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A Yale Brown universities study in 2024 shows the huge dividends from investments in childcare in the early part of schooling years- $1 invested in free full time daycare for preschoolers generates $6 in economic benefits. It only includes the economic benefits from the lack of affordable childcare for parents that lead to cutting back on work hours and changing careers. This does not even include the results decades from today in 2050 when these children provide the Nation with a strong educated workforce to propel industry and the economy forward in new ways. Catherine Rampell in the Washington Post shows that these economic benefits are  just the beginning, as the effects ripple through to local economies, touching on kids, parents, employers, local tax revenue. This is not counting the effects on mental health of parents struggling with childcare and the overall mental wellbeing of the Nation knowing that it has got the priorities right for a better future.   ...

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Sri Lanka's state owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation has $700 million in debt that it cannot repay resulting in fuel shortages as it cannot finance imports of oil. Depending on Indian financial help for fuel that after $4 billion in aid is not sustainable, says Wickremasinghe, who is finance minister and prime minister.

Deep rooted errors in management of the economy now need to be corrected and this will require increase in income taxes, cutting public expenditure and breaking down loss making state monopolies, are needed. Wickremasinghe says "if the government misses this opportunity this would be a crime."

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The decisive German response to the Ukraine invasion comes within 72 hours of the invasion. "It is our duty to support Ukraine to the best of our ability in defending against Putin's invading army," German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said. "That is why we are delivering 1000 antitank weapons and 500 Stinger missiles to our friends in Ukraine." Similar shipments are being made by Netherlands and Britain. The US has committed $350 million additional military aid to Ukraine including "lethal defensive assistance" against invading armored and airborne forces, in the first 48 hours of the invasion.

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 Tom Suozzi is elected to the US House of Representatives from New York for the seat vacated by Rep. Santos. After Suozzi is sworn in Feb. 28 Republicans will have 219 seats to Democrats 213. The majority is so slim that when 3 Republicans opposed the impeachment of Homeland Secretary Mayorkas for immigration issues Speaker Johnson could get the impeachment passed only on the second try and that only by one vote. President Biden has called for a vote immediately in the House on an Ukraine aid bill after it passed in the US Senate 70-29 with 22 Republicans joining Democrats. 

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This report in the BBC looks at China's telecom Huawei and points out that the new headquarters of the African Union were built in Addis Abba, Ethiopia at a cost of $200 million in Chinese aid. Later Le Monde Afrique reported that data from the headquarters was transferred to servers in Shanghai. 

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For someone in his 100th year and having conducted the opening to China Mr Kissinger deserves to be heard. He brings a perspective from the Austrian German school of thinking which adds to other perspectives of where the world is and the way forward. His insights are shaped by the Austrian Metternich and Briton Casterleigh in his book A World Restored (1957) and the experience gained from their shaping a peace that lasted from about 1815 to 1914. He sees China but completely misses the future and potential of India and Indonesia that together make up the largest population and twin nations in the world. India changes everything as seen from its potential to bring peace to Ukraine and bring Russia- and even China with its shared heritage of Buddhism- into the world shaped by the Anglo-Saxons (US and Britain, France) and Germany.

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Bellman and Dayal in WSJ give this amazing report of how vaccine travels from Pune to remote region of Mizoram hills in India's northeast near Burma. This is the story of the largest vaccination drive in the world that aims to have the vaccine supplies by July to vaccinate the entire population of 1.2 billion people by December 2021. It all began with Oxford University and Astra Zeneca with the decision to make the vaccine available to such a vast population and to people in all parts of the world not just Europe and the US. Bharat Biotech and India's pharmaceutical manufacturers have now joined efforts with the help of the Indian government to produce enough vaccine at affordable cost and make vaccine supplies ample and accessible. This will then be extended to all parts of the world.

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Social and economic changes in American society have come down to an alarming statistic. There are three young women for every two young men in American colleges. At Tulane the freshman class has two thirds women students. At liberal arts colleges the class is usually 60% women. As noted in this report by Susan Dominus in NYT there is a devaluing of college education because men have choices that are higher paying, conservatives have not emphasized college education, and "male drift" is a serious problem leading to male enrolment declining. And once in college men are dropping out at afaster rate. All this adds up to a serious problem in America, one that the Biden administration has to take seriously as it looks at rebuilding not just the economy, but also the education system that supports the US economy in the world.

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Rupert Murdoch brought positive changes as shown here to introduce electronic printing technologies to the newspaper business in 1981 the year Reagan became president. Yet there are questions why others across the news operations did not take this up as it would make sense to adopt new technologies. Why was there no competition? This led to The Times being acquired for $28 million in 1981 compared to the $5 billion paid for The Wall Street Journal in 2007- enormous difference as monopolistic/oligopolistic behaviour has become entrenched in shaping public perceptions and policy. Why for instance is not taking climate change action in the face of fires/floods or not taking action to invest hugely in infrastructure for a dilapidated USA become seen as acceptable in for 2024-2030-even as the European Union aims to be fossil free by 2030?

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The Senate passed the Kids Online Safety Act 91-3. It is now upto the House and Speaker Johnson to pass it quickly. Safeguards are already in place for communities. It is an appalling and dangerous sign of the reckless behaviour of tech companies in this social media space, the tech company lobbying conducted here. Ordinary Americans need protection, children in America need protection from the unacceptable risks to mental health in the social media space. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has called for a warning label similar to the one on cigarette boxes to be placed on social media outlets. Senator Blumenthal and Senator Blackburn from northeast and southern states have come together on this issue to protect the Nation's children. It is now upto the House to take action in 2024 to protect the Nation and its children.

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The Affordable Care Act subsidies are basically a band aid approach to a fundamentally broken health care system in the US, says Washington Post Editorial Board on Nov. 1, 2025. The 22 million ACA subsidies will cost $350 billion over 10 years. Democrats have the government shutdown over this issue of extending Obama ACA subsidies where enrolment increased in the covid and Biden years with generous subsidies. The Washington Post looks at how we got here since 1945, decisions made about employer insurance plans that created a patchwork of plans from private sector and other plans outside it with perverse incentives and inefficient subsidies. It calls the system stupid, and politicians looking to the next 2 year midterm elections wary of addressing the whole problem in the proper way for a system that will benefit all the people of the US.

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European Union president Ursula van der Leyen says Africa could be facing a massive surge in coronavirus in a couple of weeks similar to what is happening in Europe. She said only a globally coordinated response would win the war against the coronavirus. "It is in our interests to ensure that the fight is successful worldwide." To help African economies and health systems the European Union will provide aid and grants of 15 billion euros or about 16.3 billion dollars. 

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The Wall Street Journal points out that about 3.92 million people in the U.S. reported income above 200,000 in 2009, and paid $434 billion in taxes. Of these people 90% are not millionaires. The overwhelming majority of the people affected by an increase in taxes on the middle class with incomes above $200,000 are not millionaires. The editorial asks a question about "fairness" for these Americans- who pay a large share of their income for higher university tution payments for kids- for whom the taxes can make a difference.

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More flexible attitudes about how lives can be lived and independent attitudes are leading to more people in Japan doing things alone on their own. For people to travel, go to concerts or events alone, and take part in other activities alone, is becoming more acceptable in Japan, a country where doing things together was once the only way. About 50% of people in Japan now do things independently, as society changes and demographics adds another factor of single people in retirement. The term used for this is ohitorisama in Japan. There is even karaoke for one person on his own, and eating by oneself at a restaurant or at work is now ok, quite acceptable.

 

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The word "elderly" is going out of common use, the CDC in the U.S. has crossed it out and uses the words 'over 60." Parents bristle as the term elderly takes on a new meaning in the days of coronavirus in March 2020. One of the baby boomers at age 64, who has completed 40 triathlons in last 7 years asks if she can really be called elderly. Parents bristle with texts and calls from children in the thirties to change travel plans, with most deciding to stay put at home. Yet as other reports show most younger people in their thirties and forties are also working from home with their kids around them.

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Brexit had unintended consequences. Ads on buses showed waves of immigrants pouring into Britain, which was not the case as this was taking place in central Europe under Merkel only for a while till it was reversed.  Yet Brexit happened with support from anti-immigrant sentiment, and working class communities in the north of England left behind by Blair's Labor. This report in the Times of London shows a prime minister from an immigrant family who leads the same Tory party today which has also forgotten working class communities that were never its base, leaving Labor an opportunity to assert its claim to serve the whole British people.

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The Ukraine frontlines in March 2024 after the deep fortifications and the trenches built on the Russian side that stalled any Ukraine advances. Ukraine is building its own trench fortifications as it expects a Russian spring offensive. Ukraine is dependent now on Britain and Germany, France, as the US House of Representatives controlled by Republicans under Speaker Mike Johnson have not taken up the Senate bill for aid to Ukraine that passed by 70 to 30 on a bipartisan basis. The result is uncertainty in Ukraine and in Eastern European nations. Sweden joined NATO and has conducted exercises with Finland which has the longest border of any nation with Russia.

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Comey sends another letter to Congressional committees on Nov. 6, just 2 days before the election, saying that "based on our review we have not changed our conclusions that we expressed in July with respect to Secretary Clinton." Just 9 days prior to the election Comey had written to Congress that the FBI was looking into emails found on the computer of Mr Weiner, estranged husband of Clinton aide Abedin. By doing this Comey had inserted himself and the FBI into the election in a way that was not proper said leaders of both parties. The heavy criticism continued with Vice presidential candidate Kaine, president Obama and Secretary Clinton, seeing this as a blatant political move by Comey, who is a Republican. It is likely to remain a subject of criticism long after the election, say experts.