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David Brooks on the change in Romney as he breaks away from tea party orthdoxy to be the man Brooks believes he truly is.

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Slovenian cyclist Pogacar goes with his instincts and what his body is telling me leaving the riding to how he feels rather than loads of data. In today's world the ultimate compliment is what is said about him that he does not find it stressful, that he is having fun cycling. Jason Gay puts it- sort of like a kid merrily cycling on a paper route.

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Steve Rattner, Obama's senior auto advisor, was the one who suggested Mr Whitacre for this position , and felt he would be the right choice to bring fresh thinking to GM. Steve Rattner knew Whitacre, and after board leader Kresa met with him 3 weeks ago he felt that he would be an excellent choice to bring back public confidence in GM.

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"What the hell kind of system is this?" That is what Jim Rogers, a co-founder with George Soros of the Quantum Fund, asks as he sees Chuck Prince taking out hundreds of millions of dollars out of Citigroup, and other Citigroup executives take many more hundreds of millions of dollars out of the company. As he sees Stan O'Neal get $150 million for leaving Merrill Lynch after he ruined the company. And Frank Raines he says did worse accounting than Enron with Fannie Mae, fradulent accounting year after year, and yet Raines is walking around with millions of dollars. One can add to Rogers list, Mozilo of Countrywide who was one of the principal figures behind pushing bad mortgage deals for homeowners that profited those in the business of real estate, and he is walking around with millions. So is Citigroup's Robert Rubin if one looks at those who had reputations to preserve, and he hopes to devote his time to charites as he says in his resignation letter to Citigroup CEO Pandit. See groups and links for Mozilo and Rubin. Jim Rogers thinks Long Term Capital Management should have been allowed to fail. Greenspan, Rubin, Summers, and Geithner were behind the rescue of LTCM. In the worst case scenario the economy would have recovered from a LTCM collapse, and the intervening period of dislocation would have sent a strong signal to financial institutions about excesses, risk taking, leverage, and put a necessary element of caution in all financial arrangements. Jim Rogers says Lehman would have lost a lot of money with an LTCM failure and it would have slowed Wall Street down for years. Some small degree of grief from time to time may be a normal part of any economic system, especially with excesses of one type or another, just as it is for the human condition, and may be away for the system to protect itself from bigger dangers by addressing and controlling the excesses. By eliminating this grief one may be subjecting the system to bigger and more life threatening stresses later on, as these excesses assume an exaggerated form. ...

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The WSJ's Yun-Hee Kim's interview with J.K. Shin, CEO of Samsung Mobile in March 2013, at the time of the launch of the Galaxy IV smartphone.

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Emmanuel Macron graduated from Sciences Po University in 2004 with a degree in public affairs. He joins the Finance Ministry as an inspector and then buys himself out of government service contract by 2008 to join a private bank. He arranges an acquisition from Nestle and other business deals during this period. In 2012 he is appointed as deputy secretary general for the president's office after Francois Hollande a socialist is elected to the presidency. In 2014 he is offered the position of Minister of Industry and Digital Affairs in the second Manuel Valls government. He makes some changes to French government but opposes the wealth tax or tax on business, and is generally pro-business, though he acts as a member of the Socialist party.  He uses this period to build momentum for his own run for the presidency as support for Hollande falters having lost support from his working class base with Macron and Valls inspired changes.  Macron finally announces he will run for the presidency forming his own En Marche movement which he finances with his own fund raising. Throughout this period right up to the election in 2017 Macron has not run for public office. When he wins the presidency in that year he lacks the experience needed as the youngest president in French history at the age of 39. Like another young president Obama he handles his public image with the media for his En Marche movement promising to unblock France. This public image and his lack of experience makes him impervious to the social changes going on in France that lead to the yellow vest protests in 2018. This is a period when there are changes in the midwest as workers in Michigan and other midwestern states turn away from Hillary Clinton and Obama.  French workers are in the position of workers in the US with the decline of manufacturing, much of it shifted with the supply chain to China and Japan, and the gap opening between rural and urban tech educated areas. Macron follows Obama's quick rise from Senator to run for president yet lacks experience, and lacks sufficient grasp of the social changes with loss of manufacturing, the wide gaps between rural and urban tech educated people, conditions in the rural and farming areas. Macron survives this period, is reelected in 2022 with the help of socialist Melenchon voters. He says he will govern differently, less distant from average Frenchmen, but his instincts are to push for pension reform. At a time of cost of living crisis, and when the French budget office says the change in pension from 62 to 64 was not critical at the present time when inflation was hitting the public after the pandemic. Macron does this by Article 49 in the way he has done under the Manuel Valls government, by executive action alone. This time he faces a no confidence motion in parliament in March 2023 following some of the largest protests France has seen in years, with two thirds of the French according to FR24 opposing the change in pension law. Women see this as coming at a time when age discrimination hurts their chances of earning a living after 50 years of age.  Age discrimination is widespread in France, in a way it is not in Germany, say reports in the NYT. And with the cost of living crisis acts as a major hurdle for the average French person, if pensions are delayed without addressing these cultural issues in France. The result is that the protests have substance and Macron is seen as not sensitive to this at a time when he lacks a majority in parliament. ...

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Jay Powell signals that protecting working families from inflation even as he attacks inflation and strong labor market to moderate wage increases that could hurt jobs is a difficult balancing act that he wants to get right. Here are his own words at the Brookings Institution- "My colleagues and I do not want to overtighten because... cutting rates is not what we want to do too soon. That's why we're slowing down and going to try to find out way to what that right level is." He said he did not rely on forecasting that could be inaccurate and is feeling his way through this. It showed - the remarkable humility of this central bank governor unlike any of the last five decades, and he was warmly received by Brookings. He is keenly aware that the pandemic has hurt labour market participation as many have retired and some are still struggling to join the labor market, and there are other working families in the labor market who are being hurt by inflation.    ...

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Here is someone in the UK who got is degree a BSc. in economics and is now working in finance in London. He borrowed 44 thousand pounds. He paid back 7000 pounds. How much does he owe? 54,000 pounds that's because at interest of 7.3% instead of 8% he still cannot keep up with interest costs. This is the problem not that young people don't want to pay back their loans. The setup is faulty. The problem is Plan 2 Loans in England And Wales which charge an additional 3 percent over and above the Retail Prices Index which was 4.3% in March. All Plan 1 Loans charge only the RPI 4.3%. At 4.3% this borrower would at least have paid back some of the principal so he knows he is making progress with the student loan.  The Labour government has said -"government could reduce the monthly repayments for every single new graduate without adding a penny to government borrowing or general taxation". But nothing new is expected this year's Budget.  ...

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Ali Gomaa, the grand mufti of Egypt, gives his ideas on Articles 2 of the 1971 Constitution (which established Islam as the religion of the state), and Article 7 of the interim Constitution (which guarantees equal citizenship before the law, regardless of religion). As head of Egypt's agency of Islamic jurisprudence, he gives his assurance to the West and to Egyptians, that the religious establishment of Egypt and he personally, is committed to tolerance and popular sovereignty that respects the rights of all citizens. He points to Egypt's tradition of a moderate and tolerant view of Islam. He says that Egypt threw out the heavy hand of authoritarian rule after many years and is not about to replace this with another type of authoritarian rule based on Islam. Islam's place in Egypt he argues, will be similiar to state churches in Denmark, and England, and similiar to Islam as the national religion in secular states like Tunisia and Jordan. The kind of Islam he sees for Egypt, in his words, is that of freedom and tolerance....

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Mitt Romney carried Georgia over president Obama 53% to 44%, and Georgia by 53% to 45%. Now these 2 states are seeing a close race between Clinton and Trump, with Democrats putting more resources into the 2 states in the hope of an upset win.

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In his farewell speech Boris Johnson, with true British resilient spirit,  says "I will be giving fervent support to Liz Truss and her government every step of the way." Johnson likened his transfer of power to Ms Truss to a relay race. "The baton will be handed over," saying it "unexpectedly turned into a relay race, they changed the rules halfway through." But he expressed no feelings of regret, having come to terms with the arrangement in his own way. More likely Johnson is without saying it still determining the policies and direction of the government, perhaps more so now with Liz Truss and his loyalists the only persons in the cabinet and running the British government. Johnson addressed people's fears about the energy price increases- "the UK would continue to have the strength to give people cash they need to get through this energy crisis that is caused by Putin's vicious war."  He listed his government's achievements- the response to Covid. Some of this is forgotten as the UK not the EU leadership was first to move forward with vaccination plans. Johnson put his government's faith in the vaccine invented at Oxford University and committed early while the EU languished under Merkel and her protege Ursula Von der Leyen. The EU fell behind in providing vaccine leadership as Britain forged ahead early, giving hope to the rest of the world's population including India that adopted the Oxford vaccine. Johnson likened his role to the missions to the planets- "Let me say I am now like one of those booster rockets that has fulfilled its function and I will be re-entering the atmosphere and splashing down invisibly into some remote and obscure corner of the Pacific." Johnson has taken the situation in a truly British way without any rancor and gracefully. With Liz Truss in charge he even gets a break after the difficult period handling the once in a century pandemic, handing over to a younger member of his group, and yet deciding on many of the policies and guiding the government for the term it was elected for to 2024. History will look at him favorably for his handling of the pandemic and vaccination, and for his instincts about the Ukraine war and Britain's unwavering support, and now in guiding Truss to provide Britain with strong support for the cost of living crisis caused by the war. His failings stem partly from his exuberance and optimistic spirit, but nowhere near detract from these achievements. ...

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Ohio senator J.D. Vance is chosen by Trump as his running mate. He came to know Trump Jr. in 2021 and the two are shown to be close. He was elected Ohio Senator with Trump's endorsement. His thinking and style is similar to the former president which may have led to his choice over Marco Rubio of Florida and Borghum of North Dakota. How well known is he in Michigan or Wisconsin, and how much support can he draw in those two states with his energy on working class issues when Michigan and Wisconsin have Democratic governors who are strong on working class issues and union support, remains to be seen.

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The story of Milkha Singh, India's fastest runner, is told wonderfully here in the Indian Express.

Milkha Singh came through a period of life growing up in a poor part of the Punjab, then partition, and finding a place in post independence India on track and field. He joined the army on his third attempt. Finished fourth in the Rome Olympics, just 0.1 seconds behind Pence and with it missing a Bronze medal.

He said after this - that he was taken for an interview, and he could only say in whatever English he knew, "your son has fulfilled his duty, and I demand this from every youngster in the country." This could be the message to all the youngsters in the country that are volunteering for the PM's effort for 100,000 trained healthcare youngsters to help with Covid work in villages and towns throughout India.

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Cara Buckley provides this intimate look at Garrison Keillor, host of Minnesota Public radio show "Prairie Home Companion." This is a Keillor who is quite different from the person people know from the radio show. Keillor finds release during the show using his imagination about a town he has made up called Wobegon. Strangely, in his own life Keillor is a very private person keeping his thoughts to himself and not saying much. Keillor is 73, and now plans to retire after about four decades hosting this show with music and tales about Lake Wobegon. At its peak the show had 4.1 million listeners in 2006, dropping to 3.2 million today. It is thought of as a homespun quaint, country stories show, yet it can touch on current issues such as the NRA and the gun lobby in a recent show, and builds on its bond with its audience.

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Chancellor Scholz attends the Netherlands- Germany men's hockey final and says he is inspired by how our French friends conducted the Olympics. He says Germany will bid for 2040 Olympics. 

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A retired Air Force general who was Associate Director of Military Affairs at CIA 2021-2024 working with Central Command on special missions is known to DJT since 2019. Lt. Gen. Dan Caine, a F-16 fighter pilot, is the choice for Joint Chiefs in 2025. He is a 1990 graduate of Virginia Military Institute where he graduated with a degree in economics. He got a Masters degree in Air Warfare from American Military University.

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Heather Stewart and Jessica Elgot ask if Johnson's Conservative party can deliver for Britain, can deliver for women, can deliver for climate change, can deliver for health, education and infrastructure, can deliver for workers dignity, can deliver for families and children, by looking at one of its leaders. He looks at the polished image of Rishi Sunak after his Stanford days. This Guardian report says Treasury insiders see this Tory leader with respect rather than warmth, with some saying that the smooth veneer or polished tech-bro image is hard to penetrate. In a separate piece Ian Jack looks at Jacob Rees-Mogg in The Guardian in January 2022. This comes as Johnson's leadership is challenged because of Christmas partying at a time when the Queen was alone in Westminster Abbey mourning for Prince Philip to follow Covid-19 protocol. What kind of leadership Britain needs for the future after the pandemic is the question put forward by these writers in The Guardian. ...

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As British conductor Sir Simon Rattle turns 70 years he is described as a "questing bold spirit" by The Times. He performs with the LSO Jan 12 at the Barbican in London.

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This interview of president Trump by Matthew Bender of the WSJ is following the release of John Bolton's book. Mr.Bolton says Mr. Trump was willing to make compromises in China policy to win reelection. Mr. Trump says Mr. Bolton's statements are not true. Mr. Bolton says in the book and in a WSJ article that Mr. Pompeo and Mr. Pence also called for Mr. Trump to censure China for its treatment of minorities in Xinjiang province. Instead he says Mr. Trump told Xi Jinping that he could go ahead with the building of camps In Xinjiang province for minorities. Mr. Trump says he signed the deal for censure of China passed by Congress because he wanted to. The reporter from WSJ say Pompeo and Pence had called for it earlier,  but that this was signed only today. Mr. Trump does say that he has changed his views on China after what he calls the Chinese plague. Mr. Bender says he is wondering if Mr. Trump thinks differently about the trade deal now. Mr. Trump says he thinks that the trade deal is a great deal but that "But ever since we got hit with the Chinese plague.I feel different about everything having to do with China." He says he is hardline on China. And he believes Bolton had no idea he could get tariffs payments by China. In his view Bolton just lacks the economic sense. Bolton is a hard liner but stupid says Trump. That he Trump is also hardliner, but with economic sense. Early on in the interview Mr. Trump says he sees a V type recovery is likely after the good jobs numbers 17.7% increase in retail sales. He also says he left a lot of tariffs in the deal, a big portion about 25%.. In any case Mr. Trump says repeatedly since the virus hit America his view his perspective has changed, a very different perspective on China, views it very differently.  Mr. Trump says he had hardly signed the deal and soon after the virus hits. So now he views the whole deal differently today, he now views the relationship with China differently. The conversation started with Mr. Trump signing about 254 nominations for new judges. He says 75% of small business is now open.  Mr Trump says his goal for a second term is to have a strong powerful economy. Mr.Bolton agrees that Mr. Trump was doing the right thing here to build a strong economy to support its policy. Only that he was making him, Pompeo, Pence and Lighthizer on trade issues, think that Trump would give in on national policy issues to China, on issues of U.S. national interest.  ...

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The prime minister of India gives 5 commitments to the world at the COP26 summit. This includes building 500 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2030. He also called on developed countries to provide $1 trillion in financing for climate change efforts in the rest of the world. He said India has delivered on its commitments to the Paris Climate Change Agreement and will do so again.

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The Indian prime minister's choice for heading Indian Railways and the IT Ministry is similar to his choice of Mr. Jaishankar for the Ministry of External Affairs. He selected a person with the drive and conviction as well as the experience to tackle the important job of modernizing Indian Railways so that it provides the convenience and access that is seen in Europe with new investment and advances in technology. The 50 year old Vaishnaw is from Orissa, yet grew up in Jodhpur where he attended engineering school, before doing M Tech from IIT Kanpur. He had an all India rank of 27 in the Indian Civil Services exam. In 2003 he worked as Deputy Secretary in the prime minister's office when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was prime minister. He was private secretary to Mr. Vajpayee in 2004. He then studied for a Masters degree at the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania, and worked for General Electric and Siemens in India in transportation related projects. By 2019 Ashwini Vaishnaw had caught the attention of the Indian prime minister as a capable administrator with a can do attitude in India's modernization efforts. He was nominated for the upper house of parliament. In 2021 July he was appointed to lead 2 important ministries - railways and IT. His first action in the first 48 hours was to ask senior officers in the rail ministry and IT ministry to work two shifts alternately from 7am to 3pm, and 3 pm to 12 midnight so that work can be pushed forward that needed to be done in great speed for modernization. Delivering on the vision of the prime minister for modernizing the country is now the task of this ministry and Mr. Vaishnaw. ...

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The reference Bazooka man comes from Scholz's hard work putting together the 750 billion euro funding package to help German businesses and workers survive the coronavirus pandemic. At the time Scholz said-"This is the bazooka that's needed to get the job done. We are putting all our weapons on the table to show that we are strong enough to overcome any economic challenge that this problem might pose." Scholz gets high marks for his hard work during the Covid crisis as finance minister putting together the funding packages. This BBC report says Scholz chaired cabinet meetings when Merkl went into self-isolation as a precaution. BBC says it gave Scholz the platform he needed to go back to his roots as Mayor of Hamburg when he stood up for social cohesion and help for workers and families. Before he announced his SPD candidacy when asked if he would run he would say - "we need to work, not indulge in vanities." Scholz also played an important role in European solidarity. He was the lead architect with France of the European Union 750 billion euro recovery fund. This brings him strong praise from France, and also support from Italy, Spain, Portugal and other countries in the EU. French foreign minister Bruno Lemaire has praise not only for Olaf Scholz but also for his brother Jens Scholz, who airlifted 6 critically ill French patients to an hospital in Kiel. Says Lemaire "It really is a great German family." Scholz grew up in Hamburg, becoming a Socialist youth leader and studying labor law. He was Mayor of Hamburg from 2011 to 2018. In 1998 he entered the German parliament, the Bundestag.   ...

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David Wessel says there are three hypotheses about the slow recovery with growth of 1.9% in the first quarter of 2011, estimated growth of 1.4-1.5% for the second quarter. The first, is that this is transitory, with gas prices, Japan's tsunami disrupting supply chians, and Europe's poor handling of the financial crisis. This he scores as wishful thinking. The second, that the stimulus was too small, the need for a second stimulus, or the related hypothesis of the large uncertainty hanging over business, including the debt ceiling negotiations, deficit etc. This he scores as more convincing, but one is not sure different policies would have led to a different situation. The third hypothesis is that the underlying diagnosis of the economy itself was hopeful but flawed and wrong. Hope about the housing market- which has been proved wrong. The same for exports, or consumer spending. Wessel cites Ken Rogoff and Carmen Reinhardt's new book on the afterperiod of financial crises and asset bubbles, with data going back to many historical periods showing that the periods following crises are difficult having protracted periods of slow or marginal economic growth....

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Yoon suk-yeol the prosecutor who decided to run in 2021 for the first time in politics, won the recent presidential election in South Korea. He talks to the WSJ in this interview report and outlines the policies of his administration.  Yoon say she sees upholding the constitution which embodies values of  liberal democracy and market economy as the deciding factors for foreign and domestic policy. He wants to build closer ties to the US and Japan. He will resume defense exercizes with the US that were suspended during the Trump administration. On China he sees continued economic relations as a trading partner, but sees flip flopping in foreign policy as creating risks for the Indo-Pacific region. If invited to join the Quad Yoon says South Korea  "will positively review joining." On domestic policy he says his goal is "to correct and normalize so that the market can operate as it should." Yoon led the prosecution in efforts against prior presidents and Samsung, and his known for his forthright approach. Yoon wants to see more foreign investment and says he will ensure that there is no discrimination against foreign companies, including eliminating unnecessary regulation. ...

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David Brooks of the NYT says the Republican party is failing when it embraces Trump's version of populism with its racial division, tax plan that favors Republican donors and ignores fiscal conservative concern over deficits that affect future generations, supporting the election of Moore in Alabama, the constant Twitter comments that show prejudice. He says this will have destructive effects that could last an entire generation. This isn't the Republican party he has known for so long, says Brooks. The time is passed says Brooks when sensible republicans could go along in the middle by not agreeing with Trump, yet avoiding the task of opposing the elements of Trump policies that conflict with America's long held ideals shared by both parties. He calls its a corrupt deal that Republican party leaders in the Senate and Congress have agreed to make with Trump thinking that somehow this will all work out for them even if it doesn't for the party. Selling one's soul is somehow not an option that people would take in their right mid, so he wonders aloud what is happening in the party- and calls it a rot besetting the party of Lincoln, TR and Eisenhower that won't get it to any good place.   ...