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The coverage of the Republican healthcare bill and how it affects the elderly, and people on Medicaid, people in rural areas, is likely to have changed public opinion in the U.S. about the necessity of ensuring all Americans have health coverage. The Pew survey cited here in this NYT report by Zernike and Goodnough was done in Jan 2017, and shows a shift. The shift would be much higher today after people look hard at the consequences of what were simply hypothetical positions or ideological positions taken without looking at consequences in daily living. On Medicaid that opinion by July 2017 compared to Jan 2017 has shifted 10 percentage points for Republicans to 53% who think Medicaid is important to them and their families, according to Kaiser research. There is stronger sentiment about people having benefits taken away.  [article-55059] The opinion has shifted to where people see that coverage is important and people should not have coverage denied or benefits taken away from them. Opinion remains strong in favor of changes to reduce the high premiums, but not to replace the existing health benefits and law with no law at all to replace it. That leaves 20 million more uninsured according to the Congressional Budget Office. Changes have to be constructive is the popular view today,  and this requires dialogue between Republicans and Democrats- which has not taken place. ...

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Reporters at the Washington Post put together the events leading to the formation of a bloc of freshman Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives who refused to compromise on debt ceiling and deficit reduction negotiations. The role of Cantor, McCarthy and Ryan in these events.

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Friedman's sense of Minnesotans desire for parties working together, business and elected officials working together to build a better America. He visits his public school in Minnesota.

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In a new book, "Back to Work: Why We Need Smart Government for a Strong Economy," Bill Clinton says he would have done two things differently. He would have raised the debt ceiling in the first two years when the Democrats had majorities in both houses of Congress. He also thinks President Obama's criticism of Wall Street has been harsh and counterproductive. Clinton is strongly critical of the Republicans for their anti-government ideology.

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James Warren talks to judges and other experts who are skeptical about the value of deterrance in stopping white collar criminal behaviour. Jim Cramer of the television financial markets show, says that on Wall Street they fear nothing more than jail time. Warren, who says the greatest corruption of legal and illegal kinds is to be found today in the financial sector, is still not convinced. He asks why was this guy Bagojevich elected a second time, when it was clear throughout Chicago and in Springfield that pay-to-play was typical of his behaviour. Is the public some virtuous group that gets hit with these undeserved types or is it that the public gets the politicians it deserves.

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Credit Suisse research of loans at 3,550 nonfinancial services companies in India with total borrowing of $385 billion as of March 31, 2011, shows 30% had net debt more than six times current earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. This is an increase of 50% in 5 years. Goldman Sachs estimates gross nonperforming loans including restructured debt will climb up to 6% of total loans in the next financial year. This is an increase from the 5% in March 2011. The Reserve Bank of India's stress test report of Dec. 2011 forecasts 5.8% of non-performing assets in a worst case scenario. This is twice the current level. This is largely a result of Indian banks increasing lending after the 2008 global financial crisis, with the worst affected and leveraged sectors being private airlines, construction companies, utilities and real estate developers. At the same time prudent regulation has ensured a capital to risk-weighted assets ratio according to RBI of 13.5% at the end of March 2011. This compares with the same ratio at 14.5% as of March 2010. Additional risks come from declining economic growth. Industrial output in October 2011 was down 5.1% from the prior year. ...

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Friedman on the need to build more economic clusters around university towns similar to the ones at Cambridge, Austin, Boulder, Ann Arbor, Palo Alto to generate new innovations. The impact of globalization and the internet is creating new opportunities through knowledge exchange and generation. These are part of the technological developments predicted by IBM for 2012-2016.

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A new family sedan will come out of a new manufacturing plant VW has built in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 2011. The plant will turn out a new version of the Passat to compete with the Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord. Production capacity will be 150,000 A new Beetle will also be introduced. This is the first time VW has built a car specifically designed for the U.S.. During its previous efforts in the 80's VW used European designs and transferred them to the U.S. Its plans are to sell 400,000 VW's in the U.S. by 2013. VW sold 213,000 cars in the U.S. in 2009, so this means doubling sales in 4 years. At it height VW sold 577,000 cars in 1970, but this was before the Japanese and the Koreans entered the market in a significant way, and now the potential is there for Chinese and Indian imports at the low end of the price scale. Another factor making this goal difficult to achieve is the smaller car market and lower economic growth. By 1992, sales had dropped to 49,000, after the boxier replacement to the bug- in its Rabbit and Golf models- never took off. The new Beetle's introduction in 1998 improved sales, which reached 356,000 in 2001, and then declined as a result of too few new models, declining quality and a weakening dollar. There is a feeling among VW's American dealers, that VW's European headquarters staff is not giving the US the priority it deserves. The revolving door change in CEO's for the US operations, has only reinforced this impression. Mr Browning of GM's European operations replaced Jaccoby recently. Jaccoby joined Volvo as its new CEO. Steps taken to address these issues are to revamp the Jetta model for American customer preferences, and advertising that appeals to price conscious customers with the line: "Great for the price of good." Another innovative effort is an ad strategy that tries to capture Hispanics in the US market, with ads on Spanish language television networks. A sign of how much German management is involved in the detail of the new Jetta, is the discussion at the management board level about whether the new model should have American style cup holders. This meant pushing the brake two inches forward towards the driver, a decision that was made to do so after some deliberation at the management board. This will lead to intense competition in the US market, with Asian, European and US manufacturers all vying for the same price conscious customers....

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The rupee reached a low of 56.55 rupees to the U.S. dollar on June 20, 2012. Factors affecting the rupees include the large current account deficit and trade deficit, declining capital inflows and foreign investment in the Indian economy in 2012. Other factors are risks of further credit rating downgrades. Fitch Ratings lowered its outlook on India from stable to negative on June 18, 2012. Standard & Poors lowered the outlook in April 2012. The current rating is one step above junk rating, making India the only Bric country without an investment grade rating. The lack of decisionmaking to attract foreign investment within weak coalition governments in India because of the influence of regional parties is a major problem. Other problems include the poor management of coal, energy, electricity generation and the lack of funding for these sectors to power the economy.

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Yascha Mounk says Germany is not as committed to the West as it was in the days of chancellor Adenauer. Policies pursued by Gerhard Schroeder distancing Germany from the U.S. were also carried on under chancellor Merkel.

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Journalists shot and wounded in the violent police crackdown on protesters in Cairo on August 14, 2013.

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The inability to convince farmers to trade land for a fair settlement in money, new homes, schools and other benefits and to make this a win-win proposiion between farmers and companies is holding up abut $98 billion in investments in steel plants and other plants. A bill in Parliament would require companies to negotiate directly with farmers and reach a settlement that is good for farmers to resolve what is increasingly a serious problem. It is holding up an industrial revolution and the creation of manufacturing industry in India to provide the kinds of jobs that are needed badly.

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Friedman calls for a third party candidate to bring a focus on the issues facing the U.S. - winding down the war in Afghanistan, increasing fuel economy and conservation to reduce dependence on foreign oil inclusing a gasoline tax, enacting the proposals of the Simpson-Bowles Commission which eliminates or reduces tax expenditures and reduces spending, and provides any needed fiscal support for the short run. He says the two party duopoly is not working and even if the third party succeeds only in framing the debate and the issues in a constructive and useful way, it will have achieved something significant.

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David Brooks on the change in Romney as he breaks away from tea party orthdoxy to be the man Brooks believes he truly is.

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A Yale scholar's view of the Obama presidency based on what he sees as a presidency struggling for compromise and consensus.

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Stephanie Pope is good for Boeing and good for America. Pope headed the parts and services business, and is now the CEO of the commercial aircraft unit. With quality defects a major issue for Boeing leading to two CEO's leaving early, the last being Mr Calhoun a finance executive leaving in December 2024, there is strong opinion that an engineer is needed, yet merely an engineer is not enough as Muilenberg an Iowa State engineer stepped down in 2019. Stephanie Pope has an accounting degree from Missouri State, joined McDonnell Douglas in 1994, which merged into Boeing in 1997.  She says "Culture beats strategy. If you have wrong culture you never succeed." and "Out of failure comes success. You can't be afraid of failure." It's rare to hear that. It also tells one that she has the right idea and practices about the process and hard work that gets results. Pros- she loves the company her grandfather was sheet metal inspector for the company, her father electrical mechanic, at McDonnell Douglas based in St. Louis, Missouri.  She has worked 30 years at the company. She aspired to be a teacher- and its good to have humility.  A VP in the parts and services unit describes how she helps out when quality issues come up in a hands on way bringing in engineers and other resources to help. The Chief Engineer says she is comfortable in the technical space.                                                  Cons- She has an accounting background. There is a sense that Boeing wanted to push planes out of he factory floor as fast as possible to meet production targets. Stephanie Pope with her humility, hands on style, her attitude in work with others, treating assembly line workers with dignity, her attention to the culture at Boeing, persistence in the face of failure,  all present a rare opportunity for Boeing and for America to engage in the task of renewal under a new leadership conscious of its responsibilities.        ...