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To better reflect a diverse electorate in the presidential nominating process in the state primary elections president Biden is proposing including states with more union voters and diversity. South Carolina comes first with more union and diverse voters, then Iowa and New Hampshire with more rural voters, then Michigan with more union voters, followed by Georgia.

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The US added 517,000 jobs in January 2023. Forecasters had estimated only about 200,000. Much of the coverage focused on tech layoffs. Amazon for instance laid off 18,000 workers and it has a workforce of 1.5 million people. By comparison the US labor workforce is 168.5 million people. And there were 11 million vacant jobs by the end of December 2022, according to the US Labor Department. Some of the tech workers laid off were hired in other business. The labor market is also much larger than tech.

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This editorial board view in the WSJ says the Biden administration should have acted sooner while the balloon was seen over Alaska or even over Montana to be shot down. It says China cannot be allowed to act with impunity for surveillance over the US.

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The Pamban bridge connecting Rameswaram island to the mainland at Mandapam is India's first sea bridge and the longest sea bridge in India till 2010. It was built by the British in 1914 to increase trade with Ceylon. From Dhanushkodi which is connected by rail line to Madras Egmore a ferry can be taken across the sea to Talaimannar on the Ceylon side, with a rail connection to Colombo. India is now building a new rail bridge as it closes a century old Pamban bridge which has suffered from severe corrosion.

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Victoria Azarenka won the Australian Open tennis championships twice in Melbourne then lost in the first round of the Australian Open in 2018. She struggled for two seasons with a foot injury, personal challenges off the court and a child Leo in 2016. Her slump took her to 208 in the world rankings. She had to fight her way back- "I have never really learned to struggle before, so it's a lesson." She says it required hard work, and changing her mindset, conquering her anxiety to return to the semifinals of the Australian Open. Another approach that helped her was to be open minded and to try new things and see what happens.

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As part of sanctions on Russia the price of diesel will be capped at $100 by the US and the rest of the G-7 countries.

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On his first day Jan 18, 2023, Josh Shapiro, Democratic Governor of Pennsylvania, signed an executive order that eliminated the requirement of a college degree for 92% of jobs in the state government, 62,000 jobs. Utah and Maryland made similar changes last year with Republican Governors. The Editorial Board of NYT says- for far too long, too many Americans see  society and economy as unfairly skewed to serve the needs of well connected elites, and people with a college education, looking down and excluding the rest.

 

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The toll in deaths and casualties on the Russian side has already reached 200,000 says this report in the NYT. The fighting in the eastern Donbas around Bakhmut is intense with hundreds of deaths and casualties a day says this report.

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On the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Stalingrad against Nazi German invasion Russian president Putin says of the war in the Donbas region of Ukraine- "The legacy of generations, of values and traditions, that is what makes Russia different, what makes us strong and confident in ourselves, in our righteousness and in our victory." Putin sought to put the war in patriotic terms. This report in NYT shows a rocket attack on Kramatorsk in Donbas, about 20 miles from Bakhmut where intense battles are taking place.

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With a divided Congress the US will not be able to implement the minimum tax negotiated by the Biden administration with other countries. Now the global minimum tax is moving ahead. The OECD spelled out how the minimum tax implemented in the European Union, UK and South Korea will interact with the US tax system. Under the minimum tax system negotiated by Janet Yellen of the US nations agreed to adopt the 15% tax on their home country companies. France for example would require a French company to pay at least 15% on its operations in the UK, US, or anywhere else.

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Increase in hardship withdrawals from Vanguard 401(k)s in the US from 2.1% in 2021 to 2.8% in 2022 shows stress in household finances by Feb 2023.

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After years of labor shortages executives say the shortages are easing and attrition is slowing.

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Pakistan foreign reserves dropped to $5 billion says the Financial Times, and the rupee is at 255 to the US dollar. Inflation is at 25%. The situation is precarious as it negotiates with the IMF and much of the budget goes to debt servicing for $41 billion owed to international financial institutions and $30 billion to China.

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Following the pandemic and the floods Pakistan is in a precarious position with its finances. The IMF estimates $25 billion in debt servicing requirements per year for the next 3 years. Pakistan's situation is similar to Argentina and Sri Lanka, countries that have gone to the IMF. International financial institutions are owed $41 billion and China $30 billion.

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This BBC independent review into its economic coverage by Dilnot and Blastland covered by The Guardian, shows that economics has been badly presented and mostly misunderstood in the culture and the media, leading to errors in policy that hurt workers and families in Britain and the US. Tory spending cuts in Britain have led to a lost 400 billion pounds in growth since 2010, says The Guardian citing the TUC report. Britain's GDP would be 2 trillion pounds higher today if the pre-1979 growth rate was maintained, says TUC. This editorial says about the framing of the debt and spending in the culture and media- "It is an anti-democratic bias that shuts people out of discussion about their lives and their society."

 

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Britain has missed 400 billion pounds of growth as a result of Conservative governments spending cuts since 2010, says this TUC report cited in The Guardian. The Institute of Fiscal Studies and other reports also support this- that the income from work has fallen behind the income from owning assets in Britain- benefitting only the top 10% of households, hurting the rest and and creating a socially split and fragmented society. This has hurt Britain's economy. If the pre 1979 growth rate was maintained Britain's GDP would be 2 trillion pounds higher says this report citing the TUC. It has not improved the public finances as weaker growth means lower revenues, has weakened growth of the whole economic potential of the economy. At fault are institutions the IMF and the OECD and others that created a culture of misinformation that government spending gives only a modest spurt to growth so that austerity cuts can be prolonged with little impact on GDP. These institutions have later revised their analyses but the cultural impact of such perceptions has led to austerity cuts being accepted way of operating without thinking of the damage being done to the economy and to society. US president Biden has moved firmly to make the kind of targeted investments in infrastructure and to cut inflation that yield results and create a sense of optimism for the country. ...

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Germany avoided a recession with growth rate of 1.9% in 2022. Imports were higher with higher energy prices and the trade surplus fell from 175 billion euros to 79 billion euros. Trade surplus declined for 5th year in a row. Rising inflation dropped in November and December. Economy Minister Habeck (the Green party) has made a great effort to tackle the energy shortages in a way that Germany can avoid a recession.