 under FDR, and within months to the White House till 1952. A period of spending for the Greece-Turkey and Marshall Plan for Germany aid efforts similar to aid to Europe today, on top of the wartime spending comparable to the 5 year effort against the pandemic starting in 2019.     ...

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The first presidential debate with Clinton and Trump is moderated by Lester Holt. The debate included an exchange on Trump's tax returns, policing in inner cities, and national security. The debate was broadcast by all television stations and was watched by over 100 million viewers. Trump made three times the interruptions made by Clinton. The birther issue raised by Trump also came up, and was cited as a "hurtful lie" by Clinton as it persisted long after the birth certificate information was seen by the public. In one exchange Clinton told Trump when he referred to all the infrastructure that had not been built, that one of the reasons was he had not payed taxes.

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Geert Wilders says he he is withdrawing support of his party PPV which won 23% of the vote in the last election from the Dutch coalition government because his 10 point plan for immigration was not being implemented. It calls for border closures for asylum seekers, deporting dual nationals who have committed a crime, and the military controlling Dutch borders. Wilders says "no more asylum centers. Close them." Germany is putting through strict immigration laws under the CDU leadership of chancellor Merz including control of borders, border checks, deporting dual nationals who have committed a crime.  This policy is being followed by the DJT administration in the US. There is little public patience with migrants after the experience in the US and Europe. What has changed is that centrist parties, Catholic/Protestant centrist parties such as CDU/CSU in Germany or business centrist parties such as Republicans are partnering with socialist parties such as Social Democrats in Germany, and many Democrats in the US with the clear goal of controlling borders. In the UK and in Denmark socialist parties such as Starmer's Labor in UK and Mette Frederiksen's Social Democrats in Denmark have clear goals to strictly close borders and send back migrants to home countries. ...

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DJT's affection for the British royal family. Mark Landler of the NYT describes the DJT meeting with Prince William after the ceremony at Notre Dame cathedral reopening in Paris, France. DJT often invokes his mother Mary Ann Mcleod and how greatly his mother admired Queen Elizabeth. As prince Charles met DJT at Mar-a-Lago. Charles and DJT have different views on climate change. As King Charles will provide Britain with additional ways to maintain it's special relationship with the US, even as prime minister Starmer works to restore relations with the EU that were disturbed by Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage's Brexit, says Landler.  In the TV series "The Art of the Surge," DJT is shown displaying pictures of him and Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles. In “The Art of the Surge” DJT loves to display a book of photographs of him with the queen and Charles, while they are standing near the honor guard at Buckingham Palace. "The Queen was fantastic by the way. Look, Charles, so beautiful. These images, I mean, who has images like these?” ...

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Even with the growth strategies of the Abe administration in 2014, projections of the IMF show growth rate for Japan are at 1.0% for 2015, compared to 3% for the U.S., 2.5% for UK, and 1.6% for Germany. The Third Arrow in prime minister Abe's Three Arrows program now follows the implementation of the other two Arrows- monetary easing and public works spending. Abe is faced with the task of convincing foreign and domestic investors that he can implement a winning growth strategy for Japan. The plan announced in June 2014 is an effort to overcome barriers to growth with a strategy that will work. The core of the plan is to cut the corporate tax rate from 35.64% to below 30% in the next couple of years. The corporations are expected to do their part to improve corporate governance and return on equity, so that shareholders, domestic and foreign investors, have more incentives to invest in the Japanese stock market. Analysts and economists say this plan has attractive features. It asks Japanese companies to increase ROE and ROI to global levels through a Tokyo Stock Exchange corporate governance code. Companies listed on TSE and not following the code will have to come up with reasons why they are failing to do so. Some analysts say this would increase the value of companies. Companies are more likely to make investments with cash that is not being invested. The plan includes measures for bringing more women into the workforce, which is seen as a serious committment to women. In addition to increasing the number of child care centers, this plan includes tax revisions that benefit women joining the workforce. Increased representation for women at the executive level is also part of this plan. Hiroshige Seko, a top adviser to Abe, says importance was given to execution for results, so that a score of 80 with definite results was preferred to an uncertain attempt to get a 100. To do this some compromises were made. The plan for special economic zones is still in the drafting stage as discussion is just beginning. A shakeup of the Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives and more flexible medical care will be taken up gradually. The efforts to increase ROI, ROE, and improve corporate governance were initiated from the time of the Koizumi administration, and the latest plan may bring results after over a decade of effort in this direction....

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Reilly says profits at Fannie Mae suggest the company is likely to pay back $90 billion of the $116.1 billion it borrowed from the government after being taken over by the government in 2008.

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Intel's new CEO was the CEO of Cadence Design Systems 2008-2021 which makes software for integrated circuits and systems on chips.   Coming from Malaysia and Singapore Tan got his Masters in Nuclear Engineering from MIT and founded Walden International in 1987. Making early investments in China's chip industry when China's chip industry was just starting in the 1990's, Tan's company participated in  40% of the chip industry investments in China made from the US between 2017-2021. Some of this is covered in a WSJ report from 2021 shown alongside. He served on the boards of China's Semiconductor Manufacturing and Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment.  A parallel to this is Morris Chang who after degrees at MIT started the semiconductor industry in Taiwan. A period back then in which the US chip industry dependent on market forces and without hidden government subsidies was eclipsed by new ventures in first Taiwan, then South Korea and China. During a period in which technologies were freely transferred with no long term grasp of the consequences to American technological leadership, and chip industry in the US. It was allowed to decline by administrations of Bush and Obama since 2000, ceding dominance through lack of investment in manufacturing technologies. In chips and science capitalism and market forces leave American companies to the mercy of markets when government support overseas is not matched by government support in the US to create an absolutely essential level playing field.  The US then feels the lack of synergyistic energies that go from chips to other advanced industries and technologies. Textbook economics from Dartmouth or Ivy Leagues is with totally theoretical stuff about comparitive advantage no help, and created the current situation for America in chips and science where a whole industry was ceded.  ...

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Peter Galbraith explaining the true reason for his firing by Eide and the UN Secretary General Moon. The statement announcing his dismissal to be accurate would have said that this was over differences whether the UN was going to remain silent over evidence of electoral fraud in the Afghan elections, and the issue of ghost polling stations. There is another angle of this which risks endangering the US trrops in the north of the country. Karzai's opponent in the elction is half Tajik and half Pashtun, fraud in the elections may turn the Tajik north against US and coaltion troops, further complicating life for the US, and this is on top of the loss of credibility with the Afghan people of the Karzai government. See the separate article on General Jones telling McChrystal who commands US forces in Afghnistan to cooperate with the strategic review now underway, by not making statements to the press. The other questions arise about the manner in which this dismissal ocurred. A few days before this Hillary Clinton, Eide, and other representatives from the coalition told the press that they think Karzai would win. Had Obama authorized this and what would be the point of such a statement, and at the same time trying to conduct an unbiased assessment of the war in Afghanistan. Here Galbraith comes across as one who had the courage to decide according to what he believed would be right for America and the values it represents. His point is that he could not tolerate the last act of dishonesty in the dispute that went on for months, because of the loss of credibility for the UN itself among the many Afghans who do not support Karzai. This would destroy also the credibility of the US in the country. Can any number of troops make up for this? Wars in Asia have proven that popular support decides the eventual fate of the mission. Only by standing up for its values can the US not undermine the very principles that the troops are fighting for and the people support. ...

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Lee Myung-Bak says Korea's experience with its banks and troubled assets in 1998 can provide useful guide to solving the problems at American banks. First take strong decisive action rather take incremental steps. Korea raised money from various sources for a fund of $127 billion, or 32% of GDP between 1997-2002, to resolve impaired assets and recapitalize its banks. Second, recapitalization and bad bank solution were both applied simultaneously. Korea setup the Korea Asset Mnagement Corporation (Kamco) as its bad bank. And the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation helped recapitalize the banks. Kamco also did things in a unique way which may have lessons for the USA. Kamco purchased the bad assets and settled the gains or losses with the banks once their assets recovered in value. It acquired assets at $30.9 billion, the book value which was $85.1 billion by 2002, and recovered $33.9 billion by 2008 by reselling to private investors through various methods including public auctions, direct sales, international tenders, securitization and debt-equity swaps. Lee points out that its useful fro government to purchase the impaired assets at a price agreed to with the banks , and make the final settlement of gains and losses with the banks after reselling. Another useful lesson for the US is to have a clear exit strategy with a clear time frame. This makes nationalization a temporary measure only and with a time frame by which shares held by the government in banks or nationalized failed banks, should be turned over to the private sector. This is Korea's contribution to the G-20 summit in London in early April 2009....

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Appeals Court says US president DJT National Guard deployment in Washington DC is legal. The court said that "the district of Columbia is a federal district created by Congress," that the president as head of the DC National Guard has the right to it's deployment in DC. It was done by DJT to reduce the crime and lawlessness behavior in the Nation's capital. DC is a much safer place today. 

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The Economist points to a second hit from bad debt in the post 2008 stimulus binge of spending in China. This is after an earlier hit, that was absorbed as a result of high growth rates and high savings. About $420 billion was injected into 5 state owned banks since 1998, according to one estimate, as a result of the first hit to China's banks from bad debt. In this second round of bad debt, covered in more detail by David Barboza in the New York Times, and merely alluded to here, many bad loans to infrastructure projects were rushed through by local governments. The Economist considers this one of the successes of the state directed banking system, that loans were quickly made and projects started in the post 2008 crisis period; and expresses the view that this hit will be absorbed just like the last hit. However the more detailed account by David Barboza and in Business Week, points to the working of a system of incentives gone astray in a capitalist system without the necessary controls or regulation. Local governments used investment companies to take on loans, which were then used to prepare properties to be auctioned off at a profit and speculative prices to state owned companies in different industrial sectors. This is part of rampant speculation in China in real estate markets. Can China with its high savings and growth absorb a second hit? This depends on the magnitude of the hit and the size of the bad debt, which depends on how long this speculative market continues to operate, and how bad debt is hidden in the books. The difference this time is that large state owned companies in different industrial sectors are engaged in this speculation. The other difference is that the high growth rates in China depend on continued large trade deficits with the USA and Western Europe, something which is not likely to continue for long, as consumers in Europe and the USA with high debt are becoming cautious spenders. This suggests that China, like the US with the mortgage crisis, faces the same effects of unregulated or uncontrolled speculative behaviours, that can endanger the banking system....

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Ryan Tracy and Anthony DeBarros try to address the question of patchy internet service for America's heartland, rural areas from the prairies of Iowa to the west, and in the south and southeast. Public funds were allocated through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund for broadband service with the latest optic fiber technologies in 750,000 census blocks in all states except Alaska in the US. This was supposed to bring digital internet with fast speeds enjoyed by urban users to every American home. Instead after this and another program the Connect America program why is internet service serving some customers and not others in rural areas, with patches of areas in each rural part of a state without internet service at the speeds one should expect for streaming and other uses? This WSJ research looks at data and conducted interviews on this important issue and found that internet service providers were given public funds by the FCC yet allowed to pick customers leaving some customers out. FCC rules till 2021 did not require service for all customers equally as long as they provided service to a minimum number of locations statewide say former senior FCC officials. One senior former FFC official says it is not surprising that companies made the decision to do the bare minimum required.  In Heavener, Oklahoma this meant that during the pandemic and lockdown when schools were closed the lack of good internet service affected learning from home. Many students could not get online from home. In 2021 another effort was made. This time funds will not go through the FCC but through the states. The Biden $1 trillion infrastructure spending for workers and families includes $42.5 billion for a rural broadband program in America. This WSJ report does useful service to America by putting the spotlight on one of the issues that divides America today the gap between the quality of life in rural vs. more affluent areas of urban America. It also shows that it is the federal bureaucracy that is at fault in this case for poor internet service in rural areas. Careful attention to this is needed so that rural America gets the attention it deserves from the prairies of Iowa to the mountains, the breadbasket of the country, and the heartland.   ...

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The G-20 summit in April had as its achievement the $1 trillion that would go to aid for emerging countries and other countries in need. But this number may not be what it appears to be and should be seen with care. Prof. Eswar Prasad, former division chief for China at the IMF, and now Professor at Cornell University, says there is double counting in the numbers, and a lot of the money has not yet been committed. With trade financing only a quarter of the $250 billion is fresh cash, the rest is trade financing that is rolled over every 6 months. For the Special Drawing Rights issuance of $250 billion, a kind of virutal currency that is set by a basket of real currencies like the dollar and the euro, the IMF will issue SDR's to all 185 of its members. This is not cash but a form of credit, against which a country can borrow. The Obama administration that came up with this idea thinks it will create $15 to $20 billion in additional credit for the poorest countries. For this to happen the US has to lend out its special drawing rights to poor countries, and this requires congressional approval. Of the $500 billion in direct commitments, Dr Prasad says less than half has been commited by Japan, the EU, Canada and Norway. China says it will put in $40 billion probably by buying bonds issued by the IMF. The US contribution of $100 billion has to be authorized by Congress. Even with the US contribution Prasad sees a shortfall of $145 billion of the $500 billion in donations. And the Saudis, the Indians will require a bigger say in the IMF to contribute some of this. ...

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The Guardian shows pictures in both black and white and in color from the last 50 years of US president Joe Biden. The first picture is a black and white picture from 20 November 1972 showing him cutting his 30th birthday cake with his wife Nelia, sons Beau, and Hunter. He is shown taking the oath of office for the Senate as he turned 30 the youngest senator and now the oldest former senator to be president. On the Metroliner Amtrak in 1988. He spent decades riding Amtrak to Washington D.C. He campaigned with Jill Biden for president in 1988. Not till the extraordinary situation of the pandemic in 2020 did Americans who largely ignored him give him the opportunity to lead- and at what a time when the Nation desperately needed his vision and his leadership through the largest vaccination program in history with the exception of that in India. And following this with his skills in Congress to get the legislation passed with Republicans for trillions of dollars to go into aiding families recover, and the economy to recover, investing in chips and science, and in infrastructure in ways that have happened only three times in American history, first in the early days of rail transforming a largely agricultural country during Lincoln and Grant's years as president in 1860's and 1870's, and again during the TR, Woodrow Wilson years in the 1900, 1910 period, and in the period under FDR, Truman and Ike 1940's, 1950's. No other country recovered better and stronger, and yet because of the lingering effects of the pandemic with 1 million dead from the Covid virus, and increases in the cost of living even as inflation was brought down from 9% to 3% for reasons stemming from unwise decision of American business to concentrate the supply chain in China, from housing and automobile price increases, the Nation did not immediately grasp the sheer magnitude of what had been achieved. ...

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The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted a U.S. administration request staying the effect of a lower court ruling, giving the government the $3.6 billion in U.S. Defense Department funds to build a border wall. This money goes towards the goal of building 500 miles of the wall by the end of 2020. In a 2-1 decision the court majority cited a Supreme Court order from July 2019 that gave the Trump administration the go ahead to use military funds for border wall construction.

The $3.6 billion is part of a $6.7 billion plan of spending under an emergency declaration by president Trump on grounds of border security. So far 100 miles of border wall have replaced flimsier construction barriers that existed. The government now needs to convince private land owners along large stretches of the border along the Rio Grande and other areas to give up their land for the wall.