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The US share of Japanese exporting companies went down from 20% to 16% in the 2007-2010 period, while the exports from Japan to China, India, and Brazil have gone up by 25% in the same period. Korean companies like Hyundai and Samsung plunged early into the Indian market. LG and Samsung have a significant share in the electronics and consumer appliance markets in India. By comparison Sony's share is about 5% according to Euromonitor research. Now Japanese compaies are putting a new focus on India. In food products Nissin is expanding aggressively by doubling its noodle making capacity, and making its Ramen brand available in smaller packages costing 10 cents each. The idea is to customize the effort to the unique nature of the Indian market.

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U.S. president Trump signs an executive order on March 28, 2017, reversing the American commitment to the Paris climate change agreement. The executive order also lifts a moratorium on the sale of coalmining leases on federal lands. The Obama administration 2015 clean power plan was designed to restrict greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. It was blocked by courts in 2016. Trump says he is reversing president Obama's war on coal. Earlier he approved the Keystone pipeline for bringing oil from oil sands in Canada to the U.S.. Under the Paris agreement the U.S. agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions 26-28% by 2025 from 2005 levels. Market changes including the availability of cheap natural gas from technology advances fracking and hydraulic fracturing is leading a shift away from coal, apart from Obama administration regulations. Another factor is the long term trend towards cleaner energy, with large energy producers such as American Electric Power and other companies planning for the long term which is likely to be in the direction of cleaner energy. These companies see the Trump administration changes as a situation that may not be for the long term. ...

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The risks companies face in having members of Boards serve for long periods of time, sometimes decades. The situations and the world changes, board members "become stale," or worse fail to question and exercize intelligent oversight over company decisions preferrring compromise to constructive criticism.

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Tesla Motors delivers 10,350 vehicles in the 1st quarter 2015. This is a 55% increase over the same quarter in 2014. The target set by CEO Elon Musk of Tesla Motors is for deliveries of 55,000 in 2015, and reaching 500,000 by 2020. The new model Tesla Model X sport utility vehicle comes out in the second half of 2015. Tesla's expenses are going up rapidly with the higher sales, especially for a global supercharger network in North America, Europe and Asia, to meet new buyer concerns about the infrastructure. Capital expenditures budget for 2015 is $1.5 billion. Future expenditures include a $4-5 billion plant to make electric batteries. Tesla says it will not be profitable till 2020. Tesla is using attractive lease deals to overcome buyer resistance at a time of low gas prices. It is cutting back on plans for China. Tesla share price on April 2, 2015 was $191. This gives it a dizzy $24 billion capitalization, about half of the capitalization of GM at $58.8 billion in stock market capitalization, and Ford Motor at $63.4 billion. ...

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This article in the Economist says the bad loans in the financial system threaten to derail India's rapid growth. It points out that about 17 percent of all loans are estimated to be non-performing. Government plans to set up a bad bank and have bad loans transferred at steep discounted rate to the bad bank are still at an early stage. India weathered the 2008 financial crisis with a financial system in better shape. Since then a surge in lending has led to an increase in the bad loans. Today both banks and corporate firms are facing this problem. The political system and dysfunctional governance with frequent changes for management at state controlled banks are part of the problem.

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DJT executive orders include one ending birthright citizenship. “It was really meant for children of slaves." DJT is referring to the 14th Amendment that was passed in 1868 by Congress and ratified by 1868 by the states. It came after the Civil War and Emancipation of slaves and was intended without any doubt for one and only one purpose to make slaves citizens of the United States Look at Section 4 of the 14th Amendment which says the United States will not allow any claim for the loss of any slave. "But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void. The only SC decision in US vs Wong Kim that gave citizenship in 1898 to Wong Kim was not intended to go beyond that particular case, it was only meant to make an exception to the Chinese Exclusion Act  of 1882 after which till 1960 (JFK's election) Chinese immigration to the US was stopped, and the same for all Asians. Only immigrant labor allowed in was from Mexico for agriculture till 1960. And in 1954 Operation Wetback wwas conducted by Eisenhower to return about 1 million illegal immigrants to Mexico. DJT says- “It was not meant for everyone to come into our country by airplane, or charging across the borders from all over the world and think they’re going to become citizens.” The millions that came illegally across land border  and the flow of drugs is a new situation that Congress and the Supreme Court are only facing since 2014 a period in which wars in Afghanistan and Iraq took time and resources away from problems at home. ...

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China's sharp slowdown in growth to below 4% is likely to reduce inflation in the US, Europe and the rest of the world. This means less demand for oil and gas, other commodities, that China absorbed for the higher growth, in a degree that was disproportionate when compared to the needs of the rest of Asia, Latin America, Africa, the US and Europe. The inflation in other parts of the world with inflation now exceeding 10% in Britain, is driven by the war in Ukraine cutting off supplies of Russian oil, and by supply chain issues. Lower demand for fossil fuels in China could compensate for the loss of Russian oil supplies by adding that much oil and gas to oil markets. Supply chain issues are being resolved though this may take some time. And a new supply chain is being built that replaces the old one that was too stretched out all over the world without emphasis on making at home in the US and Europe, India and other countries. US shale oil companies have not invested in increasing production and this could change adding to oil and gas supplies. Moderating inflation and a winding down of the war in Ukraine could help the economies of the US, Europe, India and other countries. ...

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Popularity in both Houses of Parliament of UK for under 16 years ban on social media following Australian example. It now looks like the UK will follow Australia with the ban on social media for under 16 year olds and improve the quality and scale of education in the UK, mental health of children, and role of parents in education. For this to happen the people have had to rely not on politicians but on popular outcry and sentiment.

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Investors showed a lack of confidence in CEO Apotheker's makeover strategy for H-P by exiting the PC and tablet business and focussing on software. H-P's share price dropped 21% on August 18, 2011 to $23.34. This is the lowest price since 2005. About half of the market value has been lost since February 2011. H-P reported lower 4th quarter guidance to $1.12 per share for earnings excluding items.

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Zynga's losses and a 39% drop in share price in July 2012.

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As Dell loses market share to HP, a restructuring of the business.

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PM Modi has been invited by Macron to Bastille day in Paris, France's National Day on July 14, as an official guest, a first for an Indian leader in Europe. This happens as India's strategic partnership with France takes new shape in sectors such as civil aviation with significant Indian expansion, in defense, in nuclear cooperation for energy, in renewable energy, and is expanding into other sectors. India's defense forces will also take part with French forces in the parade on Bastille Day in France. Bastille Day is the national day of France with parades and a national holiday. It was established in 1880 and marks the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789 with the French revolution for Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite, and of the National Federation Day July 14, 1790.

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A Japanese scientist at Princeton University has done work since the 1960's to show that increased level of carbon dioxide lead to increased temperatures on the surface of the earth. Syukuro Manabe at Princeton was honored for this work with the Nobel Prize in Physics. Also honored is a German scientist Hasselmann who showed the connection between weather and climate with his own model. His research shows methods for attributing various impacts on climate of human activity and natural phenomena. Also honored is Italian scientist Parisi for his work on complex systems uncovering patterns in disordered complex materials.

Today's understanding of how the use of coal and other fossil fuels at the scale done in China, Europe, US and India is affecting the climate comes from the work of these three scientists.

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The free food rations programs with 5 kilograms of wheat or rice to 800 million Indians during the pandemic is one of the extraordinary accomplishments of the Modi administration. It has been extended till the end of 2022. Both Finance Minister Sitharaman and prime minister Modi have shown extraordinary empathy for the common man during the pandemic and India's program of wheat rice and vegetables is unprecedented in world history for its scale and efficency. The scene of Nirmala Sitharaman at a vegetable market in Mylapore today is only one aspect of the contact day to day with ordinary Indians and their problems that marks the Mann Ki Baat radio program of Modi and of Sitharaman herself as she tackles the work of the finance ministry with the last person in the line uppermost in mind.

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Food costs for eating at home have actually come down by half since 1960. Charts on the US Department of Agriculture site (USDA) show US food costs for family budgets at 13% of personal disposable income for eating at home in the Kennedy years the 1960's. This has come down by half to 5.7% in 2024. In that period eating at restaurants and outside has doubled to 5.7% of personal disposable income. When people complain about food inflation this is an important factor, eating outside also leads to less control of intake and right nutrition, consequently leads to poorer health outcomes, and a growing share of health expenditures in America's national budget. It hits both the family budget and the national budget and then comes back to hit health outcomes.

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Levelling up is proving to be a false promise of the Conservatives. Where the money is coming from and how much and where it is going answers the question in America for Biden. Fair taxation is key, a strong economy is key for Biden. Fair taxation supports trillions in public investment that in turn generate private investment. In the second quarter of 2023 business investment was up 56% in Biden America, about $1 trillion with more in the pipeline.  The Conservatives fail on both and have no plan for step by step action that fits needs and opportunities in the economy as Biden has. Getting equal share of the fruits of labour to all Britons is never going to happen under trickle down economics of the Trump or Tory kind. That much is clear as daylight.

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Britain faces the most acute housing crisis in living history says Angela Rayner, Secretary of Housing. The shortage of homes- 4 million. Private rents have jumped, eroding living standards and creating homelessness. Rayner has introduced a plan to build 370,000 homes a year. This is the first time in decades that this problem is being tackled on this scale, after Tories neglected to do much to address this problem. A similar situation of rising rents exists in the US putting 25% of apartment renters into a situation where over 50% of the household income goes to apartment rental. US president Biden has called for price increases for home rental to be limited to 5%, and Harris has plans for the government to help families where the rental exceeds 30% of household income.

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It is a dismal situation when 4 out of 5 persons in France do not know what work the European parliament does and what bills it has passed in recent years. Even though the $700 billion aid package for pandemic support was done in the EU parliament and the Green energy deal was also done there in Strasbourg, France most Europeans cannot name this or are unaware of it. About 46% or half of French think that European parliament elections on June 6-9 are for the European Commission. Social media and Google, Apple have done a dismal job of educating people- this is the reality today as Lyrarc engages in this role of educating and informing people so that they can affect and shape the decisions that determine the quality of their lives.

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Apple offers a new way to buy iPhones directly from Apple with financing in September 2015. This will change the way iPhones are sold, giving more control over the sale of iPhones to Apple. It will enable Apple to stabilize core sales for iPhones by encouraging upgrades every year. The monthly payments are $32.41 for 2 years for the cheapest iPhone. Apple is taking aim at the average upgrade time which is increasing- it went up to 26.3 months in 2015 from 18.2 months in 2010, according to a telecom consultant. With the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus sales surged for Apple in the first 3 quarters of 2015 by 50% from the prior year period. It will be harder for Apple to generate this kind of sales increase as the new iPhones introduced in September 2015- the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus have better cameras and "3-D Touch," only incrementally different. A 16 gigabyte iPhone 6s would cost $778, about the same as the $649 price and Apple Care coverage of $129. The way iPhones were sold through wireless carriers kept the price hidden with higher wireless service charges- 2 years of a Verizon wireless 3 gigabye data plan ended up costing users twice the amount of the $649 price of the iPhone. Now the competition among wireless carriers will shift to pricing cuts and changing their pricing strategies. The result of the changes is likely to be increasing shifts from one carrier to another as Apple allows direct buyers to choose the carrier they want....

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Nestle agreed to pay $11.85 billion for Pfizer's infant nutrition business. This business came with Pfizer's $68 billion acquisition of Wyeth Pharmaceutical. Nestle outbid Danone for the deal, paying what analysts say is a 20% premium. The deal was important for Nestle to secure its position in the fast growing infant nutrition business in China. With the acquisition Nestle would have a 9.7% market share in China, after Mead Johnson with 11.7%, and about tied with Danone at 9.8%. Nestle has a 17% share of the $27 billion market worldwide for baby milk formula, followed by Mead Johnson Nutrition with 15% and Danone with 13%, according to Euromonitor International. The deal was important for Nestle because its market share in China was small compared to its rivals- only 2.3%.

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A.G. Lafley returns to P&G to take over from Robert McDonald as CEO. Lafley retired from the CEO position 4 years ago. He worked his way up in the detergent division starting as brand assistant for Joy dishwashing liquid in 1977. McDonald's role as CEO was marked by weak growth in the U.S. for P&G's premium priced brands during the period following the financial crisis of 2008-2009, when consumers were becoming frugal. McDonald increased emphasis on emerging markets but this could not make up for weak growth in P&G's largest market in N. America. Lafley had built up the premium brands during his period as CEO, and not focussed enough on reducing costs of manufacturing and overhead as much as competitors. This turned into a problem for P&G when consumers became more frugal and price conscious. In 2000 Lafley was brought back the first time after the abrupt departure of CEO Durk Jager following a large earnings shortfall and decline in share price. This time private investor Ackman had pushed for McDonald's replacement....

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IDC estimates show Samsung increased its global smartphone shipments in the second quarter of 2012 to 50.2 million units, up from 42.2 million units in the first quarter. This increased its market share to 32.6%, up from 29.1% in the first quarter. By comparison Apple sales of smartphones globally were 26 million in the second quarter of 2012, with its market share declining from 24.2% in the first quarter to 16.9% in the second quarter.

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Delayed FDA approval of diabetes drug Tresiba in the U.S. market. The FDA requested additional testing data which Novo Nordisk says it cannot provide in 2013. Novo Nordisk has 27% market share in the diabetes market with its fast acting NovoLog insulin. Sanofi has 19% market share with its long acting Lantus insulin. Tresiba was approved for use in Europe. About 44% of Novo Nordisk drug sales in 2012 were in the U.S. market.