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This editorial in the WSJ on John Kasich, points to Ohio Governor Kasich's strong record of growth in Ohio and low unemployment, surpassing all other midwestern states, as a reason for voters to consider Kasich for president. It points to Kasich's re-election win by 31 points in 2014, carrying 86 of 88 Ohio counties as another reason to consider Kasich, as Ohio is the key swing state in a U.S. presidential election. Kasich also has the unique combination of having worked in Congress helping develop a balanced budget in the Clinton presidency, and in balancing the budget in Ohio leaving a $2 billion surplus after he found only 89 cents in the rainy day fund when he became governor. Jeb Bush and Walker lack experience in Congress.

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Georgia Tech's online open courses for a masters degree in computer science is a first and is likely to change the way higher education takes place in the U.S. and globally. This degree will cost $6600 compared to $45,000 on campus. It is part of a collaboration between Udacity founder, Sebastian Thurn and Zvi Galil, dean of Georgia Tech's college of computing.

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Clements provides an exceptionally useful reasoning for the average investor to give an important role to high dividend paying stocks in retirement planning. This applies to today's low interest environment with stock market volatility. The higher dividends help reduce the need to sell stocks in a volatile stock market and limit this to occasional selling. Using estimates from Yale Prof. Shiller's website for past 100 years data diversified U.S. stocks with high dividends pay about 4.4% in annual dividends outpacing the inflation average of 3.2%, and 5.6% appreciation in value of the stock each year. This helps preserve retirement capital. As many high dividend large cap stocks are also value stocks there is an additional value effect in holding these stocks.

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The WSJ shows options to travel to Europe from the US for under $200 one way on new budget airlines set up by Iceland (Play airline), Norway (Norse Atlantic Airways), Britain (Condor Airlines), France (French Bee), Italy (Neos). Add in bags and meals and it could run to about $400 one way as you pay for everything else extra. One would travel to that country to locations such as Reykjavik, Oslo, London, Paris, Milan, and connect to other parts of Europe. Flights are from New York, Los Angles, San Francisco, Miami. With fares for Delta, United, and other carriers up significantly this offers another option.

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Taylor Swift Era's Tour gives a boost to local economies in the hospitality and entertainment sector. In Colorado 2 Taylor Swift shows added $140 million to the state's GDP. Occupancy records in cities in the US and Asia are broken with these Swift tours. The Swift concerts will play at many cities in Europe including Cardiff and Liverpool. Then why are concerts only in Singapore and Tokyo in Asian venues. Singapore provided additional funding for the concerts which could add with other concerts about $300 million to the local economy. Swift has a large following in Japan with people waiting camped overnight for these concerts.

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With Obama's popularity rating in 2016 similar to Reagan's in his last year in office at 51%, he announced his endorsement of Hillary Clinton for president. Obama is likely to campaign in 2016 for Hillary to reunite the Democratic Party, bring Bernie Sanders and Sander's supporters behind the Democratic nominee, including younger women.

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The "Burning Platform" memo by CEO Stephen Elop, seeks to confront Nokia with the reality of what is happening, as it has fallen years behind competitors who have completely changed the space Nokia was in. Apple's iPhone has redefined the space for smartphones and Apple now owns the high end market. In 2008, Apple's market share in the $300+ price range was 25%, by 2010 it was 61%. Newcomer Android has in 2 years created a platform that by attracting application developers, service providers and hardware manufacturers, is winning the mid-range down to 100 euros. And in 2008, MediaTek provided complete reference designs for phone chipsets, so that Chinese manufacturers in Shenzen could produce phones at an astonishing pace. They now own the low end of the market, producing an estimated one third of the phones sold globally. A crtical part of the memo is about ecosystems. He says it is no longer about hardware and device to device competition, but about ecosystems that include not just hardware and software. It includes developers, applications, ecommerce, advertising, search, social applications, location-based services, unified communications and so on. And Elop says the decision confronting Nokia, is how to build, catalyse or join an ecosystem....

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The 2017 Budget presented by the Trump administration has a serious problem in that it assumes 3% growth, and 2% inflation, low interest rates, to generate $2.1 trillion in additional tax revenues over 10 years. Hilsenrath in the WSJ has questioned whether 3% growth is a safe assumption. Then the Trump 2017 budget resorts to double counting which analysts called egregious and wrong by using the unsupported $2.1 trillion in extra revenues to fill holes in the deficit. By doing this it comes up with debt to GDP ratio dropping from about 75% to 65%, whereas the Congressional Budget Office does the math and says it would jump from 75% to about 85%. Such a mistake is called the "most egregious accounting error" by Lawrence Summers, a former Treasury Secretary, from what he has seen over 40 years. The irony is that the budget is called "The New Foundation for American Greatness," because of the lack of a firm foundation in the numbers. Deep cuts in social programs makes the math riskier politically and socially.   ...

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France and Germany are standing together on the European Union Recovery Fund with $500 billion in direct nonrepayable aid to needy countries hit by the pandemic. Netherlands is the lone holdout and it is coming under heavy criticism for being "misers", not showing any solidarity. Macron and Merkel walked out together at the end of a late night session. At one point Macron banged his hand on the table saying "sterile blockages" were being made by Netherlands. Italy accused Rutte of the Netherlands of blackmail.

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Pearson appears to have managed the downturn well by reducing ads percentage of revenue at FT from 50% to 30%. One way was to increase the importance of subscription and content revenues by increasing subscription price to pound 1.80 from pound 1.50. Its education business which sells textbooks and educational instructional tools like online learning and assessment are holding up, and its Penguin book division is also doing well. Pearson's competitors McGraw Hill faces aturnaround problem at Standard and Poors, and Houghton Mifflin is struggling with high debt.

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England lose to West Indies at Wankhede stadium in Mumbai in T20 World Cup 2026. England have to win over Italy and Scotland to stay in T20 final 8.

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The way Mr. Partovi's idea of mixing keyword search with ads met with resistance at Microsoft, after Microsoft spent $265 million to acquire his company LinkExchage. Some of Partovi's bosses warmed to his idea of auctioning keywords but their eyes were glued to the prospects of display banner ads and did not think much of the search and ads combined together, like searching for a term and seeing the vendors of all kinds of related services who pay a fee every time someone clicks on their name. Bosses changed and the Keywords group was shifted to other parts of the Microsoft business ending up in software. A small trial was made but price of auctioning keywords was not set appropriately. Partovi's insistence was seen as resistance to the ordered way of doing things at Microsoft, and Ballmer in 2003 talked about "discordant and dissident directions" in the company, tendencies which he derided. Partovi's passion was seen as insubordination and finally in May 2000 with $1 million in revenue from Keywords comparing poorly with Microsoft's other online ad revenue, Keywords was shutdown. Partovi left Microsoft in July 2000. He shopped his idea around. Yahoo said it did not fit in with its plans, later buying Overture for $1.8 billion in summer 2003. Google talked to Partovi but declined, instead quietly building its own service. And Google launched its own service AdWords combining search and ads in October 2000. It was under pressure to come up with arevenue generating method.By 2002 Google was stealing advertisers from Goto.com that had pioneered the business of ads and search but lacked the advantage of having its own search engine. Microsoft also faced the same problem. In May 2002 AOL dropped Goto.com and teamed up with Google for paid search. By late 2002 Microsoft executive Yusuf Mehdi was visiting Goto.com and launched an effort to buy Overture the new name for Goto.com. But when in Spring 2003 Mehdi pitched buying Overture for $1 billion to Gates and Ballmer, both tore into the proposal saying that they could do it for less than the $1-2 billion price tag by doing it inhouse. By this time Google was already the dominant company in search ads and Overture was losing out. But even with hundreds of programmers Microsoft did not get its search engine ready till late 2004 and the search ad system in May 2006, about 3 years from the meeting with Mehdi. The resistance of founders to development of new products, is seen at HP for the personal computer which was later embraced, and at Honda where a new kind of engine had to be developed secretly without Soichiro Honda's knowledge. In both cases the product was developed successfully after initial resistance, but in the case of Microsoft the new ideas and people may have been smothered and development done to Microsoft's founders own inclinations for order, and treated the same way as its other products till it was too late. A factor not present to the same degree in HP and Honda's situation was the speed with which the internet developed and search engines like Google developed. So that in 8 years since its launch Google is firmly entrenched, and has 73% of search ad spending, with Yahoo at 13.3% and Microsoft a distant third. Google generated $5 billion in profits from this in 2008. By 2009 search ad spending is estimated to reach $12.3 billion....

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Kamala Harris describes her vision of The Opportunity Economy in an address at Wake Tech Community College in Raleigh, North Carolina. Like president Biden she wants to build America's Middle Class. When the Middle Class does well everyone does well, Biden says this many times. By contrast she said Trump's plan would cost Americans $3900 a year raising cost of living. Kamala Harris said- "And key — key to creating this opportunity economy is building up our middle class.  It is essential.  (Applause.) The middle class is one of America’s greatest strengths, and to protect it, then, we must defend basic principles — such as, your salary should be enough to provide you and your family with a good quality of life. (Applause.) Such as, no child should have to grow up in poverty.  (Applause.) Such as, after years of hard work, you should be able to retire with dignity.  (Applause.) And you should be able to join a union if you choose. Building up the middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency, because I strongly believe when the middle class is strong, America is strong. " (Applause.) Harris described the vision of president Trump, as a complete contrast- "Now compare what Donald Trump plans to do.  He wants to impose what is, in effect, a national sales tax on everyday products and basic necessities that we import from other countries.       That will devastate Americans.  It will mean higher prices on just about every one of your daily needs: a Trump tax on gas, a Trump tax on food, a Trump tax on clothing, a Trump tax on over-the-counter medication.       And, you know, economists have done the math.  Donald Trump’s plan would cost a typical family $3,900 a year.  ...

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With gas prices at $1.98 a gallon and crude at $55 a barrel in November and falling further are Americans going to need some special incentives or a gas tax not to go back to low fuel efficency or large vehicles? With about $1 trillion dollars of consumer debt in credit cards, auto and other loans and student loans, zero savings rate, and heavily in debt, and millions under water on their mortgages, the incentive is in the need to use the savings from lower gasoline bills to paydown debt. There is also the shift to parttime workers in the workforce a long term structural change similar to Japan after the economy became stagnant there. Parttime work means lower incomes and uncertain future and need to spend carefully. All these things will likely make the shift to higher fuel economy permanent, including legislative mandates, and new management at the automakers committed to serious conservation and the environment if government aid money brings new management at GM. And public habits are changing in how much and where they drive in pickups and SUV's, many using smaller cars and letting the SUV sit on the driveway for 2 or 3 car families....

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Applebaum describes how Obama as president took action on the stimulus after the 2008 financial crisis, but did not take the necessary action to stem foreclosures and aid a recovery in housing. This now appears to be one of the critical failures of his presidency.

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New Feb. 2024 dated debt issued by Portugal offers investors a yield of 5.20%. In Jan. 2014 Portugal issued 5 year debt for 3.25 billion euros. Plans are to raise 11-13 billion euros through bond issuance in 2014 to build up cash reserves and prefund needs for 2015. Refinancing needs are about 10 billion euros annually according to Moody's. The debt level has reached 128% of GDP by Jan 2014 after GDP declines and aid to struggling companies.

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It comes as a shock to central banks and is pressuring governments- the food price explosion that won't go away even as energy prices are moderating. OECD graphs in this WSJ report show food prices up in 2023 over the prior year by 15-20% in France, Germany and Britain, compared to 5-10% in the US, Canada and Japan. In France households have cut food purchases by 10%, and in Germany by 10.4% over prior year in the largest drop since records were being kept in 1994. In Britain the statistics agency shows that 40% of the poorest 20% of people are cutting back on food purchases. Ludovic Subran who worked at the UN World Food Program says it is an "access problem." Food production has not dropped, people just can't afford to pay the prices. In Britain The Resolution Foundation says higher food prices since 2020 means the British public by summer 2023 will have to pay more in food bills $35 billion more than the 25 billion pounds for energy bills. Policymakers call higher profit margins by retailers as a possible cause as in world commodity markets food prices are falling since April 2022. Andrew Baileyof the Bank of England says it is the "fourth shock to inflation" after the supply chain bottlenecks, the energy price increases from the war in Ukraine, the tight labor markets. In Italy, Spain and Portugal governments have offered sale tax relief, in France and the UK government is leaning on retailers to curb price increases. ...

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Ukraine leader Zelensky is expected to be in Washington to meet president Biden and to address the US Congress on December 21, 2022. A bill in Congress includes $44 billion for aid to Ukraine.

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The NYT's Thomas Erdbrink makes a road trip from Mashad in the west to Tehran, just before elections in 2017. He sees abandoned factories and other signs of the impact of sanctions particularly on small businesses. Iran's economy has not rebounded from the sanctions period in the way it was expected. Lower oil prices have had an impact. Signs of decay and the effect of sanctions on people's lives can be seen, including the isolation from the outside world. It reminds one of a road trip across Cuba following the lifting of sanctions recently.

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In this Agenda column Simon Nixon takes on the U.S. Treasury's criticism of Germany for its current account surplus of 7% of GDP in 2012, and not doing enough for the economies of southern Europe. The German government called it "incomprehensible." Nixon says it is better for the German economy to remain strong and to boost competitiveness and consumer spending in Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece. He says the low eurozone inflation of annualized 0.7% for September 2013, which prompted the ECB to cut rates by 0.25%, is healthy to the extent that consumer prices are declining to adjust to a decline in wages. The reduction in labor costs is a way to restore lost competitiveness, just as Germany did in the last decade. The criticism is considered by many economists to be misdirected, and seen as "incomprehensible" by Germans, as Germans ask what would the U.S. have them do- provide stimulus when the government debt to GDP ratio is currently 82%, increase wages and how would this help Southern Europeans. Focussing on Germany's current account surplus says Nixon, is obscuring the larger issues of increasing consumer and business confidence and spending in the eurozone, and increasing bank lending. The new ECB bank resolution arrangements and other changes including deposit insurance if done right should help the recapitalization and restructuring needed for restoring bank lending to support recovery. Spain is furthest along in regaining competitiveness, with changes in Portugal, Italy and Greece also supporting a gradual return to growth....

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Nathaniel Taplin of the WSJ says the tariffs put on $50 billion high tech products by the U.S. and retaliatory tariffs on $50 billion products are not about a trade war but a way both countries will negotiate setting out their two positions.  A look at the role of foreign firms in China shows China has access to new technology using these firms as a conduit and these firms are also generating more jobs, being highly productive. These firms Taplin says will set back their investments if no agreement is reached or if it is harder to bring Chinese made products into the U.S. At this time China badly needs this investment and technology access because of their dynamism compared to inefficient state run firms as it struggles under a massive debt load with very high debt to GDP ratio.  A major issue is job growth as companies getting foreign investment are much more effective in jobs generation, delivering 10% of all urban job growth from 2007 to 2016, using just 5.5% of total investment. Return on assets at 9% compares to 4% at state run firms. If this dynamism is reduced or affected in some way China could have to provide more unproductive debt buildup stimulus.  For these reasons China has good reason to make concessions, says Taplin. Trump administration will ask for greater semiconductor purchases, much looser joint venture or foreign ownership requirements, higher Chinese payment for U.S. intellectual property. For all these reasons this is not about a trade war but about serious negotiations taking place so that there is a level playing field in the next phase of competition in high tech between the U.S., China and the E.U. changing the dynamics of the trade relationship in ways that reverse the trends of the past. ...

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In this address to Congress in April 2021 US president Biden offers his plan to invest in American families and people. He calls it "a blue collar blueprint to build America." It also comes from a blue collar family to which Biden belongs with generations of American workers in the Biden family in the last hundred years who built America in the past.

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Erlanger and Smale of the NYT describe the reaction in Europe, from Chatham House in London, Bruegel think tank in Brussels, and the German Council of Foreign Relations in Berlin, to the election results in the first round in France. There is a sense of relief that the poll results held and that Macron is the front runner, yet a sense that the issues of social justice, taking account of the marginalized need to be addressed. The parliamentary elections in June, soon after the second round of voting, are also seen as a factor as governing without the support of the legislature would mean very little gets done. For the first time the main parties are not being represented in the presidential office, with a fractured Socialist party and the Republican Party candidate not in the second round.  The Dutch elections, followed by the French and German elections could push back the populism in a negative direction of withdrawing from the global community and openness in the economy.  The economic reform message of  Macron resonates in Germany, as France suffers from high unemployment and needs to build a stronger economy. A stronger French economy is the sure way to bring French people together after the divisions of the current election.       ...

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With 80% of its exports going to the U.S. the growth rate and jobs in Mexico are seeing the impact Finance Minister Carstens expects no growth in 2009. As Mexico's finances are in better shape than in past recessions there is room for some stimulus projects by Petroleos Mexicanos, the government oil company, by auctioning 2 highway projects, for expanding unemployment benefits, and giving $150 million in aid to industries hit by the credit crisis. About 250,000 manufacturing jobs were lost in the last few months of 2008.

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Willingham of the NYT points to the crisis in the U.S.as many adults with high school education lack even the most basic skills to understand or check facts. National Assessment of Education Progress tests show little progress over 30 years. He cites the tests from the National Assessment of Adult Literacy for 2003 showing 95% of the people could not compare two editorial opinions and check a table for the facts.  Willingham says the problems are the lack of vocabulary, the lack of knowledge of usable facts that writers assume the reader knows.   Building and providing knowledge intensive education early on in earlier grades is needed. Standardized tests need to check for this knowledge so that it builds up. Don't ask about random topics, if a child is taught knowledge on New Zealand, he should be tested with questions on New Zealand. The Common Core Standards neglect this importance of content intensive, content rich information in curriculums. Massachusetts improved education by emphasizing knowledge. High information texts should be used in early grades so that children pickup knowledge early on and build on this grade after grade. The important thing is no to see reading comprehension as a skill but something that is intertwined with knowledge, the more knowledge exposure one has early on the better so that reading comprehension grows quickly and advances. Willingham brings up the idea that technology is not the culprit, it is not the answer either. What is important is to correctly grasp the need for vocabulary and knowledge and push this in the early grades to get good reading comprehension that advances grade after grade. Also important is getting children excited about reading, to get their imagination to work with knowledge gained, so that they pursue reading inside and outside the classroom and become regular readers.  ...