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Sarkozy convened a meeting of European leaders in Paris over the weekend but getting concerted action by all members has not been easy, with each country taking its own steps. But there is no question that the credit crisis is hitting Europe hard. Germany guaranteed all customer deposits in banks without limit. It also rescued a big mortgage lender Hypocredit.

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Leonhardt argues that rationing is rational allocation of limited resources, health care budgets are limited resources even in rich countries like the USA, and if you overpay here you cut somewhere else. Now the cuts that are not noticed he says are in take home pay as employers face increased premiums from insurers. Rationing is taking place all the time with poor health outcomes relative to the cost for poor allocation of resources as survival rate for many diseases are not that much better than other countries. Rationing takes place everyday when patients see doctors only for a few minutes as doctors race to see more patients, and when diseases are not caught early on in the process as doctors do not know their patients well enough. And rationing is taking place as patients simply delay or forego treatments based on the extra cost, or as uninsured get no care. There are so many buzzwords like this thrown around, with doctors, hospitals and insurers and other groups trying to preserve the status quo, even as it is becoming rapidly unaffordable fort the US to be spending so much on health care....

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Pandemic era child learning setbacks are the subject of this report in the WSJ. The children who were learning to read in the first year of the pandemic have the lowest reading proficiency in 20 years, US national data shows. It is tough to make up for learning loss. It could take five years or more for today's fourth graders to read proficiently unless the pace accelerates. Graduation rate from high school depends on how well third graders can read. Literacy levels at that age are critical. Reading affects the content they absorb in other subjects. Without any guide to tackling pandemic type learning loss its is mostly about winging it with educators hoping getting in more tutoring groups, more summer school will work. This report looks at educators in the Nashville School District and the results they have gained, the work that is being done.

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After 3 by-elections in Toronto and Montreal Carney likely to have slim majority in Canadian parliament with 173 seats. The Liberals party has a 10-15% lead over the next party the Conservatives. Under Justin Trudeau Liberals had fallen behind the Conservative party in polling, only to be revived by Mark Carney of the Central Bank of England who sidelined some of the more controversial parts of Trudeau policies and gaining a big win in the recent elections. Carney has tried to find a way to keep Canada independent of US policy and able to chart its own path in the face of US tariffs and trade policy.

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Poland's collapsing birth rate at 1.0 compared 1.62 in France another Catholic country, and Spain's 1.1, Germany's 1.3- 2.1 is the replacement rate per woman. This has profound consequences for Poland. The future workforce will be 20% smaller compared to 4% smaller in France in 2 decades. Many schools will close in rural areas which are hit hard. There are more deaths than births in many small towns. At this rate 1.7 million homes will become vacant in 2 decades.This report looks at Warsaw as well as rural areas near Belarus where the war has created much anxiety. The population of Poland will shrink from 36 million to 31 million over three decades if these trends continue. By 2000 the birhtrate dropped from 2.1 to 1.3 and the government introduced payments of 190 euros per child per month and expanded the childcare system. But this has not helped as the rate dropped to 1.03 in 2025. Under the Communist system industries were located in small towns and men stayed there while women moved to cities leading to a mismathch for men and women. The economic boom that doubled per capita income led to less interest in having children. The economy was supported by long hours of work which led to less interest in bearing children for women. Other reasons are a lack of interest in sharing and making the effort, the cost of raising children in a hyper competitive society like South Korea where births are at 0.7. ...

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Key aspects of the new tax plan of the Trump administration are a 35% top tax rate for individuals, instead of the current 39.6% top rate, and lower brackets at 10% and 25%. Standard deductions are to be doubled, other deductions except for mortgage interest and charitable giving, are to be eliminated. The deduction for state and local taxes will be eliminated, with this hurting residents of high local tax states such as New Jersey, New York, and California. Gary Cohn, head of the National Economic Council and Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin,  have helped formulate the plan. Cohn sees a big opportunity here for a huge tax cut and simplifying the tax system. The corporate tax rate would drop from 35% to 15%, and future foreign profits would owe little or no taxes. Corporate tax rates are lower in the UK, Germany and Japan- closer to 20%, and France has a similar 35% corporate tax rate. The hope of the Trump administration is that this will generate 3% GDP growth rate and spur creation of jobs. Still to be decided at what level tax brackets for individuals will be set, and what level earlier foreign profits will be taxed, and the child care break. ...

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Krugman says there is cause for concern from May's U.S. jobs report of only 38,000 jobs added- low even with Verizon strike jobs added back in- compared to the 200,000 a month average since Jan 2013. One cannot read too much into one months report, yet the political uncertainty in a election year adds to the problem. The low interest rates near zero offering little possibility for rate cuts, make it difficult to come up with a policy response. Under a Clinton administration the infrastructure spending option would face Republican resistance.  It is not clear how a Trump administration would respond. Krugman says the jobs figure reflects a stronger dollar- a result partly of the Fed's plan to raise rates- that is hurting U.S. exports.

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Two brothers Ian and Murray Callum, are leading the way for For Design. Moray is the new design director of Ford motor Company. He says Ford Motor is convinced that exciting products are key to acceptance in the marketplace. Moray helped Mazda become a design leader. The wo brothers are from a small Scottish town. The budgets atre tighter these days, and there are fewer designers, but everyone respects and apprecitates the work these designers are doing at Ford, says Moray.

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In this exceptional piece Galston says institutions such as Johns Hopkins University in the Baltimore area have to do more to integrate their activities with the city in the way Carnegie Melon University and other institutions helped revive Pittsburgh. Pittsbugh suffered a hollowing out of manufacturing with foreign competition, population decline and unemployment reaching 17%. It suffered economic decline in a way that happened in Detroit over the last decade. A concerted effort by the city's political, economic and nonprofit leaders is credited with making Pittsburgh one of the most livable cities, and reviving industry around new innovation. The unemployment rate in Pittsburgh is 5.4%. Galston acknowledges that Baltimore is 63% black, and Pittsburgh 26%, yet race is not the only factor, and Galston points out the need for Baltimore to work diligently to build on its educational and medical technology assets to build a new future for the city.

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Kurzabeit is a big part of the social safety net in Germany. It means short time work. When companies face a loss of orders or production or some crisis workers still get paid 60 to 67% of their wages. This avoids layoffs and benefits both employees and the company, as the company can quickly ramp up its production to full capacity with employees working full time. Workers make up for the work lost once the crisis has passed. 

This has enabled Germany to keep the unemployment rate low as in the 2008-2009 financial crisis.

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The Bank of Mexico, Mexico's central bank, cuts interest rates by half a percentage point to 3% in June 2014. The consumer price index is at 3.4% for 12 months through mid-May, and the central bank sees the inflation target of 3% by early 2015 as achievable. The central bank's estimate for GDP growth in 2014 was lowered to 2.8% from 3.5%. GDP growth was annualized 1.1% for the 1st quarter of 2014. Mexico has failed to live up to the growth expectations after the new Nieto administration's efforts to jumpstart the economy and opening up of the state oil industry to foreign investment. The policy changes of the Nieto administration set the future course of the economy and will take time to deliver results in economic growth. More effective administration and execution is needed for economic growth.

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French fries and fast food proliferation in Europe and the US connects to obesity levels in 2025. Le Monde looks at the agribusiness industries behind this proliferation in Europe and the US.