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Hillary Clinton's presidential election strategy appears to be writing off core Republican states such as Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky and West Virgina, and focussing on parts of the midwest such as Ohio, Wisconsin, the East and the West. It would be different from the election strategy Hillary Clinton used in 2008 which made an appeal to white working class voters and worked to win votes nationwide, similiar to the two Bill Clinton campaigns which appealed to centrist voters. This may also be because Hillary Clinton is perceived in 2015 as a polarizing candidate by many voters in southern states, with little prospect of winning in these states, making the new strategy a safe fallback option based on Democratic strategies in 2008 and 2012. Jeb Bush's strategy as a candidate with positions that would attract some Hispanic voters, and working class voters, could pose risks to this Clinton election strategy.

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Zaragoza a city of 700,000 is the capital of Spain's fastest growing region, and its halfway between Barcelona and Madrid. It has grown rapidly. The arrival of GM here was a big turning point in 1982. The GM plant here can turn out 2000 sub compacts, small minivans and delivery trucks a day, now it is one of 7 GM plants in Europe to suspend production for 2 weeks in October to work off inventories. About 600 of 7000 workers were laid off. Young people here who have never seen anything but good times see this as a big shock. And its a sign of how things across Europe are shaping up. Spain's economy contracted by 0.2% this summer. The European Commission expects the 15 nation eurozone to be flat next year with no growth, but this is an early estimate and may be revised to show a contraction as the economic downturn is just beginning.

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U.S. Speaker Paul Ryan and Senator Tim Scott describe the event on poverty organized by the Jack Kemp Foundation in Jan. 2016, in which both Congressmen are moderators. Ryan and Scott point out the importance of upward educational and economic mobility for working class and middle class people. The 2 Republican leaders say education, work, opportunity and accountability for federal spending in anti-poverty programs are critical parts of their program for addressing the problem. They suggest trying different solutions by giving states more opportunity to try different solutions.

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De Aenile describes the volatility in stock markets after the Brexit vote. Earnings growth is slow and expectations are declining. Indexes of emerging markets are trading at 10 times earnings, say experts. The S&P 500 ended the quarter at 19 times earnings, compared to historical average of 15, according to this report. Uncertainty remains high in Europe and the U.S., and monetary policy is stuck in a low interest rate environment.

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The U.S. Census Bureau shows incomes of American households, the median household income, surged in 2015 by 5.2%. This increased by $2800 to $56,500. This is the largest increase since 1967. It shows that steadily improving employment and hiring is leading to improvement in incomes for the middle and working class. Ris in minimum wage has also helped . The largest increase was for the lowest 20% of the income tiers. Full time working women did better than men, with increase annually of 2.7% for women, and 1.5% for men. Nocitizen incomes increased 10.5% to $45,100, native born households went up 4.4% to $57,200. The number of people without health insurance also declined from 33 million or 10.4% of the population to  29 million people or 9.1%. Another way the changes are helping lower income households is the decline of the official poverty rate to 13.5% in 2015 by 1.2 percentage points from 14.8% in 2014. Through a series of small incremental steps the path is being set for a recovery of household incomes for the middle class and working class. A bright spot is that the improvement has affected all age groups, household types, regions and ethnic groups, though among full time workers women did better than men. In this recession older white men have had more difficulties getting back into the workforce. This is reflected in the political scene in 2015-2016 for the election season. ...

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Shavit, a senior columnist for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, says the conditions for peace in the Middle East exist in the changing political and social landscape after the Arab Spring and the social protests in Israel. This was reflected in the emergence of a new party with popular support in the recent Israeli elections. Both movements are focussed on internal changes within society- Arab societies and Israeli society. This creates new opportunities says Shavit for a quiet movement and contacts betwen the people in the Middle East to improve living conditions and democracy. This is more firmly grounded than past efforts because it is based on popular sentiment, and less dependent on failed negotiations between the leaders in the Middle East. He points to failures in decades of such negotiations and finds a more promising atmosphere in the general feeling in the Middle East that focusses on the region's problems in inequality, jobs, infrastructure, and opportunity.

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Blue Dog or corporate shills, who are they, asks Thomas Frank. He reminds readers that Illinois Senator Paul Douglas advised people in 1932 not to expect much from the Democratic party. Douglas said the Democratic party was more like alifeboat for business interests, when the going got tough with the Republicans, business interests simmply used this lifeboat to get away. So he says call these Blue Dogs caucus the Lifeboat caucus, and you get closer to the mark. He points out that the Blue Dogs are some of the leading fundraisers in Congress. See the link to Max Baucus in the Senate, who the NYT describes as a leading fundraiser from Montana.

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Amy Goldstein spends time in Janesville, Wisconsin, in U.S. vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan's congressional district, and talks to local people to give a glimpse of life in Janesville after the closing of the GM plant and the 2008 financial crisis. She looks at the effects of long-term unemployment and cuts in services in communities such as Janesville as a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, while on leave from the national staff of the Washington Post. Ryan was first elected to the U.S. Congress in 1998, about a decade before the closing of the GM plant, and has been reelected to Congress each time for 7 consecutive terms. Goldstein says Janesville is typical of the communities across America that have suffered job losses- the loss of more jobs in manufacturing than any other sector, a greater impact of job loss for men than women, and a large impact on people who had less education but well paid jobs. As shown by the recent settlement for a Caterpillar plant in Joliet, Illinois, and across the U.S. manufacturing landscape, older workers who enjoyed higher wages are retiring with newer workers coming in at a lower wage, which is improving U.S. manufacturing competitiveness but also increasing the importance of education for higher paying jobs....

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Buick sales are up 60% this year. It has more to do with product quality of the cars, than the brand with which these cars were labeled. The Buick Lacrosse is winning the hearts of a younger demographic because of the styling, and the tech features such as iPod connectors and a 40 gig hard drive on the dashboard. This makes it GM's fastest growing brand in the USA. In the process Buick is leaving behind its old stodgy image and appealing to younger people. The Lacrosse released in 2009 has a sharp sculpted body and is changing how Buicks are viewed. Buick has discontinued its golf related advertising and cut ties with the Buick Open golf tournament. Now Buick is advertised in travel and culinary magazines. The Buick Regal is being advertised at rock concerts and with local bands. Customers are making their assessment on the basis of the value and styling, and not letting the image of old affect them, the shift in advertising only helps. Buick already sell well in China, where it is GM's main product. ...

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The UK's Office of National Statistics said construction output fell by 3.7% in the first quarter of 2012, compared to prior year. Output fell 3%. The revised decline in GDP for the first quarter is 0.3%.

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Russia's central bank revises the initial figure of $500 million for rescue of Trust Bank to $2 billion, and an additional six year loan of about $550 million to go to an "investor" bank to take control of Trust Bank. State controlled VTB Bank will receive $2 billion and Gazprombank $1.4 billion in government help, according to Mr. Siluanov, Russia's Finance Minister. So far the Russian government has approved $20 billion for rescue in the banking system. Foreign currency reserves have declined by $16 billion to $398.9 billion, according to figures released by the central bank on Dec. 26, 2014. The Russian government plans to use the foreign currency holdings of Rosneft, Gazprom and other large state controlled exporting companies in 2015 to support the ruble. Mr. Siluanov says the government will need to look at its budget again to reduce spending, including military spending. His predecessor Alexei Kudrin called for reducing military spending to ensure stable finances long before this crisis....