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Deteriorating economic conditions in Venezula under Maduro and the failure of the Maduro administration to tackle problems facing the economy- inflation, oil subsidies, declining currency, and lack of investment.

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Rehma Malik, Interior Minister of Pakistan, admits in a rare statement that militants were entrenched in the southern part of Punjab province, the most populated province of Pakistan. This happened as two mosques in Lahore were attacked. This showed that the problems are deep in the heart of the country. This complicates the situation in Afghanistan, as all the problems faced by the USA in that country somehow come back to Pakistan.

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Roger Cohen in the NYT says Macron has missed the public mood in France, the cost of living crisis and the social and economic problems left by the pandemic. FR24 says about two thirds of the French people think this is the wrong time to tackle the pensions issue. The change in the pensions is not an immediate solution as it will be phased in over a period of time stretching to 2030. Many solutions could have been put in place to tackle age discrimination and other problems to make it possible to work productively for longer. Macron needed to address these problems and come up with ways to lessen the burden of the cost of living crisis first before tackling longer term issues. This is a major misstep by Macron, and comes from his lack of experience as one of the youngest persons to become president of France at the age of 39. He was reelected but only with the help of voters who had supported  a socialist candidate Mr. Melenchon. Macron said after that election that he would listen carefully to the voting public that had elected him, even with reservations after the yellow vest protests about his lack of sensitivity for people struggling to make a living. ...

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The first proposal that led to the strike at Boeing offered workers only 27%. The new proposal offer 43% over 4 years. As this increase is over 4 years some of the wage increase is dissipated by inflation over that period. For 33,000 workers at Boeing it represented a fair settlement that would also help the company rebuild its finances, and it was approved by 59% of the workers voting at the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. Workers are back to work by November 12. Workers were upset about a deal 10 years back that let Boeing freeze a pension plan that guaranteed monthly retirement payouts. Boeing lost $6.1 billion in the 3rd quarter 2024 and raised $21 billion by selling shares to investors to strengthen its financial position. Quality control was a major issue, a series of financial industry professionals failed to understand the production assembly line processes. Julie Su, Labor Secretary facilitated the discussions. President Biden said “Good contracts benefit workers, businesses and consumers." The deal includes a $12,000 ratification bonus, compared to $3000 bonus in the initial offer. And it calls for improved retirement benefits, commitment by Boeing to build its next commercial airplane in the Seattle region.   ...

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Centuries of neglect of Asian education and students by European nations during colonization is now turned on its head. Which is also not a good thing, in fact something just as bad.  A British professor has to remain anonymous to ask for an honest conversation on why British universities are so dependent on foreign students. Seven of ten University students in Britain studying for Masters degrees are overseas students. This is a shocking statistic and only goes to show the lack of the same opportunity for higher education for students from England, Scotland and Wales. Students at home cannot afford the 30,000 pounds that students from China or other countries pay. Not too long ago British funding made it possible for British people to attend British universities. It points to the lack of funding of higher education in Britain to give the same opportunities as students from other countries to the British education system that has taken hundreds of years of gradual investment to establish. It points to the consensus in society that neglects the importance of higher education which is as important for the future as the system which channels young people based on aptitude to take the course of apprenticeship training after high school for better incomes in industry and manufacturing. ...

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Germany's Merkel and the Erdogan government in Turkey reach an agreement so that Turkey would accept refugees sent back from Greece. Both governments are under pressure to come to an agreement, Merkel facing populist pressures to stem flow of refugees, and Erdogan facing problems inside Turkey as well as an unstable border with Syria.

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The internal divisions in the two main political parties in Japan, the Democratic Party and the LDP. The lack of a coherent base believing in a particular set of ideas in either party.

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Jumbo loan mortgages in dollars accounted for 20% of first lien mortgages in 2014, the first time since 2005, and back up from 5.5% in 2009 at the height of the subprime mortgage crisis. This part of the market for homes priced over $417,000 or $ 625,500 in pricier regions, has gained its footing faster than the rest of the market. Sales of existing single family homes between $750,000 and $1 million, were up 21% in June from the prior year, compared to an increase of 12.5% for homes between $100,000 and $250,000, with homes below $100,000 declining by 3%, according to the National Association of Realtors. The jumbo originations are closely correlated with the stock market. The loan performance criteria were tightened after the 2009 crisis leading to requirements of larger down payments and higher FICO credit scores. The strong loan performance is shown in the credit score for May 2015 of 770, and down payment of about 32% for jumbo loan originations, according to CoreLogic. Interest rates are also very close between smaller Fannie conforming mortgage loans and jumbo mortgages, 4.05% compared to 4.07% on jumbo loans. The higher demand is leading to competition between JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Bank of America in this part of the market. Chase is focussing on this part of the market with the strong loan performance- only 1.9% of jumbo mortgages being late 30 days or more compared to 6.5% for Fannie Freddie conforming loans, according to Black Knight Financial Services. As part of its strategy Chase offers minimum down payments of 15% and credit scores of 680 for single family homes as primary residence, starting August 5, 2015, down from 20% and 740 earlier, for mortgages between $1.5 million and $3 million, a change already made in 2014 for jumbo mortgages upto $1.5 million. Similiar move is made by Chase for lowering down payment on vacation homes and second homes. Wells Fargo also cut the minimum down payment- to 10.1% from 15% for jumbo mortages upto $1 million. ...

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Hilsenrath describes how the Federal Reserve missed the signs of the mortgage financial crisis of 2008, the bubble economy, and how low interest rates and other actions of the Fed to rescue the economy led to a situation which hurt savers. The lack of a serious plan for homeowner rescue as part of the actions by the government further hurt the working and middle class. The rescue also lacked credibility because the banks ended up becoming bigger than they were, and no action was taken in the U.S. which had been pushed by the U.S. in similiar situations overseas- for example on South Korean banks for overborrowing during the 1997 Asian financial crisis.  At the 2014 Boston Fed sponsored conference on Inequality, Fed chairman Janet Yellen described what she called the largest inequality in the U.S. not seen since the 19th century. The average net worth of the lower half of the distribution, said Yellen, of 62 million households, was $11,000, and a quarter of them had zero net worth. These were the shocking statistics that propelled two unlikely outsiders forward- Donald Trump to the Republican nomination for president, and Bernie Sanders who coming close to getting the Democratic nomination settled for a big part of setting the Democratic agenda supported by nominee Clinton in 2016. ...

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With fewer and fewer good startup companies and massive amounts of capital wasted on startups that did not produce either jobs or lasting value questions are being raised about the startup culture and role of startups in a growing economy. The coronavirus has speeded up the process- already underway was a lack of quality in startup companies, now these companies that were wasting capital are facing a completely different environment. Reasons given for their situation are the lack of job creation over last two decades from startups. The startup founders being many just out of college or with a few years of experience, lack of accumulated experience in industry of founders, the glamour that had nothing behind it except the search for quick results. Primarily though the reason is that it takes time to build good companies that also create good jobs and add to the country's GDP, and this means additions to technology, bringing experience and building up of experience of founders, that patience and persistence is lacking in today's startup culture and startup companies. There is a bigger problem and this is a problem for all of society and the whole nation in every country. This is the misallocation of capital, the erratic shift away from infrastructure, public services, health services and education, and employment in the national interest, that form the backbone of the economy of any country. It is in this sense that the shift in capital allocation, away from misallocation on a massive scale, has to be made in the national interest, interest of society, interest of the people.  ...

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Intel's new CEO was the CEO of Cadence Design Systems 2008-2021 which makes software for integrated circuits and systems on chips.   Coming from Malaysia and Singapore Tan got his Masters in Nuclear Engineering from MIT and founded Walden International in 1987. Making early investments in China's chip industry when China's chip industry was just starting in the 1990's, Tan's company participated in  40% of the chip industry investments in China made from the US between 2017-2021. Some of this is covered in a WSJ report from 2021 shown alongside. He served on the boards of China's Semiconductor Manufacturing and Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment.  A parallel to this is Morris Chang who after degrees at MIT started the semiconductor industry in Taiwan. A period back then in which the US chip industry dependent on market forces and without hidden government subsidies was eclipsed by new ventures in first Taiwan, then South Korea and China. During a period in which technologies were freely transferred with no long term grasp of the consequences to American technological leadership, and chip industry in the US. It was allowed to decline by administrations of Bush and Obama since 2000, ceding dominance through lack of investment in manufacturing technologies. In chips and science capitalism and market forces leave American companies to the mercy of markets when government support overseas is not matched by government support in the US to create an absolutely essential level playing field.  The US then feels the lack of synergyistic energies that go from chips to other advanced industries and technologies. Textbook economics from Dartmouth or Ivy Leagues is with totally theoretical stuff about comparitive advantage no help, and created the current situation for America in chips and science where a whole industry was ceded.  ...

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Muhammad Azhar Ali, factory manager for National Foods plant near Karanchi, Pakistan, describes what it is like running a manufacturing operation in Pakistan. National Foods is the largest manufacturer of pickles and other spice products in Pakistan. A big problem is the lack of security and terrorism. This remains a constant cause of anxiety for business people in Pakistan. Its like being in a war zone says the National Foods chairman Abdul Majeed. Another major problem is lack of reliable electricity supplies. Supply of electricity is only one third of national demand in Pakistan. Larger companies such as Lucky Cement generate their own electricity, with Lucky Cement producing 150 megawatts from its plants. Smaller companies like National Foods rely on diesel generators. To conserve electricity many factory, floor office and bathroom lights are turned off. For workers the lack of electric supplies and high inflation affect lives in many ways. National Foods has a weighing department and assesses workers picked up from many parts of Karanchi to see if they are fit for work or are unduly stressed from poor living conditions. This is a side of Pakistani life that is rarely touched on-the daily lives of workers and managers. Ali works harder than other production managers in other countries because of the power shortages and lack of security. He would like to devote time to increase productivity and be more like other production managers. The war with the Taliban has cost Pakistan $68 billion in destroyed infrastructure, security costs, lost foreign investment according to one estimate. ...

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There are questions whether the Black Rock Germany "Dare Capitalism" (his book) model of CDU's Merz with a debt brake support limiting investments needed in the economy are right for Germany's future. Wash. Post says people close to him say he is direct and pragmatic but also arrogant and thin skinned. Friedrich Merz is 69 years, Konrad Adenauer was 73 years when he took office. 

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This editorial in the NYT on May 23, 2015, says the country has lost something in the process unfolding at the Justice Department of large settlements during the second term of the Obama administration, a continuation of a singular feature since the first term- a noticeable and serious lack of individual accountability for serious wrongdoing. This lets bank officers move on calling the situation of pleading guilty to criminal charges for currency manipulation nothing more than "an embarrassment," says this NYT editorial.

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Analysis by Sentier Research of U.S. census data shows U.S. median household income declined from $54,983 in Jan. 2009 to $50,964 in June 2012, adjusted for inflation. This is $4019 in lost real income. The decline is 8% from $55,470 in 2000 before the burst of the dot come bubble. Some of this is because of trends of smaller family, lower fertility rates and more Americans living alone. But as a look at the figures in this research by Catherine Rampell of the NYT, 8/23/2012 shows, the losses in income affects all demographics, hit blacks and people with some education like a high school diploma but no degree the hardest, and also reflects the persistence of long tem unemployment which lowers income.

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Von Mark Schieritz of Germany's Zeit Online describes the changes underway following the election campaigns in the U.S., and France, and the Brexit vote in Britain, all signalling the discontent of people left behind by the tech, capitalism, trade and globalization changes of the last two decades. The appeal of one time fringe politicians using racist slogans and divisive rhetoric to appeal to those left behind, appealing to people lacking intergenerational mobility, and without much hope for a better future, is a serious concern. People who are gullible enough, lack college education, or racially isolated so that they are not likely to look carefully at what is being offered in terms of programs and change of competing parties, and likely to overlook the hard and difficult road for corrective course of action, because of anger and pentup fears. Schieritz cites as part of this change the unanimously approved conclusion in its final declaration at the G-20 meeting in Chengdu, China- "The benefits of growth need to be shared more broadly within and among countries to promote inclusiveness." Yet this can be a sort of "too little, too late."  Bankers who are cited in an email going around Wall Street lack credibility with groups on Main Street, to people adversely affected by tech, trade and globalization changes that have been persistently ignored for over a decade, close to two decades. More convincing is the tone of Theresa May, the British prime minister's first statement outside 10 Downing Street- who spoke of the "burning injustices" and her determination to make this a top priority of her government. Still more convincing are the programs to invest $275 billion over 10 years in infrastructure put forward by the leading candidate in the U.S. presidential election of 2016, to provide easier access to public universities and colleges to those left behind, as a sure way to create new jobs and address intergenerational mobility. In fact every leading candidate had made the loss of upward mobility their central plank already in 2015, long before Trump and Sanders started their campaign. The real hope lies in western leaders Merkel, May, and Clinton, all keenly aware students of changes, all women by the way who have sensed the injustice and have the ability to come up with something new and promising for the future, after learning the lessons of the past. ...

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The lack of Soviet era ammunition for older artillery from that period in the army of Ukraine puts Ukraine at a serious disadvantage in Donbas and eastern Ukraine. The war in eastern Ukraine is fought mostly with artillery. Soviet era artillery uses different ammunition than NATO artillery. Ukraine is now calling for NATO artillery to be sent by allies in Europe and the US so that its forces can be supplied with supplies of NATO ammunition. The US and Europe have been slow in providing NATO artillery to Ukraine.

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Hard work and discipline is a defining quality of the team Ten Haig is building at Manchester United. It helps to have Varane and Casemiro in defense. Haig was quick to respond after an interview given by Renaldo, sent Sancho to the Netherlands, and dropped Rashford for being late. Martinez was given only one day for partying in Buenos Aires after winning the world cup and he was back in Manchester. Ten Haig joins Mourinho as the first coach at Manchester United to win a trophy in his first season.

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Germany's Siemens and chancellor Scholz say the lack of a turbine from Siemens is not the reason why Russia is reducing supplies of Nordstream pipeline gas. The turbine is ready to be shipped to Russia if Russia wanted it. 

Mr. Scholz is looking at keeping 3 remaining nuclear plants operating which would meet 6% of Germany's needs. A review of nuclear plant operating condition is being done to make the decision to continue with nuclear energy and not phase it out completely.

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The growing city of Monterey, Mexico, near the American state of Texas, is facing severe shortages of water as shown in this report in the NYT. Seven years of drought except for 2018 have left the Cerro Prieto and other dams nearby mostly dry. Water is sent in by truck from outside the region. This is an arid region and the lack of rainfall comes at a time when the population is growing in this part of the country, which is the largest industrial state in Mexico.

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US law now supports turning back migrants at the border. Under public health policy Title 42 migrants are denied asylum, a federal appeals court ruling supporting this. It is also now supported by the Biden administration. It is a key tool used by both the Trump and Biden administrations to combat illegal border crossings. It also reduces one more area in which differences were mistakenly created between Republican and Democratic parties, that distracted from focus on much needed infrastructure and other priorities for the American people.

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Consumer spending in the US is up for Christmas 2021 with 5.8 million more US jobs in October than a year earlier, with higher wage checks and stimulus checks, child tax credit payments, all boosting spending power. With 231 million Americans vaccinated with at least one shot compared to none Christmas last year more Americans are in stores. Shopping online is up only 7%, in store retail sales up 14%, according to Commerce Department. Passenger traffic on interstate highways is back up to where it was before the pandemic.

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An excellent midlife health test for checking physical health, mental health and cognitive health. This can be done by anyone at home and is fairly simple to take. Also suggested are exercises that may help in each of 9 categories of the test. This includes the well known standing on one leg in yoga pose, press-ups, sitting and standing from a chair, linking fingers behind your back, calf raises. And for mental health drawing a clock face with the numbers, jotting down fruits and vegetables you can in 60 seconds.

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The lack of a semiconductor strategy for Britain following the passage of the CHIPS and Science Act in the US is the subject of this report in The Times. Rene Haas of ARM Holdings, Cambridge based UK semiconductor company says the Biden CHIPS Act "makes a tonne of sense" and diversified supply chains are vital after the pandemic exposed the weakness of existing supply chains. He says he would like to see more R&D tax credits and incentives to bring skilled workers to the UK.

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 Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, says he hopes the IAEA visit to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine can take place within days. Both Mr. Macron and Mr. Putin have agreed that the inspection visit by IAEA should take place. This nuclear plant is under Russian control but run by Ukrainians and connected to the Ukrainian grid. The fears were that Russia would somehow disconnect it from the Ukrainian grid leading to issues of safety and potential of an accident from lack of cooling systems.