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Bloomberg Philanthropies has committed $600 million to fight tobacco use worldwide between 2007-2016. Tactics used in New York City reduced the city's smoking rate from 22% in 2002 to 14% in 2011. These tactics will now be used in countries around the world from China to other developing countries. Already an effort has been funded in Turkey including putting a new smoke-free law in place in 2008. According to Tobacco Atlas cigarettes contributed to 6 million deaths in 2011, 80% in the developing world, with high use in China, Indonesia and India.

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Hedge funds had negative return of 3% on average in 2015, according to research firm HFR Inc. Analysts say many things went wrong for hedge funds in 2015. By comparison the S&P 500 return for 2015 was 1.4%, including dividends. Hedge funds charge high fees to pension funds and institutional investors for the higher returns promised. Historically this is 2% of assets under management and 20% of any profits. Which means pension funds that stuck with hedge funds did poorly on this portion of their portfolio. California's pension fund CALPERS made the decision to remove hedge funds investments from its portfolio in 2015. Hedge funds have not performed as well as the S&P 500 since the 2008 crisis for every year except 2011.

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Reno, Nevada, has  high unemployment and high housing costs. The shift of higher income people from California to Reno, and the building of a mega Tesla plant in the area have pushed up housing costs. The population of Reno in Washoe County increased by 25 percent or 100,000 since 2019. With casino hotels the employees incomes lag behind high grocery costs. Housing takes a larger share of the household budget so that many people are living on the edge. One retiree sees rent for a 2 bedroom home go up to $1600, leaving $600 for groceries. He uses a mobile food bank parked outside a middle school. Food bank officials says they serve 155,000 people, up 70% since 2019. A retired electrician says his electric bill has doubled to $300 leaving less from a $1500 social security check. Comparing 2023 to 2019- Rents jumped 34% in Reno, in the US it was 28%. An average home jumped 43% from $383,000 to $549,000. ...

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The entire area from the east coast of Africa to the west coast of the US in Pacific is now being covered as the Indo-Pacific region with the US, India, Australia and other nations committed to keeping the international rule of law and freedom of navigation.German Air Force takes part in a joint military exercize of 17 countries for Indo-Pacific in Darwin, Australia. The focus was on rapid deployment. The German Bundeswehr transfer of fighter jets and supply planes in mid-August Rapid Pacific 2022 was done within 24 hours for 6 Eurojets fighter jets, four transport aircraft, and 3 air to air fueling tankers, with 100 tons of material. The exercize from Aug 19 to September 8 was for 2500 personnel and 100 aircraft from all over the world called Pitch Black in Australia's Northern Territory. Next year Gemany plans to have its army participate in Australian exercize. An entire fleet unit is being set for German navy to return to the Pacific waters.  ...

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Republican orthodoxy means Republican platforms and policy calls for less government which goes against the facts on the ground and the needs of the Nation, and the People. This WSJ report shows Republican counties are more dependent on government aid by a factor of 10 to 1 compared to Democratic counties, and this is increasing every 4 years since 2000. It was 1 to 1 in 2000 and went up to 1 to 5 by 2016 and accelerated since to 1 to 10. Why is this important? It is important because as is true also for the trillions of dollars of funds allocated in the Biden legislation in the Inflation Reduction Act, for Infrastructure, and for Chips and Science. Much of this funding goes to Republican states and counties. Not just in this but in environment regulation for health this vastly benefits Republican counties as shown in the WSJ exclusive below on Mooresville, NC, on coal ash cancer causing soil fillers use in the wealthiest suburbs.   ...

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The Southern Nevada Water Authority has cut water consumption coming from the Colorado River by 25% over 2 decades even as population has grown by 50%. It has done this by fining people for excessive use and paying landowners to remove turf grass. One television ad shows a person being scolded for excessive water use and the line "Vegas is enforcing water waste big time."  As a result of water conservation, water pricing, and replacing turf grass, the seven states fed by the Colorado River and the reservoir Lake Mead have seen much improvement in water usage. Lake Mead hit by a drought in the years 2000-2015 is now risen by 25 feet to 1096 feet in 2020 making it 44% full, the highest level in 6 years. The water conservation efforts in Southern California have yielded results. Metropolitan Water District of Southern California gave out $350 million in rebates for replacing turf grass. Irvine Ranch Water District cut drinking water use by 20% with higher pricing for inefficient use beyond a set limit. Building codes are amended preventing turf grass in front of homes. Lawns and golf courses replaced turf grass, with some golf courses using desert landscapes. In this area of 10 million people 200 million square feet of turf grass was taken out. ...

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Some of the key executives are leaving Airbus as the company faces turmoil in its executive ranks. CEO Tom Enders leaves in April 2019, Chief Operating Officer Fabrice Bergier leaves Feb. 2018. John Leahy in sales left Airbus, and others who left the company include the head of engineering, and the chief technology officer. All this is happening as the company faces investigations in several countries including France and Austria for corruption, and according to this report for using middlemen and making illegal payments.

In France Airbus offices have been raided in an investigation. Enders is one of the executives being investigated in a combat jet deal. COO Bergier is leaving with a good record for managing the smooth development of the A350 wide body aircraft, and the production increase to 700 aircraft in 2017 for the first time in the company's history.

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Republicans coordinate efforts of economists, public official, and past economic policy makers, in their opposition to the Federal Reserve's decision for $600 billion of quantitative easing. This is perceived as an effort to print money and reduce the value of the dollar, without really addressing the problems in the economy. This includes Michael Boskin, John Taylor, Kevin Hassett, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, David Malpass, and members of a conservative think tank named e21. Liberal economists Paul Krugman and Joseph Stiglitz are also not convinced about the effectiveness of the Fed's move in the absence of other action. Failure to agree on policy restricts other policy options.

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Glaxo's 2008 earnings take a hit of $400 million from a settlement of a five year investigation by the US attorney's office in Colorado and the US Attorney's office in Massachusetts. The investigation was about the manner in which Glaxo marketed its antidepressant drug Paxil and the drug Wellbutrin SR. Glaxo is said to have promoted the depressants for off-label uses. This follows settlements of $2.3 billion by Pfizer for off-label promotion of painkiller Bextra. Eli Lilly settled with $1.4 billon for similiar charges on antipsychotic medicine Zyprexa.

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This BBC report looks at how a 1156 bed hospital, the Sri Aurobindo Institute of Medical Sciences, in Indore, India is tackling the coronavirus pandemic. Indore has emerged as a hotspot for coronavirus in India. This hospital is treating 144 coronavirus patients with 100 doctors and over 100 nursing staff working in 3 shifts. The hospital has set aside 525 beds in three isolation wards over two floors. A team of doctors looks after the patients- chest specialists, anaesthetists, microbiologists, and dermatologists.

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Samuelson looks at patterns of investing in stocks in the U.S. since 1982. He cites S&P's Howard Silverblatt that the P/E for the S&P 500 averaged 16.9 since 1935 and the current P/E for the U.S. is at 17.6.

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Ikea's kitchen design team in Sweden and efforts to design the "Metod" kitchen. This took five years with attention to details for bringing the cost down. IKEA sells kitchens costing as low as $3000. The effort pays off in emerging markets such as China, Russia and India.

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Google's operating profit margin on the Moto G smartphone is about 5%, according to analyst Newman at Sanford Bernstein & Co. By comparison Samsung gets a 28% operating profit margin on the Galaxy S4, and Apple gets a 30-35% margin on the iPhone 5S and 5C. Apple and Samsung have a little over $200 in parts and components in the iPhone 5S and the the Galaxy S4, and price their smartphones at about $640, according to TechInsights. Moto X premium smartphone from Google sells for $350 without a contract. Moto G for price sensitive customers has $123 in parts and components and is priced starting at $199. For about $90 in additional circuitry Apple and Samsung are able to command an additional $440 in price level, say experts. Google's Motorola Mobility head, Dennis Woodside, says Apple and Samsung premium smartphone and lower end smartphone prices are too high, without starting a price war Google is lowering prices gradually.

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The Vineyard Wind Project is a major new wind energy project approved by the Biden administration. 84 turbines will be installed 12 nautical miles from Martha's Vineyard to generate 800 megawatts of electricity. This would power 400,000 homes.

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Face masks become mandatory in over 100 congested areas of Paris, and in other French cities. A fine of 135 euros for not wearing a mask. 2288 new infections reported for France in last 24 hours for August 9. 

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Ranil Wickremesinghe of Sri Lanka, both Finance Minister and Prime Minister during this economic crisis, says to The HIndu in this interview- "It's hectic, this is a new experience. I am working eight days a week." He says he will firm up the staff level agreement with the IMF by June. Then he says comes the debt restructuring plan that gives a clear indication of what Sri Lanka has to do. By July there will be also the interim Budget.  He said "I must say that Indian assistance has helped us get through these difficult times." He says in addition to the $3.5 billion he is hoping to get another $500 million assistance for fuel. On austerity path Sri Lanka faces he says we have agreed with the IMF that vulnerable groups will have to be supported. He said if we look at what are called tough conditions, even if the IMF were not there, we would have to do it. The advantage of going with the IMF, you get something or everything. If you were to do it on your own you get nothing. On austerity he said yes there has to be austerity but we want it to be for the short term, so that even if 2023 will be a difficult year, in 2024 we can start moving. On the Adani investment of $500 million and Mr. Modi, he says  that he emphatically welcomes it. We need it at this moment and it is a good sign that investors are coming in, said Wickremesinghe. Look he said if anyone else in India wants to invest another $500 million I am not objecting. He said Sri Lanka needs to use its potential for wind energy which is big. ...

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This NYT story describes the origin of the Panama Papers with an anonymous email sent to Bastian Obermayer of the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung- "Interested in data?" Obermayer, who had done previous investigations into money laundering and tax evasion, replied "Very interested." When the 5 member team of the Suddeutsche Zeitung could not cope with the torrent of data coming in, the International Commission of Investigative Journalism organized an effort that brought in about 400 journalists from 100 news companies in 80 countries to tackle the trove of data. This process went on for one year till the data was released in April 2016. In the first 2 months when Obermayer worked with a colleague, the two exchanged emails in the middle of the night at late hours, saying it was taking all their time.

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Internet penetration in India is increasing rapidly. India had 71 million internet users in 2009 by one estimate. Current estimates are of 80-100 million internet users. India's internet penetration as percentage of population of 5% is low compared to China which is at 28.9%, Brazil at 39.2%, and Mexico at 28.3%, according to figures from the International Telecommunication Union. Analysts expect the launch of third generation broadband networks will help increase internet use in India. One study done by investment bank Caris & Co. shows internet use growing to 180-200 million users by 2015. Most of the major internet sites are in news, job-search or match-making. Internet retail is just beginning to grow with online purchases of $1.4 billion in 2010 going up to $5 billion in 2012.

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Former U.S. Defense Secretary, Leon Panetta, says the attacks on Charlie Hebdo weekly in France were the result of an intelligence failure. The 2 brothers who conducted the attacks were already on a U.S. no-fly list. The U.S. has already alerted European authorites to about 3000 European citizens, about 1000 from France, who went to Syria to fight with Islamic State. Panettta says there is much room for improvement when it comes to tracking of individuals returning from conflicts in the Middle East, and making certain that the U.S. and Europeans are at the top of their game when it comes to security. Operationally the U.S. and Europeans need to be working together and being aggressive about individuals who have a history in these places in the Middle East.

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The smartphone market in Brazil is shifting to the $100-$300 range. Because of higher import taxes and other costs, including paying for the full price upfront, buyers pay about $260 for a Moto G whereas a iPhone 6 would cost $1060. The focus is on the better value for the Moto G compared to the Samsung Galaxy and Apple iPhone in developing countries, where new middle class consumers such as in Brazil may make between $5400 to $27,000 a year. This creates opportunities for such phones with superior value- the Moto G has a 5 inch HD display, a 1.2 GHz Qualcomm pocessor, and an 8 megapixel camera. This has helped Lenovo Motorola Mobility take 18% of the Brazil smartphone market, according to IDC, making the Moto G the best selling smartphone in Brazil.

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As thrift is now an important habit for customers, a number of low cost items is what retailers are hoping to sell this holiday season, instead of a blockbuster gadget. Best Buy's executive in charge of looking at customers mindsets says frugality trend is the overriding sentiment and getting value for money is uppermost in the mind. The other factor in this years electronics is that they offer incremental technology and not the Nintendo Wii videogame console or Apple iPhone product that created a lot of buzz. Also most cosumers already have one of these products. An exception is the electornic book reader. And Best Buy is offering competitors to the Kindle by Amazon, for $200-$400, and launching new store sections to let buyer try them out.

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The consumer confidence index of the Conference Board declined to 61% in September 2008 and to 38% in October 2008 in a survey of 5000 households. THe index reache 100 in 1985 and 38 is the lowest its recorded since the index was started in 1967. The survey showed more than half the respondents worried about the job market deteriorating further. About 760,000 jobs were lost for the 9 months to September 2008, the Labor Department reports. And home prices declined 16.6% in August compared with a year ago for 20 cities, the biggest annual drop in the history of the Case Shiller Index, for Home Prices released by Standard and Poors. Phoenix and Las Vegas declined by 30% and Los Angeles,Miami, San Diego and San Francisco decline by 25%.

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Priorities from voting by 100 CEO's at the CEO Council the week of 17 November, 2008. Swiftly passing an internationally coordinated stimulus in excess of $300 billion was voted a priority of 7.1 on scale of 1 to 9 with nine the highest. Bolstering education for a competitive workforce came in second at an average of 6.9. Speedily stating a clear economic vision, appointing advisers, and sending a strong message about priorities and direction of economic policy, came in third with an average of 6.8. Making a comprehensive energy and environmental policy a top priority, creating incentives for consumers to become more energy efficient, came in fourth with a 6.6 average. A long term tax policy that encourages employment and job creation and enhancing global competitiveness came in fifth with an average of 6.0.

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How fast food is marketed in Vietnam's fast growing cities where the influx of migrant workers has increased the population of Saigon or Ho Chi Minh city to 10 million from 6 million in 2000. And per capita incomes are rising increasing to about $900 in 2007 from $600 in 2005 for Vietnam's 84 million people. The success of 2 chains Kinh Do and Pho 24 which have studied marketing of burgers in the Philippines and other fast food chains from the USA and now use these methods with distinctive local food and tastes typical to Vietnam.