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The U.S. economy added an average of 284,000 jobs each month for October, November and December 2015. In December 292,000 new jobs were added. The monthly rate for the first 9 months was an average of 200,000 jobs. This shows the pace accelerated by Dec. 2015. In all 2.65 million jobs were added in 2015. The unemployment rate is now at 5%. Yet the wage gains are modest, at 2.5% for 2015. The average hourly wage is at $25.24. The labor force participation rate has declined for many years and stands at 62.6%, as many people are too discouraged to look for work- this is the share of Americans having jobs or looking for work. Experts say this is like a huge shadow work force existing on the side that could explain the lack of wage gains, as the official figure of unemployment is not reflecting the discouraged workers who have dropped out of the labor market.

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Michael Woodford, is a Briton who rises through the ranks to become CEO of Japanese company Olympus, only to be fired after exposing shady dealings to hide losses by the Board. His new book describes the events at Olympus- "Exposure- Inside the Olymus Scandal: How I Went From CEO to Whistle-Blower." When he confronts Board chairman Kikukawa about the dealings and coverage in the press he is brushed off. He is fired at a Board meeting and escorted out of the company the same day. Woodford then approaches the Japanese and international press.

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Mayor Bloomberg's last day in office. He jokes about using his library card after 4383 days in office and taking up running outdoors again. He thanks people around him for being the real problem solvers and on the ground soothers who made the city work for 12 years, that they not he worked at the real level where the real problems were. Like many others before him in America he says he will be able to look back and tell his kids, your father made an effort to make their lives and their childrens lives better. The day ends as he swipes his senior discount MetroCard and boards a No.4 train home to the Upper East Side.

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Japan's new prime minister runs into difficulties in improving public finances by cutting some of the pork-barrel spending and making chages such as abolishing the gasoline tax to put more money in the hands of consumers. Cuts of wasteful spending came to less than a fourth of the target of $33 billion. The Finance Minister said that tax receipts for the year ending March 2010 would come in at $400 billion, about $100 billion less than estimated earlier, and this is less than the deficit for the current fiscal year of $590 billon.

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S. Korea's household debt is now 155% of GDP, according to the OECD. For the last ten years the household debt is growing at 13 percent, double the rate of GDP growth. Korea was not affected to the same extent as other countries by the 2008 financial crisis. As a result household debt continues to grow rapidly. The household debt to disposable income reached 140% in the U.S. before the 2008 financial crisis, according to the IMF. Spain reached a level of 130% before the crisis, according to the McKinsey Global Institute. The Financial Services Commission in S. Korea has taken steps to control this- by imposing limits on bank lending, tighter credit checks by banks, and incentives for shifting to fixed rate mortgages. About 95% of mortgages in S. Korea are adjustable rate mortgages. Housing loan rules in S. Korea require loans to not exceed half of the value of the house, and annual payments of principal and interest cannot exceed 40% of the owners income. This effectively insulates the banks from the effects of a housing bubble. One of the effect of the 1997 financial crisis in S. Korea when it turned to the IMF for assistance, is the relaxing of controls on interest rates to encourage spending in a country that encouraged saving. The result is the growth of a nonbank sector which is not subject to central government regulation by the Financial Supervisory Service. The non-banks are regulated only by local governments and can charge upto 39% compared to 4-6% at banks. Non-banks are also allowed to turn in their licenses and operate charging even higher rates. Each year about a 1000 nonbanks from 18,500 such banks in 2007 are joining the black market according to the Consumer Loan Finance Association, showing the size of the problem of black market lending to low income borrowers. S. Korea has mostly relied on growing GDP to control the situation, but slowing growth could lead to unsustainable levels of household debt....

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The Sarney family which has ruled Amapa state in the north east of Brazil for most of the last three decades. The progress in three decades has not led to serious improvements in infrastructure, services, and standard of living in the northeast and other parts of Brazil.

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This story by Emmarie Huetteman describes the effort of three Republican women in the U.S. Senate who had the courage to listen to the different voices in their home state and use their informed judgement in deciding how to vote on a Republican healthcare bill or Affordable Care Act repeal effort. Especially when they heard that it would hurt people in their state, the elderly, low income and other vulnerable people without offering alternatives. Even when this meant resisting pressure from fellow Republicans. The senators are Capito of West Virginia, Collins of Maine, and Murkowski of Alaska. This is particularly significant at a time when too much polarization has led to paralysis in coming up with informed discussion and good solutions to problems. It is also significant that senators from the midwestern states such as Iowa- Mr Grassley, and Kansas- Mr. Moran, also joined the effort to listen first to people back home in their districts before making up their mind. 

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According to the MM Research Institute the Amazon Kindle had 38% of the Japanese market for e-readers in a 12 month period for 2012-2013. Rakuten's Kobo had 33% and Sony 25%.

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The 2 pound cap was in place between Jan 2023 and December 2024. It was Rachel Reeves and the willing Keir Starmer who said this was unaffordable and reversed it. It showed how indifferent Rachel Reeves was to Labour's constituents and the working class in Britain, and her appointment as chancellor with such actions alienated much of Labour's voters to the Greens and some to Reform UK. It reflected the indifference of McSweeney/Starmer/Reeves to ordinary Britons and their cost of living concerns. At the time Burnham kept it at 2 pounds in Manchester region financing it from the regional budget. To this Burnham says- “Good, affordable transport links are an essential. No one should be priced out of those and left behind. But for too long people have said that cheaper transport isn’t an option. I don’t accept that. “I’ve done it before and I will do it again now: a £2 cap on bus fares for millions across the country. Lower fares will help people get to where they need to – giving them breathing space to help with the cost of living.”   ...

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Hagel did exactly what the White House expected him to do, say experts, including not coming up with any large ideas on the defense forces, tackling the budget cuts, working with the rank and file in the military, and implementing the administration's policy of reducing involvement in foreign military conflicts. Hagel's role was limited by micromanagement by NSC officials and Hagel was seen as deferential to the military chiefs and generals who had different views of the conflicts in Syria and Afghanistan- some generals seeing the administration's response as hamstrung by keeping resource committment to the minimum in Syria and others saying not enough resources were there to extend involvement to places such as Aleppo in Syria. Hagel resigned after pressure from White House officials who realized the inadequate nature of the very things that the White House expected of Hagel- following what the public sees as failures in the Middle East.

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Visionary physicist Charles Townes conducted the breakthrough research that led to the development of the laser in a long career that spanned several decades of work as a professor at Columbia University, a researcher at Bell Labs, and at MIT and UC Berkeley.