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Key points made by Keir Starmer of Labour party during a 2 day visit to Berlin to meet Chancellor Scholz. Starmer says -Labour is ready to fight an election on the economy and win. Labour understands what it means to live with high inflation. He said "it feels like the Tories are like a football team dragged into the relegation zone and can see the drop, and are desperately trying to change the manager in the hope and belief that it will make a difference." "We're dealing with a cost of living crisis- people literally unable to pay their bills- and you've got a Conservative Party leadership race that is completely divorced from reality." Starmer says all the Tory leadership candidates should be challenged how they are going to fund their tax cuts and spending pledges- by borrowing or slashing public services. Labour will win respect at the negotiating table in any efforts to work with the EU to make Brexit work better. Its position on Northern Ireland will be well received in the EU.   ...

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Bernanke defended the Fed's QE II decision to buy $600 billion in Treasury bonds, at a central bank conference in Frankfurt. He said "the US risks millions of people being unemployed or underemployed for years and as a society, we should find such an outcome unacceptable." Rebutting the Germ, Chinese and Brazilian criticism, he said the policy would maintain a strong dollar over the long run. Senator Shelby told reporters, Bernanke estimates creating 700,000 to 1 million jobs over the next 2 years. Philadelphia Fed President Charles Posner said that he was very concerned about unemployment, but was "worried that monetary policy isn't the right set of tools at this juncture."

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A surge in rural vote with anxieties about illegal immigration surges and little done by the Biden administration in the first two years when the surge from Venezuela became evident. The pandemic, vaccine was followed by two wars in the thrid and fourth year, yet the immigration issue was allowed to grow without forceful action to close the border and pass legislation early in the first 2 years, with an objective assessment of the situation as has happened in first Socialists in Denmark, northern Europe, and then Britain as the Labour party shifted to shut down illegal immigration in its policies by 2022. The unease in rural areas was accompanied by unease among younger people 18-34 years over cost of living, and the unease among Latinos in general and Black people  without a college degree.  Taking an approach to the wars that would remove them as distractions by looking for a settlement in Ukraine through negotiations, and prioritizing strong action on the border, price surges would have helped tackle pressing issues that caused so much unease.  ...

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Even though immigration makes the headlines for the average German and daily German life polls and surveys show says the NYT that the main concerns center around a failing economy. For 5 years Germany has experienced little growth. According to Eurostat, Germany's GDP growth rate is 2023 -0.2% 2022: 1.37% 2021: 3.67% 2020 -4.1% Tankersley and Eddy report from Lutherstadt Wittenberg Eastern Germany. As Germany's economy slows companies may move jobs and manufacturing to Austria and France says one CEO of a company that makes fertilizer and additives for diesel motors. This could lead to loss of 10,000 jobs in an already depressed region. The problems faced buy German industry are increasing with higher costs of energy- even after prices have come down energy is 20% costlier than the European average according to Eurostat. Industry leaders say this is the result partly of efforts to reduce fossil fuel emissions. Increasing competition from China means Germany cannot compete as before. Investment in public infrastructure has not kept up with crumbling roads and bridges and a rail system with underinvestment and plagued with delays. Investment in digital technology has lagged behind China, India and France.   ...

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The icons of American business brought to new lows by the global financial crisis of 2008.

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For 2 decades now Estonia has followed the principles of Milton Friedman in freeing up its economy to be completely open. Now the economic downturn has to lead to a shft in policy. The infusion of $3.4 billion euros from the EU from 2007 to 2013 as cohesion funds to even out disparities between rich and poor countries in EU should help and some business people say Estonia could emulate Luxembourg or Swizerland by looking for its own niche say in high end technologies and knowledge intensive production and in design.

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A native of Cincinnati, Ted Turner, built one of the largest landholdings in the US. He bought 2 million acres which makes him 4th largest landholder in the US when he died this year in 2026 at the age of 87 years. One ranch alone cost him $100 million in New Mexico made up of 586,000 acres, which is now worth $500 million. Turner bought early when land prices were low in New Mexico and Montana. Much of this wilderness was turned into conservation areas. In this sense he will be remembered more for this public land and conservation than for a 24 hour news channel. Much of the audio and video media can be accessed over 24 hours anytime of one's choosing on the internet by 2026, which makes CNN redundant today. CNN and Fox News are more of a distraction today at best and a flawed presentation of the News because of their tendency to take advantage of the audiences and reinforce their bias for profit, CNN and Fox New on opposite sides. CNN has been acquired by Paramount CBS and is about to undergo major changes under the Ellison family. And the Murdoch family is split on how to run Fox News. Both television channels will likely dissipate in influence and viewers as Americans grow out of their biased and often incorrect interpretations of current news events. There is little they do that cannot be done by diligent effort to present the news in alternatives such as Lyrarc.com on the internet that present a range of views from major world newspapers and sites. And yet see America as a beacon of hope in the world and Europe as the place where the scientific and industrial revolutions that changed all our lives for the better started, giving the younger generation of Americans reason for hope in the future. ...

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The Maharashtra government is moving rapidly on finishing work on Mumbai's new Metro system. Mumbai as a whole is a huge construction site today with the Hindustan Times showing work in progress on 11,215 construction sites across the city. This will completely change the appearance of the city in a few years. Work that was stalled under previous administration is being moved ahead at a rapid pace. This means Mumbai residents will have easier access to different parts of the city making mobility a major development in India's largest commercial city. The pace of construction may be the most rapid compared to anywhere in the world to meet rising aspirations. And infrastructure investment on a massive scale by the Modi administration backed by the state government.

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Lucie Castets, candidate for prime minister of the largest parliamentary group in the National Assembly of France, the NFP,  is interviewed in The Guardian. Kim Willsher interviews Lucie Castets at a cafe in the Marais district of Paris.  Castets says- “France is a rich country but people are getting increasingly poor, they don’t know if there’s going to be a teacher in front of their kids, they don’t know how long they’re going to wait in casualty if they break a leg, they don’t know how much their salary will be in a year. Who can accept that? Well apparently, Emmanuel Macron accepts that, but I think it’s unacceptable.” A government is needed in France for a budget to be passed by January 2025. A caretaker government of Macron's party cannot do this following its poor showing in the recent election. Macron refuses to let NFP form a government with outside support saying he was doing this for "institutional stability." Macron wants to see cuts of $25 billion. The NFP wants to spend $150 billion for the government to meet the needs of the people. It would like the US, recover most or all of this $150 billion from higher taxes for the ultra rich, and billionaires which would not affect 95% of the French people.  Castets says- Castets rejects the ideas this would be “impossible to apply or finance” and cost jobs. “We will finance each measure with new revenue, unlike the government. The accusation of economic irresponsibility irritates me because that’s not what we’re proposing at all. The NFP’s programme was heavily attacked on this aspect, so it’s important to say that these measures will only affect the ultra-rich. We want to correct flagrant tax injustices, with billionaires paying a lower percentage of tax than the middle classes.”   ...

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By June 7 US stocks were up 11.5% in the first half of 2026, showing a resilient stock market whatever economists say about tariffs and other policies. There is a lot of misinformation on the changes in trade policy. Sure the deficits over $1 trillion had become so excessive to be a burden for the US ( this is not even to address the 20:5:2  the 20 trillion transfer in US wealth to foreign countries, 5 million jobs lost and the 2% low growth since 2000 that USTR Lighthizer and Jamieson point out in Foreign Affairs magazine in 2026).  Greg Ip comments on this in today's WSJ that betting against DJT trade and economic policy is not working. Here we have another flashback to Brexit and why a similar situation of misinformation had the opposite result. The value of the pound dropped from $1.55 to $1.35 to the US dollar in June 2016 the day Brexit referendum was won by Reform UK and the Conservatives. Today it is $1.33 in June 2026. Here is some history of Britain's tussle with the European Union. When did it start? In 1961 Britain applied to join. The French never too eager to have the British inside rejected in 1967 under nationalist De Gaulle. It took 12 years  not till 1973 did Britain get in with Denmark and both kept their currencies. As soon as Britishers complained about the bureaucracy in European Union Brussels headquarters conservatives like Boris Johnson drove this to a high pitch. He even said only way it would affect Britain was in the price of a Mars chocolate bar. Well in 2026 it is much more than that. Labour's Wes Streeting calls it a disastrous step for the UK economy to isolate it from Europe.  As usual the French don't care and the Germans showed little interest, so Britain was left to its own devices not being careful would mean bearing the costs. Manchester's mayor Burnham in Labour says he grasps this but there are other priorities that are pressing and shelves this for another time. It took 12 years to get UK into the European Union- it took just a few years under shortsighted Cameron, May and Johnson to get out when after austerity policies imposed by Cameron a lot of anger had shifted to Labourites and Blair's policies like the shortsighted policies of Bush and Obama, for the 20 trillion US lost to foreigners in their watch. Will it take another 12 years again for UK to get it right and get France and Germany to enthusiastically support Britain in the EU? ...

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Nasdaq OMX Group CEO, Robert Greifeld, says Janet Yellen and the U.S. Fed Open Market Committee should exercize caution in increasing interest rates in 2014. He cites the heavy risk for long term investor outlook and psychology of the Fed moving too quickly in increasing interest rates, because of the steep drop in oil prices, the crash of the ruble, slowdown in Europe, deflationary trends in the eurozone and Japan, and slow growth in China. The Fed now has more room for taking a cautious approach says Greifeld, as wage growth is tepid, the dollar is strong, and oil prices are down significantly.

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Try these other museums in Paris knowing the Louvre and the Musee de Orsay get 10 million visitors and 4 million a year respectively. Other suggested museums in Paris 2026 are- the Musee de Metiers and the France National Archives. France National Archives will have a special exhibit on the Marquis de Lafayette for Spring and Summer. It comes at the right time for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of the US. Lafayette was a friend of Jefferson and fought alongside the Americans with George Washington. This should be an interesting exhibit.

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U.S. president elect Trump meets with the heads of tech businesses on Dec. 14, 2016. CEO's of Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft were present. Trump was exuberant about the advantages secured by U.S. tech companies in global business, saying- "there's nobody like you in the world. Anything that the government can do to help this go along, we're going to be there for you." The discussions covered need for more vocational education, advantages and disadvantages of trade with China, and immigration. Quarterly meetings of this type are now planned with a smaller group organized by Jared Kushner to cover immigration and education.  Jeff Bezos of Amazon described the meeting as "very productive." Bezos says he told the group that the best way was to use innovation to create jobs outside of tech in agriculture, infrastructure, manufacturing elsewhere, to create large number of jobs. Ginni Rometty, CEO of IBM, and other executives are part of the Strategic and Policy Forum set up to provide business input to the president. ...