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Emmerentze and Germano provide this exceptional look with wide ranging interviews at a brand which has failed to make headway in the U.S. market for 2 decades, after being a prominent brand in the 70's and slipping ever since. Adidas share price declined by 38% in 2014, declining to 57 euros, recovering to 70 euros by March 2015. The economic crisis in Russia affected Adidas sales. A major problem area is the U.S. market where Nike has made major progress, and other competitors such as Under Armour and Skechers are rapidly increasing market share. Adidas is now No. 3 behind Under Armour in retail sports apparel and footwear sales, according to Stern Agee and SportsScanInfo. The U.S. operation has been tightly controlled from headquarters in Herzogenaurach, in a rural part of Germany. During CEO Herbert Hainer's leadership since 2001 share price quadrupled but the U.S. operation has languished, because say retail experts the operation does not reflect the culture savvy management style of Nike and other U.S. competitors. U.S. sales are 43% of the global athletic apparel and footwear market, and the global market of $51.6 billion moves in relation to fashion trends set in the U.S. market. CEO Hainer and managers in Germany are seen as very focussed on spreadsheets and analytical approach to sales in over 100 countries. The only design studio outside headquarters in Portland, Oregon, was setup in Brooklyn, N.Y. recently, and the 4th CEO during Hainer's leadership since 2001 is the first to be given some degree of autonomy in making design and marketing decisions. Nike's market share in athletic footwear has increased from 35% in 2005 to 47% in 2014, as Adidas remains stuck at about 10%. The Reebok acquisition for $3.8 billion in 2005 is seen by U.S. Adidas managers as a distraction. Retail store executives visiting Germany say Adidas product cycle from design to product introduction of 18 months was just too long to meet the rapidly changing preferences in the U.S. This is now being cut to 6 months. In recent years Adidas has expanded rapidly in emerging markets but management has failed to grasp the fact that trends in growing markets such as China, India, Brazil and Mexico are set by pop culture trends in the U.S. ...

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The LDP's landslide victory in the Dec. 2012 elections is not seen as a mandate for Shinzo Abe, the new LDP prime minister. Abe acknowledged this when he said: "We recognize that this was not a restoration of confidence in the Liberal Democratic Party, but a rejection of three years of incompetent rule by the Democratic Party." The LDP won 294 seats compared to the 308 seats won in the landslide win by the Democratic Party of Japan three years ago. Abe campaigned on a stronger stance in Japan's disputes with China. Yet he is committed to maintaining relations with China, a key trading partner. On China Abe says: "Our goal is to stop China from making these challenges, but we do not intend to allow an overall worsening in relations." Osaka Mayor Hashimoto's Japan Restoration Party was expected to do well but his campaign lost momentum after joining with Shintaro Ishihara, a nationalist politician. The Tomorrow Party which campaigned on the nuclear issue and anti-nuclear sentiment petered out after voters sensed the impact of electrical shortages and prices. The LDP is pro-nuclear and plans to reverse some of the anti-nuclear steps taken by the DPJ. The Democratic Party of Japan gained only 57 seats, and the former DPJ prime minister during the earthquake and tsunami, Naoto Kan, lost his parliamentary seat. Just as the PRI, a party that held a long monopoly of power was returned to power in Mexico in 2012, the LDP is returning to power, but very dependent on voters aspirations for good governance and its performance in office....

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Jacobs and Richtel of the NYT give this exceptional story of how Mexico changed between 1980 and 2016. Following the joining of NAFTA free trade zone the Mexican diet and food ecosystem began to more closely resemble the food diet system in the U.S. bringing with it severe health consequences. Soda and coke are now more entrenched in Mexico, as are fast food outlets. In 1980 only 7% of Mexicans were obese, compared to 20% in 2016, according to Institute for Health Metrics at the University of Washington. And diabetes kills 80,000 people a year, becoming the top killer according to the World Health Organization. A trade expert at Tufts University, Timothy Wise, says Mexico took on the worst aspects of a first world country like the U.S., with few protections. A similar problem is taking place in India and China as obesity grows, according to the T.H. Chan School of Public Health at Harvard, as low nutrient highly processed foods of large food companies with huge advertising budgets take a prominent place in diets. This is a growing problem for countries from Colombia to Ghana and Nigeria. ...

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Relations between Iran and Arab Sunni states Saudi Arabia and UAE are improving especially as Arabs distance themselves from the Bush Administration after faulty inelligence estimates about Iran were corrected by the CIA concluding that Iran wasnot pursuing a nuclear weapons program. The Arab Sunni states arenot altogether happy with the US policy in Iraq and Palestine. Note that that even before this there is a stron economic link between UAE and Iran. About 400,000 Iranian expatriates live in the Emirates and 9000 part Iranian owned firms are registered with the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry. One look at the map show why Dubai is closest to Iran just a short strip of water dividing the two countries. This bodes well for oil prices as any volatility in the region would only increase pressure on oil prices. Peace in the Gulf region would do a lot to decrease the volatility affecting oil prices. It would also give Iran confidence to address its own role as a supplier by modernizing its oil industry. See the link to Mexico where President Calderon wants to transform Pemex and Mexico's oil industry over 10 years after Petrobras was pushed into reform by President Cardozo in Brazil. Commerce and Industry...

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This opinion by Andres Oppenheimer in Miami Herald Jan 30, 2025, welcomes Rubio's visit to Latin America starting with central American countries in the coming weeks, but says it should have a message to help these countries cope with economic crises. This would be also a way to discourage migration by reducing both the mismanagement of the economy, and gang crime with economic assistance and help in managing the economy.  The Miami Herald says the last time the US paid attention to the southern part of the American continent was in 1912. Yet it was in 1960 during the debates with Nixon that JFK asserted the importance of Latin American relations. In 1961 JFK launched the Allianza de Progreso.  Sixty four years later the page on the, Alliance for Progress in the JFK Library site says it was a failure. LBJ, Nixon, Reagan, Clinton, Obama Biden lost interest in Latin America. It blames the elites in Latin America and American business that showed little interest. Yet compared to 1960 a lot of progress has been made. Brazil the largest is now a more stable and growing economy, Mexico has grown and struggles with the drug trade, Argentina is still struggling with inflation. Only in Central America and Venezuela is the situation dire. Much of it from gangs and drug trade that has destabilized small countries. Venezuela was torn up because of a lack of national consciousness to bring all parties together for the common good using tested approaches to development- instead embarking on a novel socialist experiment with disastrous results for both Venezuela and the entire American continent.  ...

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The economic relationship between Texas and Mexico and the presidential elections in Mexico. The effects on immigration of policies pursued by the presidential candidates.

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Relations between the U.S. and Argentina improve under the new Macri administration. U.S president Obama visits Argentina in March 2016.

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This NYT report looks at the 20 counties within 5 battleground states in the midwestern states of Wisconsin, Michigan, eastern state of Pennsylvania, southern state of North Carolina and western state of Arizona. It shows the percentage of votes gained by the Republican and Democratic parties in the last 3 presidential elections. A look at the trend and direction of vote percentages gained by each party in each of the 20 counties in different states may be a better indication of the final result than polls alone as both parties are pushing hard in the 2020 election down to the last day. The Republicans strong in the ground game and organized effort, and Democrats in television advertising outspending the Republicans. Because of the clearly delineated positions the Democrats and Republicans stand in sharp contrast to each other both in image and substance.  Because of the Electoral College and states assigned electoral votes based on size the U.S. system is not based on the total vote count in the country. Who wins each state by vote count and gets the assigned electoral college votes assigned to that state, an builds up more than 270 Electoral College votes wins the election for president of the USA.  In Michigan there is the impact of the resurgence of the auto industry, with president Trump pulling out of TPP agreement and renegotiating NAFTA in favor of the U.S. auto industry bringing back jobs from Mexico. This puts the union vote in the auto industry- with Ford, GM and Chrysler located in Michigan- favoring these auto friendly policies from the current administration. The resilience of the auto industry sales during coronavirus is part of the economic story in Michigan. The renegotiated NAFTA treaty also helped dairy farmers of Wisconsin increase sales to Canada. In Pennsylvania the coronavirus and economic impact has hit harder than in Michigan with the decline in oil prices and effect on fracking industry. Closure of coal plants is also having a negative impact on the state. Tariffs on Chinese steel by the administration are helping the steel industry. Offsetting these economic stories is perception of how the coronavirus pandemic has been tackled by the administration. Added to this is the suburban women's vote and the shift of out of state liberal voters to suburbs in North Carolina (Wake county), and in Arizona (Maricopa county and Tucson area). States not covered here but also relevant are Minnesota which could be a battleground state in the midwest and Iowa. Racial protests in Minneapolis add another dimension with controversies about the policing in cities such as Minneapolis and recently Philadelphia. The sharp contrasts in image as well as policy, the coronavirus pandemic and the handling of the pandemic as well as the way rallies are being conducted differently by both candidates, and the economic stories, present an election like no other since the 1960's. The contrast is as sharp as between Gen. Dwight Eisenhower of the wartime allied effort and Adlai Stevenson a liberal and humanist in the 1952 election. That election saw some of the highest turnouts since the second world war, and this is now happening today. That election also determined the direction of postwar growth and dominance of American industry, the setting up of the National Highway system and important changes that were later continued under the Kennedy administration. It also marked the beginning of the Cold War following the Korean War under the Truman administration, a situation that is emerging in a different way today with the free world and the tension from relations with China. ...

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Max Fisher of the NYT points out the unique approach taken by Canada in the U.S.-Canada relationship - to cultivate a grassroots network of Americans in legislatures, business, and at different levels of government. This has enabled the Trudeau government to build a relationship with president Trump, and at the same time have relationships at different levels of government and with business in the U.S. to tackle issues where the Trump administration has acted in ways unfavorable for Canada. Provincial governments in Ontario and Quebec lobbied against a New York state government provision for Buying American on state contracts worth over $100,000. By emphasizing the $10 billion in exports from New York to Ontario this lobbying persuaded the New York legislature to cancel the provision. Premier Trudeau's popularity helps and the proximity to the U.S. means Canadians can visit quickly and understand the U.S. as a close neighbor. Still Premier Kathleen Wynne of Ontario says Canadian businesses are nervous about the uncertainty from the Trump administration.   ...

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Germany's Economy minister Zypries warned that Germany would take legal action by taking the case to the World Trade Organization if president Trump imposes tariffs above that allowed by WTO rules. She said this before a meeting at the White House between president Trump and Chancellor Merkel. The U.S. is Germany's largest export market with 107 billion in imports and the U.S. exports 58 billion euros of products to the U.S. Zypries accepted that the large trade surplus of Germany was "a problem," but that America "needs our machines and industrial plants" for the time being. Germany has insisted that it does not provide unfair advantages to its companies, and that German companies were simply more competitive. Trump has focussed largely on China for anti-competitive practices, though he mentioned BMW by name during the campaign. In the last 2 years the euro has depreciated significantly against the dollar giving German companies competitive advantage, largely as a result of the ECB- in opposition to German economic policy- trying to stimulate the economy of other southern eurozone countries such as Spain, Italy and France. ...

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A wide ranging interveiw by New York Times reporters Archibold, Cave and Malkin, with Mexico's President Felipe Calderon. Calderon tells the reporters that Mexico had to be cleaned up and it was upto him to do it. A Pew Research poll shows that only 45% of respondents say Mexico has made progress in the fight against drug cartels, yet 83% support the use of the military against the drug cartels. Calderon's six year term ends in 2012 and the opposition PRI candidate leads in the polls. Calderon is limited to the six year term by term limits. PRI candidate Nieto has a program that is not very different from Calderon's to fight drug gangs. Calderon says he should have taken on the task of buillding up the state and local police forces more aggressively from the very beginning, now that it is clear that corruption and lack of training have diminished their capacity to provide safety. Calderon points to the success in creating jobs, expanding health care, building trustworthy police and judicial institutions, and social programs to fight roots of crime, as achievements of his administration....

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Chancellor Merkel meets President Trump in a key summit in March 2017. The two leaders have different styles, one flamboyant the other reserved. Chancellor Merkel tells the German media "it is better to talk with each other than about each other." Trump called Merkel's refugee policy "catastrophic," Merkel has said that the Geneva convention requires countries to do this on humanitarian grounds. On trade German's Economy minister Brigitte Zypries says Germany would file a suit on any hike in import duties at the World Trade Organization, that WTO rules restrict import taxes to 2.5% on autos. Germany's BMW plant in the U.S. exports more autos than GM and Ford put together, and Merkel is likely to emphasize large German investment in the U.S.. The heads of BMW and Siemens and other industry executives are accompanying Merkel to the U.S. as trade will be a key topic.

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Mexico is close to becoming the U.S.'s largest trading partner. Trade increased by 17% between Mexico and the U.S. to $461 billion in 2011, compared to $502 billion in trade between the U.S. and China.

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The influence of business executives who helped shape president Trump's views on Mexico, China, Export Import Bank, and other issues is covered by Stokols and Bender of WSJ. On Mexico the departure of Mike Flynn helped moderate views, Wilbur Ross, the Commerce Secretary also provided a moderating influence. The plans are now to change NAFTA but not entirely redo the agreement. On the Export Import Bank the views of Boeing CEO Muilenburg, who explained to Trump why the Bank supported U.S. exports and how other countries had similar banks, led to the president filling the bank vacancies. On China the influence of NEC head, Gary Cohn, former president of Goldman Sachs, and other business executives, led to a less confrontational position. The president once called NATO obsolete during the campaign but he met this week with NATO secretary general Stoltenberg this week and expressed strong support for NATO after rising tensions with Russia.