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Residents of Detroit- almost all residents- in the three county metropolitan area see their economy in ruins, according to aWashington Post-Kaiser Foundation-Harvard University poll of Detroiters. At the same time 63% of Detroiters feel optimistic that things will change for the better. Detroit's dependence on the auto industry has led to a marked precipitous decline with the highest unemployment in the country. Michigan has 14.7% unemployment and Detroit has 16.7%, the highest in the country. Seven of ten residents see a revitalization of the auto industry needed to rejuvenate Detroit, and three fourths of residents polled say this is likely to happen, even though the state government is looking to diversify the economy. A senior economist at the Upjohn Institute, an independent research group in Kalamazoo, Michigan, says creating a new diversified economy which includes biotech, medical, green energy in addition to electric cars and other fields in auto, will take years. One, two or even five years won't be enough to replace all the jobs lost in the auto industry, it may take adecade or longer. Some workers will be retrained in new areas, others will move and some will take lower wages at new jobs. Because of the area divided along racial lines with the black city neighborhoods and the white suburbs, the pain while distributed throughout the region, is seeing a marked deterioration in the life in the city. Governor Granholm says the state governmet has spent $400 million to help enroll 100,000 people in retraiing programs to become nurses, medical technicians, truck drivers and welders. Granholm says her office has helped create 163,000 jobs in 2009....

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Asiana airlies benefits from higher passenger and freight traffic between Korea and China. China and Korea traffic is about 20% of the Asiana airlines business. Asiana also has better service than its lowcost Chinese competitors to hold its sales position> Note that Korea and China have doubled the routes between them and traffic has gone up significantly.

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Of the over 400 cases of rickets in Scotland most are in the Greater Glasgow area. Rickets is a disease of poverty and malnutrition.

Dr Chris Williams, joint chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners Scotland, says: “Generally preventable conditions such as these are indicative of Scotland having the lowest life expectancy in the UK, while other environmental factors such as a colder climate may contribute to these outcomes, as well.

“As a society, more needs to be done to protect individuals on low incomes from products that have low nutritional value or that are likely to lead to malnutrition if relied upon instead of healthier alternatives.”

Similar problems exist in parts of the US and other parts of Europe with a general decline in health, and rising cases of malnutrition or poor nutrition, bad choices, use of packaged food, in the population.

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Already Japan, Vietnam and Taiwan are negotiating. India will join South Korea. Britain will follow. Only Canada and China are holding back because of the imbalance in trade heavily in their favor and a failure to see that it is about fairness. In the EU only Germany has a surplus many nations have a deficit, it seeks to start negotiating at the first opportunity. Contrary to what most of the American and British media says Lighhizer and Jamieson have thought this thing through for many years before arriving at the Tariffs advice they gave the US president as his 2 USTR. It is these two not the president acting on his own whim as the media like to show. And Lighthizer has done this before- as Deputy USTR in the 1980 with Japan on the opposite side and come out of it with winning solutions for the US and for the world.

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A list of Tariffs by Nation are shown here in the BBC. DJT held out a chart showing these tariffs in the Rose Garden on Liberation Day, April 2, 2025. These are half reciprocal tariffs says DJT, only half each country charges as tariffs on US products including manipulating currency and non tariff barriers, the US he says is being "kind."  Top of the list in tariffs were- China  34%  European Union 20% Vietnam   46% Japan    24% South Korea 25% India     26% Taiwan 32% Britain    10% Brazil      10% Turkey     10% Argentina  10% ...

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Stanley Fischer, former head of the Bank of Israel, is the likely candidate for vice chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve in 2014. Fischer is author of a 1977 paper in which he supported an activist central bank monetary policy to tackle economic downturns. As deputy director of the IMF he helped build the "Washington Consensus," which supported flexible exchange rates, free capital flows and balanced budgets. The IMF austerity policies came under much criticism in S. Korea, other Asian countries, Russia, and Latin America during this period, especially high interest rates and sharp spending cuts during downturns. He is a former MIT professor and a dual citizen of Israel and the U.S., born in Zambia (Northern Rhodesia).

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A poll released by Datafolha on June 29, 2013, shows a sharp drop in popularity of Brazil's president Dilma Rousseff from 57% to 30%. In northeastern Brazil, an area where the ruling Workers Party enjoyed strong support, Rousseff's popularity fell sharply from 64% to 40%. Over 80% of respondents in the poll expressed support for the street protests in Brazilian cities over poor infrastructure, transportation and public services, and overspending on soccer stadiums at the expense of basic services. A protest over bus fare increases set off the street protests. Rousseff's response to the protests have come under criticism- the president offered to conduct a referendum for improving the political system, and channel oil royalties to education.

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Ray Dolby of Dolby Labs was a pioneer in electronics field of noise reduction for tape recordings. Listening to the early reel to reel tape recordings with the loud hissing sound at intervals Dolby took up the task of coming up with noise reduction technology. He had studied engineering at Stanford and worked at Ampex Corporation in the San Francisco area. The early Dolby recordings technology came out in the seventies and was improved till the Dolby technology could be fitted on a small chip. The research work by Dolby led to 50 patents. He was sole owner and member of the Board of Directors of Dolby Labs till it went public in 2005, earning royalties for his inventions.

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In parts of the country like South Mountain near Phoenix the prison rate is 6 for every 100 people. The overall prison rate according to a Pew study is 1 person for 41 for black people 1 for 96 for Hispanics and 1 for 245 for whites. So Black and Hispanic people are the most overrepresented in the nations prison system. Arizona spends $900 million on corrections. Black people between the ages of 17 and 35 are extinct in South Mountain say some older residents of this area who take care of the grandchildren left behind. The emphasis on law enforcement has created safer quieter neighborhoods but it has also created a problem of missing young people.

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The strength of the Korean currency, the won, depends on the strength of Korea's shipbuilding business. Ships are the No. 1 export itemhaving replaced chips. Korea had $70 billion in shipbuilding orders in 2007, and $48 billion in 2008. Orders for 2009 are expected to fall to $5 billion according to the Korean Shipbuilders Association. In 2007 shipbuilders exchanged dollars for won, by the time ship orders fell sharply demand for won declined. With the Lehman Brothers collapse things took asharp dive for the won, and it lost 40% of its value, one of the biggest drops of any currency. As foreign investors have returned the won is now down 20% from 2007 yearend levels.

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Honda's policy of hiring from certain counties within a 50 mile distance from its new plant in Greensburg, Indiana, to keep a good distance from closed UAW plants and keep away from new workers who have UAW loyalties. Honda's policy of hiring at wages near the prevailing wage in the region surrounding the plant, and the freedom from the UAW that enables Honda to follow this wage policy. In a very competitive automobile market the gains made by GM in its negotiations are undercut by Honda and Toyota's own efforts to bring its wages more in line with the area where the plant is located, which are generally lower than the higher wages paid in the past.

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Dudley Althaus looks at Mexico's 2018 election from a working class suburb of Mexico City called Valle de Chalco. Once a squatter settlement outside Mexico City this area was courted by the ruling PRI Institutional Revolutionary party for 3 decades with a social investing program building sewers, water and power lines. Today this area like others in the state of Mexico have turned to a new party Morena led by Manuel Lopez Obrador, to find a way out of the corruption, violence and failure of the rule of law under the PRI. Obrador left the socialist PRD party to form Morena in 2014 after running for president on the PRD ticket twice. The thirst for change is widespread inside Mexico giving Obrador a higher vote margin in state of Mexico than the 53% he won overall in Mexico. The PRI won just 16% of the vote. The old politics of piggy bank and patronage of the PRI is now discredited in Mexico.  The reason the old politics does not work anymore is the change in places like this from a shanty town of tin shacks to a bustling city of 400,000. This place has a technical school, a state university branch, rows of well kept cinder  block homes along with malls and wealthier homes. With basic necessities being met Mexican workers are turning to larger issues of national identity and how the next chapter can be written in the social contract. Obrador's nationalist message and criticism of the globalized economy struck workers and middle class as the right direction for Mexico. This came just as president Trump brought new views on immigration and NAFTA on the other side of the border challenging Mexico to find its own direction and independent position in the world economy, even building new links to other countries in Europe and Asia. ...

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Iranian missiles and drones flying low and close to the ground avoided detection by Saudi and American air defense systems. The missiles and drones hit Saudi oil facilities stopping about half of the Saudi oil production. Iranian cruise missile technology was used for the attack, according to U.S. officials. The attack also showed how vulnerable the oil supplies from this region are to disruption. The U.S. is not dependent on Saudis for oil as it has increased its production from shale. China, Japan, South Korea and India are dependent on Saudi oil supplies. Yet the U.S. is shouldering a greater burden for ensuring reliable supplies to Asian countries, something the Trump administration sees it should be compensated for. Tougher sanctions on Iranian oil hurt its economy, resulting in actions taken by Iran to disrupt Saudi oil supplies. The Saudi intervention in Yemen is another source of tensions in the region. The Trump administration says it is not interested in endless wars in the region, yet its tougher oil sanctions on Iran are pulling it into the conflict in unpredictable ways. China, India, and other countries had sought sanctions waivers to import Iranian oil, and see the sanctions as hurting oil supplies. India with limited supplies of its own was affected by the oil sanctions. ...

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Everything you might want to know about coffee, where it comes from, how cultivation is changing with climate change and higher temperatures, and the effort to map the coffee genome. With higher temperatures the farming of coffee moves to higher altitudes in coffee growing countries in the tropics, but it is easier to cross breed the 124 varieties to produce a plant that can withstand the change in temperatures and one that can resist fungus.  A coffee fungus and higher altitude rains destroyed much of the crop in Central America including Guatemala. This led to increased migration to Mexico and U.S. of farmers leading up to Mr. Trump's plan to have the National Guard of Mexico police Mexico's border with Guatemala.  Coffee is a sensitive plant and needs cooler weather and water which is found more in the tropics. Growing it in California or in Italy makes it very costly leading to Frinj coffee being sold in California at $16 a cup. Climate change could reduce the area where coffee can be grown by about 50% in the tropical countries from South east Asia to African countries such as Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Ethiopia, and in south America Colombia and Brazil, says Climate Institute, Washington DC based climate change experts.   ...

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Bhutan is a small mountain kingdom in north eastern India, bordering Tibet. Historically close ties with Tibet continued after China's takeover of Tibet following the coming to power of China's Communist Party in 1949. This led to a friendship treaty with India in 1949. A narrow piece of terrritory with 34 square kilometres is part of the dispute between China and India. India opposed the move to build Chinese roads in the area leading to a standoff that is now over 50 days. This territory is significant because it connects India's central plains to the northeastern states. Bhutan opposes the Chinese road work but tries to maintain friendly relations with China. The close relationship between India and Bhutan is part of the situation that emerged after China's takeover of Tibet. The Royal Bhutan Army's salaries are paid by India, road construction is done by India, and subsidies for food and kerosene were provided by India. A parliamentary democracy with a monarch was established in Bhutan under king Jigme Wangchuk, and elections were held in 2008, 2013. This has led to more openness towards China, leading to concern in India.  Bhutan is a popular destination for Chinese tourists who pay $250 for a visa. Indians do not need a visa. ...

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Caterpillar is asking workers at its Canadian plant to accept a large cut in wages and benefits. Wages and benefits at Caterpillar's rail equipment plant in LaGrange, Illinois, are less than 50% of the costs at the Caterpillar locomotive assembly plant in London, Ontario. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics U.S. manufacturing labor costs per unit of output were 13% lower in 2010 than in 2000. This compares with an increase of 2.3% in Germany, increase of 18% in Canada, and increase of 15% in South Korea. Caterpillar is also asking for more flexible work rules at the Canadian plant. The flip side of this is that U.S. workers are earning significantly less in manufacturing, especially considering inflation, and the middle class is shrinking in the U.S. At the same time wages in the U.S. that are more competitive with wages in Mexico and China with flexible work rules and use of automation and technology, is helping to reverse the shrinking of the manufacturing sector in the U.S....

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"To Invest (at home), To Align (with allies), To Compete (with the world)" sums up the approach of president Biden with China. It also sums up the approach at home and overseas. Biden senior adviser, Jake Sullivan at Council of Foreign Relations sets out the framework and path for managing US-China relations into the future for many decades. Here at the Council of Foreign Relations he shows how- through careful study of the relationship's history, the changes in the relationship, and where it is today in 2024. Having participated in previous administrations Jake understood how it has evolved, where mistakes were made by both China and the US, where misperceptions took hold and need for clarification, for action. The old Strategic Dialogue followed by Paulsen under Bush 2000-2008 allowed the relationship to be guided by business interests, -without any clear strategy or idea where it was going except maximizing interests of business on both sides- was continued by Kerry under Obama 2008-2016. Sullivan, Blinken and Biden have built a Strategic Economic Cooperation Framework that has clear goals on the American side and goals on the Chinese side, and work between the two presidents and their cabinet ministers. Trump 2016-2020 rejected the earlier Strategic Dialogue but was not able to set up a sound framework that would guide future relations for decades. Sullivan helped set up a new framework around three principles- To Invest, To Align, and To Compete.   Here he describes how the plan to invest trillions in infrastructure in the US was part of this plan's principle To Invest. On Align it was to derisk not decouple by reducing the excessive concentration of supply chains in China, that was revealed as a problem in the pandemic years. Building up manufacturing at home and in India, Vietnam and Japan. Align also was to have allies Japan, South Korea and India to be aligned with the US policy. It also meant that all three countries would follow the same framework for their economies To Invest, To Align, To Compete.  By combining the strengths of the 2 largest economic centers Seoul/Tokyo with New Delhi/Sydney in Indo-Pacific the leveraging effect of US strength could be felt to support its position. And third to compete on level field so that America retained control of its technologies and implementing exports controls. And sharing this in  open communication with China that the US was protecting its technology and interests the way China has done in the past for its interests. The benefit of open communication even where there are differences had the advantage of not turning this into open rhetoric that damaged relations as had happened under previous administrations. Wang Yi on China's side having seen and approached it with careful study and reflection had similar goals to stabilize and put the relationship on a sound footing. Sullivan met extensively with Wang Yi in meetings in several locations around the world. Ministers Yellen, Raimondo, Blinken, Kerry, were sent to China for extensive discussions as part of this strategy in 2023 leading to remarkable change in the mood and confidence in US- China relations after tumult in 2016-2020 and uncertainty in previous administrations. Much credit goes to president Biden and Jake Sullivan, Anthony Blinken, and also to Wang Yi and Jinping in no way diminishing their own initiative, so that for the first time in decades the US China relationship is now on a stable footing. Both countries faced common challenges around counter narcotics, around climate change, and other issues. These are being addressed. Competition is managed carefully and no rhetoric is taking place so that the largest two economies and about 1.7 billion in US and China and 2 billion people who are allies in India/Indonesia/Vietnam/ Korea/Japan living on the same planet earth can have economic and other cooperation  with different cultures, economic structures and systems of government. The result of such a framework also gives the basis for cooperation with America's allies to invest in Africa and Latin America and in the people of these two continents as another level of alignment and investment for a safer better world. ...

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How the differences in policy of US and S. Korea are seen in the way they approach the N. Korean nuclear tests and about relations with N. Korea.

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So much for political campaigning and talk of inflation, inflation comes in lower in September after DJT tariffs of 10-15% on EU, Japan and other trading partners. The higher tariffs on China are action needed to reduce trillion dollar trade deficits the world has with China, deficits that are economically destabilizing for the world economy, with supply chain concentration a serious problem. US inflation in September came in at 3.0 percent lower than expected.  One reason is that the headline numbers are high but in actual practice the tariffs are on average at 12.5% not 17% or 25% as headlines show. The tariffs vary by country and the US was careful to keep them at 10% for the EU and Britain and 15% for Japan, the key trading partners. China is an exception at 47% because it is US policy to reduce the world's 1 trillion trade deficit with China and cutting this is a major goal. For decades the US tried every possible way to bring it down to no avail till this effort with tariffs. Another is exceptions in products- for India this includes semiconductors, smartphones and pharmaceuticals. Another factor is that postpandemic inflation in 2021-2022 created higher profit margins in auto, retail and other sectors of the economy. As a result only 30-40% of the tariff gets passed onn to consumers. In autos only about 20% because buyers cannot afford the high prices. Some tariffs are still being negotiated and are a foreign policy tool to get India to stop funding Russia in the Ukraine war knowing that India was importing most of its oil from non-Russian sources till 2019. China is also funding Russia, that is true but the US can insist on exercising its leverage with Asian partners not China. With China the tariff on fentanyl and the overall 47% tariff- down from 57% after meetings in Busan, South Korea between Xi and DJT last month- shows the US takes the Chinese role in distorting world trade to its benefit seriously.  ...

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The figures are staggering. $380 billion of $400 billion in Nigerian oil revenues estimated lost to corruption and waste from 1960 to 1999. This is the estimate given by Nigeria's top anticorruption official and quoted in the NYT. Meanwhile life expectancy in Nigeria is about 47 years and little of the oil revenues goes to infrastructure, health, education and investment to improve the lives of Nigeria's people. The oil companies after years of bad publicity, Shell and Exxon, appear to be shrugging their shoulders that there is little they can do beyond their own small investments, $100 million by Shell and $22 million by Exxon each year on roads and other related infrastructure. The western oil companies typically get 7% of the profits from oil sales, with the government keeping 93%, according to the NYT. Mouwad describes life inside a 50 acre area in Port Harcourt which houses Italians working for oil company Eni. A militant movement MEND is fighting in the Delta region to have more resources devoted to this neglected region of Nigeria. The result is that life is becoming difficult for foreign oil workers in the area. About 13% of oil revenues go to the states but corruption and waste eat up the money at the state level too. The River States budget is an example, of about $1.3 billion budget only $22 million goes to health services, helicopter services and catering for the governor's office alone cost $38 million and $10 million. MEND the delta region organization wants more money for the delta states and is organizing disruption of oil production as a method to make itself heard. This has increased the need for security consultants to protect oil company property and personnel. Already a quarter of Nigerian oil production has been shut down....