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Patricia Cohen show here that the global economic system (globalization) was a project that benefitted one country: China. President Biden talks repeatedly about reversing these trends at an AFL-CIO campaign rally in Philadelphia- building infrastructure and infrastructure jobs here in the USA. Biden talked about investments, in trillions of dollars, in renewable energy, chips, science, airports, bridges, the I95 repair, that had all one common thread running through it- jobs in America, jobs for union workers and families. And the idea behind it of respect, respect for the dignity of hard work of workers in the US and union workers.

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Traveling to Nova Scotia is becoming popular. A boat ride across the Bay of Fundy from Bar Harbor in Maine to Yarmouth in Nova Scotia overnight can get you to another world on the Canadian side.

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AP/NORC poll March 2023 shows 7 out of 10 adults in the US feel that the US is spending too much on development assistance when the budget for USAID is $40 billion. In general Republican administrations prefer foreign aid to be adminstered by the State Department not a separate agency. USAID was setup during the Cold War with the Soviet Union by president John F. Kennedy in 1961. Today it adminsters programs for HIV/Aids and for pandemics, health programs that can be done through the State Department. Attitudes have shifted following the pandemic with 9 out of 10 Republicans opposed to foreign aid through USAID. Some of the criticism is that it funds bureaucrats favorite programs. The actual impact is now uncertain in the developing of an economy. For example Sri Lanka benefits more from aid and development assistance from neighbor India than from programs of USAID as it tackles the current economic crisis following the pandemic. India pulling together the aid through IMF for Sri Lanka, and the investment in energy from India is way more important than the small USAID programs.  ...

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A scoop during the early years of the New York Times, which helped put Boss Tweed of Tammany Hall who embezzled millions of public dollars in jail.

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Northwestern University's Robert Gordon sees growth in the US economy dropping from 1.93 %- that it achieved in the period 1972-2007- to 1.5% from 2007 to 2027. At that rate of growth GDP per capita would increase by 35% in the next twenty years, compared to the 62% increase in the previous period. He says better educated workers would be needed to increase the growth rate. And he discounts the impact of the internet revolution as it has no magic quality, and he describes the present transformation technologically as a mere shift to smaller devices that is not changing productivity. He does not see another technological revolution like the internet boom. The coming retirement of baby boomers increases the number of retired people that wage earners would have to support, and there is no evidence of education levels increasing for the remaining workers. What this means is that it will be more difficult to fix large problems from carbon emission, energy to infrastructure improvement. Gordon arrived at these numbers by combining research on educational attainment, technological change, and workforce demographics for the USA, and running this data through models. Gordon has examined data going back to 1891 for the USA. This shows that the next twenty years will be the slowest growth in the nation's history, since George Washington assumed the Presidency....

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Prices can top $100 a barrel, some reasons why this is possible including depleted old field and lower production relative to demand. Important article by King and Chazan because of the experts from Aramco, IEA, and Schlumberger being all pretty much aligned in their view and reasoning that not much is happening in the way of oil exploration and production is happening to meet the extra demand from India, China and deveoping countries. Aramco expert cites older depleted oil fields with a 15 year production plateau, Saddad Al- Husseini estimates that price will go up by $12 for every million barrels a day in additional demand. Nobuo Tanaka the new executive director IEA thinks supply will not keep up with demand because many oilresource rich countries are not bringing in outside investors, and also because he is not sure there will be enough investment, skilled workers and technology to to get the oil out in a timely manner. Note there have been constraints in engineering and manpower shortages. And Andrew Gould CEO of Schlumberger says that 70% of the oil fields are over 30 years old, amd just in the last four years from 2003 the demand has increased by the production thats generated from North Sea and Mexico....

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Iran's (IRGC's not the people of Iran who are protesting) strategy in talks is to stall peace talks, to use the help of global media which is creating perception for Iran, and see if the strategy of no nuclear materials turned over to Russia or some other country, see if that strategy works. This is  what German Foreign Minister Wadephul is saying on Day 16 of the Naval Blockade. Earlier this week German chancellor Merz called it unfortunate that the Iran War is continuing in explaining to ordinary Germans why the German economy is slowing down, yet he understands the danger posed by nuclear weapons in Iran or for that matter anywhere inthe volatile and explosive Middle East. Almost like the volatile and explosive Balkans that ignited World War I in 1914. This strategy of IRGC Iran does much irreparable damage to the Iranian economy in weeks to come. Iranian protests were intended to put the economy on a new path in which not just students, the middle class in the bazaars, the younger generation of Iranians who had the most to lose participated. Why is this happening? It is happening because of the complicated politics of the Middle East and centuries old differences within the Islamic world between different sectarian beliefs and cultures. It is not happening because of the US. The US cannot be responsible for what colonial empires of the British and French did in this region in the 1920's by creating artificial states of Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, out of the Arab portion of the collapsed Ottoman Empire defeated in World War I with Shia, Sunni populations in these states mixed up into unmanageable states. Five decades of wars in the Middle East are the result of these unmanageable artificial states of French and British Empires by 1921. The British Empire also controlled Iran in the 1900's and its oil resources. There was no involvement of America as the British and French did what they wanted to do even in the Treaty of Versailles that ended WWI.  The fall of the pro-Soviet Mossadegh regime in 1956 was the only fragmentary situation which is an anti Soviet Cold War move by the US in 1952, and was done by a group that had British connections deep inside the Eisenhower administration led by Secretary of State John Foster Dulles that took this unfortunate step for America (looking back over  5 decades of wars). A British oriented group was active inside the Republican party that continued to operate in the Reagan administration's involvement in support for Iraq in its war with Iran. And which no longer exists in the Republican party led by DJT which puts America First, grasps the fact of unmanageable states of British and French Empires and seeks to distance the US from the Middle East. Gandhi and Patel (and Jinnah) avoided the creation of such a state in British India's partition into India and Pakistan. Afghanistan is simply an extension of this Middle Eastern complicated setup, including 9/11. Why is all this important? Arab Middle East is a dangerous place for nuclear weapons- this is all the US is trying to accomplish, thankfully without the cooperation of the British and French whose Empires are responsible for the creation of a hodge podge mix of peoples in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq which (check this out) never existed before British and French Mandates of 1921. The global and American media that sees DJT Republicans as too conservative on cultural issues and the political establishment intending to return to power have completely obscured or not presented this side of the Middle East, yet is key to devising a policy that keeps America out of Middle East wars but keeps the goal of no nuclear weapons in this powderkeg of a region. ...

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This story in the WSJ is about pregnant Emergency Room doctors still working. These three doctors are in the University of Maryland Medical System. They have leave but are working because if all three were to take leave it would pose significant strain on their group and their colleagues.

They have to reuse their respirator masks for a week till they are soiled and visibly damaged says this report in WSJ, which should be unacceptable in America. The risks they take are also unacceptable in the face of so much happening at hospitals. How long will this go on in hospitals across America with shortages of basic protection equipment for healthcare workers putting their lives at risk is what everyone is asking.

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Apple's new privacy rules are reducing the extensive tracking of internet users that took place in an unregulated industry for the last decade. Apple has introduced a long overdue privacy change that restricts how users can be tracked on apps such as Facebook, Instagram and other apps. Users are now asked if they want to be tracked and can opt out. US users opt to allow tracking only 16% of the time they see the Apple privacy prompt. This will be one more needed step to protect the privacy of users that had suffered  in the last 10 years from rampant and unrestricted tracking of users.

 

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The transport sector accounts for a third of German energy consumption and a fifth of gas emissions, making it a sector that will come up for major overhaul after elections. The Greens party in Germany is making this a major issue in the elections. The massive flooding in Germany and severe drought conditions are seen as effects of climate change that is moving to the top of the agenda. Greens are polling in the 15-20% range and are likely to be a key partner in a new government.

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Tense moments after India's Chandrayan 2 covers 364,000 miles in space, coming close to the lunar surface at the South Pole, as close as 2.1 kilometres before losing communication with the ISRO Space Center. ISRO scientist Sivan and prime minister Modi at the Space Center.  Mr. Modi says he fully supports the space program's mission, saying the need was for continued "prayas" effort and learning from the experience. "Stay steady, look ahead," the prime minister tells ISRO scientists.

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The instruments on board the Orbiter for Chandrayan 2, India's Moon mission, will be enabling much of the scientific work. The Orbiter is functioning well and will be there for 7.5 years providing critical scientific data on this side of the moon, even though the Vikram Lander did not function as planned.

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DW.com looks at the newly built in 2018 Kerch Bridge in Crimea and its importance for Ukraine and Russia. This bridge links Crimea to the Krasnodar Krai region of Russia in northern Caucasus. It cost $3.6 billion to build, runs for 19 kilometres, and is the longest bridge in Europe.It crosses the Kerch Strait that connects the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea. 

It is the main route for supplies to Russian invasion forces in the Kherson region and one of only two rail freight routes connecting Russia to Crimea. 

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Wages for factory workers actually declined over the last two decades. Outshoring led to reduced wages in manufacturing. The auto industry crises after 2000 increased this decline. This trend is finally being corrected after the pandemic exposed the risks of a supply chain dependent on unrelaible partners overseas. The Biden administration has also eased the way for unions to win wage increases, similar to the role of the Scholz administration in Germany for German unions to win wage increases. Both presidents say this is important for the dignity of workers and for workers to earn a living wage. The cost of living crisis has further increased the sense that worker incomes have suffered for too long. Germany's transport union negotiated wage increases of 410 euros a month with Deutsche Bahn this week, and the UAW union is negotiating a new wage agreement with Stellantis, Ford and GM.