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Cost of Living Crisis under Biden, Affordability Crisis under DJT, and the situation in Feb 2026 with 2.4% inflation and job creation at 130,000 jobs in January 2026. Is this a sign that the tariffs policy is greatly misrepresented and misunderstood? The flexibility in tariffs, attention to financial markets through Scott Bessent's keen sghts at the Treasury shared with the president, the cutouts for key countries such as India to exclude semiconductors and cell phonesand other products from tariffs. For instance under tariffs increase India actually increased its exports by diversifying its economy and signing a trade agreement with Germany and the EU, followed by the trade agreement with the US, so that it remains an enven stronger economic partner. The same is true for Japan where elections are leading to a parliamentary majority for PM Sanae Takaichi who wants to work with the US and build a strong economic partnership, and make the large investments in the US it has promised.  Japan and India are two of the five largest economies in the world (US, China, Japan, India, Germany). German Foreign Minister Wadephul for the CDU welcomed Marco Rubio's call for a "new Western Century" and for strengthening western civilization common heritage of the US and Europe. This means 4 of the 5 largest economies in the world are in sync for the future of world trade, and their economic future.  ...

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Erling Haaland Norway soccer striker who plays the British soccer team today. He is famous on the Viking Row practiced by the Norwegian team and being the one who scored the goals to put Brazil out of the World Cup in the US. Haaland plays for Manchester City in the Premier League and is a top goal scorer. In this World Cup he has become increasingly popular because of his unassuming style, simplicity and plain spoken habits.

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US can working with all countries find replacement for Hormuz supplies. The meetings with Iraqi prime minister Zaidi at the White House are one part of an extended effort that includes China, India, UAE, EU, Venezuela, other oil producers and oil consuming countries and regions with expanding shift to renewable energy (India, China, EU). Chevron and other companies plan to invest $60 billion in oil projects in Iraq including Kirkuk to Baniyas pipeline. The plan is to ramp up Iraqi oil production to the 4.5 million barrels a day Iraqi production by rebuilding or putting  new pipeline from Iraq to the Syrian coast on the Mediterranean. This is activity from the White House to replace Hormuz as this will keep the US out of a prolonged conflict. The media has not covered the replacement of Hormuz as a viable option to bypass the conflict, leaving a naval blockade in place, and continuing focus on domestic priorities with China, India, EU and other major nations all working together in this direction. China's economy is weak, India's needs trade and technology infusion, EU needs US cooperation and trade, all 3 powers keenly interested in a different path than one put forward by Iran of prolonged and unneeded conflicts for 4 billion people in these largest economies and the 4 billion people in Africa other Asia, and Latin America. That is 8 billion people's interests vs 45 million in Iran (if IRGC has only half the population's support in rural Iran, small towns). Can 5% of the world's population determine the direction of the 95%? Can culture wars in the US which heavily determine the distortions appearing in the NYT,  and the ideological wars on capitalism vs socialism in the WSJ, Republican vs Democrats midterms and other election politics distorted presentation, be allowed to obscure this fact that 95% of the world's people including Americans are interested in fixing drug cartels and fentanyl, fixing dilapidated infrastructure, in building new housing, in tackling oil prices, not the bombing of targets in the Middle East (limiting such action to nuclear weapons facilities not using force in Hormuz). China adds 4 million barrels a day by finding alternatives sources. UAE and Saudis are increasing production outside Hormuz, UAE outside of OPEC. Iraq can add 3 million barrels a day from 1.5 million barrels a day in June 2026 to 4.5 million barrels a day. Because Venezuela's current production is about 1 million barrels a day it can ramp this up to 3.5 adding 2.5 million barrels a day. The chart below shows how Hormuz can be replaced and the task ahead for nations and regions representing 8 billion people in the world. UAE 2 million barrels a day via pipelines, Saudi add 2 million barrels a day via pipelines, Iraq 3 million barrels a day via pipelines, China 4 million barrels a day by alternative sources, India 2 million barrels a day from alternative sources and renewable energy target upgrade, Venezuela 2.5 million barrels a day,  US  1 million barrels a day, Other - Guyana, Canada, Brazil. Shown alongside is a report from Goldman Sachs analysis which come to a similar conclusion and with facts on each specific region's ramp up of oil supplies to replace Hormuz in a race against time.So that Hormuz will be left behind, so that the world and the US of 8 billion people can pursue other priorities of peaceful cooperation, to achieve "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" as the Founders aspirations and the world's aspirations.     ...

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Push to stop nuclear weapons development in Iran in light of  South Korea/ US/ Japan's North Korea experience. When seen in the light of small state nuclear weapons proliferation the policy of stopping the spread particularly in areas of repeated wars for over 5 decades (the Middle East) as pursued by the current US DJT government is something to take seriously, and not politicize, as has been done by politicians and others for their own interests. The world is a safer and better place without nuclear material in the Middle East being used for hidden nuclear weapons programs.

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British Foreign Secretary Dennis Healey on the British reaction to the US air strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, 2026.

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DJT MAGA factions in general support action in Venezuela and in Western Hemisphere for Monroe Doctrine, this includes J.D. Vance, Steve Bannon and Hispanic supporters from Cuba and Latin America in Florida. They support action to bring drug traffickers to justice in the Western Hemisphere. Essentially supporting the Monroe Doctrine that no colonial European or other foreign powers should interfere in the running of Latin America in the western democratic tradition set by Britain and the United States, and now popular throughout Asia and Latin America and Africa. The government in Venezuela say Canada and Britain is illegitimate and lost the 2024 election by a huge margin 30% or lower to 67% for the opposition under Machado and Gonzalez. And the drug trafficking by Maduro and his associates against the US is an offence that can be tried in US courts, is something Republicans support, and has general support in America. Worse drug trafficking to the European Union constitutes something the Europeans should be worried about because of its growing scale and damage to Europe. ...

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US Mass recall of 30 Ambassadors in December 2025 at time of 85 Ambassador vacancies. With a new administration comes new policies and new embassy postings to carry out the new foreign policy.

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Are areas near Glacier National Park of pristine wilderness, are they becoming a playground for the rich displacing old time residents of Montana? WSJ looks at the situation in Montana. New real estate development threatens older residents who are being priced out of their own homes by people from California and other states so much that Bozeman, Montana, is now called Boz Angeles. The median income is $77,000 in the state and homes in this part of Montana are now in the $800,000 range.

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Federal Reserve inflation policy changes August 2025 to get a handle on everyday costs people face not the statistics the Fed uses which shows 2%-3% when housing, childcare, groceries, automobiles and repair, heating bills are on the rise. On a rise to the point where average households are barely able to make ends meet and raising a family is so difficult in the US in these conditions.

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Hiring rebounds in the US in January 2026 after slow hiring in 2025.

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DJT arrives in Beijing China May 13 2026. Topics that will be discussed are - the Iran War and how to resolve it, trade with China, tariffs, and US Taiwan policy. China continues to run trillion dollar surplus in trade with the world with lower trade surplus with the US after DJT tariffs. From $295 billion in 2024 under Biden the new DJT administration with DJT, Bessent and Jamieson has lowered this to $202 billion by 2026. In that same period the world trade surplus of China has increased from $992 to $1.19 billion. It is not clear whether some of the drop in the US figures is from China sending product through channels to Mexico and Vietnam that is then shipped to the US. DJT showed results in his policies by lowering the trade imbalance by 32%, while trade imbalance with the rest of the world has worsened (increase in trade surplus of China) by 20%. What does this show? We can safely assume that excessive trade imbalances are not in either China, EU, or America's interest. China increases trade and political friction by doing so, and it leaves its own policy weak by overdependence on exports, too little effort to increase domestic consumption and living standards.  FOr the US and EU trade imbalances with China of over $1 trillion reflect misguided policy at the top by US and EU decision makers and governments. By exposing their manufacturing base they are losing valuable jobs by the millions and creating a situation where the few with good jobs in select industries live in large cities and the rest of the country in smaller towns and rural areas suffering from lack of amanufacturing base. This weakens the investment base for public services and leads to lack of investment ininfrastructure. This is called deindustrialization which the DJT and Biden administrations both fight hard to reverse for the last 10 years since the disastrous years of the Obama and Bush administrations 2000-2016. For this reason we can say a good Republican is as good as a good Democrat, a bad Republican is as bad as a bad Democrat, political labels are just that labels. The media in US and EU are on a wrong footing and still fail to cover this the way it should be covered to shake off the lethargy in public sentiment in the US so that a rapid drive to reindustrialize and build new new infrastructure on top of the old that was built after World War 1 can take place. In today's world India is stepping up with major infrastructure building just as the US and EU ramp up their rebuilding.  ...

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Iraq created from the Ottoman Empire by the British and French now has Shia militant groups next to Sunni groups in the army and Kurdish militia in a artificial state. This is key to grasping the situation in Iran, Iraq, Syria, Arab regions with Shia population that were parts of the Ottoman Empire for 5 centuries since 1500. When Sunnis dominated in the 1980's Shia were suppressed and responded by joining Iran supported Shia militia across the region. When the Shia militant groups took over with US forces running Iraq, Islamic State was formed from anti-Shia Sunni groups. After Islamic State was suppressed by US a fragile truce remains between Iranian militant groups, Iraqi Sunnis in the army, and Kurdish groups. This time the US cannot be naive about the different interests in nations created artificially to suit their colonial empires by the British and French out of the ruins of the Ottoman Empire after World War I by 1921- it is important for the US to not get involved in the region except to prevent nuclear weapons development and ballistic missile development that would endanger world peace, and get worldwide backing and support, and limit its involvement specific to its carefully made goals that are matched by US strengths. This is a serious matter as US has important goals in its own western hemisphere which require America's full attention including with the Monroe Doctrine in its modern form- the Bush/Obama policies were a disaster for America and bad policy that created the conditions for lack of attention as drug states began to form in the western hemisphere and for illegal immigrants and drugs to enter through its southern land border with Mexico fraying America's social and economic fabric. ...

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Blake of the Washington Post says president Trump finds himself in the same situation as president Obama, who came into office wanting to scale down the effort in Afghanistan, and early in his presidency signed off on a troop surge under commander McChrystal. Trump in the election campaign expressed strong disapproval of interventionist policies. The deteriorating situation in Afghanistan makes it necessary to make an infustion of American troops- a policy being developed by Gen. Mattis. The change now is to insist vigorously on anti-corruption measures and good governance in return for aid. 

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BBC's look at Andy Burnham, whom it calls "King of the North" having won 60% of the vote as Mayor of Greater Manchester for three successive terms. A brief look at Andy Burnham's life. His father was a BT enginee and his mother a GP receptionist both strong Labour party supporters. He studied for a Masters degree in English at Cambridge. BBC says he was inspired to join Labour at age 14 years after seeing a documentary "Boys from the Blackstuff,"' about life in the city of Liverpool for the disadvantaged. He is a soccer player and Everton soccer team fan, who played for Lancashire schoolboys cricket team. He starts out as ajournalist working for trade magazines, then as researcher for the MP for Duwich, later joining the Blair movement that returned Labour to power. Under Blair he was junior minister, then MP for Leigh in the Manchester area. He moved to Cabinet Minister under Gordon Brown as chief secretary to the Treasury and Health Secretary. With Conservatives in power he was Shadow Home Secretary under Jeremy Corbyn in the Opposition. He ran against Jeremy Corbyn and Ed Milliband for the leadership of the Labour Party before being elected as Mayor of Greater Manchester three times with 60% of the vote. As Mayor he put the bus and transport system back under government control and built the Bee Network, which is one of his success stories in Manchester. He is seen as the only Labour leader who enjoys confidence of the British public from the way he ran the large local government of Manchester. With UK Reform winning local elections he is seen as the leader who can bring confidence back to Labour, and to Britain as it navigates the post Brexit environment and strives for renewal of Britain, its economy and role in Europe. ...

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By June 7 US stocks were up 11.5% in the first half of 2026, showing a resilient stock market whatever economists say about tariffs and other policies. There is a lot of misinformation on the changes in trade policy. Sure the deficits over $1 trillion had become so excessive to be a burden for the US ( this is not even to address the 20:5:2  the 20 trillion transfer in US wealth to foreign countries, 5 million jobs lost and the 2% low growth since 2000 that USTR Lighthizer and Jamieson point out in Foreign Affairs magazine in 2026).  Greg Ip comments on this in today's WSJ that betting against DJT trade and economic policy is not working. Here we have another flashback to Brexit and why a similar situation of misinformation had the opposite result. The value of the pound dropped from $1.55 to $1.35 to the US dollar in June 2016 the day Brexit referendum was won by Reform UK and the Conservatives. Today it is $1.33 in June 2026. Here is some history of Britain's tussle with the European Union. When did it start? In 1961 Britain applied to join. The French never too eager to have the British inside rejected in 1967 under nationalist De Gaulle. It took 12 years  not till 1973 did Britain get in with Denmark and both kept their currencies. As soon as Britishers complained about the bureaucracy in European Union Brussels headquarters conservatives like Boris Johnson drove this to a high pitch. He even said only way it would affect Britain was in the price of a Mars chocolate bar. Well in 2026 it is much more than that. Labour's Wes Streeting calls it a disastrous step for the UK economy to isolate it from Europe.  As usual the French don't care and the Germans showed little interest, so Britain was left to its own devices not being careful would mean bearing the costs. Manchester's mayor Burnham in Labour says he grasps this but there are other priorities that are pressing and shelves this for another time. It took 12 years to get UK into the European Union- it took just a few years under shortsighted Cameron, May and Johnson to get out when after austerity policies imposed by Cameron a lot of anger had shifted to Labourites and Blair's policies like the shortsighted policies of Bush and Obama, for the 20 trillion US lost to foreigners in their watch. Will it take another 12 years again for UK to get it right and get France and Germany to enthusiastically support Britain in the EU? ...

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 President DJT has several options after SC Tariffs decision -Sections 122 Trade Act of 1972 has 150 day limit and 15% maximum tariff rate, and Sections 232 and 301 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 is specifically designed for China and countries with high trade deficits. DJT pointed out at the press conference following the Supreme Court decision pointed out that he had these options at the beginning in April for tariffs. He chose IEEPA instead because the other options required work that would take several months showing the unfair treatment of the US by other nations. It is likely that the president used IEEPA for speed yet kept open the options to replace it with the option that would work best. The new studies will have been started much earlier in 2025 so that the president can introduce all his tariffs under new arrangements. Another aspect of this is that the president has negotiated Free Trade Agreements with most of the nations that are large trade partners from India, China, Vietnam, South Korea, Japan to UK, EU, Germany, France with the idea of boosting the US economy with tariffs of 10-15%. ...

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Instead of a jinx much to the contrary the US economy outlook for 2030 in Feb 2026- a surge in investment spending in 2026-2030, new manufacturing investments and lower energy costs, moderating inflation, are likely to propel the US economy ahead to 2030.The effect of tariffs as a policy making tool has been muted because of exemptions, reversal of tariff rates once key objectives were secure for tariffs as a way to get action on foreign policy as with Indian purchases of Russian oil, deals with Japan, South Korea and China, India, UK and the EU. Some sources such as the Philadelphia Fed see price rises reaching 3% in some inflation guages more than the moderate 2.5% in the consumer price index for January 2026. These sources see the hiring slowing down just as layoffs begin to happen in the latter part of the year which is a possibility but less likely. At this point in Feb 2026 there is a tendency not to layoff and to hang onto employees, and hiring has been slow in 2025. January's report of 130,000 jobs added is the first sign of strengthening of the jobs market. Overall a cautious view would be to call it a soft landing after the inflation surge of the covid period. Another way of looking at is is more in line with the strategic direction of the US economy- freeing up the economy with investments in energy,  reducing the key costs of production, tax policy of Bessent's complete one shot depreciation of equipment increasing business investment, tariff policy making the world trading system fairer and now more attuned to US interests, all creating an investment and jobs surge in 2026-2027. There is an added benefit from US efforts to free up the world trading system from the stranglehold placed on it by China with its control over world manufacturing. A dominance and unwise concentration gained from the serious mistakes of the Bush-Clinton period of not putting in safeguards for US factories and jobs (that form the backbone for families in neighborhoods towns and regions across the US), and US business interests growing indifference to the very communities they were based in by outshoring to China destroying whole regions in America. Even where it is criticized or seen as negative there are huge benefits when the US acted. Tariff increase on India is a clear example- it built Indian resilient attitude in June-Feb 2026, and during this period it cut funding Russia's war in Ukraine by sourcing energy from other sources, the US policy led to India and EU+ Germany signing trade agreements to double their effort and double trade and scientific cooperation ( a goal secured for the US as it reduces concentration in China), was followed by US signing its own trade agreement with India within days, and increases world trade of US and EU and Germany in ways that will bring 2.5 billion people into a strong partnership that overshadows anything that happened in China in the Clinton-Bush-Obama years of failure. ...

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A new foreign investment law passed by the Chinese People's Congress is designed to address concerns of western companies facing problems operating in China. This includes unequal market access, forced technology transfers, unfair treatment in public procurement. It was passed in only 3 months after the first draft was debated showing the importance Beijing places on the bill. Its a step designed to help in the trade talks with the U.S. about leveling the playing field. China amends its intellectual property law and introduces a punitive damages "mechanism" so that infringements are fairly dealt with. The new Chinese law replaces three foreign capital laws passed between 1979 and 1990, and is a unified legal standard for foreign investment in China. It eliminates the requirement for foreign companies to transfer proprietary technology to Chinese joint venture partners and protects against "illegal government interference." The European Union Chamber of Commerce says Article 40 still allows for"political issues to influence investor-state relations." Experts say this is a small step in the overall effort to level the playing field. ...

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Going to a baseball game or a cricket game, a soccer game or basketball game, used to be part of the experience of growing up as a child not only in America, but in many parts of Asia since the 1950's. Sports organizers are failing the public and the Nation, many nations, when they let prices keep out the vast majority of the young people from sports games. This is true of the New York Knicks games in 2026 with the San Antonio Spurs, with tickets transport, everything going up. Here DW.com asks important questions about the FIFA World Cup. Most of America's younger generation, the vast majority of children will be excluded from these games. DW.com writes about the cheapest ticket listed on the FIFA website at $8625 and one ticket listed for $690,000. When told the cheapest ticket for the first Paraguay US game was $1000 US president DJT said it was "ridiculous," that he woudn't pay that either, and expressed real disappointment. DW.com raises other questions about the sudden 50% increase in teams and 60% increase in games for the World Cup in 2026. Teams suddenly up from 32 to 48, and games from 64 to 104. If more smaller football associations or countries were to be added, would it have been better to try this out in smaller steps? Has this diluted the sporting quality of individual games. If more games why would prices jump this much? Last World Cup the average price of a ticket was the same as the list price and no resale markets to create artificially high prices in the stratosphere driving out most buyers. ESPN looks at he process that set these prices in the adjoining piece. ...

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CPC Central Committee Proposal on Formulating the 15th FIve Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development (4th Plenary Session 20th Central Committee October 23 2025). It gives the outline of main ideas in domestic and foreign policies that China adopts for the next 15th 5 year Plan to 2030. It shows how China wants to navigate the next 5 years in the world. It gives the first signs that China wants to do Socialist Modernization, Chinese style Modernization of its economic and social structures in this phase. The first impression from this and the 2026 National People's Congress is that China is seeking to work with Germany, with EU and with the US to modernize its economy, not as in the past, but now more sensitive to all the changes taking place in the world. The goals are comprehensive yet presented in modest manner ( no China Dream ambitiously worded goals that had ruffled feathers in the US) presenting China in a way that would win acceptance and integration into the world's leading powers.  ...

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Greg Ip says what a difference US policy under DJT has made for energy independence and for exports. US economic growth is affected only slightly as it exports oil and LNG. Forecasts by Citi revised for the US for economic growth by only 0.1% downward for the Iran War, for the European Union by 0.4%. EU spends 1-2% of GDP to get imports of LNG and oil. US gets 0.2% of GDP for the oil and LNGit exports.  The US is in a strong position with oil policies to increase production and there is also additional supplies from Venezuela that can be added to replace Persian Gulf supplies. Which is why DJT can tell the world and the Europeans, Japan and China to get their own oil and do the job of opening Hormuz because US does not get any of its oil and LNG from Hormuz straits. In 2025 EU gets LNG from Norway 89, US 81, and Russia 37 in billions of cubic meters of imports for total in 2025 of 207 down from 257 total in 2021 because of conservation. US LNG will increase as US sells more LNG to Europe in 2026 and 2027 and reduces the little it imports from Russia. EU is doing a good job of conservation that the US can adopt to export even more to India and Japan replacing some of the supplies from the Persian Gulf nations. ...