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German chancellor Merkel met with leaders of Germany's 16 federal states to come up with an exit plan for reopening the economy from the lockdown in phases. In the first phase shops with up to 800 square metres of space will reopen on April 20. Bookshops, libraries, car dealers, bicycle shops, and museums will open too. Larger retailers will wait till May 4 to reopen. On May 4 school children in primary school can attend school and teenagers can take exams. Germany has 133,000 infected cases, 3592 deaths. Merkel warned that the performance with coronavirus was "fragile and provisional success" and the need for social distancing measures. A ban on gatherings of more than 2 people from separate households will remain in place till May 1. The government will strongly recommend that face masks be worn in public and in shops, public transport. Mass events will be prohibited till September. Bars clubs and restaurants will remain closed at least till May 3, or beyond. ...

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Under the rules for the European currency and the European Union there is no mechanism or process of fines or other sanctions to promote compliance to debt and deficit rules. In the case of Greece, an examination of budget reports shows that Greece never met the deficit rule of 3% for any year except 2006 and it has never been within 30 percentage points of the debt ceiling. Greece's statistics are faulty and deficit figures are continually being revised upwards. Several times the figures were quadruple what was initially reported in late 2009, for instance the deficit figure was 3.7% of GDP, then revised to 13% of GDP, setting off the current crisis for the Euro and the European Union. In 2001 Greece failed to reflect $2.2 billon in military expenses. According to Eurostat, the EU statistics authority this was 10 times what was saved from the derivatives swap arranged by Goldman Sachs to trim Greece's deficit. That transaction trimmed the deficit by one tenth of a percentage point.

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Indian finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman meets IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva to discuss impact of the geopolitical situation on world growth especially oil prices. Sitharaman said India was pursuing a policy of strong federal spending with capital expenditures increasing by 35% for fiscal 2022-23 to continue a public investment led recovery, raising capital expenditures from 5.5 lakh crore rupees to 7.5 lakh crore rupees. Indian GDP growth is now expected at 8-8.5%, the highest of large economies. Sitharaman also met with Indonesian finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati on the sidelines of G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting and discussed the current global situation.

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China's Environment Ministry has not released the results of a soil survey from across China. Independent estimates from Nanjing Agricultural University in a 2007-2008 survey showed about 10% of rice in China contaminated by high levels of cadmium. In May 2013 officials found a large number of samples of rice from markets in Guangzhou contaminated with cadmium. Cadmium is a carcinogenic metal that damages the kidneys and weakens bones when unknowingly taken in excessive levels.

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The monopoly over news publishing in the UK began in 1981 with the purchase of loss making The Times through negotiations with the trade unions.  As shown in The Guardian Rupert Murdoch met with Margaret Thatcher on Jan 3 1981 weeks before the matter was brought up by Thatcher at a cabinet meeting so that it would not be referred to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission. This is revealed in the Thatcher papers held at the Churchill archives in Cambridge 30 years after the event in 2012. This was the year Ronald Reagan's administration replaced Jimmy Carter's administration in 1981. In 2022 Tories Secretary Nadine Torries removed controls that protected the editorial independence of The Times. 

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It is only 10 days from the Thursday July 4 election night and Keir Starmer went to work immediately Here is what he said today: "My new cabinet hit the ground running. We’ve lifted the ban on onshore wind. We’ve created a national wealth fund to invest in and grow our economy. We’ve met NHS bosses to get the 40,000 extra NHS appointments we need each week and 700,000 urgent dental appointments up and running as quickly as possible. The Department for Education is resuming and expanding its recruitment campaign to kickstart our promise to hire 6,500 new teachers. We’re taking emergency measures to pull the justice system back from the brink of collapse. And, on day one, we scrapped the Rwanda gimmick and began setting up a new Border Security Command to smash the people-smuggling gangs for good. Now is the time for politics as public service. A government committed not to its self-preservation but to uniting the country in the shared mission of national renewal. The start of the road back to restoring people’s hope and faith that politics can be a force for good. No more gimmicks, lies and self-serving self-obsession – this government knows we have a duty to the people we are elected to serve." ...

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Cost overruns on large projects and the change in management at Anglo American. Cynthia Carroll, the current CEO resigned after coming under strong criticism for continuing to push mega mining projects like the Minas Rio iron-ore project in Brazil with a cost of about $10 billion. That project went over twice its estimated value and was 3 years behind schedule. Costs to develop mines are increasing just as iron or prices are falling with lower demand resulting in increasing scrutiny over projects.

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China has a mountain of local debt that is seriously affecting the Chinese economy, time for can kicking is over. WSJ looks at this in 6 charts. Lanzhou and Guilin are 2 provinces where the fiscal capacity is already exceeded by interest on debt. Huzhou, Kunming and Chengdu are three provinces where interest on local debt takes up about 60% of fiscal capacity. The problems are complicated by dropping land sales, and LGFV bonds issuance at higher interest rates when the return of power projects is as low as 1.5%, and low on other projects. Yet there is hope because these provinces are inland provinces in north and west except for mega city of Tianjin. Land sales have dropped and replaced by LGFV or local government financing vehicles bond issuance at higher interest rates than bank loans. Conversion of LGFV to lower interest is being done, with provincial bank debt creating other problems.

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As climate changes the World Bank reports that 75% of India's urban populations, about 380 million people, work in jobs exposed to extreme heat, life threatening heat.This is the informal workforce that generates 50% of GDP, that works as street vendors, construction or factory workers, house help, auto rickshaw drivers, street cleaners, delivery people and guards. More people will be added- over 400 million by 2050 as India urbanizes further. The Guardian looks at the situation in Bengaluru that in year 2000 was still cool and leafy except for summer that was for for a few months March to May with temperatures peaking at 34 degrees centigrade. Now the summer heat happens earlier 34 degrees C. by February and 38 degrees C. by May. Then there is the heat island effect as the city  built from asphalt cement and metal heats up during the day and heats the atmosphere at night.

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Patricia Kowsmann provides this picture of life in a town on Portugal's northern coast, Viana do Castelo, with a population of 87,000, as Portugal struggles to make a recovery. Viana do Castelo has shipyards and companies making metal bridges for highways. The money losing state owned shipyard was privatized and sold to Martifer SGPS SA to run till 2031. 600 workers at the shipyard were laid off. The new company plans to rehire 400 workers by 2016 but jobs will not be permanent. Companies making the bridges now sell to former Portuguese colonies of Angola, Mozambique, Brazil. 200,000 people have left the country to look for jobs or higer education, including the mayor's daughter in London. Exports are up and now make up 40% of Portugal's GDP, up from 27% in 2009. The economic growth is 0.9% in 2014, after declining 6% 2011-2013. Portugal accepted the last instalment of the bailout loan of 78 billion euros in 2014. It will auction 1.25 billion euros of bonds on July 22, 2015. Unemployment is now declining dropping to 14% from a high of 17%, and higher than the pre crisis level of 11%. Here in this coastal town the mayor Jose Maria Costa cut public employee salaries 15%, and also cut sports and cultural programs. Two food centers provide free lunch and dinner, and half of the 4000 children in school get subsidies for food and transport. A shipyard worker Antonio Gomes Barbosa 64, is one of the laid off workers. His son's architecture company closed and he left Portugal for Angola. Some of his co-workers now work at a shipyard in neighboring Spain....

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President Trump plans to introduce  tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminium. It is not clear whether this will be targeted at Countries flooding the U.S. market with cheap metals, or generally for all countries. Executives from the steel industry and aluminium industries met with Trump at the White House. This would fulfill one of the president's campaign promises.

There is a vigorous debate in the White House between advisors who advocate limiting the measures such as Gen Mattis at Defense, Gary Cohn at the Economic Council, on one side, and the Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Peter Navarro, on the other. 

Mr. Lighthizer has convinced the president of the need for strong action, yet he has hesitated in the past. Now president Trump says he wants "free, fair and smart trade," and will not let "American companies and workers be taken advantage of any longer."

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Apple is investing $700 million in a new material called sapphire that will replace glass to provide better breakage protection for the iPhone. The first sapphire screens will be coming off a manufacturing plant in Mesa, Arizona, that Apple runs with GT Advanced Technologies. Apple is using sapphire, a harder and more corrosion resistant material that is costly to produce, for the cover on the fingerprint reader and iphone camera lens. About 11% of iPhone owner screens have cracked or broken screens, according to warranty provider SquareTrade. Compared to Gorilla Glass costing $3 per screen, the sapphire screen would cost $16. Apple paid $113 million for a 1.4 million square foot Mesa facility from a solar panel producer and leased it to GT, a manufacturer of furnaces to produce sapphire. Apple is paying GT $578 million to install furnaces at the factory and run the plant.

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The SCHOOL survey by eminent researchers shows that that 37% of rural school children in India are dropping out- an alarming piece of information. Only 8% of rural school children have access to online classes regularly. The figure for urban areas in India is 24% of school children having access to online learning regularly. This could have serious consequences. Getting primary and secondary schoolchildren back into classes is an important goal during the pandemic. Online learning has only a limited reach at this time. Many households have no smartphone or only one smartphone that is used by adults. The SCHOOL survey covered 15 states and 1362 sample households. Between 51 and 58% of students had not met their teachers in the preceding month according to the survey.  This also affects nutrition as schoolchildren are missing the midday meals given at school. Midday meals were discontinued with the closure of schools. Overall this report says 97% of parents support reopening of schools. ...

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Decisions by Judge Amit Mehta that affect not only current monopoly in Search engines but future AI monopoly in Search engines. Google is doing with Gemini AI by paying Samsung for AI Search what it did with earlier Search by paying Apple $20 billion to put its search engine on Apple's Safari browser.

Judge Amit Mehta could rule for divesting Chrome browser by Google and other actions to cease this monopoly that puts too much control in a democracy in one place, so that the ideas of Lincoln and the founders for thinking by the people, for the people, of the people in all its dimensions and varied manifestations does not perish from this earth.

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Share of US Counties where 95% of Kindergarteners are vaccinated against Measles drops to 28% from 50% in Washington Post Investigation of 44 states December 2025. 95% vaccination rate is what experts say is needed for "herd immunity" or overall protection in a class. Washington Post examination of data shows marked deterioration from 2018-2019 school year to 2024-2025 school year data and public records. That is 5.3 million children are exposed from lack of herd immunity from measles now compared to 3.5 million children earlier increase of 1.8 million children. This Wash. Post investigation shows 19,000 schools are exposed and one can go to this article to find on a map how your school district and country are doing in the 44 states. A big problem is emerging from public skepticism and politics in vaccination. For generations schools required vaccination proof- by 1980 all 50 states had laws covering students first entering school. And caught in vaccine politics legislatures are creating religious and other exemptions that have weakened laws. Wash. Post says it's examination shows not a single County in Idaho, Louisiana, Oregon Tennessee, Utah, and Wisconsin meet the 50% vaccinated requirement for measles required for herd immunity. This could mean more of these diseases will be brought back home including whooping cough to affect elderly and infants. Democratic districts such as in St Louis and Chicago also see drop in measles vaccination rates. In the sense that newly decolonized countries since 1950 such as China and India have emerged with good health systems and mandated vaccination , other public health action, there is a great need for the US to focus on bringing back the public awareness that existed after the 1940's in the US that resulted in significant advances in public health in the US in the FDR, Eisenhower, Kennedy, LBJ and Reagan administrations. It shows there is no victory in public health. A lot of work needs to be done, as much of the gains can get undone by events and public awareness is necessary. As pharmaceuticals, chemicals and plastics and bad nutritional habits took over American lives there is an effort under Kennedy at HHS to tackle that health crisis, but it brings with it challenges that date from the pandemic and different responses in different parts of the US to mandatory vaccination which also have to be met through education not social media. ...

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With the lone dissenting vote of Dallas Fed's Fisher the Fed met and voted 10-1 to leave interest rates unchanged. It left the target for the federal funds rate charged on overnight loans between banks at 2%.

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A key part of Modi's address was about meeting the needs of 1.4 billion people in a way that was never met before for hundreds of years. Providing health coverage to something like the whole population of South America. Putting money directly in the bank accounts of something like the whole population of North America. How do you govern a country with 2500 parties and 22 parties governing in different states of the Union? How do you deal with a country with 13 major languages? The challenges are unprecedented and even more to ensure proper delivery of services to the entire population, that has never happened before. It truly is an astounding democracy and has been for 75 years- the only way to know is to go travel throughout India.

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Lindner met with senior FDP leaders in Potsdam to plan breaking away from the Scholz government 2 months before it happened on November 5. Lindner was fired that day by Scholz after making unacceptable demands including scrapping climate action targets, and reducing investments in infrastructure. The supplementary budget passed by Scholz was to reidirect 60 billion euros of unspend Covid money to needed infrastructure and climate action projects. The German Constitutional Court declared it unconstitutional. 

The FDP is polling 4% which means it is headed to the situation a decade back where it had no seats in parliament. Which explains Lindner's actions seen as a betrayal by the Scholz government. The greens had advocated investment 4 years back which never happened because of Lindner and FDP opposition hurting the German economy's resilience.

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Alissa Rubin of NYT covers a visit by Emmanuel Macron, French presidnetial candidate, to a village in the mountains on the Spanish border where his grand parents lived and where he visited often as a child, and where he learned to cycle, ski and appreciate the outdoors. Macron was born and raised in Amiens, near Paris. His parents are both doctors. He attended a parochial school run by Jesuits, and at age 15 met a teacher of French and drama, Brigitte Trogneux, with whom he fell in love and later married in 2007.

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U.S. president Trump approved tariffs on $50 billion of Chinese goods. The U.S. Trade representative is expected to announce the goods subject to a tariff of 25% on June 15, 2018, and publish them in the Federal Register next week. China's Foreign Minister Wang met with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Beijing, saying at a joint news conference that  if the U.S. went ahead with the tariffs on $50 billion of Chinese goods China has made preparations for tariffs of its own on American goods. The biggest targets for China are aircraft and soyabeans. Separately the Tax Foundation shows the tariffs on Chinese imports, coming on top of tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, would lower GDP in U.S. over long run by 0.06% and reduce employment by 45,000 positions. Other reports also confirm the impact is not significant enough and the U.S. sees its strategy as one of reversing the trade imbalance in the way it acted in negotiations with the Japanese after a similar trade imbalance with Japan. In some ways the trade imbalance with China is more severe in its impact on manufacturing in the U.S., hollowing out some sectors, and the size of the imbalance at about $ 1 billion a day much larger. This is also the position taken by U.S. Trade Representative Lighthizer, an experienced negotiator who negotiated with Japan during the Reagan administration. There is also the added issue today of intellectual property losses for the U.S. that the U.S. is seeking to address in the negotiations. ...

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This Times report looks at the management style of Jeff Bezos who started Amazon as a online store selling books and the extraordinary growth of the company. Bezos is stepping down from the day to day role of CEO to focus on new growth opportunities. His role as CEO will be taken by the head of the cloud computing business, Andy Jassy. He joined in 1997. Amazon was started in 1994.  Amazon's growth comes from carefully focussing on specific growth fields, first retail, then cloud computing, and changing the way business is run with innovative ways of conducting business. One click and Prime in retail, Kindle e reader in books, and massive investments in logistics, warehousing, cloud computing to run its business efficiently. During the pandemic criticism of low wages for warehouse workers was met with an increase in wages to $15 an hour.  Management style discourages meetings. Most meetings are held in the morning, and after 10 am. The person presenting is asked to hand out a six page memo which is read in silence before the meeting. The idea is that writing it out helps make the ideas clear. Decisions are made in this way. Employees are asked to think in innovative ways to run the business. Thrift is practiced as part of the Bezos way. Bezos is relatively young, only 57 years. Bezos was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1964 when his mother was in high school. His mother married a Cuban immigrant, Miguel Bezos 4 years later and the boy took the name Bezos. He spent much time at his grandparents ranch in South Texas working on the farm, and went to school at Princeton University, graduating in 1987. In 1993 he married Mackenzie Tuttle, a novelist, then started an online bookstore called Amazon from Seattle. Before this he worked at a telecom company and at a hedge fund, which helped him finance his new online bookstore. Bezos turned Amazon into a retail store selling a wide variety of merchandise, an built up a strong warehousing and delivery network. ...

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A trial by Merck and Schering Plough that lasted 2 years with 720 patients in the Netherlands found that while Vytorin helped reduce cholesterol more than Zeta taken alone, the plaques of patients on Vytorin grew twice as fast as the one on Zeta alone. Vytorin is a combination of Zetia and Zocor in a single pill. About 60% of patients take Zetia in the Vytorin form. Zetia by itself reduces cholesterol by 15-20% but its not clear if it reduces the plaque formation in arteries at all. The trial was completed in April 2006 but released now only after articles were written about it in the media. Zetia and Vytorin account for 20% of the overall cholesterol lowering drug market. Its about 70% of Schering's earnings and about 100 million prescriptionhave been filled in US so far. The drugs cost $3 a day. For Merck its reputation after the Vioxx issues would be affected by these results leaving some doubts in the public mind.

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UN programs to reduce food storage losses in Pakistan by using metal storage containers instead of jute bags and mud silos protect grain from insects, rats and water. This has cut losses in storage of grains by upto 70%.

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In January 2020 employees met at a local Maryland bar to find out how they might salvage their careers in a 33 year old company that had failed to develop an approved vaccine, says this story in WSJ. Only months later following the coronavirus pandemic everything changed as in a miracle for Novavax. The company had to sell manufacturing assets at one point, and had enough cash for another 6 months just months before. By Feb. 2021 shares which had dropped to $4 were up to $229 and valuation which had declined to $127 million went up to 15 billion. Coronavirus has turned things upside down where newcomers are using previously unproven technologies and making them work in this pandemic. The persistence, perseverance and confidence of Novavax even in the most difficult situations shows how the right attitude can lead to remarkable results. Novavax vaccine can be kept in refrigerators for 3 months, and do not require very low freezing temperatures like Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. This is considered a potent weapon in the fight against coronavirus. Novavax says it can produce a couple of billion doses over the next 12 months beginning in April. Novavax has released data showing its vaccine is effective for protection against coronavirus. Results of late stage US trials are expected in March. ...

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There is a sharp decline in investor confidence in Greece as the Syriza Party leads in polls in Dec. 2014, with a 3-6 point lead over New Democracy Party of prime minister Samaras. There was a sharp selloff on the Athens stock exchange and yields on Greece's 10 year government bonds went up to 8.5% by Dec. 11, 2014. The government needs 180 votes for a presidential election vote in parliament. The outcome is uncertain and could lead to early parliamentary elections on Jan 25, 2015, with Syriza a potential winner. Syriza had taken a strong line on Greece's debt in 2012 elections, including a possible debt default. It now says it is willing to renegotiate and maintain relations with IMF, EU and the ECB creditors to Greece. In fact, Syriza leader Tsipras has met with ECB chief Draghi, former ECB official Joerg Asmussen of Germany, and Greece's central bank chief. Syriza has changed its party promises to reflect its move to the mainstream- such as not offering to hire back workers or make tax relief measures apart from specific ones, only insisting on freezing public sector layoffs and reversing minimum wage cuts. The EU programs for Greece lapse on 28, Feb. 2015, and an EU official say it is important that Syriza agree to a program following that date to reassure financial markets....