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A Prof. at New York University School of Law on why bankruptcy is the only viable option for GM, and his reasoning, including GM's legacy costs hard to get rid of without bankruptcy, the DIP set aside for warranties or a DIP loan for this to reassure customers, and the need for urgency to reduce brands, facilities, plants, dealerships, and have contracts that are realistic for the times, and retiree benefits taken up by the PGBC.

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China's diesel imports declined by 46% in October year over year, according to General Administration of Customs, and China was a net exporter of gasoline for 2 months in a row, signs that the slump in China is serious.

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Medicaid is now costing the US about 880 billion dollars in 2025. Of this 69% is covered by Federal dollars sent to the states. WSJ reports- 2025 DJT action on Medicaid calls for around $800 billion  savings over 10 years in Medicaid cuts that would come from $109 billion savings over 10 years for work requirement. And $600 billion savings over 10 years from paying only 90% (not 100%) for the people added to Medicaid by Obama that are in better health than the core Medicaid population who get only 90%.

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Over the last 10 years from 31,000 employees in 1999 Microsoft has grown to 91,000 employees. Now with IT spending declining Microsoft is considering work force reductions across all of its divisions. A figure that has been mentioned recently of 15,000 position cuts would be 16% workforce reduction.

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The median household headed by a person 60-62 years of age with a 401(k) account has less than one fourth of what is needed to maintain a standard of living at retirement, according to data from the Federal Reserve and analyzed by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College for the Wall Street Journal. Including Social Security and any pensions or other savings, the savings are way short of what is needed for retirement. Households used in this data had a median income of $87,700 in 2009. The 85% needed for a decent standard of living upon retirement is $74,545. Social Security would provide an estimated 40% of pre-retiremment income, or $35,080 for that median family, leaving $39,465 that has to come from other sources. The median 401(k) account has $149,400 which would only provide a fixed income each year of $9,073- only one fourth of the $39,465 needed. To generate that $39,465, households have to have $636,673, and only 8% of American households approaching retirement have that amount. Half of the families have other pension income of $26,500 a year, which added to $9,073 in 401(k) income gets the total income up to $35,573. Other studies using different data by the Employee Benefit Research Institute show results that are largely similiar. The Employee Benefit Research Institute, is supported by 401(k) providers. Its estimate of the median person is based on individuals in the 60's who have worked at the same company for more than 30 years. This data shows an estimated median person having about $158,754, not much different from the Fed data. Why is the amount in most Americans 401(k) savings so low? There was a mistaken sense that a 6% annual contribution, with a 3% company match would be enough. Vanguard Group says the current median amount that people contribute is 9%, counting the employer contribution. Now Vanguard is advising people to contribute more, 12 to 15%, including the employer contribution. Other problems for the low savings is that saving started late, or contributions were suspended after a job loss, or medical emergencies, other debt. The stock market collapses of 2000-2002 and 2007-2009, added to the problems, by wiping out a portion of the savings. The low rate of interest on savings for most of the last decade hurt even conservative investors and lowers the kind of retirement account income used by seniors. The way people are coping with this is to work longer, in some cases into the 70's, cutting down on spending for food, travel, and taking greater risks for higher returns, risks that could make the situation worse....

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The astounding fact in this French FR24 report on the Paris Climate Change Agreement and country carbon emissions show that China's emissions accelerated to rise 3 fold in 2015 to about 12 billion tons of carbon emissions from about 4 billion in 2000. US remains at about 6 billion. India is at about 3 billon tons of carbon emissions, about where China was in 2000 when it had about 4 billion tons of carbon emissions. This is shown in the graph on carbon emissions from FR24. The US, European Union graph curves on tons of carbon emissions since 2000 are all flat or declining, India rising slowly from a small base, China's curve is rising straight up from a large enough base at an unbelievable and dangerous rate. What has happened and is it getting worse? China's economy expanded too quickly as globalization was accelerated by banks, and business in the US and Europe, and by the Chinese governments at the local level and the state level. This had negative consequences for US, Europe and China. The too fast growth in China at rates of 10-15% based solely on False GDP indicators that did not take into account damage to the environment and workers was that it hurt manufacturing and working class in US and Europe and contaminated the environment. This was not like growth of Japan in 1960-1980, a smaller country in the way it affected the US and European working classes. Hyper Growth at 10-15% of a large country with 1 billion people compressed over a short period, is cited by Greg Ip in the WSJ as the cause of the negative impact on America.  It hurt China through pollution of rivers and land at an accelerated pace. It hurt China as trade with US and Europe became unsustainable with the loss of manufacturing in the US and Europe leading to a trade war. From these graphs of emissions it now appears that the 3 fold rise in carbon emissions from about 4 billion tons in 2000 to about 12 billion tons in 2015 is the result of unregulated business activity of all those who preferred to push hyper growth in China purely for reasons of profit such as investment banks and corporations in US, Europe, and state or local companies in China.  This has also aggravated inequality in US, Europe and China, and hurt rural populations. Xi Jinping is attempting to correct this in China, Biden is trying to correct this in the US, and Scholz will now attempt to correct this in Germany and the European Union. It is also to be noted that China in 2000-2015 did not have the benefit of the newer technologies that India now has access to, which is why India says it is able to reduce carbon emissions per each unit of GDP by 35% from 2005 levels by 2030. It is this efficiency in producing units of GDP with newer and newer technologies that China lacked in its period of hyper growth 2000-2015 that now looks to have hurt China- with overflow of highly polluting steel mills and other factories which it would prudently and wisely have cut back on. Looking back at this period one sees the wholesale transfer of highly polluting plants in Germany being sold and put up in China, a poor developing country in 2000. Was this a good decision for Germany or for China? In this way the banks and large corporations in the US and Europe who use economic indicators that are limited such as dollar profits, without overall indicators that include negative effect damage to the environment that requires huge investments to correct, problems of trade wars leading to political conflicts, are acting like a person walking blindly in one direction.  With some foresight China and all its trading partners would have done better with slower but more careful Chinese growth of 7-8% that would have better met societal goals in US, Europe and China, avoiding high carbon emissions segments of industries from Day 1. Jinping is doing this in China, and Biden is doing this in the US- cutting out highly polluting factories and segments of industries- but in a climate of mutual distrust, which could have benefitted the world when conducted in a climate of cooperation and trust. The pandemic made the situation even more difficult. Power shortages in factories and blackouts in Chinese cities have led to a reversal of policies on use of coal in China months before the COP26 Glasgow conference and G-20 summit leaving a huge gap. Without the presence of Xi Jinping at COP26 in Glasgow and with Chinese participation uncertain significant progress on climate change is elusive. Estimates by US Renewable Energy Agency is that it would cost $131 trillion to pay for limiting emissions to global warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius. Some major share of this cost can be attributed to the increase from about 4 billion tons in 2000 of carbon emissions in China to about 12 billion tons in 2015, increase by 3 times. One can clearly see from this sudden jump in carbon emissions in China that policies of hyper growth with unregulated polluting industries adding to GDP growth figures was bad policy for China, bad policy for US, and Europe, even if it offered temporary profits for individual companies. India has the advantage of learning from this experience and charting its own wiser course as a partner with US, Europe and Japan and by Modi's vigorous efforts in renewable energy. The lesson- look at all indicators of progress, including climate and society, not just economic indicators in profit or dollar terms, take the tough decisions early in regulating polluting companies and industry segments, and bring full and active public participation with transparent access to data on climate damaging activity in real time because climate and the environment we live in free of polluting substances belongs to all the people, belongs to all life on the planet from trees to animals and birds, not companies that can choose to ignore it. ...

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Chinese human rights advocate and author of Charter 08 Liu Xiaobo and the trial for attempting to overthrow the socialist system. Liu sentenced by Beijing's No 1 Intermediate People's Court to 11 years in prison, as an effort to keep out any agitation for political reform by the government in Beijing.

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Prof. Admati, of Stanford, says that with the March 2012 stress tests the Fed has prematurely announced the banks are healthy. Prof. Cole of DePaul University, questions some of the assumptions used by the Fed as too optimistic even though it used a 13% unemployment rate and decline in stock and real estate values by 21%. He says the loss of $56 billon on home equity lines of credit and second lien mortgages, 13% of the portfolio, is highly underestimated. He says the legal liabilities of banks are also underestimated.

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Temasek's investment in Merrill approaching 10% could reach 14%. Temasek's Senior Managing Director Kejriwal says its confidence in Mr. Thain and his team remains high and Merrill's management team has grown stronger in the last 8 months, in an interview. Temasek has $10 billion invested outside Asia. Its total shareholder returns by market value have dropped from 27% the previous year to 7%, and Temasek's Chairman Dhanabalan sees the danger of stagflation as a major threat to the investment environment and sees it posing socioeconomic and political risks for the next three to five years.

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Transgender athletes in women's sports case is on January 13, 2026. And whether US president DJT can continue with his tariffs plan.

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Obama, speaking at Macomb Community College, talks about his plan to help community colleges, Community colleges are used by working adults for job retraining and learning new skills. Obama said that jobs requiring at least an associate degree are projected to grow twice as fast as jobs requiring no college experience. He said it would be difficult to fill those jobs without the training and education offered by community colleges. $12 billion in funds will be given to community colleges for ten years starting with the fiscal year beginning October 2009. The money will go toward programs that get community colleges to lift graduation rates and better train and educate students for jobs. Some of it will also go to modernizing of facilities, and some to the development of an internet curriculum available to students everywhere. Government officials say the plan would increase by 5 million the number of people who graduate from community colleges over the next 12 years. The new federal money will come from savings from the federal plan to end the role of private banks in the federal education lending system. Rep George Miller, the California Democrat who heads the House Education and Labor Committee, said that he would include the community college plan into the student loan bill, which he expects to introduce on July 15, 2009....

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PM Modi launches the PM Cares children's initiative for Rs 10 lakh for orphans from the pandemic in India. It also includes scholarships and money for studies. A monthly stipend will be given from the money earned from investment of Rs 10 lakh.

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Chandrayan 3 in the freezing cold lunar night that lasts 14 days at temperatures of -400 degree Fahrenheit or -300 degrees Centigrade. At these temperatures the connectivity with the moon lander is lost but its mission has been completed in the 14 days of lunar day.

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US-Swiss trade deal November 2025 for 15% US tariff in exchange for $200 billion in investment in US. This includes access to Swiss markets for the US. The agreement also will let in dairy products and chocolate to the US at 15% tariff to reduce cost of living concerns. Swiss dairy producers and chocolate makers are likely to bear most of the 15% tariff burden because of higher margins. The $2000 rebate to all Americans from tariffs is a good idea of the DJT administration to give Americans protection from the smaller share of the tariffs that are passed on to consumers that are not borne by the producers exporting to the US. Overall in that situation the US will benefit in the restructuring of world trade that the DJT administration will have accomplished without hurting American consumers and bringing large scale investment into the US for jobs and higher wages. This is the part of the DJT Deal that could help America rebuild its manufacturing and economy in new ways.  ...

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The size of the stimulus package announced at 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) involves only 1 trillion yuan in new spending according to analysts, the larger number was announced to bolster consumer and company sentiment. Export order are falling quickly from 27% increase in 2007 over 2006, to 21% increase in Sept 2008, to 19% increase in October 2008. over same month prior year. But imports are falling more quickly which is not good news for European exporters like Germany and for American exporters except for infrastructure exporters, and for commodities exporters like Brazil, Australia and Canada. In October imports slowed from 21% in September to 15% in October, which actually increased China's trade surplus from $29 billion in September to $35 billion in October. Exports of iron ore from Australia and Brazil are down and machinery from Germany. For China's urban middle class and rural poor the one relief is in inflation for fuel and food, the consumer price index rose 4% in October compared to 4.6% in September and down from a peak of 8.7% in February 2008. The spending will come in infrastructure including railways. Railways construction spending will be increased from 300 billion yuan in 2008 to 350 billion yuan and double to 600 billion yuan in 2009. This is expected to create 80,000 new jobs to replace jobs lost in the toys and furniture export sectors and other job losses. ...

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Paul Hannon in the WSJ tells the story of how the Swiss now support the 15% corporate minimum tax. 78% of Swiss voters support the new tax in a referendum. Switzerland is now trying to change the bad reputation it had gained as a place companies moved to shift profits to low income tax locations. Switzerland now joins 35 countries implementing the 15% corporate tax in 2024 and 2025, including the 27 members of the European Union, Australia, Japan, France and the UK. 15 other countries say they will do so in that time frame.

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Indian PM Modi to visit US on Feb 12-13 2025 to hold talks with DJT at the White House. India accepts the 18,000 undocumented migrants as DJT says he is confident that India will do the right thing on this issue. Talks will centre on the new supply chain and reducing overdependence on China for manufacturing, bringing jobs and factories back to the US and how Vikshit Bharat 2047 fits into the US plan for a diversified supply chain in Asia.

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The 2010 census reveals significant changes in the population mix in the U.S. The number of Hispanic people increased significantly, especially so in the under 18 age group. The Hispanic population went up by 43%, increasing to 50.5 million in 2010, compared to 35.3 million in 2000. Overall Hispanics make up 16% of the U.S. population of 308.7 million. One of the striking facts in the change is that children under age of 18 make up one third of the Hispanic population compared to one fifth for the white population. Texas by itself added 979,000 people under age 18, with 931,000 being Hispanic. 92% of the population growth since 2000-of 25.1 million- came from minorities of all kinds. And mixed race is another major category with nine million people. Asian American population also increased, especially in major cities such as San Francisco, San Jose and New York. Overall 63.7% of people identified as white, 16.3% as Hispanic, 12.2% as black, 4.7% as Asian, 0.7% as American Indian or Alaska natives. New York and Washington saw black populations decline. Detroit dropped out of the top ten cities replaced by San Jose. Chicago's population declined, New York's went up by 2% to 8.2 million people. ...

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How the French health care system works. France comes in first and the USA 37th in aWHO health care ranking. THe difference in deaths from respiratory disease is half that in the USA, and lower rates of death from heart disease and diabetes. IT has more hospital beds and doctors per capita than the USA. 65% of French people are satisfied with their health system compared to 40% in the USA, and yet France spends 10.7% of GDP on health care and the USA spends 16% for poorer results. THe French system is more generous to its seniors. Unlike Medicare there are no deductibles, just modest co-payments that are often dismissed for chronically ill. And diabetes and critical surgeries are covered 100%. French also buy supplemental insurance like Medigap for extra expenses like dental and eyglasses. Cancer patients are treated free of charge. Avastin treatments costing $48,000 a year are provided at no charge. France's PMI or Protection Maternelle et Infantile, is rated highly. It is anetwork of thousands of healthcare facilities, that ensure that every mother and child in the country receives basic preventive care. Mothers even receive afinancial incentive for attending their pre and post natal visits. France makes this care affordable by reibursing doctors at a much lower rate. The average yearly net income for doctors is around $55,000, about athird of what doctors in the USA make. But French doctors don't have to pay back huge student loans as medical school is paid for by the state and malpractice insurance premiums are only a tiny fraction of that in the USA. And again the French government pays two thirds of the social security tax for most French physicians- which is typically 40% of income. So the $55,000, is more like $92,000 taking that into account and more like $110,000 when student loans and malpractice is taken into account at US levels. Specialists who have 4 or more years experience can charge what they want, but as one gastroenterologist says, there in an unspoken and undefined limit to what you can cahrge or what is socially acceptable. Yet even in France there is inflation in health care costs that the government deals with through price controls and more spending. The French national insurance system is running increased deficits each year and this is now $13.5 billion, and it has led to higher taxes for employers and workers. ...

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Latest data from the U.S. Treasury shows it has collected $63 billion in tariffs over the preceding 12 months. Even though there is no agreement on trade with China, president Trump says the U.S. is benefitting from higher tariffs by tens of billions of dollars. In May he estimated tariff revenues could reach $100 billion.This report in the WSJ says this could happen if the the new tariffs of 10% on additional $300 Chinese goods imported to U.S. goes into effect on September 1. This is likely considering that China sees this in different terms than the U.S. such as its sovereignty, whereas the U.S. sees it simply in terms of fair trade. With new elections China may be simply putting things off till the election is decided as Mr. Trump has pointed out. The tally of what the U.S. Treasury gets annually if $100 billion is generated in tariffs goes something like this. Of this $30 billion was generated previously for the U.S. government, so the incremental amount is $70 billion. Of this about $16 billion goes to offset the effect of loss of farm exports to farmers, mainly soyabeans exports to China, through a rescue fund. This leaves additional $54 billion for the U.S. Treasury. Money that could conceivably be put back into infrastructure that the U.S. badly needs in mobile and fixed to improve internet speeds and move up from its low rankings compared to China and other countries. A WSJ report this week shows Germany in worse shape than the U.S., both countries having dismal status in mobile infrastructure- the U.S. at No. 37, and Australia No. 4, Canada No. 3, and even Croatia No. 9. This throws some light on why this trade dispute has become intractable, for China the right of a sovereign nation to move past middle income status even as its telecom technology with Huawei 5G is top class, and for the U.S. the right not to fall behind in advanced technologies such as Telecom. It is also why one hears so much about Huawei and why it has become a flashpoint of the conflict in trade and trade practices. It is thought Mr. Trump is conducting this trade dispute. Yet less known is the fact that prominent Republicans in Congress such as Senator Warner have stated on television talk shows that they are concerned Mr. Trump may give up too much in negotiations that lead to the U.S. not being able to compete in telecom advanced technologies that matter for competitiveness and for national security. What was treated by Bush and Obama administrations routinely without much attention to the consequences is now a top concern for Republicans and others in Congress and business. ...

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Add beans, peas and lentils, commonly known as pulses to your diet. High in protein and fiber these are some of the most affordable but not talked about much. Americans take about half a cup of beans each week which Christopher Gardner calls an insanely small amount. He is director of nutrition of the Stanford Prevention Research Center. “That’s an insanely small amount, given that beans, peas and lentils are such a powerhouse of protein and fiber and other nutrients. Nutrient-wise they have all of the good stuff and none of the bad stuff — and they tend to be a lot less expensive than other foods. There are few foods that cost as little as beans, peas and lentils.” A single cup of cooked lentils has 18 grams of protein- more protein than 3 large eggs, and it is fre of cholesterol and low in saturated fat. And it has 16 grams of fiber - about half of the recommended daily amount a adult should take. Try adding them to your daily meals and gradually increase intake. Try hummus as a dip or snack on chickpeas in salad. Take them in Mexican, Italian or Asian flavors. In today's inflation environment a pound of dried beans at 1.70 compares with $6 for a pound of ground beef, $4.20 a pound for chicken breast, and $4.60 for a dozen large eggs.      ...

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India's economy growth rate was 8.2% in the third quarter 2025 up from 7.8% in second quarter of 2025. GDP reached $4.18 trillion, projected to reach $7.3 trillion in 2030. This make it the fourth largest economy in the world ahead of Japan, and projected to overtake Germany for third position by 2028. A quarter of the population of 1.4 billion people or 350 million people are between 10 years and 26 years age. GDP per capita is at $2700 lower than Japan at $32,000 and Germany at $56,000. India suffered from lack of ambitious targets, leaks in development budget from corrupt practices, a weak governance during the early period after independence in 1947-2000. Over a 15 year period starting with the first government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1999-2004 and with the Modi government in 2014-2026  the political system has evolved for stable responsible governance and no leaks in the development budget, ambitious targets. When the first Modi government took office the country was ready for a surge in deveopment and modernization following the example of the Modi state government in Gujarat which started in 2001. After the failures of the Congress government 2004-2014, Modi took office in the midst of a wave of support for rapid modernization. The first decade has laid the foundations 2014-2025 and the second decade 2025-2035 is a period of rapid growth that should enable India to catch up with China. ...

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DJT calls for Iran to end nuclear program Feb 19 2026, at first Board of Peace meeting in Washington DC. The need for a safer world without the nuclear proliferation to smaller states that increases risks of nuclear war, to North Korea, Pakistan, and Iran. This also means that the US Russia's, China's and India's policy needs to shift to cooperation not just on arms limitation, but also in the area of preventing the spread of nuclear weapons to smaller states. One idea needs to be dispelled the idea that a state gains from its disproportionate use of the country's income and resources to develop nuclear weapons as has happened in Iran, Pakistan, and North Korea, where this has resulted in impoverishment of the country. Another that retaining nuclear weapons would have put Ukraine at an advantage, that states are better off keeping nuclear weapons technologies and weapons for the survival of governments. The world is going through a difficult period- it took many centuries of hardship for China, India, (five centuries since 1500) and other countries to modernize and industrialize, and no one wants to see everything put at risk in the coming generations. Europe and America also have a lot at stake with the countries being poor for most of the period before the 1950's and industrialization. All the achievements of science and technology, all of modern life are at risk of disappearing with this one threat. ...