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Expected legal settlements of $13.7 billion for the Gulf Oil Spill are $10 billion more than what was set aside. Oil prices are below $50 a barrel in Jan. 2015 and BP is making job cuts. BP's stake in Russian state owned oil company Rosneft is in a country facing western sanctions and a deep recession.

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Google Apps cloud based business productivity software has about 5 million businesses using it for document writing, collaboration, text and video communications. A big advantage over Microsoft is the simplicity in pricing of $50 per person using the product per year. Larger businesses such as drugmaker Roche and the U.S. Interior Department have adopted Google Apps for Business.

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The falling revenue to the government should lead to a $50 billion deficit for Australia in the coming year. Falling commodity prices exacerbate the situation for Australia. THe export price index fell 4.3% for the first quarter 2009 from the previous quarter. And Australia's central bank expects the terms of trade by 20% in the coming year.

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Detroit carmakers Chrysler and GM are falling back on incentives to grow sales for 2010 models. Chrysler is offering rebates upto $4000 and 0% financing. But it is a sign of how low the capacity utilization is in the industry. North American auto capacity utilization will average about 50% in 2009 according to JD Power & Associates.

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Prakash and Ghosh in the Hindusthan Times remind readers that even though India has ambitious plans for renewable energy much remains to be done in shifting to clean coal technologies. An estimated 80% of India's coal plants use obsolete technologies, making this an obvious area for improvement. India plans to make solar the source of 100GW of 175GW it plans to generate in renewable energy by 2022. Yet it must not be forgotten that coal is a dominant source for the foreseeable future and shifting to clean coal technologies is an area that should get top priority from the government. Today India is the third largest in terms of carbon emissions after the U.S and China.

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A government motion to delay Brexit for at least 3 months passed the House of Commons by 412 votes to 202. The large majority voting for an extension shows overwhelming support across all parties for more time to resolve the issue of European Union membership. Opposition Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn called for a second Brexit referendum, saying the call was for "a public vote, not as political point scoring but as a realistic option to break the deadlock." If there is no agreement by June 30, a longer extension of 12 months could follow. 

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World Bank projections of Indian growth rate are lowered from 6.6% to 5.8% because of DJT US administration's 50% tariff on imports from India. "It is in America’s national interest, then, for South Asia, and especially India, to grow at a rapid clip. That would create a counterweight in Asia to China’s massive economic and military expansion." This is the opinion of the Editorial Board of The Washington Post. It goes on to say that -  "But Trump is determined to negotiate a grand trade bargain with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, so he didn’t impose secondary sanctions on their purchases of Russian crude.Trump wants U.S. trade policy to be more self-interested, but it doesn’t serve America’s strategic interests to strengthen China’s position relative to its neighbors. At some level, the administration surely knows this." The Washington Post has identified a basic flaw in the US policy towards India. Both parties in America have fallen into a trap of believing that first Japan, then China with accelerated economic expansion in the 1920's and 30's and in the 2000's and 2010's  are not going to run into issues with such expansion, this being the military and the separation from US economic cooperation that enabled the economic expansion of both Asian countries. Another aspect is that in 1950 China was similar in size of economy to India at 1.18, in 1903 and in 1962 at 1.18, and the gap between China and India is only a story of the last 2 decades. By 2047 India surely has the potential to close this gap with economic and technological integration with the US and European economies that were the pillars of China's economic expansion in an earlier period.  There are other aspects of culture and size- The Bhagavad Gita and the Bible provided Gandhi with an integrated view of western civilization. With its interactions and adoption of western institutions and government, of law, the new Indian state and its neighbor Indonesia represent 1.7 billion people in Asia, with Japan and the Philippines 2 billion people twice the size of China.   ...

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India's Aakash tablet priced at $42 for the Indian market at subsidized 50% by the Indian governmnt for students at colleges and universities in India.

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This WSJ report traces the development of rail, trucking, container shipping and forklift use in Germany, Russia and the US. The World Bank Logistics Index shows Germany ranking first, the US 14th, China 26th, Russia 75th out of 160 countries.  Russia's military relies on a supply system that uses crates instead of container shipping, not much use of forklifts, and relies on rail and conscript labor. During the invasion of Ukraine in April Russian supply lines that did not control rail failed to supply forces leading to slow progress. Because of dense rail lines in the eastern Donbas region Russian supply lines have worked to sustain advances. About 750 miles of rail lines have also been repaired by a special force set up for this purpose.  In a larger sense the problem of logistics and supplying front lines remains. This report shows the contrast between the development of Russian logistics and American logistics described by military experts in the US. The Russian system evolved in the early years of the 20th century based on conscript or free and abundant labor compared to the US where labor was scarce and costly. Automation progressed rapidly with American business taking up use of forklifts and containers during the 1940's extending to its use in the military. During the Vietnam war Cam Ranh Bay US bases were converted to modern container and forklift use. Russia continued through the sixties till today with a different and less automated system of logistics and movement of goods.    The use of modern logistics in Russia is limited to the amount of freight that gets moved in Colombia and much less than France says this report in WSJ. Much of the industrial base in Russia is built around oil and gas exports and manufacturing with movement of supply chain parts has never taken the importance that it has in Germany or the US. This limits the capacity of the Russian military outside the rail lines located towns and cities in Donbas where it has recently made gains. ...

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How the state of Maharashtra was formed from Bombay state that included Gujarat, by making language as a basis of state formation offers clues for India's economic and political solutions to the problem of modernizing the country in the way Japan and China have done. The same is true for Gujarat.  Gujarat added the princely states of Saurashtra. The original Bombay state did not include Saurashtra or the Vidarbha and Marathwada regions of today's Maharashtra state. Vidarbha and Marathwada were added to create Maharashtra, Saurashtra was added to create Gujarat. Voting patterns have given the party that is pushing hardest for modernization of infrastructure with speed and scale favorability in most regions of Maharashtra except Marathwada regions and most regions of Gujarat except Saurashtra. The Bombay city region that forms a large part of the voting population in Maharashtra came first under the influence of British, then Gujarati business, then trade unions, followed by a Mumbai for Marathis movement, and now an integration of the Marathi movement into one that reaches for leadership for modernization on a national scale.   Bombay city is itself being dug up in a way Tokyo in the 20's and 60's must have been, or Shanghai in the 90's, 1912 sites have been dug up for a next generation Metro system of trains, a bullet train to Ahmedabad and New Delhi and for bridges across the Arabian sea, new expressways. Projects that were stalled for decades because of political stalling inaction are now being pushed ahead to be finished in 2-3 years or half the time. In Japan in the 20's the incentive was Japan's resurgence, in the 60's its recovery from world war. In China in the 90's the rush to modernize after the Japanese invasion and failed attempts in the 60's. In India today it is the rush to modernize after the British Empire's extraction of wealth from the country since 1850, and the failed attempts twice in the 60's and 90's.   ...

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Perceptions of Turkey in Germany are shown here in DW.com. Turkey has 1.5 million people in Germany who vote in this election. About 70% of people in Germany see the opposition providing an alternative as good for the future of Turkey. The general perception is that Turkey is facing a severe crisis after the cost of living crisis and the earthquake, the Ukraine war cutting off food imports, that it needs foreign investment in the economy as a part of the US and European nations. The Republican party in the Opposition led now by a modest civil servant named Kilicdaroglu, was founded in 1921 by Kemal Ataturk when the colonial powers decided to breakup the Ottoman Empire and the Anatolian heartland. It was in Ankara that Ataturk formed the resistance to that plan and setup the modern state of Turkey by doing what Japan did- taking on western institutions, dress, education, and changing from Arabic to an alphabet that would increase literacy. A transformation that was a sort of miracle that was accomplished between 1921 and 1938 under Ataturk's leadership. Ataturk's vision at that time was that Turkey would be close partner to America and Europe. John F. Kennedy taped an audio broadcast on the 25th anniversary of Ataturk's death in 1963 at the White House pointing out Ataturk's achievement and vision. It is to this vision that the Republican party now moves after an effort over 2 decades to move the country back to its Ottoman period. That period happened around 1500. The Ottoman period lasted for only 150 years before it was pushed back in the 18th and 19th century by European powers. Before that Turkey and Constantinople was an integral part of European civilization. In fact modern Turkey under Ataturk and Greece maintained close relations and worked together in a shared responsibility to maintain peace in the Balkans, something almost forgotten today. Greece joined the western nations when US president Truman responded with American assistance during the 1950's, so did Turkey.  ...

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US Supreme Court Justices fail to grasp the importance of education and education affordability in the rise of America as an industrialized nation in the last 150 years- from a largely agricultural rural country to an advanced industrial economy. Comments by Supreme Court Justices show this clearly. Justice Roberts compares a college education to starting a lawn business, failing to grasp the importance of education and it being affordable for all when he asked yesterday whether it made sense to forgive loans made out by students and not say ones made out to someone starting a lawn care business.  Astonishingly the same lack of awareness prevails among Justices appointed by Democrats. Justice Kagan said- "Congress passed a law that dealt with loan repayment for colleges, and they did not pass a law for loan repayment for lawn businesses. And so Congress made a choice, and it may have been the right choice or the wrong choice, but that's Congress's choice." Kagan shows a lack of conviction about the value of education for the US economy, and the serious crisis with the lack of affordability of education in America in America's ability to compete with China and the European Union, through her words. Reporting in the WSJ has shown in the past year- the lack of college enrollment for young men graduating from high school where lack of affordability makes a college education out of reach, and young men falling behind young women. This is a serious problem that America has not seen in its rise as an industrialized advanced nation. The pandemic has worsened this problem. Reporting also shows federal funding of education remains underutilized today because it is seen as burdening with debt. President Biden seeks to change this perception of education that is deindustrializing America and failing the country in its efforts to compete in the world. Justice Roberts and Justice Kagan have both failed the country.     ...

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COP26 stands for Conference of the Parties for Climate Change. The conference will be held in Glasgow from 31 October to 12 November 2021 in the UK. It is important because for the first time the major countries are keen on pushing forward with climate change policies and targets. This includes India, China, US, European Union, and major Asian, Latin American, African nations. In India Mr. Modi has set a target of 450 GW for renewable energy. China is aggressively cutting back on its use of coal to the point of tolerating cutbacks in electricity for industry and cities. US, UK, Germany, Nordic countries are pushing forward with new targets for reducing coal consumption and increasing renewable energy production, advancing renewable energy technologies. The new Biden administration in the US and the Greens in Germany have replaced administrations that were not as committed to tackling climate change. With China and India also committed to tackling climate change with renewed vigor the stage is set for serious steps to be taken. To reach the target of limiting global heating by no more than 1.5 degrees centigrade countries all over the world have to cut emissions by 45%. In reality emissions will increase by 16% in 2021 because China and India still depend on coal and developed nations have not cut back enough. To cut use of coal and preserve forests, avoid the drastic changes in weather patterns with drought and floods in different parts of the same country seen in Germany, India, African countries and other Asian countries a lot needs to be done. Here Mr Kerry the US Representative for Climate Change, says -"There is a significant increase in ambition on cutting emissions than ever imagined possible. A much larger group of people are stepping up." It is not clear if Mr. Xi of China will attend the Glasgow meeting. He has talked to Mr. Biden at length on this issue recently. Mr. Modi of India will attend and will meet Denmark's prime minister Mitte and other leaders before the COP26 in Glasgow.  ...

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For the first time in decades the U.S. trade deficit with China is falling significantly. China's exports to the U.S. dropped 12.5% to $296 billion in 2019 from $323 billion in 2018, according to Chinese customs data. Actually China's trade surplus with the U.S would have fallen even more had not the U.S. exports to China declined by 21%. With the Phase 1 trade deal negotiated recently U.S. exports to China will increase significantly, while 25% tariff on $250 billion in Chinese goods still in place limits China's exports. This means in 2021 and 2022 and years ahead China's surplus should shrink much faster achieving one of the principal goals of Mr. Trump and his trade negotiator Mr. Lighthizer. Mr. Lighthizer was chosen by Mr. Trump for having accomplished a similar goal decades back in the eighties with Japan's surplus. Even though China has not stated this in writing, American officials have said China will increase purchases of American goods and services by at least $200 billion over the next 2 years from 2017 levels. China and the U.S. have essentially agreed that the two economies so tightly intertwined works to the detriment of the U.S. with the Chinese surplus creating tensions. China will now have the European Union as the largest trading partner followed by south east Asian countries, and other regions. China decided that its priority is technological development and was unwilling to meet U.S. demands to reduce its efforts for technological competition and access to western technologies. Instead opting for shifting it economy away from dependence on exports to the U.S. in a gradual way. The other demand of the U.S. for stopping state subsidies is also a concession China is not willing to make as it sees it as an economic feature of its business model that is working and a competitive advantage.  This leaves the U.S. with a limited win so that trade and resulting jobs can be brought into favoring the U.S. a key Trump goal, and not a win in the technological competition with China which will continue. ...

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PM Modi talks about the changes since 2014 and the difference in India now compared to before 2014, during his visit to Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, a place that is close to his heart. His visit is for the "Garib Kalyan Sammelan" for the many schemes launched by his government for the benefit of ordinary people. "Before 2014 there were headlines in the newspapers, debates were taking place on TV channels regarding loot corruption and scams. But time has changed, now the talk is about benefit of government schemes. The World Bank too talks about ease of doing business in India. The Government prior to 2014 regarded corruption as a necessary part of the system. That government succumbed to corruption instead of fighting it. The country then was watching money for schemes being looted instead of going to the needy." With the combination of Jan Dhan, Aadhar and Mobile Modi said money was directly reaching the beneficiary account. Previous governments had accepted that money would not reach the beneficiary and development would be looted. "We have taken the initiative to make 100% benefits reach 100% of the beneficiaries. The government has taken the pledge for reaching the saturation of beneficiaries. 100% empowerment means ending the discrimination, every poor person gets the full benefit of government schemes." "Earlier there was compulsion to suffer because of smoke from the kitchen, today there is the facility to get LPG cylinders from the Ujjwala scheme. Earlier there was the shame of open defecation, today the poor have dignity of toilets. Earlier there was helplessness to raise money for treatment and hospitalization, today the poor have the benefit of Ayushman Bharat." PM Modi talked about how the Northeast was alienated before 2014, and now it was connected by heart and by infrastructure. During the pandemic India sent medicine and vaccines to 150 countries. India stretched out its hand to help other nations. India, he said, has shown that it not only has the potential, it is also a performer. International organizations are accepting that poverty is coming down and there are more facilities for the people. ...

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 India would be 27% richer if it rebalanced its workforce to include more women, according to the IMF. Women's participation in the workforce is the lowest of the G20 countries except Saudi Arabia. Contributing only one sixth of economic output, half the global average. The employment rate of women in India has dropped instead of rising from its low level, an alarm signal. It was 35% in 2005, now in 2018 it is 26%. In the last decade the economy has more than doubled in size and number of working age women, according to the IMF is 470 million. Part of the reason is that more girls are in school. Conservative social rules mean that women are discouraged by their families or in-laws from working outside the home. As families become richer more women stop working. The lack of manufacturing jobs is also a constraint. Men have taken 90% of the 36 million jobs in industry created since 2005. Census data show that more than one third of women would take jobs if they were available. Urbanization and the shift to cities means less work in farming, mechanization of farming makes for less agricultural work. Changes in attitudes and better policies for maternity leave and women friendly workplace could help. Because most of the jobs are still in the informal economy, this is not as effective today but could make a difference in the future as more formal jobs are generated. Attitudes where men do more housework can make a difference. If men spent about 2 hours doing dishes and putting kids to bed, there would be a 10% increase in women's participation rate in the workforce, according to a World Bank study. One study shows this would add 550 billion dollars to India's economy. True especially as more women are getting university degrees and high school education. and the census study shows women have the desire to work if cultural attitudes, more men doing housework, and the job market were to change.       ...

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Washington Post's new idea of developing content for social media platforms  (Third Newsroom) to cut losses of $77 million in 2023 by earning profit on social brand exercises, comes at a time when the risks of social media platforms to education of children and to their mental health are great. Social media platforms entry into the news business has led to old news companies first interacting with them over a decade and realizing that this was leading to gains for social media platforms and losses for the old news companies. For older news companies such as the NYT, WSJ, Washington Post and others in the US this was a period in which these companies lost control over their news content along with loss of revenues. Over the last five years the companies have become profitable managing their own content and increasing subscriptions. The Washington Post has run into problems and has a $77 million loss. It was sold to Amazon's Bezos for $250 million by the founding family in 2013.  It is now trying to revive its business by doing what failed for the NYT, WSJ and others- by embracing rather than rejecting social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, and others using the News Movement idea of UK journalist Lewis and Winnett. That News Movement makes content for Instagram and TikTok but has not generated profits. Under Lewis as head of Washington Post news division, Matt Murray formerly editor of WSJ would as head of Third Newsroom develop this kind of content for social media platforms. This runs the risks of aiding the work of social media platforms at a time when TikTok has raised national security concerns in the US, and along with Instagram is being cited as part of social media platforms that are affecting the mental health of children. Its disastrous impact on the health of the Nation and its future comes from reducing focus on education and studies by diverting an average of 4.8 hours each day away from educational activity for the children that make up the future generation of this Nation. ...

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In all the coverage on the Indian election the impossible having been accomplished that of going beyond the 244 million voters in the US, beyond the 373 million voters in the European Union. The eligible voters in India 2024 are 640 million and all the counting done on one day was accomplished by the Electoral Commission and tackled under leadership of the team by Rajiv Kumar, a civil servant who earlier served as the Finance Secretary of India. The results show that the elections were free and fair as the results speak for themselves that the opposition parties did better than they expected. What was not told in media coverage in the US and EU/UK was that the Opposition and the current government are at odds on one fundamental issue that a continental country suffering from centuries of colonialism can only create a modern nation with the infrastructure enjoyed by the US, EU, China, if it creates a large enough pool of investment in the trillions of dollars, has a master plan of proven execution, with no leakages from this pool of investment. Leakages from the pool of investment only stopped after 2014, and actions of direct deposits to 400 million bank accounts or rural households was essential. For modernization to succeed another condition that had to be fulfilled was to create even through a pandemic a core of about 500 million of 1.4 billion people of the middle and lower classes who would approach the conditions o the US, EU, China consumer base for industry. This the Modi government has done with all its projects and hard work by adding the 250 million people to the consumer base pulled out of poverty. The task ahead is doing what the US, EU, China as continental nations have done to modernize and industrialize 2024-2035 to build the third largest economy ahead of the EU by 2035 and every state and city in India aspires to this transformation, from the south and northeast to the north and the west.   ...

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Sadanand Dhume in WSJ reflects opinion in the US that is wary of handout politics that has been carried to an extreme in India's election. In Venezuela the bad turn for the oil rich economy was when Chavez's successor Maduro ignorant of the problems it would create decided to give oil at almost no cost to all Venezuelans. In India the leading opposition party offered $1 lakh rupees to every woman in the state of Uttar Pradesh. India's federal government under Modi has given free food to about 800 million people and renewed the pledge this year because of the pandemic's devastating the rural economy- about 60% of India is still rural. This is essential for India to advance to build a broad based growth model for India similar to China 1990-2010 and Japan 1890-1915 and 1950-1970 during the transformation of their economies, similar also to the US under FDR/Truman/Eisenhower/Kennedy 1940-1965.  Clean environments Swacch Bharat was essential for basic sanitation and toilets to reduce health risks, cooking gas to shift rural women from firewood and health risks, direct deposit bank accounts for 300 million rural households essential to eliminate leakages, solar energy is planned to cut energy cost  This has brought and will bring the level of income and consumption power of the lower and middle classes to create a 500 million strong consumer base for industry. It is a carefully planned effort based on the success in states such as Gujarat, and looking at the way this was done in China and the US for learning lessons. It is not a reckless effort to win votes such as the offer of 1 lakh rupees to every woman in Uttar Pradesh state with no plan for industrialization and modernization of the Indian economy to make it the third largest ahead of the EU by 2035. Dhume is right to point this out and it is apparent to any outsider who looks at Sab Ka Vikas Sab Ke Saath- prosperity for all, including all parts of society irrespective of caste and religion.  ...

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The WSJ is still calling the president's stop fentanyl flows tariffs on CMC Canada Mexico and China economic tariffs in this editorial board opinion. It is incomprehensible that little or no mention is made in most of the media of the magnitude of injury to the US, the 490,000 deaths in America over 12 years as the result of Canada, Mexico and China not taking the needed action to stop fentanyl flows into the US. There is also the added factor of lack of a level playing field in trade which has resulted in the same communities in many cases having suffered from in the case of China loss of 25 million jobs over the last 10 years and loss of $250 billion in infrastructure and public services for schools, libraries, childcare, and health care clinics that were lost from losses in taxes for local communities in the US. This has decimated life in these communities and in small towns across America.  In the case of Mexico the illegal migrant flows that were not stopped at the border have put an added burden on already underfunded and strained public services in local communities in the US. This is the reason for much of the frustration and anger that has built up over time in these communities with the response from the DJT administration to find solutions. CMC countries could have taken action on their own, yet the US had waited too long for this action. Reciprocal in reciprocal tariffs is about fairness, a level playing field, something that China had agreed to in the spirit of the WTO entry in 1994 and American desire to aid China industrialize build a modern economy. Instead US business was coopted by China during the industrialization process 1995-2010, 2010-2020, including in the first term of the DJT administration even when tariffs were imposed. This happened with transfer of technologies happening late into the first term of the DJT administration 2016-2020, which has led to a much of the pent up frustration and action in the first 100 days of DJT in 2025.  ...

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A brief history of the US presence in Greenland and US-Denmark relations in Le Monde. On a map Greenland is located closest to Canada on the Smith Sound with the American base of Thule nearby. Next closest is Iceland. Norway and Denmark are further away. Around 1814 when Britain invaded and occupied Denmark in the Napoleonic Wars, Norway which was part of Denmark since 1400 was given to Sweden by Treaty of Kiel. Greenland, Faroe and Iceland were Norwegian dependencies. All three were kept by Denmark.  Icelanders set up small settlements on shores of Greenland in the 10th century which did not survive. Other parts of the island's shore were visited by the Dutch who came into conflict with the Danes after 1500. No country could claim ownership of Greenland as because of the harsh climate there very few settlements survived except of the native Inuit people population of 14,000 by 1900 who lived there. In 2025 about 56,000 Inuit live on Greenland. Robert Peary explored the vast Greenland region for the US Navy on on many trips from 1894 to 1909. With his ship The Roosevelt he reached a point about 100 kilometres from the North Pole in 1909. This is part of the US history on Greenland. Denmark signed documents asking for US protection of Greenland after Denmark was occupied by Nazi Germany in 1941. The Danish ambassador in Washington signed an agreement with Cordell Hull US Secretary of State making Greenland a protectorate of the US. The US set up military bases in Greenland. Today the US base in Thule is 1220 miles north of the Arctic Circle. It has a giant radar capable of detecting ballistic missile attack and a control center of the US military satellite network. At one time 10,000 soldiers were stationed at Thule base, today about 150 soldiers are in Thule. ...

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Kyle Wingfield meets up with Robert Mundell, Nobel winner in 1999. What does he have to say now? He thinks the oil prices are on track and would reach $130 by 2020 with 3.5% inflation, starting with $34 a barrel in 1980 doubling to $68 in 2000 and doubling again to $136 in 2020. Today its already at $136 but he thinks it will settle down lower to about $100, so hethinks were not so far off track. On inflation he looks at the price of gold at$850 an ounce , and now its still about the same, with high inflation gold should be at $1500, so he does not see the public thinking high inflation is coming. He was in favor of the Reagan tax cuts and set the groundwork for this and aslo supported the euro. He believes the Bush tax cuts should be kept as it would be disastrous for the world economy. Mundell has always believed that there is a link between economic growth and lower tax rates. He advocates corporate tax rates of 25%. Tax rates went down to 28% under Reagan back up to 40% under Clinton and down to 35% under Bush. Hewould like to see a ceiling on marginal rates of 30%. He would like to see a fixed exchange rate so that there are not these large currency rate swings, the euro should be valued somehwehere between 90 cents to the euro to $1.30. The US has a growing population and better adoption of innovation with a younger population than Europe so he sees the USA as a leader in innovation and growth and the dollar or some new global currency should be formed for a global economy. Just as he supported the euro he supports a currency for Asia. He does not see overvaluing the Chinese currency as doing much good as he sees the Japanese economy hurt by the overvaluing of its currency after a period of Japoan bashing. He is an advisor to China on currency issues....

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Airbus is making the Airbus 380 superjumbo model plane about 25% slower than originally planned say Airbus executives. This is partly because manufacturing is sequenced between France and Germany. The way the production system for the A380 is organized today is to split work between the French and German operations. The plane structure is built in Toulouse, France, and the cabin and interiors are fitted together in Hamburg, Germany. Tom Williams, Airbus executive vice president for programs, says this slows the completion and increases the cost. On the A330 models the work on the interior is done along the way as the structural work is being done, and this reduces cost and speeds up completion. Part of the problem is the sensitivity of the issue of moving work for unions and governments, but he now plans to push the A380 cabin outfitting back up to the earlier stage when the airplane is being built. A slower production rate means workers and engineers are learning more slowly how to build these planes efficiently by structuring tasks in a certain way and using different production methods. Boeing has also experienced similiar production delays and is working on moving up the learning curve the way EADS Airbus is doing. The A380 program has suffered delays over the years. In 2009 wiring the cabins was a problem. In 2010 a Rolls Royce engine on a A380 flight by Quantas Airways blew up on a flight after takeoff from Singapore. Because of manufacturing issues there were delays in delivery of Rolls Royce engines in 2011. Bot problems were resolved. In 2012 Airbus has found cracks in metal parts inside A380 wings which has slowed output. Airbus has delivered 77 A380 planes since 2007. The production rate is 3 A380 planes a month, compared to plans to make 4 a month by 2012. About 30 A380's are expected to be delivered in 2012, compared to 26 in 2011, 18 in 2010....

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BUSH AND E85- ITS UPTO MARKET ECONOMICS, NO DIRECT ACTION AS IN BRAZIL. U.S. oil companies are skeptical about E85 and are not investing in pumps and filling stations. Only 800 of 17,000 gasoline filling stations in the U.S. have ethanol. Unless required to do so station owners are not likely to invest thousands of dollars in ethanol pumps. In Brazil the government took direct action to promote ethanol use, giving sugar cane companies cut rate loans and guaranteed prices for the product, and it required state run Petrobras to make ethanol available at filling stations. The cost auto companies say in this article is only about $100 extra per vehicle for extra anticorrosive materials and computer sensors for ethanol capable cars. With market economics and no direct government action the picture is fuzzy how the whole E85 project is going to come out.