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Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is interviewed by Ashok Malik for the Economic Times in this videocast. On what India did right and lessons learned from addressing the pandemic and the supply chain crisis, inflation, Sitharaman says-Getting input and listening to people about what was needed and the pain, was critical in developing the financial plans. On the realization of India's potential in manufacturing, exports, and industrializing its economy, Sitharaman says-India's strength is its rule of law, so that the country is tolerant of criticism including of the prime minister, and there are democratic institutions that protect ordinary citizens, the business and other sectors. Also important is friend shoring as expressed by US Treasury Secretary Yellen alongside Sitharaman, that sees India as a favored destination for the US and the EU. The efforts to develop first rate infrastructure and logistics removes impediments to foreign investment. Training and education of workers is part of this effort to create a supply of trained labor for foreign investment factories in India. The competition between states is also part of this effort to build attractive locations for foreign investments in manufacturing in India. On 20th century financial institutions transforming into 21st century institutions for the IMF, the World Bank and other international financial institutions Sitharaman says- India has full support from all G-20 countries on debt crisis of countries in Asia and Africa, Latin America to change the way in which help is provided. And the skills are put in place to access financial markets on terms that help meet the aspirations of the people in poor countries or middle income countries, including some G20 countries such as Argentina. Sri Lanka she says, is an example where India is the governor and representing the country at the IMF and World Bank for its financial needs. India took up the interests of Sri Lanka with the G20 and the US, so that the loans are not delayed or given in ways that lead to the country exiting the program, unable to meet the aspirations for development of its people. Sitharaman says the G20 found complete agreement on 15 issues facing the world out of 17 issues, these two related to the war in Ukraine and that too from only 2 countries. This suggests that the media focus creating a general perception of lack of unanimity does not reflect what happened at the G20 meetings in India, and is distorted. What really happened is that all countries agreed on the substantial economic issues facing the world- of food insecurity, of development needs, and of climate change impact.  Sitharaman's responses showed optimism based on the hard work put in at the Finance Ministry and connected to all ministries and agencies of the government. And of a resilient attitude, of concentrated effort on the issues facing India and its partners in growth in the US and EU.  ...

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Cities like Huntsville, Alabama that have alarge presence of military defense contractors and have NASA presence are doing well in this downturn. So are cities that have industreies or plants not affected as much by the downturn. Cities like McAllen and Brownsville in Texas, Mobile, Alabama, Ogden and Provo, Utah, York, Pennsylvania, Youngstown, Ohio, Yakima, Washington and Lafayette, Louisiana. Consumer loan balances for these cities are shown as increasing in these cities from data developed by Equifax and Moody's Economy.com. Some of this could be from more overborrowing but other information suggests that local economies and employment have held up well in these places. Also problem loans at local banks in places like Huntsville, are a low 2%.

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A transformation of the scale of what De Gaulle did for France in about that same period 1954-1963, in 13 years transforming a agricultural state with 80% illiteracy under British rule in 1947- this happened in the former Madras Presidency, Madras state in post independent India. Schools and high schools spread across the state, national to the state public sector projects were brought for industry, and dams built for electricity to the towns and rural areas. That is the story of Madras in that period. It was all done with clean governance with Gandhiji's principles. The period after the 1970's led to governments with caste based politics with lower castes from a Self-Respect movement pitted against Brahmins and upper castes sort of like the Irish as a deprived caste pushing out the Boston Brahmins yet binging with it Tammany Hall style politics of New York in the turn of the century America. By the 1900's you had Theodore Roosevelt challenging this kind of Tammany Hall politics, for clean governance. In 2024 Modi is sort of like Theodore Roosevelt challenging the existing system in the Tamilnadu Madras state on the basis of seeking the Nation's development and modernization comparable to China and Japan by 2047 what is called Vikshit Bharat. This is the only way to understand it for Americans as Indian themselves don't fully understand many castes interwoven in India as different groups and nationalities are in Europe plus more stratification. ...

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Share of mortgages at least 30 days past due declined to 6.39% in the 4th quarter 2013, down from 7.09% a year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Foreclosure inventory declined to 2.9% for 4th quarter 2013. Three fourths of the troubled loans are from the period before 2007. The improved economic situation and lower unemployment has helped. Also helping is the increase in prices, with home prices up 8.4% in Dec. 2013 over the prior year, according to Black Knight Financial Services. The price increase has reduced the number of homes "under water"- owing more than the homes are worth- from 19% in Jan 2013 to 11.4% in October, according to Black Knight. Banks have also tightened their lending practices. The progress is uneven with California and Arizona, some of the worst hit states doing better in 2013. Judicial states such as New York and Florida, where courts have to approve foreclosure by banks, are making gradual improvement. About 1.5% of California homes were in foreclosure by the end of 2013, compared to 8.5% in Florida, according to MBA. In 2014 price improvements are expected to slow, and the 10% of homes in various stages of delinquency or foreclosure still remain as a hangover from the housing crisis that slows U.S. economic recovery....

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China's urbanization has proceeded to the point where the urban population now exceeds 50%. Urbanization as helped in the process of industrialization as young people went from rural areas to cities to work on the production lines. But further urbanization is running into problems as cities get congested and providing benefits such as affordable housing and schooling to migrant workers means raising taxes. The hokou system which classifies residents as urban or rural persists and efforts to reform it have run into difficulties in places like Chengdu and Chongqing. These efforts were abandoned earlier in Guangzhou and Zhengzhou because of the cost. The hukou system acts as a discriminatory system as migrants from the countryside are not allowed welfare benefits in the cities. They have only temporary status in the cities. And people from farming communities who migrate to the cities also have an interest in keeping land and homes they can go back to in the countryside. As they get into their 40's and 50's and no longer want to work on the production lines they can go back to the countryside. The government also sees the advantage of this as this acts as a safety valve for stability- during the 2008 global financial crisis about 20 million migrants went back to the countryside. The actual number of urban hukou holders in China is about 35% according to researchers at Peking University. Efforts to integrate rural hukou can be costly- the effort in Chongqing is estimated by local officials to cost $30 billion or 200 billon yuan to convert 3 million people. It has given 1.7 million people urban hukou in the past year with the conditions that these migrant workers must have worked in urban areas for at least 3 years. Migrants get to hold onto land entitlements in the countryside. But the urban hukou status would be limited to Chonqqing only. Nationwide the prospects for migrants obtaining the kind of urban hukou staus that gives them benefits of affordable housing and schooling are not good. The World Bank's Kuij's says local governments do not have the incentives or the resources to carry out the programs that are being tried in Chongqing. As the process of urbanization becomes more difficult, the rate of growth in China will be affected....

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The Indian Finance Minister Mukherjee presented his new budget and talked about the new administration's plans for investment and its priorities. The Rural Employment program which guarantees 100 days of work to each indigent family will get an increase in funding to $8.1 billion or 391 billion rupees for this fiscal year. THe goal was set for cutting in half the percentage of the people in India that are poor in five years, which the government measures by calories consumed. The Indian government estimates that 27.5% of Indians were poor in 2005 using this measure. To finance investment government spending will increase 36% and the deficit for the 2009-10 fiscal year will reach an estimated 6.8% of GDP, up from an estimated 6.2% in 2008. Abig part of this spending will be increases in infrastructure spending which will go up from 6% to 9% of GDP by 2014.

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Janet Yellen preceded Mr. Powell as Fed chairman, to head the U.S. central bank. Mr. Powell has warned that it took 8 or 9 years for the Fed policies to work to get tighter labor markets where minorities and other less advantaged groups could find employment. A better solution has to be found. Crises should be anticipated and prevented such as the mortgage crisis of 2009- banks, business, regulators in government, bank policy and political leaders all have a responsibility to ensure this. A mediocre leadership in each field alone could have led to the crisis of this magnitude in 2009. The pandemic is a second blow to these same groups in society struggling to make a living and has added many more. Two large whole sections of society were hurt in the rescue from that banking debacle with shoddy mortgages. The rescue involved low interest rates and the offshoot effect of this was to reduce the return on savings of people in retirement or close to retirement who in the past could depend on interest rates of somewhere between 5 to 8% annually to increase their savings over a decade. The high costs of medical care as a result of artificially inflated medical costs and poor managing of this cost are a burden for this section of society- with diminished savings from both low interest rates and loss of employment from the financial crisis. The young people with high tuition burdens were the other section of society hit hard. Tuition costs are also out of control similar to medical costs, putting great burdens on whole sections of society in an unconscionable way for a society that claims to be "for the people." Mr. Mnuchin, Mr. Trump's Treasury Secretary, did not have a close understanding with Mr. Powell. As Mr. Powell enters the last year of his term as Fed chairman, his close relationship with Ms. Yellen at Treasury is seen in a positive way by the WSJ. Powell worked at Treasury in the 1990's. After 2012 to 2018 both Powell and Yellen were at the Federal Reserve, working closely and having adjacent offices. Will this duo make a difference? ...

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Boeing deals with supplier delays as suppliers around the world have themselves outsourced some of their work to other suppliers which Boeing had not expected or in some cases decided to let the suppliers handle the way they best saw fit. Global outsourcing was supposed to be an improved and faster method of putting together a new airplane and Boeing still thinks that when the problems are worked out this will hold true. Meantime Boeing is throwing money and engineers almost $2 billion to help suppliers iron out these problems. Airbus also faces production problems from Europe wide outsourcing and coordinating between the German and French parts of Airbus who had difficult working together with differnet styles approaches and methods which was resolved by having the French group help the German group to come upto speed as documented earlier this year in the Wall Street Journal. See link.

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The Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities in the UK in its report published on March 29, 2021, says Britain has become a more open society and that racial inequalities in education and employment have narrowed. Bangladeshi, Indian and African backgrounds children are performing better across eight GCSE's using scores on average, than white British children, an amazing story. It says "this should be regarded as a model for white majority countries."  Much of this could be the result of strong families, ethic of hard work, help from the idea that hardship brings virtue, and single minded determination of families and children to excel in studies, showing that obstacles such as language and other economic barriers can not only be overcome but actually be a motivational influence. This should translate into more success in the workplace. The report says this is happening in the workplace with diversity in the professions of medicine, law and teaching, and shrinking pay gap with white population. Criticism persists and is true for the top of the public and private sectors, the report says. Yet it should be uppermost in mind that in terms of number of people benefitted it is important- that the process be strong at the ground level so that the talented individual can then move to the higher ranks. To do this the report says British employers should go for more "evidence-based alternatives" than let "unconscious bias training" prevail without quite realizing that this is happening in the absence of initiative. Much of what happens in Britain is also true for the US and other places with British based educational systems such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka. In South Asia there are disadvantaged minorities because of old caste based inequalities and bias. There the problem also has its perverse forms in which politically motivated moves to assign quotas are made before the emphasis on education and investment in education for disadvantaged minorities. This is leading to a general decline in education in government or public schools and reliance on private sector schools to provide quality education. A process seen in Latin American countries such as Mexico and Brazil that also involves public sector unions and their control of who gets hired and how. The result is that huge problems not entirely visible like an iceberg that cripples ships or economies is happening in these countries, and the focus is almost entirely on the disparities in British schools where progress is actually being made with results, intentions backed by will to accomplish. ...

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The usage of long distance and short distance passenger trains in Germany has dropped to 15%. Yet Deutsche Bahn is keeping the trains running on schedule with 65% of short distance and 75% of long distance trains running on schedule so that the service is available for essential workers who need it. This is similar to weekend schedule. Deutsch Bahn says it is "stability" that is its motto, and that "whoever works in systematically relevant professions, and is dependent on rail travel should be able to do so without drawbacks." The government is the owner of Deutsche Bahn and is likely to provide financial support for Deutsche Bahn to keep the trains running.  Passenger trains are being used to transport whatever needs to be transported including groceries such as pastry wares, flour, and toilet paper. In the case of freight trains 70% of capacity is being utilized, as the freight is now not autos but things that need to be moved in the times of the pandemic. ...

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Sheila Bair leaves behind a much stronger FDIC. William Isaac, a former FDIC chairman says she has had a positive effect on the agency by raising its profile and energy level. Under the Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation FDIC now has the powers to take over large complex financial institutions that are in serious trouble. Mr Gruenberg, who succeeds Ms Bair, has worked closely with her at FDIC. Jim Wigand, heads the new Office of Complex Financial institutions at the FDIC. One of the powers given by the legislation is for FDIC to have its examiners at financial firms to go over operations, providing backup supervision to the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. According to FDIC officials analysts should be in place at financial firms the FDIC oversees during the next 12 months. The FDIC is also working on a rule requiring banks with assets larger than $50 billion and other large nonbank financial firms to provide a "living will," a plan that would help regulators speedily and cleanly wind down a firm in a future financial crisis. In March 2011 the FDIC approved a draft rule requiring firms to submit these plans, along with regular updates and reports on the firms' current credit exposure. Ms. Bair says the proposal will be completed in August. Bair has also put in place FDIC managers with considerable experience who can continue the work of strengthening the regulatory system she started in 2006. In her work at FDIC Bair has performed a remarkable public service at a difficult time in the nation's history....

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A charm offensive is under way following the New York primary led by Mr. Manafort to show the Republican National Committee (RNC) Trump is just "playing a part" and has another demeanor. Wiley points out that Trump would appeal to traditionally Democratic states in the midwest that have working class Reagan Democrats. This follows a parallel effort by Trump presenting an election narrative to draw voters by saying that the system is rigged, first banking, then trade, now the way delegates are chosen, to increase voter support at a time when voters have genuine concerns. Yet the fact that Trump won 90% of the delegates with 60% of the vote in New York, provides proof that it is not, says Vince Preibus, RNC chairman. Others point to the splintered vote in the early primaries as disproportionately benefitting Trump, as well as the media coverage for sensational statements, and jingoistic talk about China, Mexico and Muslims.

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The capitalist system has to be made and shaped to human purposes, by responsible caring human beings who care for their fellow human beings, for the world they live in and for the environment of earth, its air, water and trees. And there are consequences in not living in harmony with the natural and human world outside and the spiritual world inside us. Levin hads a son who was a teacher in the New York city schools helping disadvantaged and poor young adults who died in the violence that has become part of this school system. Could Levin with his knowledge and contacts in New York city done something for the very school system that has so much violence and poverty and difficulties with education, working with coworkers like Mayor Bloomberg,on improving the city environment of schools, homes and neighborhoods, as a way of healing the wounds and seeking redemption and quiet for the soul through others?

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Johnson & Johnson begins a 60,000 person clinical trial on 3 continents in the final stage of testing. It could learn vital results in early next year which if positive would lead to government authorization for emergency use soon after. J&J will test whether a single dose of vaccine will work. It is also doing work separately with the UK government for a separate phase three study to test whether a 2 dose vaccine will work.

Other companies in final stage of testing are Moderna and Pfizer with studies results expected in October and Astra Zeneca working with Oxford expecting results by the end of 2020.

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The NYT editorial says the negative feedback loop of foreclosures begetting falling house prices, which beget more foreclosures, and further weaken banks, is well under way. One way to have broken this, was to enable good types of loan modifications, which reduce the principal for homeowners and reduce payments significantly. Sheila Bair at FDIC says 32% of prior payments is about the right amount. The bad types of loan modifications that lead to no reduction in principal, and put homeowners back in redefault because of large payments that homeowners "under water" or a lost job cannot afford, have so far been the dominant kind of loan modification. At present 14 million homeowners are "under water," in that their homes are worth less than what is owed on the mortgage. One of the crucial measures which would have enabled this, has not been pushed by the Obama administration through Congress. This was to pass an amendment that allowed bankruptcy judges to modify troubled mortgages. Banks which have taken billions of dollars in loans from the federal government were allowed to lobby aggressively to kill this amendment, and the Obama administration did little to push this amendment in Congress. 12 Senate Democrats joined 39 Senate Republicans to block a vote on the amendment. Says the NYT editorial "when the time came to stand up to the banking lobbies and cajole yes votes from reluctant senators-the White House did'nt. When the measure failed there wasn't even a statement of regret." This could turn out to be a major mistake, because as the NYT points out voluntary loan modifications have shown poor results. The administration's plan to provide incentives for loan modification is untried and tested, and may not produce significant results. With 14 million homeowners under water, and spiralling foreclosures, the situation may get out of control and seriously damage the economy. After the moratorium in home foreclosures ended there is expected to be a big surge in foreclosures, with estimates of 290,000 to 341,000 foreclosures in March, 2009. If this is allowed to continue it will undo all the good work in other areas, the stimulus spending, rebuilding the auto industry and other steps. It will also be more difficult to reverse as valuable time passes and the cost of the crisis escalates. A consensus among many experts was that stronger action in connection with the banks was required, and Martin Feldstein has warned about the danger posed by foreclosures since early 2008, see links....

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Koichi Hamada, a former professor of economcs at Yale University, is one of prime minister Abe's advisors for the policy called Abenomics. He says the increase in the consumption tax was never part of Abenomics. It was the legacy of the previous Democratic Party of Japan's policies and of prime minister Noda, who pushed for it in the last 2 years of his administration. Nikkei polls in 2011 showed 53% of the public opposed to the doubling of the consumption tax to 10% by 2015 proposed by Noda and passed in 2012. Ichiro Ozawa's group of legislators left the DPJ over this issue. The real force behind the push to double the tax was the Finance Ministry, which warned the Abe government that not increasing the tax would make Japan look fiscally irresponsible. The Finance Ministry appears to have lost sense of the timing and fiscal hawks in the LDP party had gone along with it. The deteriorating global economy in the third quarter has hurt Japanese exports, and the lack of wage increases coupled with the increase in the consumption tax to 8% from 5% made Japanese feel poorer, leading to conditions that exacerbated the situation. Recognizing this Yamamoto says Abe has called the snap election in Dec. 2014, after postponing the second increase in the consumption tax to 10% in 2015 which the Noda legislation set to the future date of 2017. He says Abe had to have the guts to take on the Finance Ministry for Abenomics to work....

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The firing of John Bolton as National Security Adviser opens up the possibility of a meeting of Trump with President Rouhani of Iran. There is a need for both sides to begin talks on a nuclear deal that would replace the one Iran signed with president Obama to address issues raised by Mr. Trump and Republicans. Iran and countries that buy oil from Iran such as India, China and Japan have an interest in relief from sanctions imposed by the Trump administration on imports of Iranian oil. The European Union is keen to preserve aspects of the nuclear deal. Relief from sanctions is critical for Iran to develop its economy. The last two decades have seen Iran struggle to develop its economy with the sanctions imposed by  different U.S. administrations.   President Trump expressed flexibility on sanctions saying "we will see what happens. I think Iran has potential. They are incredible people." President Rouhani urged Mr. Trump "to put warmongers aside." Mr. Trump told reporters that he had resisted Mr. Bolton's opinions on issues and realized he had moderate views when compared to someone like Bolton.  Trump told Iran "We are not looking for regime change. We hope we can make a deal and if we can't make a deal thats fine too. But I think they have to make a deal." Helping the U.S. and Iran come to talks is president Macron of France who hopes to setup a meeting at the UN General Assembly which meets next week following his efforts at the G-7 meeting in France last month. In the past when tensions were high in the Straits of Hormuz President Trump refrained from aggravating this by saying actions that are "disproportionate" should not be taken and respected Iranian intentions. The tone of the conversation between the two sides has moderated to the point where both sides realize the need for coming to some compromise. This is in sharp contrast to the period a few months ago with rising tensions in the Straits of Hormuz and the seizure of an Iranian ship. Bolton's opinions were not the only issue for president Trump. He was also seen as the source of leaks including one that said Mike Pence, the Vice President, had opposed Mr. Trump's plan to bring the Taliban to Camp David. Also contributing to the new climate for talks is Mike Pompeo the Secretary of State, who has promoted the idea of talks with Iran. He told the media about such a meeting at the UN General Assembly in New York- "Sure. The president has made it very clear that he is prepared to meet with no pre-conditions." The willingness to try new ideas even contrary ones to policy pursued only a short while ago as long as the desired goal is reached is a feature of this presidency and key advisers. From the beginning of the Trump administration there is a firm sense of the need to end the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. and reduce foreign entanglements that have dragged on wasting resources and destroying priorities. With a willingness to try all sorts of approaches even ones that appear to be contradictory always keeping the end goal in sight. ...

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Chrysler looks the weakest of the big three US automakers. Now that Daimler is out of the picture Chrysler depends on Cerberus for support and financing. And not much of this is there because Cerberus is having problems of its own. The GMAC investment of $12 billion for Cerberus has soured because of subprime loan losses in GMAC. All this is going on while Chrysler looks more like a company in disarray and Daimler does'nt appear to have left it in any good condition, considering that Cerberus finished its acquiistion of Chrysler only 4 months ago, and only now are executives like Mr Nardelli and Jim Press getting familiar with the company, its people and its products. Chrysler will have to come up with new fuel saving technologies but how is it going to fund this is losses in 2008 don't look much better than 2007 as is now expected. With a 15.5 million car year as estimated by industry experts Chrysler looks to lose more sales. Nardelli was shocked to learn that Chrysler was running its plants based on a forecast of 17 million sales in 2008 which goes to show that things are in disarray at Chrsler. The models which lost money on each car sold Pacifica, Magnum and Crossfire should have been discontinued by Daimler a long time ago, but this decision was reached only recently. And a program that was supposed to save $250 million was actually saving only $1 million in parts executives at Chrysler found. Its a difficult environment for engineers to work in especially when on one hand the direction is to improve quality and on the other hand to reduce cost, all in an environment in which no major new investment funding is seen fromCerberus or other sources and the sales outlook doesn't look good at all with competition well financed or better financed and with greater resources....

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The basic architecture to support the euro currency is being proposed in a seven page report prepared by presidents of the EU Council, the ECB, the EC and the Eurogroup. This includes deposit insurance to protect against a run on banks, a European bank supervisor with possibly the ECB in that role, and the European Financial Stability Facility, the eurozone rescue fund, acting as a backup if deposit and resolution funds need support. Currently the European Banking Authority setup after the 2008 crisis works with central banks of the individual countries to regulate the banks. In contrast to sanctions imposed for overspending under prior EU agreements the report says new powers would be transferred to a European Authority on the fiscal side so that overspending can be controlled at the European level and budget deficits are set at the European level.

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Some Knight employees noticed the erratic orders going out in the first couple of minutes of trading on the New York Stock Exchange and sent messages to Knight managers. Yet it took over half an hour, something like eternity say traders, for Knight to respond. It should have pressed the "Off" switch to stop the erratic orders, so traders are now asking why there was no mechanism for Knight to stop the trading immediately.

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It has happened before- the issues and the tactics. This article is from the Washington Post March 10, 1985. The 2016, 2020, and 2024 US campaign for president most resembles the 1952 campaign between Dwight Eisenhower and Adlai Stevenson. In that campaign Senators Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin and Senator Jenner of Indiana made unfounded statements and criticism of of candidate Adlai Stevenson, of Gen. George Marshall, of NATO and aid to war ravaged Europe under the Marshall plan, and by 1958 of Eisenhower for "ruining the party," according to the Washington Post. Edward Jenner, Senator from Indiana 1952-1958, conducted Senate hearings in which he made spectacular criticism of public figures and US policy from 1953 to 1955. Eisenhower was elected as president in 1952 and after considering running as an Independent reluctantly accepted when New York Governor Dewey asked him to do on the Republican party ticket. What is similar is that the issues and tactics used now are reminiscent of issues and tactics in those days in the 1950's, that this is not happening for the first time- it is not new. Both Senator Taft who headed the Republican party at the time and president Eisenhower felt uneasy about this type of criticism. Then as today it was about aid to Europe and NATO. Jenner said America could not afford it and it "would bankrupt America." Jenner also called the US Supreme Court "the most powerful instrument of the communist global conquest by paralysis," and introduced a bill to limit the SC jurisdiction. Jenner said in 1951 on the Senate floor, according to the Washington Post-  "the only choice is to impeach Truman," as "this country is in the hands of a secret inner coterie directed by agents of the Soviet Union." Today's differences are not new, the rhetoric familiar, about NATO, Europe funding, about the SC, about this and the former president, and about isolationism and about extended costly foreign wars, all after a pandemic and climate change in an uneasy atmosphere about the threats to American leadership then from the Soviets now from China. ...

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According to an investigation by a congressional subcommittee70% of all trading in West Texas Intermediate crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange is by speculative traders compared to 37% in 2000. The subcommitte findings are based on data obtained from federal commodity futures regulators. So are the Saudis right that speculators in futures trading ar playing a big part in the oil price increases or is the administration position correct that this is not a factor at all? This provides backing to the Saudi position, the IMF position and the position of McCain and Obama, the 2 presidential candidates. And there are calls to close a loophole that prevents oversight by the government over this kind of trading.

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Yuka Hayashi describes the remarkable comeback of prime minister Shinzo Abe in Japan, his "Japan is Back," strategy and its personal overtones. He describes a visit- by Japanese known for taking that second or third chance and making it work through difficulties- to the prime ministers residence for discussion on the theme of "the second chance." The premier tells the visitors that Walt Disney would never have been heard of if he had not tried the sixth time after five failures, and not succeeded in Japan, which has a risk and failure averse business environment. Encouraging risk taking to setup new ventures and open up new frontiers and markets is part of the growth strategy for Japan. His personal struggle with ulcerative colitis during the period of his first term as prime minister, and the new drug discoveries that made it possible for him to recover, give Abe a fresh burst of energy this time. His story and Japan's story now coincide. Abe says the mission of the new LDP is to make sure that talent now flows from mature industries to the industries of the future....

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This NYT report by Thrush, Shear and Sullivan, looks at retired Marine general John Kelly, the head of Homeland Security till he was made the new chief of staff at the White House. He replaces Vince Priebus, who was the Republican National Party chairman during the 2016 election, becoming the new White House chief of Staff in January 2017. Priebus lasted only 6 months. This report points out that presidential family members Kushner and Ivanka Trump now report to Kelly, as part of the new discipline imposed by Kelly in an effort to reverse the chaotic situation in the White House with different quarreling factions. Kelly made this a condition for his taking the position, which Trump accepted as he was keen on firing Vince Priebus and had asked Kelly to take the job since May. Kelly is shown here as monitoring the contacts of Cabinet secretaries with the president. Who sees the president and for how long is now determined by Kelly to impose rigorous discipline. Kelly supported McMaster in the dismissal of a National Security Council member supported by Bannon and Kushner, in an effort to bring discipline. There is one area Kelly does not get into- the tweeting and personal affairs of the president. His job as he sees it is to put some bureaucratic competence around the president. In doing this he takes a tough approach that so far is respected by president Trump, as the presidency suffered from repeated setbacks from infighting and leaks. Will Kelly last where others have failed is a question posed in this report. Two people who were superiors of Kelly give their opinions. Kelly reported to Leon Panetta, a former chief of staff under Bill Clinton who was Defense Secretary, and to Robert Gates,  a Republican who was Defense Secretary. Panetta may know him closely as Kelly was his chief military aide as Defense Secretary. Panetta says of Kelly, that Kelly never minced words, said what he thought looking at you in the eye- if he thought a proposal was nuts he would say it right out. The big question Panetta says is whether president Trump will give him the authority for long. Also stated in this report is that Kelly called Comey when he was fired as FBI Director, and that Kelly even considered resigning in protest.  Less noticed even in this report is the way in which a team of experienced politicians and the senior most officials in defense and national security are working together in August 2017. In an interview with Washington Post editor Ignatius broadcast on PBS, Republican Senator Corker described how he works closely with them, and how the key people in defense and national security work together before they see the president. The appointment of Kelly helps to create a core independent group of advisors around the president, which is positive in the event the U.S. has to respond to a crisis. ...