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How low interest rates from the banks created 2009 financial crisis were squeezing Americans and most of all seniors
06/05/2024
In 2010 Charles Schwab pointed out that low interest rates were squeezing Americans, most of all seniors on fixed incomes and pensions. In 2024 first quarter the higher interest rates in one quarter alone created an additional $770 billion in interest and dividends for Americans, many of them seniors, according to US Federal Reserve. This is the damage done by the recklessness of the banks and financial sector and seniors have paid heavily for this and for the wars in the Middle East which reduced the growth potential of the US economy that were embraced by Reagan and Bush, Trump and Obama. The war money was not used to build new infrastructure to replace the old as it should have been leading to China having new infrastructure and America's being aging and worn out.
Linked Articles
Low Interest Rates Are Squeezing Seniors
Wall Street Journal 03/30/2010
Americans Have More Investment Income Than Ever BeforeWSJ 06/05/2024
Transition Investing hits $1.8 trillion in 2023 a 17% increase to tackle climate change
03/03/2024
ESG or environmental social governance seemed to be telling people they were inadequate and telling them what they needed to do. Now Larry Fink of Black Rock sticks to Transition Investing. The dangers of climate change are everywhere and well known. The transition was needed, and how to make it happen, how to make the transition with the right investments, how to prepare for the future- this is Transition Investing.
Linked Articles
Step Aside, ESG. BlackRock Is Doing ‘Transition Investing’ Now.
WSJ 03/03/2024
WSJ News Exclusive | The Investment Firm That Keeps Raising Giant Climate FundsWSJ 02/05/2024
How deceitful and self serving use of immigration in the UK led to making a good economy worse, and with strict immigration policy in Greece made a bad economic situation better
05/22/2023
How a strict migration policy in Greece leads to a 90% drop in migration and brings Greece in line with the rest of the European Union including Italy and Germany on migrant policy. Merkel simply and clearly made a serious error in letting in migrants through Hungary and Austria because it led to anti migration sentiment throughout the EU, to Brexit, to the sidelining of parties that worked in the interests of workers and families throughout Europe for a decade in which distorted economic policy lost public support till the pandemic made things even worse.
Linked Articles
Has Brexit left Britain in a better state?
The Times 05/21/2023
With His Party Ahead in Elections, Greek Leader Claims ‘Political Earthquake’NYTimes.com 05/22/2023
The destruction of the Gran Chaco in Brazil and Argentina and the Glasgow Conference decision on ending deforestation by 2030
05/17/2023
If the decision to end deforestation by 2030 is to be taken seriously what happens to the Gran Chaco in Argentina and Brazil is a matter of importance. One third of global emissions are absorbed by forests that act as a giant carbon sink.
Linked Articles
COP26: World leaders promise to end deforestation by 2030
BBC News 11/02/2021
The destroyed forests of the Gran Chaco – DW – 05/16/2023dw.com Supported by Lyrarc's Climate Change Action 05/17/2023
Clean drinking tap water for every home - the stark contrast between China and India
04/05/2023
What this tells one is that GDP requires a new indicator which is Quality GDP which will mean that if you pollute rivers and air then real GDP as an economic concept is totally inadequate even useless, unless one subtracts from that economic GDP number the amount of investment it would take to clean up the rivers or the air. If regulatory agencies cannot control industries from polluting rivers, the case in China, then an additional number has to be subtracted from economic GDP called regulatory deficiency adjustment. The GDP numbers were gained through indiscriminately burning fossil fuels and this means climate change damage so that to be correctly stated China's GDP number would have to be offset by deducting the adjustment for trillions of dollars in climate change correction action. This would shrink the gap between India and China's GDP to where India may be in a position using advanced technology, renewable energy, regulation, and large foreign investment to close the gap with China in the next 10-15 years. China could also benefit because of the new approaches taken by India could be something to learn from as the two countries each have the population of the EU and the US+ Canada combined.
Linked Articles
In China, the water you drink is as dangerous as the air you breathe | Deng Tingting
The Guardian 06/02/2017
Jal Jeevan Mission achieves 60% of its target, says govtHindustan Times 04/05/2023
How the transition from the Soviet Union in 1985-1989 was mismanaged by Gorbachev leading to a 40% drop in GDP, 2000% inflation, drop in life expectancy , worse than the US Great Depression in the 1930's
09/03/2022
It is not commonly known in the US how bad the collapse was in Russia after 1989. An understanding of this in the US and Europe not just of the Fall of the Berlin Wall and its effect on Eastern Europe and West Germany, is needed to get a complete understanding of what happened and the events leading up to the war in Ukraine and threats to US and the EU. It also helps in framing solutions for the future that include lessons learned.
Linked Articles
Mikhail Gorbachev, Germany's most beloved Russian, has died | DW | 31.08.2022
DW.COM 08/31/2022
Opinion | Wonking Out: The Nightmare After GorbachevNYTimes.com 09/03/2022
Common sense and wisdom for passage to India Pakistan trade after the floods in 2022 with one third of Pakistan under water
08/30/2022
In 2012 Michael Boskin, who helped George W. Bush, with the NAFTA North American Free Trade Agreement, wrote this article in the WSJ about the normal trade using trade models that take into account the advantage of cross border trade and size of economies would be 20 times the $2.7 billion in trade between India and Pakistan in 2012. This would be $50 billion. This would have increased to $100 billion by 2020 under normal trade. Instead in the year of the 2022 floods when Pakistan is one third under water, and cross border trade never made more sense, the OEC data show trade at less than $300 million or one three hundredth portion of what trade could be if normalized.
Linked Articles
Pakistan: Food prices soar amid floods | DW | 30.08.2022
DW.COM 08/30/2022
Michael Boskin: A Passage to India-Pakistan PeaceWSJ 04/15/2012
The danger to the US, European Union and India of concentration of chip production in Taiwan
06/20/2022
Concentrating 92% of chip production that powers cell phones, laptops, computers in Taiwan makes no sense. Five fabs are concentrated in just 1 Science Park- Hsinshu Science Park in Taiwan. A missile attack could take out half of the world's chip supply. After Ukraine the US, EU and India, South Korea, Japan need to take this seriously. Action taken now will bring results over 3-5 years. The Free World depends on creation of new supply chains using manufacturing in the US, EU, India and Japan.
Linked Articles
Opinion | China Is Losing Its Bet on Chips
WSJ 06/20/2022
Opinion | Semiconductor Dependency Imperils American SecurityWSJ 06/20/2022
Inflation and eroding purchasing power in Europe in 2022
04/21/2022
Linked Articles
Germany set for bumper pension hike amid inflation surge | DW | 13.04.2022
DW.COM 04/13/2022
Rocketing Prices Test Europe’s Political Resolve in Confrontation With RussiaWSJ 04/12/2022
Miscalculations by Putin's Russia and Neglect by Merkel and Bush-Obama- WSJ's Analysis of Events Leading to Ukraine war
04/03/2022
The highly detailed WSJ reports on events going back 20 years throw light on the failure of Merkel in Germany and Bush-Obama in the US to grasp the situation of Russia under Putin's nationalism and the miscalculations made by president Putin about the changing situation in Ukraine that had created a national identity. While Putin looked to history something different had emerged on the ground for the people of Ukraine that both German and Russian leaders failed to grasp as they continued to pursue economic integration. Business in Europe and the US had no clue what was happening, and how the situation was unraveling till the end. It is also leading to the unexpected effect of accelerating weaning western nations from fossil fuels, a goal of Glasgow's COP26 Climate Change Summit, the only constructive effect of the war.
Linked Articles
Vladimir Putin’s 20-Year March to War in Ukraine—and How the West Mishandled It
WSJ 04/01/2022
Russian Strategy in Ukraine Shifts After Setbacks, and a Lengthy War LoomsWSJ 04/01/2022
De Klerk, Desmond Tutu, Mandela and the New South Africa
12/27/2021
South Africa's amazing transformation into a racially harmonious society, with people of black, white, Afrikaans, English Afrikaans, Indian, building a new South Africa owes a lot to the leadership, humility, and vision of De Klerk and Desmond Tutu, as well as Nelson Mandela. South Africa's experience offers a new sense of hope that no matter what the difficulties involved one can pull together people of different backgrounds and cultures into a united country. It is in keeping with the best ideals of Britain and of India's Mohandas Gandhi who started his work in Cape Town, South Africa.
Linked Articles
Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Who Helped End Apartheid, Dies
WSJ 12/26/2021
Legacy of FW de Klerk, South Africa's last leader under apartheid | DW | 11.11.2021DW.COM 11/11/2021
The origins of the coronavirus and the 2018 NIH lifting of a US ban on virus research that increases transmissibility
06/04/2021
Dr. Fauci, NIH, HHS, lifted the ban on research and manipulation of virus in lab settings in 2018 The role played by the Cambridge Group of scientists who opposed lifting the ban on gain of function research for surveillance purposes. The US public and the public in the world in India, Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America unaware of what was going on. The devastating effects of the coronavirus in 202 and 2021 and the lack of a vaccine in 2020, lack of a vaccine in sufficient quantities in 2021. The paltry benefits of surveillance compared to the great risks of something going wrong, as pointed out by the Cambridge Group. Why was it ignored in 2018. Who makes decisions for public health in the world. Can the US make decisions for India, the people in Africa, Latin America and Asia. Does even the US public know about it, much less the public in the world at large. What power is given by the US Constitution to US government agencies on matters of public health. How are a few individuals at HHS and NIH accountable to the public in the US and the world at large.
Linked Articles
Opinion | Anthony Fauci and the Wuhan Lab
WSJ 06/03/2021
Ban on gain-of-function studies endsThe Lancet Infectious Diseases 06/04/2021
Vaccine shortages in Europe and competing with Britain for scarce supplies
02/01/2021
Linked Articles
E.U. and U.K. Fighting Over Scarce Vaccines
NYTimes.com 01/27/2021
Michel Barnier tells EU to step back from Covid vaccine warThe Times 01/30/2021
"Pay their fair share of taxes" Biden asks of corporations showing 2017 predecessor tax cuts did not increase investment and added $100 billion yearly to the US Deficit
03/08/2024
By paying their fair share of taxes Biden says in State of Union speech to US Congress 2024 one can increase investment in education, affordable childcare and better living for seniors in their homes, and still cut the deficit by hundreds of billions of dollars. What is fair share? Certainly not zero percent that 55 of the largest corporations paid on $40 billion in profits in 2020, and corporate minimum tax was introduced at levels of 15% for which most ordinary Americans are not eligible for. And certainly not 8.2% that Biden said was being paid by 1000 billionaires in the US. Not a single penny more is being asked of hard working Americans earning less than $400,000 a year. Biden said he wanted to see the corporate minimum tax at 21% not 15%, and the top corporate tax rate set at 28% not the 21% that it was reduced to in 2017 from 35%. In short his predecessor turned to help companies and billionaires profit from the popular distress of the shipping of jobs overseas and the 2009 financial crisis caused by Bank executives without investing the nation's capital resources in manufacturing at home in scale to match and exceed China's. And at the same time neglecting to do anything about the concerns of the people for ease of living- affordable access to childcare, preschool education, education, health care to match Europe/China/India in quality and cost, and aging transportation infrastructure of airports, subways, roads and bridges. The savings when this is done properly go to cut the deficit by over 4 trillion dollars and keep America as the leader of all G-20 economies.
Linked Articles
Biden Draws Sharp Contrast With Trump in State of the Union
WSJ 03/07/2024
Biden Pushes More Corporate-Tax Hikes to Draw Contrast With TrumpWSJ 03/07/2024
Li Keqiang and the era of Openness in China 1977-2023
11/02/2023
LI Keqiang was able to pass entrance exams to Peking University in 1977 after entrance exams were reinstated following Mao's death. He led the modernization of China during the 2000-2022 period two decades of fast growth turning China into a middle income industrialized country after centuries of decline. During this period China urbanized at a rapid rate and Li's advanced studies focused on urbanization. It was also a period when China realized the damage done to the environment and quality of air, water, with haphazard growth, and shifted to climate change action through focus on solar energy and limiting use of coal.
Linked Articles
China Mourns Former Premier Whose Death Hovers Over Xi Jinping
WSJ 11/02/2023
Next Premier Came of Age in Era of OpennessWall Street Journal 11/16/2012
The collapse of American education and the slowest growth in America's history 2000-2020 as Biden tries to reverse this in 2024
05/19/2023
Krugman looks at the extraordinary effort put in by Robert Gordon of Northwestern University to look at the growth of America since 1850 over periods 1850-1870, 1870-1910, 1910-1950, 1950-2000 and 2000-2020 showing that the last 20 years have the lowest growth in American history. Gordon looks at the near collapse of American education, scores on NAEP of two thirds of 8th graders failing reading comprehension reflect this sad state of affairs that president Biden is trying to reverse in 2024. Other research shows a drop in potential GDP of 2 percentage points when education is failing as it has been for 2 decades. Other researchers have shown what is openly evident today that technology such as social media do more harm, that other internet use technology has not done much for education only established monopolies as with Google and Apple.
Linked Articles
Paul Krugman Reviews ‘The Rise and Fall of American Growth’ by Robert J. Gordon
New York Times 01/25/2016
'Secular Stagnation' May Be for RealWall Street Journal 08/27/2014
How the Russian invasion of a neighboring country has not worked in line with European history
04/07/2023
Scholz of Germany says Putin started this war for absurd reasons. NATO he says was never a threat to Russia. Russia invaded a neighboring country with the idea of conquering it. Scholz says Putin was taking a felt tip pen across the European landscape and drawing this is yours, this mine. And he says Germany would never accept that. Brendan Simms in his History of Europe- The struggle for Supremacy 1452 to the Present, is on German chancellor Scholz's reading list since 2021. It shows that for 500 years no dominant European power was able to do act with impunity without the rest of Europe joining together to prevent it. This war is not an exception. The European Union countries stuck together to make it possible for Ukraine to carry on even with generators to keep the lights on and supermarket shelves well stocked. In this sense the outcome of this war is already known. It has followed what Brendan Simms has pointed out already.
Linked Articles
Germany's Scholz says Putin started war for 'completely absurd' reasons | DW | 21.08.2022
DW.COM 08/23/2022
Thwarting Vladimir Putin: The Ukrainian Economy Just Keeps On Going - DER SPIEGELSPIEGEL ONLINE 04/07/2023
1041 elections in 2022 at American companies support unionized workplaces- protecting worker's rights during the pandemic
01/21/2023
The United Nations International Labor Organization calls for protecting workers rights and promoting decent work during a pandemic that devastated many workers. A new respect for unionized workplaces after decades of decline and respect for the dignity of work. Still the process of recovery has only started as only 10% of American workers are represented by unions, only 14 million workers.
Linked Articles
Trade Unions matter in a human-centred recovery from COVID-19
ILO 01/21/2023
Union Membership Rate Hits Record Low Despite Votes at Apple, Amazon, StarbucksWSJ 01/21/2023
Biden at Independence Hall Philadelphia in 2022 and Lincoln in 1861 on the way to the White House at the start of the Civil War- "Battle for the Soul of the Nation"
09/03/2022
At key points in the life of these United States of America- Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, TR and FDR, and now Biden, speak at Independence Hall in Philadelphia on the idea, that principle, in the Declaration for which they are willing to give their lives to defend. For the people of the world, the people of India, the rest of Asia, Africa, Latin America, Australia this has brought new meaning and hope since these words were written- "We believe that all men are created equal and they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, and among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." "It was that which gave promise that in due time the weight should be lifted from the shoulders of men, and they would all have an equal chance." (Lincoln)
Linked Articles
Biden delivers speech on "battle for the soul of the nation" in Philadelphia | full speech
YouTube 09/02/2022
Remarks by President Biden on the Continued Battle for the Soul of the Nation | The White HouseThe White House 12/24/2022
Years of hyper growth followed by slight or shrinking growth in China
07/31/2022
For years China pushed hyper growth without correctly understanding the sources of that hyper growth and its consequences in the long run. Communities in the US and the EU simply could not cope with the hyper shift of factories from local regions to China that created the hyper growth in China. Local governments in China and self interested investment banks in the US and Eu pushed for this growth and the central government failed to act with restraining action. The result is alienated public in the US and EU, intense trade and competitive frictions and permanent damage to friendly US China, US EU relations. The domestic side of this hyper growth was the overdependence on the property sector which was asked to carry a bigger burden for development leading to the crisis today with local governments strained for financing by $900 billion as reported in WSJ today July 31. 2022. This did not need to happen. China entered this experiment with capitalism without restraining action with very little knowledge of the market economy and how it operates correctly only with restraining and corrective action in the interests of the whole people of the country. Too much has gone wrong for peoples on either side, the unintended effects and consequences in the simple unbridled pursuit of self-interest alone.
Linked Articles
China’s Economy Tested by Strained City Finances
WSJ 07/31/2022
China’s Manufacturing Sector Unexpectedly Contracts Amid Weak Demand, Covid LockdownsWSJ 07/31/2022
On the occasion of Mr. Biden's launch of Indo-Pacific Economic Framework bringing together workers and families of America, Europe and India
06/01/2022
In 1931 Gandhi visited the Lancashire textile mill in Darwen owned by Quaker and Socialist Davies family. This BBC account of that visit shows the enthusiasm of workers in Lancashire for "Gandeye" and how Gandhi felt the workers treated him as one of their own. Only 14 years later the same workers and families voted in Labour and Clement Atlee who immediately started the negotiations with Gandhi for Hind Swaraj and the independence of India. It shows how Gandhi would look at the economic alliances and new supply chain president Biden announced and Mr. Scholz of Germany called for at the Hanover Trade Fair in 2022 - that the sound foundation for a new supply chain is the interests of American and European workers and families, as well as interests of workers and families in partner countries such as India in the Free World.
Linked Articles
When Gandhi met Darwen's mill workers
BBC News 06/01/2022
Gandhi Jayanti 2018 special: When Mahatma Gandhi was welcomed by textile mill workers of LancashireThe Indian Express 06/01/2022
A second Macron vs. Le Pen presidential debate in France in 2022
04/21/2022
Cost of living and Le Pen's ties to Russia emerge as key issues in the debate. Macron appears to be the more convincing in his grasp of facts and claity of thinking, with a Elabe snap poll showing 59% think Macron more convincing to 39% Le Pen. France's welfare state in a way that the US and Britain are less so, means that other solutions are needed for cost of living and the decaying small towns and rural areas. A next generation industrial revolution is needed to bring jobs home and closer to home to revive both France and Europe after decades of shifting jobs and industry to China. Needed only is the will and aspiration to do so.
Linked Articles
Macron and Le Pen clash on Russia in feisty debate ahead of presidential run-off
France 24 04/21/2022
France’s Macron and Le Pen Clash During Presidential DebateWSJ 04/20/2022
India's early heat wave in 2022 a sign of climate change
04/03/2022
Linked Articles
India sees warmest March in 122 years, lowest rainfall since 1908
The Hindu 04/02/2022
India: Frequent heat waves a reminder of climate change impacts | DW | 31.03.2022DW.COM 03/31/2022
The Hong Kong, Taiwan crises and American risks in existing supply chains and manufacturing arrangements
10/06/2021
The crises in Hong Kong and Taiwan lead to a reevaluation of existing supply chain and manufacturing arrangements by the Biden administration. The coronavirus pandemic with over 700,000 deaths in the US and a large number of deaths in Europe and India are leading to a new awareness of the importance of manufacturing at home and not depending on far flung supply chains. Public perceptions have changed yet American companies continue to operate as before without an awareness of the changes in public perceptions.
Linked Articles
U.S. Trade Policy Adapts to a China That Will Never Change
WSJ 10/06/2021
China Would Be Able to Launch Attack on Taiwan by 2025, Island’s Defense Minister WarnsWSJ 10/06/2021
"Feierabend"- disconnecting from work the German way, the need of the times during a year of remote work 2021
04/23/2021
"Feierabend" simply means disconnecting in German so that one has time to renew and revive oneself. At 4.00 pm or 5.00 pm one simply disconnects from work and gets on the bike for a ride or does something else. Can British and American cultures learn from their German or European counterparts? Ireland has passed a law calling for this disconnect requiring it because of the huge negative impact on mental health of remote work that has no structures. Microsoft has recognized this issue in 2020. More needs to be done by companies than to simply shift this burden,shift this task on someone else, or to workers who have no idea what working from home requires. Associations and other groups also need to get involved.
Linked Articles
Right to disconnect is vital for future health of home workers
04/23/2021
How 'Feierabend' helps Germans disconnect from the workdayBBC News 07/12/2022
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