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China's export dependent economy with 4% decline in fixed investment Jan-May 2026 and 27% jump in exports.1 million car exports per month in June. Exports make up 20% of China's GDP. China is challenging German companies in their home markets in Europe. Domestic sales of cars are down 16% in June. What this means is that China's growth now depends on exports alone, with construction slowdown, and weak consumer spending. How does this tie into China's posture in trade with the US? It negotiated from a position of strength on rare earths not to give in to DJT tariffs yet knows the importance of trade for the Chinese economic model, importance of US and EU markets, markets worldwide. China's strategy is to shift some of the lost US sales due to tariffs to other countries in Latin America and Asia. A top priority is to keep trade with the US and European Union on a good footing, so that its exports can be absorbed. How does it affect Hormuz? For China Hormuz as an oil source is much lower in importance and China can do without Iran, it absolutely cannot do without the US and European Union to take a big part of its exports. It also does not openly say this but it also shares concerns similar to the US, on nuclear weapons in Iran. India, Japan and the EU have similar concerns. As shown in the articles on this page China has large unused oil in reserves and coal supplies, has lower oil demand at 4% growth, and is accelerating renewable energy, so that it is now importing 8.5 million barrels a day down from 12.5 million barrels a day. By doing this China puts this oil back into the world supply leading to lower oil prices. This means the world can do without the supplies from Hormuz, keep lower oil prices, and go on as before if Hormuz remains closed. The US can focus on domestic issues and its involvement in the Middle East can be limited to naval blockade which the US Navy is capable of doing. This is good for China, good for the US, and good for the World. Local governments in China, provincial authorites, pushed growth in building road, bridges, factories during the 30 year growth phase 1990-2020. In 2026 local governments with debt loads and lack of good projects for investment are a bottleneck to growth. This is the first time fixed investment is in decline, except for the years in 1961 and in 1967. The year 1961 is a result of many mistakes made by chairman of CCP, Mao, by shifting 2 million in farm labour to work in iron foundries, and the shift from private farm plots to soviet style commune farms, coupled with floods leading to 43-46 million famine deaths (1994, Chen Yizi, top advisor to CCP General Secretary Zhao Zhiyang). 1967 is the chaotic situation of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution launched by Mao. What it shows is that the China Miracle like the Japan Miracle and the German Miracle of recovery after World War II, is based on certain conditions and will enter a phase of lower growth closer to 3% like other industrialized nations over time. India and Indonesia are larger than China and will be the next growth story, which is also shown on these pages this week, with the address to the Indonesian parliament by Modi, and Indonesian president Prabovo's saying that he has studied Modi's economic changes and is copying them as there is no copyright. ...

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How does a poor nation in Asia respond to the quagmire that is the Middle East? Iran War impact on fuel prices in Pakistan- increase in gasoline prices by 55 rupees per liter, long lines at the gasoline pump,  schools closure for 2 weeks for 40 million children, public employees put on 4 day week and half of public employees put on remote work from home.

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Merz popularity dips slightly as he brings up tough issues such as 4 days work weeks in Germany, Many working part time and CDU calling for restricting part time to workers giving care to elderly, childcare, and for education. The German welfare payments close to minimum wage was an issue in Germany but is declining in significance. Most significant today at 35% is the issue of social inequality. Taxes unfairly distributed at 13%, and the asylum seekers issue at 9% lower today by 2%. On the economy Merz pointed out that- "Prosperity cannot be maintained with a four-day work week and an exaggerated work-life balance." He also criticized the high number of sick leave days at 14.5 average days sick leave per employee per year. Polls in February 2026 show CDU at 26%, SPD at 15%, Greens at 12%, Left at 10%, AfD at 24%, FDP 3% BSW 3%. Popularity in Germany is highest for defense minister Pistorius and next comes foreign minister Wadephul. Merz is less popular but he is raising the tough issues and taking strong action compared to Merkel who was more interested in her personal popularity than what was good for Germany. Also not given credit for action is Merz removing constitutional brake on spending for investing in Germany's infrastructure and defense, and fixing problems left behind by Merkel who neglected infrastructure, digital economy, and defense. ...

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This story about companies in Australia that have tried a four day week shows employees using two mini weeks working Monday and Tuesday, taking off Wednesday and back to work for Thursday and Friday. It shows employees planning their Mondays and Tuesday miniweek in such a way that they can handle important work and meetings ahead of time. They come back recharged and renewed on Thursday, with Wednesday as the day to break up the work week in two. This has increased productivity at these companies. This is also a useful idea for older employees who work part time and work past usual retirement ages of 60 or 65 years as longevity increases in many countries. This enables retaining the vast experience of older workers in the workplace and promoting the health of older workers by keeping them active. As Japan, the U.S. and Europe and even China become aging societies this is becoming ever more important.  For worker on five day weeks this offers creative ideas to have a four and half day week giving workers a morning off or an afternoon off to recharge with sports or recreation activity or exercize, then coming back to work recharged in the afternoon. Other variations can also be used which promote productivity and employee satisfaction to get more of the most valuable work done more effectively and with enthusiasm, pushing less important work and time wasting out of the way. Employees generally would take charge of their work day and come up with creative and efficient ways of organizing their mini work weeks. ...

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Carlos Tavares runs Stellantis the company that combined the operations of France's Peugeot, Italy's Fiat and America's Chrysler right out of his living room in his Lisbon, Portugal home one week every month. He is a believer in the advantages of hybrid work model and says most of the 75,000 workers at the company can work remotely most of the time.The quality time that is generated in this new work model that allows life balance and getting fresh air walks outside is needed when you consider that auto companies such as his are embracing world of electric cars- Stellantis will have 75 models of electric cars by 2030 In this interview with the WSJ shown here he says the fact that one is giving back high quality time that otherwise goes to commuting means you get more time during the day. Carlos Tavares says remote work is an opportunity to recreate a better life balance. He doesn't see any risk in it at all. He sees how hard people are working, harder than they did before, and says giving back one half hour or two hours of quality time actually helps the process of getting good work. Look he says after a long day of remote work people need that time to go out and have a walk for an hour just to refresh one's mind, because the work was so intense. Tavares asks why shouldn't we trust each other? He believes it is the only way to go. Asked about his own work routine for remote work.He says it is the Portuguese routine of  7 am to 4 pm or 5 pm and then an hour out for a walk. He has a small desk in his living room, and he is sitting there with his iPad, grandkids are going by but nobody sees them. Does he miss the face to face contact? He does says Tavares. He still sees other employees as he does go to the office. What about mentoring for junior  employees? This does not have to be five days a week, you may want coaching one day a week, what you don't want is someone on your back five days a week. For Tavares it is all about the quality of time that is used. On company culture the much abused word Tavares makes some good points. If you say this is the culture and hand it to somebody then how do you get that creative mind to exercize his own judgement, how do you get diversity of thinking. Tavares is forthright and honest here- he says if I give you a culture and put you in that box I will get it wrong, and by killing the valuable diversity of thinking I will make it counterproductive. Actually with French, Italian and American operations under one roof and employees of 170 nationalities there is a value in appreciating the value each employee can bring. Practices at Stellantis- Tavares says if you want your people to be in game shape or in great shape mentally don't call them or email them on weekends, so that they can use the weekend to recharge themselves. He even apologizes for calling on a weekend. Or if you email your people tell them to not respond till Monday. ...

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French plans to cut energy use by 10% from 2019 levels in 2 year are announced by prime minister Elisabeth Borne. The target is 40% reduction in energy use by 2050. The key is to make energy use more efficient says president Macron. The efforts include turning down thermostats in buildings to 66 degrees Fahrenheit. Households are asked to start heating 2 weeks later than usual and end heating 2 weeks earlier than usual this winter. Civil servants will get about 3 euros a day for working from home. Remote work for some days a week is encouraged and carpooling is expected.

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The BBC looks at burnout for service workers in the US and Europe leading to the great resignation. Most service workers are quitting their jobs as the level of burnout has increased in the last few months compared to the early days of the pandemic in 2020. One owner of a restaurant in Britain says she closed it not because there were not enough customers, not because it was losing money. She closed it because workers were not showing up for work. She says whether they say it or not workers at her restaurant were experiencing a lot of anxiety. This meant her carrying a heavy load till she decided it was better to close  when she was on top than be carried out on a stretcher. Another manager of a variety store in South Carolina says after working 60-70 hours a week for months the only way he could get a day off was to ask another manager to do a 16 hour shift. Long work days in the US, low pay, and disrespect for their work, was common for service workers in the US. They now face verbal abuse of customers feeling the accumulated stress of the pandemic and taking it out on service workers. Higher wages are not inducing workers to come back. Service workers are choosing to retrain for other careers with better pay, better hours, or going back to study. ...

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Matt Garman, head of AI and Cloud Services at Amazon talks to Emma Tucker of the WSJ. Garman says Amazon was not slow, just being deliberate and thinking it through rather than coming up with something quickly as Microsoft had done with ChatGPT. He sees the need for regulation, only that it not create a situation where others including China go ahead and the US falls behind. This means that the US needs to coordinate AI rules with other countries including China, India, Russia, for comprehensive solutions on how AI is to be managed to work towards good.

On a five day week vs remote work Garman says Amazon takes the view that the creative work can best be done with humans interacting at the office. It sees this as essential for good work. On the 3 day week with 2 for remote work, the only problem he says is that everyone picks different 3 days and this leads to loss of human interaction at work.

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The world would need 3 Germanys to provide the resources that one Germany consumes today. Earth Overshoot Day looks at the sustainable resources and how much each country consumes of resources. By July 28 planet earth had already consumed all the natural resources it could sustainably regenerate for the year. Experts say Earth would need three quarters of another Earth to provide the amount of resources consumed by our planet today. Everything makes a difference as European Union plans to cut energy use by 15%. Drying clothes on a line instead of in the dryer, shorter hot water baths, turning off lighting for monuments in cities, changing household lights to LED's, lowering the thermostats by a few degrees in winter, cutting out meat for just one or two days a week. The way Overshoot Day works out the arithmetic 1970 was the year when Earth passed the line where sustainable resources that could be regenerated and the consumption of these resources were equal. From then on it was a wild spree in places like Germany and then China, and it is how countries like India take up the work of renewable energy and limiting use of valuable resources that will affect the future. ...

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Suggestions are not to take Fridays off but instead take Mondays off and sometimes break the week with Wednesday off. Fridays off are seen as a drawback because one is seen cramming five days work into four that week. Here a Unilever manager manages her 15 days off and another week that she gets after 18 years service to somehow add the weekends to get 9 days off for a break using 5 vacation days. Taking vacations for less than a week are seen as not productive for reducing stress at work and for getting better sleep. Procrastinating vacations to when work gets slower is not recommended as the answer for many is work never gets slower and you could end up overworking. Planning ahead lets this Unilever manager plan trips that act as rejuvenating experiences up and down the Eastern seaboard after getting her vacation life in order following some misssteps. She shows how with 20 days she could create 50 days vacation during the year adding in public holidays.

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 The average work has declined in Europe, and increased slightly in America. It is about one day a week less in Europe for the 5 largest European economies, according to the OECD. Shorter work hours set by employers and furloughs are affecting workers in Europe. This is because many European businesses used shorter working hours to avoid layoffs during the pandemic. 

Nearly 2 million Europeans are in furlough programs with governments making up the lost pay.

Working hours are less in Southern Europe because of a lack of full time work. About one third of workers in France and half in Spain and Italy would like to work more hours but cannnot find the extra hours. In Germany one fourth of workers choose to work less than 30 hours a week by choice.

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With steady productivity and fewer people quitting using a four day week, companies are adopting this change that came during the pandemic period with hybrid work.

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Fewer meetings, busier days, fewer emails, and work that sometimes spills over into Fridays are ways in which companies are doing a 32 hour week. WSJ looks at companies doing a 32 hour week. The UAW has asked for a 32 hour week for workers at automobile companies Ford, GM and Stellantis.

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The debate in the U.S. Congress about whether pandemic jobless benefits are deterring people from returning to work. Are extra $600 weekly payments affecting the way people return to work. The surge in the pandemic in many states in July could also be a factor. The extra weekly jobless benefits amount to about $18 billion a week and are set to expire unless Congress renews them.

The enhanced payments of about $15 an hour in the U.S. for a 40 hour week amount to $600, before regular state unemployment benefits are added in. Researchers say 68% of unemployed workers receive more benefits than they did working. Some of this added benefit during the pandemic helps people to stay home for work that involves contact with people such as in travel and food increasing risk of spread, which can be a good investment in prevention. In other work such that involves no contact or which can be done from home, there is good reason for incentives for gradual return to work.

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As the media in the US and world cover this issue the focus is on the war and Hormuz. In the background a different situation is playing out. US Iran peace talks with Pakistan/ Qatar mediation June 13 2026- different factions in Iran RGC and Foreign Ministry+mediators with different positions  put out conflicting reports throughout May and June. The mediators Pakistan, Turkey and also Qatar/Saudis which also have a keen interest in limiting the damage to their economies, are taking one position working with the Foreign Ministry and elected Iranian president Pezeshkian who won 16 million votes 55% in the 2024 election. Inside Iran the RGC under new leaders is pursuing its own interests that does not put the economy first in conflict with Pezeshkian and public opinion in Iran for putting the economy first.  Pakistan faces grave risks with its large population, the risks to the economy from oil prices at $125 a barrel to its balance of payments crisis. Turkey also faces risks to its economy with high inflation. Saudis and Qatar see their economic prospects as limited and need to cut economic projects as oil revenues decline. In this situation the US goal of getting nuclear material out of the country is now put into a phased process based on conditions for every step of the way by the US negotiators, yet with memorandum of understanding to accomodate a changing situation. This policy may also be now agreed on between China and the US, and to some extent Russia. This can be seen as playing out and media does not talk about it. China openly greets DJT in Beijing and US and China agree to work things out in May 2026. China cuts its oil use by 3 million barrels a day as shown in a WSJ report this week. This is a major step. UAE leaves OPEC and calls for cuts in oil prices. Next Delsy Rodriguez of Venezuela visits New Delhi, India, and meets to set up economic relationships that include large purchases of Iranian oil to replace supplies lost in Hormuz and what India can offer in exchange for these purchases to Venezuela, including infrastructure building support. This points to a Win-Win for the US, China, India, as oil needs are met from places other than Hormuz for major users of energy. China may have realized that its prolific use of oil for 25 years of rapid development may have led to wasteful use of oil- some of that wasteful use can now be cut- 3 million barrels of oil use cut accepting some slower growth for quality growth. Germany and Japan are using less energy per unit of GDP and China will be looking at their model of energy use as an example to follow. This has huge potential for limiting climate change, as without China and India becoming more efficient in energy use, nothing the US could do was going to make a big difference for climate change. This may be one of the unintended benefits of the Hormuz situation in 2026 - ways to cut energy use for climate change action. And ways to move away from Hormuz and Persian Gulf for supplies so that poorer countries and advanced economies have to pay less for oil helping the poorer countries (Pakistan, Turkey) survive and grow, helping middle economic status rapidly modernizing economies  continue rapid growth (China and India), and helping advanced economies with cost of living hurting the majority of their people (US and EU).  With less money Russia, Iran and other countries will face serious constraints for more military expenditures as for the first time alternative supplies (other than Hormuz) and lower oil prices are being brought about in a newly unfolding plan of the US, China, India and other nations, that is not discussed in today's world media headlines. This means when seen objectively there is room for optimism based on the one thing going for the US, China, India, EU, a host of poorer nations in Asia /Africa/ LatinAmerica, the  5 largest development blocs and population blocs today, which is that the US and China can agree on being custodians for peaceful development accepting their responsibilities for guaranteeing this world order- as DJT and Xi Jinping stated in Beijing in May 2026- with the US aim of nuclear free Iran also accepted by China, Russia, India, and large sections of the Iranian population that put the economy first. ...

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The WSJ provides an excellent guide to working at home, how to overcome the struggles and get some of the benefits from working at home. A large part of the struggles in working from home is not being able to unplug, and working like you are in an office. Working from office is different because of meetings and office distractions, and one gets less done, maybe 4 hours of decent work in a workday. So that in solo work one would say work 5 hours and accomplish what one would have done in 8 hours at the office.  At home consistently working 5 or 6 hours at a stretch can get a person exhausted and isolated.  Don't look at the clock for it to say 5 pm. Take breaks early, if one reaches ones limit or gets restless it is time to take an extended break or get outside for a walk, or do some stretches, yoga, or something else. Loneliness is another part of the struggles. Important to setup some video calls to make sure you get human interaction. Get some chance to refresh and talk to humans, get some interaction.  Leave stuff such as clearing inbox and less brainy tasks for the evening. Set top 3 priorities for the day or week so you have an idea of progress in a larger task. Time theming is a way to set aside certain days or time periods to get specific things done. Staying physically fit and mentally rejuvenated is the big challenge.  Exercize routines, stretches, yoga, meditation early morning, help keep ones mental and physical health. They are most important. They form the basis for the whole day and lay the foundation for getting things done. This is where the process sets the tone and helps get the best results. Once this is established one can let the ebbs and flow of work motivation and feeling ready to work happen, seeing them as natural, without concern that one won't get done what needs to be done to be effective. ...

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US Senator Bernie Sanders and Shawn Fain of the United Auto Workers make the case for a 32 hour week.  No that's not right Sanders and Fain are calling for hours and wages that make for a healthy life after making significant contributions using technologies and higher productivity during a normal week more like 35 to 40 hours instead of 50-60 hours a reality today.  Even with this productive work effort they say workers have not benefitted as most of the gains have gone to the top with top managers and CEO's making hundreds of times more in compensation. In this years negotiations the UAW made long hours at work and its effect on worker health an issue. A 40 hour work week was established in 1940 under the Fair Labour Standards Act passed under president Franklin Roosevelt. Sanders and Fain point out that 28.5 million workers even today work over 60 hours a week and more than half of full time employees work more than 40 hours a week. It comes as a surprise that according to the authors US workers logged 204 hours a year more than employees in Japan, and 470 more hours than German workers. Sanders and Fain point out that today adjusted for inflation the average worker in America makes about $50 less a week than 50 years ago in 1974. There is definitely a need to consider the health of workers as the highest priority and wages that make it possible to raise families and educate children in decent living conditions. France and Denmark have a 35 and 37 hour work week. ...

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Only occasional use of Melatonin for a few weeks is suggested. Other ways to go to sleep and reducing anxiety work better say health experts. Chamomile tea, exercise earlier in the day, outdoor activities, regular sleep hours and turning off bright lights, yoga, can be better ways to get a good nights sleep.

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For the 100,000 employees of Vodafone the pandemic has lessons for creativity, flexibility and innovating in work habits. In 2 weeks 95% of the employees worked remotely. Now Vodafone experts say that individual projects and tasks make up 60% of work which can be done remotely. Only 40% of tasks require working in a team setting with other people. The 60% done individually can be done in a remote setting making it necessary to to adopt a flexible approach for best results. Here Nick Read, Vodafone CEO, says because of London's unique setting and exceptional access to the talent pool this will always be a good office location as a central office. Yet the new concept is for hubs all over the country so that Vodafone can tap into talent across the nation in diverse parts of the UK. Mr. Read looks at the views of employees and says this period has shown enhanced productivity with remote working. The additional challenge of balancing family and work can create some stress, and Vodafone has taken some steps to tackle this. It provides guidance to employees on how to handle work in a remote setting, limits meetings to 20 minutes with long separation between meetings. Vodafone is now designing offices in European locations based on what it has learned during the pandemic. In the Netherlands it is splitting the office and remote work 50-50 based on Vodafone's new understanding of the value of remote work. The expansion of the work day as employees handle other tasks, has to be handled well with some structure. The German idea of Feierabend, or end of working day, calling for a set time to disconnect the work day and do something else cycling, exercizing, something fun and relaxing to disconnect, is shown in Lyrarc. Other articles on working remotely in Lyrarc show that limiting intense concentration work to 4-5 hours is a good way to be at your best in productive work. This is because an 8 hour work day at the office has many distractions, meetings and interactions. The office work day has much shorter stretches of concentrated work than we think. ...

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The new trend of work and wellness hotels is becoming popular so that busy workers in office jobs can get a chance to relax, do yoga and exercize, eat healthy, and get renergized for work. Employees working on projects who are getting burned out with endless hours get a break with a week continuing work but also having a few hours to devote to mental and physical health each day. Hotels are adapting to meet this demand with mindfulness and yoga-pilates classes, and healthy food. 

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WSJ talks to Adam Grant, Prof. of Organizational Psychology at Wharton School of Business, on the importance of experimenting with different ideas. For every decision A and implementing it one forgets that there were other decisions that could have been made B, C, D or E, and each one offered new ways to experiment and try out new ideas. Grant is author of the book-" Think Again - The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know." Here he talks about how some CEO's used the pandemic (a problem) as an opportunity to experiment with new ideas on work to create productive happier workplaces. Others were too afraid to experiment. Grant says research data shows people are more likely to stay in a hybrid structure, because it gives them flexibility. From the productive workplace perspective this means people have to develop new skills and new muscle in a kind of experiment. This is what he says many CEO's are fearful to try out, now that they are reverting to the old workplace in the office-to what they know.  His biggest fear is that the experimentation that covid brought to us will stop. He sees four days of focused work a week or six hours of concentration in work a day, as way better than 8 hours of distracted work or five unmotivated days. Not just personal bonds are necessary says Grant, clear roles and goals are needed. And people need to be excited about what they are doing, which is possible he has found when they know the work has meaning for people who they are serving. ...

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New offices, making them less awful, (NO-LA) this is the trend says this report in WSJ. Reopened offices are opening on a voluntary basis. How will they attract employees back?  Try sweeping views, new yoga and wellness areas, "tech-free reflection zones,"  more conference rooms. This report looks at spaces by Accenture and other companies. Accenture adds sweeping views of the Hudson river, access to an outdoor terrace. The idea is to act as a pull, rather than a push. Unilever is changing offices into destination spaces where employees will come and work in 40% of the time. Salesforce is moving out desks to add more couches, TV's and whiteboards for teams. More offices are building spaces for 60% collaboration, up from 40% previously. Sanofi in Paris is adding options for breakfast, early dinner.  Other ideas are engagement days if workers are coming in only a few days a month. At Hightower this means one set day in the office a week, two engagement days a month for collaborative work. And workers are allowed to not coming one month a year and work from anywhere they choose.  ...

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According to Germany's Federal Labor Agency, about 1.5 millon workers in about 63,000 companies were in the short-work or Kurzarbeit plan. Under this plan companies are able to put workers on shorter work week schedules without seriously impacting wages. Companies pay for the hours put in by employees on shorter work schedules and the government pays upto 67% of remaining wages. For March 2010 693,000 workers were on the Kurzarbeit plan. Another German way of softening the impact of a recession is to allow companies to keep a work-time account. Employees get paid now for a certain number of hours that they agree to work during an upturn in demand. So that for certain machine tool makers employees work 250 hours less during a downturn but still get paid and make up for this during an upturn by working overtime and still taking in regular wages. What this does is to reduce the need for new hiring during an upturn.

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Bars and restaurants filled with people just increases the risk. Consider that on one day June 20, 500,000 people went to bars in Los Angeles county the day after they reopened, as reported in the WSJ. This is similar to what happened in soccer stadiums in Lombardy, Italy, spreading the virus like wildfire. Experts say social distancing is easier to do in office locations and at work, than at bars, restaurants inside, and at soccer stadiums, or large gatherings of any sort. In just one situation 138 new cases were traced to a bar in East Lansing. Michigan.

Most of the restlessness about the lockdown was about not being able to get to work after weeks inside. And getting outside to a park for exercize was always safer because it was easier to keep social distancing in these places.