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Edmund Phelps, is 2006 Nobel prize winner and director of the Center on Capitalism and Society at Columbia University. Phelps offers a deep reflection on capitalism and what it is as a system and isn't, from the insights gathered and knowledge accumulated about its workings- conditions in which operates best, and conditions under which it is stressed or fails. It is the actors and overseer's, the public's ignorance about how the system works, the insights about its advantages and its serious hazards if neglected, that lead him to say we need deep reform and re-education. Capitalist systems, he says, are mechanisms by which economies may generate growth in knowledge- with much uncertainty in the process owing to the incompleteness of knowledge- with growth in that knowledge leading to income growth and job satisfaction. The uncertainty can be serious and dangerous if not accounted for, and the knowledge offers opportunities for personal growth, problem solving and exploration. There has been an intellectual failure in developing a wide understanding of its benefits as well as its serious costs if not kept in check, costs that arise from uncertainty and moral issues of proper behaviours if not properly guided. This is an admirable and clear expression of what capitalism is and how it should be understood....

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This response by experts on transatlantic relations rejects the other view expressed in Zeit Online that the U.S. under Trump remains estranged from Germany and the EU. These experts from the American Institute for German Contemporary Studies, American German Council, and Centers at John Hopkins and Georgetown for German Studies, reject the view that the Trump administration and Germany are that far apart on many issues as it appears from media coverage.  Foremost it points out that civil society relations are sound and growing. About 50 million Americans trace their descent to Germany, including president Trump, much larger to over half the U.S. population considering European descent. Much larger is the sense of a culturally shared future with the European Union, with the nations of Europe including Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the nations of Eastern Europe, and Britain. The civil society relationships run deep in a way that is hardly affected by the Trump administration. Within the Trump administration the policies to Europe these experts remind the reader, are determined by the "adults" in the administration, who are senior members of the administration. This is a crucial point as Trump administration policy is not determined by the president's liking for tweets as much as by senior cabinet members Tillerson at the State Department, Gen. Mattis at Defense, Kelly at the White House, and senior members of Congress including Senators Corker and other senior committee members. This is why Republican Senator Kay Hutchinson was chosen as Ambassador to NATO. It should be noted in this context of German-EU relations in president Trump's first year that there was a period of German disillusionment with president Obama, exacerbated by the NSA spying on German chancellor Merkel and on the EU delegation to the UN, with president Obama's failure to offer any apology. Relations recovered from that low point. No one suggested that there be a German led decoupling of the EU with America at that low point, or at another low point in German-U.S. relations with the setup of American Pershing II nuclear missiles on German soil under the Reagan administration when there were large scale protests.  The American view that the U.S. should not have to shoulder major responsibilities for defense and foreign relations by itself is not new say these experts, and goes back to earlier administrations before Trump.  The experts argue for an active role by Germany with its partners in Europe for defense and foreign relations, which should not be seen as a result of U.S. pressure, only responding to the situation as it has evolved upto this time. Views on immigration are also changing with effort by the EU and Germany, France, to reduce immigration from the source countries in Africa, and the changing perceptions about uncontrolled immigration in Germany and France, say the authors. A coordinated policy towards Russia  is seen as not having changed. And much as a reset in relations was advocated by Obama in the first year of his first term, the current policy of the Trump administration to work with Russia to lower tensions can be seen in the same way say these experts, and not as a fundamental shift in American policy. The deep relationship of Germany and the EU with China is another positive aspect that will also help the U.S. in framing its own policies towards China. The German-American relationship, and the European Union relationship with the U.S.  is seen as basic to the values and interests of the U.S. and Europe. This relationship is too deep and supported by civil society and Congress, the Republican Party, and the Democratic Party, by large trade relationships, to be affected by temporary differences under any one administration. Even these differences are part of a larger debate that is part of dialogue on issues in a democratic society, sometimes raucous and loud, and could be welcomed and carefully channelled in constructive ways.     ...

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This WSJ report shows how the debt ceiling negotiation were conducted and the process that made it possible to reach an agreement since the State of the Union address by president Biden on February 7, 2023. It started with Biden getting unanimity right on the floor of Congress during his speech about protecting Medicare and Social Security. The Republican strategy was to pass the legislation on spending that did not specify where cuts were to be made yet used 2022 spending levels with a 1% increase. The deal was to be for three years and passed the spending bill with an increase inthe debt ceiling. Till that time the Democrats decided to not enter negotiations.  Biden and McCarthy then had to choose who would represent their side in the long negotiation process that lay ahead till June 5. Progressive Democrats called for invoking the 14th Amendment that allows the government to continue functioning and pay its bills. Biden chose not to take that route. Respect for the other side, a prepared script are an important point in negotiations. To get results something even more important is essential flexibility and a plan, Plan B. Trust began to develop between McCarthy and Biden. Biden and McCarthy did not any time engage in acrimonious description of the other side. At one point when Biden was in Hiroshima for the G7 meetings Ricchetti on the Biden side and Graves on the Republican side began to feel the frustration. Biden decided to fly home early from Hiroshima. He was constantly in touch with his negotiators Steve Ricchetti, a trusted aide, and a cabinet official the Budget Director Shalanda Young. Graves a long time trusted adviser of McCarthy headed the negotiations for McCarthy.  Shalanda Young and Garrett Graves are both from Louisiana and Graves says he used to work out with Young's dad in the same area. This had a positive effect. It also reduced the tensions in the negotiations so that it could be said this was the calmest negotiation from either side that has been seen in the US  for a long time and bodes well for America's future and for its people, far beyond any concessions made by either party.  Biden made clear at the outset what he could accept without leaving it hidden- he would agree to some work requirements, he would not agree to work requirements for Medicaid. Others in the Democratic party conveyed how distraught they were with efforts to impose stringent requirements for federal food aid during a cost of living crisis when the Republican positions ruled out any new taxes on the wealthiest Americans. In the end Republicans agreed to keep spending limits for 2023 for two more years into 2025 when they would be increased by 1%. Democrats offered to cut (Income Tax) Internal Revenue Service (IRS) spending to increase IRS staffing from $80 billion to $70 billion. Biden said "nobody got everything they wanted." It would have to be passed in Congress with the support of moderate Democrats and moderate Republicans, with members holding extreme positions among Republicans and Democrats opposing. The two parties coming together after a long time to meet the real challenges ahead for the American people. ...

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The WSJ's Iliff and Luhnow's interview with Emilio Lozoya, CEO of Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX). Lozoya says about the new oil law that allows foreign companies to compete with Pemex, as something that should have happened decades ago. President Calderon of the PAN party pushed hard for this, but failed to get the support of the PRI during his term in office 2006-2012. It made sense for Mexico because President Cardozo (1997-2002) of Brazil already set a successful example by doing this for Brazil's state oil company, Petrobras. The main point is that competition is good for Pemex, and good for Mexico and Mexicans, and Lozoya emphasizes this. Under the law Pemex can keep oil fields it already has and have the first pick in future fields. Pemex is expected to partner in oil field exploration in deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico where it needs the technologies of foreign oil companies. Under the new rules Pemex will have 2 years in which to make the transition to a well managed business enterprise. A new tax code works to increase nonoil tax revenues, so that Mexico does not depend on Pemex profits for one third of its budget. It also gives Pemex autonomy and control over its budget, and lowers its tax burden to international levels. This frees up badly needed resources for investment opportunties to increase Mexico's growth rate. Lozoya says the investment budget could be increased from $25 billion to about $30-$35 billion as a result. He gives a list of badly needed projects not taken up by Pemex for lack of funds- developing natural gas from Mexico's large reserves where Mexico imports its natural gas from Texas increasing the cost of manufacturing, building pipelines where Mexico transports fuel by truck which is 15 times more costly, making its own fertilizer and petrochemicals instead of importing it in a country where 60% of farmland is not fertilized. There is so much to be done that Lozoya realizes his main challenge will be execution. Enormous responsibility rests on Lozoya's shoulders to get the execution right. Pemex has 160,000 employees and crude oil sales of $130 billion in 2012. He has a Masters degree in economic development from Harvard and managed investment funds in New York before this position. Cardozo also picked an investment banking professional for the job of recharting the course of Petrobras and attracting foreign investment....

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Dina Asher-Smith, Britain's greatest sprinter is bouncing back in the 200 metres sprint after the Tokyo Olympics. Here she talks to Sean Ingle in the Guardian.  Much of what she says from her experience and what she has learned is valuable for people working in all walks of life. How do you take the ups and downs (she did not do well at the Tokyo Olympics) and what is the best way to be? On the best way to be- "As a sprinter I want to be light, and bouncy and carefree. So you can't run fast with baggage. It's really unhealthy. You just gotta throw it out. What happened in Tokyo doesn't affect my calibre. It doesn't affect the  work I put in, or my potential. It was just really unfortunate timing. I'm not the first person it has happened to and certainly not the last." She says one never knows what someone else is facing behind the scenes. Nobody is truly unbeatable, and everything is always up for play, even if the odds look to be infinitely stacked against you. That is why she says she approaches every race as a clean slate. And that is why she does not bring whatever  happened last year to this year. And on that last bit of effort she says- "You have to stay focused, be humble and hungry, to keep finding those 0.01 seconds in every phase, and every step you do." ...

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This report from Germany in DW.com says Germany tried to build a softer relationship with Russia during the leadership of Adenauer of CDU and  Brandt of SPD. This continued under Schmidt and Schroeder. Under Merkel of CDU the emotional aspect of the relationship as Russia retreated from Bolshevism and Soviet Union collapsed was lost. Little attention was paid to East Germany and to how the fall of the Soviet Union had affected Russia negatively,and became purely focused on German industry and trade with cheap Russian gas supplies. Even as Germany did not invest in shared burden for defense with the US, and Germany under Merkel increased dependence on Russian gas supplies to 55% with the Nordstream gas pipeline from Russia, and shut down nuclear energy.  As a result the emotional or mental health aspect of the relationship with Russia of Germany was lost under Merkel. The focus on purely financial aspect of things has been proved wrong both for the economy as physical infrastructure was neglected under Merkel and social infrastructure such as child care and other social aspects of society were sorely neglected. A new broader framework that needs to be built will have to keep this in mind.  All the hard work and good intentions of the Adenauer and Brandt years has been lost with the short sighted basis of relations based purely on finance and trade under Merkel's leadership. This happened also in the US relationship with China with the relations based purely on finance and trade under Clinton, Bush, Obama proving to be too fragile as they did not protect other social aspects within the two countries as inequality widened and whole segments of society were neglected.  ...

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How we age is up to us. You are able to do the plank at 70 because you are doing it at age 50. Dr. Norman Lazarus is a professor at Kings College, London, and is 84 years. It is all up to us, what we eat, how we get our exercize and aur work life balance. Dr. Norman Lazarus says about ageing that our appoach to it is totally inadequate and that ageing has not much to do with genetics. If one eats healthy food and exercizes well then many of the diseases we hear about at older age are just lifestyle diseases that one does not have to worry about, even if one gets one of the diseases the recovery will be faster. He says eat well, move a lot and also enjoy yourself. Enjoy yourself to keep cheerful which stimulates the brain. He is the author of "The Lazarus Strategy: How to Age Well and Wisely."  In Lazarus view the last 25 years can be miserable or without disease depending on what we do. Diseases of ageing are not inevitable he says, its rubbish he says and it makes him cry, it is just that it takes 25 years for all that neglect of exercize and not eating healthy to reach a critical point. It is also not that some people are better than others. Lazarus found himself at age 50 putting on weight till he made the decision one day at lunch with his wife.  A a non competitive long distance cyclist Lazarus has done studies which show cyclists over 70 years having the immunity and fat level of 20 year olds. Nothing is written, we have to write it ourselves. ...

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Michael Gordon of the NYT points out that the nuclear deal with Iran reached in Geneva on Nov. 23, 2013, is largely a holding action and a way to put some constraints on the nuclear program till Iran and the U.S. can work out some major differences. The Obama administration looks to be willing to concede Iran's rights to enrich uranium- it is the strict limits that are needed that are the points of negotiation. The agreement is given in the 4 page document- the Joint Plan of Action which leaves most of the core sanctions in place and lets Iran keep most of its nuclear infrastructure.

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The Awakening members who went on the American payroll were former insurgents who fought the American military forces and worked with Al Quaeda organization. They did this at a time when tribal leaders were under great pressure to work out some kind of settlement with the Americans, and Sunni civilian casualties from bombings had alienated the Sunni general public from their activities. Now that Americans are announcing a phased withdrawal first from the urban areas and then from the rest of the country, the Shiite government is trying to keep a check on the Awakening fearing they might reorganize to fight the Shiite government once the Americans left. Only about 5200 of the Awakening members have been allowed to join the 100,000 security forces according to General Perkins. Now the Shiite led security forces want to arrest the most effective of the Awakening members about 650 are on the arrest list according to insurgent members. Only 5 have been arrested and most have fled the areas which they first terrorized then helped keep safe on the American payroll....

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Next five year plan for China calls for more concentration on industry, dominance in key sectors identified by China such as rare earths, and more exports- not less in each of these areas. Chinese Communist Party is very conservative and once this has worked for China it is not going to change its reliance on exports even at the risk of leaving goods unsold in China or oversupply. The result is that the US effort to reduce the trade deficit, trying every tool in the book does not work, leading to an effort to resort to tariffs as a last resort to cut the unhealthy and risky $1 trillion trade deficit China has with the world. Has it worked? WSJ and other reports show that large companies are diversifying their supply channels, only smaller companies without the resources are sticking with China dependence for supplies. The tariffs themselves make headlines yet the US has made careful calculations not to upset relationships with key partners Britain, European Union, and Japan, keeping tariffs low at 10% with EU, and 15% with Japan which exports automobiles to the US to recover some of the years US made concessions to Japan. There are also loopholes on certain products where it is in the US interest to do so. As a result the effective tariff is 10-12.5% not 17-20% shown in reports. Of this 10% what is passed on to consumers is small- as in autos 80% of tariffs are not passed on by auto importers such as Toyota and Subaru because of the higher margins postpandemic. In retail only 30% is passed on again because of the post pandemic higher margins. The administration of DJT has also carefully worked with world oil suppliers to keep oil prices low, lower than in 2023-2024. The result is that inflation is at about 3% in September 2025. The idea that a capricious DJT is doing the tariffs is a myth as careful economic planners including Bessent, Jamieson, Lighthizer, and Luttnick, economic advisors in the Republican party, are carefully articulating the policy with room for DJT's political talk and appeal to public sentiment. ...

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There is deep distrust of the Japanese government on the safety of nuclear reactors and a sense that the regulatory system has failed. In the most recent development, Osaka's mayor Toru Hashimoto, is withholding local approval for starting up 2 nuclear reactors at the Ohi plant, near Osaka. The 2 reactors passed simulated stress tests and were expected to be up and running, but public mistrust of the tests led to Hashimoto holding back on approval. Hashimoto was able to do this because Osaka is the largest shareholder in Kansai Electric Power. Hashimoto says he not against nuclear power, but against the top down regulatory system which works closley with power plant companies to protect their interests, with very little transparency on decisions and methods.

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US health care is not working. In UK and Canada the sytem is regulated in a way doctors and hospitals work togerhter to keep costs down. This is not happening in the US. insurers and doctors are pitted against each other and patients are in the middle. Insurers are also running about 70% of self funded employer plans that pay insurers a fee and are the responsibility of employers. Insurers then cut costs and do this for employers. Sel funded means employers pay cost of claims insurers merely get a fee. Patients are caught in the middle between Insurers and doctors/hospitals. The insurers cutting costs overbilling Medicare and skimping on payments, doctors trying to overcharge. Christopher Whaley, an associate professor at Brown University’s School of Public Health says- “We have a system of whack-a-mole, with providers trying to get paid and insurers trying to constrain costs—patients are caught in the middle,”  Obama exchanges to get people covered never thought through to come up with a better system and is a Band Aid. At some point the whole system ought to be scrapped and one built from scratch and designed to work so that hospitals and doctors provide best service at lower costs.   ...

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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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After the secession of South Carolina in late December 1860, for a brief period New York city's governing body, the Common Council, considered secession to become an independent city state. Pro-independence position was because as an independent city state, similiar to the northern German port cities, New York could keep to itself the tax revenue of $56 million- tariffs on imported goods collected at ports- as two thirds of imports by value passed through New York. The state's merchant class was pro-south, especially as most of the cotton exports passed through New York. New York made 40 cents on every dollar that Europeans paid for cotton from the South. The money came from warehouse fees, shipping, insurance and profits. Cotton helped build most of the mercantile buildings in lower Manhattan and rows of upscale brownstones. Wall street businessmen and The New York Herald newspaper opposed Lincoln's election. The New York Daily News was edited by the mayor's brother, Benjamin Wood, and it warned working class whites about competing with emancipated black labor. New York financiers even threatened to stop buying federal bonds. At which point Horace Greeley, pro-Union publisher of the New York Tribune, urged the Treasury to sell bonds directly to individuals. What changed all this was the firing of the cannon at Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers gathered in a patriotic rally in Union Square on April 20. New York quickly declared its support for the Union alongside other Northern states that April. ...

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New York dairy farmers have smaller herds and smaller farms compared to Idaho dairy farmers and cannot keep up with the growing demand for milk at Chobani's Greek yogurt plant in New Berlin, N.Y.. Chobani's sales of Greek yogurt will reach $1 billion in 2012. Instead of expanding the New Berlin plant, CEO and founder Mr. Ulukaya plans to build a new plant in Idaho. Idaho's milk production reached 13.3 billion pounds in 2011, exceeding New York's production of 12.8 billion pounds.

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The Harz labor reforms in Germany in 2003 changed the way unemployment was treated. The idea was to get the government to work more closely with private employers through several initiatives to fund jobs that did constructive work within these companies. This helped reduce structural unemployment because of the almost indefinite unemployment benefits that existed earlier, reducing it from 12.7% in 2005 to 7.1% in November 2008. In November 2009 even after a year of recesion it stands at 8.6%. Are there lessons for other countries in the German experience? THe Harz reforms directed the German Labor Agency to work closely with private employers to fund newly created jobs. One such program paid a Dutch staffing agency Randstad to teach 15,000 Germans information technology, business English an other skills. THe Labor agency funds jobs at a Daimler truck facility in Worth, near Stuttgart, where short term employees instead of being laid off work as mechanic trainees. Another initiative pays parts of the wages of workers hired from those who are jobless, so that the costs of retraining are shared by the government and the employer, making it more attractive to take a chance and go out and hire. And if you lose your job the Harz reforms made it possible to get unemployment benefits for an additional 6 months, if you went out and started a small business. Like the case of an employee who worked at a Kawasaki motorbicycle dealership, who started his own bike repair shop. There are political pressures to extend unemployment benefits as the recesssion becomes more severe. And the structural mismatch in jobs going unfilled, and the number turned out by universities is still a problem. One study by Adecco Institute, shows 29% of large German companies having trouble filling technical jobs, which is why these companies try to keep all their experienced employees....

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INS Vikrant, India's new aircraft carrier reflects the move to build in India, under Atman Nirbhar Bharat. It is Indian designed and made from Indian steel and technology. Indian Navy's ensign is only now being changed from the St. George's Cross to the seal of Shivaji, who fought invasions of the British and from Afghanistan. Shivaji built the Indian fleet to protect the coastline of western India from the British and from Afghan origin navies in the region. Vikrant aircraft carrier now joins US, Japanese and Australian ships that are part of the Quad and the Indo-Pacific group of nations working to keep the seas open and uphold the rule of international law in navigation. China's coastline of 14,000 kms is not facing the key sea lanes and compares with the following for the Indo-Pacific group - India with 7500 kms, Japan with 30,000 kms, Australia with 25,000 kms, US with 20,000 kms. Indonesia which works with Quad is right on the sea lanes near Singapore with 54,000 kms coastline. With the coastline of New Zealand alone larger than that of China there is a coastline of over 150,000 kilometres or about 100,000 miles for the US, Australian, Japanese and Indian navies to protect. The US has 7 aircraft carriers in its Pacific Fleet to do this- they are the Nimitz, Carl Vinson, Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, John Stennis, Ronald Reagan. ...

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Boris Johnson was never for austerity and says this in his new book, yet he failed to make the major investments in the British economy in the way Biden has done in the US, and in some ways has left Labor's Starmer with difficult decisions with the strained budget finances of Britain. Of the investments he protected from John Osborne and his austerity plans as chancellor under Cameron Boris Johnson says- “Those big investments – Crossrail, the Olympic site, the Westfield Centre at Shepherd’s Bush – were fortuitously timed for London: vast counter-cyclical programmes that kept the spades going into the ground and people in work.” This was as Mayor of London in 2016. Of Osborne and Cameron so little is left, and so little came out of the period of austerity other than the failed investments Britain failed to make, simply a lost decade for Britain. And the diversion of Brexit under Johnson not taking Britain to a good place for the standard of living of the British people. Of the intraparty conflicts in the Tories he says Sunak's resignation as chancellor should never have happened calling it "worse than a crime," and a mistake for Sunak, the party, and the country. Johnson says that many days as PM he would come back to No.10 flat, exhausted and working into the evening when he should have been talking to colleagues, MP's to keep them all together. After Sunak's resignation from Boris Johnson's cabinet the Tory Conservatives split further apart, this time in the Boris Johnson faction of the party. Sunak's elevation to prime minister was short lived ending up with the Tories going downhill from there.  On the singular goal that led to the splits- that of Brexit- Johnson has little more to say than that in his travels he had found people wanted more Britain. ...

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About 80% of Ballmer's money ($150 billion -former Microsoft CEO) is in Microsoft stock and 20% in index funds. He tried investing in stocks, Colgate Palmolive at advice of Jim Cramer a college buddy. Then tried diversifying. Tried money managers and found it difficult to find ones that outperform. So he dumped them all. His approach was shaped by Warren Buffet who says put it in S&P shaped index fund. He says-  Keep it Simple. Keep it Simple. We are financially blessed. What I seek says Ballmer is not to have anxiety, not to have to spend a lot of time, where we are blessed enough if we make 7%, the standard S&P return in the long run. He had luck listening to the right people and his loyalty to the company.  When Balmer left office as CEO in 2014 Microsoft market capitalization was $300 million. Ten years later it is $3 trillion with work on cloud computing and AI. Microsoft gained 29%  each year in that period including dividends, the S&P 13% with dividends, endowments 8%. As investor non-investor Ballmer now exceeds $150 billion and is No. 9. Most investments are in one trick ponies Google for example or in two trick ponies Apple, Amazon or Microsoft. One trick pony means they milk it, and milk it, and milk it. Three trick ponies not many you can find. ...

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Mr Wolfson and Ms. Gibbs are deputy mayors of New York City. Here they list all the efforts made by Mayor Bloomberg to fight poverty in New York City and help the homeless during his years in office. They cite a 28% reduction in street homelessness since 2005, a 22% drop in school suspensions, a drop in welfare rolls by 25% with 900,000 New Yorkers moved from welfare to work, and a poverty rate that is flat over the last 12 years while the poverty rate in the U.S. is up 28%. They point to the last Bloomberg budget allocation of $9.2 billion for services to the poor and homeless- 83% higher than Bloomberg's first year in office. Of this $981 million was for services to the homeless, double that in 2002. 175,000 units of affordable housing were built.

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About 11% of student loans outstanding amount were over 90 days past due in Sept. 2012, increasing from 8.9% at the end of the second quarter 2012, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. This now exceeds the figure for credit cards. U.S. student loan debt is now at $956 billion for the third quarter 2012, increasing by 4.6%. About 93% of student loans made in 2011 were made by the U.S. government, which is promoting access to loans without asking for information about borrowers finances and education plans and ability to pay the loans back. Because student loans have to be paid back and are hard to discharge even in bankruptcy, this means many borowers who cannot find jobs are deep in debt, and unlikely to get loans for many years for cars and other needs. Moody's warns of a wave of student loan defaults in coming years.

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Security for women working in software companies in India is an important issue considering that the number of women in software companies will approach 50% according to Nasscom by 2010, and the poorly paid and sketchy background of many hired drivers in India. Because the women work at odd hours of the night to keep in touch with westen countries clients in different time zones this is a very real issue. The cases of a Wipro and a HP employee in India being raped and killed and drivers charged bring to light an important issue for women employees at software companies and companies in general in India. It is important to attract talented employees for companies to have the best arrangements for safe transportation at additional cost. Parents of these young women and the women should feel that its just as safe as for men for them to work or travel at night. In this case the Supreme Court decision was to let stand a lower court ruling that Mittal CEO of HP Global Soft was liable for prosecution in the case of a rape and killing by a driver of a HP employee, because the company had hired the driver and made the transportation arrangements that led to this death....

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Are there constituent "nations" or "nationalities and regions" in Spain? Seven people drafted the Spanish Constitution that was signed by King Juan Carlos I of Spain in 1978. Two from Catalan region wanted the word "nations" instead of "nationalities and regions" instead the pro-Spain supporters including aformer minister in the Franco government wanted to keep the words "nationalities" to limit the interpretation of self-government to one that would be within Spain. Today a far right party wants to se the clauses that give self government to regions and nationalities removed from the Constitution. Catalan independence supporters say the Constitution allows the right to call a referendum. Left parties see the promises for housing, healthcare and pensions as too vague in the Constitution. What was seen as a huge advance in the early years of democracy in Spain are now seen as creating room for dissension and strife in Spain, with a fragmentation in the political parties and loss of confidence in the two main parties.   ...

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Peggy Noonan reflects on the deep changes taking place in America. Behind the changes is a strong feeling in the middle and working class that it has been ignored by the establishment in both parties. She points to Citizens United and says it is bad for the Republican Party, encouraging large donors and hedge fund billionaires, making the party less accountable to ordinary people. The Clinton's fundraising also raises similar questions. Trade policies depressing wages have worked against the working class, yet espoused by politicians of both parties. The young supporting Sanders, she says have seen little to show capitalism is working for them. Institutions such as Congress, the presidency, the political class, the Supreme Court, the media, are all in an uncertain position, as voters lose faith in the ability of these institutions to work for them. Yet she points out that it is important that the U.S. voters choose wisely- keeping in mind the importance of electing someone who can demonstrate goodness and a sound mind- not obscuring the questions about Trump. Uncouth language, uncouth behaviours reflect sense and sensibilities, it matters a lot, Peggy Noonan tells the Republican Party and America....