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Argentina's president Christina Kirchner's popularity increases from 31% in September 2014 to 43% in June 2015 during her last year in office, according to polling firm Management and Fit.

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China's GDP growth for the second quarter of 2012 was 7.6% from the prior year. China set a target of 7.5% GDP growth in March 2012. About half of the GDP growth in 2011 was generated from investment spending. As part of a new Stimulus China is increasing bank lending and moving forward development projects in energy and infrastructure. Bank loans showed an increase from 793 billion yuan ($124 billion) in May 2012 to 920 billion yuan ($144 billion) in June 2012.

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Socialist Party in Spain increases its share of the vote to 29%, and emerges as the largest party to form a government with the socialist leaning Podemos party in 2019 elections. It does this by returning to its labour base and working class roots. It pitches a platform of worker's rights, higher taxes on wealthy, environmental roots, issues important to its social democratic roots. The WSJ cites a 57 year old employee of Spain's health service Antonio Benitez, living in Andalusia who says people have a hard time making ends meet, and its about time socialist parties speak of the main pillars of being socialist, without all the deviations to the centre. As free market thinking entered the mindset of leaders in the UK such as Tony Blair and Gerhard Scroder in Germany, Clinton in the U.S., the shift began towards economic efficiency in the tradeoff with equality and social justice. This was aggravated by the effects of international trade and technology in worsening income disparities and unsettling communities in traditional manufacturing. This trend is now being reversed as Socialist parties or Labour allied parties in the UK, Spain,and increasingly in the U.S., take a new position different from the past. A political scientist at the Free University of Amsterdam says its like these parties got hit on the head and now decided to go back to core values around equality, reducing disparities, social justice and the environment. Jeremy Corbyn of the Labour Party in Britain increased Labour's vote in the 2017 elections to 40% up from 30% in 2015. Italy's Socialists won 41% of the vote in 2014 European elections, moved to the centrist positions that made firing workers easier, pension overhauls raising retirement age, leading to losing half its support with 21% ahead of European elections in 2019. Pedro Sanchez of Spain raised the minimum wage by 22% before winning the 2019 elections compared to his predecessor Socialist premier Zapatero who is reported to have said "cutting taxes is left wing." Now workers rights and higher taxes on corporation are on the agenda.  ...

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Gregory White and Anton Troianovski provide this exceptional account of how Russian president Putin miscalculated all through 2013 and 2014 about the way Germany and the EU would respond to Russia's actions in Ukraine. Putin also according to other accounts miscalculated how Saudi Arabia and OPEC nations would act on maintaining oil production in the middle of a slowdown in the economies of Asia and Europe. A combination of events beyond his control such as the economic slowdown in the second half of 2014, with the miscalculations on OPEC price moves particularly following Russia's failed Syrian intervention disrupting Saudi-Russian relations, caused the damage. Major miscalculations were made about German cooperation in the face of Putin's moves- the changed convictions of German chancellor Merkel about Russian intentions following repeated Ukraine interventions, and changes in German public opinion following the downing of a Malaysian airliner flight in which many Dutch citizens lost their lives. Putin used subterfuge to coverup his actions making his story line less credible with Germans with each repetition. The result of these miscalculations and lost confidence in Russia's economy and policymaking is that the Ruble dropped to 62 to the dollar, losing nearly half its value in 2014, and a deep recession expected in 2015. Even though Russian takeover in Crimea enjoys support and Putin still has widespread support for nationalist policy with a tightly controlled media, many officials in the government and business leaders warned about the dangers for Russia's economy in 2014. Former finance minister Kudrin, and the head of Sberbank, who were principal architects for Russian finances and economic policy reforms, were clear about the dangers. Only by Nov- Dec 2014 were their voices being heard. ...

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Spain's prime minister Rajoy, is having difficulty in controlling regional spending. Regional government accounted for two thirds of the amount by which Spain exceeded its deficit target for 2011. Because of its unique decentralized structure after the end of the Franco dictatorship the regional governments account for 57% of Spain's public spending, according to a Professor Gascon at Complutense University in Madrid. The risk is that the regional governments will use the recent decision by premier Rajoy to increase the 2012 deficit target to 5.8% from 4.4%, as a reason to lower their own efforts to reduce fiscal spending. One factor in favor of the Rajoy administration and of budget minister, Cristobal Montero, is that 11 of 17 regional governments in Spain are now run by his Partido Popular, with Asturias and Andalusia expected to join the list in upcoming elections. This is also crucial to maintaining Spain's credibility in the EU after its decision to increase the deficit target for 2012, but keep the deficit target of 3% for 2013, calling it "a sovereign decision of Spain."...

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Rob Copeland describes the comeback of Citadel hedge fund and its founder Ken Griffin. During the 2008 financial crisis the firm almost collapsed with $8 billion in losses. It recovered only by barring clients from withdrawing money for 10 months, and slowly selling distressed assets as the market recovered. It took over 3 years to make up losses. Leverage at the time was high with 3 dollars of borrowed money for $1 in client money. Leverage in 2015 is higher at $7 of borrowed money for $1 of client money. In 2012-2015 three year period, by taking aggressive positions early, Citadel has made $3 billion. It is now engaged in many investments including commodities, buying and selling securities for other investors, trading, fixed income, global equities. To offset the higher risk Citadel bets equally on up and down markets, so that only 52% of stock bets need to work, according to Griffin. Copeland shows the highly intense nature of the business, large turnover of managers, the atmosphere on the 37th floor of the Chicago offices with 500 scenarios being simulated of the hedge fund's investments, and analysts looking at 36 screens of 14,000 investment positions. After the 2008 financial crisis highly leveraged activity continues at Citadel, just as other hedge funds have pulled back and targeted lower returns in mid to high single digits, or to improve their image. Citadel assets increased from $16 billion to $26 billion since the beginning of 2014, with higher returns of over 25% in its main investment funds Kensington and Wellington in 2013. The average hedge fund made returns of 6.2% in 2013, according to analysis by firm Hedge Fund Research. As part of risk mitigation Fed chairman Ben Bernanke has joined the firm as advisor- in 2008 the Fed was questionning this type of highly leveraged activity that led to the collapse of Lehman and Bear Stearns. Of the top ten hedge funds only Millenium Management and Citadel had leverage this high in reports to the SEC under Dodd Frank of regulatory assets that include borrowings for investment, showing systemic risk that remains in the financial system....

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With slow growth in sales of PC's which use Intel microprocessors, Intel CEO Krzanich plans to make job cuts and management changes. Intel first quarter profit was up only 3% on overall revenue unchanged from the prior quarter. Executives leaving are Ms Renee James staying till end of 2015 for transition planning, Hermann Eul and Mike Bell. Intel Capital chief Arvind Sodhani is retiring in Jan. 2015. Intel's efforts in smartphones have poor results, and sales of chips for tablets had to be subsidized leading to operating losses. Intel will reduce spending in 2015 by $300 million. Renee James was made president sharing the top position with Mr. Krzanich in May 2013 in a dual appointment. In practice it was Krzanich who took the leadership role at Intel Corp. In other changes security products, including McAfee, were integrated into Intel Operation's under general manager Chris Young. Josh Walden, general manager of new technology group now leads all product and research teams including wearable computing devices. Aicha Evans moves to the management committee....

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This WSJ editorial comments on the low U.S. employment to population ratio of 58.9% in March 2014. It was 62.2% on average in 2007. This is the share of all potential workers with a job.

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The U.S. Federal Reserve's forecast for the American economy is for growth in GDP of 2.2%-2.7% for 2012, wih unemployment of 8.2-8.5% by the end of 2012. The Commerce Dept. estimates for GDP growth are 3.0 percent annual rate for the 4th quarter 2011. Fed chairman Bernanke remains cautious about the economic prospects for 2012. Higher oil prices are expected to push inflation above the 2.0% Fed target for 2012. Bernanke's description of the recovery in early 2012 is that it is "uneven and modest" and unlikely to improve much for unemployment.

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U.S. exports reached $2.34 trillion in 2014, increasing by $760 billion over the figure in 2009, according to the Commerce Department. Exports accounted for one third of the U.S. economic growth since 2009, say Pritzker and McNerney. Goods and services for exports supported 11.7 million U.S. jobs in 2014, and a Commerce Department 2010 paper shows these jobs pay 18% higher than jobs unrelated to exports. Commerce Department Secretary Pritzker, and McNerney, chairman of the President's Export Council, say free trade agreements and investment by private business is critical to supporting export promotion, but make no mention of the effect of the stronger dollar on future exports. In a period of a few months in 2015 the euro is approaching parity with the dollar and the yen is now 120 to the dollar, giving European and Japanese business a significant advantage, and raising questions about the strength of the U.S. recovery going forward.

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Bank of England Governor Mervyn King says the Monetary Policy Committee expects inflation to be above the 2% target till the end of 2015. King is aware of the slack in the British economy and low levels of wage inflation. He has indicated his approach to be flexible about inflation. The new Governor Mark Carney also favors flexibility in inflation targeting. The tradeoffs between inflation and growth are very much the focus of their attention. To support growth King supports a longer time period to bring inflation back to 2%.

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The Bank of England under Governor Carney cut interest rates 0.25% from a low of 0.5%, and suggested further cuts were on the way. This follows Brexit and action by the central bank to avoid a recession. The British pound fell about 1.6% to $1.3112 against the dollar, and euro 1.770 against the euro. Government borrowing costs declined, and the 10 year bonds yield dropped to 0.639%. Economic growth in Britian for the second half 2016 will be little or none. The GDP growth forecast for 2017 is now 0.8%, down from 2.3% before the Brexit vote. Bank of England staff say their calculations show Brexit vote has "conservatively" reduced growth by 2.5 percentage points over 3 years even after the rate cuts and stimulus action of the Bank of England, which other estimates show could add 0.5% over 2 years. This brings the Brexit impact to about 3% loss in GDP over 3 years, with these reliable estimates. Months after the Brexit vote the question remains whether Brexit supporters misled British voters, leaving the Bank of England to come up with a way to prevent a recession. After the austerity cuts since 2009 and the prospect of some improvement in the economy, this is a step backwards at a time when some of the working and middle class find themselves left behind. ...

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U.S. gasoline prices were below $2.06, adjusted for inflation, during 1986-2003, dropping to a low of $1.51 in 1998. U.S. gasoline prices at the pump dropped below $2.00 in Jan. 2015. Buyer behaviour responded quickly to the change for automobiles, with sport utility (SUV) sales rising to 34% market share in the U.S. in mid-Nov. 2014, according to Edmunds.com.

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Efforts to raise money by Eventbrite, a event ticketing internet startup in the U.S. Eventbrite raised $60 million from T. Rowe Price Group and Tiger Global Management in late stage financing. Private investments in late stage financing have accelerated in 2011-2013. In the 1st quarter of 2013 $2.2 billion was raised in late stage venture capital investments compared to $672 million raised through venture capital backed IPO's, according to figures put together by the National Venture Capital Association from Pricewaterhouse Coopers and Thomson Reuters. For 2012 late stage financing raised $8.6 billion compared to $21.5 billion in IPO's, including the $16 billion for Facebook IPO. Excluding the Facebook IPO, IPO's raised $5.5 billion, much less than the late stage financing. Investors who purchased Facebook Inc. privately just prior to the IPO, face paper losses at the current trading price in April 2013 of $25.73 per share, making investors wary of heavily hyped up IPO's. SurveyMonkey, a web survey company has raised $800 million from private equity and debt investments. The Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act lets startups remain private longer by allowing startups to have over 500 investors before having to disclose financial statements to the public....

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Swiss voters approve a higher level of surveillance with 65.5%of voters supporting in a referendum in September 2016. This gives the Federal Intelligence Service the power to tap phones, search e-mails and track internet activity to control hacking, spying and terrorist activities. The government of Switzerland supports the measure saying it had to keep up with the higher security measures taken by other western governments. The law giving such powers was already passed in parliament in 2015 but the Green party and Socialist party had put this to a referendum.

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For the period 2000-2014, per capital bottled water consumption doubled in the U.S. from 16.74 gallons to 34.02 gallons, while at the same time soda sales with high content of sugar or sweeteners declined from 53.17 gallons to 39.92 gallons, according to Beverage Marketing. With 7% volume growth in 2014 the bottled water volume is expected to overtake soda by 2017. Coke and Pepsi have also moved into this market and combined have about 20% of the market with Coke's Dasani brand, and Pepsi's Aquafina brand.

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Many of the young people joining terrorist groups come from Tunisia. A security expert tells DW.com that the radicalization of youth in Tunisia began with the overthrow of Ben Ali and his government in Tunisia at the beginning of the Arab Spring in 2011. Ben Ali's regime detained many of the people in opposition groups, leading to the release from prisons during the revolution. The radicalization of Tunisia's youth began during this period, according to this report. The Benghazi attacks on American embassy from Libyans opposing Gaddafi who had crossed the border into Mali, also followed a similar pattern after the overthrow of Gaddafi in Libya. In Libya many radicalized people in opposition groups were released from detention following Gaddafi's overthrow. The current democratically elected government of Tunisian president Beji Essebsi is monitoring the situation. This report describes the experience of some Tunisians in terrorist groups who were brought back home from other countries by their families. EU countries and the U.S. supported the Arab Spring but the aftermath was not well managed leading to further upheaval, and now terrorism. Some of this happened as the governments changed in the U.S. with Obama replacing Bush in the U.S. and Hollande replacing Sarkozy in France, and showing little interest in managing the aftermath or helping the new governments in Libya, Tunisia and other countries make a smooth transition with aid, security assistance, and maintaining the basic services provided by government. A well formulated and conducted effort from the West could have prevented the worst effects that are seen in 2014-2016. The costs to contain the crisis that has ensued are far greater than what would have been needed in material resources and expert assistance from the developed countries of Europe and the U.S.- without military involvement as there was a general sense of being lifted from years of dictatorship in Arab North Africa, and general sense of goodwill towards the West during the Arab Spring.   ...

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The leaders of Republicans and Democrats, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Speaker Boehner, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and Minority leader Harry Reid, reached a budget compromise with the White House in October 2015 after long closed door negotiations, following years of deadlock in previous years. The compromise lifts sequester spending caps agreed to previously in a previous settlement of differences, and lifts the budget ceiling till March 2017. Speaker Boehner said it was time to "clean out the barn," as he did this over the opposition of Senators Rand Paul and Ted Cruz from the right wing of his party who opposed his efforts to compromise with Democrats. On October 28, 2015, the House of Representatives passed the two year budget agreement 266-167, and the following day Speaker Boehner passed on the Speaker's position to Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. On Oct. 29, 2015, the Senate voted 64-35 to pass the budget compromise agreement. The agreement increases discretionary spending by $80 billion over 2 years, giving half to defense spending with the increase in military threats overseas, and the other half to domestic spending programs. The domestic spending goes to limit premium increases for some Medicare Part B beneficiaries, and a prevents a 20% across the board cut to Social Security Disability Insurance benefits, set for 2016. This removes the uncertainty posed by threats of a showdown on the budget ceiling and threat of defunding Planned Parenthood posed by right wing Republicans in Congress, which were bad for the economy at a time when the U.S. and Europe faces increasing threats overseas. Without a budget agreement the U.S. Treasury Department would have seen its borrrowing authority expire on Nov. 3, 2015....

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Justin Lahart points out that concealed in the good profit performance of Ford Motor for the third quarter 2012 is a cause for concern. Ford market share of light vehicle sales in the U.S. market declined to 15.3% in the first 9 months of 2012 from 16.6% in 2011, according to WardsAuto. Ford's quality in the Consumer Reports' annual reliability survey shows Ford ranking 27th of 28 brands.

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The U.S. Labor Department report shows 156,000 jobs added in September 2016. The unemployment rate increased by a tenth of a percentage point to 5.0%, because of the increase in the total pool of workers, The labor force increased by 3 million workers over the first 9 months of 2016. The labor force participation rate was up by half a percentage point to 62.9% for the year 2016, as it drew more workers who were earlier discouraged to look for work. Wages grew by 2.6% over the year.

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This article in the Guardian points to the differences within Catalonia about the independence referendum planned for October 2017. The Spanish government says it will prevent a referendum from taking place. In a symbolic poll that took place 3 years ago in 2014, only 2.3 million of 5.4 million Catalan eligible voters took part. Sentiment is in favor of self-determination but only among less than half of Catalans, as most Catalans would not come out to vote. The Spanish government says the referendum would be a violation of the constitution.

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An August survey by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, shows 40% of the country's manufacturers saying they would shift production and R&D facilities overseas if the yen remains at 85 to the dollar. It has dropped below that. Nissan will make 71% of its cars overseas in 2010, compared to 66% in 2009. Murata Manufacturing plans to double its foreign output to 30% by March 2013. By buying Dutch printer maker Oce NV in March, Canon Inc., saw its overseas output jump to 48% for the first half of 2010. Toyota is on track to produce 57% of its output overseas in 2010 , compared to 48% in 1995. The popular Prius will now be built at a plant in Bangkok, Thailand. Sony did 20% of its television manufacturing in Japan in 2010, it is aiming to do 50% in 2011. As a result Sony showed a profit for the April-June quarter, after 6 straight years of losses. Its also important to note that when inflation is taken into account the yen has not strengthened the way it appears, which reduces domestic pressures to dampen the yen's rise. Tohru Sasaki, head of foreign-exchange research at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. in Tokyo, says that in inflation-adjusted terms, the yen is 30% below the rate it reached in April 1995. U.S. consumer prices have risen by 69% since 1990, in Japan the prices rose only 8.5% during the same period. In inflation adjusted terms the April 1995 exchange rate of 80 yen to the dollar would be 56 yen to the dollar today. Japan's exporters can also benefit from the fact that a large part of Japanese trade is denominated in yen- according to Japan's Ministry of Finance 48% of exports to Asia were paid for in yen in 2009. Like China and Germany, Japan remains highly dependent on exports for growth- which provide two thirds of its growth. The yen's strength increases the outflow of production facilities. In July 2010, 10.3 millon workers were employed in manufacturing in Japan, down from 12 million in 2002. Japan's unemployment rate was 5.6% in 2009....

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Sony announced that it was expecting a loss of 110 billion yen or $1.1 billion for the fiscal year ending March 2014. Sony also announced the sale of the PC Vaio computer business to Japan Industrial Partners, a decision he called "agonizing." Another change is splitting off the television business into a separate subsidiary. The projected full year loss includes $690 million in charges for restructuring the PC and TV business, including job cuts of 1500 in Japan and 3500 overseas by March 2015. Currently the mobile phone and Playstation videogame businesses are operated as separate subsidiaries. TV sales are improving in the 4th quarter 2013, increasing by 40%, and operating loss for TV's is down to $48 million for that quarter. Increases in sales of premium priced ultra high definition TV sets improved margins. For the full year TV business had a loss of 25 billion yen. This is the first sign of a change in the TV business. Playstation sales are expected to hit 5 million by March 2014. Overall Sony showed a net profit of 27 billion yen for the 4th quarter of 2013....

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Spain's plan to reduce corporate taxes by 5% and individual income taxes by average 12.5% in 2015-2016, reversing earlier austerity measures. A similiar move in Italy.