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Swiss regulators engineer UBS buying Credit Suisse for over $3 billion in an emergency rescue. This happened after the Swiss central bank made and infusion of $50 billion into Credit Suisse that failed to stabilize the Swiss bank. With outflows of $10 billion Swiss Francs in the week recently Swiss regulators had to quickly arrange UBS buying out Credit Suisse for over $3 billion.  In its early days in the nineteenth century Credit Suisse helped build the Swiss electricity grid and the Swiss rail system. After World War II it was part of the reconstruction effort in Europe. After 1990 it merged with banks in the US and engaged in international acquisitions, investment banking operations, and wealth management. This led to problems and the company had to make settlements for each of its businesses in the last three decades, leading to the current crisis. The bank is seen as lacking good governance, and taking on excessive risk in the pursuit of profit. A bank that was known for setting up key infrastructure in Switzerland in the nineteenth century succumbed to poor management and risk taking over one hundred years later as it fumbled in each of its businesses. ...

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EIA says half of the benefit of higher fuel efficiency standards for Automobiles 2010-2020 in US was lost because of SUV's and the incentivizing of SUV's in the 2006 CAFE standards have made things worse. The first SUV's came in the 1980's. By 2004 SUV's made up half of car sales and by 2025 outsold cars 2 to 1. What if we took all SUV's and large cars off the roads, or even some of these SUV's by deincentivizing of SUV's in the US CAFE corporate fuel efficiency standards? What would be the savings in crude oil and in carbon footprint? Would it be about the same as releasing an additional 400 million barrels of oil into the markets in addition to the 400 million barrels that are now released through EIA and member countries? This New Yorker essay touches on this idea. During the Iran war the volatile Middle East as a source of oil supplies is a major problem for countries. Some are rationing supplies and in one country 40 million children are not going to school for 2 weeks starting this week because of the sources of oil are so precarious, government offices will only have half of the employees, the rest working from home (almost like Covid pandemic). Many other countries face that situation. The International Energy Agency recently reported that, if “SUVs were an individual country, they would rank sixth in the world for absolute emissions in 2021, emitting over 900 million tonnes of CO2.” The agency says governments must redesign their CAFE standards and their policies so that it would reduce S.U.V. sales, tax gas guzzling vehicles. EIA cites governments in the EU doing this- “Some governments have already started introducing relevant measures, such as France and Germany, which have put a tax on large and high-emissions cars.” Within SUV's also there is an opportunity to reduce the size and make more efficient space utilization designs. Small savings also add up. One has to realize that the current freedom to use energy freely in places like the US with self sufficiency in oil comes with a sense of responsibility for using it wisely so that it can be exported to cut the trade deficit, precisely what the president is doing with India, to cut a trade deficit of $58 billion before it gets to $100 billion. Section 301 is already in place for investigations by the US of 18 countries for a new basis to use tariffs after the Supreme Court decision. A similar approach is taken with EU for hundreds of billions of reductions in trade deficit that will only strengthen the US dollar and the US economy in the long run , and be good for stock markets and jobs as it reduces oil prices and increases the manufacturing capacity/cost for the Nation. Europe, India and China can do the same. Remember that in 2010 SUV's made up 17% of total world sales, and by 2025 SUV's made up 46% of world vehicle sales. This would create another 400 million barrels for the oil markets, which would triple what was released through EIA  this week to 1.2 billion barrels and this would create 120 days of supply replacement for the 10 million b/d lost from Straits of Hormuz, and effectively end the Iran War as it would be clear that prices can be kept low even in the $50's. Essentially buying time till the SU can get more production in Venezuela and other parts of the world to replace much of the Middle Eastern oil that is ending up in a quagmire. This is the best way for the US and Europe, India, China to ensure jobs growth, economic growth with low cost crude oil in the $50 range and ensure much of the poorer countries like Egypt and Indonesia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, have access to oil at prices they can afford and eliminate poverty. ...

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Britain's National Health Service has setup a medical review of gender treatment of young people. It's conclusion after 4 years of research- "The reality is that we have no good evidence on the long-term outcomes of interventions to manage gender-related distress.” This NHS review found no clear proof that  gender dysphoria in children or teenagers was resolved or alleviated by what is called gender-affirming care, where a child's declared “gender identity” is affirmed and supported with social transition, puberty blockers and/or cross-sex hormones. After Cass the British government issued an emergency ban on puberty blockers for children under age 18. A similar approach is being taken in the Scandinavian countries, and in Netherlands, France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, the move is away from medical treatment of gender issues. American medicine, Cass says is “out of date,” and has put politics ahead of science.Not one American medical association or governmental official has reached out to discuss Britian's Cass report. Says Cass- “I think that’s where you’re misleading the public. You need to be honest about the strength of the evidence and say what you’re going to do to improve it.”   ...

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Germany's SPD Deputy Chancellor says in Kiev on August 25, 2025 after the abortive effort by DJT in Alaska for peace talks that improved Russia -US relations as two leading world nuclear powers but did not have the basics in place for Ukraine- Russia direct talks, with Putin asking for territory in the east. "In the three and a half years that this war has been going on, we have always shown that we are not ducking away, but stand by the side of the Ukrainians. And that will also apply to security guarantees."  The big change is that the SPD under Klingbeil in Germany is now working with CDU's Merz to build up Germany's defense forces to act as a deterrent for Europe. There is a change in the mood in Germany and in Europe, from Sweden and UK , France, Italy, for concerted action in Europe that was not seen before. By taking on responsibilities for Europe with 2-5% defense expenditures this has removed the differences between the US and Europe. It means a prolongation of the war but also means this may lead to a stronger Europe, better Russia- US relations, and a Russian and Ukraine more willing to come to a peace agreement based on terms where no side appears to be the loser. Klingbeil added- It is important to have a "really strong Ukrainian army that is also capable of defense. And the second thing is that armaments production is also being ramped up here in Ukraine as well, thereby putting Ukraine in a position to defend itself and deter attacks." If European history since 1400 is any guide when the powers on either side were eventually counterbalanced the power that took a an aggressive position early had to settle for a peace settlement with both sides not appearing the loser. ...

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Athens is far from being her normal self with high unemployment, shuttered shops and periodic violence. Unemployment at about 23% and the worsening economic crisis is leading to dwindling support for the main parties Pasok and New Democracy. Support is growing for fringe parties, including neo-nazi type parties. The mood is shifting in Europe, with the presidential elections in France and the likely election of Socialist candidate Hollande, who has described the EU's handling of Greece as deplorable. New elections will take place later in 2012 in the Netherlands.

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The European automobile market staged a recovery in 2014 with sales up 5.7% to 12.6 million, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association. The big gains were made by the lower cost brands such as Renault's Dacia made in Romania, and VW's Skoda made in the Czech Republic. Dacia sales increased in 2014 by 24% to 359,141 and Skoda's sales increased by 14% to 554,479. A Dacia Sandero without air conditioning, power locks or radio is priced at 7,990 euros in France compared to a better equiped Skoda Fabia at 12,640 euros and a VW Golf at 17,388, a big price difference for budget car buyers. The major brands continue to dominate with the Golf model continuing as the best selling model in Europe. GM and Ford with the Opel Corsa and Ford Fiesta also increased market share. VW's market share is 12.7%, Skoda's 4.4%.

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Rep. Wesley Hunt is flown to Washington from campaigning in Texas to get the vote in the US House of Representatives to 215-215 on a War Powers Resolution on the president's action in Venezuela. He was driven directly to the House with escort from the Washington Dulles Airport by Capitol Police. Such is the drama in the House nowadays as Democrats look for ways to restrict the president's action in the international arena on the Monroe Doctrine. The resolution if passed would require Congress to authorize the action to deploy troops. The Venezuelan action was taken quickly in a few hours bringing Maduro to the US. The US set a naval blockade of the country which has fallen apart with high inflation and mismanagement, corruption and drug trafficking after Chavez entered Venezuelan politics with a military coup in 1998 and set up an authoritarian government. When he died the power was handed to a person who lacked experience tackling a complex oil economy and inflation reached 1000 percent destroying the economy. The Monroe doctrine had fallen into disuse since 1824 and its revival in 1904 by Teddy Roosevelt which made it difficult for the US to take action in the interests of peace and security in its neighborhood free of European colonial powers. Russia withdrew from Venezuela after the Trump administration set a new start for US Russia relations based on "respect" for Russia as a power in Northern Europe. In 1824 the situation facing Venezuela and other South American countries blocked by president Monroe was intervention by France, Spain to collect debts.  President Teddy Roosevelt affirmed the Monroe Doctrine during his term 1900-1909 to ensure fairplay, democratic governance and good governance in the western hemisphere free of European powers. In 2026 much of this is being misrepresented in a torrent of what TR called "mendacity." The issue of Greenland and security for the Eastern seaboard of America from foreign powers is also getting the same treatment by the US and European press with no mention of Admiral Perry's discoveries in Greenland for the US Navy in 1890's, and Denmark as a colonial power which had no belief in representation of local people having transferred its colonies in Asia and other parts of the world to other nations for payment or in exchange of territory. The entire population of Denmark of 6 million is smaller than the Houston area and the entire population of Greenland of 50,000 would not fill a baseball stadium, and yet it seeks to block US security for the entire eastern seaboard of  North America from foreign powers in 2026 after it did so in 1947 when Harry Truman offered $100 million for Greenland, as the Cold War intensified in Eastern Europe. ...

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The message of the Five Star Party of Beppe Grillo against cronyism, the older politics in Italy, corruption in government, unrestricted immigration, clearly resonated in the south of Italy with the party winning in southern Italy. FIve Star brings younger faces to the Italian parliament just as Macron's movement did in France. The Democratic Left Party under Renzi was a clear loser as it won about 20% of the vote compared to 32% of the vote and over 216 seats in parliament for Five Star. Renzi and the left parties clearly failed to gauge the voter's mood and frustration with economic conditions- 11% unemployment and 18 million Italians at risk of poverty reports BBC News. About 600,000 immigrants entered Italy from North Africa and other regions creating anti-immigration sentiment that shifted support to Five Star and the right wing Northern League under Salvini, which had broadened its appeal from its local base in Milan to all of Northern Italy under Salvini, 44 years old. The Northern League won in most of Northern Italy and with the Forze italia of Berlusconi won 37% of the vote. A coalition of Five Star and the Nrothern League would bring together 2 Euroskeptic parties. ...

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Renault signs an agreement with labor unions which provide for longer working hours and a one year wage freeze to reduce labor costs. Renault will in turn not close French factories and invest 1.1 billion euros to increase production in France. A similiar agreement was signed by Renault in Spain in 2012 and increased the urgency for reaching an agreement in France. Renault says increasing working hours 6.5% provided in the agreement will save the company 300 euros per car. Analysts estimate lower breakeven point for Renault after the deal. Renault said it will increase production to 710,000 cars in France by 2016 as part of the deal, taking output up to 85% of factory capacity. Production in 2012 declined to 532,000 in 2012, from 646,000 in 2011 and 1.2 million in 2007. Unions went into the negotiations sensing the danger in lack of competitiveness vs. Spain and Germany, and CFDT published a book titled "Renault in Danger!." Based on the experience in the U.S. as the economy recovered and sales recovered for Ford and GM, Renault may be seeing the effects of a gradual recovery in Europe by 2016. The 710,000 figure is a one third increase from the low 2012 figure, leaving room for expansion if this strategy succeeds. Renault's market share declined in Europe by one percentage point in 2012 to 8.4%, and its sales in Europe declined by 19%, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association. The increased production planned by Renault also includes 80,000 cars made for its partner Nissan....

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Buddhism gives people the opportunity follow a path to spiritual life and peace of mind without getting involved in politics. Here NYT provides a look at Buddhism in China as it is practiced to get people to set better moral standards to rejuvenate China. The founder was a small child traveling across China with his mother searching for their father after the Japanese invasion of China. He joined a monastery they passed by. After the Communist takeover of the mainland in 1949 and during the years of the Cultural Revolution he was active in a missionary movement for Buddhism and Buddhist culture in Taiwan.  Chinese president Xi Jinping has met with him 4 times and supports the movement in China as part of an effort to rejuvenate China and improve moral standards lost during the rush to modernization and industrialization. At one point even telling him "I have read all the books you have sent me Master."  For this movement to revive Buddhist culture and ethics the politics is secondary, what matters is the quality of people's lives and their finding fulfillment by living lives that honor the values of a good society that is caring for fellow beings, and practicing good moral standards.  Imagine a 100 acre facility that holds 2 million books in Yangzhou, including 100,000 volume collection of Buddhist scriptures. Built in two valleys of bamboo forest the temple in Yixing  is special, the atmosphere quiet and reflective, and with reading rooms, rooms for calligraphy, for tea. It was started in 2006 and is active with many people visiting the temple. In Buddhist countries such as Burma, Sri Lanka, Thailand, wherever Buddhism has got entangled with politics the purity and purpose of Buddhism has suffered. Putting Buddhist culture, learning, and quality of living first is essentially the way the Buddha had meant it to be. In a rare and profound way both Mr. Xi and the founder of this Buddhist group have made a unique and lasting connection to rejuvenate China after 100 years of tumult, war, and strife that started with the wars at Chinese ports in the 1850's, and 50 years of rush to industrialize that made weary and weakened the soul of a nation. During the period post coronavirus pandemic China and the Chinese people may find in Buddhist culture much that can enhance the quality of life just as the European nations France, Britain and Germany look back to their own culture and tradition for rejuvenation and renewal. In this sense even as China faces a West determined to protect its industry and technology, and returns to its roots, China can find a way to its own roots, confident that the period of European domination can no longer torment its soul. ...

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Efforts to limit the increasing use of industrial or frozen food in restaurants by requiring the label on menus for fresh ingredients or "fait mason" (homemade).

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Not much will change in Italy's place in the European Union, says Maria Ferraresi, editor of Italy's Domani newspaper. Italy expects 200 billion euros of solidarity aid from the European Union that is dependent on following EU rules. And coalition partner Berlusconi says he will drop his support if Meloni adopts any anti EU rules positions. Meloni's Brothers of Italy party with 26% of the vote has roots going back to the Social Movement in Italy in the 1930's. To attract support she has remained in opposition even when Matteo Salvini of the League and Silvio Berlusconi of Forza Italia parties joined Mario Draghi's unity government during the pandemic. She has turned to a pro EU stand from a EU skeptical stand. Meloni is also forming one of seventy Italian governments since 1945 such is the pace of government change in Italy making every government dependent on fickle political sentiments that shift quickly. The Italian economy has fallen into a stagnant situation with growth less than 1% in 2022, and the main concern of voters and the elected governments is the economy and standards of living, so that EU aid acts as a critical part of rejuvenating the economy. The Eu solidarity aid of $200 billion in coming years is critical for Italy's economic revival. It also shows the European Union in action after the years following World War II when it was realized that some sort of sound European economic framework was needed for the common good. Ferraresi also points out that Italy has also gone through an EU led effort to make the judiciary fully independent and able to function similar to the judiciary in France and other EU nations. Italy also has a very de.centralized government with state and local governments playing a major role in administration. This reduces the impact of changes in the capital Rome.  ...

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How is the push by Toyota to hybrids making up 50% of its cars- including shift of RAV4 and Camry entirely to hybrid cars- affecting revival of US manufacturing and advanced technologies for electrification of cars? Toyota will invest $14 billion in a battery plant site in North Carolina, at a site located between Greensboro and Raleigh.The plant will make batteries for EV's and hybrids so that Toyota can respond to market demand and regulatory changes. This North Carolina plant will supply factories assembling cars, hybrids, plug ins that travel short distances before switching to gas. Hybrids including plug in hybrids make about 15% of US sales, a sector Toyota dominates. How does it affect tariffs risk? Currently Toyota plays a 15% tariff to import plug-in hybrids. The North Carolina plant will build capacity for batteries to put in 74,000 plug in cars, 45,000 EV's, 600,000 hybrid cars. How will it fight climate change? Toyota has always believed that hybrids with twice the mileage of gas cars are a good way to fight climate change, even when EV's were the rage in the days of the Biden administration. Hybrid Camry at $25,000 and RAV4 at $29,000 give 51 and 41 mpg. This strategy is now turning out to be the right one because of cost of living concerns balancing climate change concerns as priorities. It was alone in this view and took a lot of criticism for this. Now that rare earth metals that are hard to access from China are needed for EV's it is proving doubly right- giving Toyota the opportunity to double down on hybrids and also move into EV's with short range distances using gas after that. Future design of cities that are self sustaining in smaller distances, eliminating long commutes, could make this an interesting option, a style of living being tried out in Nordic countries and in Germany, France. With India and China burning coal and investing in renewables at the same time this was overlooked by the climate change planners in US and EU- the solution being natural gas and renewables including hybrids for the US and EU/ Japan advanced nations.   ...

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This NYT article looks at another side of Biden in the meeting with Putin, Biden's optimism. Biden says of his style- "the important thing is to put an optimistic front, an optimistic face." By doing this he achieved more with Putin than was thought possible after years of deteriorating relations. In a way it could be said that Biden brought the optimism that Russia, Germany, France, India, and other nations, the rest of the world also need, especially now during the pandemic. He prepared carefully for his meeting, more than most presidents, much more than Reagan, Trump or Obama. He met with German and French  leaders, prepared with Blinken and Sullivan, coordinated with G-7 allies at Cornwall in the UK, in a way that was rarely done before.  After the meeting Biden could tell reporters "The country has put a different face on where we've been and where we're going- and I feel good about it." It is also a measure of Biden's leadership style that he took a constructive approach in the face of difficult issues.  Biden based it on a sound footing. The way Biden says "is to know what your adversary's interests are." In Russia's case Biden and his team see this as "legitimacy, standing in the world stage." And for Russia "desperately wanting to be relevant." For the most part Putin and Russia responded positively to this effort by Biden to change the tone, texture of voice, and manner in the conversation. ...

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The full text of the letter is given here. In this letter the U.S. sets out some important facts about events that happened during the coronavirus crisis during the crucial 4 month period from December 2019 to March 2020. Every week lost in this time due to reasons of a lack of transparency, openness meant hundreds of thousands of people more infected and tens of thousands of deaths worldwide. There are questions of transparency, of openness and this raises questions about the manner in which the World Health Assembly operates with hundreds of small countries in Africa and Asia having votes equal to that of the U.S., India, Brazil, Mexico with votes taken of over 200 countries. The entire election process can now be seen as questionable, when over a billion people in one country alone such as India or hundreds of millions in Brazil and Mexico would have to bear the consequences of poor decisions made by small countries that can be swayed in one direction or another based on political bias and other considerations that have nothing to do with global health.  At the conclusion of the letter by the U.S. to the current WHO shaped by a controversial election in 2017 the following is stated about the standards set by Gro Harlem Brundtland and which helped the world prevent the SARS crisis which originated in China in 2003 from spreading to the large countries of the world India, Brazil, Mexico, and other such countries in Asia and Africa, Latin America, and the U.S. European Union. "In 2003, in response to the outbreak of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in China, Director-General Harlem Brundtland boldly declared the World Health Organization’s first emergency travel advisory in 55 years, recommending against travel to and from the disease epicenter in southern China. She also did not hesitate to criticize China for endangering global health by attempting to cover up the outbreak through its usual playbook of arresting whistleblowers and censoring media. Many lives could have been saved had you followed Dr. Brundtland’s example." Even this does not come to grips with the flawed way in which the election of WHO head is done. It can no longer be relied on when there is the danger that lack of transparency can emerge in the WHO leadership itself because of a flawed process. It risks endangering the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of millions in countries such as India, Brazil, Mexico, as well as in the relatively small countries of Africa and Latin America where even basic water supplies are at risk but which could tilt elections at the World Health Assembly. Consider that a cyclone just hit the Indian state of West Bengal and Bangladesh on May 20 just as the coronavirus pandemic is spreading. That this region of 1.5 billion people had just 2 votes out of over 200 cast at the World Health Assembly in 2017 shocking. And even these votes cast based on old geopolitical considerations not how good the candidate is, and how good the country he is coming from is in terms of its record  on public health. The irony here is that private foundations in the advanced countries in the U.S. and Europe some of whom are major donors to WHO did not think that more experienced candidates in their own countries with a better record of public health such as in France or Germany are better qualified, in a flawed NGO support mentality left from the Clinton years. Basically the people in these large countries such as India, Brazil, Mexico were disenfranchised, when the austerity policies were consuming the European Union, and the U.S. had just elected a new administration itself groping for ways to reverse years of neglect of public services and infrastructure priorities. They would trust good leaders no matter where they come from, who have a record of transparency, leadership, and all the values we cherish together no matter where we come from. ...

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Brad Stulberg reflects in this article on the idea of groundedness and how it creates internal strength and a sense of fulfillment in life. The pandemic has worsened mental health and created the need to reflect on living a better healthier life. Here he points out that one needs to accept the present, the mess of vulnerabilities he says we find ourselves in, as a natural part of life. To build on a good process that gets us there. This means clarity, simplicity, and concentration so that one does not end up wasting one's energies in different directions. Focus on one or two tasks, what he calls deep focus work, play and connection. Experts say it is not true that there are sudden leaps in performance. Most work is diligently done each step preparing ne for the next step which eventually with patience and persevering on tasks brings results. They only appear to be sudden achievements, but always build on work done before patiently and step by step. This can be seen in the work of recent Nobel prize winners in science who have worked on a new discovery for decades with failures that were overcome, and obstacles that were surmounted with patient work day after day. Stolberg quotes St. Augustine and the Buddha on the importance of close knit groups, companionship and being part of a deep community. When Buddha's disciple Ananda says this is half of the spiritual life, Buddha says in response -  not so, this deep community is the whole spiritual life. Stolberg's new book is "The Practice of Groundedness." Much of this is also seen as important in the Bhagavad Gita and in Christianity- the ideas of simplicity and concentration in life on just one or two tasks, the clarity of mind that comes from this free of tensions.  The Cistercian monasteries all over Europe in the Middle Ages attest to this. One such abbey the restored Abbey of Fontenay in France, embodies this idea. Written about the restored abbey are the words- "The sun brings life to the austere bareness of Cistercian architecture, the way God's light spreads grace through the simplicity loving souls of the monks." ...

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Carlos Tavares runs Stellantis the company that combined the operations of France's Peugeot, Italy's Fiat and America's Chrysler right out of his living room in his Lisbon, Portugal home one week every month. He is a believer in the advantages of hybrid work model and says most of the 75,000 workers at the company can work remotely most of the time.The quality time that is generated in this new work model that allows life balance and getting fresh air walks outside is needed when you consider that auto companies such as his are embracing world of electric cars- Stellantis will have 75 models of electric cars by 2030 In this interview with the WSJ shown here he says the fact that one is giving back high quality time that otherwise goes to commuting means you get more time during the day. Carlos Tavares says remote work is an opportunity to recreate a better life balance. He doesn't see any risk in it at all. He sees how hard people are working, harder than they did before, and says giving back one half hour or two hours of quality time actually helps the process of getting good work. Look he says after a long day of remote work people need that time to go out and have a walk for an hour just to refresh one's mind, because the work was so intense. Tavares asks why shouldn't we trust each other? He believes it is the only way to go. Asked about his own work routine for remote work.He says it is the Portuguese routine of  7 am to 4 pm or 5 pm and then an hour out for a walk. He has a small desk in his living room, and he is sitting there with his iPad, grandkids are going by but nobody sees them. Does he miss the face to face contact? He does says Tavares. He still sees other employees as he does go to the office. What about mentoring for junior  employees? This does not have to be five days a week, you may want coaching one day a week, what you don't want is someone on your back five days a week. For Tavares it is all about the quality of time that is used. On company culture the much abused word Tavares makes some good points. If you say this is the culture and hand it to somebody then how do you get that creative mind to exercize his own judgement, how do you get diversity of thinking. Tavares is forthright and honest here- he says if I give you a culture and put you in that box I will get it wrong, and by killing the valuable diversity of thinking I will make it counterproductive. Actually with French, Italian and American operations under one roof and employees of 170 nationalities there is a value in appreciating the value each employee can bring. Practices at Stellantis- Tavares says if you want your people to be in game shape or in great shape mentally don't call them or email them on weekends, so that they can use the weekend to recharge themselves. He even apologizes for calling on a weekend. Or if you email your people tell them to not respond till Monday. ...

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France showed zero GDP growth in the second quarter of 2012 compared to the first quarter, according to the national statistics office Insee. French president Hollande will have to raise 33 billion euros in spending cuts or higher taxes to reach the target for the budget deficit of 3% of GDPin 2013, according to a July report of Cour des Comptes, a body that audits public institutions. This will be harder now that the slowdown globally is leading to expectations of slower growth than the 1% growth forecast used in the audit. French president Hollande has so far received good marks from analysts and financial markets. French borrowing costs have reached new lows especially in short term maturity bonds where bondholders are lending money at zero interest rates, partly because of the flight to safety from Italian and Spanish bonds.

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Foreign investment in the electricity generation industry has be encouraged by Russia. Ane Eni the Italian electricity generating company is a big investor acquiring one of the 5 OGK companies when its investments are complete of about $6 billion. And other European companies are following suit. E.ON a German utility has bought 47% of another wholesaler OGK-4 one of the five companies of the former UES parent of these 5 generation companoies and will acquire 70%. And a Finnish utility has invested in a regional generator. Gaz France and Korea Electric Power Corporation are looking at making investments. Russia's electricity generating business is growing at 6% and Russia is the world's fourth biggest power market. Though profits are small at present it is hoped that with deregulation profit margins will be good. The market to businessusers is already being deregulated.

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Sometimes a story gives clues to what might be happening in a way political reports and warime reports cannot. This is the account of a girl who as a teenager grew up in Tshkinvali, the Ossetian capital, at a time when Georgians and Ossetians intermarried, who has relatives in Georgia and Ossetia and in Russia. She sees the first signs of Georgian nationalism in the years following the collapse of the Soviet Union and in the years following 1991, things getting worse as Ossetians felt themselves treated differently from Georgians and felt isolated. Around 1991 the anti Ossetian pro Georgian mood was promoted by an antiSoviet dissident named Gamasakhurdia. Ms. Androva leaves Ossetia for study in Toulouse, France, in 2001, she returns in 2008 to see Tshkinvali and what has changed. She also recalls her own experiences.

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Christina Passariello's exceptional report from Richard Toll in Senegal on Danone's 10 cent Dolima drinkable yogurt, which is a popular snack for Senegalese. This is part of an effort to reach customers in emerging markets such as Indonesia, Mexico and other countries who live on food budgets of 1-2 dollars a day. Sales of Dolima are growing by 10% each month. The first emerging market yogurt product was a 10 cent plastic 70 gram bottle introduced in Indonesia, which took off quickly with 10 million bottles sold in the first 3 months at the end of 2004. It is popular with low income Indonesians and especially with children. In 2006 Danone introduced a 7 cent yogurt product called Shakti Doi "gives strength" in Bangladesh, with sales initially planned for rural villages but later placed in urban stores. In 2008 the concept was taken to Sengal. To do this Danone's CEO, Franck Riboud, sent a senior product manager Isabelle Sultan who had worked on the Bangladesh project to Senegal. She came up with several new ideas to improve an existing product by improving the flavor and making it creamier, using the Senegalese flag colors of red, yellow and green on the package to help illiterate customers recognize the packaging, and priced it at the 50 CFA coin or 10 cents, a common coin used in Senegal. The name "dolima" means "give me more" in the local Wolof language. In 2009 42% of Danone's sales were from emerging markets, increasing from 6% 10 years earlier. Danone now reaches 700 million people and is aiming at reaching one billion customers by 2013. Other products include water at 15 cents in Mexico- where the alternative for many rural Mexicans is soft drinks that increase obesity. P&G is promoting hygiene for women in Mexico with its low price shampoos and feminine hygiene products and helping improve the quality of life for ordinary Mexicans. ...

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This view from Udo Bauer of DW.com about the Berlin elections says the result with the CDU and the SPD each losing about 6-7% of the votes cast is more about the unpopularity of the CDU candidate Henkel and the SPD candidate Muller. He says Muller had about the charisma and appeal of a paper clip compared to the previous Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit who showed vision and assertive action. Other local issues were important in the election including crumbling infrastructure and dissatisfaction with services. The AfD won about 14% of the votes with its appeal to voters opposed to the refugee policy of chancellor Merkel. Yet Bauer thinks, like the Republican party in the past this could be a passing phenomenon, after voters have expressed their grievances about chancellor Merkel's "we can manage it" on the refugees. Something Merkel now says people read too much into. The SPD too has a lot to reflect on for handling local issues, says Bauer.

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This report in The Guardian provides and interactive way of understanding easily what is happening in Ukraine that is affecting the world's grain supplies. The severe impact is in Africa and Arab countries such as Egypt that depend heavily on Ukraine and Russia for wheat imports. Prices are now twice or three times for food supplies that put severe constraint with lack of funds in heavily indebted countries. World Food Programme lacks funds for supplies to Yemen and other countries affected by war or drought conditions. The heat wave has also reduced agricultural production by 5-10% in countries that normally export from Europe such as France.

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Moritz Kramer, a managing director at S&P, says Spain, Italy, France and Portugal cannot depend on austerity measures and cuts in spending alone to resolve the eurozone crisis. This is only one aspect of the problem facing the countries in southern Europe. The major reason for the problem is the lack of competitiveness in their economies. Nobel winner Stiglitz also points this out and adds that its important to note that the human and natural resources of Europe are the same and the potential just as good today as before the eurozone financial crisis. He says southern Europe has failed to utilize its human and capital resources and improve its technologies in ways that would make it more competitive with Asian countries. Experts point to the decade it took Germany to address problems created by inflexible labor markets, wage competitiveness, and investments in technology and human resources to get to where it is today.

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Krugman questions whether the assumptions behind the austerity policies are true- that they would inspire confidence in economic recovery, or that in the absence of austerity policies borrowing costs would go through the roof. The recent events in Holland with the collapse of the government in the Netherlands- when a party leader supporting the government said he did not want to hurt pensioners in the Netherlands just to satisfy German opinion- and the mood in France with economic anxiety vote going to Marie Le Pen and Francois Hollande in the first round of presidential elections, shows that very little confidence has been created. High unemployment and economic anxiety are leading to a reappraisal of austerity cuts that depress the economy and reduce tax revenues, but Krugman says no changes are taking place to correct these policies. This is true for Spain with its high unemployment, and Britain which now has two quarters of negative growth.