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Twenty years after Japanese prime minister Koizumi visited Pyongyang in 2004, Japan's PM Kishida plans to talk to North Korean leader Kim. Koizumi had talks with Kim's father in 2004. The effort is to reduce tensions in the region with elections approaching in Japan, India, and the US in 2024, and to bolster the sense that Japan can manage its role in the region. The Europeans are doing the same as the French and the British are taking a bigger role in Europe during Ukraine conflict. After the Gaza conflict, the Houthis in Red Sea maritime channels, there is a sense that reducing tensions proactively is a better approach rather than wait for things to take their own course in directions that are not good for the world, or taking rigid ideological or other motivated positions that serve no constructive purpose and exacerbate tensions. Gandhiji used to say "tit for tat makes the whole world blind." It is not idealistic to say that but very practical and useful because if you do that you end up with situations where you lose leverage and ability to take positive action and come up with better outcomes, than if you let some unforeseen event or some events by other actors without proper motives to intervene to your serious and the world's detriment. ...

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Ford profit for 2025 expected at $7- 8.5 billion. Ford estimate for Tariffs cost in 2025 on profit before interest and taxes is about $1.5 billion. As Ford makes most of its cars and trucks in the US it is less impacted by the Tariffs on foreign cars entering the US. GM estimate of cost of Tariffs is at $4 -5 billion.

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Michigan Governor Whitmer, a Democrat, says she supports tariffs in a state hit hard by offshoring of American factories and loss of jobs leading to decay of small towns depending on factories. She says tariffs should be done in a way that do not increase cost of living for workers and families. Whitmer calls for distribution of tariff revenues to workers and small businesses hit by tariff related price increases in this op-ed in the Washington Post. DJT has called for a $2000 rebate to go to American workers and their families and all who are impacted by tariffs using the tariff revenues in 2025 and 2026 estimated at $550 billion. Expect to see this money to go out to workers before the midterm elections. 

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S&P forecast is for India's economy to be the third largest by 2030 at 6.3% annual growth. Positive consumer sentiment, domestic demand and increasing state investment are increasing growth to 7.8% and 7.6% in the second and third quarter 2023. A stable government that is focused on economic growth and capital investment projects increases the economic prospects of the Indian economy into 2024. Most of the northern and northwestern, and middle Indian states have investment coming from a coordinated push by state and federal government run economic sectors. Underlying this effort is building of infrastructure, shipping, transport and logistics, that will support growth of key industries to 2030, when the Indian economy is expected to be the third largest in the world. 

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Kamala Harris support could exceed the 92% won by Biden in 2020 in Detroit. Harris could also exceed the 45% support in Macomb County for Biden in 2020, as Whitmer support was 52% in 2022 Governor's election. Macomb is a county with mostly white voters and union voters.  Union vote is split with concerns about EV's helping Trump, and standing on the picket line in a UAW strike helping Biden. Harris is also doing much better with younger voters who feel energized by Harris. Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer did well even with voters in western Michigan towns like Grand Rapids in 2022.

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US sending signals of 'very strong talks'  with Iran delaying attack for 5 days March 23 2026.

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Greg Ip tells India's story, piped water for hundreds of millions of Indians, massive increases in road and rail, rapid development of infrastructure, aviation, ports logistics. WSJ graph shows country growth of economies for Japan, China, India, Germany in 2000 and 2020. By 2000 Japan had grown its economy to become about half the size of the US economy with two decades of rapid growth since 1980. China repeated this process with two decades of hyper growth since 2000 to become about 75% of the US economy by 2020. The graphs also show Japanese growth tailing off so rapidly after 2000 in relation to the US economy that it is now only about 25% of the US economy. China is likely to follow the same path as growth slows and with an aging population to become about 35-40% of the US economy by 2040 from 75%. India following the process that happened in Japan and in China is likely to become close to 35-40% of the US economy by 2040 from about 18% today, with the fastest growth over the next two decades for the most populous country in the world. Greg Ip points out what has been achieved since 2014 with the Modi government. Good governance without leakages of public funds dedicated to infrastructure, ease of living, GST one India one tax so that growing pool of funds from taxes fund rapid development with no leakages to corrupt officials,  Swacch Bharat or Clean India, clean water from taps, electricity and cooking gas for the whole population of India with dates for completion. All this Ip calls removal of the shackles that existed for far too long even past 2000 and 2010 when China had vastly surpassed India from its low point in 1980 after Mao and the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. India today is in as much a pace of development as China in the 1990's and Japan in the 1960's, except that it now has the benefit of grasping how development can be done in a way that does not affect climate and health in adverse ways as happened with China's hyper growth -which also led to the tragic loss of manufacturing for workers and communities in the US and Europe due to the economic theories of laissez faire of the Reagan era. Reagan theory for governments not working with industry that were applied indiscriminately during the Clinton, Bush, Obama and Trump presidencies for three decades led to shipping manufacturing overseas with no regard for the risks and dangers. What Greg Ip fails to mention is the uniqueness of India that is united by Vedanta, Hinduism and Buddhism for thousands of years, and which keeps the fabric of society together when it is divided by 13 language groups. These 13 language groups are: Hindi 43% of the population, Bengali 8%, Marathi 7%, Telugu 7%, Tamil 6%, Gujarati 5%, Urdu 4%, Kannada 4%, Odia 3%, Malayalam 3%, Punjabi 3%, Assamese 1%, English 1%. It was the vision of the early leaders Vivekananda, Gokhale, Mohandas Gandhi, Nehru, Sardar Patel, that united a diverse country with many languages and cultural variation. And it is this vision of Vivekananda that is creating the Good Governance under Sab ka Vikas, Sab ka Viswas, Sab ke Saath, Sab ka Prayas of today- development for all, with the confidence of all, with the support of all, the efforts of all. Without a disciplined direction based on hard work India could not make it this far or fulfill the aspirations of its youthful population by 2040. ...

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One in three students in Germany live below the poverty line. A 5.75% increase in government support is lost in inflation. Melissa is a 23 year old student at the University of Bonn with just 25 euros a week for shopping on food in this story in Dw.com. This means living on potatoes, cottage cheese and vegetarian schnitzel. She gets  about 1000 euros a month, 750 euros from the government and 219 euros from her parents. Of this 400 euros go to rent, 300 for semester fees, 

A person is considered risking poverty living on 1251 euros a month. Government support is set at a maximum of 934 euros a month for students not living with parents.

 

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Slowing things down and enjoying a single destination for longer is the main travel trend in 2025. Trip length is increasing and is now at 13.5 days to get more time to explore a culture and a region.

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The Biden $1.9 trillion aid package that cleared the US Congress on March 10, 2021 sets the stage for an economic rebound by 2022. OECD forecasts now show the US economy by the end of 2022 to be larger than forecast before the pandemic. In trade and other business policy the Biden administration is quietly following the changes made under the Trump administration to make the US position stronger in international trade and manufacturing, and remaking supply chains to meet US interests.

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The growing popularity of bakers in France who grow wheat and mill the wheat, or use just the simplest ingredients is the subject of this video report in DW.com. 

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US president Biden visits a semiconductor manufacturer in North Carolina, Wolfspeed, that will invest $5 billion for semiconductor manufacturing. It will supply the materials to General Motors. Mr. Biden said the CHIPS and Science Act made this possible and is designed to give the US leadership in semiconductor manufacturing.

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President Murmu addresses the first session at the new parliament building in New Delhi, India. In the tradition of British parliamentary democracy followed by India the opening speech of parliament is done by the president outlining the government's plans for the coming years. Murmu describes the achievements in providing basic infrastructure, water, cooking gas, rail and transport, food, healthcare to over 1 billion people in the last ten years, and controlling the cost of living. Making new investments in digital and other technologies, in infrastructure development to build an advanced economy under Vikshit Bharat by 2047, the 100th anniversary of independence from British rule. It also reflects women's empowerment and diversity in a democracy in Asia as Murmu was a schoolteacher in Orissa in the northeast and the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is a woman from the Chennai area in the south.