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In the days when cross border technology flows were limited and the investment in India was small, India's technological capabilities at an early stage H1-B visa program acted as an exchange program where Indian engineers could gain experience and skills, learn new technologies in the US, that would benefit both India and the US taking a long term view. In 2025 when cross border technology flows to India from the US are large and significant, when Indian investment is large India's economy fastest growing and from a much larger base, with ability to absorb talented engineers in expanding Indian business, the H1-B program is one that drains both the US and India. India as a huge brain drain of 60,000 of its best engineers every year to 2030 or 300,000 of its best engineers and the 3 million engineers they would have trained locally through their creative talents. For the US it means the loss of 300,000 engineering jobs to 2030 for locals in 51 states in the Nation. Both make no sense. Business practices once set do not change. This is why an executive order by DJT was signed by the president to impose a $100,000 fee that Tata, Meta, Google, Microsoft, Apple can choose to pay every year for 6 years if they want to hire someone on H1-B Visas. To call this group of Indian H1-B of 60,000 engineers "dreamers" also makes no sense because 3.3 million engineers knowledge base and skills to India's growth capabilities and modernization could increase economic growth, modernization of Indian infrastructure, to make India a Dream State to live in. And the same number of American born engineers would make each of the America's 51 states Dream States through repowering America's new modernization of infrastructure and power economic growth. ...

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Mr. Macron told television viewers of a national debate with Le Pen that "she wants to take France out of the European Union, she just doesn't say it." The debate showed the clear differences between Macron and Le Pen on the European Union, on Russia and the invasion of Ukraine, on Le Pen's ties with Russia that Macron noted  during the debate. Le Pen brought up the raising of the pension age to 65 which Macron says would be done very gradually over 10 years, and Macron responded by saying this was to be able to increase pension payments and increase investments in the economy.

A snap poll by polling firm Elabe showed that for viewers of the debate the candidate they found most convincing was Macron at 59% and Le Pen at 39%.

 

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The German response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine is to increase its spending on defense to over 2% of GDP.  An emotional Scholz told an extraordinary session of the German parliament - We have to ask ourselves: "What capacities does Putin's Russia have? And which capacities do we need to counter his threats?" "Putin wants to establish a Russian Empire... the question is... whether we can summon the strength to set boundaries to warmongers like Putin," said Scholz. Scholz said he would immediately invest 100 billion euros or $113 billion in weaponry. Mr. Scholz also announced concrete arms procurements including the decision to buy state-of-the art drones from Israel and F-35 warplanes from the US, which he said would be used to amplify NATO's nuclear deterrent against Russia. 

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Elon Musk of Tesla says the number of fake and spam accounts is "wildly higher" than the 5% that Twitter says. He wants to terminate the agreement with Twitter on grounds that Twitter made "materially inaccurate  representations." Twitter is planning to file a lawsuit to compel Mr. Musk to keep the agreement. 

Mr. Musk's Tesla Motors lost a third of its value during the period of the agreement. The slow growth in the US economy and in China presents problems for Tesla.

Mr. Musk's statement about social media as the future of civilization is more evidence of the kind of statements that are thrown around these days with a complete misconception of what civilization, health, moral wellbeing, even common sense are about.
 

 

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Iran has collected 60% enriched uranium for 2 years by 2023, enough for 2 nuclear weapons, says this report in the WSJ. Israeli premier Netanyahu says this would invite a strike if weapons grade uranium is converted into a weapon. In this situation after Iran provided drones to Russia, president Biden has renewed efforts to reduce the level of escalation in the relations with Iran, opening up talks in New York and through Oman. Iran wants money that is held in other countries for oil and gas deliveries after US economic sanctions on Iran, to be released in exchange for limits on nuclear work and prisoner release. The Biden administration has approved 2.5 billion euros in payments by Iraq. Another $7 billion could be released from South Korea if diplomatic talks lead to Iran taking steps the US seeks from Iran. 

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Americans in retirement are able to rebuild their savings with interest on money market funds of over 5%. This is the result of 5% percentage points of consecutive rate increases by Jay Powell's Fed. In addition about $121 billion went to savers as they faced $151 billion in higher interest rate costs on mortgages and loans. The result with a strong labor market and lower inflation of about 3% is an economy that is resilient and can provide the 5 or 7 plus  years of growth needed for America to meet the challenges it faces with its allies in the EU, Asia and Latin America, Africa- to tackle climate change, to rebuild America's crumbling infrastructure, to invest in education and healthcare, to improve worker incomes, and build its manufacturing at home into a strong thriving sector for good paying worker incomes.

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Bars and restaurants filled with people just increases the risk. Consider that on one day June 20, 500,000 people went to bars in Los Angeles county the day after they reopened, as reported in the WSJ. This is similar to what happened in soccer stadiums in Lombardy, Italy, spreading the virus like wildfire. Experts say social distancing is easier to do in office locations and at work, than at bars, restaurants inside, and at soccer stadiums, or large gatherings of any sort. In just one situation 138 new cases were traced to a bar in East Lansing. Michigan.

Most of the restlessness about the lockdown was about not being able to get to work after weeks inside. And getting outside to a park for exercize was always safer because it was easier to keep social distancing in these places.

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In the first 6 months of 2020 about 21 million jobs were lost in the U.S., followed by a recovery following reopening with a third of the jobs regained by July 2020. Women and black people were disproportionately hit by job loss during the pandemic. Hispanics were hit the hardest but also recovered faster.

As the lockdowns dragged on in June, mental health, vaccinations  getting treatment for health conditions, and economic well being, became major objectives. This was accomplished through better incorporation of better practice such as social distancing and face coverings, ventilation, and healthy living practices including food, as more people went back to work. Bars and large gatherings remained a particularly vexing problem, with sports now being played in empty stadiums for television audiences. Offices were completely redesigned to be safe places for work and public transport featured empty seats.

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President Biden visits Nevada and calls for a 5% cap on rent increases by corporate landlords with over 50 rental units. The WSJ report July 15 shows 25% of people renting apartments in the US pay over 50% of their income just to pay rent leaving little for food and transport, education and healthcare. This is a severe problem in Nevada and in the US across all 51 states. The president is closely following mortgage rates that went up from 3% to 8%, creating affordability issues for prospective homeowners. Another proposal of the president that he can act on as it does not require Congressional action is to use federally underused land and repurpose it for building 15,000 affordable housing units in Nevada. Such proposals across the 51 states are needed today to address acute rental housing shortage and price increases of about 20% by landlords.

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Mitch Smith of the NYT looks at the Grand Rapids area for the 2024 election. Grand Rapids is atownof 660,000  which is the second largest city in Michigan. Originally populated by Dutch settlers it now has about 10% Hispanics in addition to about 10% blacks. The Hispanic population has increased over time. Some Republicans such as Ben Ingrebretson have drifted away from the party and voted for Biden in 2020. In February he voted for Nikki Haley, part of the 34% who voted for Haley in Kent County. He approves of Biden's view of America as "a beacon" for the world but does not approve of stimulus spending or forgiveness of student loans. Grand Rapids is also the area where governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, went to school and which gave her a 10 percentage vote margin.

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See stunning pictures of Denali and wild life in the snow in the Washington Post.

Denali means the "Tall One." Alaska Republican Senato Lisa Mukowski wants "Denali" and has Interior Secretary Don Borghum's approval to change the name back to Denali for Mount Mckinley. It was named Mckinley in 1917, but Alaskans and natives tribes have always known it for thousands of years as Denali. The irony some say is that Denali also means "the Great One," which fits in with MAGA. There is more concern in Denali Borough says this report, the area through which one goes to get to Mount Denali about funding for the National Park Service and park road repairs, renovations. Half a million tourists support the local economy and businesses. It is so important to Alaskans.

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Germany which handled the first wave of the coronavirus better than France or Spain with better testing and contact tracing is now facing the second wave. Following the reopening Germany went back to normal with fewer restrictions. Some Germans ignored restrictions and Germans travelled to other countries. German students in Croatia in summer tourism are reported to be part of the 21 million tourists in the country in summer that failed to follow any restrictions. The result is that Germans now fear the second wave is beginning to hit Germany.

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The European Union's Advocate General says he wants to open a third way so that MP's who support Britain remaining in the EU in the face of unsatisfactory Brexit can do so. This is legal advice usually followed by the European Court of Justice so that litigants who are MP's favoring Remain to unilaterally revoke the notification of the intention to withdraw. Prime Minister May is expected to put her EU agreement for vote in parliament in a week.

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Travelers landing at Schipol airport in Amsterdam book their flights at the airport to fly right back to the U.S. after president Trump announces a ban on flights from 26 European countries. President Trump did not wait to coordinate with other European countries. Only Britain and Ireland flights are allowed at this time. The ban restricts European travelers from 26 countries for 30 days beginning March 13 at 11.59 pm. U.S. citizens coming from these 26 countries will be required to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival in the U.S.

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Grade three muscle tear in shoulder for Ben Stokes as he sits out the Fifth Test at the Oval with India in August 2025. Bumrah and Pant are unlikely to play for India in Fifth Test. Ben Stokes has 14 weeks to recover before the Ashes Test Cricket in Australia. Stokes took on a record amount of bowling and batting in the Tests with India going as he often does all out to win leaving the England skipper more prone to injuries and a bit exhausted.

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The ECB stands ready to act with the unanimous support of its 25 member governing policy, says Mario Draghi, president of the ECB. Draghi said that "if oil feeds into other prices, that could generate exactly what we want to avoid, namely a spiralling downward phenomenon" for wages and prices. Mark Carney of the Bank of England, says he will see "how things evolve." The U.S. Federal Reserve might slow planned rate increases in 2016, if inflation remains well below the target of 2%, and conditions indicate adverse effect on the economy.

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This editorial in the Washington Post says Republican Majority leader Boehner in the House should have taken a up or down vote on the Senate bill on immigration. By not doing this and participating in the give and take of politics with the Democrats the Republicans helped create the situation in which an executive order is issued by the president, says the editorial. In its view this unilateral approach is not the right way. WP says if the Republicans want revenge, they can have it, and this is called legislation.

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As the British parliament prepares to vote on Brexit deal put forward by prime minister Theresa May, Joanna Sugden summarizes what is expected as the next step if parliament rejects it.  Why are a faction Conservative members opposed to it? There is the Irish backstop which they oppose. Keeping open the border between the two Irelands- Northern Ireland as part of Britain and Ireland as a EU country is important to preserve peace achieved through the Good Friday Agreement between the Catholic and Protestant communities.May wants to keep the border open. Far right Conservatives see this as keeping Britain connected to the EU in some way which they oppose. They stubbornly hold onto this view. Add to this the opposition from the Remain campaign which sees leaving the EU as bad for Britain's economic future. Some Leave supporters now see the dangers of Brexit, especially leaving with no deal made with the EU. Most of the Labour Party members fall into this group. What happens if parliament rejects May's deal by a small margin? The deal would be renegotiated with the EU to tweak it for more support. What happens if parliament rejects it with a huge margin? This would result in several options. May could call a general election. Britain could have a second referendum on Brexit. Or in a chaotic situation Britain could leave the European Union without a deal altogether, something everyone wants to avoid because of the disruptions it would cause. May is using this risk as  a way to persuade reluctant MP's but it may not work.     ...

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US president Biden's multi-trillion dollar spending plans for infrastructure, climate change plans, education and healthcare, are based on a changing perception about the effectiveness of the public sector spending initiatives. The Reagan period idea that the public sector is not as efficient as the private sector that lingered through the Clinton, Bush and Obama, Trump administrations is no longer accepted. After the pandemic another perception is taking root that when it comes to health infrastructure the government has a leading and indispensable role to play. Gone are the doubts about this that hung like a cloud over the nation's plans for infrastructure in health, education and supply channels. Following the global competition with China a new factor is also playing its part. The need for government to play an active role in trade, in protecting technological resources, and in supporting US technological firms in competition with other countries. There is a new perception that the government should be determined to play this role. In the effort to be self-reliant after the pandemic the government is expected to play a role in redesigning the supply channels and providing the direction and incentives for supply channels worldwide that give America a competitive advantage and less dependence on other nations. ...

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This NYT report says US president Biden is different from past presidents in two ways. He is pushing for infrastructure spending on a big scale from the very beginning of his administration. He is also not interested in shrinking his plans for multi-trillion dollar infrastructure spending to win support from Republicans. A big reason is that he sees the opportunity to go ahead because the perceptions of the American people have changed in the last five years, and have changed even more in the last year with the pandemic. Health, education,  infrastructure, and competitive technology leadership resource development spending with government playing a leading role is seen as indispensable for the US as a nation if it is to play the leading role that it has played over much of the last 100 years. Government leadership is seen as indispensable including in redesigning the existing global supply chain so that the US is no longer dependent on other nations and taking on risks. ...

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Suggested books for retirement to help understand better how to lead the life you want to live in your 60's and beyond are shown here.  The Big Shift: Navigating the New Stage Beyond Midlife, by Marc Freedman 65 Things to Do When You Retire, edited by Mark Evan Chimsky (a collection of 65 essays by achievers in their 60's with unusual and fulfilling activities during retirement) Second-Act Careers, by Nancy Collamer The Encore Career Handbook, by Marci Alboher Don't Retire, Rewire, by Jeri Sedlar and Rick Miners (these do just what they say with examples) Transition to retirement can be arduous- and here is where these books come into draw on the experience of hundreds of people between 50 and eighty years to shape a healthy and rewarding life in retirement. The Couple's Retirement Puzzle, by Roberta K. Taylor Retirement for Two, by Maryanne Vandervelde       ...

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Joint Ventures are not the way to go in China. Things have changed from when foreign companies were welcomed as joint venture partners by Chinese companies. Now Chinese companies want to expand on their own, have better access to new technology, and are more confident. They also feel they should have access to a growing Chinese market unfettered by joint venture partners who have interests of their own and sometimes wnat to buyout their Chinese partners. As availability of land and labor is also becoming tighter and local capital is abundant conditions now are such that Chinese companies thought pattern is different and in direct competition with european and american companies.

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Apple's new upgraded operating system makes a change this fall which finally gives users the right to opt out of web tracking activity by apps. It will ask users if they want their web activity tracked. All users of apps have to do is to click No. 

This change implemented by Apple gives users the privacy they need without a constant barrage of ads based on web tracking activity. After the pandemic quieter times are needed for people to think about the essential things that add joy in their lives without the constant disruptive effect of ads. It has become so ubiquitous that people have lost memory that this was not always the way previous generations lived. For people under 20 they have never known anything different.

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Nikki Haley is doing what has happened before, fighting for principles in her party and showing that a fully significant 40 percentage points of her party believe in the old conservative ideas, of the Republican party. That of the country club type, the everyman who happens to be conservative the core of the party, small and large business owners. The situation is analogous to the intraparty struggles that beset the Democratic party after the abrupt end after 1000 days of the John F. Kennedy presidency and administration. Since the 1920's and two periods of rising inequality accompanied by technological change from the 1870's that ended with the Great Depression, the US had experienced a great revival under Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman and Eisenhower. In 1960 a new future was articulated by Kennedy of the new world that lay ahead, one he had seen upfront in Asia before, during and after the war. How would we bring the post colonial world of billions of people into the modern world. Since then both a modern China and now modern India are part of this change. "Today our concern must be with that future. For the world is changing. The old era is ending. The old ways will not do." Acceptance speech for the Democratic nomination for President, July 15, 1960. It was interrupted after the intraparty disputes that began in 1968, Robert Kennedy challenging LBJ, leading to Richard Nixon, and Edward Kennedy challenging Jimmy Carter leading to Ronald Reagan. John F. Kennedy had articulated a vision that still is alive today based on an understanding of how America's needs fit into all humanity's needs.  In some ways the situation after 2024 or 2028 still goes back to the vision of a new order of the world with emerging nations in Asia with 3 billion people, and additional billions of people in Africa, Latin America. The Arms buildup promised by Reagan in 1980 has yielded little about 50 years later, not even the fall of the Berlin Wall which today has been replaced by another struggle in Eastern Europe in 2024. Truman tackled the Berlin Blockade,  Eisenhower had faced upto Soviet tanks in Budapest, Kennedy had faced the Berlin crisis in 1963 his ich bin ein Berliner (I am Berliner). What purpose would an orbital weapons program serve- and could the US ever be or even want to be  "only one superpower in a safe world," with an orbital weapons program as Reagan and Weinberger went out to do and failed completely. America faces a situation analogous to 1920's with increasing inequality and weakness in the social fabric, as a result of four decades of rising inequality accompanied by technological changes, and misguided Reagan programs that diverted from John Kennedy's vision that the "old era is ending, the old ways will not do."  The vision put forward by John F. Kennedy has more relevance today for the future. That vision he articulated in the First Inaugural Address in which he also said that this work may not be accomplished "in our lifetime on the planet." It is important to remember that John F. Kennedy connected his vision to FDR when he said in his State of the Union Address to Congress in Jan. 1961- In the name of a great President whose birthday we honor today, closing his final State of the Union Message sixteen years ago. "We pray that we may be worthy of the unlimited opportunities that God has given us." This is the vision that stands before America even today in 2024.   ...