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Since 2003 China has poured more concrete every 2 years than America has done over the whole 20th century. China uses 50% of the world's concrete. Roads, rail, bridges, dams account for one third of the growth of the Chinese economy in 2017.

A huge project of president Jinping is the new airport with plans for 4 runways and handling 200 million passengers a year. The current airport handles 96 million passengers a year.

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The need for relief in student loans and the 50% of the $1.6 trillion in student loans in forbearance as young people facing high cost of living and accumulated loan interest struggle to make a living. Student loan relief is one of the cost of living actions taken by president Biden. It is one of a series of cost of living actions taken by president Biden including helping ordinary workers and families meet the rising cost of living.

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Trade between Russia and Germany was about $100 billion in 2013, or about 3.3% of German exports. About 300,000 jobs depend on exports to Russia, according to Germany's DIHK Chambers of Commerce. A poll released by Der Spiegel on July 27, 2014, shows 52% of Germans now support tough sanctions on Russia, with the mood shifting following the death of 193 Dutch residents on Malaysian Airlines Flight 17. Finance minister Schauble told the Bild newspaper- "Damaging pece and stability would be the biggest risk for the economy."

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A new WSJ/NBC poll shows Trump and Clinton with high disapproval ratings with all registered voters. Clinton's and Trump's disapproval ratings are higher now after increasing negative coverage in the media. Trump has a 65 percent negative rating and Clinton a 56 percent negative rating with all registered voters. Among Republican voters Cruz has a gap of 15 percentage points between him and Trump for negative ratings- Cruz at 27 percent and Trump at a high of 42 percent. In positive ratings Cruz edges out Trump by 3 percentage points 45 percent to 42 percent. Among all registered voters Cruz has nearly 50% negative rating compared to Clinton's at 56 percent, and 26% viewing him positively only 6 points behind Hillary Clinton at 32 percent. These new figures suggest Cruz would be competitive with Clinton if Clinton were to get the nomination, and Cruz were to win at the second ballot following an improving result at the primaries including California because of Trump's huge gap in negative ratings with Republican voters compared to Cruz. The 1912 election provides a glimpse of how national party conventions were determined by shifting support- Clark the Democratic candidate with the most delegates was not nominated when the Tammany Hall machine supported Clark leading to the withdrawal of support from William Jennings Bryan of the liberal wing of the Democratic party. The nomination then went to Woodrow Wilson, the next leading candidate, on the 46th ballot....

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The general elections of 2015 show a nation divided, with Labor strong in the north of England and the Midlands, the conservatives in the south of England, the SNP in Scotland, and the UKIP competing for votes with Labor in the north of England. The election also raised questions about seats and representation in the voting system when SNP gained 56 seats with 1.5 million votes, half the votes cast for UKIP, and UKIP gaining only 1 seat. The Conservatives won a majority of the seats, 330 seats with a third of the popular votes. Voters distrusted both the Conservatives and the Labor party but distrusted Labor more, says Malik, and decided to stay with the Conservatives. Malik reminds readers that as late as 1992, Conservatives won a third of the popular vote in Scotland, and close to half of the votes till the 1950's. Now there is only one Conservative member of parliament from Scotland. Labor suffered a severe defeat in its base in Scotland with the SNP gaining 56 of 59 seats. Labor also lost the seat that was previously held by former prime minister Gordon Brown. On the EU the election promise of prime minister Cameron to hold a referendum on Britain staying in the EU in 2017, creates more uncertainty. David Cameron put the situation in the right words- " I want to reclaim the mantle that we should never have lost, the mantle of one nation, one United Kingdom....

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More than 50% of Americans believe the government should do more to solve problems. According to a recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll by a margin of 53% to 42% Americans want government to "do more to solve problems". But there is lack of confidence in Congress and in companies. According to the National Opinion Research Center only a little more than 10% of the people have a great deal of confidence in Congress and only a little less than 20% have a great deal of confidence in major companies. So the regulation it is felt is better setup through expert packed commissions.

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Pfizer coronavirus vaccine is shown to be 90% effective in results from Phase 3 trials. The findings come from a preliminary look at the first 94 infections in a group of 44,000 people in the trial. The vast majority of the cases received a control instead of vaccine. A vaccine is considered effective if it works on 50% of cases. The Pfizer vaccine is based on an experimental "mRNa" technology.

Britain has ordered 5 million till the end of 2020 and another 20 million for 2021. In total Pfizer plans to make a billion doses of the vaccine by 2021.

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Deteriorating China Iran relations as the oil imports from Iran for China face US tariffs of 25% on China's exports to US, and US economic relations far more significant for the Chinese economy. China gets somwhere between 1.4 to 1.6 million barrels aday from Iran (80% of Iran's oil exports) into Shandong refiners at $10 below Brent crude prices. Another 400 mbd comes from Venezuela to China. This means $30 billion comes to Iran from oil sales to China at $59 a barrel, and $8 billion for Venezuela from oil sales to China. This has financed much of the bellicose policies towards the US in the western hemisphere and in the Gulf region. Iran's bellicose policies in the Middle East, its nuclear policy, are now seen by China as a distraction and  detract from good economic relations with the US. China $400 billion oil deal 25 year cooperation agreement signed in 2021 was signed under the Biden administration and China today faces a completely different situation in 2026. Even China's relations with Russia are not the same as the US builds better relations with Russia. A wind down of the Ukraine war would change the situation completely and ensure peace in Europe including Russia, as the US works with the EU to meet future challenges having learned from this experience in Europe (Ukraine dividing Europe) and in the Western hemisphere (drug/ migrant. trafficking). When historians write this chapter of the inflows of capital from advanced West to Arab countries and the Gulf region they will write about the huge contrast between China/India's efforts to modernize and these nations where much of that capital was wasted in wars and conflicts and in grandiose projects that made no material difference to the standard of living and quality of life of the vast number of ordinary people. Once the oil dividend is gone with fossil fuels replaced with renewable energy by 2035-2040 this opportunity to advance is lost for the Arab and Gulf region. ...

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What is California's position in nuclear and renewables and does the substance the facts justify the image it promotes of being energy friendly and using renewables? Answer is NO  because only 9% of its total end use energy consumption according to EIA figures (2023) comes from renewables. It uses no coal yet about 60% of its energy is from crude oil. During the current crisis in the war with Iran is California an example to follow? The answer is No because it has not used renewable energy the way Germany has or EU has, and it has not managed its crude oil well by not using domestic crude oil instead relying on imports, which only burden the global needs for crude oil coming from a state with capacity to do lot better. By comparison Germany gets 23% of its total energy consumption from renewables compared to 9% for California, and for Germany 60% of its total electricity production is from renewables compared to 46% for California. EIA data shown here from US government data does not paint a very energy friendly picture. California's imports of crude oil at 75% of consumption and drop in refineries from 48 to 3 shows it has not managed the oil refining side of energy in the best way possible. How does it rate in making good use of energy? Here it uses 174 million BTU's per capita no different than New York at 174 and about the same as Florida and Washington DC, Massachusetts, Maryland.  And Germany has achieved 122 million BTU per capita showing California far behind. How does it rate in using renewables and nuclear? As it is a state with urban and suburban sprawl with large driving distances it uses a lot of crude oil for transportation. Petroleum or crude oil use is 58% of total energy use, Natural gas 25, Renewables are only 3%, electricity generation is 14% of which only 46% is from renewables. California is NOT the model for the US. We have to look elsewhere for answers.   ...

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Iraq as two states in one now dragged into Iran War by Iran sponsored Popular Mobilization Forces that are part of the two state government. It points to a never ending conflict in this region, even after Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq. Finding alternative sources of oil and accelerating renewable energy are ways to stay away from the Middle East, easier to accomplish through innovation and rapid progress than sourcing oil from the region.  Irreconciliable differences between religious sects complicated further by the artificial countries created of Syria and Iraq created by the British and French Empires from the ruins of the Ottoman Empire by 1921 are enough reason to stay out of the Middle East conflicts for the US, Russia, India, China, the European Union.  The British and French colonial powers that drew up the map of Iraq and Syria created states with different populations that made no difference to them in 1921, but which create unmanageable and impossible to run states today. This is learning from the bitter experience of 50 years of conflict and wars that led through war distraction to deindustrialization of the US and European Union, and consequently to the tariff wars with China, a process that is still unwinding today. The US is better off developing new oil supplies as it considers another push in renewable energy, the EU, China and India have the resources to make a new push for renewable energy and efficient use of energy similar to Germany and Japan, using additional supplies from the US as a transition point. Imagine combining the energy technological innovation that is a bigger motivation combining the scientific minds and resources of China, Japan, India, the US and Europe, than the dislocation and internal strife inside these countries that is generated from the Middle East -that is itself the legacy of irrational decisions made by colonial powers of the 1920's,  1930's and 1940's that remain a hundred years later- impossible to resolve except by working with new solutions for energy outside of the region. ...

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Iran peace talks in Islamabad on April 12 and Iranian refusal on nuclear weapons development and ballistic missiles leading to collapse in 21 hours of talks. Vance leaves talks and US plans to impose a naval blockade of Iran. This report by the Guardian shows that media coverage has created a sense of delusion that the world including the poorest countries in the world in Asia, in Latin America and even in Europe, and the industrialized countries will somehow allow the free navigation for oil and other raw materials to be interrupted by any nation. There are protests all over the world about increase in fuel prices, some of this affects LPG supplies for cooking in countries with a population of 1.4 billion people (India) many times that of the entire Middle East. Tens of millions of migrant workers head back to their homes in poorest states in India as LPG cylinder prices quadruple and are in short supply April 13, 2026.It also affects China and Japan which are dependent on Hormuz,  not the US which exports oil and does not seek to gain from oil prices. Posturing by the media and European governments on this issue has created this delusion that this is about US actions, when the US is only acting in the interests of all nations to keep the planet safer from dangerous nuclear proliferation in the region most torn by repeated wars in the last 50 years. Some of the language used about attacks on power plants has become a reason to justify such reporting to present aggressive ballistic missile development and nuclear weapons development in Iran in a benign way, becoming oblivious of how it affects the lives of billions of people around the world, as the Middle Eastern region a small fraction of the world's population (less than 7%) and a small fraction of the planet's surface (less than 6%) continues to operate in a way that is destructive for the lives of people around the world.   ...

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The mismanagement of the economy under president Macri is leading to an economic crisis in the country. By embracing economic orthodoxy and slashing subsidies for fuel, electricity and transportation Mr. Macri who won the election 3 years ago has cause the prices of these basic goods to skyrocket. This has hurt the middle class and poor in Argentina. For most of this century Argentina has pursued populist policies, and in the last five decades periods of free market principle based economics were followed by severe crises, and subsequent restoration of populist policies to improve the economic conditions that had deteriorated.  The peso lost half of its value in 2018, leading to a IMF bailout of $57 billion. Inflation is at 50%, unemployment above 9%. To stem the fall in the peso the central bank increased interest rates to 60% stifling the economy and business. Under his predecessor Christine Kirchner the peso's value suffered and its currency reserves were low after fall in soyabean prices, yet the currency had not suffered the kind of decline that it has seen under Mr. Macri. The cutting of subsidies and the economic crisis has increased the number of poor to about a third of the population. Argentina now faces another of the repeated cycles of going from a populist Peronist administration to a free market orthodoxy supporting government, followed by an economic crisis and a shift back to Peronist populist administration policies. Part of the problem is that Argentina, and Brazil, and most of Latin America is still dependent on commodity exports, and the economy dependent on commodity prices. The manufacturing sector has not taken off as it has in Asian countries. This has led to repeated crises in times when the currency reserves declined and affected the currency, also leading to bouts of severe inflation.   ...

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President Mauricio Macri of Argentina loses badly in a nationwide primary in Argentina. Peso and stocks dropped after the defeat and a sense that Macri's policies have not worked. The economy declined 5.8% in the first quarter of 2019 from a year earlier, with some recovery in recent months.  Following the defeat by Peronist party candidate Alberto Hernandez, Macri announced measures to help Argentine workers and middle class. He raised the minimum wage, increased public sector salaries, and put a freeze on fuel prices.  The Peronist party's Alberto Hernandez now looks likely to succeed Macri. Inflation is at 56% in June. Hernandez is a former cabinet chief under Christina Kirchner and Nestor Kirchner, former presidents. Christina Kirchner is running as Hernadez's running mate for vice president.  Under Christina Kirchner the government ran large deficits and defaulted on the national debt. Drop in commodities prices hurt Argentina and it also hurt Brazil during that period, worsening state finances. Macri provided an alternative but his market friendly policies have failed to help ordinary Argentines through errors in policy making and much of the early enthusiasm is lost. High inflation hurt ordinary Argentines the most. In the past week the Argentina stock market has lost about a third of its value and the peso has dropped by about 22% to 59 pesos to the dollar. Argentina is unique in the way it has swung back and forth for four decades.between market friendly administrations that did well initially and then failed dismally, and socialist Peronist party administrations with the same pattern. High inflation and dropping currency reserves were typical in downturns.  Brazil has suffered from crumbling state finances and collapse in essential services such as sanitation and health. Showing a deterioration of finances across Latin America. ...

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In Manguinhos one of the poorest neighborhoods of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, people are adding hope and a new future for the community by cultivating a garden the size of 3 football fields to produce fruits and vegetables. The gardens offer food and employment to a variety of deprived neighborhoods. This brings together 50 community gardens in a city initiative.

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Coronavirus cases cross 90 million with 2 million deaths around the world by January 2021. In late October the numbers were 45 million cases. Britain plans to give vaccinations to all vulnerable people by mid-Feb. 2021. This means vaccinating 15 million people. Meanwhile British hospitals are treating 55% more coronavirus cases than during the peak in April 2020.

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Postponing hearing loss tests can lead to cognitive decline and reduce the enjoyment of activities essential for good health, say experts. About 14.1 million or one in 6 people will have some degree of hearing loss in the UK by 2030. Hearing tests is an habit one needs to take up especially after reaching 50 years of age.

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New rules by the Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) and Moody's would show U.S. public pension funds as about 57% funded instead of 75% funded under earlier rules. This will open up an even wider gap in how much they have in the funds and their promises to retirees to about an estimated $2.2 trillion. This puts pressure on state and local governments to either reduce benefits for new hires, have workers increase contributions, or set aside more money from the budget. Local governments face the risk of credit downgrades and higher borrowing costs if no action is taken and finances are worsening. An example is Illinois retired teachers who earn annual pensions of about $46,000 on average, and do not participate in Social Security under state opt-out. Even under old accounting rules this pension fund had $37 billion of assets and $81 in future liabilities. Under the new rules the unfunded liabilities could jump to 83% by one estimate, from over 50%.

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Niederauer brings a straightforward style to his efforts to bring together NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Bourse in a new combination. He joined Goldman in 1985, after studying business at Emory University in Atlanta. In his 22 year career at Goldman he worked his way up as a stock trader. He worked in Tokyo where he supervised efforts for electronic trading. He was brought to NYSE in 2007 by Mr Thain, a former Goldman executive. The NYSE has seen its dominance erode since 2000, as investors shifted to fast trading. In the U.S. the NYSE traded 34% of NYSE listed shares bought or sold in January 2011, a significant drop from the 54% in late 2007, and more than 80% when the NYSE was the dominant exchange. This is reflected in the stock price, which is down 56% for NYSE shares since the end of 2007. With a merger Niederauer will be the leading executive of the merged company.

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Only Honda is withstanding the the sales shock as numbers tumble from June of a year earlier. Toyota auto sales down 21%, Ford 28% and Chrysler 36%. GM 18% because of special incentives and discounts. Honda a modest 1.1 % increase in sales. The US manufacturers have their plants skewed towards making trucks and SUV's so turning out Chevy Cobalts and Focus cars is a big problem as there are huge drops in truck and SUV sales and customers are shifting to cars. Sales of Ford SUV's fell 55% and its formerly top selling truck line dropped 38%. Toyota sold about two thirds fewer light trucks than in 2007 June. Market share of domestic makers in the USA market dropped to 46% from 50%. To get some idea of capacity constraints. According to Global Insight GM can build only 250,000 Chevy Cobalts, while Honda has the capacity to build 400,000 Honda Civic small cars annually.

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The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) files lawsuits against J.P. Morgan Chase and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) for losses suffered on $50 billion in mortgage bonds held by the NCUA. The NCUA is the federal regulator for credit unions in the U.S. More than 40 credit unions failed and a large number have suffered losses and are in a weakened condition because of the mortgage crisis. Because of the losses the credit unions have to pay more into the NCUA fund, pay less on deposits and charge higher rates on loans. About $800 million in damages is sought by the NCUA, which would go to NCUA's insurance and emergency support funds.

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Lee describes the problems the Russian economy faces with the depletion of the Reserve Fund following collapse of oil prices. Finance minister Siluanov says the Reserve Fund could run out by 2017. The National Wealth Fund hols $73 billion and is used for infrastructure projects and bank bailouts, and pensions. The defense budget is expected to decline by 5% in 2016 as the military buildup slows from a slower economy. The World Bank predicts a poverty rate of 14.2%. The 50% decline in the ruble has hurt imports. The lack of access to international capital markets has also hurt growth, even though Russia has only small debt.

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Micron Technology, GlobalFoundaries, Intel, Samsung are planning large investments with the assistance of governments in US, and Japan. Taiwan Semiconductor plans to build a chip plant in Japan. US has allocated $52 billion for domestic investments by chip companies. In recent decades bad policy has led to chip making demise in the US which the Biden administration is determined to reverse by boosting US chip production. Intel Corp has announced large investments in US and Europe, Micron is expected to follow in this direction.

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The largest fire in Texas history burnt over 1 million acres in the Texas Panhandle. In the area around Amarillo where the fire started temperatures in March are 54 degrees, the temperature hit 82 degrees, the winds and dry grass caused the fire says this report in NYT. Most fires are in the summer. All this is a part of the change in climate and climate change. After wildfires in Canada, new ones in Canada's Quebec region, this fire in Texas.

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A study published by UNICEF shows that of 55 countries only three showed increase in popular perception of the importance of children's vaccines- India, China and Mexico. The Vaccine Confidence Project is conducted by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The study says a total of 67 million children missed out on vaccinations between 2019 and 2021 the years of the pandemic, vaccination coverage decreased in 112 countries, and much backsliding in vaccination happened that needs to be corrected.

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In the middle of the pandemic US Congress approved $190 billion in aid to schools. Of this 20% was to be spent addressing learning loss for children. The pandemic period taking 50 million children out of schools is now seen as the biggest disruption in history of American education. It set student progress in math and education back by two decades and widened the gap between wealthy and poor children. These learning gaps remain unaddressed even as money runs out in 2024.