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U.S. Federal Reserve chairwoman Janet Yellen's speech at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston conference on inequality was remarkable in the clear focus on the increase in inequality of the last three decades. Yellen calls it "the most sustained rise in inequality since the nineteenth century." Yellen also described the stark inequality between the lower half of households and those at the top- "The lower half of households by wealth held just 3 percent of wealth in 1989 and only 1 percent in 2013. To put that in perspective... the average net worth of the lower half of the distribution, representing 62 million households, was $11,000 in 2013. About one fourth of these families reported zero wealth or negative net worth, and a significant fraction of those said they were "underwater" on their home mortgages, owing more than the value of the home." Without saying this explicitly Yellen has accepted the Fed's own role in this situation under Greenspan and Bernanke. Under Bernanke Yellen was vicechairwoman. Yellen participated in many of the decisions of the Fed that kept interest rates low- hurting savers and those who could not take the risks of a volatile stock market. Yet Yellen has shown courage in stating the problem with all the facts she could muster, and making clear that Fed sees the long term unemployed as a critical driver for Fed policy....

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"Trees not Warehouses" read signs protesting the building of more warehouse space in the US as residents protest the bringing of more noise, pollution and heavy duty trucks to their neighborhoods.Companies added over 1.5 billion square feet of new industrial space across the US from 2017, says this report in WSJ. A similar wave of building industrial space is taking place in Europe for warehouses. Communities from Pittsburgh to Madison, Wisconsin and neighborhoods in expanding logistics regions in Southern California and eastern Pennsylvania. Many say their communities are under siege. To get goods to people faster companies are still planning but have not made the shift to bringing construction back home or closer to home so that this kind of huge warehousing space is no longer needed. Much of this warehousing space may no longer be needed as more sustainable, more reliable,  shorter supply chains take the place of current ones that have concentrated all manufacturing in one country, China, at the hidden costs to local communities and companies. Through many hidden costs that have not been fully quantified in terms of quality of living in communities, loss of jobs and infrastructure through loss of tax revenues, carbon footprint of products shipped over thousands of miles, hidden logistics costs, rampant inflation in logistics costs, and significant loss of manufacturing knowhow that cannot be easily replaced. This is a result of decades of building such supply chains that no longer fit the needs of today. ...

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Italy is investing the $225 billion of EU funds to modernize its economy under Mario Draghi. Draghi has shown in his first year that he can spend the funds wisely and invest in areas of the economy that need investments most. In the past year he has tackled problems including the slowness of the judicial system, modernizing an inefficient bureaucracy, and liberalizing wide parts of of the services sector. Draghi plans to invest EU grants in digital and physical infrastructure, education, environmental protection, and other needs for the long term. Before being chosen to lead the government Draghi was head of the Italian Treasury and central bank. He then headed the European Central Bank helping southern European countries tackle the debt crisis at a difficult time when Germany under Merkel pursued strict austerity policies and insisted on these policies for all eurozone countries. This report in WSJ shows the prevailing opinion in Italy is strongly in favor of Draghi staying on as prime minister till 2023 because of the confidence people inside Italy and in the European Union have in his leadership and discipline for making the investments to modernize Italy. Draghi told school children in Rome that "the most important thing is what you are doing right now," showing he understands the importance of providing Italy with the leadership it needs today.  ...

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An unimaginable gap exists between whites and Asian students in California in educational opportunity which poses risks for social cohesion in the US. Asian Americans in the UC California system are overrepresented in the colleges to an extent that would have been unimaginable in the 1950's. With just 15% of the population of California Asian Americans makeup over 40% of the UC college system. By comparison Whites have lost ground in a way that would have also been unimaginable in the 1950's with only 18% in UC colleges and 37% of the population.

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Ingram says Obama's 2015 budget is more of a wish list for Democrats, because 2015 spending levels are already set and House Republicans will put together their own budget putting forward the Republican views. Obama's budget includes new taxes on busiess and the wealthy to reduce the deficit. Other ideas- raise tobacco taxes to pay for universal pre-K education, a "Fianncial Crisis Responsibility Fee" on big banks, overhaul immigraion laws to increase tax revenues, limit itemized deductions for the rich, force drug companies to give large rebates on Medicare prescriptions. Another proposal is a $56 billion "Opportunity, Growth and Security" Initiative, for spending on early childhood education, job training, and medical research. To pay for this he would cut the amount wealthy people can save tax free for retirement, cut crop insurance and raise airline security fees.

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The US Senate filibuster rule that requires 60 votes for the budget to pass is a relic of the civil rights days, today it prevents Republicans from ending the shutdown by majority vote. Republicans used it when Democrats controlled the House and Senate and Senate Majority Leader Thune does not want to drop the filibuster as it acts to ensure no hasty legislation or budget is passed without some form of overall consensus. It also means that situations such as a government shutdown can happen when the opposition party in the Senate uses it to make it demands be met. In this case Democrats Schumer and Jeffries are asking Republicans to include money for subsidies for the Obama Affordable Care Act enrollees- about 22 million people signed up for this part of the ACA to receive generous subsidies for healthcare. These subsidies are not part of the Big Beautiful Bill of DJT that passed Congress and was signed into law. Unions and airline executives are calling on Democrats to end the shutdown as it disrupts air traffic at airports, and leads to cuts in SNAP and other benefits, and to lack of pay checks for government employees. ...

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Emmanuel Macron faces a challenging situation in  the 2022 second round. He badly needs left wing supporters of Mr. Melenchon who came with one percentage point of right wing Marie Le Pen. Macron had expressed right wing sentiments about immigration and terrorism even more than Le Pen during the year leading upto this election. That this has alienated some left wing supporters is evident in a nIpsos poll for FR24 that shows 30% or about a third of the 22% of the voters that supported former Socialist candidate Jean Luc-Melenchon are likely to vote for Le Pen, who has campaigned on the issue of cost of living and softened her image and position on the European Union. 34% of Melenchon's supporters said they will support Macron and 36% said they are undecided. It is this undecided vote that could make a difference. Add to this the 25% of the voters who did not vote at all and the election depends on who can convince this segment. To reach these voters is Macron's main concern in the 2 weeks before the second round of the election on April 24. Macron says he will campaign hard-"from dawn to dusk, in direct contact with voters." He will have to offer something that convinces working class voters who some see he has humiliated during his first term.  ...

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On Gandhi Jayanti a look at American president FDR's contribution for Hind Swaraj. It could be said that Cordell Hull's speech (full text here) on July 23, 1942 on Roosevelt's clear direction was a form of declaration of independence for India by the US in 1943. This is also why there was nothing different Clement Attlee could do after winning the British election in 1945 except send Mountbatten to India to prepare for a Free India. 

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U.S. Secretary of State Kerry visits Tunisia in Nov. 2015 and offers economic aid with $500 million in loan guarantees.

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What happens in the minds of captains of cricket teams from Australia and England as they engaged in the Ashes cricket Test series under captains such as Vaughan and Cook going back to 1932-33 series is the subject of this essay in The Times. The secrets, the tactics and strategy, the mind setting, for what is a major event in the lives of the players and the people of the two countries. Everything from the role of the fast bowling, the wives and distractions for players, the mood in each country, the stress of losing 5-0 and maintaining a calm look are all part of this story of the amazing Ashes series.

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China and Huawei lack the manufacturing capabilities needed to make some of the component parts that go into 5G systems. The U.S. Commerce Department in May restricted chip makers globally who use U.S. technology from supplying semiconductors to Huawei. This means Taiwan's Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company which uses U.S. technology in manufacturing 5G component parts cannot supply Huawei.

This gives the U.S. and Japan, South Korea to catch up with initiatives of their own to match China's state subsidies model that finances its semiconductor companies and 5G companies. 

U.S. Undersecretary of State Keith Krach says "We've utilized the strengths of semiconductor equipment companies and electronic design software companies to eliminate Huawei's access to the necessary sophisticated chips to build 5G systems and their most sophisticated smartphones." Huawei he says is a security threat to the U.S.

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DJT pulling back student lending as a way to get universities and colleges to reduce prices. This is the first time any administration has done this. Universities have increased prices to the point where costs for tution are no longer affordable by a majority of the American people, and are now beyond the reach of the middle class or the working class of the Nation. Universities through management not sensitive to the Nation's needs and the needs of the American people, have kept raising tution to the point that it can cost more than the average salary in the US of $66,000 and more than 1.5 times the after tax income of $50,000 just to pay tution for an undergraduate degree- simply outrageous that educational institutions had forgotten their mission.

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A critical point mentioned is that for a heavy polluter like China, the slowdown means less production of heavy industry like cement and steel that produces few jobs and has large emissions. The slowdown is an opportunity to make a transition to a greener economy that creates more jobs. The spokesperson for the European Commission says it depends on the vision and foresight of European, American and Chinese leadership whether they use the transition as a short term bitter apple to create new sectors that help in conservation, the environment, and for jobs, all at the same time. Government incentives and mandates, education, and leadership may be critical to doing this. Business and the private sector and markets can be shortsighted in this respect, and lack the will and staying power to see it through, leading to suboptimal results at best or destructive results as critical time is lost in indecision or inaction.

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WSJ looks at how the case of Meng Wanzhou and the US Justice Department was settled. In early September the case of Canadians held by China was brought by Biden when he talked to Xi Jinping. Xi brought up the case of Meng, the daughter of Huawei's founder and CFO of the company. Meng was detained in 2018 in Vancouver at the request of US authorites for wire and bank fraud charges related to US sanctions on Iran. The case took a new turn in May when Meng hired a new lawyer William Taylor. Justice Department said it was willing to separate Meng's case from the case against Huawei. Meng's lawyer agreed to have Meng admit to doing what they said she did.  Both US and China wanted to remove an irritant in US Chinese relations. On September 19 Mr. Taylor sent a draft of what she was prepared to admit for wrongdoing. This was the basis of the statement of facts attached to her deferred prosecution agreement and release from Vancouver. The 2 Canadians were then immediately released from China- the Canadians had no knowledge of what had happened. ...

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Rate of diabetes is rapidly going up in India. In addition scientists have shown that Indians are more prone to diabetes if they are obese to the same extent as someone from Canada or the U.S. This is called thin-fat diabetes- a higher impaired glucose intolerance- and comes from centuries of body changes following famine in parts of the country from failure of monsoon rains. The obesity rate is going up dramatically and with it diabetes is up significantly.  From 6.4% obese or overweight in 1990, by 2017 18.8% are obese or overweight, according to Health Metrics and Evaluation Institute of the University of Washington. The International Diabetes Federation now predicts 123 million with diabetes in India by 2040. By 2017 diabetes rates went up from 1990- from 5.5% to 7.7% or 63 million people. The major problem in South Asian countries and in China is the growing use of packaged and processed foods, fast food and carbonated drinks. Efforts to prevent the sale of junk foods is a battle being fought between private citizens and the large processed foods companies such as Coca Cola, Pepsi and Nestle. This is the subject of this article with Mr. Verma taking the case to the Delhi High Court facing large opposition. Mr. Verma left his job as a marketing executive as he took care of his sick child. He filed a case in the Delhi High Court in 2010, and faces the opposition of the India Food Processors Association- so far there is little progress.   ...

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With the hype around AI and the propagandizing by people like Altman, Microsoft, and others AI got to the point where it made up 34% of the S&P 500 capitalization, and all time high for 7 of the large companies since 1980. Nvidia who makes the chips for AI  making up about 6.8% of the S&P 500, contributing to a quarter of the total return on the S&P 500 index in 2024.

Till someone in China figured out a way to do it at 5.6% of what it costs in the US for the high flying AI companies in the US. 

 

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The other title of this article in the NYT was "California's fading Political Machines and volatile race for Governor." Gone are the days when Pat Brown was able to put his son Jerry Brown in the race for governor, there are 9 persons running for governor of California in 2026. The current governor Gavin Newsom is said to be promoting his book in Nashville, Tennessee, where many Californians are moving with the inflated cost of housing in the state. Gavin Newsom's grand father gave a $5000 check to Pat Brown in 1943 to run for District Attorney, this report says citing the book. From that time Pat Brown became Attorney General and then governor of California in 1958, defeating Richard Nixon in 1962. In 1962 Pat Brown seemed vulnerable as his signature accomplishment setting up the UC system of college campuses and the water reservoir, tax increases to pay for this, were in their beginning stages and their lasting value not recognized at the time. Nixon from Whittier, California, was a former Vice President and was seen as likely winner. This toughly fought election created the Pat Brown myth and so called machine that helped his son Jerry Brown to two terms as governor 1975 to 1983, and again after serving as Mayor of Oakland and Attorney General to come back to governors race again in 2011 (because term limits came after 2011) and be governor again 2011-2018. Another way of looking at it is that in his last two terms it was also Jerry Brown's careful balancing of the budget and finances of the state, his environmental support, that made him a reliable figure for the public interest not just the political machine backing him.  California to be sure has had popular governors on both sides Reagan won in 1966 as governor of California to succeed Pat Brown. The Kennedys and Pat Brown are matched by the Reagan supporters in the state. In today's situation where China's dominance in industry and manufacturing has affected all parts of deindustrialized America, California is no exception, where much of the middle class has seen their savings eroded, the issues are different and the challenges are different. ...

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Consumer issues raised in CCTV's 315 broadcasts named after World Consumer Rights Day. There is new energy in CCTV reporters now that consumer rights are a priority under the new administration of Jinping-Li Keqiang. Companies that have come up for review include food companies McDonald's, Yum Brands, retailer Carrefour, Automobile company VW, and computer/smartphone company Apple. Foreign companies operating in China are now expected to follow the high standards they maintain in their home markets or come up for review.

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The amazing story of 15 million tons of clothing coming to Ghana each week with 40% of this ending up in landfills and in water, polluting ecosystems, because of the poor quality of clothing, is shown in DW.com's Science section. Even a relatively developed country with awareness about ecology faces such a problem today. The good intentions of western consumers are not working, with more rags ending up in landfills causing environmental damage in Africa. A recent report showed this ending up as far away as the Atacama desert in Chile. When this stuff ends up on beaches and in the water it causes damage the way the indiscriminate use of plastics has already done.