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Whitacre is basically blunt about his mission from the Obama adminstration when he attends meetings at the Tech Center in Warren or at the Westin Detroit Airport hotel and the San Antonio club: get GM growing again, he wants to see market share north of 20%. The Obama administration, Bloom and others are clear about the government wanting to get its $50 billion for the USA and $9 billion for Canada back as early as possible. He has told GM's Henderson he will be replaced it things don't change fast enough, and he wants product out faster, 2 year development times for new cars instead of three years today. The same message has been passed on to middle and upper middle managers in diagonal meetings. And what are readers commenting on this- and readers views matter a lot because GM has a wrong perception out there that hurts sales- a third of twelve readers said they cannot understand why young people are not moved up to run the company especially from design and engineering, one mentions Whitacre's age 70 years. A third just don't think much will change, and one says he will buy aFord. And a third says Whitacre is the guy who can shake things up and he should. ...

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This WSJ Exclusive report shows 1.89 million breakthrough infection cases in the US and at least 72,000 hospitalizations, 20,000 deaths among fully vaccinated people in the US this year. The WSJ reviewed medical record data for 21 million fully vaccinated people, and an array of state reports to put together this analysis. It shows people with weaker immune systems and elderly are more susceptible for breakthrough infection and hospitalization. It also shows that vigilance is necessary in following covid protocols for social distancing, masks, hand washing, as the figures show smaller but yet significant percentage of people at ages younger than the elderly are getting breakthrough infections and getting hospitalized. 3.35% of people 35-49 years who were fully vaccinated but with waning immunity from taking the shots early on and lacking booster shots to build immunity back up again, and who are breakthrough infections, are hospitalized in this WSJ analysis of EPIC's Health data. For people 50-64 years this is 7.45%. The importance of getting the booster shots has never been greater. ...

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After much effort and coming second to American Athing Mu, then in 3 way competition, with Mu and Kenya's Mary Moraa, every time coming in second, Keely Hodgkinson is patient and persevering. Till the Olympics in Paris where she comes out ahead of Moraa and takes the gold for Britain in the 800 metres. Andy Bull of The Guardian looks at British runner Keely Hodgkinson.

At the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, Keely shadowed Mu and tried for first only to come short and missing by 8 hundredth of a second. In the Paris Olympics Mu was out with an injury and Keely had to race with Kenya's Mary Moraa who had come out ahead at the 2023 World Athletics in Budapest. In this race Keely runs alone to the finishing line.

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A stroke, a tumor, or live disease mean parents are taking care of children. WSJ shows one family in Woodbridge, Virginia coping with a son in the 50's with dementia. The Naitonal Alliance for Caregiving estimate is there are 3.1 million elderly Americans caring for a son or a daughter.

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Analysts say expect some defaults of banks and financial institutions especially in U.S. oil producing states with oil prices below $50 a barrel in 2015.

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Shipments of LG phones were up 54% in the 1st quarter of 2008 from a year ago, about 4 times the average growth of 14% in the industry., according to Strategy Analytics. The market share goes up to 8.6% from 6.4%. This puts it near overtaking Motorola for 3rd place ater Nokia and Samsung. Its biggest hit so far is the Chocolate, a skinny phone that looks like a chocolate barwith a dial pad that glows red. About 18 million have been sold worldwide sine introduction in May 2006. It also developed a pricey handset called Prada designed with the Italian fashion house and introduced in March of 2007. What is interesting is the way LG has approached product development. The Chocolate's creator Skott Ahn got the top job at the LG cell phone business unit in early 2007. And he has been put in charge of all areas of design developmet with the authority to make decisions in the way he would run this business. Ahn doubled the headcount of designers to 150 and engineers to 4000. He launched an inhouse design competition. The winner of the 2008 competition is the Secret, made from sleek yet sturdy carbon fiber and tempered glass and with a 5 megapixel camera and software to let users create their own music videos. This phone was intorduced in Europe this month. LG's profits on cell phones are expected to double to $2 billion according to Mirae Securities in Seoul, with a 50% jump in sales, and the stock is up 57%....

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France's Foreign Minister Ayrault says of Boris Johnson: "He lied a lot to the British. Now, he is the one with his back against the wall." He sees missing in Johnson the "clear, credible and reliable" person with whom he can negotiate. Ray Stegner, deputy chairman of Germay's Social Democrat Party says "May looks weaker after such a choice of personnel. Now he is negotiating Brexit. Enjoy the trip." In China he is seen as a celebrity not a serious person. Bildt, ZDF, see in this a part of British humor. Jurgen Hardt, foreign policy spokesman for Christian Democrats Party in Germany had a different take on Johnson- seeing this as an astute move because if the government one day comes to conclude that Brexit should not be completed then having Johnson on board to explain it to the people would guarantee support in her party and with the people of England. In her first speech May emphasized that she was a "Unionist." Her first important meeting was with Nicola Sturgeon of Scotland and made Scotland's agreement necessary before invoking Article 50. Her talk of "burning injustices" for the poor and the underprivileged also goes to address the root of the problems behind the Leave vote. By having Johnson on board she can focus on the issues that really matter and which were on the minds of people in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland- to ensure that the economic system works for all.   ...

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India faces a credit crunch. At one point overnight lending rates jumped to 20% and now its down to 7%. In the last 2 weeks the central bank has put $21 billion into the banking system and offered $4.1 to the mutual fund industry. It has also used $8 billion to support the ruppee which is down to 50 rupees to the dollar losing about 20% of its value. Since January foreign investors have removed $11 billion from the stock market and the stock market has lost 50% of its value putting pressure on the rupee.

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Karishma Vaswani of the BBC provides this report showing sexual harassment in the workplace is increasing in Asian countries. A recent ILO report shows over 50% of women participation in the workforce. With more women in the workplace the threat is growing for women. As many offences are unreported-and more so with women who have never been in the workplace before- the 30 to 40% incidents reported to the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) for women workers in Asia-Pacific may be understated.

The culture in many Asian companies is also not friendly to women. A lot needs to be done to change this considering the slow progress to ensure a safe environment for women at work, and governments need to make this a priority.

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Former employees of Google and Facebook have joined together to form The Center for Humane Technology. It plans to fight tech addiction in schools. A ad campaign is planned with $7 million from Common Sense, capital it has raised, and $50 million in donated media and airtime by DirecTV and Comcast. The idea is to educate students, teachers and parents about overuse of tech media leading to depression, other dysfunctional health issues. 

In one report even Tim Cook, Apple CEO says he realizes the dangers and is trying to discourage such use by his nephew. Some early investors such as Roger McNamee say they are horrified at what has happened with overuse of social media, especially health effects for a generation of school children and young adults. 

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Huawei's 4Afrika smartphone is priced at $150. GSM Association forecast is for most people in S. Africa to be using smartphones by 2017, increasing from 20% in 2012. In Nigeria about 30% of the people are forecast to be using smartphones by 2017. About a quarter of the 1 billion people in Africa are in the middle class according to the World Bank.

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With 80% of Wisconsin precinct votes counted, Governor Walker had 55% of the vote compared to Tom Barrett's 44% in the recall election of June 2012.

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Use of oil for transportation has increased from 30% ten years ago to nearly 50% in 2013, according to Sanford Bernstein, as more cars are added to China's roads. This makes it less likely that a slowdown in China's growth will affect demand for oil. Sales of passenger cars increased by 11% in January and February 2014. A study at France's central bank by Gauvin and Rebillard shows only a much smaller effect on oil prices from a hard landing of the Chinese economy, compared to the effect on metal prices. Passenger cars now make up two out of three vehicles on Chinese roads, according to LMC Automotive. The growth in cars is likely to continue, not just in China, but in other emerging markets such as India, Brazil, Mexico and Russia. Metal consumption is different, as it comes mostly from housing, infrastructure and factories which are the most affected parts of the economy in China.

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France's Finance Minister Michael Sapin introduces a no-austerity budget in September 2014 as France's growth is forecast at 0.4% in 204 and not reaching 2% till 2017. Sapin says "we have taken the decision to adapt the pace of deficit reduction to the situation in the country." The government will put off large parts of the 50 billion euros in cuts in spending towards the latter part of the period to 2017. Critics on the left say the cuts are undermining the social welfae model of France. President Hollande's popularity has declined to very low levels in 2014. Prime minister Valls wins support in the National Assembly for the government's strategy to tackle the economy and growth- increase business confidence and postpone cuts till the economy recovers by 2016.

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A new study shows that physical activity is essential to maintain weight loss for obese people. About 80 minutes a day of moderate activity like walking and 35 minutes of vigorous activity led to keeping away the pounds lost. 

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Charlie Rose talks to Nouriel Roubini about his thoughts on the next bubble and his book- "Crisis Economics." He says financial crises don't just happen out of the blue, they don't happen at random, instead they are predictable. Excessive risk taking and leverage have undesirable outcomes which are predictable as they take shape and get overblown. What happened to all the toxic assets? Banks are still carrying these assets hoping and praying that they don't need to be written down. His view coincides with that of Jeremy Grantham and other experts who see a growing danger in a prolonged period of zero interest rates which encourage risk taking. In all the developed economies of the U.S., Europe and Japan, borrowing can be done at zero interest rates. Investment banks are back to huge profits in proprietary trading using money borrowed at zero interest rates. A new bubble is developing that could burst in 2 or 3 years. The value of most risky assets has gone up by 50-80% in the last year. See Shiller's expert view on the danger from declining confidence levels and from higher uncertainty. Roubini says the Dodd bill is not enough. It does little to addresss the "too big to fail" problem as banks actually became larger after the financial crisis of 2008, and are too big and complex to manage. He also points to the risks of not separating proprietary trading from bank holding activities, and the need for something similiar to Glass-Steagall to separate the two. See Volcker's views on that subject....

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Feldstein says that for the 85% of the people who have healthcare the Obama proposals are not a good deal. The Obama proposals mean higher taxes in the long run to pay for the $1 trillion cost of healthcare for the uninsured group over 10 years. This lower income group has no coverage despite the $300 billion Medicaid program. Feldstein says there surely must be better and less costly ways of getting this lowincome group healthcare. Raising the top income tax rate to 45% from 35%- as a result of letting the Bush tax cuts expire and adding aproposed health surcharge on higher income individuals- would actually lower revenues for the government, as it would change behavior of high income individuals in ways that lower their taxable inome. The result is higher deficits and higher taxes when even without this large deficits are projected for the future. How to slow the rapid growth in healthcare spending? The Obama plan is to cut spending on Medicare. Feldstein sees the govenment's effort aimed at reducing the amount of medical services, as reduced spending comes from fewer services, not reduced payments to providers. Will this result in enough of acost reduction to make the system work. And if the cost reductions are too heavily weighted towards reduced services and not reduced payments to providers would this result in large cuts to services to affect the quality of healthcare for the 85% who are accustomed to a different pattern of healthcare, even though it is structured to allow cost escalation. Feldstein offers no solutions to the problems of cost escalation except to suggest that the Obama plan does not really tackle the cost escalation issues directly with providers, and instead burdens the national finances to an extraordinary degree. And the need for apause and reflection....

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Following the Dallas police officer shootings Bruni of the NYT says U.S. president Obama has not set race relations back 50 years as some of his detractors say. Instead the conversation on race relations has become more heated with technology providing instant images on iPhones, and the loss of black lives, says Bruni.  Obama has tried unsuccessfully to have his voice heard for moderation on all sides.

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Some of the key executives are leaving Airbus as the company faces turmoil in its executive ranks. CEO Tom Enders leaves in April 2019, Chief Operating Officer Fabrice Bergier leaves Feb. 2018. John Leahy in sales left Airbus, and others who left the company include the head of engineering, and the chief technology officer. All this is happening as the company faces investigations in several countries including France and Austria for corruption, and according to this report for using middlemen and making illegal payments.

In France Airbus offices have been raided in an investigation. Enders is one of the executives being investigated in a combat jet deal. COO Bergier is leaving with a good record for managing the smooth development of the A350 wide body aircraft, and the production increase to 700 aircraft in 2017 for the first time in the company's history.

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U.S. consumer brands from iPhones to Nike sneakers are popular in China. They are also products Made in China by Chinese workers. This makes a subtle threat in Chinese media of boycotting American products less likely and not in China's interest. In earlier disputes with South Korea and Japan China resorted to tactics that included boycotting products from these countries. American products are considered as prestigious and of higher quality in China in the popular perceptions. About one third of the 800 companies that are members of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in China have more than 1000 employees.  The U.S. has also provided much of the foreign investment that led to China's rapid growth. With it came critical technology. According to the Rhodium Group the investment by the U.S. in China between 1990 and 2017 is about $250 billion. Some projects between IBM, Walmart and Tsinghua University are high priority projects in food safety. Subtle threats in Chinese media could turn into boycott of some American products from Procter and Gamble or Nike. But as this report shows the relative affluence of employees in the Shanghai region who work at American companies depends on avoiding such a situation. ...

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David Autor, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says he is quite worried about the steadily declining participation of men 16-64 in the labor force from 85% in the decade after World War II to less than 65% today. This is a blow to the men, their families , government revenues and the economy.

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Was president Biden right to get the Fed, the FDIC and Treasury to cover the uninsured deposits in Silicon Valley Bank. Is it a good use of taxpayer money? $25 billion was provided by the Treasury to the Fed to stabilize other medium sized banks. The answer from the administration is that it was necessary to protect working families from any effects on the overall economy of the ripple effect on medium sized banks that were left unregulated by former president Trump's 2018 roll back of regulation on banks with less than 250 billion in assets.The Office of the Budget has shown that the government recovered all except $31 billion from the much larger bailout of 2008. Paul Krugman in NYT says the assets of SVB are invested in long term US Treasury securities which have value and should cover most of the cost of insuring depositors. Moral hazard is covered by the management at SVB and Signature losing their jobs and by the losses in stock value and bonds which are left unprotected as a cautionary signal to investors. A much larger impact is hidden in the hearts and minds of Silicon Valley who will be expected to reflect on the nature of their self serving deal where they oppose regulation of tech monopolies and of regulatory action except where it serves their  own interests, and see a laissez faire system that works for them but not for workers and families across communities in states across America. A situation made worse by the loss of America's manufacturing base on which issue Silicon Valley neither reflected or acted. ...

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US president Biden points out in his letter to the US Congress- "When I was elected President, a pandemic was raging and our economy was reeling, and trickle-down economics had undermined our nation’s growth long-term. I was determined to rebuild from the middle out and bottom up, not the top down, because when the middle class does well, we all do well. We can give everyone a fair shot and leave no one behind. Our plan has brought transformational progress." "Along the way, we’ve achieved one of the most successful legislative records in generations, bringing new opportunities to communities of all sizes nationwide. We’re tackling years of underinvestment in public infrastructure, clean energy, and advanced manufacturing, making sure the future is made in America by American workers. We’re making the biggest investment in American infrastructure in generations, including over $400 billion for 46,000 projects in 4,500 communities to date. These projects are rebuilding the nation’s roads, bridges, railroads, ports, airports, public transit, water systems, high-speed internet, and more, in every part of the country. We’re also making the most significant investment in fighting climate change in history—advancing breakthroughs in clean technology, boosting energy independence, lowering electricity costs for hardworking families, and revitalizing fence-line communities smothered by a legacy of pollution. At the same time, we’re working with the private sector to strengthen America’s semiconductor and advanced manufacturing industries as well, empowering workers and small businesses to share in the benefits. Already, my Investing in America agenda has attracted $650 billion." ...

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Toyota reported a 77% drop in earnings in the first quarter of 2011, with a large loss in the Japanese operations. The strong yen trading at 81 yen to the dollar is a significant factor. And for the first time Toyota's CFO Satoshi Ozawa said "we have reached the limits of profitable Japan based production at 80 yen to the dollar." Japanese operatios lost $2.4 billion. Honda reported a 38% drop in earnings for the 1st quarter.