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The large inequalities in Chilean society are exposed after a transport fare increase leads to violent protests.  A climate tax and fare increases led to protests against inequality in France. The Chilean pension system does not provide the working lass with adequate pensions on which they can retire. Large inequalities in wealth under the Chilean model are seen as a result of free market principles which were enshrined in the constitution of Chile after the departure of Chilean dictator Pinochet. Some of the free market ideas worked to improve living conditions in Chile, others such as the financing of the pension system are seen as having failed to provide for a secure retirement for workers. some of Chile's success can also be attributed to demand and pricing of copper with Chinese demand in the past, a situation confronting Brazil and Argentina also. In Brazil the problem is just the opposite with politicians having granted extremely liberal pensions leaving little room in the budget for public services including basic sanitation.  There are also inadequacies in education and health care based on these free market principles, which favor certain groups and not society at large. Protest movement's goal is a rewriting of the Chilean constitution which president Pinera has declined. ...

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The slowing economy of Turkey as the wars in Syria and Iraq take their toll reducing demand for Turkey's exports. The conflict with Russia also affects Turkish exports. Growth slows to 2-3% a year in 2015-2016.

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This years pension hike of 5.35% in Germany is being completely eaten up by the inflation of 5.1% leaving pensioners in the same situation as before after many years when no adjustments were made. The catchup factor for meeting cost of living changes and inflation was put on hold by chancellor Merkel in 2018, another way social goals were not met under Merkel while infrastructure and child care were also neglected. Only now under a SPD Greens coalition are these problems of falling standard of living being tackled.

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Chile's new Constitution draft document of 499 pages scales back mining, decentralises power and grants social rights. Rewriting the Constitution was one of the demands of protests that lasted for months leading to the election of president Boric. After decades under a constitution written by Gen. Pinochet that favored mining companies and industry Chileans protested the way pensions were organized and the way Chile was run that neglected the working class and middle class families.

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China adopts a two child policy nationwide in October 2015, abandoning a one child policy adopted in 1980. Experts had warned for years of a policy that would lead to fewer young people, and a rapidly aging society. UN forecasts show China will have about 400 million people over the age of 60 in 2030, 25% of the population in 2030, compared to 14% today if current trends continued. Growth of elderly people would burden the pension and health care systems. The birth rate of 1.4 children per woman is lower than in the U.S. today.

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Only 6% of Chileans support president Pinera of Chile and 81% call management of the pandemic a failure. Parliament adopted reform that allows citizens to have 10% of pension savings paid out as emergency coronavirus aid. Latin America has no aid funds in the way aid is given in the U.S. and in the European Union, and in Britain, leaving people dangerously exposed during the pandemic. Chile was presented as a much more affluent country but this no longer holds true. This DW.com report says the government remains overwhelmed and helpless in the face of the pandemic and internal protests that started over pension inadequacies and subway price hikes, lack of healthcare services.

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 After a landslide win in the recent election with 56% of the vote, Gabriel Boric, 36 years, will work for a fair deal for ordinary Chileans. His win comes after years of street protests calling for a fair deal including pensions, transport services, and better income distribution. The protests called for writing a new constitution to replace the one written by dictator Pinochet. Chile has grown increasingly polarized with younger generation favoring change and fairness and many of the older generation favoring the system left by dictator Pinochet.

Chile is described as an economic success story but it is a highly unequal society with 1% of the people owning 25% of the wealth, and about half of the people seen as economically vulnerable, says this report in The Guardian.

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The protests in Chile that started with a subway fare increase and then into protest against inadequate pensions, poor health care and schools, have turned into violent protests with extensive damage. Damage to supermarkets, stores and other businesses is estimated at billions of dollars. Damage to the modern Metro is about $370 million dollars. The economy will grow at 1% this year after growth of 4% in 2018.  The government plans a $5.5 billion stimulus, and the central bank could sell $20 billion including a quarter of its reserves to support the peso currency.  The government of president Pinera has only a 13% approval rating. A December poll by COES Santiago think tank shows 65% of Chileans support continuation of protests, and found that 89% of Chileans planned to back a new constitution. The old constitution was designed in a way that led to poor support for retirement and inadequate pensions. It also led to increased inequality in this country of 18 million. This constitution was drafted during the Pinochet dictatorship  and has now lost its legitimacy along with the rest of the political leaders. A referendum will be held in April 2020 for a new constitution.  The copper mines that support Chilean copper exports are intact and the country has low debt, which should help Chile invest in a recovery with the stimulus. ...

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Chile's new constitution was drafted after a vote on a constitutional convention in which many people not involved before and on the fringes of society including indigenous groups were elected. More than half are independents and from different groups of society not well represented before. As a result of this the lack of experience has led to enshrining every single right that one could think of instead of focusing on what the protests were about about - the pension system, unfairness in access to health housing and education in the way funds are allocated from the budget, and promoting fairness in government.  At this time there is no certainty that it will be passed. A 36 year old student protest leader Gabriel Boric is the president elected after two years of protests about the unfairness of the system that took shape under a constitution written by a military dictator Pinochet who ran the country from 1973 to 1990. Pinochet came to power in a coup that is common in the history of South American Republics such as Brazil, Argentina, Chile and other countries. During the period of the government of Marxist president Salvador Allende the country was polarized resulting in the military taking over.  If the constitution is rejected a new convention will be formed to write a new constitution. In following the Structure of the US, Canadian, or British constitution, or the Indian it is important to look at the document so that it will stand the test of time rather than simply enumerating the rights of man. It is also important to focus on how to make the basic rights such as food, housing and education be well funded and society to be run along lines of basic fairness in incomes, while protecting enterprise and industry that can create new wealth for the country. The large South American economies are mainly dependent on commodities for export and there is a need to fund new business sectors which are not in commodity products- copper in the case of Chile- so that the economy can develop in a way that funds progress in incomes. ...

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Mr. Rodrigo Maia, the 49 year old son of the former Mayor of Rio De Janeiro, Cesar Maia, is uniting Congressmen from all parties in Brazil's parliament to get things done and restore lost confidence, such as the recently passed pension reform. Brazil's pension system sucks up most of the money in the budget with overly generous benefits, leaving little to pay for essential public services such as sanitation and transportation. Shockingly sanitation has suffered as only 50% of the sewage is treated in Brazil.  Polls show confidence in parliament after corruption scandals and lack of work to help the people of Brazil with essential public services has fallen to an abysmal low of 7%. Only 50% of Brazil's sanitation is treated and the rest flows as untreated sewage and rubbish into the rivers. To bring some sanity to pensions the Brazilian parliament, with the organizing skills of Mr. Maia to bring parties together around the reform, has cut $240 billion over 10 years from pensions and introduced 65 years for men and 62 years for women as minimum retirement age.  Brazil has 33 parties and Mr. Maia's is with the centre right DEM party. How did this happen. This WSJ story says Rodrigo Maia, 49 years, was born in Santiago, Chile in 1970 during the days of Brazilian military dictatorship. His father was in exile in Chile. The election of a  far right figure Jair Bolsonaro who supported the military dictatorships record as president in the recent election was a warning sign for the different parties in Brazil on the centre right and the centre left that corruption scandals and a do-little spirit was wiping out their influence and destoroying their credibility with ordinary Brazilians. The pension cut reform was their response to gain some of the lost goodwill from the Brazilian people. In the past Brazil's members of the Chambers of Deputies were people of power and influence who held positions for long periods and passed on these positions to people in their families or in their close circle. The elections and democratic governments following years of dictatorship brought in a new class from centre right and centre left that mismanaged public finances and excluded new ideas. The Car Wash scandal and scandals at the state petroleum company under Da Silva's Workers Party led to loss of confidence not only in the centre left party government of Da Silva and the Workers Party, but also in a do-little parliament. The large state spending from the government was possible during the commodities boom from China with Brazilian iron ore and other products getting high prices. WIth the collapse of the commodities boom and lower prices the entire system of state spending has unraveled revealing how much generous pension system is damaging the financing of  basic public services.  Corruption is prevalent in many countries in Asia including India but nowhere has the spending on essential public services such as sanitation suffered as in Brazil. And nowhere was parliament and the government able to get away with staging Olympics, World Cup and building many stadiums, handing out generous benefits to gain public support as in Brazil when basic sanitation and health services were neglected in a shocking way. The health system was weakened to a great extent when it lacked the resources to tackle an outbreak of yellow fever in 2018 as it moved south from the Amazon region towards Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Protests against the lack of investment in public services such as transportation and bus systems resulted in the public protests in big cities that led to the rise of Jair Bolsonaro in an effort to bring new administration to tackle the problem of financing for infrastructure, public services, health and education.    ...

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Chile's new constitution that replaces one written in 1980 under military rule, is likely to be rejected in a vote on September 4. It puts every conceivable right into the constitution beyond the basic rights of fairness in the economic, in incomes, in health and education services access, and pensions the original reasons for the two years of protests. About 80% of the Chileans voted in members of the constitution drafting boy the Convention. About 47% say reject and 38 say accept, 17% undecided at this time in a poll cited by DW.com. Controversial are judicial setup for indigenous groups (13% of Chileans), abortion in a predominantly Catholic country, and women holding 50% of positions in all public positions as mandatory, and the environment in a predominantly copper export based economy.

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This view in DW.com looks at the rising inequality in Chile and the devastating inflation of over 50% in Argentina, the failure in providing basic public services such as sanitation in Brazil, as failures in the economic models and also in the lack of social solidarity within Latin American nations.. The pursuit of "what is the most of what I can get" in place of "what is the best I can do so that the country and people benefit as a whole including myself as part of that society." Argentines have billions of dollars overseas, and billions are stored in homes outside of banks because no one trusts the government or banks to keep inflation in check. In Chile the economic model accepts high inequality as a norm. In Brazil much of the public spending goes to generous pensions crowding out basic services such as transport and sanitation. In each case one section of society looks after its own interests at the expense of the society as a whole leading to a breakdown and misery for all. ...

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The draft of the new constitution in Chile is rejected by voters in September 2022 with only 38% voting For and 62% Against, a much larger margin Against than previously expected. The new constitution was drafted by a Constitutional body specially elected for the purpose, As a result Chileans will have to go back and draft one that is more likely to pass. Unlike previous votes voting was mandatory for 15 million eligible voters. Clauses on environment, abortion, and the indigenous tribal people are seen as controversial as well as a tendency to put every conceivable right into the constitution and not thinking enough about how these rights may be secured, and focusing on basic rights. The protests were about the unequal access to healthcare, education, and services, weakness in the pension system, and lack of protections for the elderly and pensioners. Income inequality was also an issue in the protests. 

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PM makes a point at G7- should not the 1.4 billion people of India most of whom are poor have the same access to energy as the people in the rich countries of the G7? It is to ensure this access to energy for the over 1 billion people in India that India has sourced oil from all countries when geopolitical tensions have made the price of oil to jump to new highs. Modi told a session at the G7 meetings- "All of you will also agree with this that energy access should not be the right of the rich only- a poor family also has the same right to energy. And today when energy prices are sky high due to geopolitical tensions, it is more important to remember this thing." Modi said that it was by "taking inspiration from this principle" that "we delivered LED bulbs and cooking gas door to door in India and showed that millions of tons of carbon emissions can be saved while ensuring energy for the poor." Never before in history has this been done on this scale as hundreds of millions of women have benefitted in poor areas where cooking was done by burning wood, and electricity did not exist. Water by tap water in every home, cooking gas, and electricity are now within the reach of every family in India.  Has G7 even thought of these things? And of the scale of the challenge that is being met and the future challenges for climate, technology and health that are being tackled on an unprecedented scale? ...

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This view from the Guardian by David Adler from July 8 2019, gives a third perspective on Greece as it goes into elections. It looks at the turbulent period of 2015-2019 when a new leader Alexis Tsipras promised to lead Greece out of the eurozone crisis by standing up to the ECB and Germany, instead of looking at Greece's own responsibility in letting debt buildup till it overwhelmed Greece. Adler says Syriza was too much on one end blaming Germany for strict conditions on a loan bailout, and after this did not work embracing the loan program in a complete reversal causing much anguish to his own support base when this led to callous implementation.  Mitsotakis is careful to say in his interview with Reuters that the vulnerable have to be protected while also committing to a path of economic growth for Greece. It says 50 billion euros was provided to help people with the cost of living crisis, pensions were increased, minimum wage increased by 20%. It also shows the need to judge by looking at the situation not by labels of centre left or center right, are people better off, will people be better off in the future, are all the bases education, healthcare, public services, infrastructure covered? Is the government honest with the people and doing everything it can after listening to the people? ...

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Seen as a rural urban divide, less educated and well educated and tech workers the situation in France looks similar to that in the US in the elections of 2016 and 2020. With business in the US and European Union shifting manufacturing to China and the governments neglecting rural areas, decline in standard of living for people on pensions that have not kept up with the cost of living, the situation in France as in the US is decades in the making. Bernie Sanders and Melenchon were appealing in different ways to younger people yearning for change and a system that would correct these changes.   Melenchon coming this close to less than one percentage point of Le Pen in the first round of French elections shows that a straight Macron Le Pen version of what has happened is an oversimplification, just as seeing the changes in America under president Biden vs Trump would be a simplification, as voters for Sanders who voted for Biden are changing the Biden agenda and setting America on a new path. A path to reshoring jobs that were sent to China, rebuilding American manufacturing, increasing workers wages and restoring workers leverage for higher wages, investing $2 trillion in child care, housing, supporting worker incomes and families, supporting older Americans on pensions. In the same way beneath the idea that nothing has happened after the yellow vest protests for cost of living, that has not only not gone away- but increased in the concern for cost of living in this election with the surging inflation - new developments are happening.  Even as Germany under Merkel appeared not be changing in 2020- 1 year after Merkel the situation will have changed completely to address social concerns that were ignored earlier and to invest in infrastructure in a big way. Behind this is a fundamental change that is taking place. Facing a challenge from totalitarian states the fabric of society in the free world, the US, Germany, France, other EU states, India, and nations in the free world will have to respond with changes that restore the fabric of society to what it was before this kind of fracturing, bringing all parts of society together to bring all the energies in place for rebuilding, investing in infrastructure, restoring local manufacturing and renewal. It requires a unified effort to be put in place to respond in the right way.     ...

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Larry Fink thinks there has been for retirement "an historical shift from certainty to uncertainty," from security in the earlypost war years of Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy and LBJ to precarious living in the post Reagan era of "free to choose." It is mind boggling to grasp the idea that 4 in 10 Americans lack $400 in emergency funds for a health emergency. It has been hard to wrap my mind around such a fact. Are you in the same boat? Larry Fink CEO of Black Rock financial firm with half of its $10 trillion of funds in investment assigned to retirement has joined us. Fink says- "America needs an organized high level effort to ensure that future generations can live out their lives in dignity." He wants some hard conversations. And here are his initial thoughts- Create predictable income streams like pensions for all workers including lower paid or part-time workers.  Follow 20 states in setting up retirement systems to cover all workers, including gig and part time workers in lower paid income jobs. This covers a huge number of workers counted by the millions who perform the work that makes the country and the economy run. From workers in restaurants to hospitality workers, and in lower paid health care jobs, in help for the elderly, help for children in child care. Encourage employers to offer matching funds. ...

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In a speech to 3000 party officials Xi Jinping says it is the "central and united leadership of the party that made possible this historic transition." He was speaking at the 40th anniversary of the Deng reforms to open up China's economy. He said China was right to have "lofty aspirations." Yet he said China "would not sacrifice the interests of other countries," while preserving its own interests. The speech comes as China is trying to find a way out of the trade tensions with the U.S. through negotiations. The U.S. sees China in the same way that it saw Japan's rise as an industrial power in the 1980's. and seeks to preserve U.S. economic strength and balanced trade relations that give no unfair advantages to Asian competitors. The U.S. negotiating team is led by the same negotiator who led the team that negotiated for the Reagan administration with Japan-Robert Lighthizer.

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Global smartphone shipment sales are dropping with sticker shock over new smartphone prices, dropping 7% worldwide, and 15% in China in third quarter 2018, according to Canalys. Apple sales have stagnated in China at 8% market share, and shipments volumes have declined by 11% in 2018. Apple gets 20% of its sales revenue from China. Apple is now in fifth place behind Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi in China. Each of the Chinese brands gained from 2 to 5% increase in market share while Apple with its high pricing has stagnated. Apple had high hopes for the Apple XR priced at $945 and ordered large volume of the phone for sale in China. It now has excess unsold inventory of that phone as Chinese competitors with prices at little over half the Apple price the Huawei Mate 20 are proving to be strong competitors. The fact that the Chinese market has declined by 15% in smartphone shipments hurts Apple, even though trade tensions have not created anti-Apple sentiment.   ...

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Venezuela faces an uncertain future after U.S. efforts to support Mr. Guaido and call for new free and fair elections have failed. With help from Russia the Venezuelan economy is showing signs of recovery from the steep decline and high inflation in 2019. Oil production is expected to reach 1 million barrels a day in 2020 after falling to 650,000- 700,000 barrels a day in 2019. Russia's oil company Rosneft provides critical help for Venezuelan oil sales and maintenance in oil fields.  National Security Adviser John Bolton is faulted for his advice to president Trump on Venezuela, that merely voicing support for 36 year old Guaido, would lead to regime change without action from the U.S. With the recovery in Venezuela with help from Russia and Cuba, Mr. Guaido's popularity has dropped by 20 points to 38%, according to a Venezuelan pollster Datanalisis. Most Cubans and Venezuelans in the U.S. are in Florida where there is support for new elections, and Mr. Trump continues to support Mr. Guaido. The lack of support for change from other countries including Europe, India, Turkey, and Mexico have led to a stalled situation in Venezuela. There is concern for the steep inflation, the migration of about 4.5 million Venezuelans, the shortages of critical supplies as a result of the economic collapse in 2019. The situation is stabilizing for the government yet the future of Venezuela with U.S. sanctions and weak economy leaves Venezuela in a precarious situation. Venezuela continues to be an example of how well meaning changes for social justice can lead to political changes that bring about economic collapse. This happens  when business and the economy flounder under mismanagement and corruption under crony socialism, a variant of crony capitalism. The old capitalist class and the privileged families who ran the country under its old two party system are gone. Replaced with a new class. The trying out of untested economic ideas in the quest for social balance leads to economic mismanagement, loss of critical human resources which leave the country, and a higher degree of poverty with shortages than before.  Today in Latin America Brazil shows how allowing generous pension benefits at the expense of basic needs and public services in the budget can hurt the economy. Argentina's overborrowing once again shows how this leads to IMF loans and harsh economic austerity. Chile shows how not financing pensions and public services can lead to collapse of public confidence and riots. Venezuela shows how the quest for social justice and reducing privilege can itself get flawed, leading to mass migration of as many as 4.5 million citizens. This happens under models that vary from free enterprise models to socialist or nationalist models showing that models can be less relevant than good sense and good management. In the beginning and for some time each of these models worked well, commodity price supported booms concealed real problems. Avoiding extremes, prudent spending, good investment and hard work, investment in education and infrastructure, building consensus, and good management, is critical for the future to avoid the bad outcomes facing much of Latin America. A lesson also for Asian and African countries that basic virtue is more important than socialism or free enterprise or nationalism when it comes to development.   ...

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UN projections show median age of Chinese citizens will overtake that of Americans in 2020. Yet China's median income is only a quarter of that in the U.S. Life expectancy in China today is 76, very close to that in America. In 1960 a Chinese person born that year had life expectancy of 44 years.  China is aging at the pace of Japan, and a bit slower than South Korea, but wealth per capita was three times higher in South Korea and Japan than China when the aging accelerated. A Chinese woman fertility rate today is 1.6 compared to 4.6 in 1973. A prominent Chinese economist says in a recent report that median age in China in 2050 will be nearly 50 compared to 42 in America and 38 in India. WSJ cites figures showing China will have gone from 9 working age adults per retired person in 2000 to just two by 2050. So how to pay for retirement of all these workers today? Government spending on retirement is a tenth of GDP, about half the level in older wealthier countries, and increase in spending will impact growth. Today this is about 6.2% potential growth rate. It also pushes wages up with a shortage of workers in cities such as Shenzen and X'ian even with the use of new technology and robots in factories.  Solutions are to raise retirement age currently set at 60 years, increasing labor force participation of women as Japan has done, and increasing productivity. China has transferred 10% equity stakes in four state owned financial firms to the national pension fund to shore up its finances as estimates from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences show it running out of money in 2035. Traditionally children supported families in old age but the one child policy leads to situations where the child is working or in another city. In Suzhou near Shanghai, a retirement business sends 1800 helpers to private homes and 130,000 retired people, in a new trend. The city administration of Shanghai plans 400 neighborhood care centres for elderly by 2022, with health clinics, drop in facilities, and homes. 12,000 elderly people use one centrre in central Shanghai area of Changning. ...

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What is the right retirement age for health is an important question. Dana Smith points out that the number 65 that started with the system of social security started in US  by Bismarck in Germany in 1889 and Social Security in the US in 1935 by president Franklin Roosevelt has no basis on the grounds of health of the population and longevity. Since that time people live much longer to about 74 years and for 45% of the people in the US who are in the knowledge based work the ability to work continues past 65 or 67 years.  For the remaining people who are in professions involving physical work such as construction or in the restaurant industry the situation is quite different, requiring a category based retirement age that takes this into account. For these people health outcomes would deteriorate if they continued to work in stressful work for longer. Another factor to be considered is to ask what this means as a national goal. Would a nation aspire to give its citizens an opportunity to travel, broaden their minds and engage in other activities they would like to do which they could not do while working full time. In this situation these years after retirement could give people a chance to live happier lives. It is not to be taken lightly as the current protests in France show. Age discrimination in France also plays a part as there may be fewer years of work opportunity if employers stay away from people over 50 years or discriminate against women. With childcare and care for elderly, part time jobs, women work longer for smaller pensions than men, leading to a sense of unfairness. French protests show that the outcomes need to be weighed carefully from a health and national goal standpoint and the retirement age set accordingly with flexibility for harder work.  Following the pandemic years and the cost of living crisis the protests in France show the need to develop a national consensus on the issue of retirement age, and rules plus culture change in industry that ban age discrimination for workers. Special provisions for women and people in construction so that the system is seen as fair to all parts of the workforce. ...

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For the first time in decades the U.S. trade deficit with China is falling significantly. China's exports to the U.S. dropped 12.5% to $296 billion in 2019 from $323 billion in 2018, according to Chinese customs data. Actually China's trade surplus with the U.S would have fallen even more had not the U.S. exports to China declined by 21%. With the Phase 1 trade deal negotiated recently U.S. exports to China will increase significantly, while 25% tariff on $250 billion in Chinese goods still in place limits China's exports. This means in 2021 and 2022 and years ahead China's surplus should shrink much faster achieving one of the principal goals of Mr. Trump and his trade negotiator Mr. Lighthizer. Mr. Lighthizer was chosen by Mr. Trump for having accomplished a similar goal decades back in the eighties with Japan's surplus. Even though China has not stated this in writing, American officials have said China will increase purchases of American goods and services by at least $200 billion over the next 2 years from 2017 levels. China and the U.S. have essentially agreed that the two economies so tightly intertwined works to the detriment of the U.S. with the Chinese surplus creating tensions. China will now have the European Union as the largest trading partner followed by south east Asian countries, and other regions. China decided that its priority is technological development and was unwilling to meet U.S. demands to reduce its efforts for technological competition and access to western technologies. Instead opting for shifting it economy away from dependence on exports to the U.S. in a gradual way. The other demand of the U.S. for stopping state subsidies is also a concession China is not willing to make as it sees it as an economic feature of its business model that is working and a competitive advantage.  This leaves the U.S. with a limited win so that trade and resulting jobs can be brought into favoring the U.S. a key Trump goal, and not a win in the technological competition with China which will continue. ...

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Amy Chozick of the NYT describes the puzzling idea of a Methodist do-gooder, with serious concern for injustices in the South, making an effort to accumulate money. Especially considering that Hillary Clinton must have known that speechmaking fees would come up in a presidential election campaign. Chozick describes in some detail the two years Hillary tried to shore up the family's finances after Bill Clinton's defeat in the 1980 election for Governor. Following the defeat Bill Clinton went back all over the state to voters to hear their complaints, sometimes for hours at a time. It was upto Hillary to shore up the family's finances. Hillary had to stretch to buy a $112,000 home in a better residential neighborhood. Family friends say Bill was never that interested in money, and never worried about the family's finances. Things were so bleak according to this account that Hillary worried about how they would pay for daughter Chelsea's college tution, as her own mother's experience has always remained with her of being denied a college education because of lack of money. During the Democratic Convention this comes up in the video introduction, something that most people are unaware of, which must have been difficult for an intensely private person like Hillary. Her mother is described in that video as having to go to the corner grocery store as a child with coupons for food. The income of the Clintons as professors in the years around 1975 was $18,000 each. As governor Mr. Clinton earned $33,519 in 1978 with combined income at $51,173 adding Hillary's work at the Rose law firm. A one time deal in the commodities market made 100,000, and an investment in land in the Ozarks led to losses- all at a time when other highly educated people in Arkansas were doing extremely well, including the Walton family. It wasn't until 1992 when Bill Clinton was running for president did the couple make higher income of $297,177 reported in 1992 tax returns. At this time entering the White House, of recent presidents only Harry Truman had lower net worth. Hillary donated her book proceeds for "It Takes a Village," to charity, and turned down an advance. By the time they left office the couple were faced with legal debts, owing $5 million in legal fees- Hillary Clinton saying they were "Dead broke." The former president now sought help to buy a Dutch Colonial in Chappaqua, New York, for $1.7 million. President Jimmy Carter was also facing large losses in his peanut business in Georgia when he left office, only to turn to writing books to salvage his finances. Hoover, FDR, Kennedy, George Bush, George W. Bush, were from families with great wealth or built their fortunes, including candidate Trump, sometimes using influence or connections or in the case of Kennedy's family gaining from the end of Prohibition. Eisenhower, Reagan, Carter were of more modest wealth. Only Harry Truman remains the awesome exception of dignity with extremely modest wealth, a small house in Independence, Missouri, no presidential pension, only an army pension of $112.56 a month in 1953. Truman's story also offers another aspect of public service of an exceptional kind and its value to the country for people to reflect on. A presidential pension of $25,000 was set up one year after Truman left office.  Experts say Truman's Senate Committee over 8 years 1941-1948, helped save billions of dollars in waste, fraud, and in faulty airplane as well as munitions development during the war effort, including saving thousands of lives.  In his farewell address in January 1953, Truman said he had spent 17 hours a day for eight years with no payment for overtime. In the address he correctly predicts that the Cold War would be won and he set the course. It also happened as predicted in that address with changes in the Kremlin and failure in the satellite states. Hillary Clinton put in these 17 hours and gained unmatched experience as Secretary of State, and is in a positon to set the course ahead in a manner that Truman once did in a complex world where careful policy, good judgement and in some situations strong action is needed. Such invaluable public service has never really been rewarded in the way business leaders are, not by a small fraction - too long simply taken for granted.  Considering her life story Hillary Clinton appears to have struggled with this all her life, to create a safety net that too often cracked, sometimes suddenly and unexpectedly. Has this concern sometimes gone too far, could better judgement be exercized. Perhaps or probably. Should it be seen in the context that Truman's situation reminds us. Probably.         ...