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The New Popular Front in France is a group of socialist partties that include the Socialist Party of former president Mitterand, the France Unbowed of Jean Melenchon, other left parties, and the Greens. NFP has put out its economic plan for France, RN National Rally has not. NFP puts out the details that can make it possible to raise the minimum wage in France to euros 1600 a month. And to invest in France's aging infrastructure the way Biden is doing in the US. About $100-$150 billion needed for the economic plan would come from contributions and taxes of the wealthiest similar to Biden's plan in the US. It also rejects the so called neo liberal thinking and culture that has become entrenched in France, in Europe and in the US where infrastructure is failing, public services are failing yet the wealthiest are not paying their fair share in taxes so that the countries of Europe and America can be rebuilt and renewed, to provide a better life for all.

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In this economy there is wide divergence in the US for upper income people earning well on assets they own at 5%+ for extra income and the lower middle classes wage earners that are struggling even with low unemployment and inflation at 3%. WSJ looks at these two divergent parts of the US economy and what can be done. Inflation could be worse with higher Trump tariffs on imports, says WSJ. The situation is a difficult one for families struggling even with higher incomes, as this one in Michigan in the WSJ, that finds it necessary to take money out of savings with prices higher but not reflected in inflation statistics of 3%. One example is higher housing and apartment rental costs with 25% of families having to spend over 50% of their income on home rental leaving little for food and expenses. President Biden has called for limiting price increases on home and apartment rentals to 5%, and Harris has proposed aid for families spending more than 30% of household income on housing costs. Strong action is needed. ...

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Improving business conditions and lower unemployment are helping president Macron of France recover from a drop in popularity following the yellow vest protests. Macron tackled the crisis by changing his style of governance from top down to a listener style with regular town hall meetings and meetings with people who were critical of his government. Recent poll from Elabe shows 33% approve of the French leader compared to 23% in December 2018 at the height of the yellow vest protests. The yellow vest protests were from people who felt left out at the lower end of the wage scale who were protesting increasing inequality. Macron also offered minimum wage earners billions of dollars and shelved his economic agenda till he had a better grasp of the French public's opinions. The recovery in the economy means Macron has more flexibility in taking up priority items in the national agenda. The French pension system is fragmented with about 43 different plans, with some plans for transport workers offering generous retirement by age 52. The system is also likely to go into deficit of 10 billion euros in 2022. Brazil has run into major economic crisis from generous pension plans taking up a major part of the budget. Macron wants to increase the number of years people work before they collect pensions, not just increase the retirement age of 62. Most major European countries are at 65 years retirement age, the U.S. is at 66 years. Transport workers paralysed the nation's transport system including subways and bus systems recently to keep their generous benefits. Macron sees himself as promoting a national agenda similar to India for GST, and other countries tackling shortfall in pension systems by increasing the retirement age, even though in the short run people who benefit from the old system oppose it. By addressing grievances at the lower wage levels and tackling glaring issues in the way benefits such as pensions are distributed Macron can win enough support to offset the opposition of entrenched groups. Lawyers will see their pension contributions double for lower benefits and are opposing the pensions overhaul. For decades workers in different groups or sectors took to the streets in protest making any changes even if well thought out and in the national interest hard to make in France. By taking on entrenched groups tactically and first letting the groups express their sentiment before announcing top down changes, and by being an empathetic listener, Macron is showing that he has learned a lot from the past year without losing his sense of what is best for France. It just maybe that in the short run there is an offset gaining some support from neutral groups and losing support of entrenched groups. Yet in the long run when the dust settles there is more overall support particularly through empathetic listening and carefully planned flexible approach to making changes that improve the economy and reduce unemployment. ...

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U.S. President Richard Nixon adopted Keynesian policies to boost the economy after tightening monetary policy failed in 1970. In 1971 Nixon turned to higher fiscal spending to get the economy closer to full employment. He also adopted wage and price controls. By 1972 the economy had recovered, inflation was at 5.7% and unemployment at 4.9%, and Nixon won re-election. This was the only recovery in an election year since World War II. In international affairs Nixon's policy was to leave the Bretton Woods system and floating the dollar. With a new administration in 1974 inflation surged to 11% and unemployment to 5.6%, because wage and price controls worked only for a short period.

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Mike Atherton on India vs England Test cricket series in June-July 2025. It is seen as a Test series for the ages, India vs England 2025. Looking back at the series Australia vs West Indies in 1960 when the Test ended in a tie when Gary Sobers and Richie Benaud were players for their teams, one finds this one drawing the same level of excitement and suspense. The whole series of 5 tests was filled with suspense, Pant's theatrics, Gill's brilliant batting matching world records set by Don Bradman and Jadeja's all rounder performance with bat and ball matching that of Gary Sobers. Bowling was not far behind with Bumrah, Siraj and Stokes.  The England team and the Indian team were evenly matched with Ben Stokes,Root and Woakes, Atkinson, English players giving it their all. Woakes was injured dislocating his shoulder in an effort to save a boundary, such was the fielding effort on the Oval grounds in the final test. Woakes turned up to bat in much pain, but did not face any balls thanks to Atkinson. Stokes bowled overs almost to exhaustion to miss the last Test.  ...

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Argentine president Christina Kirchner asks trade unions to accept wage increases of 18% instead of 25%. Estimates of inflation in Argentina range from 20% to 25%. Official estimates of 10% inflation are highly understated.

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US President DJT says about the Monroe Doctrine on the White House site- "The American people- not foreign nations or globalist institutions- will always control their own destiny in this hemisphere."    DJT says about the Monroe Doctrine -"On December 2, 1823, the doctrine of American sovereignty was immortalized in prose when President James Monroe declared before the Nation a simple truth that has echoed throughout the ages:  The United States will never waver in defense of our homeland, our interests, or the well-being of our citizens.  Today, my Administration proudly reaffirms this promise under a new “Trump Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine:  That the American people—not foreign nations nor globalist institutions—will always control their own destiny in our hemisphere." The fentanyl crisis with more dead from drug trafficking in the US across all of the neighborhoods and communities of the Nation than the Korean and Vietnam Wars, World War 1 combined, is of very serious consequences for the White House and the DJT administration. It requires nothing less than the assertion of the Monroe Doctrine so that nothing like this happens again, or is exported from countries in this western hemisphere to dangerously affect the wellbeing of the American People. ...

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Krugman points out the risks for the U.S. economy as the U.S. loses export competitiveness with the euro reaching parity with the dollar. The huge shift from $1.50 to the dollar at one point to parity gives Europe a sudden strong boost. Europe needs the boost to escape a deflationary trap, and there is little that can be done for capital flows and exchange rates, says Krugman. He points out that many Federal Reserve governors were clueless of the impact this could have on U.S. growth, sanguinely assuming the U.S. would boost growth in 2015. Better says Krugman for the Fed to be very careful about raising rates at a time when wage growth is sluggish, and inflation low.

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This editorial page opinion in The Economist says the increasing concentration in business is a real problem today. It says tech companies like Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon are entrenching through acquisitions of smaller companies and startups leading to an unhealthy level of concentration, and control of entire markets. More competition is needed so that startups and smaller companies can grow, and new ideas or ways of doing things get a chance. A big problem is tax avoidance with individuals paying taxes like everybody else, and large tech companies like Google and Apple having the option to not have to pay just like everybody else. It calls for a "tough-but-considered" approach to tax avoidance. Its not that the money saved in taxes goes back to support millions of people hired by the industry through workers wages and future investment that builds a future for workers and the company. It cites figures showing 1.2 million employed in the top 3 carmakers in the U.S. auto industry in 1990, and only 137,000 employed by the top 3 companies in Silicon Valley including Apple and Google with capitalization of about $1 trillion.This contributes to a sense of unfairness that is being expressed in voter sentiment in the 2016 elections, especially with the wide divergence in the way that the top 45 percent has done in net worth of over $400,000 in 2013, after the 5% which is in the millions, and the bottom 50 percent at average overall net worth of $25,000 in 2013. A huge disparity that  U.S. Federal Reserve chairwoman Yellen, who cited these figures at a Boston Fed conference in Oct. 2014, says is "near their highest levels in the last one hundred years and probably much higher than for much of American history before then."  ...

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NYT fails to see the importance of delivering on infrastructure building in scale, reshoring, wages and jobs for workers, and climate change action that president Biden is achieving to build a better America. NYT looks at the 2023 and the midterm elections and points out a well known fact that women (and men) in the suburbs care about legalized abortion rights for women, and this extends to states that vote Republican in the south. No attention is given to the importance of infrastructure building, increasing wages and jobs for working class and middle class Americans, bringing factories and investment back to the US, three issues that brought Mr. Trump into office in 2016 coming out of nowhere. Mr. Biden is old is the refrain. Yet it is president Biden who has delivered on infrastructure where Mr. Trump merely talked about it -Building America Better- as Biden pointed out in the State of the Union address in 2023. Biden has delivered in support for wage increases for workers, even joining the picket line at the UAW auto workers strike in Detroit. He was able to do this because he has spent more years in Congress than any other senator, and like Lyndon Johnson for the Great Society programs and desegregation in the 1960's was able to win support from moderate Republicans. Being older, having the wisdom and experience was and is indispensable in the American project started by Washington and sustained by Lincoln, who nurtured wisdom, experience, fully comprehending the people's problems, and mindfulness in the way Mr. Biden does. ...

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Revisions to China's tax code will change the lowest level of monthly income subject to tax from 2000 yuan to 3000 yuan. The minimum wage of workers in Beijing is 1160 yuan ($178) a month.

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Chnages to Mexico's labor laws passed in Congress and to be signed by president Calderon include companies having to pay only one year of back wages to laidoff workers for lawsuits on unfair dismissals. The law also formalized part-time work and temproary training contracts. The effort is likely to foster greater formalization of the workforce and push fewer workers into the underground economy. About 29% of Mexican workers are in the underground economy, where worker protections and legal benefits are lacking. Also made part of the law an yearly audit of union finances and election by secret ballot for unions. Mexico's large public sectors form a core base for support of the newly elected PRI government.

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Krugman cites Apple as the largest company in the U.S. in terms of its valuation but having only 43,000 employees in the U.S. He asks the question- why does Apple get most of its manufacturing done in China? Apple indirectly employs about 700,000 people at its suppliers, with most of them in China. Companies contribute to a country's economy by creating successful clusters of research, innovation and manufacturing. In Apple's case, to the great detriment of the U.S. economy, the manufacturing part is being done entirely overseas. If cost is the only factor for this, then the question remains how German manufacturing has managed to surivive and grow with wages that are higher than in the U.S.

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The need for food banks is most severe in the post industrial north of Britain. Five years of austerity measures 2009-2013 have left their mark, as have rising prices and stagnant wages. Average hourly earnings are up 7% in that period while the cost of living is up 20%. About 500,000 people are dependent on food aid, triple the number in 2012, according to the Trussell Trust, a Christian charity. A conservative MP says 1 in 5 children go to bed hungry in his constituency of Wycombe. In Hull, one in three children live under the poverty line. Food charities doing most of their work in Africa, now concentrate efforts in the north of Britain.

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67,000 factories closed down in China in the first half of this year. Things got a lot worse in the importing countries of the US and western Europe after October 2008 so the closedowns will have accelerated. This will have asignificant impact on the export sector and foreign investment that has propelled the economy so far. It will also create unemployment, and if back wages are not paid local governments may have to step in or there will be unrest among the laid off workers. Much of the rural migrant workers who came to the coastal provinces might now have to go back to their villages in fact reversing some of the urbanization tht has happened.

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A new California law Assembly Bill 5 is designed to provide legal protections to workers at independent contractors, including Lyft and Uber ride sharing companies. California Gov. Gavin Newsom says "the hollowing out of our middle class has been 40 years in the making and the need to create lasting economic security for our workforce demands action." This could lead to gig workers being classified as employees, or if renegotiated would enable gig workers to organize as unions to negotiate with the companies. Lyft and Uber have proposed as an alternative to raise the minimum wage to $21 an hour, and a fund to pay for sick leave.

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This piece in the oped pages of the WPost reminds readers about one conspicuous failure at General Motors, the failure in good labor relations. It quotes columnist Marquis Childs during the booming business years of the war, July 10, 1944. Childs wrote about a visit to Detroit where he saw a broad gulf between business leaders and labor leaders, between management and workers, where he said they could not hear each other except when they raised their voices. By 1958 when the auto sales had dropped and strikes loomed, the union demands during negotiations were described by the WPost in an editorial as extravagant proposals. Elsewhere in the coverage on Alfred Sloan's contribution, one writer describes Sloan's success as a manager but also points to his failure to setup good labor relations. This failure played an important part in GM's eventual failure and filing for bankruptcy on June 1, 2009.

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Expectations of inflation are rising but how serious should one take signals of expected inflation from gauging consumer sentiment and other gauges of inflation expectations. As the economy slows down it should keep wages and prices incheck especially with flexible labor markets as in the USA. The ECB takes these inflation expectations seriously and has increased rates cautiously whereas the Fed is taking note of inflation but has taken a neutral stance withinterest rates.

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How inflation and particularly food prices are bringing people out on the streets to protest in the Arab countries, in the Emirates and in Egypt. With the oil prices and huge investments in Arab countries comes inflation in all prices and hit commodities and food the hardest making life difficult for the poor and lower classes even as wages are stagnant. Something to watch carefully as the Arab countries go through unprecedented change.

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Labor conditions in Chinese factories that supply Walmart, Disney, Dell and other companies and in China's manufacturing in general.

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The downturn starting in the 2008 financial crisis destroyed a huge portion of the average American's personal wealth- some estmates running to 40%. This was followed by periods of unemployment which depleted savings accounts, lower wage jobs, and followed by further erosion of savings accounts with little or no interest. The gains on the stock market have one problem- the benefits go in large part to affluent Americans who are already well prepared for retirement. A U.S. Senate report shows a huge retirement savings deficit- about $6.6 trillion, which comes to $57,000 for every American household.

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Supreme Court protects parent opt out of LGBTQ stories and requiring age verification for porn sites. Texas was where the civil rights movement got its support from president LBJ, a Democrat and FDR follower. And still Texas vote for the age verification for porn sites was voted for with support being 164-1. Yet Elena Kagan, who was a Harvard legal scholar, now Supreme Court Justice did not support this decision, and offered a flaky and irresponsible dissent- “Carefully drawn age verification laws stand a real chance of surviving.” What about the harm done to minors while the scholars quibble about legal writing. Kagan was in elite schools all her life, Hunter high school in NYC, Princeton Worcester Oxford, Harvard Law School,  and deputy assistant to Clinton, before Clinton's economic aide Summers picked her for Harvard Law School Dean, and Obama picked her for SC Justice. In 2025 these elitist backgrounds have failed, and are failing to address the problems of the Nation in a direct common sense way as faced by ordinary Americans and even by the 164 of 165 members of the Texas state legislature, which is saying a lot. A search shows failure of Google and of AI after search of 10 pages on Google no mention is found that the vote in Texas legislature was 164 to 1. Parents have to protect their rights and 22 states are now passing this law. ...

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Goldman Sach economists say that technological improvements have increased productivity but this is not reflected in the statistics. Statistical measurement is an issue they say. Economists at JP Morgan Chase say the problem is that many of the technological improvements have not increased productivity in manufacturing, and there is a misallocation of resources to apps such as Uber and new products that do not increase productivity in the economy. Their view is that this is not a measurement issue, the drop in productivity makes sense and is very real. Compared to earlier shifts in technology this one has provided little in the way of serious improvement.

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Germany's traditional parties the SPD and the CDU get a lift in the polls with new leaders who move the parties to the left and the right after years of grand coalitions between the SPD that led to both parties moving to the centre. This created an opening for new parties at the extreme right and extreme left. Kramp-Karrenbauer the CDU leader has taken a hard line on immigration and the SPD leaders are returning to support Germans on issues such as wages, and guaranteed income for pensioners. 74% of Germans think that this is the right thing to do to rebuild the identities the parties had in the past. The SPD is back up to 18% after hitting a low of 14% support in polls. Many SPD rank and file supporters were never comfortable with the SPD's move to join Merkel CDU in coalitions that undermined the message the SPD sent out to the German public. This has hurt the SPD. Merkel's preference for centrist positions not only undermined the SPD party of Willy Brandt, it also undermined the CDU when it comes to immigration and the acceptance of large numbers of refugees. All this is now changing as the Merkel era ends.   ...