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Emma Tucker describes the elation in the News Desk and for reporters of the WSJ on August 1, 2024  following the release of a young reporter Evan Gershkovich held by Russia for coverage in sensitive Russian regions. Emma Tucker said-    "We are grateful to President Biden and his administration for working with persistence and determination to bring Evan home rather than see him shipped off to a Russian work camp for a crime he didn’t commit. We are also grateful to the other governments that helped bring an end to Evan’s nightmare, in particular the German government that played such a critical role." Who is Emma Tucker and why does it matter?-   It matters because of monopolistic/oligopolistic hold over communication of news in the public space that belongs to public service since Lincoln, TR, FDR, Kennedy in the US, and it's shaping of public perceptions such as no action needed on climate change fires/floods, or on infrastructure investment in a dilapidated US. Emma Tucker studied in Sussex and in New Mexico before studying philosophy, economics and politics at Oxford. She becomes a graduate trainee at the Financial Times  in 1990 continuing for 30 years right into Covid years (FT now owned by employee owned Nikkei since 2015 acquired from Pearson for $1.32 billion). In 2022 she was selected to run Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal acquired by him for $5 billion- including $2.25 billion premium- from the Bancroft family that owned it and Dow Jones since 1928.   ...

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When even the NYT, or the host of CBS television Face the Nation does it poorly, how are independent voters, and voters leaning Democrat or Republican, or leaning not vote, to have a clear idea of policies?  This review of Trump statements about Harris statements on red meat, ICE, law enforcement, fails to get down to the policies she has stated at Wake Tech in North Carolina and in other places before this. It also does not address the Trump plan to end tax on Social Security which would lead to about $550 going to seniors but lead to a cut of 25% in Social Security in 2032, defunding Social Security and Medicare. Immigration- the first thing Harris would do as president is to sign the legislation written by Republicans Lankford, McConnell with the backing of the party and agreed to by president Biden that will in effect close the Border with Mexico and fix the asylum policy, not done in three decades. Cost of Living- Harris policy on price gouging is for taking the action that companies follow and play by the rule on pricing, so that they do not take unfair advantage of the public. It is not about passing a law or fixing prices. This has been done in Texas and in Kentucky, other states. Restrict rent to 5% increases and increase the supply of new houses by building 3 million new homes, $100 billion to be allocated for fixing housing supply shortages.   ...

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New regulations permit foreign investors to invest at least $100 million to setup multibrand retail operations in cities with populations of more than 1 millon people. Foreign multibrand retailers are at this time not permitted to directly invest in domestic retailers selling to consumers. A government panel "the Committee of Secretaries," proposed the change, which now goes to the federal cabinet for approval. The change means international retailers like Wal-Mart can sell to Indian consumers through partnerships with Indian retailers, and can own upto 51% of such local joint ventures. Of the investment at least half must go to setting up back-end infrastructure such as cold storage and laboratories. India has a huge retail market of an estimated $450 billion but much of the retail sector has fragmented smaller operations and mom and pop stores. Tata, Reliance, Bharti, Godrej and other local companies have made an effort to change this and formed alliances with Tesco, Wal-Mart, and other international retailers. One of the pressing needs is the building of back up infrastructure- cold storage, retail facilities, etc. This change means Wal-Mart, Carrefour, Metro AG can now enter the retail market. The prior efforts of these companies were restricted to wholesale stores such as Metro Cash & Carry India Pvt. Ltd, Wal-Mart's technical support for Bharti's retail brand of Easyday stores, and UK based Tesco's back-end support to Trent Ltd's Star Bazaar stores....

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Stress test performed by the consulting firms of Oliver Wyman and Roland Berger used data as of Dec 31, 2011, and a scenario of a 6.5% decline in GDP and a 26.4% fall in housing prices by 2014. An international panel of experts from the Bank of Spain, the Spanish government, the ECB, the IMF, the European Banking Authority and the EC was formed to oversee the consultancies report. A separate more detailed audit of 14 individual banks will be made by Deloitte Touche, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Ernst & Young, and KPMG International with results by the end of July. The four banks that need capital injections are Bankia, CatalunyaCaixa, NovaCaixaGalicia and Banco de Valencia. The consultancies estimate was for 51-62 billion euros needed according to Oliver Wyman, and 51.8 billion euros needed according to Roland Berger, for recapitalization of Spanish banks by 2014. The issue now is about any remaining questions about additional losses, and whether rescue funds from the EU fund the EFSF should go directly to the banks as favored by the IMF and the government of Spain. This is because of the stress on yields of Spain's 10 year bonds with rescue money going to the Spanish government at the insistence of German chancellor Merkel....

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India's economy is at 2.597 trillion dollars at the end of 2017according to World Bank figures, surpassing 2.582 trillion for France. India's economy has doubled in a decade and is expected to pass Germany and Japan in GDP by 2032, to become the third largest after the U.S. and China.

As China's growth has slowed India's is growing. It recovered by July 2017 from one time events designed to actually spur growth such as the effort to implement a nationwide tax for GST. Demonetization also contributes to growth by accelerating the shift away from cash to recorded and taxable transactions. The tax revenue is increasing as less of the economy is in the black market sector. Higher tax revenues enable larger investments in health, education and infrastructure.

New bankruptcy law and speedy resolution of bad debt of banks is also laying the ground for future growth with new investment.

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President Xi Jinping's Made in China 2025 plan has spurred startups in electric car technologies, and raises concern about overcapacity. Electric cars is one of 10 sectors in the Made in China 2025 plan to promote global competitiveness for Chinese companies and domestic dominance. China Construction Bank and National Development and Reform Commission announced a $47 billion plan. Direct government subsidies of $15 billion over last 5 years have also increased the number of startups.

All automakers in China are required to produce electric cars. The electric cars sold in China at 777,000 make up half of the electric cars sold in the world. 

Local governments in places such as Anhui province have invested in electric car companies. One such company Singulato in Tongling, Anhui, is profiled here, with its first electric car expected by the end of the year priced at $43,000.

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Interview with German Greens party politician, Jurgen Trittin, who could be finance minister in a Greens supported government. Trittin says his views are similiar to that of the IMF which is calling for debt relief for Greece. If elected in a Greens-SDP coalition, Trittin says, he would end the policy of purely cutting state expenditures.

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The US may just move on to other priorities if both Russia and Ukraine cannot come to terms on a ceasefire, says Marco Rubio, US Secretary of State. The crux of the problem from the beginning were eastern regions of Ukraine that are more Russian in culture than western Ukraine. On the Russian side it was a loss of respect from the capitalist states US, UK and Western Europe compared to its historical importance in Europe, as everything was measured in GDP terms. The last straw was NATO and Ukraine with its Russian connected history joining it. By drawing eastern Ukraine into its orbit Russia was responding to actions by US and the EU support for Kiev, ignoring Russian perspectives. On the Ukrainian side the issue came down to Ukraine being able to decide its own future. Because of corruption and mismanagement, poor governance what could have happened with a clean governance and efficient growth oriented leadership working with Russia and the EU never happened. The result was veering from a pro-Russian to a anti-Russian government following the Maidan protests in Kiev in 2013. Enter China by 2019 with support of US companies shifting almost the entire US industrial base to China. Putin was handed a rare opportunity to act with China's tacit support to push back the US and EU and their defense arm NATO. He decided to take it thinking this would end quickly with Ukraine capitulating. The loss of hundreds of thousands of young Russian youth in the land war led to Russia getting entrenched into this war. As has happened before Russia with it's greater population and resources has prevailed in Eastern Europe over centuries of warfare. This is the situation in 2025 when DJT seeks to end the war and bring peace to Ukraine. ...

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In a speech on June 6, 2011, Fed chairman Bernanke says "monetary policy cannot be a panacea." He points out that monetary policy can only do so much, in effect reducing expectations that the Fed can by itself tackle the problems stemming from the economic crisis of 2008, the overleveraging of the U.S. consumer and the banking sector, and the problems in housing. A Labor Department report shows 13.7 million unemployed in April 2011, and 3 million job openings at the end of April 2011. Bernanke forecasts growth in the second half will be "uneven" and frustratingly slow for reducing unemployment.

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Rep. Ron Paul, assumes chairmanship of the House sub-committee that will oversee the US Federal Reserve. He is the author of the 2009 book "End the Fed." He is critical of the Greenspan-Bernanke Fed policy on interest rates, calling it an inflation of the money supply, penalizing the thrifty and cheating those who save, promoting consumption and spending over saving and investing. He views it as economically destructive. He views Fed policy in other areas as immoral, such as what he calls a counterfeiting operation-creating new money out of thin air- to sustain monopolistic financial cartels.

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Speaking at the Davos forum, economist Nouriel Roubini, who correctly predicted the global economic crisis, says this recovery is likely to peter out by the end of of 2009 with a long period of "sub-par gowth" ahead. His optimism for the emerging market economies is tempered by what he sees as an "asset price bubble" developing in China, Russia's aging population and political obstacles to structural overhauls in Brazil and India. In the U.S. and Europe other economists also generally agreed that the recovery will be "U-shaped" or "W-shaped" implying this recovery in late 2009 will not last beyond 2010.

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Chinese government data show that inflation was 3.1% in May 2010. The spread of wage increases in manufacturing after a series of strikes at Hon Hai and Honda Motor suggest that price pressures will grow even further. Analysts warn that China's central bank will have to raise interest rates to control the boom in the economy and property markets; that merely reining in credit will not work. They also suggest the need for swifter action in revaluing the yuan. As wage increases spread throughout manufacturing, this will eventually be reflected in higher prices of end products.

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GM is looking for ways to be able to provide more loans to buyers. Its working with lenders and financial institutions to be able to offer more loans to increase sales. GM continues to work with the old GMAC, now called Ally Financial Inc, but it is looking for new partners to expand financing to car buyers. It has studied the options of regaining control of GMAC's auto lending business or starting its own finance company. For now it is looking at working with other lenders to reach buyers who are at the lower end of the income and credit scale.

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The memorial to Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) by the American architect Louis Kahn takes shape on Roosevelt Island after a 30 year effort. It sits at the southern end of Roosevelt Island right across the river from the United Nations Plaza. The memorial will open in October 2012. The project cost $53 million with the work starting in October 2010. For years the project lacked funding. The memorial has five parts, an entry, triangular garden, forecourt area, a sculpture court and the "Room" which provides a meditation place for reflecting on Roosevelt's legacy and the Four Freedoms of speech, worship, want and fear.

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The effects on the U.S. stock market, Treasurys and corporate bond yields of the U.S. Federal Reserve's move to continue Operation Twist in June 2012. The Fed plans to sell $267 billon in short term debt through the end of the year. The effects are expected to be more muted compared to the quantitative easing efforts of QE I, QE II, and the Operation Twist through June 2012 in which the Fed sold $400 billion in short term debt. The effects of the eurozone crisis and slower growth worldwide are other macroeconomic forces at work which may play a larger role this time.

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Shultz, Perry,Kissinger and Nunn, bring their long years of experience in defense and international affairs to the issue of updating America's policy of nuclear deterrence based on mutually assured destruction. Since the end of the Cold War conditions have changed and the threat of nuclear destruction has taken new forms. Efforts to reduce the threat of nuclear war, nuclear weapons proliferation, and other dangers stemming from nuclear weapons development, also need to change to reflect the changing times. They outline proposals for these changes based on meetings on these issues at the Hoover Institution in California.

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Liquidators these days are doing a thriving business. With a glut of retail goods piling up at stores and stores liquidating, some of this merchandise is ending up in emerging market countries from Pakistan to remote parts of Russia. Hudson's Salvage, a 45 store discount retailer is selling women's bouses, pants, and dresses intended to sell at full price retailers at $140, at prices as low as $6.99. Some of this stuff is ending at stores selling to Hispanic shoppers in smaller US cities, central New Jersey, and more of the high end brand name merchandise is being discounted heavily.

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As potential bank takeover on a short term basis to fix things looms over some banks, that are already heavily dependent on government money, their share prices dropped significantly. Bank of America dropped to $3.79 a share and Citigroup dropped to $1.95 on February 20, 2008. The more bank shares fall the more likely it becomes that the government will end up owning even larger stakes in the banks. Larger infusions of government capital mean diluting existing shareholders. In this atmosphere investors fearing that the value of their shares will be wiped out keep selling bank shares.

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GM share price plunged to a 55 year low of $11.43. It dropped 11% in one day June 26, 2008. This is te lowest price since the days of Eisenhower as President. GM according to anlaysts will end the year with $20 billion in cash, and will go through at least $10 billion this year. And the market is changing dramitcally towards smaller fuel efficient cars with GM not taking the initiative to move towards these types of cars which makes going forward into 2008 just as risky with the economic downturn making things worse in 2009.

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The Argentine government proposes to nationalize the private pension system, which would provide much of the cash needed to meet debt payments to avoid a default. The private pension system has $30 billion in assets and has $5 billion in contributions each year. Economists say the new contributions could be used to fill some of the gap of $10-11 billion as a result of a drop in farm export prices like soyabeans, in what Arentina has to pay for debt between now and the end of 2009 for debt restructured after a 2001 default and new debt issued locally.

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Britain's parliament voted 358 in favor and 234 against to back prime minister Boris Johnson in his effort to get Britain to leave the European Union by January 31, 2020. Negotiation will not be extended beyond 2020. With a comfortable 80 seat majority and many lawmakers newly elected in parliament in favor of Brexit the process appeared easy compared to the problems faced by Theresa May who lacked a majority. In October Mr. Johnson negotiated a deal with the EU which stated how Britain plans to leave the EU. This covered citizens' rights, a financial settlement to leave, and an arrangement to avoid a physical border in Ireland. With another vote in parliament and passage in the House of Lords the process now appears certain to be completed before January end 2020. To get Brexit done Mr. Johnson sought blue collar support in the north of England and the Midlands, a region neglected by Labour and the old Conservatives. Too much of the focus had remained on London. This strategy worked after neglect of working class districts by Labour under Blair and Brown. Mr. Johnson's approach was to commit the Conservatives to new infrastructure spending, spending on schools and the NHS, just as Mr. Trump had done in the U.S. to permanently change the Republican party. This combined with an appeal to patriotism and the idea of Britain drew strong support across England in the election. ...

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Of the $19 billion in aid to farmers for the coronavirus, $16 billion of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, goes in direct payments to farmers and rancher with checks going out end of May. Another $3 billion goes to mass purchases of dairy, meat and produce that will be distributed through food banks. Faced with loss of sales with restaurants and schools closed, and disruptions in deliveries to grocery stores, farmers in the U.S. have stopped or slowed production. As a result huge quantities of food that can't be sold are being destroyed. Plowing under thousands of acres of vegetables, dumping millions of gallons of milk, and destroying eggs. In addition to this aid Agriculture Secretary Perdue says the department is using funds set aside under the larger coronavirus relief aid package of $2 trillion for the U.S., and funds from the Commodity Credit Corporation. Mr. Perdue is himself a farmer from Georgia, who was governor for eight years. These funds are separate from the $28 billion to farmers being distributed by USDA to offset losses from loss of sales to China. USDA plans to make monthly purchases of $100 million each of fresh produce, dairy products and meat, and work with the nation's food distributors to assemble a pre-approved box of food to be given out at food banks and other outlets. ...

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 Frustration has grown with the poor early management response from U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, says WSJ.  The president responded at one point with a tweet that "he told me nothing until later." The WSJ looked into Mr. Azar's missteps in a report recently. The president is considering replacing Mr. Azar says WSJ. Ms. Verma the head of Medicaid and Medicare Services is being considered. She has worked closely with vice president Mike Pence throughout this crisis. Mr. Azar served as HHS general counsel and later deputy secretary under president George W. Bush. He then worked as lobbyist for Eli Lilly.  This WSJ report says Mr. Trump called Mr. Azar on his flight from India to Washington, and the next day replaced Mr. Azar as head of the White House coronavirus task force with Mr. Pence. The president says repeatedly that vice president Mike Pence, as head of the White House task force has worked night and day round the clock to guide the effort- including talking to 51 state governors, coordinating the entire effort, and providing the president with reliable advice. In the depths of this crisis never has so much depended on so few- on vice president Pence, a former governor of Indiana, Admiral Polowczyk, Dr. Birx, Dr. Fauci, and the governors of states worst affected by the coronavirus. ...

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In his State of the Union speech president Trump was off on some points such as how many jobs were created, how good the economy is, and on on safety of cities El Paso and San Diego after border walls and fencing, according to the WSJ. El Paso was the second safest city of twenty similar sized cities in the U.S. before the border wall with Mexico, and continued to be that way after the wall was built over that section. San Diego has seen 91% drop in border apprehensions over a decade after fencing the border but this has not meant a discernible impact on people crossing illegally.  Mr. Trump was right that customs duties increased by $13 billion in the third quarter of 2018 after placing tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese goods. Wages are growing faster for manufacturing and construction workers than service occupations, as Trump claimed. On the growth of the economy the economy GDP grew by 3.5% in 2018 before slowing down by the end of the year. India and China's growth in GDP is much faster. Growth in jobs was at the pace in the first 2 years of the Trump administration in some 2 year periods of the Obama administration, and much faster in manufacturing in the 1990's, says the WSJ.   ...