How the WHO failed as early warning system in the coronavirus after being a model during the leadership of Dr. Brundtland in 2003 SARS

05/21/2020

The contrast could not be greater between the World Health Organization today and the WHO under Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, a three time prime minister of Norway between 1981 and 1996 with great experience and a record of handling difficult issues of climate change and sustainable development.

Linked Articles

A Failed Deception: The Early Days of the Coronavirus Outbreak in Wuhan - DER SPIEGEL

SPIEGEL ONLINE 05/20/2020

Veronika Hackenbroch, Bernhard Zand, Der Spiegel

Hindustan Times 05/19/2020

Problem in U.S. coronavirus effort - the lack of a well funded institution setup by the government for quality data on the virus

05/15/2020

Reliable quality data on the coronavirus is centralized in other countries so that decisions can be made with confidence by state and federal decisionmakers. The U.S. lacks such an institution and information is collected and presented from disparate sources without consistency by private individuals or organizations leaving decisionmakers exposed to errors from lack of quality data that can prove very costly.

Linked Articles

States Are Reopening With No Clear Picture of U.S. Coronavirus Cases

WSJ 05/15/2020

Deanna Paul, Brianna Abbott

WSJ 05/09/2020

Jon Hilsenrath, Jon Kamp

Ashwini Bhide and the Mumbai Metro- getting infrastructure done in India on time

10/05/2019

The desperate need for good infrastructure and millions of people in Mumbai who have put up for too long with creaky infrastructure. The Mumbai Metro led by Ashwini Bhide is a path breaking effort to speed things up, as the WSJ points out. As before petitions and other methods are used to stall projects. This time the courts not only dismissed the petition about cutting trees in Aarey Colony, north Mumbai, but also fined the petitioners Rs 50,000 for filing a frivolous petition. Trees are important, as few trees as possible are being cut for the new Metro, and new trees are being planted to replace them.

Linked Articles

‘You Have to Actually Cut Open Mumbai’s Belly’—Inside One of the World’s Most Audacious Transit Projects

WSJ 05/08/2023

Corinne Abrams | Photographs By Vivek Singh For The Wall Street Journal

Hindustan Times 10/05/2019

India's proposed Higher Education Commission to monitor quality in education

07/20/2018

Linked Articles

HRD ministry to scrap UGC, replace it with new Higher Education Commission to improve academic standards

https://www.hindustantimes.com/ 07/20/2018

https://www.hindustantimes.com/ 07/20/2018

India's general election in 2019- performance and flaws of the Modi government

06/05/2018

Differing views of the Modi government, views of the middle class hurt by demonetisation uncertainty from Dhume and views representing the interests of the rural, lower income and other part of the middle class from Arvind Panagriya. Some of the changes brought about by the Modi government reflecting the vision of Mahatma Gandhi for fundamental change from the ground up in the villages and rural parts of India- health and sanitation, access to bank accounts, access to health care- coupled with Nehru's vision of modernization using the technologies of the twenty first century.

Linked Articles

Modi’s three big gambles: We’ll soon know if demonetisation, GST and Adityanath damaged BJP’s re-election prospects

Times of India Blog 06/05/2018

Sadanand Dhume

Times of India Blog 05/30/2018

Arvind Panagriya

Lessons for India, Mexico and China from the failures in Brazil

04/03/2018

Linked Articles

These Developing Countries Are Getting Old Before They Get Rich, with Dire Consequences

WSJ 04/02/2018

Paul Kiernan, Luciana Magalhaes

The New York Times 03/05/2018

Shasta Darlington, Donald G. Mcneil Jr.

The lifting of the mood in Mexico as a moderate position emerges on NAFTA, trade with Mexico, and sets the goal of mutually beneficial relations

04/14/2017

Linked Articles

Mexico is growing less pessimistic about Donald Trump

The Economist 04/14/2017

WSJ 03/30/2017

William Mauldin In Washington, Paul Vieira In Ottawa, Juan Montes In Mexico City

The 1976 Montreal Olympics, the 2004 Athens Olympics, the 2014 Sochi Olympics and the Rio Olympics- decades long debt hangovers and costs growing from the $1+ billion in Montreal to $50+ billion in Sochi

08/24/2016

Developing and developed countries alike have seen the cost of the Olympics as a huge burden. Many countries or cities that committed to hosting the Olympic games during boom years were facing economic hard times by the time of the games. Corruption and mismanagement of public funds, overspending and cost overruns added to the problems. Citizens uproar caused cities such as Boston and Oslo to withdraw bids for the Olympics. The Olympics appears to be a costly way to show off a country, and raises questions about better allocation of funds in other directions, especially when upward mobility is a problem for the middle and working class, countries have other infrastructure needs, and neglected basic needs in education, healthcare, public services.

Linked Articles

The 40-year hangover: how the 1976 Olympics nearly broke Montreal

The Guardian 07/06/2016

The New York Times 08/23/2016

Michael Powell

Speaker Paul Ryan's House seat in Janesville, Wisconsin- improving economy in a U.S. midwestern factory town and the debate on trade, help for working class families

08/10/2016

The unemployment rate in Janesville, Wisconsin drops to 4.4% in May 2016, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It was over 9% following the closing of the GM plant and the recession from the 2008 financial crisis. A working class town Janesville was hit hard by the closing of the GM plant in 2008. Amy Goldstein of the Washington Post describes the impact of losing about 5000 jobs at the GM plant, and the problems typical of most manufacturing dependent towns. Throughout the period since being first elected to Congress in 1998 Ryan has continued to be able to get elected on the basis of faith, family and public service, even though some of his policies may not have helped the poor and elderly or laid off workers. Ryan voted for rescuing the auto industry and worked hard to keep the GM plant, and listens to his constituents, and as the economy recovered by 2016 won easily in this old industrial midwestern town. His influence in national politics gives Janesville an opportunity to be heard, as it tackles problems common to many midwestern towns in the U.S.

Linked Articles

Could Paul Ryan’s ideas help his struggling home town? - The Washington Post

Washington Post 08/19/2012

Amy Goldstein, Amy, Goldstein

The Guardian 08/10/2016

David Smith

Donald Trump's proposal for 45% tariff on China's exports to the U.S.- how a policy of bringing jobs home could lead to the loss of 1 million U.S. jobs

03/08/2016

By damaging the international trading system including with allies such a Canada, Britain, France and Germany, the result of a downward spiral through higher tariffs in other countries, could end up costing the U.S. 1 million jobs. Under such a system the U.S. would lose many of the advantages of its booming tech sector, its tech driven global advantages in many industries, without signifcant gains in low cost imports such as clothing which would simply migrate to other countries such as India. The problem of worker wage stagnation in the U.S., and loss of jobs in certain sectors, is very real, but this is the wrong way to tackle the problem. China is already moving towards a consumer driven economy. Economists show that trade with Mexico would be seriously hurt both ways, creating more pressure of migrants at the border under such proposals as a 45% tariff and its indirect effect on Mexico, when the actual fact is that net migration from Mexico is the lowest it has ben in decades. Politics can do strange things as when two senators Smoot and Hawley from agricultural states Utah and Oregon, at the head of important committees in the U.S. Congress pushed and passed legislation for a 60% tariff in 1930 for the industrial sector they had no idea about. When Smoot and Hawley lost reelection in 1932 they left behind a lot of damage, especially for the farmers and workers they thought they were fighting for.

Linked Articles

How Trump’s Hard Line on Trade Could Backfire

Wall Street Journal 03/25/2016

Bob Davis, Bob, Davis

Wall Street Journal 03/08/2016

Holman W. Jenkins Jr., Holman, W., Jenkins, Jr.

China and India at the Paris climate change talks

12/09/2015

Linked Articles

As U.S. and Europe Pass the Hat at Climate Talks, China Clings to Developing-Nation Status

New York Times 12/09/2015

Keith Bradsher, Keith, Bradsher, Coral Davenport, Coral, Davenport

New York Times 12/09/2015

Ellen Barry, Ellen, Barry

Former German chancellor Helmut Schmidt who led Germany during its postwar economic transformation in the 1970's and setup the groundwork for the Euro

11/10/2015

Linked Articles

Helmut Schmidt dies; West German chancellor was transformative leader - The Washington Post

Washington Post 11/11/2015

Michael Getler, Michael, Getler

New York Times 11/10/2015

Jonathan Kandell, Jonathan, Kandell

The Chinese market in 2015 and pitfalls for Yum Brands and its KFC, Pizza Hut stores in China

10/21/2015

Rapid growth and then a public scare with media reports of falling quality standards hurt KFC outlets. Local Chinese and Taiwanese brands offer more options at the higher and lower ends of the price range. Other European competitors partnering with local Chinese companies offer better value and quality upscale hurting Pizza Hut stores. And suddenly the whole landscape has changed for Yum Brands in China. It shows the Chinese market is no place for the complacent, that the discriminating tastes of consumers and search for healthier alternatives is taking place in China, India and other developing countries, just as much as it is in the U.S.

Linked Articles

China Isn’t the Easy Market It Once Was for Fast-Food Chains

Wall Street Journal 10/21/2015

Laurie Burkitt, Laurie, Burkitt

Wall Street Journal 10/21/2015

Julie Jargon, Julie, Jargon