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The U.S. experienced a net increase in jobs of 69,000 in May. The average for the March-May 2012 period is 96,000 jobs, which is down from the figure of 245,000 net jobs added in the previous three months December- February 2012. Increasing auto sales did not increase jobs by much- only 12,000. Job gains were in health care, transportation and warehousing, with cutbacks in construction and at the local government level.

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Balancing medical work and family for young doctors. How a new generation of young doctors looks at the balancing of work and family and time for relaxation, the gym and so on. A whole new way of taking care of patients is taking shape that may promote better health of doctors themselves, better balancing the demands and stress in their lives from family members and their own personal needs for relaxation and exercize.

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Housing starts are at a seasonally adjusted rate of 800,000 for October according to Credit Suisse. With about 2.8% vacancy rate and 10 months of inventory, experts point to the need to take capacity out of the system with a housing moratorium. Why build so many new houses in this environment. They say it makes no sense to build so many new homes even though some construction would continue across the country.

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Vehicle sales in the U.S. market went up by 18% in April 2011. There was a significant shift fuel efficient vehicles and small cars with gasoline running at over $4 per gallon. Sales are running at an annual rate of over 13 million vehicles for the February-April 2011 period. Helping sustain sales momentum is the aging of the U.S. vehicle fleet- average for vehicles in the U.S. is above 10 years according to G.M. vice president, Don Johnson. GM sales were up 27% in April 2011 over the prior year- with only a 2% increase for pickup trucks and a 50% increase in sales for passenger cars. There was strong demand for the Chevy Cruze compact and smaller fuel efficient sport utility vehicles. Ford had a 16% increase in sales, with strong demand for the new Fiesta, Focus small cars and the new lighter version of the Explorer SUV. Ford's Ken Czubay, head of sales and marketing, says dealers are selling the Focus right off the convoy truck, which gives some indication of the shift in consumer preferences. Chrysler vehicle sales increased 23%, with car sales up 41% in April over the prior year. Some indication of the shift can be seen in the incentives dollars- the largest rebates of $3200 were given for large trucks, according to Edmunds.com. At the same time overall dollars per vehicle for incentives dropped from $2600 in April 2010 to $2100 in April 2011. Toyota sales increased by only 1% because of shortages as a result of the earthquake, especially for the smaller cars like the Corollas and the Prius....

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Karen Eliott House was a former publisher of the WSJ. Now with WSJ in Murdoch's News Corporation's hands, she is a fellow at Harvard's Belfer Center. Here she points to the diverging situation between the USA and Saudi Arabia. She thinks the US cannot protect the Saudi monarchy (which dates back to Abdul Aziz and his support from President Roosevelt first by recognition of the new state of Saudi Arabia in 1932 and support during the war), from its domestic challenges. One of these domestic challenges is changing demographics as the young or people below 15 years age make up 40% of the population, rising unemployment, and pressures for modernization which the monarchy has done little to respond to, and the lack of democratic forms which would give people a chance to vent their feelings. For the U.S. the frustration is that the Saudis have done little or can do little for the USA in the way of moderating oil prices as they move still higher, because of speculative trends, decline of production in its own maturing oil fields, and needs to finance huge new plants and cities to provide employment to a growing population. In fact Libyan oil officials has been more of a moderating influence recently than the Saudi oil officials. So it appears that what Karen is saying is that the Saudis are pursuing their own interests in their region and the wider region that includes South Asia and Northern Africa, and the US is pursuing its own interests, which at this time are not as clearly defined, except securing oil supplies and protecting Israel. The 2 countries USA and Saudi Arabia are going their diverging and different ways in a way that is irreversible....

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Jan 22, 2003 in New Delhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who revived Gandhiji's Indian vision for the 21st century, said on the Golden Jubilee of India's Parliament-  "If the 20th century saw the global growth of democracy, the new century should see its further expansion and enrichment. Especially, we should develop democracy as an effective instrument for fulfilling people's aspirations and resolving conflicts and contentious issues. History has proved time and again that free and democratic societies are the ones that are creative, self-corrective and self-regenerative. The holding of regular elections, the victories and defeats of individuals and parties, and the periodic change of governments have many benefits. These make elected representatives accountable; keep the rulers in check if they develop hunger for power; prevent rigidity in governance; and dislocate social and economic interests that would otherwise get vested."   "At the same time, we cannot overlook the many ways in which the Parliamentary system, including ours, needs to be strengthened. All democracies, especially in developing countries that have considerable diversities and carry the burden of developmental imbalances, have had to grapple with one paramount challenge. And that is: how to harmonise the legitimate self-assertion of communities that suffered deprivation and disempowerment in the past with the imperatives of good governance?"   "One obvious answer lies in the need to protect and further strengthen the institutions of democracy. Our ancient seers taught a guru mantra: Dharmo Rakshati Rakshitah. Dharma, protected, protects. In the same way, institutions, protected, protect. They can function well only if each of us adheres to the norms that are the essence of each institution. If we adhere to the norms of our institutions, the effectiveness of democracy would go up ten fold, even a hundred fold. If we don't, it is imperiled."   "There is a second imperative. Our economies are becoming increasingly integrated. The demands of our people are ever more pressing. Thereby governance has become more complex, demanding newer competencies from elected representatives. All parliamentary democracies, therefore, face a common challenge: how are we to ensure that the rough and tumble of electoral politics brings such persons to office who can actually handle the complex tasks of governance?" ...

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Otis Elevator is moving a plant based in Nogales, Mexico, back to the U.S. This plant was moved to Mexico in 1998 for cost reasons. Now Otis CEO, Didier Michaud-Daniel, says producing at a new South Carolina plant will cost less than Mexico. Logistics and freight costs are 17.3% less in the U.S. than Mexico, and an additional 20% in savings come from "efficiencies" gained by having all its white collar workers associated with elevator design and production. Most companies that manufacture in China and Mexico keep their design and engineering jobs in the the U.S. It is not clear to what extent American companies have considered all the costs of separating design and engineering from manufacturing, including the opportunities for close cooperation possible in one location that are lost when everything is so spread out. At Otis toolmakers in Dallas and engineers and designers located in Indiana and Arizona traveled to the Nogales, Mexico plant. This can be especially important when as in Otis's case the new plant in Florence, South Carolina, plans the launch of a new generation of elevator designs. In this case there is an added benefit by making it easier for customers to visit the plant and look at the product. The new plant will have more automation and use fewer workers on the factory floor. The new factory will employ 360 workers including white collar workers, the same as the Nogales, Mexico, plant with a lower number of factory floor workers. ...

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Frank Rich of the NYT thinks Obama's problem is not the GOP which is losing public support very quickly as the CBS/New York TImes poll shows, or the mortgage rescue plan and the shaping of new priorities in his address to the joint session of Congress which have increased in popularity for a people nervous about the economy, but the increasing unpopularity of the banks and financial institutions. His plan for financial institutions lacks the clarity and direction of his other efforts, says Rich. And Geithner who was protegeof the old boys Greenspan, Rubin and Summers who got the country into this disaster, is not the man who can convince the people. Therein lies the President's problem. He has chosen these people to come up with the solution to the banking crisis, and he has to sell this hugely unpopular solution with his advisors too timid and too complicit in the origins of this problem, that they have not been able to craft an effective plan. And the people who run these banking institutions are still running these institutions, and the people who run these auto companies are still running these auto companies, something that is hugely unpopular with the people as the CBS/New York Times poll shows. Only a new management, a new board, and a fresh clean beginning, and a convincing plan, would convince the people that another big bailout of $750 billion in banking "asset purchases" on top of the previous $700 billion bailout is going to work....

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Willingness to change opinions as the wind shifts, or as conditions change and new information or insights are gained, is a necessary quality in good leadership. You may not get it right the first time, and that is OK if you are honest with yourself and do the right thing, which is to take stock of the new information and understanding and act upon it, even if that is different from what you said or did before. These skills may be needed by the President in difficult places like Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as at home in tackling the economy where some actions work and make sense and some others don not work or make sense under the conditions. Or its some new understanding of the conditions that is gained. FDR tried a number of things in his first 100 days in office and he got conflicting advice from some advisors, over time he obtained a better grasp of conditions and an understanding of what actions would be most effective in ending the crisis in the country. He had to be a good learner, be a good observer first hand of conditions, stay in touch with the people, honestly ask himself what would be the best thing to do in each situation. Sometimes he had to chart a new course and he had to know which advisers best represented the interests of the people and the country, and where to look for help. This is described by Adam Cohen of the NYT in his new book "Nothing to Fear". ...

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President Obama in his speech at Georgetown, April 13, 2009, describes the thinking behind the decisions made in the first 12 weeks of his administration- why the actions are not aggressive and overreaching as some critics say, and why they are not timid as other critics have said. This was not a typical downturn of the business cycle, but a perfect storm arising from irresponsibility and poor decisionmaking in Washington, Wall Street and Main Street- in effect several crises colliding for something like an explosion, if not dealt with at once, and with strong action. He says "the key to dealing with our deficit and debt is to get a handle on out-of-control health care costs, not to stand idly by as the economy goes into free fall." The recognition that the crisis itself brings with it new possibilities, the opportunity for coming to grips with and forging a good solution to health care, energy and education issues that were neglected while Wall Street directed investments to areas other than investment in building for the future. To the critics like Krugman, Rosenfeld and others who say that the takeover of insolvent banks should be done quickly before the situation worsens, he says it is not because of any ideological or political judgement he has made about government involvement in banks, but because it is more likely to undermine than create confidence at this point. He goes on step by step, through the process of decisionmaking, first to step in and boost spending vigorously, second to get lending flowing again to businesses and families, strengthening the non-bank credit market for consumer purchases and loans, the housing plan, the auto plan, and the work at the G-20. Then President Obama goes on to project his vision and the road to getting there. The five pillars he sees for the future are: redirecting Wall Street and banking to constructive investments for the future, investments in education, investments in renewable energy and technology to create new industries and new jobs, investments in health care to cut costs for businesses and families, and new savings in the federal budget to bring down the deficit. Obama says he will look for savings line by line in every corner of the budget, and has already identified two trillion dollars in deficit reductions over the next decade. And the goal is to reduce discretionary spending for domestic programs as share of the economy by more than 10% over the next decade. Procurement reform will greatly reduce no-bid contracts and save $40 billion. Secretary Gates is attacking th problem of hundreds of billions of dollars in waste and cost overruns that have bloated the defense budget, without adding to the nation's safety. And education programs that don't work will be removed, and waste, fraud and abuse in the Medicare program will be controlled. Finally, Mr Obama points to the nation's political system as one more reason we are in this perfect storm- "a fundamental weakness in our political system." He cites the putting off hard decisions for another day, scoring political points instead of rolling up up sleeves to solve real problems, an impatience that is only worsened by the 24 hour news cycle, and a short attention span that focusses on the immediate results and on poll numbers. And there is too much responding to the "tempest of the moment until the furor has died away and the media coverage has moved on, instead of confronting the major challenges that will shape our future in a sustained and focussed way." After these 12 weeks President Obama says, for the first time there are glimmers of hope, and way off in the distance can be seen a vision of America's future that is far different than its troubled past. And citing the parable in the Sermon on the Mount about that "house built on a rock", he sees America's house built on a rock, a house for which we use this moment to lay a new foundation, come together and begin the hard work of rebuilding, persisting and persevering in the face of disappointments and setbacks that surely lie ahead. Then he has no doubt "that this house will stand and the dreams of our founders will live on in our time." Its a remarkable speech in its directness, its simplicity in approaching the subject, and its borrowing from the Bible for that story of that house built on a rock, and its Lincolnesque reference to the house that will stand. And more than a speech, it describes a vision, and the set of actions and steps taken and to be taken to get there. ...

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SEC files civil lawsuit for securities fraud against Goldman Sachs for the Abacus deal.

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Christophe Weber, a Frenchman, is made the new CEO of Takeda Pharmaceutical in Japan.

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New CFTCdocuments show a biger role in oil markets of speculation than previously thought.

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Senators in the US Congress, Rubio and Schumer, have asked the US government to look into Apple's plans to work with Chinese semiconductor company YMTC. As a result the Commerce Department has placed export restrictions on YMTC. This NYT report looks at the two decade long rise of China and of Apple after Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997 and shifted manufacturing to China. When Jobs returned to Apple he found major quality issues at Apple's manufacturing facilities, a demoralized workforce, and financial losses, with CEO Michael Spindler running the company into the ground. Jobs had to start with afresh model for Apple and decided to shift manufacturing to China under the engineering leadership of Tim Cook. Alabama native Cook went to Auburn University for his engineering degree and Duke for his business degree. Cook joined Jobs in 1998 at Apple and for ten years till 2007 the two cut costs, shifted to contract manufacturers and rebuilt Apple with new products, iPod, iPad and the iphone. By not manufacturing Apple avoided quality control issues, and the costs of maintaining inventory. It was Tim Cook who ran operations worldwide, and he gradually built up the manufacturing relationships in China with Foxconn, which makes most of Apple's products in sprawling Chinese factories that employ 20 years later about 3 million Chinese workers. Foxconn was chosen by Apple in 2000 to manufacture the Apple Mac laptop. Before that it was a parts supplier to Apple. Increasingly Apple relied on Foxconn to make its new products including the iPhone. Both companies growth relied on the manufacturing of Foxconn to the point where Apple was dependent on Foxconn and had intertwined its operations with Foxconn in China. Today the whole relationship is being called into question after two decades in which American workers suffered the effects of the outshoring of manufacturing jobs. It should be noted that though Mr. Trump raised the issue of manufacturing exclusively in China with Apple, the Trump administration did little to change the practices of the company that pioneered this type of massive manufacturing role for China. That surrendered the entire supply chain to foreign suppliers in the interest of cutting costs and maintaining huge profit margins, with which it financed an array of new products and reached $1 trillion in sales from $10 billion, hundredfold increase over 2 decades. American workers and families for the first time in American history got very little from this Cook-Jobs project. American infrastructure in communities that would have been supported by American factories including the services and infrastructure in communities financed through local taxes, a practice throughout the Industrial Revolution in the US, was sharply disrupted over 2 decades. It caused a rupture in social relations and increased inequality in the US, and defunded infrastructure that comes with manufacturing.  It is the task of the Biden administration to now correct what Mr. Trump simply talked about but never induced or required Apple to do- lead the resurgence of American manufacturing, and make its major investments in the US, invest in its workers and families, invest in America. ...

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The House healthcare bill that just passed by amargin of 220 to 215. The cost would be $1.055 trillion over 10 years, with cost of $894 billion factoring in penalties for individuals and businesses that don't buy insurance. Adding increased coverage for Medicare prescirption drug coverage for seniors its around $1.2 trillion. $460 billion is from new taxes on single people with income of over $500,000 or couples with inocme of $1 million. There are $400 billion in cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, and additional money coming from penalties for not buying insurance. First column here is Senate version, second for House version and third President's version. Other features individuals must have insurance or pay afee of 2.5% of income, hardhip waivers will be available. Employers must provide insurance to employees or pay a penalty of 8% of payroll. Small businesses with fewer than 10 workers get tax credits. The threshhold is $500,000 of payroll. To help families with lower incomes and the poor the bill provides: families earning $29,000 a year pay no more than 1.5% of income for premiums. Families with incomes of $88,000 ayear would pay no more than 12% of income for premiums. ...

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For the Jan. to Nov. 2011 period Japan shows a trade deficit of 2.3 trillion yen. Analysts expect a trade deficit for the full year- the first since 1980 and setting a new trend as long as the yen stays at a high level. The yen is at 77 yen to the dollar in Jan 2012. Japan still maintains a current account surplus because of returns from investments overseas. The Bank of Japan reports that the economy is expected to contract by 0.4% for the current fiscal year.

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VW's labor costs at its new plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, will be $27 an hour in wages and benefits, according to analysts. The comparable cost for Detroit automakers and Toyota and Honda plants is $52 an hour. Over three years VW is expected to increase this to about $38 an hour, according to the Center for Automotive Research, Ann Arbor, Mich. This will enable VW to price the larger version of the Passat it will make in Tennessee at $20,000, instead of the current price of 28,000.

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This editorial in the New York Times says the 'comfort women' agreement is a positive step, and that it was done with pressure from the Obama administration so that Japan and South Korea can do more to tackle North Korean nuclear weapons development. However as Soble and Choe Sang-Hun in the NYT point out in their report from South Korea, the primary goal of the agreement which should have been to generate goodwill has not been reached. Instead it has brought more attention to focus on this unfortunate event from the war, even to South Korean prime minister Lee's father's association as an officer in the Japanese Imperial Army.

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Greece's economy is expected to shrink by 6% in 2012 by many private sector economists in Greece. This means Greece will have a deficit closer to 10% of GDP. Antonio Samaras, leader of the New Democracy Party, is expected to win the elections in Greece to be held by spring 2012. Opinion polls show his party getting 24% of the vote, and Papandreou's Socialists getting 15%, showing how little support any party can gather in Greece. Samaras told the Journal in an interview- the contagion is spreading rapidly, and what he fears is political and social contagion from high unemployment and austerity measures. Samaras says his government would continue with the spending cuts, but also reduce the tax burden on Greek households and businesses, which he views as having worsened the recession in Greece.

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The new phenomena after wildfires in California and the American West is the idea of climate havens. People moving to places in the Great Lakes region because of climate resilience. This includes Duluth, Minnesota for people connection, rootedness and water.

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The Bank of Mexico, Mexico's central bank, cuts interest rates by half a percentage point to 3% in June 2014. The consumer price index is at 3.4% for 12 months through mid-May, and the central bank sees the inflation target of 3% by early 2015 as achievable. The central bank's estimate for GDP growth in 2014 was lowered to 2.8% from 3.5%. GDP growth was annualized 1.1% for the 1st quarter of 2014. Mexico has failed to live up to the growth expectations after the new Nieto administration's efforts to jumpstart the economy and opening up of the state oil industry to foreign investment. The policy changes of the Nieto administration set the future course of the economy and will take time to deliver results in economic growth. More effective administration and execution is needed for economic growth.

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GM surprised German officials on June 28, 2009, with the information that Opel would need an additional 300 million euros. Also significant was the development that Fiat learned of earlier in the week that Opel's finances were much worse than previously disclosed by GM. Instead of a $1.5 billion loss Opel expects a loss of $2 billion to $3 billion for 2009. Fiat pulled out of the talks. At that point the German government put together a deal in a memorandum of understanding in the next 36 hours, with Magna International taking a 20% stake in the new Opel, the Russian government through its bank Sberbank taking 35% stake, GM taking 35%, and Opel's employees taking 10%. The German government's position was focussed on protecting the 25,000 Opel jobs in Germany, with both labor leaders and politicians supporting this. Angela Merkel, the German leader spoke on phone with Mr Putin of Russia to firm up the deal. Magna International, a Canadian autoparts supplier with Austrian roots provides the carmaking expertise. Cooperation with Russian carmaker Gaz raises the prospect of selling 500,000 Opel vehicles in Russia. Opel produces about 2 million cars in Europe and has 50,000 employees. ...

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The prices of soyabeans have fallen by half since July and corn prices dropped from $7.54 a bushel in July in central Iowa to $3.81 a bushel Oct 21. But fertilizer and seed costs could go up 40% for next spring's plantings. This year net US farm incomes will hit $95.7 billion up 10% from $86 billion in 2007 and nearly double the $58 billion of 2006, according to the Agriculture Department. In the boom years farmland prices shot up where prices jumped by double digits percentages for 4 years, now Purdue University economist predicts declining prices moderately for next 5 years. The farmers are being squeezed on both sides. Declining farmland prices reduces borrowing power. With the commodities boom prices of everything from fertilizer to harvesting combines went up. Prices of fertilizer are not coming down even as the price of oil has come down. So farmers are reducing the amount of plantings they will make this coming year which should lead to reduced farm production and lower agricultural exports. In the boom years swelling middle class in places like China increased demand for US agricultural products. But with the global crisis and reduced demand from other countries prices are coming down. ...

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Matteo Renzi forms his own party as a breakaway party from the centre left Democratic Party. Renzi helped arrange the agreement to form a centre left government with the Five Star party. Following this effort he sets up his own party. Renzi says he wants his party to appeal more to the centre right on some issues to cut into the support going to Mr. Salvini of the Northern League. This may or may not work say leaders of the new government.

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The Putin Trump meeting in July 2018 creates a storm in the U.S. over denials by the Russian president and the U.S. president about any interference by Russia in the 2018 U.S. presidential election. As the New York Times reports all intelligence groups in the U.S. have confirmed the interference. The images of the two presidents saying this just as the Mueller investigation gathers evidence is one more unusual event in 2017-2018, with what was once seen as improbable taking place.