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Speaking at the Economc Club of Indiana, U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Bernanke, says responsibility for fiscal policy lies fully on Congress and the administration. Monetary easing through QE I,II and III, which reduces the borrowing costs of the U.S. government by keeping interest rates low, cannot be seen as taking pressure off Congress and the administration, as critics claim. He countered criticism by saying: "Suppose notwithstanding our legal mandate, the Federal Reserve were to raise interest rates for the purpose of making it more expensive for the government to borrow. Such an action would substantially increase the deficit, not only because of higher interest rates, but also because the weaker recovery that would result from premature monetary tightening would further widen the gap between spening and revenues." Lawmakers would be no more inclined to come up with a program to reduce the deficit in this situation argues Bernanke. This statement of Bernake only reaffirms that low interest rates are an important goal here in the U.S.,- just as they are for France and other countries in Europe that are faced with tackling large debt and deficits- and are part of the overall solution for the government to manage its finances....

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Speech by European Union President von der Leyen on her visit to India and signing Major Partnership Agreement : ‘The Consequential Partnership: Reimagining and realigning EU and India ties for today's world'-   "This world is fraught with danger. But I believe this modern version of great power competition is an opportunity for Europe and India to reimagine their partnership. In many ways, the EU and India are uniquely placed to respond to this challenge together. India is the largest democracy and soon to be in the top 4 of the world's largest economies. It is the leading voice of the Global South. Europe is a unique cross-border democracy and open economy. The largest trading partner for some 80 countries around the world. But this partnership makes sense not only because of our shared values or our close ties. Or even because of our respective geographies, demographies or economies. But it is because our interests in this hyper-competitive world align more often than not. We both stand to lose from a world of spheres of influence and isolationism. And we both stand to gain from a world of cooperation and working together. Because we can offer each other distinctive alternatives and tools to make ourselves stronger, more secure and more sovereign in today's world. The kind of offer that cannot really be replicated by others. This is why the EU and India have the potential to be one of the defining partnerships of this Century. And it is why it will be a cornerstone of Europe's foreign policy in the years and decades to come. So, I want this visit to be the start of this new era. Prime Minister Modi and I share the same view. It is time to take our EU-India Strategic Partnership to the next level. For our own security and our prosperity. For the common global challenges that we face. And for the benefit of our respective regions and our partners around the world." ...

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Adam Bryant's exceptional piece that provides the essence of the Qualcomm Way. Qualcomm CEO Steven Mollenkompf, describes the high tolerance for uncertainty in which the company and its managers operate. It is better, says Mollenkompf, to take risks when throwing the ball than when holding it, a piece of advice from his father using a basketball analogy. This mean approaching the fire as he puts it, when opportunities arise but less is known about the details and a high degree of uncertainty prevails. Here he describes how he hires and how he evaluates employees giving them a lot of room to learn, as basically mistakes can be corrected in his experience. It is a culture that encourages and makes sure the A's and B's have what is needed to influence things, not to spend energy on bringing a C to a B level. For this to happen rewards are given for the right kind of behaviours, and there is no tolerance for negative behaviours (jerks for example)- smart people have to get along with other smart people and that is important to get the company moving in the right direction. In evaluating he looks at contributions made over a longer period, doing the right things so that the organization takes opportunities and succeeds 5 years from today. Qualcomm's ability to grow in a rapidly changing tech environment and seize opportunities as they arise, may be attributed to this style of management....

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As president Jinping begins a second five year term his focus is on the small communities like Chashan, only a 6 hour drive from Beijing, that were neglected in the rush to industrialization. He has vowed to get rid of poverty in China by 2020. About 43 million people live in rural communities that have mostly older people and live on 95 cents a day. There is another challenge say experts which is the much larger popuation that lives in rural and urban areas- including urban migrants without property and residence rights- who live on less than $5.50 per day, $165 a month, according to the World Bank. This is about 1070 yuan per month, or in Indian rupees for a comparison with India- which was at a similar stage of development in 1990- of Rs 10,000 per month. About 40% of China's population or 560 million people are in this group. With a rapidly aging society as a result of the earlier one child policy, China faces the risk of not advancing from the level of a middle income country, in the way that South Korea and Japan have moved to levels similar to Western Europe and the U.S. As China's growth level slows and with an aging society this remains a major challenge. As this report shows there is great pressure on local officials to eliminate the poverty level of people living below $30 or about 200 yuan a month, as targets are set at local levels and corruption weakens the effort. There is concern at the lack of an effort to improve the living conditions of the 200 million rural migrants living in cities, who under China's "hukou" system are not considered residents and are not getting education and health benefits. ...

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Pankaj Mishra gives a detailed account of the man, his politics and his efforts to change Pakistan.

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Republicans hold a strong advantage with the white blue collar vote going into the U.S. presidential elections of 2012. This comes after a strong showing in the congressional elections of 2010.

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Morgenson cites Paul Diggle, property economist at Capital Economics in London, about why the $26 billion mortgage settlement between the state attorneys general, the U.S. government and the large U.S. banks is unlikely to make much difference to the foreclosure problems in the housing market. The agreement provides for reducing principal by $17 billion over 3 years for homeowners under water. Diggle points out that $17 billion is a drop compared to what is needed, because 11 million homeowners are now under water on their loans to the amount of $700 billion. The $17 billion is a mere 2.4% of the negative equity of $700 billion.

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Limits of new tech devices without good intelligence or help and support from the local people.

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The home price decline is shifting from Las Vegas, Miami and Phoenix to other U.S. cities in 2011. Seattle, Minneapolis and Atlanta are seeing large declines in home prices. Seattle is down 31% from the mid-2007 peak and still has 10 percent to fall, according to real estate site Zillow.

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Mario Monti, prime minster of Italy, defends his labor reforms in Italy, in a letter to the Journal.