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A book review of the book by Nicholas Carr, on the Internet, and how it leads people to shallow thinking and superficial reading. Carr writes that when one goes onto the Internet one comes into an environment that encourages superficial reading, thinking quickly and in aharried rushed manner. The thinking is distracted and the learning superficial. He calls the pattern of skimming pages an "F pattern" where one takes in only a few lines of text and misses the rest. And the ability to absorb knowledge, and transfer it to a long term memory, which helps us to reflect and think about what is said and develop our own thinking, suffers in this process. What we gain in breadth of kowledge is lost in the depth of understanding which is eroded.

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The results of a Wall Street Journal analysis of 11 countries shows the risk of a stretched out period of stagnation in the economies of the USA, the UK and Japan. Jobs is a critical area in which this is apparent. In Japan employment is down 3.3% from December 2007, in the UK 2% lower, and in the USA 4.8% lower from December 2007. U.S. household debt is down from 131% in early 2008 to 122%, and poses a big burden. In the UK the household debt is larger than in the USA. And Japan's deficits are over 200% of GDP, creating an overhang that depresses jobs and growth. S. Korea, Taiwan and Australia have benefitted from the recovery since 2008 in China, India and the rest of Asia.

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China Investment Corp., China's sovereign wealth fund, and its investment strategies. Efforts to separate investments in China's state banks from CIC. Changes made in 2011 resulted in the formation of CIC International, separate from the Central Huijin unit which is focussed on investments inside China. CIC controls both. CIC was started in 2007 to get better returns on China's foreign exchange reserves which upto that point were mostly in U.S. Treasury securities. At the end of 2010 CIC had assets of $410 billion. China's foreign exchange reserves are about $3.2 trillion. CIC initial funding of $200 billion was allocated with half going to investments overseas, and the rest in China's state banks. A new $30 billion in funding for CIC from the People's Bank of China will go to overseas investment.

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The Case-Shiller Index shows a decline in housing prices of 4.2% in the first quarter of 2011. This follows a drop of 3.6% in the fourth quarter of 2010. Of the 20 cities in the index, 12 were at a post-bubble low in March 2011. The yearly drop for Minneapolis was 10%. Only Washington D.C. showed a rise in March and over the year. Housing prices are at 2002 levels. The Center for Economic and Policy Research estimates a decline of 6-8% for the rest of 2011. The excess supply of housing was estimated at 1.8 million units in April 2010 by the financial Blog Calculated Risk, which used 2010 census data for the estimate calculations. The Conference Board consumer confidence index fell to 60.8 from a revised 66 in April 2011.

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The NYT's Scott Shane talks to residents of Baltimore and the neighborhoods where a community center and CVS store were set ablaze. Baltimore has suffered from economic decline as the city's major employer Bethlehem Steel closed its plant, and fewer industry jobs remained to sustain poorer neighborhoods. Incarceration, drug use, crime, all have taken a toll as more residents left the city for the suburbs. Unlike Detroit which has the auto industry, and dilapidated buildings are gradually being replaced with newer structures, Baltimore has only one large employer, John Hopkins University and its medical complex. Economist Basu says the loss is felt more deeply because efforts were being made to give new life to poorer neighborhoods, and because the rest of the country will now have a different impression of the city reducing outside investment.

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Young people are priced out of owning a house in Canada, A house on average costs $C715,000 and average income is $C88,000. A room can cost $1500 monthly to rent near campus. Calgary, Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto housing costs even more. This is still the main issue in the election along with tariffs by the US. Conservatives are better placed to find solutions. Shortages are estimated to require construction of 3.8 million houses over 6 years.

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Israel's vaccination drive shows the effectiveness of vaccination in controlling the pandemic. It also shows the vaccination using Pfizer vaccines achieving the trial results of 94% effectiveness in actual results with the Israeli population. Israeli experts in Tel Aviv and other places say vaccination is the best way to control the pandemic and encourage countries to move quickly with vaccination drives.

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Egyptian soccer riots at Port Said and the ineptitude of the police forces on the scene further damages the credibility of the military council. Vigorous debate in the newly elected parliament and efforts by the Muslim Brotherhood to wrest the drafting of the new constitution away from the military.

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Russia and the West agree to a calming down of tensions in Ukraine and no increase in sanctions. Talks in Berlin lead to a decision for Ukraine to pay $2 billion for past purchases of natural gas and negotiations on price increases, according to European Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger.

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An index for consumer prices for the U.S. was up only 0.8% for the 12 months of 2014, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is well below the U.S. central bank's target of 2% inflation. It creates uncertainty about whether the U.S. Fed will raise interest rates in 2015.

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Angela Merkel of Germany and other EU leaders decided to back "global supply chains" and declined to support the EU Commission in Brussels at a virtual summit attended by 27 leaders of the EU states. It was also attended briefly by Joe Biden. Ursula von Leyen said 21 million doses of vaccine had been shipped from EU to Britain, of which 1 million were from Astra Zeneca and the rest from Pfizer and other makers of vaccines. A total of 77 million doses made in the EU wer shipped to 33 countries since 1 December 2020. Governments of Netherlands, Ireland, Belgium and Sweden were not in favor of blocking shipments from the UK because of the effect on supply chains. Pfizer is strongly opposed to the move to block shipments. Merkel emphasized the need to respect the global supply chains while making efforts to ensure EU countries get a fair share of vaccine supplies. The problems of UK vs Britain on vaccine supplies comes from the yield problems at a Belgium plant of Astra Zeneca and the company's refusal to divert supplies from the UK. Of the 120 million promised only 30 million could be delivered to EU. The UK's contract with Astra Zeneca states that supplies from its plants in Oxford and Staffordshire must be delivered to Britain first. The UK is facing an acute shortage of second doses even though it has given 31 million jabs. At this time 45 out of 100 people in the UK have jabs, compared with 13 out of 100 in the EU.   ...

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This NYT article looks at another side of Biden in the meeting with Putin, Biden's optimism. Biden says of his style- "the important thing is to put an optimistic front, an optimistic face." By doing this he achieved more with Putin than was thought possible after years of deteriorating relations. In a way it could be said that Biden brought the optimism that Russia, Germany, France, India, and other nations, the rest of the world also need, especially now during the pandemic. He prepared carefully for his meeting, more than most presidents, much more than Reagan, Trump or Obama. He met with German and French  leaders, prepared with Blinken and Sullivan, coordinated with G-7 allies at Cornwall in the UK, in a way that was rarely done before.  After the meeting Biden could tell reporters "The country has put a different face on where we've been and where we're going- and I feel good about it." It is also a measure of Biden's leadership style that he took a constructive approach in the face of difficult issues.  Biden based it on a sound footing. The way Biden says "is to know what your adversary's interests are." In Russia's case Biden and his team see this as "legitimacy, standing in the world stage." And for Russia "desperately wanting to be relevant." For the most part Putin and Russia responded positively to this effort by Biden to change the tone, texture of voice, and manner in the conversation. ...

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As Germany looks back at the mistakes of the past in failing to get immigrants to integrate and letting ethnic communities form that failed both in terms of jobs and language/culture skills needed to become full citizens, it is now taking a fresh approach to the task of integrating about 1 million new immigrants. For the first time the government is putting this approach into legislation that is sure to pass, offering new incentives, requiring immigrants to look for work and to take jobs in smaller towns and communities. It offers new opportunities and at the same time takes away benefits if this is not done. Chancellor Merkel calls this "a milestone," and said about this legislation- " We are a country that makes a good offer to those who come to us, to those who are fleeing war, persecution, terrorism. But we are also saying very clearly- because we have learned from the past  when we did not provide these integration opportunities- that we're also expecting people to accept this offer." The lessons were learned after large immigration from Turkey in the 1960's and 1970's with ethnic communities being formed that never integrated with the rest of German society. The new law requires refugees to stay in municipalities where they are first assigned when arriving in Germany unless they have a job offer elsewhere. The government plans to subsidize creation of 100,000 new jobs across Germany, in work such as maintaining public parks, helping elderly, an alternative says Labor Minister Andrea Nahles "to doing nothing." The law also makes it easier for private employers to hire people in towns across Germany. The new German approach is for a two way handshake, and to take a pioneering approach. ...

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This editorial in the WSJ says it is quite normal for the Republican Party to choose which candidate best represents its platform, citing a decision by Supreme Court Justice Scalia. This follows the selection of delegates in Colorado in April 2016, with most of the delegates going to Ted Cruz.

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Target Stores are offering a 5% discount to buyers who use a Target Credit card. Target's test results show a 1-2% increase in sales with this program. Target's financial performance suffered during the recession, as buyers stayed away from clothing, and furnishings. Sales of these products are gradually improving.

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GlaxoSmithKline will have a new CEO in May 2008, Andrew Witty. In an internal webcast to employees he described some of the changes he will make in Glaxo's organization. Instead of lumping all countries outside of the US, Europe and Japan under International with their own heads, he will split International up into emerging markets which include India, Russia, China, Brazil and the Middle East. He has hired Abbas Hussain from Eli Lilly to head this division. The rest of Asia and Pacific region will be another division.

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Luis Almagro, president of the Organization of American States, from the small South American nation of Uruguay, says he has decided to speak up on Latin American issues, for respecting the sentiments of the people and democratic process. This is a welcome trend and more Latin American voices need to be heard, for Latin Americans to make their own assessment of the needs of the people, the problems and how to tackle them. More dialogue is needed between the government and the opposition parties to come up with better approaches and throw light on problems. The effort of Mr. Chavez however well intentioned, following neglect of social spending and needs of neglected groups under previous administrations, has gone to the other extreme leading to isolation from the rest of the industrialized world's economies- something no country can afford to do today because of the pace of technological change, much less smaller oil or commodity dependent economies. Large petroleum subsidies need to be addressed in Venezuela, as Mr. Maduro now says, and opening of a dialogue with the opposition parties is one result of Mr. Almagro's efforts. At some point a transition is needed with support of all political parties to bring Venezuela back into the global economy. Inflation of 141%, and contraction of the economy by 10% hurts all Venezuelans. Not even faint traces of the Monroe doctrine that asserted U.S. dominance in South America exists today, and it is upto Latin Americans to tackle problems of corruption, misguided policies, lack of emphasis on innovation and education. The Washington Post's deputy editorial page editor Jackson Diehl, does a service to Latin America by calling attention to such voices for dialogue and problem solving....

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Douglas Wilson was born in Annapolis, Maryland, before his father, a Baptist pastor, moved the family to Idaho in the American West.  Wilson started a Christian revival movement from Christ Church, Idaho, which is based on his views of Calvinism and the original teachings of Christianity dating back to the Mayflower Compact of 1602 set in Geneva, which outlined the vision of the early colonists to America of the relations between the church and the government, setting forth their vision. This is America going back to the earliest days in 1600, of Britain and Northern Europe, and the settlement of a vast continent 185 years before the drafting at a convention for the new Republic, of the United States of America the 13 original colonies in 1787. The original roots of the Nation in the Geneva Compact of 1602 can still be seen in Geneva, Switzerland, near the Calvinist cathedral in the center of the French Swiss town of Geneva, that acted as a crossroads for the prominent ideas on Christian thought at the time. From it's earliest days for the colonists since 1602, the Tynsdale Bible of the 16th century that brought it into the English language from Latin and Greek, and its offshoot the Authorized King James Version of the Bible of 1611 formed the basis of civilized life in the American colonies, and helped the colonists seek a new world in the wilderness that was the North American continent in the years 1600 to 1780. In the early years of the 13 colonies on the Atlantic seaboard, and further west into Ohio and Michigan- vast untamed forests, mountains, lakes and rivers. From 1780 to the 1880 this wilderness extended into the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and Wyoming upto the Pacific. Ideas of Common Prayer in schools and in everyday life informed the society of the time and was integrated in all parts of life. Only after 1780 were the ideas of separation of church and state developed by Madison and Jefferson for the constitutional framework of orderly government and respect for rights of citizens to practice their faith. At no point was it intended to take the Common Prayer out of schools, which is essentially a new idea from the 19th century. There is mention of Asian religions Buddhism and the religion of the Upanishads in India in the argument against prayer in schools,  yet it is a fact that this is only a theory as immigration from China, Japan, and India was actively discouraged, and also banned in many ways, till the Irish Kennedy administration in 1960. And it is also a fact that Mohandas Gandhi the leader of India drew great inspiration from the King James 1611 version of the Bible, and it helped him deepen his religious beliefs in the Upanishads to create the modern Indian state for 1.4 billion people in Asia. Most of the hymns of the Christian faith were known to Gandhi and formed part of his beliefs, when the Common Prayer itself started disappearing from American schools in a post war reaction to colonialism, imperialism and racial discrimination, such that it depleted the very reserves of civilization, of wisdom and thought, of science and technology, that helped create America out of the wilderness. ...

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Of 161 million people employed in 2024 about 40-50 million in vulnerable groups living from paycheck to paycheck and without savings to support them in a medical emergency is a real problem in the US economy. It is why even as unemployment looks good at 4% and inflation down to 3% there is a lot of angst for Americans for cost of living. Fifteen million baby boomers who will turn 65 years for retirement between now 2024 and 2030 face a situation where they have less than 250,000 in savings. Many who were born between 1945 and 1962 called baby boomers are in this group with diminished savings. In the prime of their careers they were hit by the 2009 financial crisis caused by bank speculation risk taking. They also were hit by the pandemic in the peak years of income growth. Other such vulnerable groups are young people with high student who are being helped by president Biden. There are also the low income groups that have been hit by medical costs and a family emergency that were pushed into poverty. Other groups in the millions are the people at the low income levels who are working paycheck to paycheck because of housing costs. About one fourth or 25% of apartment renters are people whose households budget shows 50% or more going to housing costs which have increased 20% in the last 2-3 years, which includes the pandemic years 2022 and 2023. President Biden seeks to limit apartment rent price increases to 5% and Kamala Harris has proposed help for families for the portion above 30% of household income going to rent. The jump in cost of living from automobiles, automobile repair and housing, cost of groceries have affected other groups with large credit card debt. This is a result of the supply chain concentration in China which comes from American business overconcentrating production in China and previous administrations doing little about this. Biden's answer is to bring jobs and manufacturing knowhow and investment back to America. During the pandemic some people resisted getting vaccinated and lost their jobs, a million people lost their lives, others took early retirement seeing the stress ful lives during the pandemic, others including women quit to take care of children. This has reduced the labor supply to business leading to tight supply higher prices.The result is that there are about 5 such vulnerable groups each with about 5-10 million people for a total of about 40-50 million people at risk. For these people the cost of living presents huge challenges, including childcare. It includes young people and retirees, single women and families on low income hourly wages that have not kept up with inflation.  ...

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IBM performance may be affected by the shift to the cloud computing environment. Businesses increasingly prefer to rent computing capabilities and software in smaller packages and easier implementation than the costly software packages IBM sells. IBM shares declined by 8% on April 19, 2013 after revenues declined by 5% in 1st quarter 2013.

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By preventing serious illness in patients two pills for coronavirus from Pfizer and Merck can change the course of this pandemic. Pfizer will give a royalty free license to Medicines Patent Pool, an organization backed by the United Nations for its coronavirus pill. Merck has also given a royalty free license to Medicines Patent Pool for it pill. This organization will then grant a license for the manufacture of the coronavirus pills to poor developing countries. India is included in the list of countries yet China, Russia and Brazil are excluded for the Pfizer license.  Merck has given Indian generics manufacturers approval to make the pill. This will provide supplies of the pill to 105 developing countries, South Africa will also make the pill to provide it at $10 a course in Africa. Pfizer will begin manufacturing of large quantities in 2022 with 50 million planned for 2022 and 21 million in the first half of 2022. Pfizer pill will be made available in 95 countries. The Merck pill is called Molnupiravir. Pfizer pill is called Paxlovid with 30 pills taken over the course of 5 days. Pfizer pill is effective in studies when given to people who had not been vaccinated. It has to be given within 3-4 days of getting coronavirus confirmed through a test which makes testing critical for its use. ...

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Some of the memorable parts of president Biden's speech at the AFL-CIO campaign rally today June 17 that will go with the best of FDR and Lincoln about what America stands for were: "This is America we can do any damn thing we put our minds to. And guess what? We are not going back to the false promises of trickle down economics.  We are going forward. We are going forward." "I really mean. this. I know I'm called a cockeyed optimist, but this is based on history. We're the most unique country in history. We are organized on one notion. Every other country is based on ethnicity, religion, geography. But the United States is based on an idea. The only country in the world based on an idea. Think about it." "Why are we doing it. Because we said, "We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal" (applause)  "endowed by their Creator with some inalienable rights, and among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." "We've never met the goal. But we've never- other than the Trump administration- tried to walk away from that goal. And it gets better every time we push." ...

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American singer Linda Ronstadt looks back to her roots in the Rio Sonora region of Mexico in this AARP excerpt about her years growing up in that region before her father moved to Tucson, Arizona. Her album Canciones de mi Padre, is the best selling non English music album in the US of all time. Her book is called- Feels Like Home- Song for the Sonoran Borderlands. It looks at the emotional and physical links between the US southwest and Mexico and the hold that this region has on the popular imagination. She says that wherever she has lived, wherever she has travelled, her soul is always winging it down the road, to the land south of the border. A stretch of desert she calls her foothold to the world. Today millions of Mexican Americans share this heritage and this kind of genetic memory. When the Spanish landed in the 1500's there was no border. The land and its physical aspects have not changed through waves of immigration- this story in the AARP magazine shows the agaves in the backdrop of the Huachuca mountains. Apple Music has Ronstadt's album and The Arbolitas, a song of the trees, etched in the Sonoran sunlight.  ...

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The long and bruising process of exiting the European Union for Britain is being seen across EUrope as a lesson. Marie Le Pen in France and Salvini in Italy have dropped ideas of France or Italy leaving the EU. Nationalist politicians are now shifting to a new agenda of reforming the European Union from within. Voters are being reassured by politicians that it is best to remain inside the European Union. Chancellor Merkel has carefully guided the European Union through this crisis, first through the eurozone financial crisis, then through a period of migration to Europe from war torn Middle Easter and African countries, and more recently with president Macron of France facing the effort to get Britain to leave the EU. After Boris Johnson's win in British elections with 44% of the vote Britain now faces the difficult choice especially for hard line Brexiters such as Mr. Jacob-Lees Moog and Johnson, to either accept European rules, regulations and standards over which it has little control or lose market access to the EU. There is also the issue of Scotland which favors being inside the EU and a Scottish independence referendum. ...