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The U.S. economy added an average of 284,000 jobs each month for October, November and December 2015. In December 292,000 new jobs were added. The monthly rate for the first 9 months was an average of 200,000 jobs. This shows the pace accelerated by Dec. 2015. In all 2.65 million jobs were added in 2015. The unemployment rate is now at 5%. Yet the wage gains are modest, at 2.5% for 2015. The average hourly wage is at $25.24. The labor force participation rate has declined for many years and stands at 62.6%, as many people are too discouraged to look for work- this is the share of Americans having jobs or looking for work. Experts say this is like a huge shadow work force existing on the side that could explain the lack of wage gains, as the official figure of unemployment is not reflecting the discouraged workers who have dropped out of the labor market.

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The feud between New Jersey Governor, Chris Christie, and the head of the state teacher's union, Ms. Keshishian. Governor Christie called the state legislature into an emergency session and pushed through a 2% cap on annual increases in property taxes, which have risen 70% over the last decade in New Jersey. The issue is whether the extent of spending on education is sustainable in New Jersey. New Jersey's median property tax is the highest in the nation, at $6,579. By comparison New York is $3,755 and Illinois $3,507. New Jersey residents pay an average of 11.8% for property taxes. Both sides have engaged in strong rhetoric and the teachers union has attacked the Governor in television ads. Governor Christie refused to discuss issues with Keshishian, and ended a meeting in his office, with "Not with you. I don't." The teachers argues that New Jersey schools provides some of the best schooling in the nation- the state's high school graduation is 82%, and it ranks among the top 5 states in key subject areas, according to the Education Law Center in Newark. Its graduation center for black males is 69%. New Jersey also has a heavily unionized public sector with relatively high wages for public workers of all kinds, including teachers. This and a state supreme court decision mandating increased funding for schools in poor communities raises the cost per pupil to $17,794, the highest in the nation, after Washington D.C. New York is at $16,981. California, and Illinois spend $11,000. The average New Jersey teacher makes $61,277 a year, well above the U.S. average of $52,800, according to the National Education Association. Medical and other benefits add $19,140 according to the teacher's union. And the unsustainability goes back to issues such as unfunded liabilities for benefits and pensions in New Jersey. New Jersey's Treasurer estimates the unfunded liabilities relating to lifetime health benefits for current and retired teachers at $36.32 billion....

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Mogan McSweeney of Cork Ireland, son of an IRA courier with a politics and marketing degree from Middlesex University, joined the Labour Party in London fighting off Corbyn supporters during the Corbyn leadership till 2019. The Guardian says McSweeney settled on Keir Starmer as the candidate to replace Corbyn as a centrist on the right. It was says the Guardian McSweeney as an organizer against the Corbyn left that installed Keir Starmer in 10 Downing Street. And then by getting Starmer to appoint his mentor Mandelson led to Starmer becoming "the most unpopular prime minister in history." It says May local elections may sound the end of Starmer. McSweeney is blamed for some of Starmer's failure to project a image of firmness as he backtracked on issues on the advice of McSweeney, to the point that many in Labour party thought McSweeney made Labour driverless. As McSweeney ejected all Corbynites from the Labour Party he weakened the party and led to Labour bleeding its vote to the Greens and the Liberals. Labour's got a landslide with many Labour MP's winning by thin margins- its vote was slim only 34% of the vote, itself a warning that something was not right. On immigration the root causes were not addressed till early 2026- the ECHR human rights that needed to be put aside as written with serious flaws and which allowed asylum hotels. This led to a shift to Nigel Farage, called back from retirement to lead Reform UK in 2026 and way ahead of Labour and Conservatives in the polls. Worse 50% of Labour's vote disappeared in 2026 polls by February hardly 2 years after the win in 2024, as the support McSweeney helped organize had no depth of conviction- most of it to Liberals and Greens under Polanski. The result is that even the Guardian is disappointed and says McSweeney installed Starmer as PM and then made him "the most unpopular PM in history." Net favorability in Feb 2026 -57 similar to Sunak of Conservatives in June 2024. A 75% unfavorable rating in Jan 2026. And 14 points below the Labour party in "like" ratings. Only 18% are favorable for Starmer. It shows how a series of British prime ministers with mediocre backgrounds have failed in the country. ...

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The State of the Union Address in 2026 cited the enormous impact on the world we know today over 2 centuries by this Nation. Jefferson breathed his last in 1826, between that and two persons in the chamber- including Air Force pilot who is 100 years old- between 1826 and 1926 when this pilot was born is a span of 100 years, and in this pilot's lifespan another 100 years. In this period, a couple of generations in our lifetimes, so much was achieved, said the president. So much of the address was about the potential ahead following the heroic efforts of the past. We are part of something larger than us, says the president, and this larger than us is the collective consciousness of the American Nation. "Two-hundred fifty years is a long time in the life of a nation. But in another sense, it's really a mere moment in the eye of history. Two of the gentlemen we met in the gallery this evening took their first breaths one century ago. One hundred years before that, on July 4th, 1826, the author of the Declaration of Independence, brilliant Thomas Jefferson, drew his last breath. Just a single long human life span separates the giants who declared and won our independence from the heroes who stand among us tonight. Everything our nation has done, everything we have achieved, has been the work of those few great lifetimes. In those brief chapters, Americans built this nation from 13 humble colonies into the pinnacle of human civilization and human freedom. The strongest, wealthiest, most powerful, most successful nation in all of history. Americans ventured out across the daunting and dangerous continent. We carved pass through an unforgiving wilderness, settled a boundless frontier, and tamed the beautiful but very, very dangerous wild west. From empty marshes and wide-open plains, we raised up the world's greatest cities. Together we mastered the world's mightiest industries, shattered history's monstrous tyrannies. And we liberated millions from the chains of fascism, communism, oppression and terror." Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, FDR and JFK, through their efforts and the efforts of scientists and industrial pioneers, and of the People of the United States, of educators and scientific endeavors, so much was achieved, and so much lies ahead. ...

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Indian prime minister's speech in the Rajya Sabha, India's upper house of parliament presented the government's ideas behind the reforms in the agricultural farm laws. He made the point that the mandis for minimum support price or MSP will always be there, so that farmers looking for MSP would always be covered. "MSP tha, MSP hai, MSP rahega,"  his words in Hindi. Some of the main points are covered here in The Times of India. Many governments in India in the past have talked about reforming Indian agriculture. During the administration of Lyndon Johnson after famines and food shortages in India effort was made for the Green Revolution. Lal Bahadu Shastri, prime minister took up the work of the first development phase in 1965 to benefit Indian agriculture. The speech cited the work of Shastri for the Green Revolution that made India self sufficient in food grain production. India benefitted from American scientists mainly agronomist researcher Norman Borlaug. The prime minister cited the words of Manmohan Singh, Congress party prime minister preceding him, who had emphasized how important it was to bring changes to Indian agriculture. "Modi implemented what Manmohan said, You should be proud."   Manmohan Singh had said- "There are several rigidities in the whole market since the 1930's which prevent our farmers from selling their produce where they get the highest rate of return. It is our intention to remove all the handicaps that come in the way of India to become one large common market."  Other parts of the speech said about the new agriculture laws- "There are many laws. every law is amended in a few years. We are not static. Change is tradition. We should talk to the protesters, implement the changes. I will take the abuses. You take the benefit from the new laws. We can move ahead together... There are old people sitting in the cold, it is not right." The government has stated it will hold the new agriculture laws for 18 months and the Supreme Court has appointed a committee on the laws. In his speech Mr. Modi said that there was nobody to look after the small and marginal farmers, and asked who will speak for the 12 crores or 120 million marginal farmers who own less than 2 hectares of land.  In fact it was a call from these small and marginal farmers that led to Jawaharlal Nehru, son of a British trained lawyer Motilal Nehru, to join the struggle for Indian independence. This is shown in his autobiography written from jail in 1934-35.  At the time the British simply used the Indian police trained and run by the British Army to silence farm or agrarian unrest from small farmers. Nehru was asked in a phone call to come to one of the locations of the unrest during the early years. The bedrock of Gandhi's movement for independence was villages in which marginal farmers lived lives without making enough. When Vivekandanda talked about India's hundreds of millions living in poverty he was speaking of small farmers who then were a majority of the population of the country. Charan Singh, a former prime minister in 1970-80,  said that 68% of farmers were small and marginal farmers who owned less than 2 hectares of land. The government crop insurance scheme was changed to make it farmer friendly, PM Kisan scheme to empower the farmer. The Indian Rails initiative is intended to speed agricultural produce to locations throughout India taking produce from locations in southern India to places as far Kolkata. This is opening up new opportunities for farmers to increase incomes.   ...

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The US sees no contradiction to India looking for bargain priced oil from Russia to meet the growing needs of its economy and is actually furthering the goals of the G-7 by lowering the price Russia gets for its oil. It helps the economy of 1.2 billion people that like the rest of the world has struggled to fight the pandemic and has incurred the kind of heath costs that even China is now struggling to pay for. President Biden clearly understands and supports this. Democracies an only succeed if they fulfill the aspirations of their people. On this point Biden made clear in his State of the Union that he will generate what it takes from large corporations that paid no tax, to invest in America. Rather than fuel the profits of large oil companies India has increasingly chosen to use Russian discounted oil to invest in India. The Biden and Modi policies are identical generate savings and invest big time in trillions of dollars over the next few years to put democracies ahead in meeting rising aspirations that have been unfulfilled for far too long, which is where the real battles are being fought and will be won, and rightly so. US Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources, Geoffrey Pyatt,  said during a visit to New Delhi on Feb. 16-17- "Our experts now assess that India right now is enjoying a discount of about USD 15 a barrel in the price that it is paying for its imports of Russian crude. So by acting in its own interest, by driving a hard bargain to get the lowest price possible, India is furthering the policy of our G7 coalition, our G7 plus partners in seeking to reduce Russian revenues."  Looking at the bigger picture the problem was created by Germany under Merkel who built Germany's over dependency on Russian oil to power a cheap fuel economy it thought was in Germany's interest. This is now being reversed by the hard work of Mr. Habeck of the Green party in the coalition government of Scholz in securing alternative supplies in record time for the EU to avoid a recession. In this sense the perception created early of India which has suffered itself from invasions in 1962 and incursions in the Himalayas more recently, it is not a problem India can solve by becoming energy short at a time when it has invested so much in fighting the pandemic. A similar problem was created by Republican and Democratic administrations of the past that concentrated the supply chain in one country. India lost much investment in the last 8 years as a result of the policies of Merkel's Germany and past Republican Democratic administrations in concentrating the supply chain in one country. ...

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Adam Nagourney is Los Angeles Bureau chief of the New York Times. Here he follows California Governor Jerry Brown's efforts to tackle the state's fiscal problems, and talks about his many conversations with Brown. He describes Jerry Brown the man, how he and the state he governed years ago have changed, and the challenges he faces in finding solutions to the state's financial problems. Nagourney and Brown talk about the problems with the political culture in the state, how things have changed- Brown was 36 when he bacame governor in his previous term and is now 73 in this term- how term limits have created their own set of problems with the lack of experienced legislators who can push bills through.

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Calls for GM CEO Wagoner's resignation by Senator Dodd, and Obama's statement on "Meet the Press" that if the management team thats currently in place is not willing to make the tough choices and adapt to the new circumstances then it should go. Obama described the approach of current management as a head in the sand approach thats been prevalent for decades now. Jerome York, an expert on the auto industry, called for the resignation of Wagoner and 5 members of the board who have participated in the disastrous decisionmaking and have been there for over 10 years. Austin Ligon, who retired as head of CarMax, also called for the resignation of Wagoner and the board members calling them a disaster.

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The US risks going into a deeper hole by not taking account of the Deficit Commission's recommendations, says the New York Times editorial. In the words of the commission's report: " The problem is real and the solution is painful. No easy way out. Everything must be on the table." Everything needs to be on the table- Medicare, Social Security, defense spending.

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The International Energy Agency lowers its global oil demand forecasts on Dec. 11, 2014, leading to further drop in the price of oil with oil futures in electronic trading for WTI at $58.89 on New York Mercantile Exchange, and Brent crude at $62.83 on ICE in London, for January 2015. The price of WTI U.S. oil dropped to $59.95 on Dec. 11, 2014.

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Tim Davie starts his new job as director general of the BBC. He wants the BBC to go back to its core a universal broadcaster for the whole nation. BBC has dealt with competition from Netflix by using its strengths in developing new drama. Work on programs such as The Normal People has shown BBC capabilities in this field. There is much discomfort with the bigger problem its loose standards letting people do a second job such as taking on advertising or other lucrative assignments outside their main job. Tim Davie wants to end this practice. Making it the universal broadcaster of the whole nation means the new BBC has to avoid being "politically correct." Too much attention to being politically correct and the BBC ended up not reflecting popular sentiment the way it should have on Brexit and the European Union. Davie is less concerned about the license fee that BBC has to negotiate with the government than with these issues because they go to the heart of what the BBC is- a service that speaks for the whole nation. It is also a service that represents the British Commonwealth spirit because of how widely people in countries in Africa and Asia depend on the service in English speaking countries. ...

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Russians vote in 2021 parliamentary elections. With 30% of votes cast the United Russia party of Mr. Putin wins 45% of votes cast, followed by the Communist party of the Russian Federation with 22%, and the Liberal Democratic party getting 8%. Russia has mixed voting system with half the seats directly elected from party lists, and the other half assigned to individual candidates. United Russia had 334 seats out of total 450 seats in the outgoing parliament. Putin will need over 300 seats in the new parliament to get the two thirds majority to enact changes to the constitution. Putin needs this to extend his current term which ends in 2024.  Putin draws most of his support from the older part of the population that has seen the hardships imposed following the collapse of Communism around 1990. This led to collapse of the ruble currency, increase in poverty, an effort by oligarchs to capture state enterprises, and a chaotic period for law and order. Shockingly during that period even life spans of Russians declined as reported in the WSJ. Liberals who supported the shift to democracy had not anticipated all the ill effects of introducing capitalist free market systems in such a sudden and free fall way. Such sudden shifts to free markets are now better understood and seen as the wrong way, as western capital markets fail without inbuilt protections, safety net for workers and retired people, and are subject to serious distortions if no vigilant authority exists. This is in reality not a free market but a market captured by the few, in the interests of the few. Once this was clear retired people, pensioners, military, law enforcement, and liberals realizing what had happened shifted support to United Russia founded by Mr. Putin. Mr. Putin faces the typical situation faced by incumbents over long periods where there is a sense of the need for change. Yet the pandemic and other economic crises that could happen in the event of mismanaged economy are never really too distant for countries such as Russia, China, India that are developed but yet have not the strong industrial base of US, Germany, France. Such economic crises including the ruble currency and Russian energy companies were better managed under Putin than under the chaotic period following the collapse of communism and the introduction of so called "free markets" that were anything but. During the recentfree fall in oil prices Putin was able to manage a transition period with the help of president Trump who negotiated a price for oil with the Saudis to protect US shale oil workers and companies, as well as Russian workers and oil companies. As a result Russians particularly young people look for alternative places to vote for opposition parties such as Liberals, Communist party, and other parties. But the majority of Russians including those working for state energy and other state companies tend to stay with Putin's choices for state, regional and federal administration and for parliament. Nationalist spirit also provides additional support as Putin has restored Russia's status as one of the important nations in the world. Some missteps such as interference in US elections have led to a loss of some of this international influence, yet even president Biden understands the situation in Russia and is willing to work with Putin with new rules of conduct Under the Russian system about 70% of the laws are not made by parliament but are done by the government and the administration of the president and then go through parliament. In addition to parliamentary vote there are 6 governor races and three races for heads of regional republics. ...

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Google has launched a new project using technology to let users tour art galleries around the world. This was launched at Tate Britain in London. This is part of Google's latest interactive online resource called Art Project. This is a collaboration with 17 museums including three in New York - the Frick Collection, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Visitors can examine in detail certain artworks selected by the museums- Van Gogh's 'The Starry Night,' Pieter Bruegel the Elder's "The Harvesters," and a painting by Bellini.

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Voices of ordinary Pakistanis from Lahore and Karachi to New York city on the issues facing Pakistan and the elections of 2013. A sense that Pakistan is about to change and hope that efforts will be made by the new government to tackle the issues of security, electricity shortages, the economy and corruption, putting all children in schools, and creating a large middle class similar to Brazil, Mexico, Malaysia, Indonesia. About 40% of Pakistani children do not attend schools according to some estimates, in a country where two thirds of the population is young.

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About 11% of student loans outstanding amount were over 90 days past due in Sept. 2012, increasing from 8.9% at the end of the second quarter 2012, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. This now exceeds the figure for credit cards. U.S. student loan debt is now at $956 billion for the third quarter 2012, increasing by 4.6%. About 93% of student loans made in 2011 were made by the U.S. government, which is promoting access to loans without asking for information about borrowers finances and education plans and ability to pay the loans back. Because student loans have to be paid back and are hard to discharge even in bankruptcy, this means many borowers who cannot find jobs are deep in debt, and unlikely to get loans for many years for cars and other needs. Moody's warns of a wave of student loan defaults in coming years.

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Mr Yousaf Humza, the newly elected head of the SNP party is from the progressive wing of the party, continuing the work of former first minister Nicola Sturgeon.He was elected by 50 votes to 48 for Forbes who represents the socially conservative pro-business part of the SNP. The attention is now focused on how he can help people in Scotland with the cost of living crisis and public services, as Scottish independence has dipped in popularity. Labour, Liberals and Conservatives had two thirds of the Socttish parliament till 2011. In the last election Labour had just one MP. Labour can now structure its appeal to Scottish voters around the cost of living crisis as parts of the SNP feel being in the opposition for a change is in the long term interests of the party. 

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Following the Wisconsin primary Ted Cruz plans his campaign to prepare for a contested convention. The strategy is to focus on California, and states such as Nebraska and Indiana, and on delegate selection, so that Trump has little chance of winning the required 1237 delegates on the first ballot at the Republican Convention. To do this Cruz plans to hire additional staff, and work at the local city and county level winning endorsements from local and state officials. A similiar process unfolded in the Wisconsin primary, with local Republican base support that was crucial to his win. The focus inside California is on Orange County, San Diego county, San Fernando Valley, rural agricultural Central Valley, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo his wife's home town. In the New York primary where he is behind Cruz is planning to win delegates in heavily Democratic Congressional districts, using ads by pro-Cruz super PAC Trusted Leadership, to add to his delegate count. Cruz is depending on mid-size donors with the help of Jeb Bush and previous backers of Senator Rubio, for additional fundraising to increase campaign efforts....

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This report in the WSJ shows how Amy Barrett, the new Supreme Court nominee, has managed to combine parenting with her career as a Notre Dame professor and judge on the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. A lot of help from her husband, a flexible workplace, living in a smaller town South Bend, Indiana, and a willingness to go with nonconformity, make it possible. She is up at 4 or 5 am to exercize. Blending different worlds is part of this. She can go from work to run an activity for the children. She also views raising children as the activity that has the "greatest impact on the world," so that her career is seen in a bigger context of life.

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Experts say wisdom is important for well-being the older you become. About 150,000 people are over 85 years age in New York City. This series in the NYT in Dec. 2015 looks at people in the city, their lives, and their attitudes to life. At this age as other physical abilities decline it is wisdom that makes up for this. By being positive about their aging and adapting to their limitations older people make better lives. Laura Carstensen, director Stanford Center on Longevity, says this period can be better than people think for seniors who have gratitude, forgiveness, calm and appreciation in greater degrees from 50 years to 70 years, continuing into the later years. Anger and stress being replaced by conveying gratitude. The positive attitudes to aging also affect memory and heart disease. One of the people covered Ping Wong, 90 years, plays mah-jongg with friends every day and does everyday activities that make her happy. Jonas Mekas, 93 years, is a filmmaker who continues his working activities- doing an exhibition in Brescia, Italy, publishing an anthology of his writings, and giving a lecture in Berlin on filmmaking. Mekas has an interesting philosophy of life- he says do what you are doing and don't think about it much, it will all end sometime, just do something good for humanity that someone else can pickup from you when you are gone, which is normal. A sense of optimism prevails in these lives. Says Mekas its important to not give up on the idea of paradise....

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The World bank president Robert Zoellick in an interview with Sudeep Reddy of the Wall Street Journal. He says its frustrating to see Europe respond to problems in banking, sovereign debt and competitiveness that have a chance to work, but only to find that the action is a bit late and a bit short every time. He says the Germans are right in insisting that credit cannot be given away freely, and that reforms have to be made. Yet these reforms in the case of Spain and Italy to increase competitiveness will take time and in the meantime both countries will need bridge financing. A direct recapitalization of European banks by the European Financial Stability Facility is needed to avoid this slow and continuous decline in confidence from negative news and uncertainty. Because the problem now is of a longer term nature with debt issues that will take time to resolve and energy price volatility, Zoellick says simply doing short term stimulus and monetary will not work, and a longer term plan needs to be implemented. Zoellick supported the China Development Report of the World Bank and China's DRC which called for a shift in the economy away from reliance on state owned companies and heavy infrastructure spending. Here he says the new stimulus plan for China was necessary because of slowing growth. Yet he hopes China's leaders keep this in mind as they develop solutions for the long term that avoid the rampant credit expansion and investment of the 2008 Stimulus, and come up with a new policy mix....

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Haberman and Thrush of the NYT provide an account of what happened at the White House when U.S. president Trump met privately with Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi to work out a deal on the Dreamers, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, called DACA, that under president Obama allowed 800,000 young immigrants to stay in the country. President Trump had earlier said he would reverse DACA. DACA was setup under an executive order by president Obama in 2012 to allow immigrant children brought in under the age of 16 to stay in the country, with maximum age 30. In 2014 a second executive order by president Obama expanded this to include children under the age of 18, with no maximum age. Both executive orders were opposed by Republicans. In the meeting Chuck Schumer answered Trump's question on delaying or changing Trump's mind on DACA, "what's in it for me?"  Schumer said Democrats would work with Trump on new legislation on border security, but not on funding for a border wall. Trump agreed to work on a deal, including no deportations for a six month period. After different back and forth in the media, typical of the politics in immigration issues, the president says he is ready to work out a deal on DACA, if the Democrats work with him on toughening border security. Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress now agree that steps have to be taken on border security in stages. ...

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Zalmay Khalizad, a former diplomat to Iraq, reports from Iraq after discussions with prominent Iraqis, describes the state of U.S. relations with Iraq under the Abadi government. He says the Ayatollah Sistani in Iraq prime minister Abadi, and Iraqi public opinion, now favor improved relations with the U.S. following the sectarianism promoted by prime minister Maliki and Iran's expanded role in Iraq. Other reports show Iraqi opinion in transition as the U.S. withdrawal promoted by Maliki has led to 2 million refugees, and huge dislocation of people with the expansion of Islamic State from Syria into Iraq. The change in opinion is also towards promoting better relations with Sunni countries. People in the region do not see a bright future with an increase in religious tensions that only lead to more destructive behaviours and increase in refugees. Towards the end of the Bush administration there was some hope that Iraq would see a bright future, only to see this reversed under Maliki's sectarian policies. U.S. public opinion has shifted away from any involvement following the failure of the people in the region to resolve differences and live peacefully. The cost of the wars with little gained as a result of the failure of the people in the region to work together in the common interest is a part of the public debate in the U.S. presidential election of 2016. Sectarianism in the region is the root cause of the growth of the Islamic State and the expansion of the war in Syria, and this has not only worsened the situation for the people in the region, delayed economic development given large oil resources, and left the region worse off than before. It has also led to the refugee flow into Europe worsening the situation in the European Union, adding to tensions in European societies such as France, Germany, Denmark and Sweden, following terrorist attacks and political parties promoting fear of immigrants. What started as a U.S. response to terrorism originating in this region in New York, followed by the war in Iraq, has led to more convulsions in this region, a huge number of refugees, whole country populations displaced, and requires a fresh rethinking about what people in the region can do to live and work together and promote the peaceful participation of people in their own development and growth, before Western societies consider further involvement. The statement about lost to Iran in the title also suggests framing of statements in the old way that are the root of the problem. When the dust settles years from now Iranians, Iraqis, Saudis, Yemeni, Turkish, Pakistani, Indian and other Muslim societies may want to look back at this period as reflecting the dangers of getting caught up in the geopolitics of world powers, letting religious sentiment override calmer thinking, and reflect on the brighter aspects of the common Islamic heritage in Iran, Turkey, India, expressed humanly as it is always is in different ways and forms. They can also take hope and confidence in the fact that European societies have struck the same rocks and emerged calmer, wiser, and better than before....

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Yuka Hayashi describes the remarkable comeback of prime minister Shinzo Abe in Japan, his "Japan is Back," strategy and its personal overtones. He describes a visit- by Japanese known for taking that second or third chance and making it work through difficulties- to the prime ministers residence for discussion on the theme of "the second chance." The premier tells the visitors that Walt Disney would never have been heard of if he had not tried the sixth time after five failures, and not succeeded in Japan, which has a risk and failure averse business environment. Encouraging risk taking to setup new ventures and open up new frontiers and markets is part of the growth strategy for Japan. His personal struggle with ulcerative colitis during the period of his first term as prime minister, and the new drug discoveries that made it possible for him to recover, give Abe a fresh burst of energy this time. His story and Japan's story now coincide. Abe says the mission of the new LDP is to make sure that talent now flows from mature industries to the industries of the future....