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Compared to the end of 2009, Ford has made considerable progress in its balance sheet. Gross debt is now cut in half at the end of March 2011, to $16.6 billion. Net debt of $8.7 billion is now net cash of $4.7 billion. Spreads on debt issued by the finance division of Ford are getting close to investment grade.

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Jake Sullivan cites JFK and what this means for the vision that "the Biden Administration must and will fight to achieve." Here at the Brookings Institution Jake Sullivan articulates Biden's vision for America and the Way Forward. "Let me close with this. President Kennedy was fond of saying that a rising tide lifts all boats. Over the years, advocates of trickle-down economics appropriated this phrase for their own uses. But President Kennedy wasn't saying what's good for the wealthy is good for the working class. He was saying, we're all in this together. And look at what he said next. If one section of the country is standing still, then sooner or later, a dropping tide drops all boats. That's true for our country. That's true for our world. Economically, over time, we are going to rise or fall together. And that goes for the strength of our democracies, as well as for the strength of our economies. As we pursue this strategy at home and abroad, there will be reasonable debate. And this is going to take time. The international order that emerged after the end of the Second World War and then the Cold War were not built overnight. Neither will this one. But together, we can work to lift up all of America's people, communities, and industries. And we can do the same with our friends and partners everywhere around the globe as well. This is a vision the Biden administration must and will fight to achieve." "This is what is guiding us as we make our policy decisions at the intersection of economics, national security, and democracy. And this is the work that we will do, not just as a government, but with every element of the United States and with the support and help of partners, both in government and out of government around the world." ...

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A co-president of the Club of Rome and a European commissioner describe the needs for restoration in farming in the EU. Under new legislation changes in farming methods are required to restore nature and ensure affordable food for all. This is also needed to tackle the climate crisis.

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Athens has changed a lot since the economic crisis and it has a lot to offer in history, culture and in Mediterranean sights and food, says Tony Perrottet in WSJ. He looks at facets of the city including new subway connections and Greeks returning to setup cafes and other shops.

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The Guardian gives this story of Khamanei's rule in Iran after 1989. He was made president in 1981 in a landslide win at that time just 2 years after the revolution in 1979 that toppled the Shah of Iran's monarchial regime. Khamanei comes from a the family of a modest cleric in the town of Mashaad who was immersed in the anticolonial writings coming out of Arab North Africa's liberation movements. His policy towards Israel and the US, difficult relations with Arab countries in the neighborhood, and pursuit of nuclear weapons technologies, led Iran to become isolated and face sanctions that hurt its economy and its oil industry for three decades. It created its own version of governing and in setting up proxy militias but this resulted in huge investments diverted from the economy of Iran, neglect of its oil industry and production under western sanctions, that led to economy collapsing and student protests every decade. This expanded in 2025 to broad sections of the population calling for a new direction. Protests were suppressed leading to a disconnect with the people by 2026. To truly understand Iran one has to step back to the 1900's ( as one must also do to understand China or India), as Iran was ruled by the Qajar dynasty at the time. The first Majlis parliament was set up in Iran in 1906 -with the help of "good" Britishers like the British agent in Rajkot who helped send Gandhi to London to study law- wished to see a constitutional setup similar to Britain and limit the powers of the monarchy so that reforms in agriculture and in the civil service could be made. It lasted until 1908. At the time other Britishers in the British Empire both in India and in London sought to maintain British influence and keep out Russian influence. It was not a coincidence that the Majlis lasted only till 1908. That year in 1908 the first discovery of oil in West Asia was made in Khozestan province by George Reynolds, with investor backing of William D'Arcy. The following year 1909 the Anglo-Persian Oil Company( later Anglo Iranian Oil Company and later British Petroleum) was formed. The oil concession was given by the Shah from Qajar dynasty. From that time on Iran became the scene of oil company interests, monarchial interests first under Qajar dynaasty and then under Pahlavis dynasty (which set itself up like Napoleon II in France from humble origins, after 1925 to replace the Qajar dynasty), and the emerging middle class lawyer and civil service, agricultural landowners class, all competing for power and influence in a Asian region with Shihite Islamic embedded in the fabric of the society. Power swung to different groups from 1925 onwards for 5 decades to the 1979 revolution that overthrew the Pahlavi temporary replacement monarchy that worked with British oil interests. West Asia became a meeting point for anticolonial writings emerging from Arab North Africa and other places that took the form of and led to a socialist style anticolonial Baathist influnce that overthrew a monarchy in Baghdad Iraq in the "Free Officers" coup of June 14, 1958 led by Karim Kassem. Out of that Pan Arabic Iraqi mood emerged S. Hussein who with weapons systems imported from the US and Europe initiated the war with Iran in 1980. The Iranian counterrevolutionary movement to Iraq began from that time with the leadership of Khomeni and Khameni from 1981. This is what one has seen swing back and forth in the West Asian region for about 5 decades to 2026, the regional Arab states mostly Sunni monarchies ranged against Iran with its Shiite and also modernizing population. US oil interests in Arab monarchies of the West Asian region from the time of FDR's meeting with Saudi's Faisal in the WWII period clashed with Iranian public interests competing with oil interests (US and British) allied to monarchial interests, and the emergence of Shiite Islamic authority in Iran in these clashes. Iranian public interests that started out with the Majlis and parliaments set up by the "good Britishers" never got a chance in Iran just as the modernizing effort of Sun Yat Sen in China in the 1900's never got a chance in the middle of the surviving monarchy in China by 1910, and the Japanese colonial interests in China from that time competing with the Nationalists Koumintang and the Communist Chinese workers movements emerging in the 1930's, all competing for influence during the Chinese civil war and in its aftermath the emergence of Mao and the CCP of China. This is the situation we in the world face today. ...

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Why the East Wing being redone can be a good thing at the White House. It sticks to a classical style says NYT, and is more in line with the White House style than the architectural style of the Obama tower and other such structures. The White House can use the new ball room as a place for gatherings of foreign leaders, and the space modernization can be a good thing overall.

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Wilders party in Netherlands once with one fourth of vote now only fourth largest in parliament after 7 members defect Feb 2026 because of the autocratic nature of Wilders control of his Party for Freedom (PVV). It has roiled Dutch politics when Wilders withdrew his support and Rutte government lasted 2 years. A new coalition with Wilders joining the government of Rutte's successor also has collapsed quickly. In the 2025 elections the New Social Contract Party which campaigned for good governance as part of that coalition was wiped out and Wilders did not do as well as he expected losing 11 seats to end up with 26 seats in parliament of 150 seats and 16% of the vote surpassed by a new centre left party D66 with 26 seats and 17% of the vote. What Wilders has accomplished is the sense that all parties now accept that there is a Dutch way of life and immigrants do not just fit into it, that integration is only a concept that does not work in real life.

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 Iranian drone attacks and French British interception efforts - a report from the French armed forces staff about shortages in munitions. Drone attacks by Iran in first 2 weeks of Iran war are as follows- 590 on Qatar and Kuwait, 500 and 550 on Saudi and Israel, 1700 on UAE. A flood of low cost Shahed drones intended to overwhelm defenses is used by Iran. Drones can be launched from all parts of Iran including from the countryside in a country 3 times the size of France. The drones also cost little to produce in large numbers in Iran. Munitions cost and cost of aircraft usage, other costs of Navy, run to $12.7 billion for the US and US asks for another $200 billion from Congress. France uses 24 Rafale jets Britain 8 Typhoon jets in this report from French armed forces and French munitions supplies are an issue as the war progresses. France uses MICA missiles for interception made at a factory in Bourges central France, with limited supply.

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Pricing of hotels in Rome Italy where $100 is a hostel, $200 a budget hotel, luxury $700 a night an up. Dynamic pricing means a hotel can cost $400 in the summer and $60 or $100 in September. This is true of mjor toruist destinations and  major cities in Europe. Staying away from the city in a leafy suburb can get you a normally priced room on Booking.com as shown here in the range of $100-$200 and it is a good idea to stay away from the bustle and crowds. Rome's average nightly rate April 19 is $300 a night up about 15% over 2025.  This tells you the first rule in travel in European Union is to choose destinations which are not the big cities, and away from the seasonal rush and crowds. The advice here is to look for residential neighborhoods (less costly and more peaceful), plan 6 months  for peak season  to get a decent price and a better shot at getting a decent hotel in Europe.

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Egypt's way of preserving dwindling currency reserves is to reduce costly imports of items that are not considered essential, so that essential food and energy imports can be made.

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US inflation drops to 6% in February 2023 from 6.4% in January. It is the smallest increase since September 2021. Shelter costs rose at 0.8% matching the largest gain since the 1980's. Elsewhere costs increased at at a lower pace for food and gasoline, consumers paid less to heat homes, and prices for used cars, medical services fell. A significant impact on growth is shown for Europe from the drop in oil prices to $77 from a peak of $121 adding as much as 1 to 2 percentage points to growth. A similar impact is expected in the US by keeping prices of oil lower through increase in alternative sources of oil, US increasing oil production, and significantly increased investment in renewable sources. This will help reverse the effects of the Ukraine war on world food and energy supplies and prices through constructive action by the US and its partners in the European Union.

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Costs of climate change include food insecurity and drought, floods and fires. FR24 pictures show 10 figures from the 2021 Report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: code red for humanity.

Shorter growing seasons lead to declines of 6% for corn and soy, and winter wheat 3%, rice 2% relative to 1980-2010.  2 billion people face food insecurity. Costs from extreme weather events in 2020 was $278 billion. 4 million deaths attributable to air pollution in 2019.

Drought leads to migration in Africa and Asia as crops and cattle wither in the heat from lack of rain. The estimated share of global surface area affected by extreme drought for any given month in 2020 is a shocking 19% according to this FR24 report. Also shocking is that until 2010 this figure was rarely above 5%.

 

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The Kerch bridge that connects Crimea to the Russian mainland is the main supply route to Crimea. Two of four lanes were damaged on the bridge by a major explosion. This disrupts traffic and supply of food and fuel to Russian occupied Crimea. Mr. Putin opened this bridge in 2018 after new construction.

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The turnaround at Ford Motor Company described in Detroit News reporter Bryce Hoffman's book "American Icon: Alan Mulally and the Fight to Save Ford Motor Company."

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With firms cautious about hiring the number of temporary workers is increasing. About one fourth of new jobs created in the second quarter of 2012 in the U.S. were for temporary workers. In June 2012 of the 80,000 jobs created a third were for temporary workers. About 8 million Americans work part-time. This is an increase of half a million since March 2012 for people unable to find a full time job. The number of full time workers has declined by 700,000 since March 2012, and self employed workers have increased by 381,000 since March 2012. This gives the picture of a labor market with employers unwilling to commit and hiring temps, using overtime to meet demand.