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Pearlstein says American Airlines (AMR) management had hoped to reduce employees count by 13,000, reduce benefits for employees and retirees and reform work rules by going through bankruptcy in the manner of other airlines such as Delta and Northwest. As it turns out AMR's unions and US Airways have made their own deal and come up with labor agreements that are likely to result in a merger deal with AMR with 1.2 billion in savings from synergies, instead of relying on labor savings for $800 million as AMR management had planned. This is because US Airways CEO, Doug Parker, sees increased savings and revenue from a new combined airline and a better hands on management team. Part of the reason is also the the way the combined airline provides additional feeder traffic from smaller cities to hubs in the east coast and midwest markets and in the Miami routes to South America. The Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation also tacitly sees the benefit of a stronger airline so that its funds are not depleted further by having to support AMR's underfunded pension plan. The creditors have also realized what all this means by increasing the value of AMR bonds to 50 cents on the dollar from 30 cents on the dollar....

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The issues raised on the effectiveness of peacetime militaries such as China after six decades since the Korean war in the fifties are raised in this report in the WSJ. The Ukraine war and the difficulty of transporting supplies except by rail for the Russian army, the lack of a motivated and trained combat force, are showing the problems of peacetime militaries that can lead to major miscalculations by world powers. 

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Israeli attack on South Pars Field and Iranian response with attack on Qatar North Field- this happens on March 18, 2026. About 10% of total global oil supplies are affected about 7 million barrels a day. Attacks on oil facilities and fields are a different order of magnitude compared to closure of Straits of Hormuz, as oil tankers can still deliver the oil when it is safe to cross the sea passage. Attacks on oil fields and facilities will take a long time to repair. The US president calls on Israel to stop such attacks. The Pars gas field supplies homes in Iran and is used for fertilizer production in Iran. It also supplies Turkey which would have to get alternative supplies from Russia or on the world market.Oil briefly hits $116 a barrel before settling at $96. The situation resembles the one in Ukraine when Ukraine grain production could not be sent from the Black Sea ports to Europe and Middle Eastern countries like Turkey, Egypt and Morocco, and fertilizer exports could not be sent to Asia. The Russian attacks on Ukraine ports led to global shortages of fertilizer and grain. ...

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Media headlines focused on Xi's statements on Taiwan. China is concerned that US not recognize Taiwan independence, but not much beyond that. China puts Iran much lower on the list of issues it considers important. It appears that China first priority is to be accepted as an equal partner with the US as a superpower. That is Xi's goal in this trip. Issues of Hormuz and Iran not something China considers important. China has an interest in a non-nuclear Iran, in no nuclear weapons proliferation. As the US has made this a priority China prefers to be not vocal on this issue, as it relies on the US to see this is done. A secondary priority for China is to have the US agree that China could continue to import from the Hormuz Straits to met its oil needs. As China has relations with Arab states it is carefully balancing this with relations with Iran. What does this mean? It means China and US are in considerable agreement on the current situation in the Gulf region and in the Middle East. China sees beyond Iran, so does the US. Both countries are focused on the future - on reindustrialization in the US and China on the next phase in its industrialization. New countries and blocs are also emerging that will rival China and the US- India/Japan and the European Union under leadership of Germany and France. These four countries or blocs are all thinking of the world beyond a failed Middle East- the economic issues they face and how best to tackle them, and the issues relating to borders and security, how best to tackle them. ...

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It is hard to imagine that one is even writing about this, as shocking as it is- the 4 or 5 minutes between a decision to launch nuclear weapons and the end of life on this planet earth as we know it. Here Sam Nunn, a U.S. senator who was part of the negotiations for arms control and who is the leading American in this field talks about the unimaginable danger. He says the strategy from the Cold War where Russia and the U.S. put their nuclear forces in a position to be launched within minutes, 4 to 5 minutes, is outdated and needs to be changed. Hillary Clinton described the issue in the television debate. Yet this was not discussed because of the nature of the 2016 presidential election with lack of serious discussion.  And both Nunn and Clinton emphasize that once the missiles are in the air they cannot be ordered to go back. Accidental error, judgemental error, informational error in which one side thinks the other has launched a missile, a firing by mistake, are possible. In this situation Nunn says Trump is temperamentally unfit, and Clinton is fit to take on the responsibility. Yet the question this raises is as Nunn signals- is anyone but God fit to make this decision to launch nuclear weapons. Nunn says it is outdated and wrong to have only a few minutes, as such a decision cannot be made in a few hours or days, much less in 5 minutes. Nunn brings up a discussion he had in Moscow when he brought this up with Russians and president Putin. Russian president Putin told Nunn that he was fully aware of this. Putin's response was- "Senator Nunn, at some point it becomes automatic."  Nunn does not clarify what this means, or what Putin means to say. For people on the planet it is not enough to have Reagan, Gorbachev, Clinton, as Nunn mentions being responsible people for a nuclear decision. The current state of affairs is simply shocking and the lack of attention to this is also shocking. Equally dangerous is that 20 countries have weapons usable nuclear material, and sophisticated hacking of command and control processes is another danger.       ...

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US Naval Blockade of Iran to include taking all Iran sanctioned ships in oceans of the world, says Gen. Caine, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff. Caine says-The U.S. "will actively pursue any Iranian-flagged vessel or any vessel attempting to provide material support to Iran. This includes dark fleet vessels carrying Iranian oil. As most of you know, dark fleet vessels are those illicit or illegal ships evading international regulations, sanctions or insurance requirements.” It will also include ships carrying war supplies. Most of Iran's 1.6 million barrels a day of exports goes to smal independent refineries on the eastern coast of China, which are known as "teapot" refineries.

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How do children who are hard hit by the pandemic process it? See these drawings by children in DW.com art competition.

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Nalini Gulati of the International Growth Centre looks at Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) on the Union Budget of India. This budgeting shows 122,000 crore rupees allocated up from 113,000 crores the prior year. This is about 5% of the total budget allocated specifically to improve the lives of women in India.

The Ujjwalla scheme investment is doubled from 5 thousand crore to 9 thousand crore rupees, and two crore toilets target set. Mudra Yojana for women to get loans for entrepreneur businesses is another project with increased funding.

GRB was started in 2005. Thirteen years later the expenditure tracking, and incidence of benefits tracking, breaking data to sub national level and region level, execution evaluation, is still not adequate, says Gulati.

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Puerta Vallarta and American expatriates 2026. WSJ reports in Feb 25, 2026 that most of the Mexican states and the Cancun, Tulum, Puerta Vallarta and other coastal tourist areas are controlled by different drug cartels. 

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How AI bots working for Perplexity are affecting $64 billion in Ads revenue for Amazon and Amazon's response. A judge rules in favor of Amazon to keep AI bots out of its shopping site.

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The increased availability of car loans and eased standards for auto loans has played a large part in rising auto sales in the U.S. Annual sales of cars and light trucks maintained a pace of 14.1 million vehicles in July 2012, and could reach 15 million for 2012. Lenders see the car loan market as more profitable and less risky than mortgage lending because of the shorter periods of the loans- 3 to 5 years and the low default rate. Currently only about 2.52% of auto loans are 30 days past due for second quarter 2012, according to Experian. Auto loans outstanding at the end of the 2nd quarter 2012, are $725 billion, according to the automotive division of Experian, up 5.7% from a year ago. The market for securities backed by auto loans has rebounded since the 2008 financial crisis. About $50 billion in bonds backed by auto loans were issued in the Jan-July 2012 period, according to Dealogic, compared to $53 billion in 2011. To get a picture of how this compares with mortgage securities- auto loan backed securities are up 33% above pre 2006 levels, and mortgage backed securities are about 70% below 2006 levels. A recent Fed survey of bank lending officials shows easing lending standards reported by 20% of respondents for the last 3 months for auto loans, compared to 3% for prime residential mortgages and 11% for credit cards....

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Us bombs Kharg Island 15 miles from Iran mainland where most of Iran oil is transported by pipeline from oil fields, then loaded and shipped on oil tankers.90% of Iran oil exports are shipped from Kharg.

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Drop in immigration reduces labor supply keeping the unemployment rate steady even as hiring cools off. Compared to the roughly 1 million in 2019 net migration was about 3 million in 2022 and 2 million in 2024. In 2025 this is now about a negative 250,000 or quarter of million negative migration. Out migration is expected at about 1 million. This means that about 35,000 non farm jobs created between May and July 2025 haven't increased the unemployment rate as fewer new workers join the workforce from illegal migrants. This has to have an effect for wages for the workers in construction and farm work as employers compete for a smaller number of existing workers though economists and the financial media rarely talk about this. This was needed following decades in which the labor supply increases from illegal migrants meant no pressures on employers to pay more than the minimum wage kept artificially low. This means that even well meaning Democrats who clamored for increasing minimum wage were doing exactly the opposite of what was needed for the existing worker base wages in construction, farm work, and household help, because of their sentiments or because of the immigrant wing in their party. Note that about a third of maids, a third of construction workers, and 25% of landscaping workers are not legal migrants. Agriculture Department estimates are for about 40% of farm workers to be without legal work authorization. ...

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Benny Gantz, head of the National Unity Party visits Washingto and meets VP Kamala Harris. Yoav Gallant, Defense Minister, call for enlistment in army of Ultra-Orthodox which would lead to the fall of the coalition and new elections. Netanyahu popularity is a low and National Unity Party of Gantz is likely to win in new elections. There are serious differences between Gantz and Netanyahu, on post war policy. Under the coalition agreement all three are actively involved in decisionmaking. The US airdrop of humanitarian aid was a sign of US discomfort with Netanyahu and both Gantz and Biden are pushing for a humanitarian aid policy.

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The U.S. and Russia are in agreement on renewal of a nuclear arms treaty and freezing of nuclear warheads on both sides. 

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Dexter Filkins points out how the Pakistan army and ISI officers are running affairs in Pakistan. And the army and ISI officers are playing a double game both supporting the Taliban and using American dollars to finance it, and at the same time obtaining American financial aid to fight the Taliban. Never quite finishing off the Taliban in its shows of force, keeping it alive to obtain American financial aid. Filkins confirms this by talking to a malik or tribal elder from the old feudal structure, and to independent Taliban commanders who operate outside the control of Baitullah Mehsud. He calls it Playing the Game.

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This exceptional article in the NYT by Emily Feng and Carlos Tejada shows the social changes taking place in China as more women and men decide to postpone marraige. For the first time there are more women than men in master's degrees programs in China. Women in China are now increasingly better educated and prefer to be independent, not dependent on their spouses as in the previous generation. A typical Chinese household has 3.1 people in 2015 compared to 4.43 people in 1982, according to the China National Bureau of Statistics. Fewer children, more people living alone, women living independently, and seniors living alone are some of the reasons.

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China's agriculture based on small farms is undergoing a change as the government pushes automated farming and large farms in the face of limited imports from the U.S. China put tariffs on agricultural imports from the U.S. in retaliation for U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports. China's Agriculture Ministry says it will build 254 "strong agricultural industrial towns" as models for the country. President Xi stated on a visit to northeastern province Heilongjiang, that "unilateralism and trade protectionism are rising, forcing us to take the road of self reliance." The yield per hectare in the U.S. for soybeans is about twice that in China. Mechanized farming is limited in China because it would eliminate many jobs in rural areas. As the state has ownership of land and farmers merely use land, farmers are less likely to take risks with large long term investments. It can be risky for farmers to rent their land use rights to others, which would lead to consolidation.  Now a separate "Made in 2025" plan makes upgrading farm machinery and equipment one of the 10 goals. China may lift ban on genetically modified seeds now that ChemChina has acquired Swiss seed company Syngenta. China plans to partner with Asian Development Bank to provide $6 billion of loans, grants and investment to fund a list of development projects in rural areas, to modernize agriculture. WSJ cites a project of consolidation into an 8200 acre farm in Shandong province that  has increased yields 43% by investing in new farm equipment and planting machines, pesticide spraying drones. Scaling up has made this possible.    ...

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insurance rates for oil tankers of 0.25% of ship's value increase to 1-2% in Iran war for Straits of Hormuz, US Development Finance Corporation says it will offer reinsurance to insurers to cap the price shippers pay. There is no shortage of insurers to insure ships for the Straits of Hormuz, Lloyd's of London is open for business. Shipping executives say they are concerned about the safety of the crew members, that it is about more than insurance. About 1000 shipos are waiting outside the Straits of Hormuz to make the journey through the Straits. At its narrowest point it is only 19 miles making it possible to plant mines in that area. The US is taking action and has sunk many Iranian minelayer ships.

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Students are failing in math and need remedial preparation. Professors are alarmed at UCLA and UC San Diego. Governor Newsom pushed his not well thought out initiative to remove SAT/ACT preparation so that it would help disadvantaged students when it is exactly that kind of rigor that all students need. And to help disadvantaged student special programs and teachers should be setup before college entry not remove rigorous preparation requirements that all student can take and benefit from preparation. There is no substitute for discipline and hard work in education and this starts early in the K-12 process and goes through all the level to 12th grade when the preparation all over the world gets rigorous, as it is in Asian countries and in Europe.

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In his resignation speech to the House of Commons UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting told the House on May 20, 2026. He calls for bold action based on a bold vision not simply treading water.  "I left the government because we are in the fight of our lives against nationalism, and it is a fight that we are currently losing." "Unless we change course, we risk handing the keys of No 10 to Reform, and I do not want that on our consciences." "For the first time in our history, nationalists are in power in every corner of the United Kingdom." "Scottish and Welsh nationalism represents an existential threat to the future integrity of the United Kingdom." "And Reform UK represent a threat to the values and ideals that have made this country great." “Never waste a minute – that’s been my mantra in government, and it’s why I don’t believe our party has time to waste in government treading water,” Streeting told MPs. “The Labour party was elected to deliver real change. We still can.”   ...

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DJT says time is on their side to negotiators so that the blockade on Iran will remain till a deal is made that cover nuclear materials. US blockade of Iran in force till a deal is reached as final deal will require going beyond Memorandum to nuclear materials -this is the situation on May 24 2026. Mediators Pakistan and Turkey have only got as far as getting a Memorandum- a written document of intentions not actions taken on nuclear materials- while all the time the IRGC Iran says nuclear is not included. What explains this? There are now two factions inside Iran that are the IRGC and the elected president of Iran, one not as committed to nuclear weapons as the IRGC at the cost to the people of Iran and the nation's economic future. This war has proved that while oil producing countries are causing great damage to their economies and productive potential- this includes Russia, Iran and Saudis-the world is moving on its goal of reduced dependence on oil followed by fossil free future in 2 stages. By the first stage if modernization does not take place in the Middle East it will lose forever the opportunity to modernize infrastructure and fall behind other countries including China, India, Brazil and other nations that have made the shift.  ...

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Yale endowment grows by $4.5 billion to $44.1 billion at 11% return in 2025. For 1000 students  offered no cost tution for undergrads this was about a $72 million cost in 2025 when tution is set at Yale at $72,000 a year for undergrads. Of 6800 undergrad students about 15% of students offered no cost tution at the cutoff income level of $75,000. This year the cutoff is set at $200,000. Even if this adds 1000 more students this will in 2026 cost Yale a mere $72 million, a tiny fraction of  1.6% of the total endowment gain of $4.5 billion in 2025. What this shows is that these top tier schools are still wanting to look good but are not really changing a highly flawed system. It is only in 2026 that a new law the Big Beautiful Bill of DJT increased tax on university endowments from 1.4% to 8%. Better that government can address the flawed education system with tax money than let the universities in the higher tiers make education less and less affordable, destroying a pillar of the democratic system of government by giving education to only a privileged few. ...