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Jared Bernstein of the Economic Policy Institute points to trade barriers reducing competition and free trade that should raise an outcry when free trade and competition advocates focus alone on the Trump steel tariffs. He points to estimates that show $90 billion in additional costs to Americans from the barriers that prevent Americans from paying world market prices for surgeries and medical treatment, prices similar to what is paid in advanced countries like Germany, Britain and France. A bigger barrier in pharmaceuticals prices being sheltered from market competition worldwide costs a huge $370 billion in additional costs to Americans. These two costs in healthcare would help Americans by a magnitude compared to tax cuts that do not work for average Americans with the business tax cut going more into share buybacks than into increasing wages or capital investment in 2018.  Bernstein points to Neil Irwin's column in the NYT that flags statements such as Senator Mike Lee, Republican, that the steel tariffs are a huge job killing tax hike, as being misleading. Bernstein says two actions were never taken that would have used benefits of free trade to help affected communities that lost jobs in industries such as steel and textiles, other industries affected by foreign competition.  He lists these steps as sectoral employment training, apprenticeships ,and job creation efforts in the worst affected areas. Basically no one really knows what is good trade policy, the textbook concepts and theories are out of date when countries can subsidize particular industries such as steel and dump products into the American market. At a press conference on CSPAN with the Swedish prime minister Mr. Trump stated that China was exporting more than what is officially shown as there are transshipments from other countries, some of them with no steel mills.  As Mr. Trump stated at that press conference he was elected partly because of the worst affected communities- in places such as Michigan and other states in the midwestern U.S.- that suffered from unfair trade. Bernstein admonishes the economists and politicians, media, for the headlines that are misleading in showing that bad trade policy is being pursued and trade wars are being started. This deserves attention because the Trump administration and advisors such as Lighthizer who served in the Reagan administration seek fair trade, and the Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross successfully pushed for NAFTA trade deal renegotiation not the outright rejection of NAFTA that was mentioned in the election campaign. Ironically no one is helped by this trade rhetoric and misleading headlines. In fact the strengthening of the U.S. currency as the huge trade surplus of China goes into U.S. assets, and with the election of Mr. Trump, gives foreign competitors a continued advantage. And in fact Japan, South Korea, China, had a mild response to the tariffs as reported, because these countries are aware of global overcapacity created especially by China which produces 50% of the world's steel, and as China shifts to higher technologically value added products closing many older steel mills. ...

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This report in the NYT shows how venture capital does not work for women, immigrants, latinos and blacks because there is less room for errors and failure for women and minorities. Venture capital, the $100 billion going into it in 2019 for even the fringe benefits of tech nowadays, pushes aggressively for results and returns which may not be right for companies seeking gradual growth and moderate returns without the stress and increased chance of failure in an hypercompetitive VC environment. Apart from the big names and some others there are many companies that fail in this kind of hypercompetitive environment, says this report. A bigger problem is the neglect of societal values and ethical considerations in this environment such as the disinformation in social media as one example. Ethical concerns, and greater gender and racial diversity is also a goal as most of the VC industry operates under rigid rules allowing little flexibility and seeing any variation condescendingly, says this report. ...

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Jeb Bush opens his election campaign in Florida where he was two term governor, and addresses the crowd in Spanish. Jeb Bush met Columba Garnica de Gallo, a Mexican girl when he studied in a foreign exchange program in Leon, Mexico in 1970, when he was 17 and she was 16. Jeb Bush was assisting in the building of a school in a small village outside Leon, as part of a program at Andover called Man and Society. They were married in 1974 in Austin, Texas. Jeb Bush received his BA in Latin American Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. His earlier schooling was at Andover, Massachusetts. He is the only candidate with deep personal and educational connections to Latin America coming from the traditional political elite. Columba's personal story as the daughter of a migrant worker who left the family when she was three, and her championing of causes related to women and domestic violence add a different aspect to the Bush story, seen as a privileged family. This makes Jeb Bush unique in the Republican Party- unlike Marc Rubio and other candidates of Cuban ancestry from the Miami area- with deep roots on both sides of the American story, and spanning generations from Columbus, Ohio to small towns in Texas and Mexico. Rubio's parents immigrated from Cuba in 1956 under the Batista regime later overthrown by Fidel Castro. The election campaign gives Jeb Bush an opportunity to create a consensus on issues relating to minorities, immigration and the struggling middle class. In a Republican debate in 1980, Reagan said "Rather than put up a fence (between Mexico and the U.S.) why don't we work out a recognition of our mutual problems." To which George Bush Sr. said: "They are good... strong people. Part of my family is Mexican." It is an opportunity to build connections to Latinos in the U.S., and rebuild the Republican party's connections to Hispanic Americans, closing the gap with the Democratic Party. This will be good for the country to move forward....

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Christina Pretto, a Citigroup spokeswoman says the company was carefuly managing its employee levels, nothing has changed. Statements like this, a kind of corporatese speak that has been around for years is taking on a new life these days, as companies go through heart wrenching change, yet put on many different faces. Citigroup executives are saying that in addition to the 9100 layoffs expected to be announced next week, another 25% reduction in employees will likely take place by end of 2009, which would take the total employee levels to 264,000 from 354,000. Everyone from investment bankers to the backoffice functions and legal and human resources divisions will be hit. Citi's stock has lost 68% of its value this year, and is now down to single digits. On November 13 Citi fell to $9.45. The company is losing money, and will likely need more government money next year. And Vikram Pandit who has been in the CEO position for a year after selling his hedge fund to Citigroup for $165 million, appears to have lost focus, and with the loss of the Wachovia merger and the opportunity to lure deposits and built up its branch network, it is simply going forward without a strategy....

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Changes for US and Asia, EU, to ponder on are happening in Swedish schools. It is back to books in Sweden as digital learning has not worked well so far and reading has suffered in some ways dismally. At younger ages books are better for reading and comprehension than screens. "We're trying, actually, to get rid of screens as much as possible," says the Education Minister. The government uses a slogan "från skärm till pärm,  in Swedish this translates to "from screen to binder". Later in 2026 a ban on mobiles in schools even for educational use goes into effect. Digital acts as a distraction and lessens concentration say teachers. Sweden scores on PISA tests have gone down since 2012. A new curriculum based on books goes into effect in 2028 and 157 million euros will be used for new books in schools. "Reading real books and writing on real paper, and counting with real numbers on real paper, is much better if you want kids to get the knowledge they need," say Swedish education experts consulted for the changes. This is a sea change other nations need to consider doing. ...

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Changing governments and loss of the vision of the labor movement in the early decades after independence has led Israel to this impasse. Benny Gantz of the wartime Unity government calls for new elections in September as demonstrations for a new government take place in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. US president Biden tells Netanyahu on Thursday that US support hinges on treatment of civilians in Gaza. Biden says he "outraged and heart broken" at the airstrikes on aid workers vehicles in Gaza. Gantz, a former general and prime minister of Israel, said- “This agreed-upon date for elections will leave us time to continue the security effort, and it will allow Israeli citizens to know that we will soon need to renew the trust between us,” he told a news conference. “It will prevent the rupture among the people.”  One of the problems Israel faces is the political fragmentation, many parties and frequent elections leading to changes in government unlike the early decades after independence when the Labor party offered effective leadership. The social Labor and agriculture farms movement is how Israel started and prime ministers till 1980's were from this Labor and farms movement including David Ben-Gurion and Golda Meir. As Israel evolved into a more technology oriented state this aspect was lost leading to a great measure of inequality, and changing governments without a clear vision for the future.   ...

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GM halts production of Hummers at a Shreveport, Louisiana plant. There is a seven month supply- 2100 Hummers- at dealers lots- at the end of December 2009. In October 2009, Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. Ltd agreed to buy the brand, trademark, and rights to build Hummer vehicles. It is also taking over existing dealer agreements. The Hummer symbolizes the excesses in vehicle size and heft of a previous era.

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S&P credit analyst put GM and Ford on credit watch with negative implications saying both companies face a serious challenge to liquidity in 2009. And said in an interview that "these companies need a lot of liquidity to run their businesses, and they could approach the minimum levels they need if nothing changes." For GM liquidity concerns are rising because losses for the last 3 and half years have reached $70 billon and credit markets have locked it out of new financing and stalled asset sales such as the Hummer brans and its medium duty truck unit. All this has rattled investor confidence including slipping sales numbers in the US, Europe and in emerging markets like Russia. GM had the larges one day decline in its history by 31% to $4.76 on October 9, 2008, a postwar low for GM stock, and Ford fell 22% to $2.08. In fact GM's intraday low was $2.26! for an astonishing collapse.

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Following last year's Olympics Paris has regained its prominence and joins London, Barcelona and Berlin as one of the leading destination for tourists. The Bataclan terrorist attack 10 years back has not affected the bustling and lively nature of the city.

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A former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt says the Interior Department needs to take up authority it has for contract approval on use of water by individual entities in the states of California and Arizona. The department can look at how efficiently water is being use to give approval. He suggests this approach as the states of California and Arizona are nowhere near agreement on use of water from the Colorado river. Babbitt says there is risk of deadpool where the water in Lake Mead drops to levels that make water to stop running from the lake downstream to Arizona and California.

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David Kostin, Goldman Sach's U.S. equity strategist and his prediction of the S&P 500 at 1250 at the end of 2012. The S&P was at 1421 on April 1, 2012, the highest it has been since May 20, 2008. In his research note Kostin says that over the longer term the stock market will offer opportunities after a more normal growth environment is reestablished. This is similiar to the view held by John Bogle, founder of Vanguard. For the short term- the 2012-2013 time frame Kostin sees tactical risks, and results below average. The reason he gives is low economic growth and the large degree of uncertainty. The situation in Europe shows slowing to no growth and more deficit problems, and the sanctions on Iran pose risks for oil prices.

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Defying the odds after falling behind 0-2 England make it up with coach Wiegman's substitutes to 3-2 in Euro soccer quarterfinals 2025. The directness and physicality of the Swden team and England are outplayed in the first half. The second half rebound is similar to the way France rebounded against the Netherlands. The French team however moved much further to end the game completely outplaying the opponents.

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The increasing use of chemicals in daily living and of sites contaminated from chemicals pose dangers to our health. This report in The Guardian describes the role of TCE or trichloroethylene acting as a carcinogenic agent and its tole in contributing or aggravating to Parkinson's disease. Dry cleaning, carpet cleaning and other household products such as shoe polishes are some of the products and uses that create exposure to this chemical. This report says New York in 2021 and Minnesota in 2020 have followed the European Union in banning this chemical. Other states lag behind and this report says Santa Clara County, California has 23 Superfund sites that contain hazardous chemicals.

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Iran Proposal that asks $2 million per ship to be split with Oman for opening the Hormuz Straits- April 6 2026. China, Japan can pay this amount to get the 90% of the oil they need from Hormuz, which would go to reconstruction of war damage in Iran. India would shift some of its purchase of oil and gas to the US and so will Japan over 2027-2028. This would result in a shift away from the Persian Gulf dependence to renewable energy and to buying oil and gas from US+Venezuela as more reliable sources. European Union and Britain would also make this shift as shown in the adjoining article by Prof Geoffron of Universite Paris Dauphine in Le Monde. The proposal also requires US and Israel to commit to no future attack on Iran, and Israel to stop its attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon. The US and DJT call the new regime under a Speaker of the Iranian parliament, an elected president who had to respond to people sentiment in the election, and a grandson of Khomeini, one that is easier to talk with than the earlier regime. The problem remains nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles development that the US has as its sole objective which is what the war is about than Hormuz as the US and DJT say Hormuz is China and Japan's problem where for some strange reason these industrial powers import 90% of their oil from Hormuz and have done this after 40 years of disruptions, a mystery they can solve on their own. ...

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Efforts to bring the two sides together for ceasefire succeed for Black Sea but hit snags along the way. Russia wanting to get sanctions lifted on it's Agricultural Bank to lift grain and fertilizer exports. A separate deal on not attacking energy infrastructure was negotiated.  Fundamentally NATO needed to be reconstituted at the end of the Cold War. Russia's apparent weakness was temporary as it converted to a market economy from the Soviet model. It's GDP is not a correct representation of it's capabilities and need for respect as an advanced European economy. With US-Russian cooperation nothing like Syria and Venezuelan disasters would have happened disrupting the fabric of American and European democratic systems. Russian conditions include ones that were clear from the early days of the war. Ukraine joining NATO threatens Russian security. That this was not to be allowed. And Ukraine to relinquish territory now controlled by Russia in Crimea and in Ukraine's east. DJT in the US has ruled out joining NATO for Ukraine. These territories have been integrated into Russia and it is unlikely that this would change so that continuation of the war after so many lives are lost doesn't make sense. Europeans particular Baltic Republics and Poland are concerned about Russian intentions- this too is not going to change by continuation of the war. It can be addressed by putting in concrete safeguards. ...

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To better reflect a diverse electorate in the presidential nominating process in the state primary elections president Biden is proposing including states with more union voters and diversity. South Carolina comes first with more union and diverse voters, then Iowa and New Hampshire with more rural voters, then Michigan with more union voters, followed by Georgia.