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In a shift from statements at earlier summits which focussed on fiscal restraint, the Camp David summit continued the "firm committment to fiscal consolidation," yet emphasized jobs and economic growth as "imperative." There is new flexibility to address needs for economic growth and no specific timetables for fiscal balance as in previous summits. Obama had many one to one encounters with the other leaders. He discussed the euro crisis with Cameron while working out on a treadmill, and watched the Champions League soccer final between Chelsea and Bayern Munich with Merkel and Cameron. Each leader of the G-8, Harper of Canada, Monti of Italy, Hollande of France, Medvedev of Russia, Cameron of Britain, Noda of Japan, Merkel of Germany, was assigned a cabin in the rustic wooded setting of Camp David's mountains. A special effort was made to see that Germany's Merkel did not feel isolated in the setting because of the growing sentiment that austerity policies pushed by Germany are not working. On Iran, Obama stated that he was "hopeful that we can resolve this issue in a peaceful fashion that recognizes their sovereignty, but also recognizes their responsibilities."...

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Some figures on Ford Motor-$15 billion in secured loans, $8 billion five year credit line from banks, and a $7 billion loan held by instituional investors and hedge funds. Add another $3 billion in unsecured financing, notes convertible to common stock. Thats another $18 billion on top of the $23.6 billion in cash on hand, for $41.6 billion in funds available to finance the recovery. Against this is the $7 billion loss this year. Lets say Ford need 3 years for a fresh product line and the bleed costs another $ 7 billion for 3 years or $21 billion at the worst including extra interest expenses for the loans, then there is still $20 billion available for 3 years to come up with a brand new product line across the board. This is positive development for Ford. see also: Sarah Webster, A Chat with Ford's New CEO, Upbeat but Realistic, Mulally says automaker can succeed, but it must face the facts, Saturday, Nov 11, 2006. See also Susan Tompor on the same Business pages' Ford boss is a convincing car guy. In the same Sat, Nov 11 issue of Detroit News see Daniel Howes - Thursdays with Alan, New Ford Boss demands accountability, results- every week. Sunday Nov 26, 2006 - Sarah Webster, Ford's Go-To Guy. Kuzak's Mission: Developing vehicles customers will want. see also on the same Business pages- Executive says global system lets Ford get vehicles to market faster. Sarah Webster could clarify contents of her interview shown on the pages of the Free Press- what is the target time from concept drawing board to cars rolling off the production line to dealer showrooms, is it the 12-14 months by end of 2008? See also in Nov 28, 2006, Detroit News, Bryce Hoffman, Ford Bets the House, a bit pessimistic in tone and angle of vision and selection of quote expert....

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This Times editorial questions whether Mayor Bloomberg did the right thing in the manner in which he ousted protestors from Zucotti park in the financial district of New York city. Now that the protestors have been forcibly removed from the park, it is the responsibility of the Mayor to keep his promise to let the demonstrators continue their protest against income inequality, says the editorial. The concern is that the end of the protests at Zucotti park could end up quashing the entire protest movement, which serves to draw attention to serious issues in a democracy.

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The Editorial Board of the Washington Post draws attention to the speculative bubble in housing in China, the policies for sale of land by local governments that fuel the bubble, the corrupt local officials, and GDP growth that reflects overinvestment in housing creating serious imbalances in the economy. The structure of the economic and political system which promote this overinvestment in real estate has also reduced the role of the Chinese consumer in GDP growth, and is preventing a rebalancing of the world economy.

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O'Malley, Sanders, and Clinton emphasize the issue of wages, income disparities, rising inequality, and a shrinking middle class in the first Democratic debate of the U.S. 2016 presidential election. Clinton points out that "at the center of my campaign is how we're going to raise wages." Sanders says that "the middle class of this country for the last 40 years has been disappearing." Clinton points out her opposition to the Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement because it does not help raise American wages. Clinton calls herself a progressive, but "a progressive who gets things done," and a moderate when it comes to getting things done. Sanders points to the "deep injustice, an economic injustice that threatens to tear our country apart, and it will not solve itself." Sanders points to the wealth concentration in the U.S. "with the top one tenth of 1 percent owning about as much as the bottom 90 percent, and 57% of all new income going to the top 1 percent." Clinton comes to Sanders defense on the issue saying "it's our job to rein in the excesses of capitalism so that it doesn't run amok and doesn't cause the kind of inequities we're seeing in our economic system."...

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Britain has missed 400 billion pounds of growth as a result of Conservative governments spending cuts since 2010, says this TUC report cited in The Guardian. The Institute of Fiscal Studies and other reports also support this- that the income from work has fallen behind the income from owning assets in Britain- benefitting only the top 10% of households, hurting the rest and and creating a socially split and fragmented society. This has hurt Britain's economy. If the pre 1979 growth rate was maintained Britain's GDP would be 2 trillion pounds higher says this report citing the TUC. It has not improved the public finances as weaker growth means lower revenues, has weakened growth of the whole economic potential of the economy. At fault are institutions the IMF and the OECD and others that created a culture of misinformation that government spending gives only a modest spurt to growth so that austerity cuts can be prolonged with little impact on GDP. These institutions have later revised their analyses but the cultural impact of such perceptions has led to austerity cuts being accepted way of operating without thinking of the damage being done to the economy and to society. US president Biden has moved firmly to make the kind of targeted investments in infrastructure and to cut inflation that yield results and create a sense of optimism for the country. ...

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 A member of the WSJ Editorial Board, says the Republican National Convention was more consequential in the way it continued the theme of getting non- white people to see how the president is taking action on issues that affect them. Mr. Trump cited his work on prison reform legislation, on funding for black colleges and universities, rebuilding broken families, and bringing back jobs in Detroit, Cleveland and Milwaukee. 69% of registered voters are white in 2019 compared to 73% in 2012, according to the Pew Research Center. Getting it right now means he says not merely the defending American workers to prevent "offshoring of jobs, opening the borders, and sending sons and daughters to fight in endless foreign wars," but also how to defend the rights of minorities in America and of working class non-white people. In 2016 the Republican party got 8% of the black vote nationally, which was the lowest in 4 decades excluding the years Mr. Obama ran for election. The effort to highlight the work on behalf of Black people and Hispanic people was to take this number back up as far up as Republicans can to the level reached under Eisenhower. This he says will be good for Republicans and good for the country. Under Eisenhower in 1956 the Republican party gained 36% of the Black vote, the highest ever.  ...

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A new generation of younger leaders takes over at the European Central Bank under Mario Draghi. Belgian economist Peter Praet succeeds Peter Stark of Germany in the Economics Department. Portugal's Vitor Constancio is vice president. Jorg Asmussen, 45, from Germany is on the ECB executive board, so is Benoit Coeure, 42, from France, and Klaas Knot, 44, from the Netherlands. Asmussen will head the ECB's International Division. Jens Weidmann,43, is the new head of the Bundesbank. The result experts say could be a reorientation of the ECB's outlook away from the rigid anti-inflation stance of Draghi's predecessor, Claude Trichet, and a willingness to try new approaches to help Europe tackle this recession.

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The anti-corruption bill for creation of a Lokpal agency passed the lower and upper house of the Indian parliament in December 2013. It was stalled for two years after the efforts of political activist Anna Hazare's protest movement for passage of the bill. With national elections approaching in 2014 and the ruling Congress party's image bruised badly in state elections of Dec. 2013, party leaders decided to support the bill. In the elections in the capital Delhi a anti-corruption party, Aaam Aadmi (for the common man), created only recently, won a major part of the seats. In India corruption hurts not only at the national and local level as in China, but affects the daily life of the common man as bribes are required from ordinary people for anything to get done that requires approval from the huge government bureaucracy. In that sense it takes a toll on economic development and affects the quality of services received by the vast majority of people, which is why the party calls itself "common man."...

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This NYT editorial on slowing growth in India is critical of the performance of prime minister Manmohan Singh's government.

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Easwar Prasad, Cornell University economist, and a former head of the IMF's China division, says the new report by the World Bank and the Development Reform Commission (DRC), is part of an effort by government officials in China to push the agenda for change forward during the transition to a new leadership. This includes Premier Wen. There is pushback from large state enterprises. The DRC and the World Bank had called for a change from the current situation to allow more private sector involvement in the economy, which means restricting the growth of the large state owned companies and letting the private sector operate in more parts of the economy. The alternative is to see growth slowing quickly and -some economists- say suddenly without warning. The role of Zhu Rongji, a former prime minister during the period Jiang Zemin was president, in pushing for changes appropriate to the period, is also cited. The last decade under prime minister Wen Biao is seen as one in which China relentlessly pursued its currrent export led model of development with large state run companies and state run banks dominating the economy. This has made change even harder to achieve because of the pushback to preserve the status quo....

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Spain's prime minister Mariano Rajoy repeats his request that the $125 billion from the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), the eurozone rescue fund, be sent directly to recapitalize Spanish banks, instead of being sent to the Spanish government. Capital markets did not respond positively to the aid announcement and Spain's 10 year bonds yields were close to 7%, one point higher than before the aid announcement. Rajoy told the other leaders at the G-20 summit in Los Cabos, Mexico, that it is necessary "to break the link between risk in the banking sector and the sovereign risk," according to a Spanish official. The European Commission and some EU governments support this, but Germany remains opposed to such a move. Spain paid higher rates on 3.04 billion euros in short term debt financed on June 19, 2012. Spain plans to sell 2 billion euros of two, three and five year bonds on June 21. Part of the problem for investors is the lack of clear accounting and transparency of the total debt of regional governments in Spain, and bad loans at banks, which it is feared could be much larger than the $125 billion in rescue funds from the EFSF. This is a result of the housing and asset bubble in Spain of the last two decades since joining the EU. The $125 billion would take Spanish debt to GDP ratios to 90%, which is lower than Italy's but comes at a time of unemployment at over 25% and a declining GDP, increasing investor uncertainty....

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Questions about the viability of Canadian crude oil production from tar sands and shale as oil prices for Canadian crude are at about $17 in Jan. 2016. Western Canadian Select from Alberta traded at about $14 in Jan 2016. Crude oil NY benchmark is at $31, other crude is priced lower if transportation costs and other factors including quality and grade have to be figured in.

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The OPEC meeting in Doha in April 2016 fails to lead to an agreement to freeze oil production at Jan. 2016 levels, with Iran staying away from the meeting.

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The borrowing costs of Italy declined sharply as 9 billion euros of Italy's government bonds were auctioned at a yield of 3.25 percent on Dec. 28, 2011, compared to 6.50 percent at a prior auction in November 2011. The rate on 1.7 billion euros of two year bonds auctioned declined to 4.85 percent from 7.81 percent in November. This follows action by the ECB providing a large infusion of low cost funds to European banks charging only 1 percent on three year loans.

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El-Erian points to the risks posed by the long term unemployed in the U.S. He cites the 43.9% of the unemployed or 5.5 millon people out of work for 27 weeks or more. In fact the U-6 measure for unemployment that includes the people who have quit looking for work and parttime workers is abetter indication of where things are. This was an estimated 11% in November 2011, according to Ed Luce in the Financial Times, cited by Klein in the Washington Post.