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This NYT editorial describes U.S. president Obama's West Point speech as lacking substance and overhyped. Issues of how to tackle relations with a more assertive China and Russia were left unaddressed, and the increase in tensions in Asia and in Europe were left out. Much of the speech used platitudes without spelling out what the U.S. would do, such as saying that there was no question that the U.S. would lead, it was about how it would lead. Questions raised about Obama's handling of foreign affairs will not be addressed by this speech, says NYT. The WSJ editorial on May 29, 2014, expressed a similiar opinion, suggesting that many are asking the same questions about whether there is a policy or whether it is being framed by Mr. Obama's personal preferences to stay out of most foreign issues and focus on domestic affairs, even though this means neglect of issues in which the lack of U.S. leadership will have serious implications for the future. Was the address an attempt to gloss over these obvious deficiencies with Mr. Obama's rhetorical skills?...

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Friedman calls for a third party candidate to bring a focus on the issues facing the U.S. - winding down the war in Afghanistan, increasing fuel economy and conservation to reduce dependence on foreign oil inclusing a gasoline tax, enacting the proposals of the Simpson-Bowles Commission which eliminates or reduces tax expenditures and reduces spending, and provides any needed fiscal support for the short run. He says the two party duopoly is not working and even if the third party succeeds only in framing the debate and the issues in a constructive and useful way, it will have achieved something significant.

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The Indian government's chief economic advisor, Kaushik Basu, says the opening up of India's retail sector would have benefitted everyone including middle traders. This would happen because the retail sector would go through a vast expansion creating room for more players even though the per unit margin from products would go down. Experts say the infusion of new technologies and investment in India's supply chain and cold storage setup would help reduce food prices and inflation. Basu made the comments at the launching of the New Oxford Companion to Economics in India in Feb 2012. Basu is co-editor and it has contributions from Ratan Tata, Pranab Mukherjee, and Nandan Nilekhani.

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This opinion piece in DW.com says India's prime minister should not isolate prime minister Sharif of Pakistan, as he had no part in the escalation of tensions in Kashmir. Foreign and military affairs are now run by the Pakistan Army, and isolating Sharif only entrenches the Army it says, which has kept up tensions similar to the situation in 1999 with the Kargil crisis when the Pakistan Army initiated a conflict in Kargil region. At that time Indian premier Vajpayee and Pakistan premier Sharif were improving relations. 

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The Economist magazine says the difficult process of Brexit is now being put by Theresa May into the hands of the pro-Brexit ministers, Liam Fox, David Davis and Boris Johnson. Just staffing the Department for Exiting the EU under Davis, and the Department for International Trade under Liam Fox is taking a lot of time. And the differences between Fox and Davis also figure into the time it will take to invoke Article 50. It says the points put forward by Brexiters that Britain could revert to WTO rules do not work so well in practice, and it takes years to negotiate new trade agreements with other countries. It sees many problems, and says it is no wonder that Theresa May has told the Brexiter ministers to come up with answers as they are the ones who have sold this idea to the country.

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ECB president Draghi tells a Brookings Institution audience on Oct. 9, 2014 "for governments that have fiscal space, then of course it makes sense to use it," referring to Germany. IMF's Christine Lagarde is also calling on Germany to increase spending. The German statistics office says exports declined 5.8% in August from prior month. Mr. Draghi also emphasized that the survival of European governments depended on getting economic changes right- "if they don't do the right things, they will disappear forever because they will not be re-elected." Germany's respected economic institutes said in a joint statement that GDP growth in 2014 will be down from earlier forecast of 1.9% to 1.3%. In 2015 growth is forecast at 1.2%. For the 3rd quarter 2014 growth is zero and for the 4th quarter 2014 it is estimated at 0.1%. Economic contraction is not ruled out.

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Gordon Brown outlines Scotland's shared interests with the rest of Britain at the time of a referendum on Scotland's independence. He describes Scotland's key role in the shipping industry and the industrialization of Britain, the period since the loss of the shipping industry, and the search for alternative sources of employment and development in a period of globalization. A key figure for Brown is the average income of people in Scotland, which is similar to that of its neighbors in England, showing that development has kept pace with the rest of Britain. For Brown it is these social and economic rights that underpin the union of different ethnic peoples and heritage of Irish, Scottish and English origins.

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A new study by the Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation shows partisan politics will affect the new president in the U.S. in 2013, to the point of making it difficult to govern.

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Greece is estimated to lose $30 billion in uncollected taxes each year. In an effort to make the wealthy pay their fair share in deficit reduction and austerity measures the Greek government is going after tax havens in London of Greeks shifting money abroad. This includes important members of parliament including the president of the Greek parliament.

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Yannis Stournaras, economcs professor at the University of Athens becomes the finance minister in the new administration of prime minister Antonis Samaras. He holds a doctorate from Oxford University in economic theory and policy, lectured at St. Catherine's College, Oxford and at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. He was special advisor on monetary policy to the finance minstry and Greece's central bank. His public official positions include vice chairman of the Greek natural gas company and board member of the public debt management agency. He is well qualified to lead the effort for Greece to remain in the European Union with modified terms that extend the achievement of deficit targets by 2 years to 2016, and offer tax cuts and other growth oriented measures to get the Greek economy back on the path to recovery and growth after 4 years of declining GDP. He also brings a sense of committment to the EU, because he was chief economic advisor to Greece's Finance Ministry in 1994-2000 and took part in the negotiations that led to Greece's joining the eurozone in 2001. His strong views about changes needed to Greece's overregulated economy which favors special interests also coincide with the moves for labor and other reforms taken by the Monti and Rajoy governments in Italy and Spain. ...