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Steve Smith the Australian batsman who was the  player of the Ashes cricket series last year says his two remaining goals are to win the Ashes in England, and to win a Test series with India.

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Romney emphasizes that he supports some of the popular parts of the Obama Healthcare Law such as coverage for people with pre-existing conditions. He tells voters he got everybody in his state insured. He also says there will not be a huge cut in taxes that would worsen the deficit. He would close loopholes and deductions to offset any deductions as shown by his advisor Harvard economist Martin Feldstein. The idea is to get a message across that will resonate with women, minorities, the middle class, workers, and business- the 100%, something he is able to do with some credibility having come from Massachusetts, a liberal state in the eastern United States.

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The bicentenary of Napoleon is remembered in 2021 in France and the French speaking world.  Napoleon helped defend the French revolutionary ideals of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity, in the period 1789 to 1799 including the efforts of the French Army in Italy and other countries freeing people from feudal powers. In the period that followed Napoleon ruled France 1799-1812 during which he introduced new ideas of the Civil Code and revolutionary France to countries in different parts of the world. It was in Britain and the Iberian Peninsula that his policies faltered and his regime was seen as tyrannical after the early years.  George Washington was a contemporary of Napoleon and brought both these ideals that the French Revolution cherished to the American colonies, and yet did not seek anything beyond this-as he said the "approbation of good and virtuous people is the limit of my ambition." The British education of that time he received may have made a difference. ...

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NYT's Catie Edmonson covers Speaker Mike Johnson as he meets other Republicans and organizations supporting Ukraine such as American Coalition for Ukraine, European leaders including Polish leaders, that show he is looking at different approaches to bringing up the supplemental bill for Ukraine and Israel in 2 weeks.  Options include doing two separate bills for aid to Ukraine and Israel to avoid the problem of Democrat far left voting against Israel aid and Republican far right voting against aid to Ukraine. The bill would require a two thirds majority because of House rules and some members of the Freedom Caucus opposing it. It would require a bipartisan effort. Speaker Mike Johnson has the advantage of coming in without any preconceived views, is philosophically similar to other younger ardent Republicans, as he is relatively new in Congress, and his style is such that nothing is personal. He says only his tactics are different. ...

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South Korean public opinion shows 80% of the public opposed to the release of slightly radioactive Fukushima water into the sea by Japan. Japanese public opinion is accepting this as unavoidable. This is weakening the position of South Korean president Yoon in coming elections. Yoon is a prosecutor who joined politics only a few years back and has seen his popularity drop by 7 percentage points to 35%. Yoon is known for his effort to bring South Korea and Japan closer together with the US in dealing with North Korea and China. Biden met with Kishida and Yoon at the White House only recently, and Yoon made a state visit to the US before India's Modi. Because Yoon is an outsider to politics he has been able to get South Koreans to accept the idea of settling past disputes with Japan tracing back to the colonial era and World War II, yet the Fukushima water release is opposed by the vast majority of South Koreans.

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Hansi Flick joined Bayern Munich as an interim manager in November 2019. In less than one year he has transformed the German team. Routing Barcelona 8-2 in the semifinals of the Champions League. Taking the team to wins in the Bundesliga and the Champions League. In the manner of Zidane he has a strong bond with the players and trusts each player to develop his own individual style of play, avoided depending on stars who cost a fortune saving the club much money, and giving opportunity to a new generation of talent. He trusted Kimmich, Alfonso Davies, and put Kingsley Coman in for the finals with PSG after his great performance in the Barcelona game. No star antics or displays as veterans Neuer and Muller worked gracefully alongside the younger player for their individual roles fitting into the larger scheme of play. Some of the acclaim puts Flick now ahead of Pep Guardiola and in league with Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool, Zidane at Real Madrid. Flick and Zidane have something in common. ...

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How Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal was able to reduce his heart rate to 100 bpm as he prepared to take the first shot in a penalty shootout in Euro Cup soccer against Slovenia.  It was 170 bpm at the end of extra time. This was after he missed a penalty shot during the game. Ronaldo uses breathing in and breathing out as a way to control his heart rate. Visualization is another technique he uses to be in the best state of mind. Along with hydration, healthy diet and good sleep patterns breathing exercise is a way to reduce the heart rate in moments of stress. Why is it effective? Ronaldo says "It's because it makes you calm." The tracking was recorded by a fitness device called WHOOPS. This breathing in and breathing out is part of the Buddhist practice and an ancient way of maintaining the four forms of mindfulness involving contemplation of the body, of feeling, of mind, and of mind object.

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Potential Treasury nominee Kevin Warsh is given the possible role at Treasury plus appointment as Fed chairman after 2026 when Jerome Powell retires. At 35 years Kevin Warsh was the youngest governor of the Federal Reserve, America's central bank, appointed in 2006 by George Bush. At the time his appointment was criticized for lack of experience- Warsh comes from upstate New York and went to school at Shaker School in Latham, then Stanford, in economics and a JD at Harvard, followed by 7 years at Morgan Stanley. He was executive secretary of the National Economic Council in 2002. During the bank financial crisis of 2009 the lack of macro regulation led to failure of investment banks. Warsh was able top save Morgan Stanley and he acted as an avenue of information from banks to the Fed.

Warsh left the Fed in 2011 and returned to public service in 2016 when Trump made his first run for president as an adviser to DJT. 

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It is only appropriate to bring up Aneurin Bevan in 2024 after the pandemic and as ordinary Britons seek to improve health and living standards, and their compatriots in the US also seek a better form of universal health coverage that works to provide better health  for less cost similar to Europe. In 1948 the National Health Services Act was passed into law with Aneurin Bevan having seen it through parliament as a member of the Labour party from Wales. The NHS was operational in July 1948. Clement Attlee summoned Bevan after winning in a landslide in 1948 and asked him to take the Housing and Health Ministry. Bevan was a coal miner's son who then used his skills in parliament to get passage of laws that created one of the most enduring  institutions of modern times. A docudrama by Prince about a visionary Welshman Aneurin Bevan as Health Minister who founded the NHS National Health Service of Britain. Michael Sheen plays Bevan.

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The Bernie Sanders 2016 U.S. presidential campaign is compared to the Howard Dean 2004 U.S. presidential campaign. Both are from Vermont- Sanders was Mayor of Burlington, Dean was governor of Vermont. Dean and Sanders draw many white, educated, affluent voters to their campaign rallies. Yet the situation in 2015 is different. Dean's major issue was his opposition to the Iraq war started in 2003. Sanders says his position is more class based, and calls for a revolution to help working class Americans gain upward mobility as wages remain stagnant, and educational opportunity restricted. The Democratic Party today is also different, with more ethnic voters, and 40% female.

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Frederick Harris of Columbia University says there is a price to be paid for a black president and it may just be too much for the average black person. There is a difference betwen symbols and substance, betwen a role model and accountability in a representative democracy, which is sadly lacking when the black elites, clergy and politicians fail to debate the issues about the problems facing the black community. Problems related to the increasing poverty among black Americans, and the 14% unemployment for black people. There is he says a strange reticience among the black elite to hold the president accountable on these issues just as they would have done for any Democratic president, even one who was as popular with blacks as Mr. Clinton. He says the experience with Obama is not even remotely comparable to the transformative nature of the work of Rev. Martin Luther King in the black community. It may stem from Obama's multiracial background, growing up in many countries, his elite education and being part of a liberal elite more than of the black community. The price is too high in economic and social terms for the poor or average black person and it has created a divide between the average black person and the black elite, with different concerns and different priorities. Harris points out that poor and poverty are words not mentioned often by Obama. Related to this is the foreclosure crisis in which ordinary black people were hardest hit with no effective help from the president to homeowners badly needing relief. Sheila Bair of the FDIC and Martin Feldstein advocated aggressive help for homeowners under water which did not come from the president. Showing not just the limits of a black presidency, but false hopes, inexperience and lack of leadership in issues that mattered to all Americans in the housing and foreclosure crisis. A populist from Kansas, as Sheila Bair describes herself, had the right instincts and courage of convictions which the president lacked and the entire country needed....

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US efforts to buy or acquire Greenland and Truman's offer in 1946 of $100 million. Truman's offer was made after the war in 1946 following fears that an hostile power could use Greenland for an attack on the US. Greenland was explored for the first time by Robert Peary of Bowdoin College and the US Navy from 1886-1902, in several expeditions from east to west and north to south. He was the first to reach the North Pole, and first to prove Greenland was an island by 1890. It is these discoveries that make the US the original explorer of Greenland. He received the thanks of the US Congress and his expeditions were supported by most of the well known organizations of the US, including the National Academy of the Sciences. It is Robert Peary's prescient insight- he was made Rear Admiral in the Navy- claiming Greenland for the US, was supported by Secretaries of State of the US from Seward in 1867 to others in 1900's and 1946, by Democrat Harry Truman, and today by president DJT. US Commanders inCbief said in 1946 that Greenland was "completely useless for Denmark," and was vital to keep the eastern seaboard of the US secure. It is also as Peary said important to keep the Monroe Doctrine and US leadership in the western hemisphere. ...

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Mitt Romney describes his experiences with different companies he worked with at Bain Capital and how he would use that experience in his job as President. One approach he emphasizes is proactive problem solving and tackling problems early.

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Fuller looks at the effects of the image of the monarchy in Thailand as a revered institution and the six decades of the monarchy under King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 86 years old. Protesters in Bangkok, the central and southern part of Thailand, see the King and the old order challenged by the emergence of Thaksin Shinawatra with supporters in the rural northeast. This is another dimension of the political struggle in Thailand. Shinawatra has won elections since 2001 with his base in the northeast, till the coup in 2006 that ousted him and the recent election of his sister Yingluck Shinawatra. The political system has no way to accomodate the interests of the Bangkok region which has most of the business and commercial interests and major universities, leading to protests. The regional urban-rural divide further splits the country.

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From the National Archives of America here is the letter Mohandas Gandhi wrote to president Franklin Roosevelt calling for American help on July 1, 1942, one month before the launch of the Quit India Movement. With Roosevelt's reply to Gandhi on August 1, 1942, offering his fullest support as stated in his foreign minister Cordell Hull's bold vision of a community of free nations such as India and the idea of the United Nations in Hull's speech made on July 23, 1942. Hull responds to Gandhi' call with the full support of Roosevelt.  Mohandas Gandhi writes to Roosevelt that- "I hold that the full acceptance of my proposal and that alone can put the allied case on an unassailable basis. I venture to think that the Allied declaration that the Allies are fighting to make the world safe for freedom of the individual and for democracy sounds hollow as long as India, and for that matter Africa, are exploited by Great Britain, and America has the negro problem in her own home. In order to make my proposal fool proof I have suggested that if the Allies think it necessary, they may keep their troops, at their own expense, in India, not for keeping internal order but for preventing Japanese aggression and defending China. As fas as India is concerned we must become free even as America and Great Britain are. The Allied troops will remain in India during the war under treaty with the Free India government that may be formed by the people of India without any outside interference, direct or indirect." Gandhi wrote with his proposal to Roosevelt - "It is on behalf of this proposal that I write this to enlist your active sympathy." Roosevelt wrote in his letter that-  "I am sure you will agree that the United States has consistently striven for an supported policies of fair dealing, of fair play, and of all related principles looking towards the creation of harmonious relations between nations... I am enclosing a copy of an address of July 23 by the Secretary of State, made with my complete approval, which illustrates the attitude of this government." Cordell Hull stated in his speech "What we are Fighting For, July 23, 1942, that- "In this vast struggle we, Americans, stand united with those, who like ourselves, are fighting for the preservation of their freedom, with those who are fighting to regain the freedom of which they have been brutally deprived, with those who are fighting for the opportunity to achieve freedom. We have always believed, and we believe today, that all peoples, without distinction of race, color, or religion, who are prepared and willing to accept the responsibilities of liberty, are entitled to its enjoyment. We have always sought and we seek today, to encourage and aid all who aspire to freedom to establish their right to it by preparing to assume its obligations. We have striven to meet squarely our own responsibility in this respect-in Cuba, in the Philippines, and wherever else it has devolved upon us. It has been our purpose in the past, and will remain our purpose in the future- to use the full measure of our influence to support attainment of freedom by all peoples, who by their acts, show themselves worthy of it and ready for it."   ...

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Mr. Giuseppe Conte, Italy's prime minister in the governing coalition of Five Star and Northern League parties was ignored by party leaders. He now finds himself leader of the Five Star Movement with which his views were aligned without being a member. In a new coalition of the establishment Democratic party and the Five Star party of Beppe Grillo after the earlier coalition collapsed Mr. Conte finds a new role as a leader.  Once an obscure lawyer who was looking for a job teaching job at Rome University even when he was prime minister Mr. Conte became popular with his speech in parliament strongly critical of Mr. Salvini.

This also gives Italy the chance to improve relations with the European Union.

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The story of the Vanguard 500 Index Fund's founding in 1976, and the inspiration from Nobel Laureate economist Paul Samuelson, is told by founder John Bogle. On August 31, 1976, the first index mutual fund, First Index Investment Trust was born. It was launched by Bogle at Vanguard. The idea he put forth was that passive index management could outperform active management with its fees, load, commission and other costs. The IPO target was $150 million, but the underwiritng resulted only in $11.3 million. The underwriters suggested cancelling the deal, saying that this was not enough to own all 500 stocks in the S&P 500 Index. Bogle's response was just the opposite- he now had the world's first index mutual fund. Here Bogle talks about the early inspiration. His senior thesis at Priceton University in 1951, in which Bogle broached the idea that mutual funds could not say they were superior to market averages, received support from Samuelson. This was followed by the article 23 years later by Samuelson in "Challenge to Judgement," an article in the Journal of Portfolio Management in summer 1974, that stated: "that some large foundation set up an in-house portfolio that tracks the S&P 500 Index." Bogle took up the challenge and offered well diversified funds at minimal costs, with a focus on the long term investment. Writing in Newsweek in August 1976, Samuelson said that his prayer had been answered. Bogle describes how his inital encounter working with Samuelson's "Economics: An Introductory Analysis," was difficult. He barely made a C-. In 1993 Samuelson offered to write the foreword on Bogle's first book- "Bogle on Mutual Funds." The relationship lasted 61 years!...

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The radical restructuring under CEO Johnson in 2012-2013 at American retailer J.C. Penney that failed. Johnson made 19,000 job cuts and shut down the St John Bay women's brand which brought in significant sales volume for the retailer. In its place he tried to shift Penney to an upscale image and mailed out fancy looking brochures to customers. All the time neglecting the in-store morale problem created by the deep cuts. Johnson managed Apple's retail stores in his prevous position.

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Chief Justice Roberts and President Obama both excelled at Harvard Law School, one as managing editor of the Law Review and the other as President of the Law Review. One raised in suburban Indiana, and going to small Catholic boarding school started 5 years earlier by Chicago and Indiana businessmen like his father, a steel company executive. The other fatherless trying to construct his own identity at a school in Hawaii founded in 1841 to educate the children of white missionaries. Roberts adminstered the oath of office to Obama in January 2009.

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This editorial in the WSJ after the New Hampshire primary, points out that the attacks by Republican candidates on each other instead of educating voters on Donald Trump, will only lead to them falling behind. During the Republican television debate the sharp exchange between Christie and Rubio hurt both candidates in New Hampshire. It says that one of Trump's important weakness is that one third of the voters who voted for Trump have reservations about him. Trump was also lagging behind in voter confidence in his ability to handle an international crisis. Ted Cruz was not able to win big with non evangelical voters in a state on the East coast, which would affect him as a Republican nominee in November 2016. It also points out that voter perceptions about Sanders are changing- voters may now see a "socialist" as electable, if Republicans can nominate a person with no serious credentials and a volatile temperament. Voters may also now see Clinton having electability problems of her own with the email controversy, and voter skepticism about her honesty and trustworthiness. The Democratic Party has shifted in the Obama years- with exit polls showing 7 of 10 Democrats in the New Hampshire primary saying they are liberals, and one fourth "very liberal." ...

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There is concern that though President Da Silva has had success in his term in office, he is leaving problems for the new administration. One expert says he leaves a giant question mark behind him. One of the problems is high spending by his administration. After the financial crisis of 2008, the government flooded massive state run banks with cash, ordering the banks to to lend heavily to businesses and consumers. The government also increased its own spending on contracts and projects. Public spending has continued to grow since 2008, and federal expenditures as a percentage of the economy have doubled during Da Silva's term in office. In an editorial recently, the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo, says the government should have used the high growth in the economy to cut public spending and improve the public finances. Because the Rousseff administration is a continuation of Da Silva's administration, and includes many of the same people, the daily asks if the Rousseff team's promises to cut spending in 2011 are believable. Inflation in 2010 is at 6%. The other serious problem is an highly overvalued currency, and volatile capital inflows from developed countries. The boom in China has helped Brazilian commodities and agricultural exports, a slowdown there would affect Brazil's economy. ...

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In an interview with the WSJ's Aaron Lucchetti, the CEO of a future business combination of Deutsche Bourse and NYSE Euronext, Duncan Niederauer, talks about the difficulties in naming the merged companies, the efforts to achieve a balance for the board, emotional issues about the ownership of the new company. He repeatedly emphasized that this is a merger not a takeover by Deutsche Bourse. This even though the higher market value of Deutsche Bourse at $15 billion compared to about $10 billion for NYSE Euronext, gives Deutsche Bourse 60% of the new company and 10 of 17 board members. He says he realizes the naming and related issues are emotional ones and there is a lot of pride involved in this. Placing Deutsche Bourse as in DB NYSE Euronext has been ruled out. The shareholder base will still be majority U.S., he reminds readers. And the board will have five or six Germans, five or six Americans, and five or six people from other countries. Is he brushing up on his German? No, he says but he tried to introduce his deputy CEO Dominique Cerutti in French, and its a good thing for Americans to learn other languages. Deutsche Borse's Francioni speaks three or four languages, which makes it a little humbling for him....

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One big concern says Nancy Keates of the WSJ about the National Association of Realtors, is that the organization collects and puts out objective data about home sales, and at the same time provides a commentary on the statistics. It also has a mission to advance the interests of its members. There are 2.6 million licensed real estate agents, and NAR represents about 1.3 million of these real estate agents. Would the real estate agents and the NAR tolerate an economist who raised concerns about the boom in lending? David Lereah, is former chief economist for the NAR ,and worked there from 2000 to April 2007. He remained upbeat throughout these years, even when the market was headed downwards. And the way he sees it he was doing for 7 years everything the NAR wanted him to do, and he was pressured to issue these upbeat reports. Critics called him "Baghdad Dave", after a Iraqi information minister for his false upbeat reports even when the war on the Iraqi side was lost. And a Credit Suisse analyst called him Liar-eah for some of these upbeat assesments, when things were clearly going wrong. The way Nancy Keates sees it this economist was eager to profit himself in the boom years. He was an economics Professor at Rutgers, at the University of Virginia, and later an economist and regulator at the Federal Deposit and Insurance Corporation. He himself bought condos 2 in Washington in 2003 and 2004, and one each in Tampa, Richmond, Va. and Alexandria, Va. and Naples, Florida. Owning by 2006 six condos worth between $150,000 and $400,000 a condo. He had an expensive lifestyle says his wife, with a big house worth $780,000, a country club, sports fishing boat. So in some ways suggests this reporter, he was caught up in the boom himself with his investments and the demands of a expensive lifestyle, with little room left for independent opinion and analysis. This is a striking example of things gone wrong, with all the meticulousness and comprehensiveness with which data is collected having its value destroyed by the lack of strict objectivity in the analysis. And the intrusion of strong personal interest bias in one direction making the destruction of objectivity complete. Looking at the economists at companies and associations, there is a subtle bias in operation that needs to be discounted by CEO's and association heads, a bias for giving the CEO's better and optimistic assessments on a consistent basis. An example is the way a large number of economists see the recovery taking place in 2009. Another related example is the sales forecasts for the Detroit auto companies that continued to assume sales in the 16-17 million a year rate into the latter half of 2008, even after the Bear Stearns collapse in March and the increasing foreclosures suggested something was amiss. All with horrendous consequences for the companies or industries involved, and the US and global economies....

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This NYT editorial on Jeb Bush economic advisor Ben Hubbard of Columbia University, says his response that "compensation didn't stagnate" about the wages and benefits of working class Americans and the middle class does not reflect the way these groups are falling behind. It says that the public cannot expect a new perspective from advisors who were in top positions in previous administrations when the middle class incomes and living standards began to face stagnation.

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Washington Post reporters Clement and Gushkin with research and polling experience at Pew Research Center give the results of the Post-ABC News poll taken before the State of the Union 2023 address by president Biden. It shows what president Biden has said about his  investment spending of trillions of dollars in America's crumbling infrastructure, in new manufacturing for chips, advanced technologies, R&D, electric charging stations, EV vehicles, renewable energy. "Folks we are just getting started." The investments are taking place quickly because today there many projects ready for investment. Yet it takes time for the manufacturing plants to be built, new expressways and bridges to be built. The poll shows not enough people know- only a third of people know about two thirds do not know. That Mr.Biden is aware of this is apparent. He says-"It is one thing to have passed it all- now we have to make sure we're on it every single day. Not a joke." And on Jan 26, saying "Implementing it so people can see what we've delivered and give it to them directly."  This is why president Biden used his State of the Union address to make the points directly to the American people. This is also seen in his recent speech to a union audience when he told workers- Mr. Trump used infrastructure as a punchline, Biden turned it into a decade only headline. Creating well paying jobs and doing this while cutting the deficit by trillions of dollars. To give the contrast Mr. Biden told workers and working families the spending cuts proposed by the Republican House of Representatives were according to Moody's likely to result in a loss of 780,000 jobs.    ...