Economic losses of 3% in GDP per head with Brexit and 8% with no-deal Brexit leaving Britons poorer

12/01/2018

As the Brexit option becomes clear as a hit to ordinary Britons and the British economy prime minister Theresa May takes her deal to the British parliament for a vote. Most opinion says it will be rejected, if not rejected outright by Conservatives and Labour MP's. A second vote may be taken. The Opposition Labour Party prepares for a new election with a divided government.

Linked Articles

How to make yourself poorer

The Economist 11/30/2018

The Economist 11/30/2018

India's general election in 2019- performance and flaws of the Modi government

06/05/2018

Differing views of the Modi government, views of the middle class hurt by demonetisation uncertainty from Dhume and views representing the interests of the rural, lower income and other part of the middle class from Arvind Panagriya. Some of the changes brought about by the Modi government reflecting the vision of Mahatma Gandhi for fundamental change from the ground up in the villages and rural parts of India- health and sanitation, access to bank accounts, access to health care- coupled with Nehru's vision of modernization using the technologies of the twenty first century.

Linked Articles

Modi’s three big gambles: We’ll soon know if demonetisation, GST and Adityanath damaged BJP’s re-election prospects

Times of India Blog 06/05/2018

Sadanand Dhume

Times of India Blog 05/30/2018

Arvind Panagriya

The link between the 71% of Americans who are obese or overweight and the less than 15% of Americans who eat the needed intake of fruits and vegetables

11/17/2017

A new CDC report on November 16, 2017 shows these alarming statistics which are barely covered in the media. CNN online missing this, and NBC online covering obesity CDC report but missing the CDC report on fruits and vegetables consumed, when we checked in the evening of November 16, 2017.

Linked Articles

America's obesity epidemic reaches record high, new report says

NBC News 10/13/2017

Felix Gussone, Md, Linda Carroll

The Guardian 11/17/2017

Jessica Glenza

Road trips across Cuba in 2015 and Iran in 2017 showing how sanctions hit smaller countries

05/19/2017

Linked Articles

On the Open Road, Signs of a Changing Cuba

New York Times 01/06/2015

William Neuman, William, Neuman

05/19/2017

Thomas Erdbrink

The moderating influence of business executives Gary Cohn, Wilbur Ross and Muilenburg on president Trump- change in policy on NAFTA, Mexico, China and Export Import Bank

04/14/2017

Business executives help moderate the campaign positions taken by Donald Trump during the first 100 days of his presidency, putting him closer to the traditional view on China, Mexico, NATO and Russia.

Linked Articles

Donald Trump’s Recent Policy Reversals Reflect Business Influence

WSJ 04/14/2017

Eli Stokols, Michael C. Bender

Washington Post 04/14/2017

Damian Palettadamian Paletta

How German security services, Federal criminal Police (BKA), and Berlin police handled the case of Anis Amri before the attack at Breitscheidplatz

12/23/2016

Linked Articles

After the attack: Tangle of bureaucracy, not failure of government | Germany | DW.COM | 22.12.2016

DW.COM 12/22/2016

Volker Wagener

DW.COM 12/22/2016

Marcel Fürstenau

The 2016 U.S. presidential election- Paul Krugman and Peggy Noonan on how things went wrong

11/07/2016

Linked Articles

How to Rig an Election

The New York Times 11/07/2016

Paul Krugman

WSJ 11/03/2016

Peggy Noonan

The 1976 Montreal Olympics, the 2004 Athens Olympics, the 2014 Sochi Olympics and the Rio Olympics- decades long debt hangovers and costs growing from the $1+ billion in Montreal to $50+ billion in Sochi

08/24/2016

Developing and developed countries alike have seen the cost of the Olympics as a huge burden. Many countries or cities that committed to hosting the Olympic games during boom years were facing economic hard times by the time of the games. Corruption and mismanagement of public funds, overspending and cost overruns added to the problems. Citizens uproar caused cities such as Boston and Oslo to withdraw bids for the Olympics. The Olympics appears to be a costly way to show off a country, and raises questions about better allocation of funds in other directions, especially when upward mobility is a problem for the middle and working class, countries have other infrastructure needs, and neglected basic needs in education, healthcare, public services.

Linked Articles

The 40-year hangover: how the 1976 Olympics nearly broke Montreal

The Guardian 07/06/2016

The New York Times 08/23/2016

Michael Powell

Speaker Paul Ryan's House seat in Janesville, Wisconsin- improving economy in a U.S. midwestern factory town and the debate on trade, help for working class families

08/10/2016

The unemployment rate in Janesville, Wisconsin drops to 4.4% in May 2016, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It was over 9% following the closing of the GM plant and the recession from the 2008 financial crisis. A working class town Janesville was hit hard by the closing of the GM plant in 2008. Amy Goldstein of the Washington Post describes the impact of losing about 5000 jobs at the GM plant, and the problems typical of most manufacturing dependent towns. Throughout the period since being first elected to Congress in 1998 Ryan has continued to be able to get elected on the basis of faith, family and public service, even though some of his policies may not have helped the poor and elderly or laid off workers. Ryan voted for rescuing the auto industry and worked hard to keep the GM plant, and listens to his constituents, and as the economy recovered by 2016 won easily in this old industrial midwestern town. His influence in national politics gives Janesville an opportunity to be heard, as it tackles problems common to many midwestern towns in the U.S.

Linked Articles

Could Paul Ryan’s ideas help his struggling home town? - The Washington Post

Washington Post 08/19/2012

Amy Goldstein, Amy, Goldstein

The Guardian 08/10/2016

David Smith

Ireland, Northern Ireland and Britain- preserving the gains of the peace deal and the open borders after Brexit

07/12/2016

Northern Ireland favored Remain in EU by 55%. Should it be pushed into a situation of withdrawing from the EU like Scotland which also favored Remain based on the preference of voters in England and Wales? Should Ireland be divided by hard borders again after 20 years of peace and open borders? These are questions the people of Ireland are asking.It is also a question for Irish Americans who supported the peace deal.

Linked Articles

Brexit and Irish Unity

The New York Times 07/12/2016

DW.COM 07/05/2016

How the few Oxford educated politicians forming an old boy's club and their infighting by 2016 led to the vote for Brexit

07/08/2016

How Cameron, Osborne, Gove and Johnson, a few Oxford educated politicians put their narrow interests and party politics ahead of the interests of Britain and the interests of the European Union.

Linked Articles

British Politics Gives a Sense of Government by Old School Chums

The New York Times 07/07/2016

The New York Times 07/05/2016

The pause in the U.S. economy with the May 2016 U.S. jobs report showing 38,000 jobs added

06/06/2016

Krugman discusses the U.S. May 2016 jobs report from the Labor Department. He says it will be harder to come up with a response to the political uncertainty in an election year, especially now that rates are near zero.

Linked Articles

Sharp Fall in U.S. Hiring Saps Chance of Fed Rate Increase in June

The New York Times 06/03/2016

The New York Times 06/06/2016

Donald Trump's proposal for 45% tariff on China's exports to the U.S.- how a policy of bringing jobs home could lead to the loss of 1 million U.S. jobs

03/08/2016

By damaging the international trading system including with allies such a Canada, Britain, France and Germany, the result of a downward spiral through higher tariffs in other countries, could end up costing the U.S. 1 million jobs. Under such a system the U.S. would lose many of the advantages of its booming tech sector, its tech driven global advantages in many industries, without signifcant gains in low cost imports such as clothing which would simply migrate to other countries such as India. The problem of worker wage stagnation in the U.S., and loss of jobs in certain sectors, is very real, but this is the wrong way to tackle the problem. China is already moving towards a consumer driven economy. Economists show that trade with Mexico would be seriously hurt both ways, creating more pressure of migrants at the border under such proposals as a 45% tariff and its indirect effect on Mexico, when the actual fact is that net migration from Mexico is the lowest it has ben in decades. Politics can do strange things as when two senators Smoot and Hawley from agricultural states Utah and Oregon, at the head of important committees in the U.S. Congress pushed and passed legislation for a 60% tariff in 1930 for the industrial sector they had no idea about. When Smoot and Hawley lost reelection in 1932 they left behind a lot of damage, especially for the farmers and workers they thought they were fighting for.

Linked Articles

How Trump’s Hard Line on Trade Could Backfire

Wall Street Journal 03/25/2016

Bob Davis, Bob, Davis

Wall Street Journal 03/08/2016

Holman W. Jenkins Jr., Holman, W., Jenkins, Jr.