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Nawaf Obaid, a fellow of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, is also senior fellow at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies. Here he describes the events leading to the Saudi turndown of a seat on the UN Security Council. The Saudi foreign policy establishment made this decision after several weeks of debate in Jeddah considering the U.S. and Russia's effort to make only a muted criticism of the use of chemical weapons in Syria in the Security Council; and the U.S. effort to have the British, French and Saudis give up on demands for firm language in a Security Council resolution on action to be taken against the use of chemical weapons. For the Saudis, says Obaid, better not taking a temporary seat on the UN Security Council, than to be left a docile member without its own voice and the voice of others in the international community being heard. Obaid also points out that this is the beginning of Saudi effort to exercize its own influence in the Middle East, as it faces three separate developments in 2013- the Iranian rapprochement with the West under new president Rouhani, the Arab Awakening and the new consciousness in the Middle East, the U.S. policy under president Obama of not taking leadership in the Middle East. This also comes as the Saudis parted ways with the Obama administration on the role of the military in Egypt, and has differences with Turkey and Quatar on support for Islamic groups in Egypt and Syria....

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Galston points to the study in the Economist magazine by Ray Avent showing the hugely negative effect of Tech on jobs in the last 3 decades. He calls for using the full tools kit of solutions to tackle the problem. Society will face huge problems if nothing is done as divisions in society are likely to increase with a few people doing well with a large number of unemployed and the working class having stagnant wages. He points to BLS statistics showing worker wages increased annually by 0.3% after inflation for the period 1981-2014 in the U.S. This is not just a U.S. problem. It is a worldwide problem with particular relevance for U.S., Europe, India and China. Galston was deputy assistant to president Clinton for domestic policy, 1993-1995, and holds the Ezra Zilkha chair in governance studies at Brookings Institution.

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IMF economist Oliver Blanchard, says the euro's depreciation vis-a-vis the dollar "would be a good thing." Because "in a way Europe needs it more than the U.S., and the U.S. could probably offset it in some way." The IMF forecast is for a 0.3% contraction in the eurozone in 2012 and growth at 0.7% in 2013. Blanchard says a drop in the euro exchange rate of 10% would normally boost growth in GDP by 1.4%.

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Gary Yonge provides this exceptional report after spending a month in Muncie, Indiana, before the U.S. presidential election of 2016. He talks to different women in the town that is known as Middletown, representing midwestern America. Linda Hanson of the League of Women Voters in Muncie, says that just as the election of a black president brought out the latent prejudice of people towards blacks, in the same way the latent misogyny of people has been brought out by this election towards women. Part of the difference in how Hillary Clinton is viewed comes from partisan views such as coming from women in Republican organizations. A college professor at Ball State University who supported Sanders is ambivalent, hesitant about Clinton as representing the working class. A young college student who is progressive says she is voting for Jill Stein of the Green Party. In Whitely a black part of town, a young woman who works with children and in after school education says she is for Hillary. Sousa, 75, former spokesperson of the League of Women Voters say Hillary is being held upto a higher standard, and there is no perfect candidate among women as there is no perfect candidate among blacks, and sometimes this is used to deny rights or opportunities to women. Also prevalent is the divide among women of older age who have experienced gender discrimination and were denied rights from a younger generation of women who have not experienced this and have no idea about that time. Muncie elected a female Mayor in 2008. Others including a counselor at a women's shelter see a lot remaining to be done, that she hasn't seen women being treated with respect. Sousa of the LWV says its a lot about what the candidate will bring to the country and what she is able to do, not just being a woman, which is the way to tackle the country's problems. ...

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In the period approaching the 70th anniversary of the Communist Party of China and its role in the revival of China after centuries of decline, confrontation with European and Japanese invasions, and poverty, China is taking a long view of Hong Kong protests. Carrie Lam stated China was too conscious of Hong Kong and China's international reputation and was pursuing "the long game," in dealings with Hong Kong protesters and its relations with the U.S. and Europe. This approach sees the need for China to create a positive image as it seeks to settle the trade dispute with the U.S. that hurts China's efforts for improving the standard of living and continuing its modernization. This means keeping relations with the European Union on a good footing as it pursues tit for tat tariffs and resumes talks with the U.S. without giving up what it sees as its sovereignty for industrial policy and trade matters.  A new sign of this is changing the focus of Hong Kong protests from the Chinese government to Hong Kong tycoons who China says have created the housing shortages through their policies. By not releasing land they own for building new affordable housing and driving up prices because of the greed for returns the tycoons in real estate are asked to take some of the responsibility for the mess in Hong Kong and anger of protesters. The social and economic tensions have contributed to anger of protesters for which the government has become a easy target says China as it looks for ways to tackle the issues underlying the protests and separate the negotiable issues from the issue of "sovereignty" or China's right to decide its internal affairs. In the light of the Communist party's struggles against European colonialists and Japan's Imperial Army, "sovereignty" is a sensitive topic in China.  As part of this approach Carrie Lam, Hong Kong leader held a Chinese version of Town hall meeting to listen to the complaints of Hong Kong leaders for the first time after weeks of protests, to let people vent out their feelings and complaints.    ...

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 South Korea has run about 300,000 coronavirus tests, double that in Italy and ten times that in the U.S., says this report in the WSJ. This report shows how the South Korean testing works and the workday of Lee Hyuk-min, a clinical microbiologist at a testing lab of Yonsei University Health System Severance Hospital in Seoul, who is working from 4.45 am to 11 pm. South Korea's effectiveness in controlling the spread is based on a strategy of efficient testing that enables isolating quickly people and areas. South Korea's testing network is a legacy of the MERS coronavirus outbreak in 2015, and the government failure at that time to control it.  It brings together doctors, medical staff, labs, and political leaders in roles following the protocols established since then. Dr Lee and others are the final checkpoint in the system which coordinates a diagnostic operation that combines together 633 test sites and 100 labs. The protocol includes a uniform setup- same testing equipment, same training, same decision making process. At 8 am each day all labs upload results to a shared database, which allows public and private hospitals to monitor patient results and report them to Korea Centers for Disease Prevention and Control. Hospitals upload testing details to an online directory. This surveillance allows South Korea to predict where to concentrate its efforts for controlling spread, says Dr Lee who advises the South Korean government on lab testing issues. Action plan took 2 years for the new rules to be implemented following MERS in 2015. The plan included accelerated bio testing company approval for tests. The first company got approval on Feb 4, followed by 4 other firms. Dr Lee says testing is only part of the equation as labs are needed to process and confirm results. Another key is innovation. South Korea setup testing in drive thru locations, that limit contact and speed up testing, which the U.S. is adopting. Dr Lee says early identification is key, and identifying the first coronavirus patient which was done in South Korea on January 20. Other countries including the U.S. took too long to identify the first patient, says Dr. Lee. ...

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Lahart points out that it will take time for Electrolux to put the the two businesses together following its acquisition of the GE appliance business. The $3.3 billion Electrolux paid is much less than estimates made earlier, showing the still depressed state of the housing market. Electrolux shares went up 5.1% in Stockholm. The potential of sales in the U.S. market will help as Europe recovers from a sales downturn. Economies of scale will help Electrolux, yet its main competitor Whirlpool has made investments to compete effectively in a larger market with growing sales in emerging markets and U.S.

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A study done at the University of Wisconsin's Population Health Institute by health sciences professor, David Kindig and PhD candidate Erika Cheng, shows the impact of smoking, graduation rates, poor choices and availability of food, and incomes, in declining life spans of women in some parts of the U.S.

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The European Central Bank left all its interest rates unchanged on September 7, 2016. No changes were made to asset purchase program, which will run until March 2017 or beyond as needed. The ECB left interest rates at 0% for its lending operations, and for overnight deposits at 0.4%.  Inflation is a special concern, as inflation was at 0.2% for August. Business activity and investment in the EU and in the U.S. is weak, and Brexit is still a concern.

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Greece gets strong demand for its bond offering in April 2014. A sale of 3 billion euros of bonds maturing in 2019 attracted 20 billion euros in demand. The yield on the 5 year bond was 4.95%. This is the first longer term bond sale since 2010. The yields on bonds issued during the depths of the eurozone crisis for investors had yields close to 20%. This is a huge turning point for Greece's recovery, and shows tangible progress for the efforts of the Samaras government to stabilize Greece's finances and restore growth. With yields on 10 year U.S. Treasury debt at record lows of 2.64% in April 2014, this brings Greek bond yields to within a little over 2 percentage points of U.S. Treasuries, something that would have been unthinkable only one year ago at this time. It also helps stabilize the entire eurozone, after years of turmoil and riots in Greece created the possibility of Greece's return to the drachma.

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On one of the major issues of 2014-2015 U.S. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky provides conviction and vigorous defense of liberties. Senator Rand Paul made this the centerpiece of his campaign for the U.S. presidential election of 2016. On May 30, 2016, Rand Paul said: "Tomorrow, I will force the expiration of the NSA illegal spy program. I believe we must fight terrorism, and I believe we must stand strong against our enemies. But we do not need to give up who we are to defeat them. In fact, we must not." With Republicans split on this issue, the strong defense of liberties taken by Rand Paul makes it certain that the Patriot Act will expire on May 31, 2015, and the NSA bulk surveillance of phone data will end. Both the American Civil Liberties Union and the conservative Tea Party Patriots have praised the extensive debate on the issue of the damage done by such surveillance tactics. Both the ACLU and the Tea Party see the need to let the 2001 Patriot Act and legislation supporting bulk data surveillance to expire....

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Two articles of impeachment are passed on U.S. president Trump in the House of Representatives by Democrats, with all Republicans opposed. The party votes make this a political affair, with all Democrats favoring impeachment and all Republicans favoring stopping this process. Its harder in the Senate as all Republicans in the Senate are almost certain to vote against impeachment and the Senate Republican majority making impeachment a political exercize of one party.

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The numbers are shocking. In 2019 alone the costs of the Opioid epidemic in the U.S. was $188 billion including healthcare, child and family assistance programs, criminal activities, and lost wages, according to the Society of Actuaries. Now 3 large pharmaceutical distributors and some pharmaceutical manufacturers are hoping to settle the lawsuits by paying $50 billion. The costs to the nation are enormous in human toll and in lost economic activity.

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The Chinese negotiating team after the changes in the organization at the senior ranks of the government under Jinping lacks the experience in trade matters of the U.S. team led by Robert Lighthizer. Liu He who leads China's negotiating team is an economist who has the confidence of president Xi Jinping. Lighthizer is a veteran of trade negotiations going back to negotiations he held with the Japanese under the Reagan administration.

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The U.S. House of Representatives votes 420-0 calling for public release of the Mueller report on the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. The probe by Special Counsel Mueller looked into whether anyone in the Trump circle aided Russian meddling in the election. The unanimous vote is a result of the public support for releasing the report. Mostly all Democrats and 80% of Republicans support its public release.

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Japan's GDP fell by 7.8% in the second quarter of 2020 compared with previous quarter. By comparison for U.S. economy GDP was down 9.5% for that quarter. In Japan the increase in the national sales tax from 8% to 10% in October 2019 had already caused a contraction in the economy. It is uncertain how much the second wave of the pandemic will affect the economic recovery.

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VW sales of automobiles in the U.S. declined by 15% in November 2015 providing the first indication that buyers in the U.S. are responding to the emissions cheating scandal. More disclosures and statements by VW about "a chain of mistakes" going back to 2005 could lead to further erosion in the U.S. market.

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Milk sales have increased by 7% during the coronavirus period in grocery stores in the U.S., reversing 10 years of decline. Yet dairy farmers expect to struggle as sales to restaurants and hotels that use about a third of dairy products were lost during the pandemic..

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LNG and other deals signed during president Trump's visit to India. Exxon and Chart Industries signed agreements to increase India's gas network. India has huge energy needs and the U.S. with large energy supplies is a natural partner for LNG imports.

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The Labor Department statistics show unemployment dropped from 8.9% to 8.2%, however at the same time GDP growth for the 1st quarter only reached an estimated 2.1%, only slightly higher than the economy's potential of 2%, the figure for growth used by Fed chairman Bernanke. This has puzzled Bernanke because there was just not enough growth to account for the drop in the unemployment rate. A lower jobs number of 120,000 for jobs created in March 2012 gives the Fed chairman only a short time to respond with another version of the Operation Twist, before election season begins in earnest with the Fed wanting to stay neutral, says Lahart. Other reports suggest that the U.S. Federal Reserve having come under criticism for being too interventionist may decide to wait longer.

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Republicans win at least 7 new seats in the U.S. Senate to take control of the Senate and both houses of Congress in the 2014 midterm elections. Republicans had a 9 seat gain in the House to be close to 245 seats. Republicans won Senate seats in Colorado, Georgia, Arkansas, Kansas, and in West Virgina for the first time since 1956. Democrats had one of their few wins in the New Hampshire Senate election. About $4 billion were spent on the election with both parties evenly matched.

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DJT on Canada "lives because of the US," and Carney's referencing the relationship and saying "Canada does not live because of the US." Rupture in relations started earlier but was mended. This time Carney takes the first step after visiting Beijing to clearly distance Canada from the US in speeches at Davos, by being openly critical of US policies. This does not bode well for negotiations onthe USMCA agreement that is being rewritten. Disputes with Mexico continues over US preference to strike on land against drug cartels in Mexico that are trafficking drugs to the US with loss of hundreds of thousands of lives more than the Korean and Vietnam wars, and World War 1 combined over the last decade. The USMCA involves negotiations with Mexico and Canada. The Border has been secured but like Eisenhower in 1954 DJT faces the problem of how to send back the surge in migrants that entered the border illegally through Mexico with the Mexican government not intervening and the Biden/Harris/Mayorkas government failing to secure it -asking for legislation as late as 2024 when most of the illegal entry had already happened. In 1954 Eisenhower organized Operation Wetback to do this, which is now underway in the US in a different way by DJT in 2026 with the clear focus on getting criminal activity out. ...

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A new survey of senior lending officers of 45 emerging market banks by the Institute of International Finance is similiar to surveys done by central banks in U.S., Europe and Japan. The IIF is an asssociation of large global banks. The IIF's chief economist says the survey shows strong demand for loans in these countries. Emerging market banks are becoming cautious, but its difficult considering the strong demand for loans. In China and Brazil, banking authorites are trying to cool the huge increase in loans as asset bubbles are developing. The IIF's first survey shows strong demand for loans aross the board, especially in Brazil. Similiar information from Turkey shows strong loan demand. An index of loan demand for consumer loans in emerging markets- with a score of 50 indicating expansion of loan demand and below 50 contracting loan demand- is at 64.1. Similiar indexes for the U.S. are at 50.1, for Europe 49.8, Japan 48.5, according to the recent surveys by central banks. While 56% of emerging market banks say corporate loan demand has grown in the 1st quarter 2011- the similiar number for the U.S. is 35% in the Fed survey, and 28% for Europe in the ECB survey. The IIF survey looked at the bank's lending practices and found banks in emerging Asia were tightening standards while banks in Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Middle East were lowering the standards. 25% of emerging market banks tightened corporate lending standards, 16% relaxed standards, and the remainder left things as they were. A similiar Fed survey for the U.S. showed no banks tightening corporate lending standards, and 16% relaxing standards. And an ECB survey shows more banks tightening standards than relaxing them....