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George Will lists the shortcomings of Romney and Gingrich, as U.S. Republican presidential candidates in 2012. Gingrich is the worse candidate, says Will. Gingrich was paid $1.6 million by Freddie Mac, for services as "a historian." His response was to say "If you put people in jail," look at "the politicians who profited from" Washington's environment. He criticized government housing agency Freddie Mac for its role in the housing crisis, and at the same time profited as a lobbyist for Freddie. This shows his personal record and lack of conviction about the need for integrity in government officials. Conservatism, says Will, is about understanding that man does not fully understand the complexities of the world around him. It stands in opposition to man saying that he has grasped these complexities and assuming a hubrisitic attitude. Gingrich with his fervor for the latest idea, is the opposite of what conservatism stands for, says Will. Will sees Rick Perry and Jon Huntsman as better candidates than Romney or Gingrich. Presidential debates don't test what is needed to perform presidential duties and have become ridiculously important. Rick Perry's Texas record as two term governor, and his skepticism and distaste for Washington and Wall Street, give him assets that could prove to be vital for the job of president. Huntsman's positions on issues are closer to the conservative approach to government than Romney's. Will says it is important that Republicans don't give an Obama running as a Harry Truman did in 1948, against Congress, the one thing needed to win - someone who voters have a distaste for....

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The U.S. House of Representatives passes the McConnell-Biden deal on raising the debt ceiling by 269 to 161. For its passage through the House 174 Republicans and 95 Democrats voted in favor, 66 Republicans and 95 Democrats voted against it. Republicans voted for it with a proportion of 3 in favor and 1 against, compared to Democrats where it was 1:1 and as many opposed it as supported it. It took much persuasion from Vice President Biden and Speaker Boehner to get the votes in favor of passage. Republicans who opposed it were concerned about the modest cuts in spending. Democrats who opposed it considered it a giveaway to Republicans with no tax increases or addressing of tax expenditures. The deal's trigger provision to require cuts in spending to be 50-50 for defence and entitlements was used by Biden to show Democrats that the next $1.2 trillion in cuts would take a more balanced approach. Democrats would have leverage to make their case for savings through tax increases or tax expenditures....

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In 2013 growth shows signs of strengthening in the U.S. and the eurozone countries see improvement from the severe recession in Greece, Ireland, Spain, Portugal and weakness in Italy. Developing countries see growth slow down to about 5% in India, 7% in China and 2% in Brazil. Growth improvement in Japan. Overall the situation appears to be reversing with growth picking up in the developed countries and slowing in developing countries and emerging markets. This was also reflected in equity markets performance with U.S. and European stock markets showing strong performance and emerging markets weak or declining performance.

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The effects of China's slowing economy on food exports of Argentina and Uruguay is likely to be small because of China's continuing need for imports and the food contamination from widespread pollution. Commodity producers of iron ore in Australia and Brazil see the rising wages in China and pollution controls reducing the gap between locally produced iron ore and imported iron ore.

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U.S. Defense Secretary, Leon Panetta, held three way talks with Egypt's president, Mohamed Morsi and the head of the military, Hussein Tantawi. Panetta said of Morsi- " I was convinced that President Morsi is his own man." Panetta said Morsi is committed to democratic reforms and representing all Egyptians. President Morsi sent a letter to Israeli president Shimon Peres expressing deep thanks for a Ramadan greeting and expressing hope for new peace talks with the Palestinians. The U.S. preparations for a potential conflict with Iran and the civil war in Syria to oust the Assad regime have given new urgency to reduce tensions in Egypt between the different factions including the military.

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The Romney plan calls for putting a cap on federal spending at 20% of GDP. It is now over 23% of GDP. The Huntsman plan calls for lowering taxes for corporations and individuals, and eliminating taxes on capital gains and dividends. This would be offset in the Huntsman plan by closing the mortgage deduction for loans over $500,000, and ending the child tax credit and other tax expenditures as recommended by the Bowles-Simpson Commission. Rep Bachmann and Governor Perry call for eliminating the taxes on American companies repatriating revenues from overseas back to the U.S.

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Samuelson says the bill in the U.S. Senate is symbolic because it allows companies to cite the undervalued renminbi as an illegal subsidy and have the Commerce Department impose duties on Chinese products. This would have to be done on a case by case basis, making it largely ineffective in dealing with the large trade deficit with China. He also cites the differences among economists that show a range between 1 million and 2.8 million jobs lost. The 2.8 million jobs estimate is from the Economic Policy Institute for the period 2001-2010. The 1 million is an estimate for 1990-2007, which estimates a loss of quarter of all manufacturing jobs. By WTO rules subsidies that are not targeted at specific industries or firms are allowed, according to lawyers. Which means China could appeal to the WTO, and impose retaliatory duties. In the meantime the trade deficit with China, with imports of $364 billion in 2010, and $86 billion in exports, would remain largely unaffected. This is the reason some Senators, including Republican Orrin Hatch (Utah), see this move as political posturing by President Obama and the Democrats, because the administration has no new proposals to address the trade deficit and the gradual erosion of America's manufacturing base. Samuelson cites Arvind Subramanium of the Peterson Institute, and his book "Eclipse: Living in the Shadow of China's Economic Dominance." Subramanium says what is at stake is not a temporary imbalance in world trade a happened with Japan in the 1980's, but a gradual shift to a system of trade in which China has preferential access to raw materials (oil, grain, minerals), subsidizes exports in new industries as it moves upscale from shoes and textiles to automobiles, aircraft and alternative energy, and changes the very nature of the global trading system as it becomes the dominant trading nation in the world. By Subramanium's estimate China's share of global trade increased from 1.6% to 9.8% in the 2 decades from 1990 to 2010. In two more decades he estimates China could increase this to 15% of global trade, significantly larger than the U.S. In a response to Congressmen, businessmen and policymakers wary of starting a trade war, Samuelson says there already is a trade war as a "fixed" system of trade undermines America's manufacturing and industrial base. The only difference being that today only one side is fighting that war, and America is slow to grasp the implications or its policymakers are clueless how to respond....

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Harvard professor, Benjamin Friedman, reviews journalist Timothy Noah's book "The Great Divergences: America's Growing Inequality Crisis and What We Can Do About It." Friedman says, Karl Marx got it wrong when he predicted greater inequality based on the situation he saw in Europe and the U.S. in the late nineteenth century. Inequality actually decreased in the U.S. and Europe with industrialization, technological progress, higher educational and income levels by the early part of the twentieth century. Similiarly Simon Kuznets, Nobel Laureate, also got it wrong when he extrapolated from what he saw in the early postwar period, assuming greater equality and better opportunities in future decades. The approach Noah and Friedman advise is to look at individual factors that promote or discourage less divergence in income levels, opportunities and upward mobility. And based on this shape policy and action agenda for better outcomes. A whole range of issues fall in this range- promoting manufacturing and higher wage jobs, immigration policy, investments in education to upgrade skills, better educational opportunities, vocational training, upgrading education to keep up with new technology, and investments in research and new technologies for new industries that would create better opportunities. Because inequality is increasing worldwide, and countries are focussing on improving competitiveness as well as preserving the social fabric in a global economy, this is an issue facing all countries that seek a better future....

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Rep. Dave Camp, House Ways and Means Committee chairman, representing northern Michigan, says every deduction in the tax code is there because of a reason, and powerful lobbies will oppose any changes. The best he can do is work himself out of this job as he will have to tackle the Democrats on entitlements, the business lobbies on tax loopholes, and other lobbies protecting their preferences in the tax code. He plans to achieve a simpler tax code with lowered rates of 25% for business and earners above six figures, and 10% for everyone else. The approach he is taking is to be revenue neutral when tackling tax reform, in the belief that the economic growth generated from a simpler tax code and lower rates would generate revenues of 18 to 19% of GDP, up from about 16% today. He says the economc cost of not getting this done to get the economy rolling again is so high that he is upbeat that both sides can come together after the election no matter who wins. He is also looking at a repatriation tax of 5% on profits kept by American companies overseas, which would boost revenues for business which could be reinvested in stead of sitting idle. Today the much steeper tax rate on repatriation makes businesses reluctant to bring it back....

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Individual investors reacted strongly to declining prospects for emerging markets with slowing growth, depreciating currencies, corruption and political uncertainty in 2013. As of the beginning of June, retail investors pulled $18.1 billion from emerging market bond funds, about one third of the amount that went in to emerging markets since the financial crisis in 2007, according to fund tracker EPFR Global. Institutional investors have pulled out less, about $9.3 billion, or 10% of their investments in emerging markets bonds since 2007. A similiar pattern is seen for investment in the stock markets of emerging market countries. The U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary expansion helped pull more money into emerging markets such as India, Indonesia, Brazil and Turkey. As the Fed shifts away from these policies in 2013 emerging market countries have large current account deficits and less money to finance imports and debt.

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The U.S. Senate voted 79-19 to go forward with a bill on sanctions against China for undervaluation of the yuan. The IMF says China's currency is "substantially undervalued."

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China's GDP growth accelerated slightly to 6.9 percent in the 1st quarter of 2017, after five consecutive quarters of GDP growth at 6.7-6.8%, according to government data. This reflected larger use of steel in the construction industry and more mortgages issued by the state controlled banking sector. Government officials say productivity is improving helping GDP growth, with closing of less efficient manufacturing plants. Industrial production increased 7.6% in March 2017, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. The government is trying to control higher lending and reduce the backlog of bad loans at banks. Higher growth helps to reduce the bad loans at banks from the earlier period after 2008 financial crisis, improving financial stability.

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As U.S. carmakers vehicle sales recover and the Japanese carmakers go through a slowdown as a result of disruptions from the earthquake, the U.S. and the Japanese carmakers find their situations reversed. Japanese carmakers are facing vehicle shortages in the U.S.. Detroit carmakers see the opportunity to make gains in market share during this period, till Toyota and Honda return to normal. Detroit carmakers have also been affected by the earthquake related supplier disruptions, but to a much smaller extent. Chrysler expects to produce 50,000 to 100,000 fewer vehicles as a result of disruptions, according to Marchionne. Chrysler, the weakest of the Detroit carmakers, has staged a recovery under Fiat's Marchionne. One hurdle was the high interest payments- $348 million in the first quarter of 2011- on the $7.5 billion borrowed from U.S. and Canadian governments. Chrysler increased revenue by 35% to $13.1 billion, with global sales of vehicles up 18% to 394,000, and profits of $116 million in the first quarter 2011. The market situation is still precarious for several reasons. Sales of pickup trucks and larger vehicles- which still constitute a major portion of vehicles sales of Detroit carmakers- are vulnerable to higher gas prices. The Japanese carmakers have large cash reserves for new investments, and will introduce new models as they recover from the earthquake. In the past Detroit carmakers used incentives to maintain sales, which diluted profits. Jeremy Anwyl, chief executive of Edmunds.com, says Detroit carmakers have an opportunity to get back to a situation where they can compete with foreign carmakers on a level playing field, with better market acceptance and higher prices. GM says it will increase prices by about $123 on average to cover higher materials costs. The risk will continue to be in the product mix of a higher proportion of pickup trucks and larger vehicles in a volatile oil price environment....

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Japan's new LDP prime minister, Shinzo Abe, supports targeting the yen at around 90 yen to the dollar to support Japanese exporters. He sees this happening through monetary easing by Japan's central bank. At a rate of 85 yen to the dollar or above Japanese exporters would be in a position to become profitable and pay taxes. Abe says central banks around the world, including the U.S. Federal Reserve, are printing money to support their economies and increase exports. Switzerland and S. Korea pursued policies to keep their currencies from becoming too strong to support their exporters. China has managed its exchange rate to maintain export competitiveness. Exchange rate intervention has not been effective for Japan, and the focus now is on monetary policy and setting a 2% inflation rate target.