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This Guardian series explains what genetic diversity is and why it is so important in nature and important to feed the planet. It takes the simple banana and shows large plantations and companies produce the Cavendish banana and have let the thousands of other genetic varieties of bananas in Asia and Central America disappear. This is now affected by the Panama disease. In avocados the big farm companies have chosen the Haas and limited farming of other genetic varieties. The same is true of many of the vegetables and fruits one sees inthe supermarkets.  When it comes to foodgrains there were hundreds of foodgrains in nature over long periods of history but big agriculture companies have limited foodgrains to corn, wheat, rice and a few species only. Nature does not operate in this way as it operates with tremendous genetic varieties of  fruits or vegetables, and many species for foodgrains, so that if one is subject to disease or damaged, another more resilient one takes its place. To ensure that there is no food scarcity we have to embrace this kind of genetic diversity says this report in The Guardian. ...

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The long and bruising process of exiting the European Union for Britain is being seen across EUrope as a lesson. Marie Le Pen in France and Salvini in Italy have dropped ideas of France or Italy leaving the EU. Nationalist politicians are now shifting to a new agenda of reforming the European Union from within. Voters are being reassured by politicians that it is best to remain inside the European Union. Chancellor Merkel has carefully guided the European Union through this crisis, first through the eurozone financial crisis, then through a period of migration to Europe from war torn Middle Easter and African countries, and more recently with president Macron of France facing the effort to get Britain to leave the EU. After Boris Johnson's win in British elections with 44% of the vote Britain now faces the difficult choice especially for hard line Brexiters such as Mr. Jacob-Lees Moog and Johnson, to either accept European rules, regulations and standards over which it has little control or lose market access to the EU. There is also the issue of Scotland which favors being inside the EU and a Scottish independence referendum. ...

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What is the oldest man alive like. Bob Weighton was presented with his certificate by the Guinness World Records this week. He lives in a assisted living home and is self isolating. Here is someone who has been through the 1918-20 Spanish flu pandemic that took millions of lives all over the world. What is he like? He was a professor of Marine Engineering at the City University of London till he retired at age 65 in 1973. Weighton says he is very pleased he was able to live so long and make so many friends. He has had serious medical operations but nothing he has experienced is like the coronavirus and self-isolation. He calls it "bizarre." But his advice is that there is nothing you can do about this so you might as well do what you can and  never mind about what you can't. He has 3 children, 10 grandchildren and 25 great grand children. He and wife Agnes traveled and worked around the world then settled back in the UK. She and his wife Agnes who passed away in 1993 volunteered in retirement as marraige counselors and helped youth groups in Alton.  ...

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Justin Lahart of the WSJ says the positive news from the May unemployment report comes as a complete surprise. No one expected the addition of 2.5 million jobs, and the reduction of the unemployment rate from 14.7% to 13.3% for May, as reported by the Labor Department. Lahart says that even though the response rate for the Labor Department survey measuring the jobless rate had only 67%- instead of the usual 82%- it is broadly reliable. About half of the jobs bounceback comes from the leisure and hospitality industry. Some of this from the creative ways restaurants responded by doing an active takeout business and bringing in some of the workers.  Other businesses also responded in creative ways to keep running. As long as the reopening of the economy can be done safely, more people can be back to work. The significant relief from the government for small business could also help these businesses weather the crisis. The Global Vaccine Summit recently opened provided more positive news. Plans are underway for India's Serum Institute to produce 400 million doses of the Oxford vaccine by December, providing more hope for recovery. ...

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A case on whether a US government official can pressure social media platforms to remove content the government deems harmful is before the US Supreme Court. During the pandemic president Biden sought to quell rumors and misinformation about Covid vaccines. An Appeals court in Louisiana took a very conservative position that social media platforms could not be pressured in any way even from the bully pulpit not as a bully, meaning even persuasion was not allowed. The US Supreme Court will issue its decision in 3 months after it votes and the majority opinion is assigned to be written by one of the Justices It appears to be skeptical of the Louisiana Appeals court position.This NYT report shows exchanges between the Louisiana lawyer, deputy Solicitor General Fletcher speaking for the government, and Justice Kavanaugh. Justice Kavanaugh seems to agree with Fletcher that as long as it was a bully pulpit, that the president is saying it is harmful, but not threatening, it is acceptable under the First Amendment for president to do so. The president saying the rumor and misinformation was "killing people" was still only bully pulpit, no threat was involved.  ...

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Apple follows Microsoft in increasing workers pay. Apple increased the hourly pay for workers to $22, increase of 45% over 2018. It follows Microsoft which has doubled its worldwide budget for meit based pay increases. Annual increases are moved up by 3 months and new pay increases take effect in July at Apple. Apple shares have fallen 21% this year to May, making stock based awards ineffective.  Apple has paused plans to call workers to office for at least 3 days a week as coronavirus cases rise again in California. Apple was one of the first companies to move to remote work in 2020. The pandemic has increased Apple sales tremendously of laptops and iphones so that the increase in workers pay was long overdue. In this sense the Biden administration has brought with it president Biden's genuine and deeply felt concerns for workers and families to the forefront of company and workers attention. Overall for private and government employers the first quarter of 2022 brought with it a 4.5% increase in workers pay, says the Labor Department. Inflation was higher and outpaced worker wage increases so that worker pay has more room to grow under president Biden's leadership. ...

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The investigation into behaviour of the head of the Brexit department, and Justice Secretary, British deputy prime minister under Sunak, shows the tense relationship between the British Civil Service and the government. The official investigation by Adam Tolley KC found that Raab branded civil servant's work "utterly useless" and "woeful," says this report in The Guardian. Tolley rejected claims by Conservative MP's that civil servants were "snowflakes" and stressed that he did not find "any lack of resilience" among civil servants who "had many years of experience" working with ministers. What the report shows is that the entire Brexit process, the brusque nature with which one of the finest civil services in the world was handled by Conservatives pushing for Brexit and for other policies of the Conservatives, has led to a crisis in its operations. Much needs to be done to restore a level of confidence that civil servants deserve as part of the long tradition in which the British Civil Service has done much of the ablest work of the government of the British Isles over decades going back to the nineteenth century. ...

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As George Osborne of the Tories once pointed out China does not want to be thought of as a sweat shop on the Pearl River. And particularly not in a British attitude. How hard does China work is a question Tom Phillips tried to answer Oct 6, 2015 from Beijing for The Guardian. The migrant workers are the ones who work the hardest. And productivity is low. Among the higher classes there are longer hours with the work pressures, family obligations and long work hours leading to insomnia, fatigue, obesity, and ill health conditions. A comparison shows Britons working 1677 hours on average according to the OECD. The average Chinese worker is shown to work 2000 hours, by a researcher at Beijing Normal University. A labor economist in Beijing says as the economy improves and working conditions get better workers are working fewer hours every year. He says China lags behind in productivity. The longer working hours he says are not good for worker's health and for productivity. This was said in 2015 when China was still chasing GDP growth without the level of technology the US and Europe had. Now the focus has shifted to better quality growth in advanced technologies and old factories closed. ...

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In a first at Davos World Economic Forum, China's president Xi Jinping uses the 2017 meeting to give a one hour long spirited defense of the world trading system, critical of U.S. president elect Trump's protectionist views without naming him. Xi pointed out that "no one will be winners in a trade war." And went on to add that restricting world trade was like "locking oneself in a dark room, keeping out wind and rain from outside but also light and air." For the first time Jinping stated that China would take the U.S. role of defending the world trading system from attack as needed. On climate change Xi defended the Paris accords, and gave China's commitment to pursue changes regardless of what the U.S. under president Trump does. This follows Chancellor Merkel of Germany's statements on the issue critical of the views of president elect Trump, and taking the lead to defend the world trading system. Xi also pointed out that many of the ills that led to voter discontent in the West were not really from the freeing up of trade but from the pursuit of excessive profit with the financial crisis of 2008.   ...

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How a winner take all economy that pays a lot for what are called the "greedy" professions in law, consulting and finance, impact women. In these professions 24 hour or almost 24 hour availability has led to quadrupled income levels. To do this as this NYT article shows someone has to go part time time or be there when the children need it, or when the maximum work hours spouse is out at work, for doctors appointments and other needs. In many cases this is the woman as shown in examples from the law and other professions in this article. Women are finding that this shift to longer hours in these professions, consulting, law and finance, mean they have to voluntarily give up working the similar long hours that their husbands are putting in, especially when well educated women marry well educated men. A more normal level of schedules would enable both partners to work full time, and have time for each other and the children. This is one of the ways the U.S. is different from a country like France which provides the added benefit of better child care to promote balanced lives and more opportunities for women to advance their careers and use their education. ...

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Special Counsel Miller who conducted the long investigation into the president's conduct during the election campaign protests that the 4 page report of Attorney General Barr does not reflect the findings of the investigation. Mueller wrote to Barr in a letter that "The summary letter the Department and released to the public in the afternoon of March 24 did not fully capture the context, nature and substance of this Office's work and conclusions." Because Barr's summary in 4 pages was meant to preclude Congress from arriving at its own conclusions Mr. Mueller's comments are significant. The House of Representatives is questioning the conduct of Mr.Barr. Mr. Mueller says in his letter that "There is now public confusion about critical aspects of the results of our investigation. This threatens to undermine a central purpose for which the Department appointed the Special Counsel: to assure full public confidence in the outcome of the investigations." Mr. Barr calls the letter "snitty." Congress plans to subpoena Mr. Barr as he has turned down appearing before the House of Representatives, leading to a subpoena and a showdown with Congress.     ...

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China's rapid construction in the Doklam plateau of Bhutan is covered in this report in WSJ. This is a small corridor of territory that connects parts of India to its northeast. PM Modi recently visited Bhutan and India has a security treaty with Bhutan which adjoins populated regions of India in the northern Ganges region. History is being repeated with China intervening in the northernmost regions of Indian Himalayas in 1950- 2024 at great distance from China's population centers in mainland China in the way Japan intervened in the far northern regions of China in the 1870-1945 period. Modern road and aircraft connections have made this possible for China- yet today India is building its own road and aircraft capabilities rapidly so that in the long run not much is to be gained for China in the Himalayan region where it has not had a presence since the early Buddhist period of Bodhidharma that brought Buddhism to China from India in the 5th century. It is a reminder that both suffered from colonialism and are struggling to find a path that benefits their peoples, that eventually rejects the path Japan had found to lead nowhere. ...

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This is the story of Jackie Robinson who ended segregation in American baseball in 1947. This was a turning point for the US during the Truman administration as the first moves to end segregation were beginning that would be heard during the Kennedy administration. Jerry Brewer describes the Robinson of the 1950's as he became a baseball icon and gave new hope to a new generation of Americans in the post war period. His son David says baseball was Jackie Robinson's way of creating opportunity in America and he did this in a relaxed way, holding back emotions, and keeping his smile against adversity. His wife Rachel 104 years is interviewed in this story and shows the same resilient spirit throughout her life. Brewer writes that Jackie Robinson's is a struggle that goes on, that nostalgia makes understanding difficult obscuring the struggles that got us to this point, and creating an idea that the bad stuff was handled long ago and is no longer there, that problems are exaggerated and society has advanced. Progress he writes is neither adequate or permanent, every generation has to learn and educate itself and share this with fellow citizens in its midst. ...

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Senior Republicans Wicker and McConnell both push for the putting pieces of the defense puzzle in place so that American can offer leadership to the world in the 21st century. Biden has put pieces of the puzzle on the economic front, these are the pieces in defense and security. On D-Day 80 senior Republican leader Mitch McConnell cautions against the lethargy of so called left parties and the isolationist tendencies of so called right parties. He says America should put preparedness first, that the better part of valor is to build credible defenses before they are necessary so that American leadership is not doubted further as it has been before. He commends the plan put forward by Roger Wicker in the US Congress Senate Armed Services Committee. The plan calls for raising defense spending to about 5% from 2.9% now over 5-7 years, with $55 billion more in 2025. Wicker says the military has a backlog of $180 billion just for maintenance. For the Navy 357 new ships by 2035, for the Air Force 340 additional fighters. This in light of China's additions and in light of the Russian economy being put into a position for a long term conflict with NATO over Ukraine.  ...

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Fed's Powell sees only a temporary slight effect of DJT tariffs on inflation to 2.7% in 2025 that he says can be "looked through without action by us." Fed will wait for clarity in coming days and weeks. Powell says in March 2025 “It can be the case that it’s appropriate sometimes to look through inflation if it’s going to go away quickly without action by us. And that can be the case in the case of tariff inflation.” Tariffs are intended as they were in the first term of DJT and retained by Democrats led by Biden to create a level playing field after hidden subsidies by China, and to rebuild American manufacturing. New investments in manufacturing and in infrastructure supported by both DJT and Biden have brought new hope and vigor to comunnities and towns across America. For far too long as Powell understands textbook economic theory at Ivy League universities that had no connection to reality was used by American business to turn its back on communities and towns across the 51 states and the Nation. ...

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NYT says DJT would use tariffs "as a economic sledgehammer to nations that refuse to meet his demands" and claims not to know what they are. Saying further that DJT has been far less clear about what those demands were. NYT has clearly not followed what DJT has said time and again. It is OK to use economic power when Canada and Mexico, and China have not taken the action they could have taken a long time back that they are now taking, and will take, after years of acting as if they could not see the fentanyl flows across its borders destroying America. These countries two land neighbors of the US and the last a country which from the open door policy against European colonial Empires and through the Joe Stillwell years in the War against Japanese colonialism in China, and in the years of China's building its economy in the 1990-2010 period, offered a helping hand. It makes the victim -and one that had reversed TR's advice about carrying big stick and speaking softly to its bitter regret- the bully, in the words of the NYT.   ...

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China reduces US share of exports to 15% from 18% -yet with Vietnam made Chinese goods added in it is 21%. 15.8 million job loss for China from US fentanyl tariffs 2025 from one estimate. Chinese businesses are already feeling this, says WSJ. Exports represent 13% of China's GDP and China had redoubled its export effort after the property bubble burst. There are 2 drags on growth property crash and exports tariffs. China has less room for stimulus in 2025 and the government is focusing on bottom line thinking to prepare for hard times. Already companies are cutting shifts and laying off 10-30% of workers in garment, toys and other basic industries. President Xi is preparing for a long struggle reminiscent of how Mao led China to fight the US forces under Gen. McArthur in the 1950's Korean War, says the WSJ. In the past the state subsidy system worked to take huge share of new industries such as semiconductors, smartphones, solar, electric cars. This will be harder now with less money available to invest and drive out competition, and with the US and EU making their own products boosting their industrial and manufacturing base. ...

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WSJ Lingling Wei's interview with Ding Xuedong, chairman of China Investment Corporation on its plans and strategies for 2015-2016, and future years. China's government formed CIC in 2007 to improve the returns on its foreign exchange reserves, estimated at $3.8 trillion in 2015. China Investment Corporation had largely stayed with low yields on U.S. Treasury debt till 2007. CIC has about $650 billion in assets in 2015. Its strategies provide insights into how China sees the outlook for the global economy. Ding sees opportunities in real estate and infrastructure, with a focus on the U.S. and Europe for steady cash flows. He singles out the U.S. as of particular interest as its economy rebounds. Strategies also include paring down of energy holdings. Foreign holdings are now $220 billion and have increased by 16.6% since 2009. A special unit CIC Capital was formed recently to more directly participate in managing foreign holdings with a long term view. Earlier focus of CIC on natural resources and commodities is now shifting as the commodities crisis has reduced long term prospects in that sector. The plan for the future is to shift to an allocation where financial products such as stocks and bonds are about 50%, and long term assets such as infrastructure investments, real estate and other investment take up the other 50%. At the end of 2013 equities and fixed income represented 57.4% of CIC global assets, and 28.2% were in long term assets. Ding wants to see China as the No. 2 engine for the global economy after the U.S. as No. 1. He sees the prospects for Brazil, Russia and South Africa as poor, and is optimistic about good performance from India, Mexico and Nigeria. On Japan Ding is skeptical of prime minister Abe's plans because he sees the lack of structural reforms in the efforts leading to a kind of lazy effort in his view. CIC is learning from the experience of other national investment funds and improving its in-house investment and management capabilities. Ding has many years of experience with China's Finance Ministry, the Cabinet, and the State Council. ...

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"In the spring of 1971, I met a girl," with that beginning Bill Clinton gave one of the most memorable speeches at a Democratic Convention in history, to introduce the very human, Hillary- sometimes frail, but always looking for new mountains to climb, new barriers to break, new injustices to be righted. Of the long courtship at Yale and the years at Arkansas, buying that house in Little Rock Hillary liked before proposing marraige,  the time when they cried while leaving their daughter Chelsea at college dorm in Stanford; and all the private moments of a political couple one gregarious and outward looking, the other serious and inward looking. An introduction to someone you have heard too much about but you never knew. Never saw too close because of her intense longing for privacy- possibly coming from her own mother- Methodist upbringing that you were never the one to focus on, and family experience. Bill had seen this Methodist up close, and shared his experience with his countrymen who had not known her so well as he had.  ...

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The conflicting set of priorities sometimes unrealistic are leading to a lack of clear direction for the BBC. Internationally BBC and BBC News are viewed as a key information provider with a long history. This role conflicts with the idea of the BBC as a competitor of Netflix and Amazon for serials and other shows such as "The Crown" done by Netflix.  The Boris Johnson government supports BBC's international role. The role of competing with private firms like Netflix is unrealistic because the revenue stream is different. There is also the concern about the BBC News failing to properly reflect Leave voters. Boris Johnson has himself found the local BBC News presenting a very different picture. In the end the new head of the BBC was chosen from Tory circles and with the idea of not doing much. The priorities of tackling post Brexit Britain  the pandemic, the economy, the northeast of England lagging behind, infrastructure building, remain much larger for Boris Johnson. BBC will have to wait for now. ...

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Labour party shadow chancellor McDonnell takes charge of party affairs as Britain prepares for a general election with uncertainty on how long the minority government of Boris Johnson can remain in office. Misssteps by leader Jeremy Corbyn at the annual Conference- the failed effort to abolish the post of deputy leader held by Tom Watson, and the resignation of Andrew Fisher, a senior Corbyn aide.This led to a backlash against Karie Murphy Corbyn's chief of staff for her brash aggressive style.  Karie Murphy was informed by a former head of the civil service advising Labour that she and Corbyn's political director will now work at party headquarters on election campaign shifting from the leader's office. McDonnell wants to see more female members in senior positions, and his casual style in promoting Labour's agenda as a kind of normalcy after the austerity years and divided Britain under Cameron, May and Johnson, is critical to winning support for Labour's programs. ...

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Central banks for the European Union, US and Britain show slight divergence in their approach to inflation. The Bank of England's Bailey increases interest rates in UK to 0.25% from 0.1% a slight increase to signal its direction more than a serious interest rate increase. In the US Fed chairman Powell indicates an intention to make 2-3 rate increases  in 2022 if the conditions require action. In the European Union Ms. Lagarde of the ECB will taper purchases to 20 billion euros a month later in 2022, and keep interest rates at minus -0.5%. The British pound and the euro gained slightly as a result. 

Supply chain issues and energy prices are a big part of the current inflation increases which were described as transitory by Mr. Powell. The persistence of this inflation led to recent moves by the central bank. At some point these pressures would ease leading to a long term policy approach that pushes for a robust economic recovery.

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The firing of Tata CEO Cyrus Mistry by Ratan Tata, former chairman of the Tata Group, leads to a prolonged crisis at the companies of the Tata Group. A vote is needed at Tata Motors and Tata Steel for Mistry to be ousted from these companies following a vote to oust him at TCS. The parent company's board of directors have voted to oust Mistry. The expert view is that the crisis will not last much longer as all Tata companies need the Tata name and will eventually fall in line with the wishes of Ratan Tata. Ratan Tata followed J.R.D. Tata, and Jamsetji Tata, both legendary leaders of the company. Though Mr. Mistry's family owns 18% of the company, much of the reputation of the company lies in the Tata name and the work of JRD and Jamsetji, so that the 660,000 employees of India's largest company are likely to see this as a temporary setback in the long term.

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This report in the Times looks at president Macron in a holiday setting at the presidential place Bregancon near the military port of Toulon in the south of France. Macron worked hard on the European Recovery Fund and getting a $390 billion non repayable aid fund for southern Europe with chancellor Merkel of Germany through tough long negotiations with the Dutch and the Danes. His work with two provincial mayors as prime ministers, the last current prime minister Castex, in fighting the coronavirus is giving him much needed boost in popularity. Throughout his willingness to learn and to try new approaches without worrying about the risks, and his frank manner with perseverance has helped Macron as he navigated unknown waters. After a drop in the polls to about 30% he is now up to 50%, 18 months before the presidential election. This is good for France as strong leadership is needed after the pandemic both for France, French speaking regions, and in solidarity with former French Africa. ...

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The remarkable story of how a CEO of a $4 billion food company is running the business from a children's bedroom. The founder of the plant based alternative meat maker is a biochemist who lives in Northern California Bay area. His employees are based in Redwood City, California. Mr. Brown, 65, communicates with his employees from here. He is also a marathon runner and a believer in fitness. He sets a 90 minute no meting time for employees when they can take a breather, get some fresh air, and walk around.

He has given employees, including hourly and temporary workers, paid leave so they can stay and work from home. The plant is closed with a third party in Chicago meeting commitments for its products manufacturing.He will reconsider restarting the plant April 7 if demand is higher than the supply. He views this as the right action and right thinking, as by stickling with his employees he believes they will stick with him in the long run.