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Greg Ip in the WSJ says India is shifting towards  becoming an important partner with the US and the European Union in trade under the Modi government. This report reflects the situation upto 2021 and the changes in Indian and American perceptions during the pandemic. It does not reflect the rapidly evolving situation under president Biden.US president Biden and Jake Sullivan National Security Advisor see rapidly expanding US trade and investment in India. The recent Raisina Dialogue  brings together 26 countries- named after Raisina Hill in New Delhi where India's administration is located- in dialogue with Indian leaders. Finance Minister Sitharaman in an interview at Raisina Dialogue stated that Janet Yellen, US Treasury Secretary, was with her during a G-20 meeting, and Yellen called for friendshoring- foreign investment in democracies that respect the rule of law and provide the right conditions for investment. The right conditions are now being created in India, including infrastructure and logistics, trade practices, and assistance to foreign companies, to invest in Indian manufacturing. The conditions are being created for shifting significant number of manufacturing facilities to India in a complete redesign of the supply chain. A look at the period 1950-2015 in US-EU India relations says little of the newly evolving situation in trade in the way that looking at the US-EU China relations 1950-1990 during the Cold War would tell one little about how that relationship evolved in trade after 1990 in the 1990-2019 period for massive trade with China. The pandemic and the inflation from existing supply chain bottlenecks has led to a realization in US-EU that the existing concentration of manufacturing in one country  was a mistake and is a serious problem that needs correction.  This means an acceleration in the effort to build rapidly over the next 5-10 years a strong US-EU manufacturing presence in India for advanced technologies. India under prime minister Modi is creating the infrastructure and logistics for this to happen with large domestic investment, the help of Denmark's Maersk in port logistics, and from other countries.  Fo India manufacturing and infrastructure building is the only way to create the jobs needed to meet the aspirations of its young population. For the US-EU the redesign of the supply chain is the highest priority to cut inflation, remove potential bottlenecks, and provide a stable supply chain.    ...

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Unemployment in Spain among people ages 16-24 is 42.9%. This is the highest rate in Europe, and it is double the overall rate of 19.3% for Spain. By comparison the overall jobless rate in the USA for workers ages 16-24 is up to 19.1%. Why this high an unemployment rate for young workers? Greece has youth unemployment rate of 25%, while Ireland has a youth unemployment rate of 28.%, and Italy 26.9%. The rate in Poland is 21.2%, down from 35% a few years ago. In Eastern Europe overall the rate is 27.9%. This puts Spain at a level higher than Eastern European countries where youth unemployment has traditionally been higher. Worse, this is a result of a spike in unemployment from 17% at the height of the boom three years ago, to the currrent 43%. Alfonso Prieto, deputy secretary general of employment studies at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, says this high rate in Spain is a result of a disproportionate share of Spanish youth employed on temporary contracts. During the boom years a large number of young workers joined a culture of temporary work, with the term "mil euristas," used for workers on 1000 euros a month. With the economy in trouble these were the first people laid off. Low skilled and immigrant workers who lost jobs are also reflected in the statistics, as Spain witnessed an influx of millions of immigrants during the boom. Still worse the government is under tremendous pressure from the EU and bond markets because its budget deficit reached 11% of GDP in 2011, and austerity measures are being adopted. Spain is spending 30 billion euros in unemployment benefits, but the money is not doing much to prepare workers for jobs in new industries or new vocations for the future. ...

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Gas at pump costs about $8 in Germany and France, $7 in UK and $4.50 in Canada- in the US $4 for March 2026. As far back as 2011-2014 gasoline prices averaged about $3.50 a gallon in the US. Today's $3.92 average in 2026 is only 12% higher than $3.50 of 10-15 years back in the US for gas prices at the pump. Gas pries before the war in Ukraine in 2017 were $5.67 a gallon ($1.50 a litre) with a price increase in 2026 10 years later to $8 an increase of 41%. By any comparison with European nations Americans are way better off in 2026 and also in comparison with 15 years back considering the 12% increase and the much higher wages today. The average annual wage salary was $43,000 back in 2010 compared to $65,000- $75,000 today. Much of this was achieved by increased shale production to make US oil self sufficient. Americans are clearly so much better off today with oil at an average price of $3.92 a gallon.  The higher price of oil also acts to increase incentives for accelerating renewable energy production which will make it possible to achieve a future free of fossil fuels while at the same time giving average wage Americans a chance for a better life during the transition. ...

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A study done by the Hudson Institute shows an increase in sales of 5.5% on average in same store sales of restaurants which increased lower calorie items on the menu. The reverse is taking place for restaurants that have neglected to do this, with these restaurants experiencing a decline in sales. This was based on research firm NPD and restaurant data at 21 fast-food and sit-down restaurant chains between 2006 and 2011. Chains that include lower calorie counts on menus include Panera, McDonalds, Denny's and Au Bon Pain chain. Federal regulations will require restaurants with 20 or more outlets to post the calorie counts in early 2014. The process of moving Americans away from eating habits that lead to obesity is moving at a slow pace. Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the Center of Science in the Public Interest, says large serving sizes at restaurants lead to overeating and obesity. Frequency of eating at restaurants is another problem, with studies showing women who eat out more than 5 times a week take in about 290 calories each day compared to women who do not eat out that often. The healthy options at restaurants are still restricted to a small portion of menus and healthy choices are limited....

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A $369 billion US climate and tax package being negotiated in the Senate by Senator Schumer could put put Biden within reach of his goal to cut US carbon emissions by 50% by 2030. The package would introduce cash incentives for electric cars and spend billions for renewable energy expansion to get Biden to within reach of his goal by cutting carbon emissions by 40% by 2030.

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Modi refers to an ecosystem that continuously shrinks the pool of capital from government revenues, revenues intended to fund development roads, bridges and other infrastructure illegally siphoned away, that stalled and suffocated rapid development in India for 75 years. Without foreign investment there can be no rapid development in India. Without strong and efficient institutions foreign investment has not come to India in the last 30 years in the way it has come to China. These institutions of good governance that prevent such siphoning away of revenues enable 100% of every dollar or rupee of taxes to go into development essential for funding infrastructure, climate infrastructure, logistics and the other inputs of capital, labor, energy and land to build manufacturing capabilities. An ever widening pool of the inputs of capital, labor and land year after year- a process that Japan, then South Korea, then China has accomplished is possible. I It is only now taking place in India. What Mohandas Gandhi, Nehru and Sardar Patel failed to grasp in the 30's, 40's and 50's is that it was possible to have an independent India and still remain a backward undeveloped nation for a staggering period of 75 years or almost half of the period the British ruled India. What Mao failed to grasp in China and which was corrected by other leaders to make China an advanced economy able to fulfill the aspirations of the Chinese people, is also the situation that prevailed in India. Post independence leaders in China and India both isolated their economies, both limited human potential, both let institutions fail in good governance.  It is only now moving India into the process of developing an advanced developed economy by 2040, able to fulfill the aspirations of a youthful population of 1.2 billion people. ...

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Problems with the old 4% rule for withdrawal from savings for retirees in 2013 include- the decreasing income from bonds, the high P/E 10 ratio of 23 for the stock market in the U.S. in 2013, the timing of entry into retirement and the economic conditions, inflation and unforeseen expenses. The 4% rule needs to be modified in today's conditions.

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Private credit market has grown to $2 trillion in 2025 in 10 years  reaching $3.5 trillion in 2028 yet remains unregulated. Private credit is when investment funds such as Blackstone and Apollo, others, loan money to large companies. After the 2009 financial crisis bank regulation was tightened so that riskier loans were kept off the banks books to avoid another financial crisis. This led to the private credit market as a source of loans for small companies.Over 10 years the loans are now going to large companies and it is growing fast. As is typical in the capitalist economies regulation falls behind new financial developments or tech developments. Congress is always playing catchup and is distracted by other issues or has lobbyists asking for less regulation.  This report in the WSJ says when companies like Blackstone have private credit loans of $260 billion this can pose substantial risks for the US economy when this area of lending has no regulation as is required for a modern economy to function correctly. Private credit offers returns of 14-16% for these funds with risks associated and regulators are not asked to set the required rules. It only makes bank regulation ineffective as lending goes to unregulated parts of the economy. ...

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Indian exports to US drop from $8.8 to $5.5 billion May to September drop of 37%. A trade agreement is likely and should be similar to Japan's or EU where with Japan it is now 15% and with EU it is 10%, both key allies of the US. India is also a key ally in Asia requiring the DJT administration -once it gets over Modi-DJT differences on the nuclear aspect of the India-Pakistan 48 hour conflict in 2025, and India reverts to getting oil and energy from non Russian sources as it did in 2019, and issues of agricultural exports to India- to drop this tariff of additional 25% for Russian oil and drop the basic tariff of 25% to 15% as the US did with Japan. At 15% Japan and India will still be able to compete with China's 47% (dropped from 57%) to export to the US.  The result can be positive for India as it improves it's cost effectiveness to export to the US and EU, with rapid investment to improve logistics, and streamlining import of technologies and machinery to rapidly cut costs of production. ...

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Some sensible guidelines in taking loans for graduate schools are provided in this WSJ report- debt repayments should not be more than 10% of discretionary income so that money is there for high food, housing costs and savings. Debt should not exceed the first year's salary whn starting to work.

And students considering grad school need to be aware that while they are in grad school their undergraduate loans can grow by 50% from say $27,000 to $41,000.

47.3 million Americans carry 1.777 trillion in student debt, of which federal government is 1.693 trillion, growing at $48 billion a year. The average debt per person at about $40,000 default at about 5%.

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Liverpool fans sing this song on Portugal's Diogo Jota from Clearwater Revival, the lines are-

"Oh, he wears the No 20 / He will take us to victory / And when he’s running down the left wing / He’ll cut inside and score for LFC / He’s a lad from Portugal / Better than Figo don’t you know / Oh, his name is Diogo!”

The roaring fans of the Liverpool Football Club in England remember Diogo Jota, the Portugal soccer player who won people's hearts. He died in a car accident.

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The creation of a two tier wage structure in Japan with different pay and benefits for Temporary workers is holding back consumption in Japan as temporaryworkers feel tooo insecure to spend much. And there are a substantial number of temporary workers, from 18% in 1987to 23% in 1997 and now 33% in 2007 about a third of the work force, with some workers as at Hino Motors making a mere $10 an hour.

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Home prices rise by 10.9% in March 2013 over the same month prior year, according to the S&P/Case/Shiller index of home prices tracking 20 U.S. cities. Prices increased by 1.2% for the 1st quarter of 2013. Part of the increase is because of the extent of the downturn, other reasons include the Fed's loose monetary policy and low mortgage rates of around 3%. The Shiller index also includes foreclosed properties which enlarges the increase in home prices when the share of foreclosed property sales fall. A separate index by Lender Processing Services shows a 7.6% increase in home prices for March. Prices are up in all 20 cities of the Shiller index for the first time. In San Francisco prices are up by 22.2%, in Phoenix by 22.5%. In the midwest Detroit prices are up 25%, as the auto industry rebounds strongly from a decade of decline.

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Based on this Washington Post sample of reader views on the presidential Debate, 4 of 5 readers in the sample are critical of the way the Post, NYT, WSJ are acting against the elected and popular transformative president of the US. What do Washington Post readers think of the way media magnates running Post, NYT, WSJ are trying to run the country in the face of a elected president who remains popular for the action he has taken on cost of living, climate change, manufacturing jobs, factories and supply chains, and is investing trillions of dollar in renewing America's manufacturing, Chips and science, and Infrastructure? Their campaigns are there for all to see against the president, even as the British election shows Keir Starmer of Labour saying "from 20 points behind to 20 points ahead," achieving a landslide even with only 2% increase in votes since 2019. Starmer too was written off just twelve months ago. The first letter is from Little Rock stating the Post, NYT, WSJ position. The second is from Linda Barnes of Ashland, New Hampshire, who faults the Post for not having the headline about "Disastrous debate performance by Trump who failed to answer most questions and lied relentlessly." Lauri Costello of Las Cruces, New Mexico, says every American would have benefitted from an in depth analysis of the debate rather than a focus on how each debater looked and spoke. Diana Hasuly of Ashburn, Virginia, says the debate was an opportunity to see two men's perspectives about the future of America, and the Post had done a great disservice to America, as have the NYT, WSJ and the Media in general, by not spelling what each man was offering America for the future. To take just three Climate change, manufacturing investment and jobs, infrastructure spending, Biden is getting so much done and has the plan for 2030, the former president has none, simply none and did not talk about this. Mark Parkhurst of Silver Spring, Maryland, says of the June 28 front page in the Post that the Post uses "falshoods" not "lies" when a lie needs to be called a lie from the former president. And says to be fair the Media needs to point out the actual achievements of president Biden not dwell on MAGA rhetoric. Is the Post or the Media in general overreaching, is it listening? What would Washington, Lincoln or FDR say?   ...

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Italy's South is its poorest region, with scarce job opportunities. It has not recovered fully from the economic crisis of 2009. The Five Star movement in the current centre right governing coalition has many of its voters in the south of Italy. The government is fighting to save a Arcelor steel plant in the coastal city of Taranto. The state is working to prevent other factories from closing. The Italian north industrialized early being closer to France and Germany, the southern region remained agricultural with immigration as a way out of poverty. The government supported jobs in the south and industrial development after 1945, and expanded public sector jobs. Regional progress in the south stalled since 2000. Today per capita gross domestic product in the north is 35,000 euros compared to 19,000 euros in the south of Italy, according to Eurostat. Unemployment in some southern towns is 20%, compared to less than 10% average in the north. The answer says prime minister Giuseppe Conte, is to "have a sort of bank of the South for investments." The opposition party far right Northern League led by Matteo Salvini is popular and is also pushing for supporting southern regions with extra funding. ...

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Donald Trump's campaign and the Republican National Committee raises $64 million in July 2016 through a digital and mailing effort that helps to bring in a large number of small donations- about two thirds of it. The fund raising effort for Trump brings a total of $82 million in July, just short of the $90 million raised by Hillary Clinton that month. Much of the digital fund raising effort was made possible by efforts made by the RNC to improve its mailing lists since the last presidential campaign. Many of the Trump donations are made from the Trump website buttons of $10, $25, $50, and by an offer to match this with Trump's own personal finances. Hillary Clinton is also ramping up her fund raising. Trump now has $74 million on hand, up from $1.5 million at one point, and Hillary Clinton has $102 million. For the Trump campaign that was far less organized than the Clinton campaign, this is an effort to catch up, though this comes quite late in the campaign with only 3 months left; with advertising rates higher, and not enough time to invest in digital and campaign infrastructure.  ...

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In his monthly television address called "Mann Ki Baat" prime minister Modi apologizes to Indians for the complete lockdown of the country. Modi said "for a a country the size of India we need strong measures. Nobody likes to take strong measures, but it is the only option, seeing other countries and learning that the disease must be dealt with at the beginning before it becomes incurable."  He cautioned that social distancing did not mean emotional or human distancing. Sympathy and cooperation are needed. He called frontline healthcare and sanitation workers "warriors" and "soldiers," and promised Rs 50 lakh (5 million) insurance for 20 lakh (2 million) such workers. He also commended the work of shopkeepers, drivers, bank workers and others to keep essential services running. Modi suggested now is time "to not go out, but to look within yourself. Try to know yourself." He gave examples of recovering doctors and workers, and of finding new hobbies. In coming time he said every Indian will try to break barriers for the country's development, once this crisis has passed. ...

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About 50% of the workforce in Los Angeles earns less than $15 an hour, by some estimates. The Los Angeles City Council voted 14-1 in May 2015 to increase the minimum wage to $15 over 5 years.

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Estimates by the Congresssional Budget Office in January 2011 show the federal budget deficit in the US at nearly $1.5 trillion in 2011. The deficit would equal 9.8% of the US gross domestic product. In 2009 the budget deficit was $1.4 trillion or 10% of GDP. The CBO estimates show the debt held by the public increasing from 40% of GDP at the end of fiscal year 2008 to about 70% at the end of fiscal year 2011. Republican senators Orrin Hatch of Utah and John Cornyn of Texas called for a constitutional balanced budget amendment in an op-ed published in Politico.

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Alan Blinder talks about the benefits of alarge cash for clunkers program and how it could be designed around what parameters and upon which it could be broadened or narrowed. One thing he points out is that it would help the economically challenged, though how these low income people would go out and buy new cars in the midst of deep recession and credit card bills, and other debt, is a question. The German customers were not in the debt situation many lower income Americans are. The alternative approach would be to broaden the program to give the middle class the benefits, and design it around giving a boost to the depressed auto industry and the midwest region. Such a program would need adequate financing like the $20 billion, Blinder says, and would include the possibility of turning in an old clunker for a Malibu or Impala or a Focus. Only focussing on small cars would not give much of a boost to Detroit car makers, which are focussed more on the middle and larger ends of the product line. From the cleaner environment perspective and carbon emissions perspective, the cars that are 13 years or older account for 25% of the miles driven, but 75% of the pollution from cars. This and reducing dependence on foreign oil suggest that the benefits of a well designed program or a combination of programs targeting different goals such as environment, boosting the Detroit car makers, and so on , could be well worth an investment of more than the $20 billion, Blinder suggests. ...

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Fears that India may be falling behind China, Mexico and Brazil in healthcare for the people. A planned budget increase was never implemented. Today the Indian government spends only $20 billion on healthcare for a population of over 1 billion people. Annual spending on healthcare is about 1.4% of GDP. Now the Indian government is planning to increase this to 2.5% of GDP. One senior health official Amarjeet Sinha, says other emerging economies such as Brazil, Mexico, Malaysia, now have better public health indicators than India. In 1990 India's public health indicators were similiar to those countries. Another serious problem in India is malnutrition with an estimated 4 of 10 children malnourished. Underinvestment in healthcare is a significant problem as needs grow but there is a shortage of resources and trained healthcare personnel. Arvind Singhal, chairman of consutancy Technopak, says India needs an additional 1 million doctors and 2.5 million nurses to meet the needs of the current level of the Indian population. To do this 600 new medical colleges and 1,500 nursing colleges are needed. The child care advocacy group Save the Children UK, points out that just to meet India's committment to reduce the infant mortality rate by two thirds of the current level by 2015- to meet India's commitment to the UN Millenium Development Goals- India will need 2.6 million additional trained health workers. This shortage is most acutely felt in rural areas, especially in the large states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar....

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France's parliamentary elections showed the Socialist party gaining 280 seats, with two allied parties getting 34 seats, giving the Socialists an absolute majority in parliament. Greens won 17 seats and the far left 10 seats. Former president Sarkozy's Union for a Popular Movement won 194 seats and allies 35 seats, for a total of 229 seats, down from 304 seats.The National Front led by Marie Le Pen won 2 seats. Marie Le Pen and Segolene Royal both lost their seats. The absolute majority gives Socialist president Hollande more room to implement his legislative program and make changes in eurozone architecture.