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EU leaders, the ECB and the European Financial Stability Facility, in negotiations for a "selective default" for Greece. The ECB is persuaded to accept a selective default, with one option being to protect ECB from losses by the EFSF buying 50 billion euros of Greek bonds at cost price. Another concern of ECB about contagion is being addressed through a statment that this is designed only for Greece because "of its exceptional situation." A draft document under discussion by EU leaders has a plan for cutting the interest rates on Greece's bailout loans from 5.5% to 3.5% and doubling the repayment period to 15 years. EU officials see giving Ireland and Portugal the same interest rates on their bailout loans. The high interest rates and the shorter maturities made earlier plans unworkable. Private investors are encoraged but not required to exchange their old Greek bonds for new bonds with maturities of upto 30 years. Also being discussed is a buyback of Greek bonds at a heavy discount to face value at which they are trading. EFSF will also get new powers to make bailout loans on a precautionary basis. EFSF would also have powers to lend to eurozoe governments to help recapitalize banks and buy back bonds from other countries....

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The injection of billions of gallons of salt water from shale oil producers in Texas into the ground contaminating ground water. Salt water and other kinds of waste water are byproducts of shale oil production at the rate of 6 wastewater gallons for 1 gallon of shale oil produced. This is becoming a huge problem in west Texas and the Permian Basin. When huge quantities of such water is injected back into the ground it comes back out of the ground in other areas and contaminates groundwater. About half of the US production of oil comes from the Permian Basin. Geologists at the UT Austin say that the pressure in the injection reservoirs in west Texas is now at 0,7 per square foot- at 0.5 per square foot the pressure is enou to have the salty toxic water seep back up to the surface of the ground. This is keeping water management personnel up at night and raising questions about the environmental damage in red hot shale oil production that taxpayers will be in the hook to pay years from now through clearing up the environmental damage. WSJ call it a big mess.  (This is a story not chosen by Apple News as it chose instead a story one on family financial firms in capital markets in WSJ, that is not readily seen on the internet once it is archived, one that Chevron and oil companies prefer not to be discussed, that was selected by Lyrarc.com and Movement for the Renewal of America to keep readers informed to make wise decisions.) Limited and temporary dependence on fossil fuels is both necessary to cut cost of living for people living paycheck to paycheck , yet one should know there are costs with any decision of this kind, and environmental damage is a concern that is postponed only with costs, cost that are passed on to children of this generation and should not be ignored. ...

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The German lower and upper houses of parliament, the Bundestag and the Bundesrat, passed legislation to end the use of coal by 2038. The phase out has two parts one is the legal avenue for reduction in emissions, the other is the regional economies of affected states. The government will provide 40 billion euros for restructuring economies, including reskilling workers and providing new infrastructure, for the effort. coal operators will also receive compensation if they announce plans for closure of coal plants by 2026.

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The BBC's Political Editor, Laura Kuenssberg, says there are significant hurdles to reaching an agreement in talks between Conservative Party leader Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn of the Labour Party. Labour seeks some assurance on Britain remaining in the customs union. Ironically the very reason Brexiteers such as Mr. Davis and Mr. Rees-Moog oppose the Theresa May deal - the arrangement on the Irish backstop a way for keeping the borders open between the two Irelands - is the reason Labour could find a way to support an agreement with Theresa May. For the Brexiteers this is unacceptable because it would keep Britain indefinitely in the EU.  There are two other obstacles. Theresa May has promised to resign after negotiating a compromise with Labour Party. Would her successor including possibly a Brexiteer such as Mr. Boris Johnson, support the agreed to deal with Labour. This is highly unlikely. Another obstacle is that a majority of Labour party members of parliament favor a second referendum, a ratificatory referendum, or a confirmatory referendum whatever you call it.  A related article today on this issue in BBC News by Katya Adler describes the person on the other side, the person who heads Germany's ruling CDU Party, and who is likely the next chancellor. This is AKK, Anne-Margaret Kampbrauer. She wrote an article in The Times about a month earlier with other German leaders saying she would love to see Britain change her mind and stay in the EU. She is in favor of a second referendum. Parts of the Conservative Party also support a second referendum- those Conservative MP's who are boxed in between the extreme Brexiteers who care for nothing except their vision of Britain outside the EU as a Franco-German arrangement, and the MP's who left the Conservative Party or now support a second referendum.  Kuenssberg says that necessity is the mother of invention and something could come out of the talks between May and Corbyn- but the obstacles she mentions may not be overcome leading to a new popular vote as the best option. ...

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Changes to Japan's corporate governance code being pushed forward by the Abe administration will give more importance to shareholders interests. This includes improving transparency and management structure, including more independent outside directors on boards, to breakup cozy relationships of executives running corporations in Japan. Improving return on equity is part of the plan proposed by Abe. The government has offered to cut the corporate tax rate down to below 30% in a few years as part of the new deal. Abe told the nation in a televised address that "there are neither taboos or sacred cows, only a singular strong devotion to see this through to the very end." Abe called for more women in the workforce, and the hiring of more foreign workers.

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This story by Fiona Macdonald of BBC is from the BBC Britain series to be found on the Britain homepage.  It has some remarkable poems that help one deal with the fears of everyday life, how to cross these barriers that one comes across with different feelings of both hope and despair, how to bend with them and come out healing and growing. It shows how poetry can help bring a calmer soother element into our busy and sometimes frantic lives. Poetry that is read for its deeper subtle meaning with pauses and time to reflect on the words, each word gently,and let it gradually sink into our subconscious minds. The results can be amazing if it is read the right way, slowly, and not the way we read journalism, news reports, prose or essays. It is well worth reading the poems given here by Fiona Macdonald, even reading one can be soothing and calming in its effect.

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Estimates show one in five new mothers or about 800,000 mothers in America are experiencing anxiety disorders during the pregnancy or a year after giving birth. Mental health disorders are now the leading cause of maternal death, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The US is the only high income nation in the world without paid maternity leave and this increases risks of mental health. About one in four women return to work within 4 weeks of giving birth. This report shows the work done by the University of North Carolina Chapel Hills's Center for Women Mood Disorders, one of only 3 inpatient facilities for mental health in the US. 

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A study by Prof. Peter Petri of Brandeis University, shows the Trans Pacific Trade Agreement boosting economic output in the U.S. by about 0.4% by 2025 or $77 billion. Winners are biologic drugs which get long term patent protection, tech firms and software engineering services. Losers are the Detroit auto industry with higher auto parts imports, light manufacturing, and some heavy manufacturing sectors. Prof. Douglas Irwin of Dartmouth College and other experts say it is not clear how U.S. consumers and businesses will benefit. The import duties as a percentage of total imports are now at about 1.4%. Experts say about 4/5ths of the benefits of TPP for the U.S. are from opening up trade in services and new rules for investment and commerce. TPP includes Pacific countries Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Mexico, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, and Japan. Issues are environmental rules, worker protection and standards, agricultural imports in sensitive countries such as Canada and Japan, affordable drugs in poor countries....

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The details of a $2 trillion rescue package for business, the economy and households which was passed in the U.S. Congress. The U.S. government plans to take stakes in airlines in return for assistance. Some of the aid $25 billion is in the form of direct grants and some $25 billion in the form of loans. This is how it breaks down in the legislative text as shown in WSJ. To keep businesses open and from laying off employees- $454 billion loans for large companies, and $349 billion for small business loans. Safety net for families. Payments directly to households $301 billion. Unemployment insurance payments $250 billion. Support for the public health systems in states, and private health systems to tackle the health crisis and meet new needs of $117 billion. Aid to states  $150 billion To maintain flow of goods. Direct grants to cargo carriers and airlines of $29 billion. Other $198 billion.     ...

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The average U.S. light vehicle price was $30,303 in April 2012, up $1219 from the prior year. Incentives were also lower, down $146 to average of $2,446, according to TrueCar.com. This is happening even though cars account for a greater portion of sales of light vehicles. Used cars and trucks prices increased by 3.2% in March over the prior year, according to the Labor department data. Pent up demand is part of the reason. Another reason is the discipline exercized by auto manufacturers, especially the Big Three, in not letting supply exceed demand and therefore not having to offer higher incentives to get rid of inventory. These practices of oversupplying the market hurt the Detroit automakers in the period before bankruptcy, especially GM. Increases in used car prices and higher prices of new cars create a virtuous cycle for automakers to support higher margins. With the high retirement and healthcare costs reduced through bankruptcy and new agreements with the UAW, the Detroit automakers are now better positioned in the market to sustain margins by limiting production to demand. ...

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Li Keqiang, China's new premier, entered Peking University in 1978 by excelling in merit exams. Li and a fellow student, Yang Baikui, translated the English book "The Due Process of Law" by British jurist Lord Denning. Professor Gong Xiangrui, brought the book to China and educated his students in the ideas of constitutional law and western liberalism. Yang says Li learned English on his own and meticulously carried a stack of notecards with English on one side and Chinese translation on the other. Li would study the cards while waiting for a bus or in the line at the school cafeteria. Li has political discusions with students from that time, some of whom joined the pro-democracy demonstrations of 1989. He is the son of a mid level county official from Anhui province and moved in the party ranks through diligent effort. Li's doctoral thesis is in economcs and he is expected to focus on economic changes, with Xi Jinping, the new president, taking the lead in making changes to the political system. Fellow students from Li's days at Peking University say the difference between them and Li is the pace of democratization, with Li looking at it as a longer process. Recent articles by Li Keqiang on economic change show his emphasis on urbanization as a way to improve agricultural conditions with a smaller number of farmers improving producitvity in agriculture, and the importance of creating a better social safety net for people in China....

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Friedman visits the campaign office of Abdel Moneim Fotouh, a doctor running for president of Egypt. What he finds is a lively debate among Egyptians, new and many voices discussing the future of Egypt and a transition to democratic forms of government and economic progress. One newly elected member of parliament Hamzawy tells Friedman that Islamists from the Brotherhood have about two thirds of the seats, the liberals 20%. Moderates within the Islamists like Fotouh, who left the Brotherhood, form a separate faction inside the Brotherhood. There will be a need to transcend differences and work together. Egypt is still under the rule of the military, but many democratic voices are now present and a lively debate is on which will provide the impetus for real change and progress, if properly channelled.

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Obama Affordable Care Act ACA and its downfall are covered by two experienced authors over 2 book written over 2 decades. The authors are James Morone and David Blumenthal followed the healthcare issue over 25-30 years through the Clinton, Edward Kennedy and Obama efforts and wrote two books. The first was "The Heart of Power" on the healthcare situation from FDR to 2008. The last titled "Whiplash" in 2026, for which the authors are interviewed in Harvard Medicine magazine. C-SPAN has a book program on this book at a Washington DC bookstore. From the discussion on C-SPAN between Senator Michael Blumenthal, borther of one of the authors, James Morone and David Blumenthal physician, couple of conclusions are seen that may be new to readers. Q. What was the one single factor that doomed the Affordable Care Act? A. The deep antipathy towards the Obama administration influenced the response to the Obama handling of healthcare. The likelihood of Republicans accepting healthcare from a black person was simply not there say the book's authors in the discussion and Q&A on C-SPAN. Yet there were other reasons for the ACA failing. Obama had not gauged the mood of the nation well. UK Labour's Starmer won by a big majority in 2024 yet that does not reflect the mood of the British nation just 2 years later- by election year 2012 Obama's campaign was faltering and had to be rescued with Hispanic votes and a weak candidate in Utah's Mitt Romney. Obama lacked maturity and came in the way Bush came in when the list of candidates were mediocre in the US, similar to the period in the UK with David Cameron and Boris Johnson. To take on the health care issue required someone with the experience and caliber of LBJ, which Obama clearly lacked, coming from the minority community was not going to help in credibility. Obama's presidency was thus premature and to gain experience he would have done better in a key cabinet position such as at Department of State where an intellectual could have influenced world opinion in favor of emerging countries, a doable and necessary. Obama's lack of experience showed when he told Republicans two words in the first months in 2008- "We Won," perceiving arrogance it would set Republicans against him. The years 2008-2016 cost the US dearly in that the US needed a withdrawal from all of the Middle East which would require a strong president  with deep roots of support in all parts of the country including the south, to avoid recriminations. In the end by continuing the wars Obama weakened the US and let China move ahead. Q. Did Obama consider Medicare for All? A. Obama told Congressmen of his party according to Morone- if you can get 60 votes in the Senate for Medicare for All we can try.  Q. Would it take a major upheaval for Medicare for All to be accepted now that the health system is failing all Americans in 2026? A. It will take a world war or a economic depression- some major disaster for Medicare for All to be accepted in the US, say the authors. A pandemic happened in 1918 and again in 2019 the results were not positive, as the authors believe it unleashed the war on science after the vaccination for and against camps, leading to the culture wars in America seen today. Q  Obama's analytical mind thought he learned from the Clinton efforts in healthcare that failed. But he did not see things from the heart. There is good reason to think that the lessons learned of moving fast, letting Congress write the legislation, settling for what can be done not what needs to be done, were exactly the wrong lessons to be learned as opposed to writing off the Clinton experience entirely as Clinton's, and starting from scratch without preconceptions. In the end Obama if he was older, had more experience, and listened to the mood of the country would have realized that healthcare was for another day, and got right down to the most difficult challenge, to end the wars in the Middle East. Even small steps in the right direction would still have earned appreciation him today. Instead Bush and Obama, the most inexperienced of presidents will be remembered for wars they continued that weakened America.       ...

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Fiat's 35% stake in Chrysler was obtained not for a cash investment, but mainly in exchange for covering the cost of retooling a Chrysler plant to produce one or more Fiat models to be sold in the US. Fiat would also provide engine and transmission technology to help Chrysler introduce new fuel efficient small cars. This purchase would see the Cerberus 80.1% stake in Chrysler diluted. It would not affect the 19.9% of Chrysler that is owned by Daimler. As part of the Fiat deal Chrysler is supposed to restructure the $9 billion in debt it has on its books. Cerberus may lose billions on the deal, but it faces an even bigger hit if it is forced into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection or it continues running Chrysler into an even deeper slump in auto sales in 2009. The Fiat deal is the only thing that Chrysler has to show that it should keep the government loan of $4 billion and get additional funds if needed to keep the company runnning. Chrysler did not show any new models at the North American Auto Show in Detroit recently and has practically ceased product development. For Cerberus this is the exit plan and ends any prospect of making the Chrysler deal work. Cerberus acquired Chrysler by mortgaging all of Chryslers plants and assets for a $12 billion loan from a group of banks, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, and Citigroup. ...

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Sabrina Tavernise writes about vaccine skeptics in the US. She sees it as a problem about gut beliefs. It is prevalent among people of different political views, not just conservatives. The misinformation on vaccines has made people who normally would be open to getting vaccinated a bit leery. Because of the flood of information spread in today's hyper sensitive news environment, including misinformation. Tavernise describes how different people in the US tackle the decision to get vaccinated or not and how this leads some to simply postpone getting vaccinated. Britain tackled this problem of spreading misinformation on vaccine effectiveness or risks early. It also helped that in Britain there is a very high regard for the National Health Service, the NHS. In Germany and also in France there was increasing skepticism in the beginning, yet this is reversible as there is growing recognition of the benefit of taking the vaccine in Germany and France. Much can and needs to be done to create public confidence and limit the spread of misinformation that leads to postponement of vaccination at a time when variants are becoming more contagious. ...

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Howes gives Marchionne high marks for doing what Daimler failed to do. He says Fiat took the best of what Chrysler had and melded it with the best parts of Fiat to create an integrated company. Both Chrysler and Fiat benefit in the process. There is a lot to be done especially with paying off government debt, building the fuel efficient vehicles essential to do well in a time of high gasoline prices, and operating in a highly uncertain economic environment. But the steps taken so far show Marchionne has put Chrysler on the right path. The new version of the Jeep Cherokee has done well- with a sales increase of 34% in first quarter 2011 over the prior year.

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Frank Rich on the ticking bomb in the banking system and the bank lobbying that has kept reform from happening. Phil Angelides leads the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission which is due to begin hearings soon. But says Rich, Angelides who is following in the footsteps of Ferdinand Pecora who investigated the 1929 crash as chief counsel of the Senate committee that did the investigating, will have to deal with a lot of resistance as he tries to alert the public to the need for action before a new crisis develops. For this to happen there will be aneed for more awareness of what happened, and a serious investigation, and prosecutions where necessary. Interestingly National City Bank was investigated then by Pecora. It is the predecessor of today's Citibank. At the time National City repackaged bad Latin American debt as new securities which it sold eaily to investors who later lost badly. Weill and Rubin at Citigroup made a series of bad decisions at Citigroup leading to huge losses at the bank, for which they have not accepted responsibility....

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Israel's Yesh Atid (there is a future) party came in second with 19 seats after the party of prime minister Netanyahu in Jan 2013 Israeli elecions. Yair Lapid helped organize the middle class protests for social justice in the summer of 2011. He founded the Yesh Atid party to fight for better opportunities for the struggling middle class. Many of the votes came from Tel Aviv. Lapid writes a column for the newspaper Yediot Aharonot under the title, "Where's the money?" He writes in the newspaper: "This is the big question asked by Israel's middle class, the same sector on whose behalf I am going into politics. Where's the money? Why is it that the productive sector, which pays the taxes, fufills its obligations, performs reserve duy and carries the entire country on its back, doesn't see the money?" The summer protests were about an Israeli middle class that is falling behind like the middle class in the U.S. Yair Lapid started as a print journalist and went on to anchor the Channel 2 Friday evening news. His father is a Holocaust survivor from Budapest, Hungary, who went on to become Justice minister. Unlike his father who was strongly secular, Yatid's support comes from all parts of Israeli society including the ultra-religious, and is mainly focussed on the middle class. ...

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Efforts by Greece's government officials in October 2011 to meet demands from the IMF, The European Commission and the ECB- collectively referred to as the "troika" in Greece- for 30,000 public sector job cuts. The first step was putting together layoff lists, and effectively create a special labor pool at reduced pay for 12 months, after which those not finding new jobs would be layed off. There is considerable difficulty doing this, as heads of departments are reluctant to do this. There is a constitutional provision that protects public sector workers from layoff in Greece. The troika is insisting on the lists, or across the board cuts in the event lists are not prepared. The 30,000 job cuts are part of job cuts in the public sector which would be a total of 100,000 by 2015.

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Greg Ip says all the data show the economy is much stronger with low unemployment and inflation coming down, yet for the nation people are not so upbeat, and for their own state really upbeat. He attributes it to the general mood of uncertainty of people, and the negativity with which the media presents news. Some clues to what they actually believe can be seen below the superficial look at the data. For instance as people surveyed say they feel the economy is much worse today by a significant margin for the whole nation they say just the opposite for their own state by an equally significant margin. Listen to this- the WSJ poll Greg Ip cites shows US economy is getting worse or better in the graph. For the US it shows 31% think it is getting worse. The opposite for Arizona 30% and Pennsylvania 25% think it is getting better. In other states people say it is about 18% better- the states are Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina and Nevada. This suggests that the surveys have to be looked at from the perspective of their own state which reflect the data which clearly shows a big improvement. Greg Ip says the WSJ has seen this in another place, when people are about Congress they say its looking worse, when asked about their own state Congressman they say just the opposite and quite favorable. It is something that is important to bear in mind in 2024 and for the future, the American people are still rational and science based in their thinking, as they have been throughout the nation's history pioneering in the Industrial Revolution. ...

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Union Railways minister in India, Mr. Goyal, raises questions about the estimated cost of a new elevated rail train in Bombay that would cost more per kilometre than the planned bullet train between Ahmedabad and Bombay. He says this reflects corruption and lack of transparency. India has for many decades since independence been held back by corruption that has reduced much needed infrastructure development, and the goal of the new Modi government is to bring transparency and vigilance into government spending to get infrastructure development needs met in the next decade.

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Three members of parliament from Britain's Conservative Party who backed a second referendum on Brexit to cancel Britain's exit from the European Union left the party to join eight members of the Labour Party who left the Labour party earlier. They formed a new group in parliament called the Independent Group. This narrows Theresa May's majority in parliament to 8 members and increases chances for a new election. Several members of May's cabinet are threatening to quit if Britain leaves the UK without a deal.

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Achieving net zero emissions by 2050 will require huge amounts of capital. One estimate is $131 trillion. Where will it come from. The UN Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero says financial groups with assets of $130 trillion have committed to its program to cut emissions. This WSJ report says that is enough scale to generate $100 trillion through 2050 to fund the investments needed for new technologies and provide the finance for companies to restructure themselves in a new world.  The question is how much of this is real as banks, insurers, pension funds and private investor groups are only now taking on the task of restructuring the finance industry. It was not even addressed during the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change talks. For this to be truly transformative and the transformative changes to take place governments have a critical role in requiring a common standard for reporting and measuring climate change progress. Government regulatory action and oversight is essential for timely and rapid action to take place. Financial regulators, including the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England have agreed to add their own oversight through reviews and disclosure standards. The problem is that private sector plans are not concrete. Data is non existent or inconsistent and measurement is not taking place across all of the financial sector on key parameters. The UN has limited power to enforce rules. Who will act to ensure decisions are taken, progress measured after standards are set, transparency set, and how can governments deliver on each step through 2030 ensuring the transformation of the financial sector so that the decisions are taken according to a master plan for climate change in the US, UK, European Union, and India.   ...

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Vernon Jordan points out the problems with media and new tech and the loss of quality journalism. He says this has damaged the political process in the U.S. and Europe by spreading rumor as facts, and not providing reliable information, with news and entertainment not being separated. The failure to educate people he says, risks in Jefferson's words the "perversion of power into tyranny."