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Gikas Hardouvelis was finance minister during a crucial period of impementation of the 2012 bailout program for Greece from June 2013 to Jan. 2015. Here he outlines the mistakes he sees made by the IMF in not agreeing to the 7.2 billion payment to Greece in 2014, 4% of Greece GDP, with one third of that not a loan. At the fifth review of the 2012 bailout the EU commissioner for economic affiars, Pierre Muscovici , said Greece had completed its requirements and the 7.2 billion euro funding should be released. Yet he says the IMF to preserve leverage over a future Syriza administration in the 2015 elections decided to hold back. This made it harder for the Samaras administration to tell voters that it had completed the program a year earlier, and the lack of the funds hurt the Samaras administration as it erased signs of growth that had appeared in early 2014. Following this error he points to 4 mistakes made by the Syriza Tsipras government. The first was that it was bitterly opposed to the lenders (IMF, EU and ECB) and failed to focus on the economy. Hardouvelis points out that the maturity of the debt of 16.5 years and low interest rates meant that it was not the immediate issue facing Greece, and he calls it very manageable. This was not to say that it was important but with creditors worried about moral hazard, other issues could be taken up first. Another mistake was to allow a loss of liquidity to the private sector so that prospects of growth were erased. The new finance minister acted as if the $7.2 billion infusion was not important and let payments be delayed. Tsipras and Varoufakis let the uncertainty increase in the private sector, and let the economy decline all the way to the closing of the banks. How costly was this is evident from the IMF's own paper in Juy 2015 and the 3 page update of July 14, 2015, on the Greek debt, showing it cost Greece a total of 60 billion euros in additional financing needed and an additional 25 billion euros for the shock from the closing of the banking system. That 3 page IMF paper shows that within the space of one year a shocking amount of damage was done by Syriza left government- it says Greece went from being on track for reaching Debt to GDP of 105% by 2022 under the Samaras-Hardouvelis administration in July 2014, to 142% by June 2015, and with the closing of the banking system to 170% by July 2015. Some of this would have come from the IMF's own withholding of the 7.2 billion euro payment to the Samaras government. ...

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This article by Horowitz in the NYT shows some of the criticism leveled against the Clintons and how they were out of touch with the white working class voters who have drifted to Mr. Trump.  It may be overdone in that not all white working class voters have drifted to Trump, and a Gallup survey has shown Trump supporters to be some white working class but also many from other groups in society, and many older less educated voters.  Trade Unions have played a large role in this election, and workers in manufacturing have voted Democratic in midwestern states such as Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois. Horowitz also ignores some points in this campaign such as when Bill Clinton was adept at openly stating that he agreed with people who said Obamacare had increased premiums, and that some of the Obamacare program needed to be fixed. This took some of the criticism of Republicans on Obamacare and turned this around. He also showed a better understanding at times of the plight of working class people just from his habit of listening and thinking about how this affects ordinary people, a skill he has even to this day. A 2014 NBC/WSJ poll showed Bill Clinton with a 56 percent favorability rating, which is higher than president Obama, and exceeded only by Michelle Obama at 64 percent. ...

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Schools, shops, restaurants, cafes and offices are reopening and people are getting back to work and outdoors. What are the ways to reduce chances of getting the coronavirus and what is the latest advice from public health experts.  More attention is now being given by CDC and other experts to the aerosols, the smaller particles that are airborne that can spread the virus to people unawares in breathing, talking and singing activities. larger droplets come down to the ground, smaller droplets can be airborne for hours. This makes masks wearing very important, call it essential protection. Air filtration and proper ventilation is also important. What about social distancing? Experts now say 6 feet is good, 10 feet is better. This is from Joseph Allen director of the Healthy Buildings program at Harvard School of Public Health. No magic number but 6-10 feet or more is good for safety. Can one start expanding one's social circle? The fewer contacts the better says Dr. Allen. You can he says expand the circle but this depends a lot on how serious the other family is in taking precautions. Are elevators risky? If one can one should take stairs but do not board a crowded elevator unless the lobby is more crowded. Do not touch buttons, if you do use elbow or use sanitizer from your shirt pocket after pressing. This is where mask is essential. Here a tip is useful. Talking does not help as talking emits 10 times the particles than when you are quiet and this is true for small spaces such as elevators. Continual talk is not a good idea such as a long time spent talking, here watch that habit of getting into long conversations face to face.  Is it good to take a summer vacation. Here the answer is yes, as no one really knows how the winter will be. And remember outdoors is good for renewal of health, and one can look for places that are not crowded where the 10-12 feet or more can be easily done. One tip here is to take your own food and supplies from home so there is no need to go to crowded restaurants. Swimming in a lake or ocean is fine. Camping outdoors is fine and actually a good idea if you are with your own family. Try to use an empty restroom and one that is clean and wear the mask. While camping keep the 6-10 foot rule with people outside your immediate family, do not share food and drinks and try not to touch each other's supplies, and sanitize your hands or wash if you do. When hiking keep the mask in your pocket so you can wear it when you see others passing on trails. In hotels skip the cleaning service, in a rented property ask the owner to keep the windows open before you arrive, and put a day or two between your coming and the last person who rented the place. Renting a car is tricky allow a couple of hours to elapse between you and the last rental, open windows. Public restrooms. Always wear a mask many are poorly ventilated. Open the door without use of hands if possible,or use a paper towel to open and discard. Do not use air dryers. Is it safe for your house cleaning person to return. Keep the windows open to let in fresh air. Make sure your cleaner wears gloves. And all should wear masks. How to visit grandparents? Experts advise keeping visits outside and wearing masks when not 6-10 feet apart. Anyone not feeling healthy should avoid the visit. And bathrooms should be sanitized after people leave even wait a day if there is another bathroom. Experts advise against sharing food and buffet type meals. Ten feet distance is better than six feet. Can one use a gym? Here the advice is to exercize outdoors or at home if one can. It says be cautious unless your gym is limiting the number of people or spacing the equipment adequately. Ask about open windows, air filtration systems, ventilation.  This is excellent advice from experts with the latest information. Over the last few months from March to May most of the information was during lockdown, and a lot can be forgotten or seen as not necessary as things return to normal, as shops schools and cafes, office reopen, and cases remain steady and under control. Being vigilant is good for safely navigating this period through the summer and into winter till a vaccine is found. It is also about being a good civic minded person aware of one's own responsibilities, as when all take safety seriously and practice it everyday, it builds another layer of protection for everybody- because it creates a safer environment for all.     ...

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Gretchen Morgenson of the Times distills key insights from 633 page report by the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. Morgenson points to the role of the Federal Reserve in Washington and New York in being as she describes it, defiantly inert and uninterested in controlling the mortgage bubble even when it had grown to enormous proportions.The problem now is that the same Fed has received more regulatory powers under the Dodd-Frank law. The same Fed repeatedly did not exert its authority on predatory lending. Page 94 of the report cites a total of only three institutions referred to prosecutors by the Fed from 2000 to 2006. Page 164 shows why there have been so few prosecutions for mortgage fraud from the bursting of the mortgage bubble. William Black, a former fraud investigator and professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law, says the FBI has received virtually no assistance from the regulators, the banking regulators and the thrift regulators. The report contains some outrageous comments by one of the key players in fueling the mortgage bubble, Angelo Mozilo of Countrywide Financial. Morgenson describes him as a lender that roped unsuspecting borrowers into poisonous loans. Mozilo says in an interview on page 105 that his company prevented "social unrest" by providing loans to 25 million borrowers, many from minority groups. Never mind that this wave of poisonous loans has clogged the arteries of the nation's financial system, and resulted in foreclosures for millions of homeowners, creating a troubled housing market that hobbles the economy. Neil Barofsky, special inspector general of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, sees further bailouts ahead. He said in a report to Congress in late January 2011: "Unless and until an institution like Citigroup is either broken up, so that it is no longer a threat to the financial system, or a structure put in place that it will be left to suffer the full consequences of its own folly, the prospect of more bailouts willl potentially fuel more bad behaviour with potentially disastrous results." ...

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The Stimson Center looks at the closing of an era of Conservative politics in Japan which ended in 2025 after the death of Shinzo Abe and the 2 year premiership of Kishida. Interview is conducted by the Stimson Center of a senior Japanese political figure with 30 years of experience in the Foreign Service, and the author of the only English language book on Shinzo Abe, reflecting the paucity of research on Japan. Shinzo Abe was premier for a short time in 2005-2006 and for a full term in 2012. He made changes to Japan's SDF, its partnership with India, Australia in the Quad, and his economic policy which increased women's participation in the economy. For the first time in post war Japan there was a new sensde of confidence under Abe and he is missed sorely in Japan today. Yet as this senior Japanese politician says, Japan has changed the way the US and Europe have changed, and nationalist politics are replacing old Conservative politics of the LDP. In a way also how the deindustrialization of US, Europe and Japan has also taken place discrediting that era. Takaichi Sanae is itself a representative of the new era, as she did not hesitate to say Japan would get involved if China attacked Taiwan. Her popularity is at 62% and she has called a snap election, as she came in to replace Shigeru Ishiba in October 2025 and was not directly elected PM. Yet in the long view this is also a misconception because neither the Stimson Center or the interview participants had a keen sense of who Abe really was and Abe's grasp of the history of the Kamakura period of Buddhist Japan and China, India, of the 12th century before the foreign invasions from the north. One of Shinzo Abe's biggest legacies is the relationship that was close to his heart, the relationship with India and prime minister Modi. This week chancellor Merz of the Federal Republic of Germany was at the kite festival with PM Modi in Ahmedabad and at the Sabarmati Ashram of Gandhiji. The same degree of warmth shown by the German leader and Modi reflecting Vivekananda's time in Germany, was seen long time back between Modi and Abe. The bullet train project Mumbai to Ahmedabad and the ones that follow across India are a testimony to the warmth shown by Abe for India, and his knowledge of history from the Buddhist period in India when by the 12th century in Japan in Dogen's time Tenjiku (India) was the sacred homeland of Buddhism. Today India has revived the Buddhist traditions and centers of Buddhism, the universities and research centers for Buddhism from that period in Indian history. Buddhism started in India near Nepal in what is now Bihar state at Sarnath and Kushinagar, and spread through China to Japan and Korea. The whole continent of Asia would reflect Buddhist ideals and ideas without the intervening period of Vedic culture in India and China's Mongolian and Manchurian northern invasions, and the periods of European colonialism. Today Buddhism and The Bhagavad Gita are itself strung like pearls on a string as the Gita itself says, part of the long spiritual traditions of three nations- India, China and Japan, and of the many others Vietnam and Korea. ("All these worlds have their rest in me as many pearls on a string." -Mascaro tr. of Bhagavad Gita, Penguin). As Asian nations and peoples come to their own inner selves, find their inmost self, this is the culture that really pervades all of Asia. ...

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Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda, grandson of founder Kiichiro Toyoda, assumes new role just as net revenue is down 38% for the second quarter 2009, and a loss of $819 million. Akio says he is extremely frustrated with the situtaion and wants to start again from the ground up. With the restructurings at GM and Chrysler and focussed effort at Ford, efforts of Korean carmakers, and new competition from China and India looming, Toyota expects severe competition in the American and global markets. About 40% of Toyota's senior management has been retired or reassigned.Four of five executive vice presidents are new to their jobs, and only one Takeshi Uchiyamada, the product development chief is left from former CEO Watanabe's team. The outward looking Akio, whose background includes an MBA from Babson college in Massachusetts, and overseas experience including America, is likely to give the relatively insular culture at Toyota, a jolt. Under the new arrangement each of the executive vice presidents has been put in charge of a global region. One of the biggest problems Toyota will face say experts is the mundane looking lineup of vehicles bought mainly for reliability, just as competitors are making big strides in quality and new design, with new technology reshaping what the automobile might look like. The focus on the Tundra truck and SUV's like FJ Cruiser now looks misplaced. Yoshimi Inaba, a Toyota executive with experience overseas, will take charge of the American operations. Inaba says that without N. America, Toyota is unlikely to come back to global proficiency....

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George Will lists the shortcomings of Romney and Gingrich, as U.S. Republican presidential candidates in 2012. Gingrich is the worse candidate, says Will. Gingrich was paid $1.6 million by Freddie Mac, for services as "a historian." His response was to say "If you put people in jail," look at "the politicians who profited from" Washington's environment. He criticized government housing agency Freddie Mac for its role in the housing crisis, and at the same time profited as a lobbyist for Freddie. This shows his personal record and lack of conviction about the need for integrity in government officials. Conservatism, says Will, is about understanding that man does not fully understand the complexities of the world around him. It stands in opposition to man saying that he has grasped these complexities and assuming a hubrisitic attitude. Gingrich with his fervor for the latest idea, is the opposite of what conservatism stands for, says Will. Will sees Rick Perry and Jon Huntsman as better candidates than Romney or Gingrich. Presidential debates don't test what is needed to perform presidential duties and have become ridiculously important. Rick Perry's Texas record as two term governor, and his skepticism and distaste for Washington and Wall Street, give him assets that could prove to be vital for the job of president. Huntsman's positions on issues are closer to the conservative approach to government than Romney's. Will says it is important that Republicans don't give an Obama running as a Harry Truman did in 1948, against Congress, the one thing needed to win - someone who voters have a distaste for....

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Samsung's decision to focus on LCD Displays and improve existing technology, citing lack of demand for higher priced OLED Displays, leaves LG Display as the sole maker of next generation OLED Displays. OLED Displays allow the screens to be very thin and to be made in flexible forms with better colors. In this WSJ interveiw, Han Sang-beom, the head of LG Display division says how LG reached the decision to take the risks involved in making the large investments required. He says LG Display already has about 2 years of experience ahead of other companies which he sees as important to keep in preparing for the future market. He cites progress in reducing panel defects and production efficiency, moving up the learning curve, which is similiar to its early experience in developing LCD's. LG Display's strategy is to keep this lead for capabilities that will be needed for the new wearable devices, automobiles and new types of products. It sees other competitors who are developing OLED panels moving into manufacturing to help solve the problems related to cost reduction and product competitiveness. LG Displays production plans are for the second OLED plant with capacity for 26,400 sheets of mother glass a month to be ready by the end of 2015, following the first plant of 8000 sheets. Each sheet makes six 55 inch TV screens. LG's existing small screen business is highly dependent on demand from Apple. LG Display plans to continue focus on LCD mobile product screens while developing new flexible OLED mobile screens....

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Research from Australian National University shows steadily improving conditions for migrant workers in China. Migrant workers were able to spend more time in cities- an average of 8.9 years. The hukou sysem ensures migrants return to rural areas when they have to raise a family. About 252 million migrant workers work in factories and construction jobs in urban areas. Migrants with children leave them with grandparents back home. Improving the conditions of these workers is important to reduce the wage and income disparities in China and to reduce inequality. About a fifth of the migrant population now has pension and health benefits. Creating a balanced economy with domestic consumer spending making a larger share of GDP also requires improving wages and benefits of migrant workers. Incoming prime minister Li Keqiang says in a statement on a government website: China "must take migrant rural workers and gradually change them into urban residents. This requires that we push forward household registration reform." If done seriously this will create a new kind of China as these migrant workers are integrated into urban society after years of being shunned and ignored by China's educated middle class. Professor Meng's research at Australian National University of migrant workers shows the proportion of migrant workers with unemployment insurance increased from 11% in 2008 to 21% in 2012. The research shows similiar figures for health and pensions. Improving their living standards also make it attractive for more young people from rural areas to migrate to cities increasing urbanization....

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The Bank of Japan reduced interest rates by 0.2 %, from 0.5 % to 0.3%, lowering the overnight lending rate. Citing higher energy prices and lower export demand it lowered the growth forecast to zero for 2008. This is the first time in 7 years that the Bank of Japan is doing this. Japan has never recovered from the real estate and stock market bubbles of the 1980's and interest rates in Japan have been at levels near zero for many years. With low interest rates and a huge deficit Japn has few options left. The small nature of the rate cut is unlikely to increase borrowing or stimulate the economy say experts, but is more of a symbolic move that Japan will coordinate its efforts with other global economies. Even so half of the governing board voted for and half against this cut with central bank governor Maasaki Shirakawa casting the deciding yes vote. Upto now Japn's significant help has been in the form of suppplying yen and dollars to money markets to ease the global credit crisis. Another move is a $51 billion stimulus package that will give income tax rebates to households. Japan would like to pick up the slack in global growth from USA's weakness but is unable to do so because like other Asian economies its growth is export based with low consumption spending at home. This is true also of China and China's need for infrastructure spending is not as great as it once was leaving imports of machinery at lower levels, which gives less support to export driven growth from Germany or the USA....

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A open conversation with the NYT's Baker, Schmidt and Haberman by president Trump in mid July 2017. This conversation of the president with the NYT is remarkable for its frankness about people close to the president during the election campaign, particularly Jeff Sessions of Alabama. Sessions was the only leading Senator in Congress who supported Mr. Trump from the beginning. Southern states came out heavily for Mr. Trump as part of the traditional Republican base. Trump says of Sessions that had he known Sessions was going to recuse himself from the Russia investigation he would not have appointed Sessions as the new Attorney General. About Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein Trump says he should never have appointed Mueller as Special Counsel. The president also says Mueller should stay only with information related to Russia and not stray from that to delve into Trump's finances. During the election efforts were made to get Mr. Trump to disclose more about his finances as a real estate businessman- most of these efforts failed and not much is known about president Trump's finances. The president says he never said he would order the Justice Department to fire Mr. Mueller, yet he left open this possiblility, according to the NYT, as the president feels it has affected the first 6 months of the Trump presidency. This interview with president Trump was published on July 20, 2017, the day after an editorial in the WSJ by the Editorial Board of the Journal on July 19, 2017, calling for transparency from president Trump on the Russia investigation. This was an exceptional and powerful editorial by its editorial board telling president Trump that he must tell everything he knows now or face the risk of losing public confidence, and risk his presidency. It said that president Trump was wrong to think that his larger than life personality and social media role could insulate him from the effects of this lack of transparency. ...

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Biden administration slightly changes wording using  "statehood" as it relates to Taiwan, a well functioning Democracy nation of 23 million people just south of the Korean peninsula. China protests and weeks later it is reversed. The DJT administration is restoring this wording on grounds that US does not want ambiguity, it wants to see a democratic nation be able to follow peaceful coexistence in Asia. Early hints how the world situation is changing with DJT administration's return to "common sense" in policies is that it seeks to bring Russia back into the community of western nations. Restoring relations  reminiscent of when China breaks away from the Soviet bloc in the 1970's, Russia moving away from its subordinate position to China.  American Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg seeks to avoid losing a whole generation of young people in Russia and Ukraine with continued war. America's idea is consistent with Wilson support of China during Sun Yat Sen's 1911 Revolution, FDR and Gen. Joe Stilwell support for China during the Imperial Japanese Army rampage through Asia in 1930's. America does not want to see fellow Europeans an entire generation of young men from Ukraine and from Russia lose their lives in a senseless war. DJT shows America is listening when he says Russia would never accept Ukraine in NATO and some voices in Europe (British, East European) have made it appear that this is possible.. Kasyanov a former senior Russian policymaker says Russia wants to see a new generation structure replacing old outdated institutions from the Cold War. NATO needs to be rethought, and a new institution be formed to replace it that puts behind us the Cold War. This is also a European idea expressed by Macron and other leaders.   ...

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After all the media talk about tariffs inflation- inflation is at 2.4% in May 2025. Tariffs was part of the toolbox of strategies under Lighthizer and Jamieson on getting fair world trade, and not like Congressman Hawley in the 1920's who understood little about the workings of the US economy. This fact the official media such as the WSJ and NYT, Wash Post, BBC need to get it right about the Hawley Tariffs. Hawley was born in rural Oregon in 1864 went to country schools, and was president of Willamette University in Salem, when it's population was 4258. As House Ways and Means Committee chairman he wrote the failed tariffs bill Hoover signed in 1930. DJT's US Trade Representative Lighthizer in 2016 led the successful negotiations with Japan under Reagan, Scott Bessent who leads negotiations on tariffs with China with USTR Jamieson, has a deep understanding and grasp of today's financial markets. Tariffs is one of the tools in the US toolbox to get Japan, China, South Korea to even the playing field for US companies and bring back manufacturing to the US. Without it China would not budge from its unfair advantage and would not negotiate in fairness. This is proven in the way Japan in the 1980s and China today are responding to the US position preparing their economies for not relying on sudden surges in exports putting whole industries and workers in America and Europe out of work and out of jobs. DJT says- "No we are not going to accept that," the EU is catching on and adopting a similar position, China knows that.  The media is irresponsible in presenting tariffs in a negative way, irresponsible to American workers the 10 million put out of work since 2000, and to American families and the Nation.   ...

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Venezuelan illegal immigrant lawsuit reaches US Supreme Court for birthright citizenship. What did the US Supreme Court rule? Alongside we provide the summary of the US Supreme Court landmark decision which is coming in two parts, this being just the first. Simply stated the US SC ruled that district courts can give the plaintiffs relief in their individual circumstances but do not have the authority to extend this to into a "universal injunction." Three states and a Venezuelan illegal immigrant allowed into the US under the asylum policy make the case. And each case may have individual merits but does it apply to a whole geopolitical event? Yet the sheer numbers, the scale running into millions of people, amounting to it being an invasion, a geopolitical event resulting from Bush-Obama-Trump-Biden failures to assert the Monroe Doctrine and prevent intervention by foreign, specifically European powers in the affairs of the American continent. Yet at no point in the administration of the last 9 years has this situation been anticipated or this situation been singled out as one that no asylum policy of any nation is designed to tackle. The efforts to fix things as far away as the mountains of the Hindu Kush have frittered away the important resources of the US military to maintain the Monroe Doctrine. It can be said that the basic error was not to see president Monroe's policy for what it was - an effort to prevent the French, the Spanish or some other European power to bring back colonial rule or in some ways unsettle the affairs on this continent. The US Supreme Court is aware of the surroundings of this event as it takes up the issues of immigration and efforts by foreign powers to unsettle the fabric of the Nation. ...

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This response by experts on transatlantic relations rejects the other view expressed in Zeit Online that the U.S. under Trump remains estranged from Germany and the EU. These experts from the American Institute for German Contemporary Studies, American German Council, and Centers at John Hopkins and Georgetown for German Studies, reject the view that the Trump administration and Germany are that far apart on many issues as it appears from media coverage.  Foremost it points out that civil society relations are sound and growing. About 50 million Americans trace their descent to Germany, including president Trump, much larger to over half the U.S. population considering European descent. Much larger is the sense of a culturally shared future with the European Union, with the nations of Europe including Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the nations of Eastern Europe, and Britain. The civil society relationships run deep in a way that is hardly affected by the Trump administration. Within the Trump administration the policies to Europe these experts remind the reader, are determined by the "adults" in the administration, who are senior members of the administration. This is a crucial point as Trump administration policy is not determined by the president's liking for tweets as much as by senior cabinet members Tillerson at the State Department, Gen. Mattis at Defense, Kelly at the White House, and senior members of Congress including Senators Corker and other senior committee members. This is why Republican Senator Kay Hutchinson was chosen as Ambassador to NATO. It should be noted in this context of German-EU relations in president Trump's first year that there was a period of German disillusionment with president Obama, exacerbated by the NSA spying on German chancellor Merkel and on the EU delegation to the UN, with president Obama's failure to offer any apology. Relations recovered from that low point. No one suggested that there be a German led decoupling of the EU with America at that low point, or at another low point in German-U.S. relations with the setup of American Pershing II nuclear missiles on German soil under the Reagan administration when there were large scale protests.  The American view that the U.S. should not have to shoulder major responsibilities for defense and foreign relations by itself is not new say these experts, and goes back to earlier administrations before Trump.  The experts argue for an active role by Germany with its partners in Europe for defense and foreign relations, which should not be seen as a result of U.S. pressure, only responding to the situation as it has evolved upto this time. Views on immigration are also changing with effort by the EU and Germany, France, to reduce immigration from the source countries in Africa, and the changing perceptions about uncontrolled immigration in Germany and France, say the authors. A coordinated policy towards Russia  is seen as not having changed. And much as a reset in relations was advocated by Obama in the first year of his first term, the current policy of the Trump administration to work with Russia to lower tensions can be seen in the same way say these experts, and not as a fundamental shift in American policy. The deep relationship of Germany and the EU with China is another positive aspect that will also help the U.S. in framing its own policies towards China. The German-American relationship, and the European Union relationship with the U.S.  is seen as basic to the values and interests of the U.S. and Europe. This relationship is too deep and supported by civil society and Congress, the Republican Party, and the Democratic Party, by large trade relationships, to be affected by temporary differences under any one administration. Even these differences are part of a larger debate that is part of dialogue on issues in a democratic society, sometimes raucous and loud, and could be welcomed and carefully channelled in constructive ways.     ...

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Micheline Maynard gets diverse views on bankruptcy filing and bailout for General Motors and Ford. Out of hundreds of comments, (looking at the comments based on reader recommends from 70 to 15 readers recommend range), with over 90% of comments favoring no bailout money for automakers without coming to grips with problems and replacing management and the board, it is clear that readers cite in order of importance the following against the automakers. Complicity with Congress and lobbyists in keeping fuel efficiency low. This sent billions of dollars to mideast nations for oil, which in turn bloated liquidity here at home, helping fuel the cheap credit era in the US and building consumer and mortgage debt. This lack of conservation in gasoline use burdened economies around the world with high oil prices, and then hit the car companies in Detroit hard as sales of large vehicles collapsed. Its entirely the Detroit carmakers own shortsightedness they say. Second most mentioned is bad management, and bad decisions and arrogance. Third the unions bloated contracts, and bankruptcy as the only way to get rid of them. Fourth failure to make green cars. Fifth the lack of any idea what $25 or $50 billion given to GM and Chrysler would get the taxpayer, because if the market has collapsed then more money will be needed each year to pay salaries and contiinue operations in 2009, followed by 2010. The market has gone from 16 milllion to a 10 million rate in October 2008, if it drops to 8 million in 2009, it would require the companies to shrink by 50% as a rough guess, and the union contracts just negotiated would be totally inappropriate for the new market and financial conditions. Getting rid of those union contracts could only be done in a bankruptcy filing, as in bankruptcy everything would have to be done from scratch. Whereas in a bailout the unions would simply refuse to cooperate as they have done in the past. This is also what readers are saying when they say let the market economy work. A look at the reader comments on similar articles in the Washington Post and the WSJ also show an overwhelming number of readers not favoring taxpayer money for automakers without serious changes, and bringing a completely new management and board to get things off to a fresh start, with no legacy from the past. ...

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Greenspan testifes before the House Oversight Committee headed by Congressman Henry Waxman (D., California). Congressmen read back quotations from Greenspan where he talked about the resilience and efficiency of American free markets and defended derivatives and complex financial instruments. Some referred to the comments he made saying that housing markets would not collapse and the worst may well be over. Almost by 10 to 1 the readers responding to a WSJ poll say Greenspan was responsible for easy money for most of the decade and his lack of the most elementary safeguards for the economy instead defending derivatives and complex financial instruments, and considering the bubble in house prices as not the Fed's concern. Many used expletives deleted or the words "clowns" or "illiterates" for Greenspan and associates at Treasury. A congresswoman from Minnesota asked pointed questions about state effforts to stop predatory lending that were nixed by the federal authorites under Greenspan and Treasury's watch. She thensuggested that they the stewards of the economy try pragmatism and commonsense for policy decisions. Describing the present crisis he seemed so out of touch that when asked about rising foreclosures and need to stabilize home prices, he still was trapped in his libertarian ideology and impulses. He said transfer payments should be tried instead as modifying the mortgages would not be good in the long run when markets return to normal. He said this crisis has still some months to go. In these observations he showed that he has still not grasped the full extent of the crisis, as a realistic assessment of the economy suggests that the economic downturn has not really hit in terms of unemployment and drops in consumption, which will hit in 2009 and 2010 and years beyond. He looked old and worn out showing every bit of his 81 years, which begs the question how could he have been chairman for 17 years till he was nearly 80, as he was still Fed chairman just 2 years ago. There are term limits for mayors, and for President, how is it that there are no term limits for Fed chairman? Should'nt the Clinton administration or the Bush administration have made a new appointment to get fresh blood, fresh thinking, just as corporations do. Wells Fargo chairman Kovacevich is supposed to retire, even though he has good skills for accomplishing the merger of Wachovia having done this for Norwest. Bloomberg is fighting the term limits to stay on for another term and will need a special vote. Doesn't senility hit the best of us, and isn't there an age when people should have to retire from these positions, long before they get close to 80. An assessment of Greenspan watching him over the years would show that he loved data and data analysis, and trusted data as almost carrying infallible weight. As most of the data he looked at was for the postwar expansion of the USA economy, he saw as he himself testified this week data that showed the economy with small setbacks to be sure but on a constant upward trend. The way down he said in response to a question the data looks completely different, with fear and lack of trust and other things making this pattern have no relationship whatsoever with the way up. Greenspan and the nation's misfortune maybe that for too long the country's political leaders trusted over two decades a man who did not have the healthy skepticism of data even when it appeared to reflect certainty, and did not have the healthy impulses for safety and safeguards that surpass all ideological thinking, and a respect for basic ethics and common sense that goes beyond everything and puts it above everything else. This is a misfortune because these are qualities required for good leadership especially leadership entrusted with such huge responsibilities which can never be taken lightly. ...

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Marco Rubio speaks for the US with profound convictions and long experience in the Florida legislature and the US Senate, and as akey member of the DJT administration. In his speech in Munich at the MSC he recalls his grandparents being from Piedmeont Sardinia in Italy and from Sevilla in Spain. He talks proudly of his Spanish and Italian heritage, of America founded by European settlers. For Europe this is a speech that shows America is profoundly part of Western Civilization that started in Europe. Here are some parts of the speech and Rubio's call for America and Europe to respond strongly to the mistakes in migration and deindustrialization that have hurt the people of Europe and America, with deeply felt negative consequences. "That infamous wall that had cleaved this nation into two came down, and with it an evil empire, and the East and West became one again.  But the euphoria of this triumph led us to a dangerous delusion:  that we had entered, quote, “the end of history;” that every nation would now be a liberal democracy; that the ties formed by trade and by commerce alone would now replace nationhood; that the rules-based global order – an overused term – would now replace the national interest; and that we would now live in a world without borders where everyone became a citizen of the world.  This was a foolish idea that ignored both human nature and it ignored the lessons of over 5,000 years of recorded human history.  And it has cost us dearly.  In this delusion, we embraced a dogmatic vision of free and unfettered trade, even as some nations protected their economies and subsidized their companies to systematically undercut ours – shuttering our plants, resulting in large parts of our societies being deindustrialized, shipping millions of working and middle-class jobs overseas, and handing control of our critical supply chains to both adversaries and rivals.  We increasingly outsourced our sovereignty to international institutions while many nations invested in massive welfare states at the cost of maintaining the ability to defend themselves.  This, even as other countries have invested in the most rapid military buildup in all of human history and have not hesitated to use hard power to pursue their own interests.  To appease a climate cult, we have imposed energy policies on ourselves that are impoverishing our people, even as our competitors exploit oil and coal and natural gas and anything else – not just to power their economies, but to use as leverage against our own.  And in a pursuit of a world without borders, we opened our doors to an unprecedented wave of mass migration that threatens the cohesion of our societies, the continuity of our culture, and the future of our people.  We made these mistakes together, and now, together, we owe it to our people to face those facts and to move forward, to rebuild.  Under President Trump, the United States of America will once again take on the task of renewal and restoration, driven by a vision of a future as proud, as sovereign, and as vital as our civilization’s past.  And while we are prepared, if necessary, to do this alone, it is our preference and it is our hope to do this together with you, our friends here in Europe.  For the United States and Europe, we belong together.  America was founded 250 years ago, but the roots began here on this continent long before.  The man who settled and built the nation of my birth arrived on our shores carrying the memories and the traditions and the Christian faith of their ancestors as a sacred inheritance, an unbreakable link between the old world and the new.  We are part of one civilization – Western civilization.  We are bound to one another by the deepest bonds that nations could share, forged by centuries of shared history, Christian faith, culture, heritage, language, ancestry, and the sacrifices our forefathers made together for the common civilization to which we have fallen heir. And so this is why we Americans may sometimes come off as a little direct and urgent in our counsel.  This is why President Trump demands seriousness and reciprocity from our friends here in Europe.  The reason why, my friends, is because we care deeply.  We care deeply about your future and ours.  And if at times we disagree, our disagreements come from our profound sense of concern about a Europe with which we are connected – not just economically, not just militarily.  We are connected spiritually and we are connected culturally.  We want Europe to be strong.  We believe that Europe must survive, because the two great wars of the last century serve for us as history’s constant reminder that ultimately, our destiny is and will always be intertwined with yours, because we know – (applause) – because we know that the fate of Europe will never be irrelevant to our own.  National security, which this conference is largely about, is not merely series of technical questions – how much we spend on defense or where, how we deploy it, these are important questions.  They are.  But they are not the fundamental one.  The fundamental question we must answer at the outset is what exactly are we defending, because armies do not fight for abstractions.  Armies fight for a people; armies fight for a nation.  Armies fight for a way of life.  And that is what we are defending: a great civilization that has every reason to be proud of its history, confident of its future, and aims to always be the master of its own economic and political destiny. It was here in Europe where the ideas that planted the seeds of liberty that changed the world were born.  It was here in Europe where the world – which gave the world the rule of law, the universities, and the scientific revolution.  It was this continent that produced the genius of Mozart and Beethoven, of Dante and Shakespeare, of Michelangelo and Da Vinci, of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.  And this is the place where the vaulted ceilings of the Sistine Chapel and the towering spires of the great cathedral in Cologne, they testify not just to the greatness of our past or to a faith in God that inspired these marvels.  They foreshadow the wonders that await us in our future.  But only if we are unapologetic in our heritage and proud of this common inheritance can we together begin the work of envisioning and shaping our economic and our political future. Deindustrialization was not inevitable.  It was a conscious policy choice, a decades-long economic undertaking that stripped our nations of their wealth, of their productive capacity, and of their independence.  And the loss of our supply chain sovereignty was not a function of a prosperous and healthy system of global trade.  It was foolish.  It was a foolish but voluntary transformation of our economy that left us dependent on others for our needs and dangerously vulnerable to crisis. Mass migration is not, was not, isn’t some fringe concern of little consequence.  It was and continues to be a crisis which is transforming and destabilizing societies all across the West.  Together we can reindustrialize our economies and rebuild our capacity to defend our people.  But the work of this new alliance should not be focused just on military cooperation and reclaiming the industries of the past.  It should also be focused on, together, advancing our mutual interests and new frontiers, unshackling our ingenuity, our creativity, and the dynamic spirit to build a new Western century.  Commercial space travel and cutting-edge artificial intelligence; industrial automation and flex manufacturing; creating a Western supply chain for critical minerals not vulnerable to extortion from other powers; and a unified effort to compete for market share in the economies of the Global South.  Together we can not only take back control of our own industries and supply chains – we can prosper in the areas that will define the 21st century." ...

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This NYT editorial says that before he was elected Mexico's president Nieto, with his book "Mexico- The Great Hope," (Mexico- La Gran Esperanza)presented himself as a candidate who would transform Mexico. Yet says NYT three years into his administration it has turned out to be very different, with no effort to clear up the questions about the murder of 43 students in Guerrero state. Economic growth has not matched the hopes generated after the Pacto de Mexico was approved and new legislation limiting monopolies passed. The slump in oil prices has led to limited results following the opening up of the oil industry to foreign investment. The result is an administration increasingly unpopular in Mexico and failing to deliver on the hope generated in the early months of Pena Nieto's administration. Many of the tasks for transition of Mexico to a modern economy- free of monopolies, crime, a better education system, economic growth in all parts of the country, remain unrealized. During his term as governor of the state of Mexico 2011-2015, Pena Nieto's main achievement was the 608 Compromisos or promises which were placed on the internet website tracking progress on the health, infrastructure, highway and other projects. During the current administration the early results were achieved in the first year through agreement with the rival PAN party for the Pacto de Mexico, to reduce monopolies and open up the oil industry which had falled behind technologically with lack of investment. Since then the progress has been slow, the one bright spot being the auto industry with increased foreign investment. Regional disparities persist with the Bajio region, and the areas around Queretaro, Aguascalientes, near Mexico City growing fastest. Pena Nieto won the 2012 election with 38% of the vote mostly from this region, the incumbent PAN party at 25%, and the left front Of Lopez Obrador 32% drawing support from less developed areas in the south and the rest of the country. Just as the earlier Atenco protests and police action to clear protesters blocking land acesses by the state for expansion of Mexico City's airport, and the Soy 132 student protest movement during Pena Nieto's term as Governor of State of Mexico 2011-2015 affected perception of his administration, the murder of students at Guerrero affects perception of this administration. Nieto comes from the upper sections of the PRI as the nephew of two former governors of the state of Mexico, has a law degree from the Ibero-American University, and a masters degree in business administration from ITAM....

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Recognizing and being aware of the changes in our minds and thinking  with new waves of coronavirus actually helps us deal with it. This report says that fear or anxiety even if it is pushed to the periphery of consciousness produces a whole range of behavioural, emotional and physiological weirdness that most people have experienced themselves or noticed in others since March of 2020. Even if one gets used to the additional load one carries it still can weigh one down. We all have only this much mental energy, so that the effort required to ignore, repress, or shoulder this load of fear or anxiety reduces one's ability to be creative, connected or productive. By dealing with it constructively one can diminish the impact it has on us. This means being aware of it, acknowledging it and managing it in useful ways.  Experts cited here show that fear masquerades as other emotions including sadness, anger, irritation, or even excessive feel good behaviour. It can also be expressed in intolerant behaviours or hypersensitive. On the other side it could even be expressed in aloofness and being distant, or unfriendly. Fear can also show up in ways that reduce our ability to read social and emotional cues leading to improper or inept exchanges. Physiological changes can include muscle tension and fatigue, headaches, heart irregularities, dry mouth, hair loss, skin problems, and gastrointestinal symptoms. These symptoms are unrelated to pathology say health experts and are normal reactions to feeling threatened over a long period. Different people experience anxiety differently, and most people don't even know that this is what is making you feel this way. Instead of having unproductive exchanges with fear going back and forth one can have calmer, more useful exchanges. One should always ask say health experts- "So how are you and your family coping up in these weird times?" Mindfulness and spiritual ways of dealing with this are very useful. People slow down, calm their minds, and ask "what is going on in my head right now? Where in my body am I putting my tension?" Health experts say neurobiology supports this way of tackling it. Other useful ways are to set some predictable routine in your daily life- helps you think you are still in control of the parts of your life you can control. Thinking of others and helping others is a good way of keeping ourselves sane and healthy. Fear and anxiety may also serve some purpose- the negative emotion can be harnessed to do something positive and meaningful in our life, make changes in our lives for the better by helping others in society who are less fortunate or in difficulty. Just being larger than ourselves makes us feel a lot better day after day, till it becomes a part of us. ...

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Krueger and Posner, eminent economists, say the reason wages have stagnated in the U.S. with wages not having budged much over a decade 2008-2018, is not only because of globalization and automation as long term trends. They attribute this stagnation in wages to "monopsony power," or power American corporations have over workers because of their stronger bargaining position and because workers have few alternatives.  For most of this period 2008-2018 high unemployment as reflected by the people out of work and taking part time jobs or having stopped looking for work, shifted bargaining power to companies. The Economist magazine pointed out that workers have not shared in the profit and gains corporations made during this period. Here Krueger and Posner show additional factors such as non compete clauses in worker agreements that have depressed wages. Half of franchise agreements prohibit competition for labor. Outsourcing work to other companies that hire workers means these outsourcing companies have more power over workers than the original companies using the labor. Unions represent only 7 percent of private sector workers by 2017, compared to 35 percent in the 1950's, so that there are no mechanisms to counteract the greater bargaining power gained by companies vs. workers. The way workers have roots in the communities they live and the consolidation of employers into a few companies in a particular area, mean fewer options exist for workers.  Senators Warren and Booker and the anti-trust division of the U.S. Justice Department are in agreement on this issue of widespread use of noncompete agreements that is considered unlawful, says this report in the NYT, offering hope for a solution to bring a better balance between the rights of workers to fair wages and companies seeking profit for stakeholders. Issues about workers, lack of gains for workers, prevalent outsourcing, and the frustrations of labor with parties that had lost touch with their worker base- such as Labor in Britain, SPD in Germany, Socialist Party in France and the Democratic Party in the U.S. - have led to political upsets with support shifting to other parties. This has not led to significant change to improve bargaining power of workers to correct the imbalance that now exists between labor and companies, leading to calls for change. Eric Posner is a law professor at the University of Chicago law school and co-author of a new book "Radical Markets: uprooting Capitalism and Democracy for a Just Society." This book turns the popular notion on its head that free markets have produced the imbalances that hurt social cohesion and democracy, by saying it is precisely the suppression of free competition such as for labor that have created this unhealthy situation. This is true in other areas where monopoly power has developed in other parts of the U.S and European economies in 2008-2018, as also for distortions in capital allocation that hurt infrastructure and other public investment. Krueger is a professor of public affairs at Princeton University and former head of the President's Council of Economic Advisors in 2011 under Obama, showing that Democrats themselves failed to correct this imbalance leading to a shift to other parties and Mr. Trump, who also appear to lack ideas or solutions to this problem that affects social cohesion and democracy. This is contrary to the vision of American or European society of better opportunity for all shared by all Americans and Europeans for most of the twentieth century. ...

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This New York Times editorial after the Senate passed a bill in October 2011 calling for action on the misaligned Chinese currency, points to ways a misaligned currrency is damaging for China. It cites the Peterson Institute for International Economics estimate that this is costing China $240 billion a year. This is a result of accumulating huge dollar reserves that have a declining value against the renminbi. Higher import prices lead to higher inflation. And low interest rates on savings, to the point that they are lower than the inflation rate, hurt the vast majority of Chinese and reduce domestic consumption. And perversely this leads to money pouring into speculative uses such as real estate, creating unsustainable bubbles in housing. The Times editorial says China is not generating jobs from this strategy, as the export strategy is relying on use of advanced technology in manufacturing and not creating many jobs. It cites a statistic showing employment has increased by only 1 percent a year from 2004 even with GDP growth above 10%. China is beginning to realize the cost of this strategy, and is planning a shift in its five year economic plan. But this rebalancing has many obstacles. The current system dominated by state run companies, banks, local and federal government, is biassed in favor of the old export led strategy, and experts are pessimistic about the possibilities for change. The Times suggests China may be falling back on the export led strategy as the global economy is slowing. The whole system would have to change after three decades of this kind of development, and would require new leadership and major changes....

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Simon Johnson, former chief economist at the IMF, and Peter Boone of the London School of Economics, compare the trip made by Jean-Claude Trichet of the European Central Bank and Dominique Strauss-Kahn of the IMF to Berlin to meet Chancellor Angela Merkel and the German Parliament around April 29, 2010, to the trip Treasury Secretary Paulson made to the American Congress in September 2008. The seriousness is of that magnitude. The crisis is that big when you consider that it affects a number of eurozone countries, and the design of the euro currrency system in which Trichet and Strauss-Kahn were involved from the French side has some serious flaws in that it allows boom zone countries to overborrow and overspend. There is no way to resolve the situation through currency devaluations and other measures. Ultimately the cost will be similiar in the range of $1 trillion, say Johnson and Boone. The money would have to come from the G-20, and the IMF would have to represent the G-20 in negotiations with the ECB, the EU and Germany. The euro would have to be devalued and its value go back to $1 which is close to where it started. Eurozone bonds would have to be sold to finance the recovery, and countries that buy these bonds would then hold a proportional asset at the ECB. Johnson says Strauss-Kahn does not have what it takes to make the tough actions happen. His aspirations to run for President in France create a conflict of interest. A replacement is suggested in the Governor of the Bank of Canada, Mark Carney....

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Tom Brokaw is perplexed by the absence of the war in Afghanistan as a campaign issue in 2010 US elections. Especially because the war is in its 9th year, has caused 5000 dead, 30,000 wounded, and cost over $1 trillion dollars. He reasons that this is because the vast majority of Americans can opt out of fighting the war on the ground. The all volunteer service draws from 1% of the population, with the majority from working class or middle class backgrounds. This has an unintended effect in making the costs of the war less visible, when actually it is taking a toll in other ways. The US is short of funds to build much needed infrastructure or update infrastructure. States and local governments are laying off teachers because of budget shortfalls, and the national budget deficit makes less money available for solving pressing problems in carbon emissions, energy, and infrastructure. Only recently New Jersey Governor Christie put on hold a new tunnel into New York City because of a lack funds. Pressing infrastructure issues elsewhere will be postponed in this manner. And the outlook for the next 20 years, according to Robert Gordon of Northwestern University, is not going to be better with slower growth at an average of 1.5%, leaving less money for the kinds of projects that defined America from the Erie canal to interstate highways. Brokaw says, the country would benefit from an effort to discuss what happens next, in the continued expenditure of blood and treasure. A discussion of what happens next in this effort to deal with Islamic rage....