LyrArc Article Gist
Only 28% of the people in Portugal between 25 and 64 have completed high school . This compares with 85% in Germany, 91% in Czech Republic and 89% for the U.S. Portugal's high-school dropout rate is 37%, one of the highest in Europe. Its reading scores lag behind the OECD average, even after improvements in the last decade. The military dictatorships that ruled Portugal did not emphasize education, and education was neglected for several centuries before that. Even after efforts by the democratically elected governments in recent decades there is a huge gap between Portugal and countries like Ireland. This becomes important for Portugal to build industries and have the technical skilled workers to support these industries. Without this Portugal's financial condition can only get worse. With a technical skilled workforce such as that in Ireland, analysts estimate the growth in GDP would be 1.5% higher. Sharp cuts in education spending are going to make the situation tougher. Portugal lacks industry, yet at the same time cumulative deficits with the rest of the world are over 130 billion euros after years of cumulative deficits. This highlights the problems facing the euro currency countries with vastly different educational systems, industry structures and economic management....

LyrArc Article Gist
Efforts by French president Macron to end the alienation of Russia from the Western Alliance by bringing together Ukraine's Zelensky and president Putin of Russia for talks in Paris. The effort is for the negotiations to take place in a new environment that accepts the need to recognize Russian concerns for NATO too close to its borders. President Macron has stated that Russia is not the threat for NATO to focus on as the world has changed with the emergence of China, the changes with the Trump administration policy. By ending the Ukraine conflict and Russian perception of a threat on its borders, Macron is making a constructive effort to bring Europe together and put the Ukraine conflict behind it. His comments about NATO being brain dead have received too much media attention, less attention to the effort to mediate and solve conflicts based on perceived threats Russia thinks it faces.

LyrArc Article Gist
Australian prime minister Scott Morrison says "global health trumps everything else," that " we need to have the information, and we need to have the transparency." Australia is seeking support from other countries in an effort to launch an investigation into missteps early in the crisis that have led to the epidemic spreading to millions of people around the world. China has rejected such an investigation. It has threatened retaliation with a consumer boycott of Australian beef and wine, and tariffs on barley. Australia tightened its laws on foreign interference and counterespionage in 2018. U.S. and European calls for an investigation into coronavirus origins is making Australia reconsider its trading relationship dependence on China. India has stepped up its vigilance of Chinese investment so that state backed entities do not acquire local companies affected by the pandemic. Japan has set aside $2.2 billion of its pandemic support package to help Japanese companies shift their supply chains out of China. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
The aircraft carrier group led by the USS Carl Vinson enters the East China Sea on April 11, 2017, and destroyers from Japan's maritime self-defense forces are expected to join the American ships. In response to several messages on Twitter by president Trump saying China should take action on solving the North Korean problem or the U.S. would tackle it on its own, CCTV reports Jinping saying- "China is committed to denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula, safeguarding peace and stability on the peninsula." Other news reports show public opinion in China turning towards opposing the missile tests by North Korea.

LyrArc Article Gist
A man with a handgun and magazine of ammunition is shot by federal law enforcement officer on Jan. 24, 2026 as protestors confront federal law enforcement officers in Minneapolis. Earlier federal law enforcement in California, and in other states, Washington DC, Nashville Tennessee, have led to protests but not of the kind in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Minneapolis is a state with liberal views yet it also has a strange mix as it was in Minneapolis that local police shot an unarmed black man during the Covid epidemic. This time it is not local police in that role but local police under the orders of the state and local authorites, the mayor and state governor Frey and Walz, not cooperating with the federal law enforcement of immigration law in the US that seeks to remove migrants with crime records from the US neighborhoods and streets. Walz was selected by Kamala Harris to run on the Democratic ticket for president in the US against DJT and Vance in 2025. Republicans allege serious fraud in Minnesota and misuse of state funds that have added to the dangerous mix of politics in the state, that is found nowhere else in America. From the Republican point of view unwanted migrants from certain unstable countries with criminal records were allowed to settle in the state. Democrats and Democrat media are not cooperating as the national elections in the US were lost on just this issue of migrants illegal entry numbering about 7 million over the last administration of Biden with costs to the US of over $110 billion in federal and local funds. No one knows where this will end up yet the view world wide over migration is moving to safe neighborhoods and safe streets as essential human rights, essential women's rights, essential rights of all Americans and all Europeans, that the problems of failed states cannot be solved on American or European soil. The Monroe Doctrine was put in place for just this reason as respecting Russia as a power in its area of influence in Northern Europe means no intervention by Russia or  China in the western hemisphere, so that the US never faces the situation of Guatemala and central American states, or of Venezuelan failed states in sending millions in a stream through Mexico for illegal entry on US southern border. Overall US policy, domestic and foreign has changed to ensure safety wellbeing in the US as the first and only priority for all its citizens and the sum of good citizenship the main objective for the Nation. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
The Trump administration suspended all flights from Europe on March 13, about one month after suspending all flights from China. This report in the NYT says there were about 10,000 estimated undetected infections in New York on March 1 when only 1 case of coronavirus was confirmed. It also says that researchers have tracked the mutations of the virus in all American states and found that most of it came from New York. Could the Trump administration have acted earlier than March 13 to stop flights from Europe? The state and city authorites in New York did not take the threat seriously by March 13, making it not clear that they would have acted earlier.   In places like Michigan which has Italian Fiat owned Chrysler operations, and automotive connections with Munich, Germany, reports show the virus coming from Europe. Munich based auto companies have extensive operations in China. In Louisiana the Mardi Gras celebrations around Feb. 25, received large numbers of visitors from New York, with research showing the virus mutations in Louisiana originated in New York. There was little awareness of the seriousness of the virus because of lack of past experience as happened in Asian countries. So that these kinds of public events bringing huge numbers of people in close contact were allowed to happen, and people who were cautious were likely to be ridiculed or shoved aside. New York continued to hold public gatherings at Madison Square Gardens and sports stadiums well into March, with complete disregard of the dangers, a decision made by local authorites.   ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Douglas Feith was Under Secretary of Defense for policymaking between 2001 and 2005. He cochaired the U.S.-India Defense Policy Group (DPG) with Jaswant Singh opened his first DPG meeting in December 2001. He talks about the need to bolster the one area in which the Bush administration fell way short which is to combat terrorism with ideas and communicating anew bold vision and view of the world that using key channels of expresssing ideas in the developing world and having measures to track progress year after year. He also talks about the need to partner with India and the importance of democratic ideals and ideas and a country like India which has established a long track record of peaceful democratic government.

LyrArc Article Gist
A consensus on achieving growth with fiscal consolidation at the Camp David summit of May 2012. France wanted to send a signal to Greece that it should stay in the eurozone. Germany hesitated to do this saying that this would give Greece the message that it could ignore committments made earlier for fiscal reforms. One on one discussions between leaders including Obama and Merkel, and Obama and Hollande, but the way forward remains unclear and is left to responses as events unfold in Greece.

LyrArc Article Gist
As this editorial in the Hindu points out enabling land acquisition for industry is still one of major problems facing India as it struggles to modernize its economy and create manufacturing jobs. Amendments to the land acquisition law was a top priority of the Modi government in its first year in 2014-2015. The effort stalled with Opposition resistance and opposition of farmers groups. Even as India moves up in the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business index it still remains below the top 50. The prime minister of Singapore on a visit to India made it clear that these problems restrict the level of investment in India and the speed of its modernization effort. As the Hindu editorial points out the need to win farmers votes has prevented further moves to amend land acquisition laws so that industrial development can move ahead. This can be costly for India if it means fewer jobs created, and costly for the government in its effort to win votes without being able to show the results of modernization in new development, new infrastructure and new jobs created.     ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Indonesia's president Widodo has chosen a city in Borneo, in central Kalimantan, the part of Borneo that belongs to Indonesia, as the new capital for the country. The city is Palangkaraya. Jakarta is too overcrowded, sitting on land that is sinking from overuse of water from the ground, with high traffic congestion. President Widodo has supported infrastructure development during his first term with a credible record. This move also is part of the new effort to support development evenly across the whole country, to include islands outside of Java. President Sukarno considered this location in Borneo at one time after independence from Dutch in 1945 because of its central location in the middle of the country. Jakarta was shown in a 2016 survey to have the worst congestion in the world in 2016. This move is also intended to dencentralize the government and give greater power and resources to municipalities across the country. Brazil moved the capital to Brasilia, and Australia to Canberra in similar moves, that were cited by Indonesian advisers to Mr. Widodo. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Paul Ryan, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, wins the Republican primary in his house seat of Janesville, Wisconsin, defeating his challenger Nehlen, by 84% to 16%. The Republican nominee Donald Trump earlier had refused to endorse Ryan, and only reluctantly endorsed Ryan following the vice presidential nominee Mike Spence's endorsement of Ryan. Senator Susan Collins, senior Republican senator from Maine, joined other leading Republicans saying she would not support Trump. Paul Ryan has split with Trump on trade, immigration, Mexico, and other issues. He has insisted on decency and fairness in politics, and has won his seat in a working class town that had a closed GM plant in 2008 after Ryan voted to support rescue of the auto industry and worked hard to keep it open. Even though some of his policies have not directly helped working class families, he has won increasing support from his district as the economy recovered with unemployment down to 4.4% in Janesville, according to BLS for May 2016. Much of that support since 1998 has been based on Ryan's decency, faith and family. He made it a condition that he would go back on weekends to Wisconsin to stay in touch with people, when he accepted the position of Speaker of the House, and he listens to local concerns. Ryan said about the national discourse- "It's simple to prey on people's fears. That stuff sells, but it doesn't stick. It doesn't last. Most of all, it doesn't work." His job in today's deteriorated national discourse is as vital as ever, both for Wisconsin as representing the best in the national spirit, and for the country.   ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Under the current bankruptcy settlement plan of Judge Rhodes bondholders would get $1 for every $5 and pension cuts for ununiformed workers would be about 30%. A library clerk for example could see a pension cut of $400 in a $1400 pension. Retired Detroit firefighters and police would see smaller cuts of 10%. The Detroit bankruptcy is being closely watched as other cities an local governments are facing similiar problems. As part of the plan $1.5 billion would be spent on reducing blight and improvements in the city. About 40% of Detroit streetlights are broken and police response time is about 1 hour. One reader says the unions sent companies to low cost regions and stuck Detroit with the bill. After the bankruptcy of GM and Chrysler the city shaw a sharp decline and many people left the city reducing its tax base and worsening urban blight. The events in Detroit are being watched around the country and had an impact in the vote at the VW plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where former mayor Corker cited the situation in Detroit as an issue....

LyrArc Article Gist
People in Japan know the decluttering movement, to simplify one's life by getting rid of things one really doesn't need, as "danshari." The word "danshari" is taken from 3 Japanese characters meaning "refuse," "dispose" and "separate." Hideko Yamashita's book on danshari is a bestseller in Japan. She says it is a way to get rid of what is contaminating one's life, just like the way one does Buddhist meditation or practices Zen Buddhism to unclutter one's mind. Religion teaches one to keep the minimum that adds meaning and joy to one's life. This is the opposite of the tendency in the postwar years to collect and hoard things. To not be wasteful or "mottainai" was a good thing then, and before the war when there was scarcity of consumer goods during Japan's early development phase. Now with a consumer society things have changed, just as in the U.S. and Europe, decluttering makes sense in a consumer society where one is under constant pressure from advertising to buy things. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Christine Lagarde tells an audience at Goethe University in Frankfurt- "the answer to the reality of this interconnected world is not fragmentation, it is cooperation." She said about inequality in socieites- "Overcoming the voices of despair and exclusion requires an alternative path, one that leads to prospects for more employment, higher incomes and more secure lives."

LyrArc Article Gist
Keith Bradsher's NYT interview with Raghuram Rajan, Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, comes when Rajan has come under criticism from the business sector and the small business support base of prime minister Modi's party. The criticism centers on the drop in oil prices since Nov. 2014, and Rajan's failure to drop interest rates at the Dec. 2, 2014 central bank meeting. Rajan says it was not clear whether oil prices would remain low for an extended period at the Dec. 2, 2014 meeting. Since then new inventory data, EIA estimates and OPEC policy guidance have confirmed low prices will remain for an extended period. Rajan lowered interest rates on Jan. 14, 2015, by one quarter of a percentage point. Under India's setup the central bank chief makes decisions on interest rates, compared to the decisions made by the Federal Open Market Committee at the U.S. Federal Reserve. Rajan says there is full understanding between the central bank and the Modi government economic team led by finance minister Arun Jaitley, Jayan Sinha, deputy minister of state for finance, and chief economic advisor Arvind Subramanium. Modi and Jaitley prefer to rely on the advice and policy direction of economic policymakers with long experience in the U.S. and international circles. Both Subramanium and Rajan bring this level of experience and expertise. Subramanium brings experience from his years at the GATT which preceded the WTO, the IMF, and the Peterson Institute of International Economics, and Rajan brings experience at the University of Chicago, and as chief economist of the IMF. Modi is a dilgent listener and policymaker giving careful attention to the best advice, making it unlikely that Rajan would be seen as a holdover from the administration of Manmohan Singh. Other criticism that the business sector has made of Rajan are as financial regulator in asking state banks to increase collateral required from large business firms for large bank loans. Rajan points out the need for business to bear the costs as well as the benefits of taking risks. Under previous governments the state banks allowed large firms to keep their holdings at companies even when the risk taking resulted in losses. Rajan has also not tried to reverse the sharp decline in the rupee, which hurts business firms which took on dollar denominated loans. Rajan has instead followed policy of building up the reserves by buying dollars. The reserves were depleted in 2013 by a policy of currency interventions to reverse that decline. Inflation in India reached 9.9% in Dec. 2013, with policy of the central bank under Rajan set to bring it down to 8% in 2014, and below 6% in 2015, so that India could get out of the trap of persistently high inflation with slow growth. This is critical for a new Indian success story. A goal set by Rajan in Oct. 2012 when he was appointed as central bank chief, was to increase foreign investment and encourage new business so that India was no longer dependent on large companies for growth. This is also critical for a new Indian success story, as the Modi administration and the central bank are both keenly aware. Just as Bernanke and now Yellen at the U.S. Fed face criticism for quantitative easing monetary policy, focus on the high long term unemployed, and not focussing on inflation- with their focus on the long term economic recovery in an environment of low inflation below 2% in the U.S.- India's Reserve Bank faces a different kind of criticism for careful and prudent policies to ensure long term growth....

LyrArc Article Gist
Officials of the federal government in New Delhi say Washington DC, Berlin, Ottawa, Canberra are national capitals like New Delhi with special needs unique to the capital city in each situation. These needs require the administration of the national capital to be under the federal government. This is so in each city for this reason. What are these needs? They are prioritizing the national interest, better coordination, comprehensive planning and decision making taking into account the diverse needs and interests of the people of the capital. It is for this reason that the federal government has set up an administrative authority for this purpose. As in other foreign capitals the federal government has a broader perspective on governance and policy making considering the needs of the entire country not just of an individual state or state which can be narrow and limited in scope. And it is for this reason that capitals around the world have made this their model for administering the national capital. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
China's military drills around Taiwan have an unintended effect of creating a shift in American and European sentiment on the overconcentration of US and EU investment in China. Business in Germany and in the US has operated for a long time in the Merkel and Bush-Obama-Trump administrations a if this overconcentration which hurt workers and communities in both the EU and the US did not matter as long as the interests of the individual companies was met. Mr. Biden's policy takes an entirely different approach to protect American workers, rebuild American manufacturing, rebuild infrastructure, and to build America's leadership in the world. The military drills only increase the awareness in America of the risks and dangers of the positions taken by previous administrations. Shifting sentiment to back president Biden's strong steps to rebuild America and American leadership.

LyrArc Article Gist
Latin America makes up about half the world's deaths in the last 2 weeks of June with over a million infected in Brazil, and millions pushed back into poverty.

Mexico's antipoverty agency says 10 million, Peru 2.5 million says the central bank will be pushed into poverty. A entire generation of gains on poverty could be wiped out in 2020.

Goverments not just in Brazil, but also Mexico have not played an active role. Contrast this with India where the Indian prime minister said around March 21 that in stark terms India could be set back 21 years in the next 21 days or do the lockdown completely and be able to withstand it. And Merkel in Germany when she said back by the end of March that the virus could take the lives of millions of people in Germany if the country did not lockdown effectively.

LyrArc Article Gist
This is a report on unfair trade with China. China and unfair trade resulting in a $295 billion trade surplus with US. China and unfair trade resulting in a $1 trillion trade deficit with the world. This has devastated manufacturing communities, workers and families, for 1 billion people in the US and Europe, and deprived India of opportunities in manufacturing for 1.4 billion people. Alongside this article we have CPA article showing losses in manufacturing and the cost to the American people using estimates of three types of losses in jobs, other jobs, and taxes that provide public services and infrastructure. The massive blow to America over the last decade of unfair trade and overconcentration of manufacturing in  China was for 25 million in job losses and $250 billion in local infrastructure and public services lost for workers and families in communities and towns across vast parts of America.

LyrArc Article Gist
How an Americano Roberto from Peru won election over Italian cardinal Parolin on May 9, 2025. Robert Francis Prevost was unknown to most of the Cardinals gathered from all over the world to elect Pope Francis's successor. What cardinals looked for was someone like Francis who was concerned about the poor, the homeless, and people struggling in society. They also wanted someone with managerial skills to run the vast organization that is the Vatican. The fastest growing part of the Catholic Church is in Latin America. The need was for someone who spoke Spanish and understood Latin America. Robert Francis Prevost met all these requirements in 2025. For most of its history, for 455 years, Popes were Italian. Pope Paul and Francis broke this tradition. Pope Leo XIV continues this effort to heal people's souls, and reach out to the marginalized and the struggling.

LyrArc Article Gist
This WSJ editorial looks at the dangers of legalization by American states of marijuana use and the cultural acceptance in the light of evidence about vaping illness. It is not just e-cigartettes but vaping from marijuana use that poses risks for the health of a whole generation. One argument for legalization used by politicians is that it would shrink the black market- the WSJ says there is little evidence of this. Only 16% of the 15.5 million pounds of marijuana grown in California is used in the state, according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture. With cultural acceptance says the WSJ comes another major health crisis after the opioid crisis in the U.S.

LyrArc Article Gist
Just like the situation in oil Chinese demand now puts pressure on coal prices. China was an exporter of coal, now since the first half of 2007 its an importer of coal even though it has large deposits of coal. Since then coal prices around the world have nearly doubled, and since the winter storms hit China in January 2008 Asian coal prices have gone up an additional 34%.

LyrArc Article Gist
A statement by German Finance Minister Schauble that Germany would be able to accept inflation of between 2 and 3% showed the new flexibility of the German position after the election of Hollande in France. Schauble said on April 10, 2012, Germany would find inflation "in the corridor between 2 and 3%" acceptable. The ECB's target is 2%. Earlier the Bundesbank in statements to the German parliament indicated that higher inflation rate in Germany was acceptable if the overall eurozone rate remained near target. This would give other eurozone countries an opportunity to improve competitiveness. Schauble also indicated willingness to accept higher wages in Germany because of years of wage concessions by workers in Germany. France's major parties, unions and industry are in agreement on a plan for reducing wages to avoid layoffs. This gives the normal process of adjustments in free markets a chance to function to restore competitiveness and balance. It also addresses the concerns of workers in Germany who would benefit after a decade of wage concessions, and improve consumption in Germany, as demand for Germany's exports adjusts to a slowdown in the global economy....

LyrArc Article Gist
Republican Jeb Bush's address to the 2013 CPAC conference focusses on the decline of social and educational mobility in the U.S. to its lowest point since 1945. In this address he points out that " the central mission of conservatives is to reignite social mobility in this country- restoring the right to rise." His focus on restoring the right to rise is on doing everything to increase opportunities for "quality education," an issue on which he focussed as governor of Florida. He sees technolgy and relative youthful population compared to China and other countries in Europe, as giving America a unique advantage. On this and individual efforts he pins the broad hopes of the middle class revival he sees. He puts the problems of America's middle class and working class as wages declined and the economy suffered from misallocation of resources in stark terms- "Today, the sad reality is that if you're born poor, if your parents did'nt go to college, if you don't know your father, if English isn't spoken at home- then the odds are stacked against you. You are more likely to stay poor today than at any other time since World War II." And he sees Conservatives having a response to this situation, and restoring the idea of America as a land of opportunity for all....

LyrArc Article Gist
There is over $150 billion of additonal spending on education in the Obama stimulus plan being worked on in January 2009. There are several important aspects of this plan. One action will prevent literally hundreds of thousands of layoffs of teachers, according to Education Secretary Arne Duncan, as revenues of local districts drop. In a response to requests from Democratic party governors Congress has allocated $79 billion to help states facing large fiscal budget gaps to maintain government services, and especially to prevent cuts to education services fro kindergarden to college. Another aspect is the effort to reinforce Title 1, a program of specialized classroom efforts to help educate poor children, by increasing 2009 fiscal year spending from $14.5 billion to $20 billion, and raise spending for disabled children from $11 billion to $17 billion. This helps meet the unmet needs of the No Child Left Behind program. Another effort on the stimulus side which would create jobs for construction activity and do this with spending that will bring benefits in future years for along number of years in the future, is the federal government now taking abig role in the building and renovation of schools. The federal government will now spend $14 billion for the renovation and modernization of elementary and secondary schools, and $6 billion for the same for higher education. The stimulus also has tax provisions under which the federal government will pay the interest on construction bonds issued by school districts. The Education Secretary says that the $20 billion for this will create a huge number of construction jobs because so much of the school system building infrastructure needs repairs. In the area of higher education the allocation for Pell Grants used for student aid is increased to $27 billion from $19 billion. These aspects of the stimulus program are ones that will pay off over a number of years into the future. ...