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Jorg Asmusen, member of the executive board of the European Central Bank, and Jens Weidmann, president of Germany's central bank, the Bundesbank, argue on opposite sides before the German Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe. Weidmann says the bond buying of sovereign bonds of Italy and Greece by the ECB is unconstitutional, Asmussen defends the ECB's plan to lower the borrowing costs for Italy and Spain in 2012. Both Asmussen and Weidmann are students of Manfred Neumann, professor of Economics at Bonn University. Neumann says such action is unconstitutional. The Federal Constitutional Court takes public opinion into account in its rulings.

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Under Governor Edmund Brown of California the state's public university system became a model for the whole nation in the 1960's- state spending on higher education doubled, statewide enrollment doubled, and seven new campuses were opened. California's community colleges, Californa State University and the University of California helped educate a new generation of Californians and powered its rise as a tech savy state. Increasing tution is putting higher education increasingly out of reach for struggling middle class families. Edmund Brown's son Jerry Brown, the current governor of California, tells Californians his mother studied basically "for free," and a whole generation that followed her paid modest tution fees. Jerry Brown is a trustee on the boards of Cal State and UC, attends meetings regularly, asks questions about the conditions at the university systems, and is determined to make the higher education system a part of his own legacy. He persuaded voters to approve a tax increase to support the higher education system. Half of the $250 million increase in funding for the university system is contingent on a tution freeze. Brown is also pushing for faculty to teach more undergraduate courses, increase the number of online courses, and reduce administrator pay. His proposals are meeting resistance from academia. Other issues facing the university system are the lack of resources to meet increasing enrollment, issues about reducing out of state enrollment to meet in state demand because out of state students pay higher tution fees, and the general resistance to teaching more undergraduate classes from faculty. To do this Brown is having to engage in a discussion about education and "quality" with academia. In a recent interview Brown pointed out that words like "quality" have different meanings, and are defined in academia to meet internal needs that often conflict with basic societal objectives....

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The difficult task facing Governor Jerry Brown of making the painful cuts in education, the state's university system and social services, as he faces a $15.7 billion gap in the state budget. The Republicans in the legislature have made it difficult for governors in the state to get the two thirds majority to increase taxes, and the Democrats have opposed the spending cuts, leading to chronic budget shortfalls. Governor Brown says unless temporary tax increases, including quarter percent rise in sales taxes and income tax surcharge on the wealthy are passed, California will have to make cuts of $6 billion in January 2013. This would include cuts in public schools and the university system. This would be in addition to cuts of $8.3 billion he has proposed for cuts in welfare, social services, and health care for the elderly. Experts say the political culture in the state is a problem, and is proving to be impervious to this governor's long years of experience and considerable skills. Jerry Brown says California, and the U.S. are both living beyond their means and need to take the medicine....

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Efforts made by Texas governor Rick Perry and the board of regents to control tution costs for colleges and universities in the state of Texas. The idea that a college degree should cost about $10,000 in total pushed by governor Perry, and early efforts to achieve this.

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The school as an extension of the caring nurturing family, starts with the good motivated teacher, one student at a time. The example of teachers at a Union city public school in New Jersey. At one time a failing school it is now an example of what can be done with good motivated teachers. David Kirp, professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, is the author of the book: "Improbable Scholars: The Rebirth of the Great American School System and a Strategy for America's Schools." Kirp reminds us that the answers are closer to us than we think, the nurturing influence of the schools extends the work of the family, more intuitive, and resembling more of the ways we think and feel children respond to good teachers.

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California's unemployment rate reached 12.6% in April 2010. California's economy is a large factor in the US economy, with 13% of economic output according to the state Dept of Finance. It faces a $19 billion budget deficit through June 2011. California's construction industry declined 14.3% for the year ending April 2010 and this is slow to recover. This affects the national recovery.

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The effort by 90 German universities to provide education for free to the large number of refugees from North Africa and the Middle East that are being given a home in Germany in 2015-2016. In rural areas especially in former East Germany there is still uneasiness about the large number of refugees expected to come in 2015- but students and most people in urban areas are receptive. Yet the challenges remain as the university system is crowded with students and can accomodate only about a fourth of the refugges coming in 2015. The low unemployment rate and need for workers is helpful in absorbing such a large influx of people into the country. Volunteers and the German language classes will help better integrate the refugees into German society. Though there is a small minority of people opposed to immigration, Germany society remains largely open to taking in and helping the refugees, compared to the situation in Sweden and Denmark where recent elections showed parties with anti-immigration stance getting a larger share of the vote and becoming part of the government....

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The cost is $117 million the number of students estimated at 20,000 who can be educated in this way who cannot afford the high tution fees at the universities in Minnesota including the University of Minnesota system. In opposing access to higher education the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board also reflects the views of billionaire owners out of touch with the people of America and the Nation. The WSJ Editorial Board says nothing about the egregious situation today shown on its pages of capital allocation that has gone upside down and scary. For example it showed in one week : $110 million capital allocated to invent a better golf ball $700 million lost in capital allocated by investment funds in a facial lotion brand that uses natural ingredients. This is just to cite 2 of thousands of such capital allocations many of them shown on Lyrarc.com as examples of poor and egregious scary capital allocation for a nation built on fairness and building opportunities for workers and families through the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution. The very investment that differentiated America and Europe from the feudal societies of China and India that self destructed in the 20th century after enormous suffering for hundreds of millions of the Chinese and Indian people. Isn't this like turning ones back on the Advantages that accrued to Europe and America from its wise investments and turning one's back on the Enlightenment in Europe and America itself? This is the statement to be found on the Minnesota Office of Higher Education- "Beginning in fall 2024, the North Star Promise (NSP) Scholarship program will create a tuition and fee-free pathway to higher education for eligible at eligible Minnesota residents at eligible institutions as a "last-dollar" program by covering the balance of tuition and fees remaining after other scholarships, grants, stipends and tuition waivers have been applied. By making college accessible and affordable, NSP is intended to have a positive impact on multiple fronts: Help stabilize enrollment at Minnesota public institutions of higher education; Serve as an economic driver for Minnesota by educating qualified workers who are much needed to fill vacancies in the state's labor force; Create a viable higher education path for Minnesota residents who may have previously thought education was not a possibility for them. We estimate this program will impact 15,000-20,000 students in the first academic year." The cost estimate at $117 million a year . ...

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After police use of tear gas against protestors in Hong Kong- demanding the resignation of Chief Executive Leung and open elections- crowds swell, and the protests spread from the business district to other parts of the city. A major route on Nathan Road through Hong Kong's Kowloon district was blocked by protestors. Young people, including a management trainee and an assistant engineer in this report, university students and others, were determined to continue the standoff with the government on September 28-30, 2014. The current system is for Beijing to nominate a Chief Executive, and Beijing granted Hong Kong the right to vote for a Chief Executive but only for candidates approved by Beijing.

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This NYT editorial says that before he was elected Mexico's president Nieto, with his book "Mexico- The Great Hope," (Mexico- La Gran Esperanza)presented himself as a candidate who would transform Mexico. Yet says NYT three years into his administration it has turned out to be very different, with no effort to clear up the questions about the murder of 43 students in Guerrero state. Economic growth has not matched the hopes generated after the Pacto de Mexico was approved and new legislation limiting monopolies passed. The slump in oil prices has led to limited results following the opening up of the oil industry to foreign investment. The result is an administration increasingly unpopular in Mexico and failing to deliver on the hope generated in the early months of Pena Nieto's administration. Many of the tasks for transition of Mexico to a modern economy- free of monopolies, crime, a better education system, economic growth in all parts of the country, remain unrealized. During his term as governor of the state of Mexico 2011-2015, Pena Nieto's main achievement was the 608 Compromisos or promises which were placed on the internet website tracking progress on the health, infrastructure, highway and other projects. During the current administration the early results were achieved in the first year through agreement with the rival PAN party for the Pacto de Mexico, to reduce monopolies and open up the oil industry which had falled behind technologically with lack of investment. Since then the progress has been slow, the one bright spot being the auto industry with increased foreign investment. Regional disparities persist with the Bajio region, and the areas around Queretaro, Aguascalientes, near Mexico City growing fastest. Pena Nieto won the 2012 election with 38% of the vote mostly from this region, the incumbent PAN party at 25%, and the left front Of Lopez Obrador 32% drawing support from less developed areas in the south and the rest of the country. Just as the earlier Atenco protests and police action to clear protesters blocking land acesses by the state for expansion of Mexico City's airport, and the Soy 132 student protest movement during Pena Nieto's term as Governor of State of Mexico 2011-2015 affected perception of his administration, the murder of students at Guerrero affects perception of this administration. Nieto comes from the upper sections of the PRI as the nephew of two former governors of the state of Mexico, has a law degree from the Ibero-American University, and a masters degree in business administration from ITAM....

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Of the 45 million US student loan borrowers in 2025- only 11 million are on time with payments. The rest seeing sharp credit score declines that limit their access to home loans, other credit, or increase the costs of access to credit. This limits access to housing, and other needs for this group, it also affects demand in the economy. A recent WSJ report showed Moody Analytics research that 80% of US consumer spending is now done by 20% of the top income earners in the US. Decline in demand from this group will affect the economic growth in the US and how well the stock markets do. This will affect the job growth in the economy month to month.  This means with inaction from the DJT administration and the SCOTUS lack of comprehension of the economic aspects of this issue in ruling out action taken by the Biden administration- that this failure to take action on relief poses added risks to the US economy in 2025. It also means uneven and unbalanced growth where some groups upper income are favored by the virtue of the way the economy operates leaving many young people out of the benefits of growth. This adds to the general feeling of frustration and discontent after the pandemic and after cost of living surges in 2022-2024. It also means university education is no longer affordable or accessible to young people. Other issues play into this such as the surging cost of university education and action needs to be taken to bring this into line with earlier post 1945 patterns where university education was affordable and taken up. The increase in apprenticeship programs is a good thing, yet the gradual turning away of young men from college education is a serious danger to the cultural literacy in the US in 2020-2030. Leaving aside Ivy leagues making state college and universities affordable is one of the big problems needing to be solved as a priority in the US.  ...

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Lower amounts for financial aid available offset the lower rise in tution costs to leave students just as worse off as before with large amount of student debt in 2013-2014.

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Senator Daniel Inouye, Japanese American from Hawaii, is the second longest serving U.S. senator in its history. He came to Washington in 1959 as the first Japanese American elected to Congress. He was elected senator from Hawaii in 1962, and he has served over 50 years as U.S. senator. As a premedical student at the University of Hawaii, Inouye decided in 1943 to join a Japanese American regiment, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. He was wounded in Italy and received the Distinguished Service Cross, Bronze Star Medal and the Purple Heart for bravery. He met Bob Dole in a military hospital in Michigan and both senators followed a path of law school and service in the Senate. Inouye attended George Washington Law School graduating in 1952. In 1955 Democrats swept out the Republicans in Hawaii who controlled state politics and were tied to the sugar interests. Inouye was elected to the state legislature that year and went onto the U.S. Congress.

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Jorg Asmussen, senior member of the executive board of the ECB from Germany says in a speech in Hamburg; "The markets are pricing in a disintegration of the eurozone. Such systemic doubt is dramatic- and for the European Central Bank, unacceptable." He supports buying of bonds of member countries by the ECB. Both Asmussen and Jens Weidmann were economics students of former Bundesbank head, Axel Weber at the University of Bonn. Asmussen who is from the SPD party, was deputy finance minister and then nominated to the executive board of the ECB. Jens Wieidmann was an advisor to German chancellor Angela Merkel and was nominated to head the Bundesbank. Weidmann has continued the Bundesbank position opposing buying of sovereign bonds by the ECB, increasing the split in German opinion on this issue.

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This earthquake in Sichuan may have changed China forever. It will no longer be the same country. Its not just how the government responded with premier Wen Biao taking a prominent role and receiving good marks for this, the government had it responded in the way it did in previous earthquake in 1976 with hundreds of thousands killed, would have found itself isolated by public criticism and mistrust. Consider- much of the force for open discussion and sharing of information comes from young people who are most of the 228 million internet users in China, who also use cellphones and blogs. Its not just criticism its been used for civic action. Chinese users of Twitter, a group instant messaging system, was quick to disseminate information about the earthquake as soon as it happened. Groups of university students in Chengdu set up a website to collect tips from front line reporters in the field. One report drew attention to 9000 people trapped in one village. What experts are saying- Demand for information has grown exponentially in China in the last ten years. Its not just about human rights or democracy. Its about education, safety, land rights or an accountable government. (a researcher at China Media Project at Hong Kong University). iternet users in China...

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The Georgetwon University Center on Education and the Workforce 2015 report shows the different college majors, annual wages and lifetime earnings based on Census Bureau data. Engineering comes first, followed by computers. Advanced graduate degrees make a large difference in earnings in health sciences. A lot depends on the standing in the class with top 25% of the class in finance having much higher earnings. A lot also depends on the individual. Employment opportunities may be lacking even if annual wages are high, as in architecture.

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This NYT editorial points to the dangers lurking behid the jobless numbers. The House bill that passed recently for $154 billion to extend unemployment benefits- set to expire in Feb 2010- to June 2010, and increases aid to local and state governments. It also includes infrastructure spending and help for small business. But it does not do enough for young people whose joblesness is at all time high. For instance only 4 in 100 low income black students found work in Fall 2009 This according to a study by the Northeastern University Center for Labor Market Studies. According to the analysis done by this Center the employment rates among teenagers has risen four times faster than the rate among adults since 2000, and todayme over 65 are more likely to find jobs than youth of 16-19 years.

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Samulelson points to the problems of pushing college-for-all. He compares it to the misguided housing policy that sought to promote housing access to all Americans including those who could not afford it by lowering requirements on credit and downpayments. Problems include student debt without job prospects, inadequate vocational training, and lowering educational standards at all levels including high school and college. Compared to Germany and other European countries the U.S. does poorly in providing vocational training and relating education in college to jobs through apprenticeship and other training in companies. Combining classroom and on-the-job training is more advanced in Europe. As sociologist Rehman of Northwestern University points out its important to set different pathways to rewarding careers. In 2008 the U.S. had only 480,000 workers or 0.3% of the labor force who were apprentices, according to Robert Lerman of American University. Useful to note is also that only 69% of U.S. jobs in 2010, required a post-high school degree, according to the Labor Department. Putting everybody on the college track, belittles those who do not finish college, ignores the need for vocational skills and technical skills in jobs, and puts the diploma above skills and knowledge gained.. Taking the approach to an extreme hurts young people in the job market and reduces America's competitiveness. This is similiar to what happened in housing policies that sounded good but actually devastated the financial condition of minorities that it was supposedly intended to help, as seen in high foreclosure rates....

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Prof. Peterson of Harvard and Hanushek of the Hoover Institution, authors with Woessmann of the book "Endangering Prosperity: A Global View of the American School," offer some startling reminders about the importance of education to economic growth and incomes in countries. Simply by raising the math standards in the U.S. to the higher standards in Canada would raise GDP by three fourths of one percentage point. One advantage that the U.S. enjoys comes from its good university systems, open markets, rule of law, tax rates, and open immigration policies, which give it about two thirds of a percentage point in higher GDP growth per year. The estimates are from the authors calculations. For the period 1960-2009, a period of rapid growth in Asian countries Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong, higher test scores in math and reading compared to the wrold average as measured by NAEP test and PISA, have led to 2% higher GDP growth. NAEP shows only 32% of U.S. high school students proficient in math compared to 45% in Germany and 49% in Canada and 63% in Singapore. By contrast to Korea and Taiwan, Peru, Argentina, the Philippines and S. Africa have about 2% less in GDP growth because of lower scores compared to the world average....

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Somini Sengupta and Brian Frank provide this award winning quality of coverage in text and pictures of life in California's San Joaquin Valley, hit by wildfires and scorching heat in the middle of the pandemic. Shown are workers in the fields of one of America's largest agricultural regions fighting heat and the pandemic, struggling to survive on a precarious hourly wage in these conditions. During earlier periods from 1970 this was an almost picturebook place particularly in the cool and foggy winters, which stretched for miles with apricot, grape, almond and other fruit and vegetable fields. A dry valley using irrigation of fields with water from the surrounding Sierra Nevada mountains. Most affected are millions of workers of Hispanic origin originally from Mexico, who provide most of the labor for harvesting of crops. California with a good educational system and without the drought that hit the region, without the effects of Silicon Valley splitting the people of the state in opposite directions most on minimum wage with a concentration of wealth around major cities and spiralling property values, was a very different place in the 1960's and 1970's from what it is today. Increasing wealth concentrated in pockets and not spread out as it was in the early post war period after Truman and Eisenhower has impoverished large areas and segments of the population, creating what Dickens called in his day- "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times," depending on who and where you were. ...

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A delicate balancing act for the Federal Reserve, in not withdrawing support to the debt securitization markets in a manner that throws the economy off balance, and leads to the collapse of credit markets still again. Lee Sachs, an advisor to Timothy Geithner, Treasury secretary, says that its important to do it incrementally, where and when you think you can, and not sooner. The debt securitization markets act as a shadow banking system, they finance mortgages for homes, corporate loans, student loans, credit card debt. Before the debt crisis in 2008, banks made loans for mortgages, and then sold these loans packaged into securities in the debt securtization markets. 60% of American credit has in recent years come from this process of debt securitization. This is how the markets look at this time in September 2009. 1. A thriving private market in securities packaged out of home mortgages, collapsed from $744 billion in 2005 at the peak, to $8 billion during first half 2009. THe Fed is almost the only buyer of mortgage backed securities, with $905 billion of these government guaranteed securities purchased through mid September, 80-85% of the market. 2. The market for bonds backed by consumer debt - credit card debt, auto loans and student loans - has recovered to before the crisis. But this is only because of the government's Term Asset Backed Securities Loan Facility or TALF, which provides attractive government financing to buyers. Hyun Song Shin, a Princeton University economist, who is an expert in this area, says the big question is what happens without TALF, can the market stand on its own two feet or is it permanently hobbled. 3. The market for securities in commercial real estate loans has not seen any securties issued in two years. Overall says Robert Shiller, a Yale University economist, the security markets are dead, we are stuck in a situation where no one knows what will happen when the government gets out of these markets. The Fed will continue to support the mortgage markets till it goes from the $905 billion now to $1.25 trillion. At that point it will have to make some tough decisions, and banks are not lending, making it tougher for business. On top of this banks liquidity requirements are being increased after the G20 agreement, and Britain's FSA has already taken the initiative on this. And a further $50 billion in corporate real estate securities are to be refinanced in 2010, says CALPERS, Arnold Phillips. If there is no mechanism to address support here, these properties will default, leading to bank losses and even tighter credit. ...

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Vic Starmer spent the day after Thursday's election night at a race course in Surrey. Her mother introduced her to flat racing and she spent time at the Doncaster race course while growing up. She is a solicitor, ten years younger than Keir Starmer, and works in occupational health for the NHS. Vic met Keir Starmer when he called her about a brief she prepared as a solicitor. Starmer says their first interaction was when she was questioned about the brief and s she put down the phone was overheard saying "who the fuck does he think he is?"  Vic grew up in a middle class home in north London the daughter of a father whose family left Poland in the 1930's who worked as a accountant, and a mother who was a GP physician. She went to Cardiff University to study sociology and law, was elected student union president in 1994. They married when Keir was 45 years. Keir Starmer says about her-      " very sassy, very down to earth, no nonsense from anyone." She was political long before Keir, she understands politics, yet she wants to stay outside politics. On the walls in their Kentish Town kitchen the pictures reflect her space, nothing political, just the Doncaster race course, a familiar space for her.   ...

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African Americans from Chicago, Harvard Law School and other places in Obama's background, some of whom came into government with the Clinton administration are likely to assume leadership positions.John Rogers of Ariel Capital Management, Valerie Jarrett, are from Chicago. Some of them are at law firms like Jeh Johnson who is a fellow partner of Theodore Sorensen speechwriter for President Kennedy. These are a new group of younger African Americans different from the earlier generation of Andy Young and Vernon Johnson. Eric Holder was deputy attorney general under Clinton, now his name is mentioned for Attorney General. Ties in Chicago include ties to Martin Nesbitt, a close friend, who is chairman of the Chicago Housing Authority and a real estate developer. Harvard Law School admits 30 to 40 black students each year, and it has 1400 black law school alumni, more blacck law school graduates than any other school except Howard University. And its a source for fundraising and other contacts....