LyrArc Article Gist
Social and economic changes in American society have come down to an alarming statistic. There are three young women for every two young men in American colleges. At Tulane the freshman class has two thirds women students. At liberal arts colleges the class is usually 60% women. As noted in this report by Susan Dominus in NYT there is a devaluing of college education because men have choices that are higher paying, conservatives have not emphasized college education, and "male drift" is a serious problem leading to male enrolment declining. And once in college men are dropping out at afaster rate. All this adds up to a serious problem in America, one that the Biden administration has to take seriously as it looks at rebuilding not just the economy, but also the education system that supports the US economy in the world.

LyrArc Article Gist
Transcripts of Federal Open Market Committee meetings of the Federal Reserve in 2006, show new chairman Bernanke, and New York Fed president Geithner's failure to see the housing slump. Fed Governor Susan Bies raised the housing issue at meetings of the Fed, and is ignored by Bernanke, who sees a soft landing for the housing market.

LyrArc Article Gist
Zapotosky of the Washington Post explains what the Supreme Court's partial approval of the Trump travel ban means for visitors to the U.S. He points out that the Supreme Court's version is limited because it only applies it to persons without any bonafide relationship with a person or entity in the U.S.. In addition the Court urged the administration to complete its vetting procedures review. The travel ban was for 6  countries Iran, Sudan, Somalia, Libya, Yemen and Syria. There are conflicts and wars in most of the countries on the list. Also important to bear in mind is that the administration presented its case as one in which this was a temporary measure till vetting procedures are addressed to reduce the "investigative burden."

LyrArc Article Gist
Women have one of three positions in senior management in the federal government compared to one of six in corporate management. Women make up 41% of management positions at the Government Accountability Office, a federal agency that has women friendly policies including family friendy culture, daycare site at the Washington headquarters, flexible relocation policy, telework policies, and advancing women to positions even as they balance their professional and personal lives such as needs of children. It is not necessary to work 70-80 hours a week to advance to senior positions as in law firms. Susan Poling is a senior executive supervising 156 lawyers, and says in the beginning she was able to work part time to spend more time with her son and still have great things to do and be given higher responsibilities.

LyrArc Article Gist
Jim Campbell will replace Dewar as head of Chevrolet. He reports to Susan Docherty, head of sales, service and marketing for GM.

LyrArc Article Gist
An initial deposit to rebuild the broken American water, transportation and other infrastructure, including building broadband, is agreed to by a group of Republican senators with president Biden. Democrats including president Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders see this as part of a bigger effort to rebuild the nation's infrastructure after decades of neglect. Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, says three essentials were covered- the cost, the scope and how to pay for it. 

Simultaneously the Senate will move forward with a larger bill. Not in this $1 trillion package are Mr. Biden's original $2.3 billion infrastructure package with hundreds of billions in funding for home care, housing and workforce development, and a separate $1.8 trillion plan for childcare and education. A process called reconciliation will be adopted in the Senate for these broader parts of the Biden plan to be passed.

LyrArc Article Gist
Chrysler will fill a big gap in its product line with a high fuel efficiency compact sedan developed using Fiat technology. It will be marketed under the Dodge brand name and will be produced at a plant in Illinois. This compact will have over 40 mpg fuel efficiency.

LyrArc Article Gist
General David Jones former NATO commander as National Security Adviser, Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, Robert Gates to continue as Secretary of Defense, Susan Rice at the United Nations and Janet Napolitano, Governor of Arizona as secretary of Homeland Security. That is the new foreign affairs team for President Obama.

LyrArc Article Gist
The WSJ's Susan Carey's interview with Doug Parker, the CEO of US Airways, on the difficult days before the merger with American Airlines was approved by the U.S. Justice Department. In the days prior to this, Parker says he had a big job to do to convince skeptical managers at both airlines that the deal would go through.

LyrArc Article Gist
The forcible removal by aviation police of United Airlines passenger Dr Dao from a flight due to scheduling issues caused a major uproar in social media, with many people saying they will not fly United again. In this report Susan Carey says people close to United say the airline has too rigidly asked employees to follow the rule book, that the problem could have been avoided by airline employees using choices that are not in the manual or rules book. Sources say employees at United can face termination for not following the rules, and deviating from rules is discouraged. Also raised is the issue why the airline employees did not raise the compensation from $800 to something much higher considering the problem being faced, and why higher up managers were not involved earlier. United has lagged behind other airlines in JD Power customer satisfaction surveys.

LyrArc Article Gist
Angola and Sudan which show dramatic increases in output plan to join OPEC. Investment so far in Angola and Sudan is by western oil companies. How will this affect supplies from these countries and what will be the effect on oil prices.

LyrArc Article Gist
Graham Allison of the Kennedy school of Government at Harvard and John Deutsch former head of the CIA under Clinton and now a Professor at MIT, say it would be adesirable thing that Afghanistan develop into a prosperous, poppy-free and democratic country, but it is not vital for American interests. They say lets face it, one cannot push Afghistan into modernity overnight, just because we wish it. It would be atragic mistake to do so, and take a huge and ultimately failing effort to do this, with a vast expenditure of American blood and money, to do this. One can expect for Afghanistan after we exit to revert to conditions that exist in other countries at the same level of development, like Bangladesh, Sudan, Somalia. Allison sees a vital interest at stake in Pakistan because of nuclear weapons.

LyrArc Article Gist
The Director General of the National Council of Applied Economic Research in India, Suman Bery, says that of all the countries in the G-20, India is least dependent on export led growth. This is why India gains from a reactivation of the American economy. This view was expressed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during President Obama's visit to India. Singh supported the Fed's move to purchase $600 billion in Treasury securities.

LyrArc Article Gist
Amitabh Kant reflects on his 6 years at Niti Ayog planning for development in India. He says energy transition is an important part of development for India. The integration of India as a major part of a new supply chain for the free world is a critical part of India's development. Kant talks about the aspirational districts program that covers transformation of the lives of 80% of India's people living in 112 districts. Moving India up by 79 positions on the World Bank Ease of Doing Business rankings is also one of the tasks he looks back at with a sense of achievement. Parmeswaran Iyer who headed the Swachh Bharat and Jal Jeevan Missions will now be new head of NIti Aayog, the organization that is driving India's development to 2030 and 2040. Niti Ayog stands for National Institute for Transforming India. Its pillars are- 1. Pro-people  2. Pro-Activity  3.Participation 4. Empowering 5. Inclusion of All 6. Equality 7. Transparency It has a maximum of 4 members. Suman Bery is vice chairperson appointed in March 2022. The members are appointed by the prime minister. It is different from the earlier Planning Commissions under Nehru in that it does the work of being a think tank yet the allocation of funds and decisions come under the prime minister and the finance ministry. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Former Defense Secretary in the second term of the Obama administration, Chuck Hagel, says U.S. president Obama hurt his credibility when he failed to act on his own comments of a "red line" being crossed following the chemical attacks in Syria by the Assad government. Hagel was critical in an article in Foreign Policy magazine of the way the national security advisor, Susan E. Rice, ran discussions on foreign policy issues, with too many meetings and discussion followed up with deferring difficult decisions.

LyrArc Article Gist
Names like Michel Flournoy, Susan Rice, James Steinberg, at the think tank Center for a New American Security, a think tank setup by Flournoy and Kurt Campbell a former Clinton National Security Council and Pentagon official. Its positions itself between Republican and Democratic positions for some kind of middle ground. Will it bring the new or fresh thinking and imaginative ideas as Obama has raised hopes for, if all it does is takes the old Clinton officials positions and refashions them.

LyrArc Article Gist
The WSJ's Susan Carey interviews Alaska Airlines CEO, Brad Tilden, in June 2013. Tilden talks about the expansion to flights on the East Coast using Boeing's newer planes which do not need refueling on transcontinental flights. Alaska Airlines now flies to New York, Boston, Washington D.C , Chicago, Denver and Dallas. Alaska Airlines is strong on the West Coast and Pacific Northwest, with headquarters in Seattle. Connections with American and Delta are another asset. Management maintains good labor relations, and strives to be nimble with speedier decisionmaking than rivals.

LyrArc Article Gist
Kia Motors, a maker of lower priced cars, plans to use better design to get higher prices for its cars. It hired VW car designer Schreyer, who worked on the Audi TT sports car, to design the new Optima sedan. This has helped increase sales by 44% in the first 4 months of 2010 over 2009. Chung, son of Hyundai Motor chairman Chung Mong Koo, made the decision as President of Kia to hire Schreyer. He expressed his strategy by saying that he would attempt to make the new Kia cars a design choice, without the high price tags associated with such cars.

LyrArc Article Gist
Paul Ryan, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, wins the Republican primary in his house seat of Janesville, Wisconsin, defeating his challenger Nehlen, by 84% to 16%. The Republican nominee Donald Trump earlier had refused to endorse Ryan, and only reluctantly endorsed Ryan following the vice presidential nominee Mike Spence's endorsement of Ryan. Senator Susan Collins, senior Republican senator from Maine, joined other leading Republicans saying she would not support Trump. Paul Ryan has split with Trump on trade, immigration, Mexico, and other issues. He has insisted on decency and fairness in politics, and has won his seat in a working class town that had a closed GM plant in 2008 after Ryan voted to support rescue of the auto industry and worked hard to keep it open. Even though some of his policies have not directly helped working class families, he has won increasing support from his district as the economy recovered with unemployment down to 4.4% in Janesville, according to BLS for May 2016. Much of that support since 1998 has been based on Ryan's decency, faith and family. He made it a condition that he would go back on weekends to Wisconsin to stay in touch with people, when he accepted the position of Speaker of the House, and he listens to local concerns. Ryan said about the national discourse- "It's simple to prey on people's fears. That stuff sells, but it doesn't stick. It doesn't last. Most of all, it doesn't work." His job in today's deteriorated national discourse is as vital as ever, both for Wisconsin as representing the best in the national spirit, and for the country.   ...

LyrArc Article Gist
The sense that one gets from the confirmation hearings for Pam Bondi is that after Matt Gaetz pulled out, Pam Bondi with her relaxed and thoughtful manner, her experience as Attorney General of Florida, is a decent choice. Most Senators felt she had the votes for confirmation. She brings the same skills for Republicans as Susan Wiles, DJT's chief of staff- she brings a calm demeanor to balance DJT's penchant for speaking in a blunt manner.  Pam Bondi confirmed that if nominated as head of FBI Kash Patel would report to her. Chris Coon accidentally calls her "Attorney General," and says he looks forward with working with her. Coons is the Senator from Delaware that was closest to president Biden.  Senators questioned Pam Bondi, a former Attorney General of Florida who has done work for companies seeking to work with DJT, and defended DJT in the first impeachment hearing, at her confirmation hearing in the US Senate. The back and forth exchanges happened with Democrats Adam Schiff and Hirano. With Padilla Pam Bondi was not given the opportunity to respond as he insisted on a yes or no answer. Democrats Schiff wanted to know whether she would investigate Lynn Cheney or Jack Smith. Bondi said she had not seen the file and it would e improper for to say anything without studying the matter, and that she did not want to drag politics into the work at the Justice Department as had been the situation before. Hirano asked if president Biden won the 2020 election. Pam Bondi responded that "Joe Biden is the president of the US."   ...

LyrArc Article Gist
About 870,000 borrowers took out adjustable rate mortgages between 2005 and 2007 according to Loan Performance a real estate information company. Of these 8.10 % were already 2 payments late by 4th quarter 2007, and Moody's Economy.com Mark Zandl estimates 8% of these will go into foreclosure eventually. Payments can go up to twice the original payment according to Susan Wachter of the University of Pennsylvania.

LyrArc Article Gist
The deep cuts in Chrysler's engineering staf, with 40% of the engineering staff gone under Daimler and Cerberus, is hsowing up at job fairs. Jim Badhorn was a Chrysler engineer for 21 years before he took the buyout. He designed the rear doors of the Chrysler 300 sedan. Badhorn put much of the $75,000 into acollege fund for his 2 daughters. He hits the gym everyday. He is arenter so his home in Birminghan isn't like the other owners who have lost 40% of their home value. And he can't even find the end of the job line when he goes to a job fair for a military contractor.

LyrArc Article Gist
Senators Mike Lee of Utah and Jerry Moran of Kansas declare their opposition to the Republican Health Care bill proposed by Senator McConnell. This decision by the two senators makes it impossible to begin debate on the bill. Earlier two other senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky announced their opposition. This means the Republican health care bill has no chance in the Senate even after changes to the bill passed by the House of Representatives. Republicans have a thin majority in the Senate make it difficult to pass legislation. Collins met with residents in Maine and Moran with people in his home state of Kansas, and both senators heard a lot about the negative effects of the Republican bill on people in their state. The bill is seen as hurting people in rural areas, elderly, and not likely to do enough to bring down premiums. Its plan to slash Medicaid spending has drawn strong opposition from all Democrats.

LyrArc Article Gist
Cars rated high for quality made by U.S. automakers include the Dodge Dart, Chevy Traverse, Buick Enclave and Ford Fusion, Dodge Durango, GMC Yukon, according to the 2013 Quality Index of Strategic Vision consulting firm. Foreign carmakers had Kia Soul, Honda Accord Crosstour, Volkswagen CC, Hyundai Genesis, Audi A4 sedan, Lexus LS, VW Tiguan. Strategic Vision uses 442 variable in its study and ties the customer response to emotional atributes such as "I Love it," a new approach which combines the conventional counting of reported problems with how people feel about the vehicle. This Total Quality Index is based on responses of 17,658 people who purchased 2013 models from September to November 2012.