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There is a ton of cheese lying in storage -1.4 billion pounds - as Americans shift to foreign varieties and exports to China and Mexico are hurt by the tariffs war.  Americans are becoming more adventurous in their cheese eating habits. Many say they cannot stand eating processed cheese anymore. Processed cheese consumption is going down just as foreign cheese varieties are picking up strongly. Mozzarella cheese is up and cheddar cheeses is down with mozzarella popular in pizzas.   Cheese producers such as Sargento in Wisconsin are shifting to Gouda, a Dutch variety and other European cheeses as they adjust to the changing habits of Americans tired of processed stuff including processed cheeses.  Cheesemakers from Ireland and Quebec and local makers in Wisconsin were ramping up their production of cheese when the trade tariffs with China and Mexico hit dairy products. Cheese exports to China are down 63%. The result is that 1.4 billion pounds of cheese are now in storage in cold storage warehouses. Americans still eat a record 37 pounds of cheese every year, but processed cheese per capita is now half of what it was in 2006. Netherlands based Gouda producer Campina is expanding in the U.S. to meet the demand for gouda and other varieties.  Dairy farmers that supply cheese makers are hurt. Milk prices are down around 40% from a 2014 peak. 600 dairy farms closed in Wisconsin in 2018 alone. ...

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This is a WSJ special report on Nissan and the failure of Carlos Ghosn's management style at Nissan leading to deep discontent in management ranks and employees, and also in Japan. Ghosn failed to invest in Japan seeing it as an aging society, and preferred the U.S. for investment. This was an affront to many Japanese, not just Nissan employees.  A big problem was that Ghosn's salary was larger than that of all nine top Nissan executives combined. Even during the 2008 financial crisis and cost cutting Ghosn's salary was understated by using accounting methods not approved by its auditor Ernst & Young. Under new Japanese rules oversight on compensation was given to Mr. Imazu who had to uncover the different shell companies that were used to shield the compensation and benefits going to Ghosn from public view. Lack of transparency and frugality was a major issue as one Nissan executive put it- "where is the transparency, and where is the frugality." New laws introduced in Japan in 2015 required release of compensation for any company executive making more than $800,000. Under these rules Japanese prosecutors were able to investigate the situation at Nissan.  In the end when the CEO of Nissan, appointed by Mr. Ghosn announced the arrest and detention of Mr. Ghosn, the Japanese audience applauded, showing how deep the discontent was in Japan. On November 19, in a carefully managed operation that would make a detective type story Japanese prosecutors arrested Mr. Ghosn as his plane landed in Tokyo, and arrested his assistant Mr. Kelly on the same day after his plane landed and his car was taken off the road to a rest area. Ghosn story has also its management lessons as this type of hard driving management with time spent jet-setting more than in contact with people and employees of the company is becoming unpopular. It is bad for employees and presents a rather unhealthy lifestyle, lacking any kind of role model for the rest of the company and society where the company is located. In this case not just Yokohama, but all of Japan, which resented the way it was treated. Recent articles have highlighted the situation at other companies. The General Electric story about the failure at GE in the U.S. - also explored this week in the WSJ -tells a story of hard driving management style of some executives that is increasingly becoming unpopular. A more thoughtful management style, with mindfulness, not based on personality or ego, is more productive leading to better decisions after taking in all views and enabling participation of other top and middle managers. ...

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Negotiators for Climate Change talks meeting in Katowice, Poland helped develop a rule book to support efforts made for the Paris Accords. The U.S. joined the European Union, Canada and China in putting forward compromise language. 

The question of setting up a carbon market was put off for the future.

On the aid to developing countries to reduce emissions in their generation of power the commitment of $100 billion by 2020 from Article 9 of the Paris Accords was seen by some countries including the U.S. as too high. China does not contribute, and only the European Union with Germany doubling its contribution took the lead. That climate fund has so far raised $10 billion.

The U.S. point of view was that no country should sacrifice economic prosperity and energy security for environmental sustainabililty. Yet the U.S. has participating in developing the rule book for climate change efforts stemming from the Paris Accords.

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Johnson & Johnson stock dropped 10% after a Reuter report that company executives knew for decades that its baby powder sometimes showed positive for small amounts of asbestos, according to this report in WSJ. J&J called it an "absurd conspiracy theory."

German company Bayer shares were down about 40% in 2018 due to legal issues related to its Roundup weed killer. Though baby powder represents only 2% of sales and J&J has $16 billion in cash flow the situation is unsettling for investors.

 

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General Electric has become an example of how not to run a a business. Once  a leader in American business it is now a shadow of its former self, and withered in many of its markets, with a slumping share price. This report in the WSJ shows how the involvement in banking and capital markets was the first error at GE that hit the company's share price hard during the global recession of 2009. Other decisions and a hard driving culture led to more mistakes leading to the current situation. By 2008 GE Capital brought 38% of GE's revenue, for a company that was a leader in infrastructure a huge misstep, and the start of the decline. In terms of company culture and management a more thoughful management style, a willingness of management to have self-criticism and different views represented are better for companies. A hard driving culture can hurt companies over time- here the example Jack Welch CEO, and Jeff Bornstein as CFO are given for this hard driving culture. Renault-Nissan is a recent example of CEO running into issues with the company's culture and profile developed under a larger than life personality. There is a lot to be said in favor of a gentler disposition, a healthy lifestyle, and a thoughtful style, in the management ranks of companies at all levels which produce better results. This serves as a part of Lessons in Management and Culture. ...

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The no confidence motion against Theresa May in the Conservative Party has created an irrevocable split in the party, say editors of The Times. Theresa May's leadership is weakened by the attacks from the conservative wing of her party, which has not accepted the realities of Brexit and British withdrawal from the European Union that would hurt trade, the economy, and create contentious issues over Ireland.

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Currently Asian-Americans make up 62% of students at top high schools in New York. Mayor Blasio aims to give 20% of the seats to students who almost reach the qualifying scores on an entrance exam for Stuyvesant and seven other specialized high schools. Under Blasio's plan Discovery program for economically disadvantaged students would get 800 of the 4000 specialized high school seats for ninth graders in fall 2020 up from 250. 

Another view is presented by Parenting While Black organization of low income parents and children, who say that more important is to improve the quality of education for the city's 1.1 million students and start at the early grades. They see the high school debate for these 7 specialized schools as taking attention from the real problem to focus on s small sliver of students. The mass of students, the vast majority, they say are left to dangle in the wind.

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The rise of Japan was a major challenge for president Reagan in the 1980's in the way president Trump is confronting the rise of China. The Reagan administration obtained the concessions it needed from Japan. The negotiator for the U.S. side during the Reagan years - Robert Lighthizer. Lighthizer is using his experience in winning concessions from Japan in his role as top trade negotiator with China.  As the WSJ points out Japan ceased to be a threat to the U.S. faster than anyone thought possible. 

But there is one problem even if this happens the warning is that the imbalances with Japan simply transferred over time to China. The warning is for America's tendency to spend money it does not have, and for how long.

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The Times of London provides this view of Brexit and the no-confidence vote against Theresa May from her own party, the Conservatives which she survived. Views are from Paris, Berlin and Rome. French commentators agreed that the paralysis on Brexit and the situation of Theresa May are a result of a mendacious referendum campaign, and a understanding that Britain is only going to lose by leaving the European Union.  Le Figaro, conservative newspaper says the British were sold an impossible vision by pro-Brexit politicians egged on b ancestral arrogance, that they would somehow have upper hand in negotiations. Le Monde the centre left newspaper pointed out that the Britain's economic losers were hoodwinked by a branch of the conservative elite. It said enormous lies were used in the campaign - Boris Johnson saying that we are leaving the EU but we will keep all the advantages.It added an insight that "Brexit is not straightforward because the EU today is a British creation: single market, free trade, enlargement, serving British interests."   ...

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The 2018 state elections leave an inconclusive result says Soutik Biswas of the BBC.On one side an arrogant government and on the other side a older party from the Independence struggle that has not developed younger leaders and lacks a compelling narrative. Rajasthan has tended to give only 1 term to an incumbent government, and in Madhya Pradesh Congress party had 113 to BJP's 111, a very close vote, with the BJP facing anti-incumbency sentiment in an effort to win a fourth time in succession.  A lot depends on regional allies for the Congress says Biswas, and here it is not clear how well this will work. The Modi government faces discontent of farmers, and the loan waiver for farmers promise by Congress helped it with voters. In the general election much also depends on how well prime minister Narendra Modi keeps the narrative focused on development and retains the support of younger voters, and his personal popularity. This only leaves an embattled Republic between a government that has struggled to create jobs and modernize the country even with good intentions, and a older centrist party that has not cultivated new leaders from within its ranks and lacks a compelling narrative to take the country into the ranks of close to developed nations the way its neighbors South Korea, and China have rapidly developed. ...

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Of 317 Members of Parliament, 117 voted against Theresa May, in a no-confidence motion within the Conservative party ranks, With a margin of 83 May survived, promising that she will not lead the party into the next election. This leaves the Conservative Party badly divided with Brexit Leave supporters, the Brexiteers, calling for May's resignation.

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Plastic water bottle use surged with a shift to single bottle use of bottled water as a preferred option to using sugar drinks and sodas. In the U.S. this use has surged 284% since 1994, with 67% of the bottled water sold not in jugs but in single use convenience type plastic water bottles.  Manufacturers of plastic water bottles have failed to come up with a technology that makes the kind of plastic that can be easily recycled. Danone's bottled water company Evian brand makes about 30% of its plastic water bottles from recycled plastic and no aims at shifting entirely to recycled plastic by 2025.  Images of bottles filling landfills and hurting sealife have led to consumer opposition to their prolific use. Ocean Conservancy says plastic water bottles are behind cigarette butts and food wrappers the thrid most item washing up on shorelines.  Curbs- Cities in Massachusetts along the coastline are banning their use. New York City is banning the sale in parks, beaches, of these bottles. And the European parliament  is backing laws for member states to collect 90% of these bottles for recycling by 2025. Mumbai has banned this year eater being sold in small bottles. The importance of this is now sinking in. ...

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Theresa May faces a no confidence vote from within her own Conservative Party. The head of the 1922 committee of Conservative party members of parliament said he had letters of protest from 48 MP's opposing May's Brexit deal, the number needed to call for a vote whether she should remain in office. May needs 158 votes to win. If she does not gain this number of votes a new Conservative leader will be elected prime minister. May's Brexit deal negotiated with the EU does not have the support of enough members of parliament for a vote.