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How Kamala Harris cut migration from Guatemala and other Central American states
07/31/2024
Katie Tobin deputy assistant to the president shows how Kamal Harris cut migration from Guatemala with her action to stabilize Guatemala after the destabilizing of the region by Reagan and Bush through wars started in the region. The achievements to get Guatemalans and Central Americans to stay home compares favorably with the wars and weapons sent to the region under Reagan-Bush that led to gangs taking over San Salvador and young people leaving. Consider $300 million in humanitarian assistance during COVID years, $5 billion in foreign investment lined up to create 250,000 jobs, pulling US AID and IDFC agencies for loans, and arranging for anti-corruption candidate to take over government in Guatemala following elections. It is an exceptional record achieved in a few months trying to undo decades of destabilizing Central America by Republicans Reagan and Bush. Reagan-Bush also destabilized the US with wars in the Persian Gulf, Iraq and Afghanistan, because infrastructure in US was neglected, and manufacturing jobs were shipped overseas under failures of Reagan-Friedman economic theories destroying communities across the US over three decades.
Linked Articles
Opinion | Kamala Harris Made Progress on the Border Crisis
WSJ 07/29/2024
As Republicans Attack Harris on Immigration, Here’s What Her Record ShowsNYTimes.com 07/31/2024
America has forgotten it is American workers who built America
09/28/2023
American workers built the middle class and American workers built America with its factories. Biden joins a picket line at at GM plant in Beleville, Michigan, saying this with a bull horn. Shawn Fain directly elected by autoworkers says workers not billionaires run America. This happens as the UAW union rejects tiered wages. Entry level tier wages of younger workers at $17 an hour or $34,000 a year is below the Federal Poverty Level of $35000-$40000 for families with children. It would be seen as outrageous by both Lincoln and TR-FDR in a country where the Constitution starts with the line "We the People. Workers are forgotten in a world that is only waking up to this in 2024.
Linked Articles
Biden Joins Autoworkers on Picket Line in Michigan
NYTimes.com 09/27/2023
Trump’s pitch for autoworker votes in car heartland is short on autoworkersThe Guardian 09/28/2023
What Bill Gates and France had in common in the fight for health preparedness
05/11/2020
France had learned lessons from SARS epidemic and prepared for the H1N1 epidemic at the time that Bill Gates of Microsoft was pushing for greater awareness of public health priorities. Today Gates says this was not enough, that he did not do enough and feels terrible about it. The irresponsible banking practices that caused the financial crises first in the global financial crisis of 2009 and then in the eurozone financial crisis that followed by 2011 led to the ditching of the pandemic preparedness effort in France and Britain. In all of the western world including the U.S. austerity practices were the response without addressing the root causes of financial crises. Investments in public services and infrastructure were neglected leading to a level of unpreparedness that is shocking. Countries in lesser developed countries with more consciousness of the importance of public services and care of the vast majority of people were better protected in the crisis as a result than the more developed countries.
Linked Articles
WSJ 05/11/2020
Pandemic disarmament: Why France was ready for Covid-19 a decade too soonFrance 24 05/17/2020
Senators Moran and Collins from Kansas and Maine who oppose the Republican healthcare bill and the bill's failure in the Senate in 2017
07/18/2017
Linked Articles
Why the Senate health care bill is in trouble, in 2 quotes
CNN 07/05/2017
Unlikely Holdout Underscores Challenge for Senate Health BillThe New York Times 07/06/2017
The miscalculations and missteps of Russian president Putin in 2014 leading to a major crisis for the Russian economy in 2015
12/18/2014
A major miscalculation was totally misjudging Merkel and post-war German public opinion about policies that remind people about the period between the two World Wars- this is anathema to Germans who see the European Union as a way to build a new and different Europe. The other miscalculation was on how a foreign adventurous policy in Syria would affect Sunni world opinion, in particular Saudi Arabia. Just as Brezhnev took Russia into Afghanistan where Russia had no vital interest leading to eventual Soviet collapse, Putin risked alienating a key member in OPEC pricing moves and hurting Russia's economic interest. By not listening to Kudrin, the head of Sberbank, and other economic advisers from the first and second terms of the Putin-Medvedev administrations, Putin opened the door to two years of serious missteps, risking the very real accomplishments of the first and second term of creating a stable growing Russian economy with close economic ties to Europe. The only positive outcome of the crisis and low oil prices would be making the shift away from oil dependence, which was talked about but never seriously attempted in the Putin administrations. For this to happen major new investments would have to be made and technology links to the outside strengthened, both hammered by the missteps in 2013-2014. The irony of all this is that Putin gained the support of rural Russians in the countryside in the 2012 presidential elections by promising no return to the economic crisis conditions following earlier ruble collapses. Now by ignoring Kudrin and other wiser counsel from the first and second administrations he does just that.
Linked Articles
Putin’s Year of Defiance and Miscalculation
Wall Street Journal 12/18/2014
Russian President Vladimir Putin Seeks to Reassure on EconomyWall Street Journal 12/18/2014
China, the U.S. and Japan- the task of reestablishing peaceful cooperation in the Pacific region after the missteps of 2011-2013
07/09/2014
Meetings for the sixth round of the Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Bieijing between the U.S. and China, and Japanese prime minister's address to the Australian parliament in Canberra, at about the same time in July 2014, showing how the path of peaceful cooperation will have to be actively pursued to remain a reality. Underpinning the hopes of China, Japan and neighboring countries in Asia is the U.S. will and purpose for maininting the post war peace and stability for the benefit of all, that at times has been missing in the words and actions of the Obama administration. Lack of peace in the region would seriously affect China's effort to bring better incomes to the large majority of people still in the countryside and leave China stuck in middle income status of countries like Mexico, damage the prospects of improving incomes of billions of people in India, other parts of Asia and Latin America. In this sense the Japanese people have shown the wisdom of keeping the conditions of peace that have prevailed for the post war period, and the U.S. with undiminished will and purpose in its post war role can affirm the hopes of the people of the region, including the hope of people in China, India, Japan, S. Korea, and Latin America.
Linked Articles
U.S., China try to emphasize potential for cooperation - The Washington Post
Washington Post 07/09/2014
Abe's Constitutional Reform Push SlowsWall Street Journal 07/09/2014
The events in Lviv and in the Square in Kiev Feb-20-21, 2014, that led to the collapse of the Yakunovych government in Ukraine
02/22/2014
A parallel diplomatic effort that may have been driven by the events in Lviv and in the Square and underestimated the depth of feeling in Ukraine and the organization of the protest movement.
Linked Articles
As His Fortunes Fell in Ukraine, a President Clung to Illusions
New York Times 02/23/2014
European Ministers Brokered Ukraine Political CompromiseWall Street Journal 02/22/2014
Russia's central banker Elvira Nabiullina, the ruble and central bank policies
03/12/2013
A central banker, former economy minister, who led Russia's changes for entry into the World Trade Organization, and policies to stabilize the ruble and Russia's economy during the emerging markets crisis of 2014.
Linked Articles
Putin Taps Pro-Market Economist as Banker
Wall Street Journal 03/12/2013
Russia Prepared to Let Ruble SlideWall Street Journal 01/30/2014
U.S. Fed chairman Bernanke's activist interest rate policies to tackle high unemployment and central bankers from MIT
12/12/2012
A pragmatic activist focus in economic thinking shaped at the MIT economics department in Cambridge, Masachusetts. The ECB's Mario Draghi, Bank of England's Mervyn King, and Bernanke shaped their thinking at MIT. Draghi and Bernanke had the same PhD. advisor- Stanley Fischer. Factors calling for a pragmatic approach include the lack of political agreement on th deficit, the housing and foreclosure crisis effects, higher inequality and unemployment effects on the middle class, the effects of the globalized economy on working class manufacturing jobs, people dropping out of the labor foce, and lower inflation, which called for a larger focus on unemployment. Bernanke emphasized the "enormous waste in human potential and productive resources of the economy" throughout 2009-2012. Draghi emphasized the abnormal nature of excessive borrowing interest rates for Italy and Spain during the ECB's bond buying efforts in 2011-2012. Both efforts had a stabilizing effect on the economies of the U.S. and Europe during a period of political discord about future policy.
Linked Articles
Wall Street Journal 12/13/2012
MIT Forged Activist Views of Central Bank Role and Cinched Central Bankers' TiesWall Street Journal 12/12/2012
Russian president Putin and BP's 20% stake in Rosneft
10/18/2012
Putin sees the larger British ownership stake in Rosneft a offering more stability to the company. This also provides Russia with a reliable partner on other projects and access to new technology. Putin defended the deal for Rosneft to acquire TNK-BP because of the endless conflicts between the partners, which he says he warned against at the outset. He pointed to the 50-50 ownership arrangement in TNK-BP as inherently unstable leaving no one in control.
Linked Articles
Moscow Had 'Mixed Feelings' on TNK-BP Deal, Putin Says
Wall Street Journal 10/25/2012
BP Nears Deal to Sell TNK-BP StakeWall Street Journal 10/18/2012
The $436 million payment by Greece to holdout bondholder Dart Management and the $1.5 billion demanded by holdout bondholder Elliott Management leading to Argentine default in 2014
05/15/2012
Greece made the payment to Dart Management at a time of 20% unemployment and daily protests on Athens streets, a month before elections in June 2012. Greece only did this as a last resort for release of EU funds that were being held up to make pament of interest on debt. This exacerabated discontent inside Greece as pensions were being cut and layoffs taking place, including increase in electricity bills. The Syriza party made gains in that election and the two main parties lost ground to other parties, including a violent anti-immigrant party. Argentina's Christina Kirchner faces a difficult time with the unions and centrist parties in Buenos Aires province, with a shortage of cash and sovereign wealth fund down to $29 billion in May 2014. Stevenson points out the payment to Elliott Management could lead to a situation where Argentina owed $15-$27 billion to all holdout and exchange investors in its bonds.
Linked Articles
Argentina Finds Relentless Foe in Paul Singer's Hedge Fund
New York Times 07/30/2014
Bet on Greek Bonds Paid Off for a Vulture FundNew York Times 05/15/2012
Two different pictures of the American consumer- real spending up 2.3% in the 1st quarter 2012 and yet a thin cushion of reserves say researchers
03/29/2012
Lower utility bills from lower natural gas prices and the offset from higher fuel efficiency of newer automobiles help push consumer spending slightly higher in the face of gasoline at average $3.92 per gallon in April 2012. Yet the cushion for American consumers remains weak say researchers at Stanford and the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Linked Articles
Wall Street Journal 04/16/2012
How to Build Buzz for Bud: More Alcohol, Lime-a-RitaWall Street Journal 03/29/2012
Greece and EU in 2015- (4) How are the structural issues such as tax evasion in Greece being tackled, after Monti's effort to tackle this in Italy in 2012?
02/18/2012
Surprisingly the Syriza government in 6 months in office did not come up with a plan to implement for tax evasion. This was a major issue for the IMF and in Greece's interest, even though it was going contrary to long standing practice in Greece as it was in Italy. Estimates of lost revenue are about $11 billion each year for tax evasion. By comparison the IMF payment due was less than $2 billion on June 30, 2015. Sustainable long term finances make this a major issue in Greece's own interest. Greece has an aging population and the number of retirees are growing in relation to young working people making this an important issue for stable finances under any administration, and regardless of the euro.
Linked Articles
How Greek tax evasion sunk the global economy
Washington Post 07/10/2012
A Hollow Target for Greek DebtWall Street Journal 02/18/2012
Motherhood penalty putting hundreds of thousands of mothers out of work- how childcare is failing America's and Britain's children
11/07/2023
President Biden has asked Congress for $18 billion to stabilize the childcare system in the US- without it more childcare places are closing and women are put out of work in a form of motherhood penalty. The Republican controlled Congress is not responding. This is the kind of infrastructure for children that is crucial for America and America's children, for the beginning years of education that determine its future and for the health wellbeing of mothers.
Linked Articles
Opinion | What happened to this Wisconsin day care should concern us all
Washington Post 11/07/2023
Motherhood penalty ‘has driven 250,000 women out of jobs’The Guardian 11/05/2023
Virat Kohli as bold hitter and Hardik Pandya as cleanest striker of the ball- India rival Australia in Test cricket
12/11/2020
Linked Articles
Hindustan Times 12/11/2020
‘He embodies the new India’: Greg Chappell names most important player ‘in the context of world cricket’Hindustan Times 12/11/2020
Stable oil prices and low volatility in 2018- the result of U.S. shale oil supply stream and OPEC/Russia cuts
06/01/2018
This low volatility in oil prices is good for both producers and consumers, and shale oil from U.S. is a big part of this.
Linked Articles
How OPEC and Shale Have Squeezed Out Volatility in the Oil Market
WSJ 06/01/2018
The New Tech That Terrifies OPECWSJ 06/01/2018
Republican House health care bill in 2017 and shift in priorities- $337 billion in savings, expected lower premiums, but leaving 14 million more uninsured in 2018
03/13/2017
A shift in priorities from the poor to the middle class- targeting lower premiums for people who have seen their premiums increase sharply, reducing the overall cost with savings of $337 billion, yet leaving 14 million more people uninsured.
Linked Articles
CBO Sees 24 Million More Uninsured, $337 Billion Deficit Cut in Coming Decade With GOP Health Plan
WSJ 03/13/2017
US health bill 'to leave 14m more uninsured' - BBC NewsBBC News 03/13/2017
Hillary Clinton's uphill battle for the 2016 presidential election
09/28/2014
For the most part Hillary Clinton's public life has been overshadowed by the presidency of her husband Bill Clinton, and by the presidency of Barack Obama. How she defines herself to ordinary voters facing the economic issues at home, and worried about U.S. weakness overseas, will determine to a large extent how she does in the 2016 presidential election.
Linked Articles
A Record of Resilience at Vanguard of American Presidential Politics
New York Times 09/28/2014
Hillary Clinton and Democrats Aim to Buck HistoryWall Street Journal 04/13/2015
Christine Lagarde and John Lipsky on the need to move forward with the IMF reforms giving greater representation to emerging market countries in G-20
03/25/2014
Lagarde and Lipsky point out that this does not change the U.S. voting rights of 16%. They emphasize the stabilizing role the IMF has played for the global economy in crises and the more open thinking at the IMF on economic programs.
Linked Articles
The U.S. Should Ratify Its Agreement to IMF Reform
Wall Street Journal 04/02/2014
Congress Can Help the U.S. By Reforming The IMFWall Street Journal 03/25/2014
Bill Keller of the NYT and Evan Williams of Twitter on how the flood of internet information is making people uncertain what information to trust
11/03/2013
Linked Articles
A Founder of Twitter Goes Long
New York Times 11/09/2013
Itâs the Golden Age of NewsNew York Times 11/03/2013
CBO projections in Jan 2014 show the U.S. debt stabilizing at 74% of GDP in 2014 and deficits below 3% for 2014-2017
12/16/2012
Higher economic growth of about 3% for 2014-2017 and the phasing out of spending to counter the effects of the severe recession of 2008-2010, have helped the U.S. stabilize debt levels and reduce deficits. After 2018 the long range projections show debt to GDP climbing to reach 79% in 2024.
Linked Articles
CBO | The Budget and Economic Outlook: 2014 to 2024
Unknown 02/05/2014
That Terrible TrillionNew York Times 12/16/2012
German chancellor Merkel and the EU plan for aid to Spain's banks in Oct. 2012
10/18/2012
Merkel turns down an effort pushed by France and Spain at the Oct. 2012 EU leaders meeting for direct aid to Spanish banks. Instead money has to go from the European Stability Mechanism fund to Spain after a request by Spain for aid. The aid request by Spain would be met under program of conditionality set by the IMF, EU and ECB. Spain is delaying a request for aid as borrowing rates on Spanish bonds declined to about 5% by late October 2012. The Rajoy government in Spain faces regional spending problems and separatis sentiment in addition to high unemployment and a worsening situation with its banks. Merkel faces elections for chancellor in Germany in Sept. 2013 and says more time is needed to setup the eurozone banking supervisory authority- to be set up in the course of 2013 with the legal setup completed by Jan 2013 as a concession to France. This would push banking supervision and financial architecture till after the election.
Linked Articles
German Refusal on Bank Aid Mars European Summit
New York Times 10/19/2012
Europe Seeks a Spain StrategyWall Street Journal 10/18/2012
Bob Woodward and Bill Keller on U.S. president Obama's failure in economic decisionmaking and reaching an agreement on the deficit
09/07/2012
Linked Articles
New York Times 03/03/2013
Notable & QuotableWall Street Journal 09/07/2012
India's import bill for energy supplies and its problem with a rising current account deficit
04/11/2012
A sense that India has not managed globalization as well as it should have, is the view expressed by India's central bank governor, Devi Subbarao, at a IMF discussion with Charlie Rose and central bank governors from Mexico and Sweden, Lagarde and and Christina Romer on April 20, 2012 at IMF headquarters. One facet of this is the rising current account deficit, declining foreign investment, and shortages of coal and other energy supplies.
Linked Articles
Wall Street Journal 04/26/2012
India Grapples With Soaring Energy CostsWall Street Journal 04/11/2012
Wage hikes and excess demand for labor in China in 2012-2013 reduce the need for Stimulus
03/14/2012
The need for stimulus to keep jobs for migrant workers and maintain social stability does not exist in 2012 the way it appeared in 2008, when about 20% of migrant workers lost their jobs and wages for migrant workers fell by 10%, according to estimates by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Stanford University. In 2012 there is excess demand for labor and reports show the efforts to reduce the 60 hour work week in some factories is running into problems with a shortage of labor. This means less need for stimulus that would aggravate problems in the housing bubble and inflation.
Linked Articles
China's Workers in No Need of Stimulation
Wall Street Journal 06/04/2012
China's Wage Hikes Ripple Across AsiaWall Street Journal 03/14/2012
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