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Only 12% of England's professional engineers and technicians are women. There is demand for 124,000 engineers annually and 79,000 technicians, according to EngineeringUK A shortfall of 59,000 engineers means many positions are unfilled partly because women are not taking up these roles even now.

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Christina Zander provides an exceptionally good report on what holds women back in work and managing positions in Sweden, Norway and Denmark. Even in Norway, Sweden and Denmark, with a more enlightened outlook in gender relations, the number of women who are CEO's for 145 Nordic companies is only 3%. For the U.S. Fortune 500 this is about 5%. Good child care benefits and parental leave laws that promote a fair distribution of child raising responsibilities between men and women are part of the enlightened outlook in Nordic countries. Yet the number of women being promoted to senior positions is limited. Interestingly rules requiring quota for women on Boards of Directors have led to a different situation on Boards- in 2013 41% of the boards at Norway's public companies were women compared to 18% at private limited companies. About 5.8% of general managers at publicly listed companies were women in 2013, 15.1% in private companies. Sandvik's Ms. Einarsson was promoted to a senior position recently. She says the opposite is true, one needs to start not at the top but at the entry level to ensure women are fairly represented. Culture is part of the problem as even in companies with equal male and female employees, the managers are mostly men. Men are seen as more eager to take responsibilities and risks, and are more integrated into networks. Even childcare and paid parental leave can be deceptive. One researcher shows that Swedish women still take the major part of responsibility for children, with 75% of the 480 available days. Women managers and researchers point to the difficulties women face with a full time career or working over 60 hours a week in a management position, and combining this with picking up children from daycare. Sofia Falk is the founder of Wiminvest, which helps companies invest in geting talented women. Her suggestions are that companies offer other incentives instead of more money- an assistant, private child care, grocery shopping, shared management positions, technical solutions to be able to work at home. The CEO of Sandvik, Olof Faxander, is persistent in changing company attitudes- he has raised the proportion of women in management positions to 21% from 9% in 3 years, eventually hoping to reach 33%....

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The Bank of America settlement for $8 billion that will enable 390,000 borrowers to do loan workouts and make serious and beneficial loan modifications with state attorney generals from 11 states monitoring the deal.

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The Dutch election as elsewhere in Europe marks a significant shift away from the migration issue to the urgent problems of housing and cost of living, infrastructure, that were neglected as the migrant issue moved up in importance. Housing shortages with need for 400,000 new apartments and homes in Netherlands is a major issue in Dutch elections. Migration is not the major issue it was in 2023-2024 and Geert Wilders Freedom party lost 12 seats in the new parliament . D66 Centrist party gained 18 seats, and its leader Rob Jetten 38 years says this is a shift to cooperation as the new style in government. He told NOS in an interview- “In the coming years, we will do everything we can to show all Dutch people … that politics and the government can be there for them again." Jetten says he had noticed during the election campaign that voters liked his positive approach to “say goodbye to the Wilders era and truly seek the cooperation to move the country forward.” The Wilders era with participation of the Freedom party in Dutch government 2023-2025 led to much infighting in the Dutch government leading to neglect of major issues such as housing shortages and cost of living.    ...

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NYT says DJT ratings have been resilient and stable around 43% in September similar to April 2025. Shows slight improvement on the economy and slight drop on immigration. DJT gets higher approval in fighting crime 48% supporting, 51% saying government was deporting mostly those needing to be deported, and 54% favoring deporting of illegal migrants. On the major issues of the economy, illegal immigration, the support is fairly resilient and stable says the NYT. Even the groups that say the biggest problem is the other side Democrats saying that of Republicans and vice versa, is only about 15%, or what has been seen in polarized periods in American history such as with Jefferson and Adams, Andrew Jackson after British wars,  Abraham Lincoln and Southerners before Civil War, Hoover and FDR as Depression progressed, and Harry Truman and Wendell Wilkie/Eisenhower periods of this history. The current polarization is not something new even though it is seen as unsettling to an onlooker. On immigration Eisenhower led Operation Wetback in the 1950's similar to today's effort to reverse illegal migration. Efforts to bring Common Prayer or Christian prayer to schools is part of America's history and Prayer existed in American schools throughout most of America's history, so that this is also nothing new. ...

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This editorial in the WSJ describes the sharp increase in premiums under the Affordable Care Act of president Obama. The average premium increase is about 24.2% according to a Barclay's analysis, and as high as 43.9% in states such as Illinois. Bill Clinton calls it the craziest thing with small business affected, and some premiums doubling. Of the 17 million people in the individual market eight million buy without subsidies. One in five enrollees cannot qualify for subsidies. Democrats say subsidies are too small. Hillary Clinton has proposed to have a Medicare "buy-in" for people ages 55-65, and a "public option" government run plan. Republicans want to rewrite the law. But this depends on which party wins the Senate, with the election in Missouri giving Democrats an opportunity to maintain a Senate majority.

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Difficulty attracting foreign investors to India's bond market. After adjusting for consumer inflation India's three month Treasury bill pays a negative 2.3%, according to Citi. Official foreign funds data for India shows as of Dec. 16, 2013, that foreigners used up only 32% of the quotas assigned to them in the bond market. If they were to use up the entire quota this would be $81 billion compared to the deficit for the year ending March of $50 billion. Foreign investors also have to deal with the risk that the currency could depreciate as in the summer of 2013, for which they need higher interest rates. The RBI increased interest rates twice since Rajan's taking office in September 2013. During 5 months of 2013 foreigners made a net withdrawal of $12.9 billion.

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A look at Department of Transportation data shows a downward trend in airline ticket prices. Average domestic fares in the U.S. declined 16%, adjusted for inflation, compared to 1995. A comparison shows a round trip ticket price of $410 in 2010 dollars in 1995, the same ticket is priced $338 in 2011, including $22 for bags and reservation charges that were added in recent years. Not including the $22 would give a 21% decline in prices in 2010 compared to 1995. Higher labor costs for American which could not shed legacy costs because it did not go into bankruptcy like some of its competitors, combined with higher fuel prices have posed a serious threat to American Airlines. American Airlines (AMR) experienced a 33% drop in share price on Sept. 3, 2011, with a recovery gaining 21% the following day to close at $2.39. UnitedContinental had a 2nd quarter 2011 average fare- revenue divided by number of passengers- excluding taxes, of $273. Southwest had an average one way fare of $143 for the 2nd quarter 2011. According to DOT figures, passenger tickets provide only 71% of total passenger revenues to airlines, compared to 88% in 1990. The remaining 29% comes from reservations charges, standby service, checked luggage, in-flight food service, transporting pets and other charges. ...

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In an interview with the WSJ's Aaron Lucchetti, the CEO of a future business combination of Deutsche Bourse and NYSE Euronext, Duncan Niederauer, talks about the difficulties in naming the merged companies, the efforts to achieve a balance for the board, emotional issues about the ownership of the new company. He repeatedly emphasized that this is a merger not a takeover by Deutsche Bourse. This even though the higher market value of Deutsche Bourse at $15 billion compared to about $10 billion for NYSE Euronext, gives Deutsche Bourse 60% of the new company and 10 of 17 board members. He says he realizes the naming and related issues are emotional ones and there is a lot of pride involved in this. Placing Deutsche Bourse as in DB NYSE Euronext has been ruled out. The shareholder base will still be majority U.S., he reminds readers. And the board will have five or six Germans, five or six Americans, and five or six people from other countries. Is he brushing up on his German? No, he says but he tried to introduce his deputy CEO Dominique Cerutti in French, and its a good thing for Americans to learn other languages. Deutsche Borse's Francioni speaks three or four languages, which makes it a little humbling for him....

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Florida's House of Representatives passed a bill in March that reduces the number of weeks of unemployment benefits from the standard 26 weeks to 20 weeks. A similar law was passed in Michigan recently. Both states have unemployment rates exceeding 10%.

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Some companies have raised prices by 5% on footwear and clothing. Out of the total tariffs of about $50 billion in the first half, the Census department numbers show that about $22 billion is from machinery and electronic, about $12 billion from automobiles and about $12 billion from items such as clothing, footwear.  The major manufacturers in Japan, South Korea and Europe of automobiles and electronics, machinery, make up $34 billion out of the $50 billion in tariffs. To maintain US market access  these large companies are absorbing most of the tariffs. It is only in clothing and footwear making up $12 billion that some of the tariff related price increases will be seen.  Overall this impact could be 5% of $12 billion or $600 million. The DJT administration will find ways to offset this for American buyers in 2025-2026 similar to the deduction of auto lease interest costs in the One Big Act 2025 to cut automobile expenses, using the new $100 billion Customs revenue.  ...

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The Spanish Supreme Court verdict giving jail sentences to 11 Catalan leaders for the part they played in pushing for independence of the Catalan region in 2017, has resulted in clashes of protesters with police. The socialist government of Pedro Sanchez faces elections on November 10, 2019.  The government faces the option of activating Article 155 of the Constitution suspending the state government for central rule from Madrid.  One of the problems Spain now faces is that there is no clear majority for independence with the region divided between people who prefer to remain in a united Spain and people who prefer Catalan independence. In a recent BBC Hardtalk this was brought up in questions put to the Catalan independent movement spokesperson. The support for independence has actually declined in recent years. The Guardian cites a Catalan government poll in July showing 48% of Catalans oppose independence and 44% support it. Independence is not supported by the EU and it is not clear whether Catalan economy would do better outside Spain, as some of the causes of the economic problems stem from the banking and housing crisis in Spain and overborrowing. Mr Sanchez on the Madrid side and the Republican Left on the Catalan side favor negotiations on economic issues raised by Catalan people. As a result there may be less support than previously for outright independence, particularly when it is realized that the economic issues come from mismanagement and corruption and that the new Spanish constitution was designed to give regions special rights after the Franco years.  ...

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Germany is trying not to choose sides in the trade and security disputes between China and the U.S. Yet it owes a lot to the U.S. from the days of the Marshall Plan and U.S. taking on the role of defending Germany after the Berlin Wall. China was then a partner with the Soviet Union in the Cold War.  Today China is Germany's top market for its car industry. Yet the U.S. export market is much larger than China at $119 billion with China's at $96 billion. In Germany 28% of jobs are linked to exports, and in manufacturing this goes up to 56%, according to Germany Ministry of Economic Affairs. Germany supplied much of the factory  equipment from its engineering companies and the infrastructure that powered up the China transformation. A transformation now underway in India.  There are signs of a shift as engineering companies in Germany grew faster in the U.S. than China, increasing by 6-10% a year. India remains a key growth market for Germany over the next 10-15 years as growth in China slows and India accelerates with its younger demographics and investment in infrastructure. Much of the infrastructure in China is built and it is approaching the saturation Japan reached in the 1990's with additional investments adding little in the way of productivity. Longer term Germany has more potential for growth in countries in South and South East Asia  that will need to make huge investments in infrastructure and technology for manufacturing to meet the aspirations of the people there. Other issues related to freedom going back to the Berlin Wall and the rebuilding of Germany after World War II will emerge. German companies are running out of patience says this report in the WSJ with the bureaucratic obstacles, forced technology transfers, subsidies by state model to extinguish competition, and protectionist approach to home markets, even as state funded companies in China put other companies in Europe, Asia and the U.S. at a disadvantage. Germany will need to transition to a shift in its global relations, a process that is only now taking place. Just as with austerity policies in which it has now made the shift from going with the northern European countries (Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, Finland) to the Southern European (France, Italy, Spain) in favor of common solidarity even at the short term cost of common debt, Germany now is facing the shift for solidarity with the U.S. for its support of Germany from the period of the Berlin Wall in the 1950's, for the U.S. and European solidarity in the face of the post-coronavirus world. The U.S. showing its generosity and openness to Germany and war torn Europe even as it took on the added responsibilities for creating a new alliance with Europe.   ...

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Retail sales in China dropped sharply. Retail sales dropped from double digit increases for most of 2014-2017 to single digits in 2018- sales dropping to 8.1%. Government restrictions to prevent a housing bubble restrained housing sales, and policies to control corporate debt limited growth. Higher inflation for food and housing, have led to asharp pullback in growth of consumer spending.  Trade tensions with the U.S. have hurt consumer sentiment. The feeling that China's growth would stabilize because of its connections to the world economy is fading as consumers see persistent trade tensions with the U.S. including tariffs of upto 60% in tit for tat actions as hurting China's prospects.  The GDP growth is expected to be about 6.5% for 2018 according to government estimates, which experts say is actually much less or even half that as exporters retrench in the face of slack demand in China and lower sales to the U.S.  Rail and other infrastructure projects that were considered unsuitable are now being given approval in efforts to boost the economy. More tax cuts and expanded deficit spending are policies likely to be followed.  At foreign companies no overtime, and job cuts are commonplace especially in the auto industry. ...

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The political warfare between the two parties Republicans and Democrats complicates help to the automakers being released from the TARP $700 billion by Bush in the months before January transfer to the President elect. Bush is purported to want the Democrats to support the Columbia trade agreement which Obama vigorously opposes on the grounds of violence against union workers in Columbia. Complicating the situation further Obama and environmentalists including Al Gore wnat to see the auto industry help in the light of promoting energy conservation and environmental goals, whereas the industry and the unions and their Michigan supporters like Rep. Dingell and others want to see the aid given without any strings attached. This leaves the danger that both sides may be caught in a situation they could not control, the Bush people with a outgoing President who is struggling to preserve something of his legacy amid dismal ratings, and the Obama people without the experience to handle a situation such as this which is getting increasingly complicated. See the editorial pages of the WSJ on November 10 which said government help should only be given if the current management and board are replaced with new management and board, suggesting government receivership for GM. The management and board of GM which have hung onto their jobs through thick and thin are not likely to volunteer for a change. And the public perception is that the automakers management is responsible for this mess having dragged their feet all the way and used lobbyists to delay having to make the fuel efficient automobiles customers want. And another intractable factor that remains in the background is the collapsing sales of automakers which if it continues would require even bigger amount of government aid to keep operations running and pay workers way beyond the $50 billion that is being discussed, almost unrestricted help. In the meantime the Center for Automotive Research athink tank based in Michigan says about 3 million jobs depend directly of indirectly on the automotive industry and suppliers and services and goods providers to autoworkers. At the rate things are going a further deterioration in the conditions of the industry and further sales losses look likely, and GM's share price has already been placed at zero value by auto analysts at Deutsche Bank. It may well turn out that no one is in control and as the situation lurches from crisis to crisis, both the outgoing and incoming administration might find events happening in rapid fire mode one after another may take GM' s share price down close to zero before any solutions are found to an impasse and action taken. This happened with Lehman Brothers where in the end the failure of Fuld to take decisive and correct action early led to a collapse which the Fed and Treasury let happen. The danger to the economy is that when the story of these events is written years hence it may be recorded that very liitle action was taken to prevent foreclosures and action taken was not taken early or decisively. And individuals like Fuld at Lehman in October and Waggoner at GM in November failed to provide the leadership in the months and years leading into the crisis, leading to its steep and worsening nature on the credit front and on the auto front. ...

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This editorial in the Wall Street Journal says faster approvals at the Food and Drug Administration have helped bring more generic drugs to market lowering prices for the public. In 20 months the Trump administration approved 1617 generic drugs, 81 a month on average or a 17% increase over the preceding 20 months. Council of Economic Advisers in October said this was a saving of $26 billion for the public.

President Trump is looking at price controls as a way to bring down drug prices. With increasing outcry about high drug prices in the U.S. the Trump administration and Democrats in Congress are looking for new approaches to bring down prices.

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Japan and South Korea which rely on the U.S. for defense offered only a mild response to president Trump's announcement of  25% tariff on steel imports. Australia also defended free trade but offered no response to the U.S. duties on Australian steel and aluminium exports to the U.S. of $388 million.  There was no criticism of Mr. Trump. 

Japan's prime minister Abe talked to Trudeau of Canada as a 11 nation group pushes ahead with the TPP or Trans Pacific Trade Agreement, and are set to sign the agreement in Chile this week, on  March 8, 2018.

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The European Banking Authority (EBA) is conducting the E.U. stress tests of 91 major banks in 21 European countries to measure the financial strength of these banks and their ability to withstand an economic crisis environment.

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President Trump's poll ratings decline in the states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. There just 78,000 more votes made him president, even after being behind 3 million votes in the nation overall, because of America's unique voting system by state. In these states the number of Americans proud or embarrassed of the president shows a decline in support. Only a third of adults express approval and about 40% express strong disapproval, 60% saying it leaves them embarrassed. Polling was done by Marist. 

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Bay Area Transit (BART) a San Francisco institution is at risk of big cuts in service closing 15 stations, closing at 9 pm,  as work from home pandemic period changes cut ridership from 389000 in Jan 2020 to 170000 in Jan 2024. It now has a $400 million structural deficit. BART management proposes a half percentage point additional sales tax on counties in the San Francisco area- Alameda, Contra Costa, Mateo, Santa Clara, 1 percentage point addition in San Francisco. This may not address the problem fully as the ridership is declining not only because of the keyboard post pandemic economy, the fact that downtown San Francisco has a 30% vacancy rate in buildings and the lifestyles have changed from before, but also because it is less safe, reported use of crack, and a less clean friendly ride on BART. This shows how life in the San Francisco area has changed decades after Silicon Valley took over the city, and how the state of California has changed. Silicon Valley and Wall Street though it had changed America and the World when right in its own backyard institutions such as BART are falling apart, and downtowns are less safe. New York City home of Wall Street has a subway system also in bad shape, and infrastructure badly in need of repair right in the backyard of Wall Street, decades behind in quality of experience from anything found in China or Japan- and now even India. ...

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The new president of India Droupadi Murmu is from the state of Odisha, formerly called Orissa. She is from a tribal community in the state and brings a new face for development through "sab ka vikas sab ke sath" new India's slogan today of development for all Indians through their own efforts, as it brings to the forefront the tribal communities all over India. The tribal communities in India have a population of 106 million or about 9% of India's population. In Orissa percentage of tribal is over 25%, in most of the northeast it is at least 25%, and in borders areas with China Arunachal 70%, Sikkim 34%, Jammu & Kashmir 12%. In key states of Madhya Pradesh 20%, Gujarat 25%, Rajasthan 13%. The strategic nature of the decision for the unity of India can be seen on how the tribal communities are critical parts of the northeast, the border areas,  and even of the central, eastern and western regions of India which most people are not aware of. Bringing in the tribal communities through respected leaders is part of the unfinished work of Mohandas Gandhi in getting the delivery of services to the last man in the line, and the tribal communities are a forgotten part of this.   ...

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Cloud computing is a growing $300 billion business, with Amazon a key player having 28% of the market. It competes with Google and Microsoft in cloud computing. Andy Jassy has built the cloud computing business with $51 billion in sales. It generates 10% of sales in the final quarter of 2020 for Amazon but over half the profit. Renting out server space and software to customers is a profitable business compared to online retail. Sales of $12.7 billion in the final quarter of 2020 generated $3.6 billion in profit. And growth a brisk 28% over the prior year quarter.

Satya Nadella ran the cloud computing business at Microsoft before becoming CEO. IBM named a new CEO from this business that revived growth. Now Andy Jassy is promoted to CEO at Amazon in the sequence of new CEO's from cloud computing.

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Defense minister Rajnath Singh says on the last day of Aero India, that India has "great potential to emerge as a global and regional Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) hub, given the cost competitiveness of its manpower resources, the availability of abundant specialist capabilities and geographical advantages."

Between 2016 nd 2019, 138 proposals worth over $37 billion for domestic manufacturing of defense equipment components were approved. Aero components sector is expected to double from 30,000 crore today to 60,000 crore by 2025. Aerospace has a big role to play in reaching the targets of domestic defense production of $25 billion and exports of $5 billion by 2025. India will have moved from defense production of $11 billion to $25 billion by 2025.

This includes the LUH new generation single engine helicopter to be designed and developed by HAL.