World News Insights
1-3 Minute Gist
Search, personalize, or simply browse. Follow the world around you from gist and context to insights.
Who we are | Our Credo | Ways of using Lyrarc | FAQ | Send Feedback | First Letter From the Editor
Sign up. It's free and easy to use
Create an account
to personalize your feed of articles and topics.
Browse Articles or use Lyrarc's US patented "Groups" and "Links" for new insights. A Lyrarc Group of Articles on a topic gives insights into particular angles shown in the Group Title. A Lyrarc Link shows more specific insights for 2 articles.
All Topics Links
RFK Jr. as Secretary HHS and the fight against chemicals dyes in America's food supply and for a Healthy America
11/27/2024
RFK Jr. passionate fight for removing chemicals from agriculture and dyes from America's food supply has strong support from the American public to cut obesity levels and ensure health.
Linked Articles
How Froot Loops Landed at the Center of U.S. Food Politics
WSJ 11/21/2024
RFK Jr.’s Ideas on Big Pharma and Food Align With Some of Trump’s Biggest CriticsNYTimes.com 11/27/2024
"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
Reagan, Greenspan and America's lost years 1980-2009
11/17/2023
It was in this period that many of the problems that we face today were created through policies of low interest rates, deregulation and financial market speculation leading to the financial crisis of 2008. At the beginning of the Reagan administration in 1980 China was still a country of bicycles and largely rural, by 2009 it had transformed itself into the largest manufacturing nation in the world and continued to 2023. In the US financial deregulation and lack of health care for all allowed financial interests to become the dominant force in the economy in a speculative way , and defunded manufacturing, infrastructure and public services. The work of FDR, Truman Eisenhower and Kennedy unraveled, Clinton, Obama and Trump continued that decline.
Linked Articles
Puerto Rico Was Supposed to Be John Paulson’s Paradise. Then Came the Lawsuits.
WSJ 11/16/2023
Trader Made Billions on SubprimeWSJ Jan 15 2008 01/15/2008
Severe floods in Germany 2021 Italy 2023 and effects of climate change in Europe
05/21/2023
The floods in Germany and Europe, the severe drought in parts of Spain and Italy are seen as signs climate change is here. At one southernmost point in Sicily the temperature recently reached about 49 degrees centigrade the highest ever in Europe.
Linked Articles
Italy’s disasters suggest the climate crisis is at the gates of Europe
The Guardian 05/18/2023
Scores dead, hundreds missing after massive floods in Germany, BelgiumFrance 24 07/16/2021
The trajectory in 2023 and beyond for Russia and Ukraine that was not evident in the first year of the war
04/07/2023
Russia faces a difficult situation ahead for its economy. Ukraine has survived the most difficult period with EU assistance and American support.
Linked Articles
Russia’s Economy Is Starting to Come Undone
WSJ 03/28/2023
Thwarting Vladimir Putin: The Ukrainian Economy Just Keeps On Going - DER SPIEGELSPIEGEL ONLINE 04/07/2023
The indictment of Donald Trump for hush payments to a porn actress
04/01/2023
The indictment by a grand jury of Donald Trump in March 2023, with other investigations underway in other places.
Linked Articles
How Alvin Bragg Resurrected the Case Against Donald Trump
NYTimes.com 04/01/2023
Donald Trump Indictment Sets Historical MarkerWSJ 03/31/2023
Deforestation- is the pledge at COP26 Glasgow a bit too late for Indonesian rainforest?
11/02/2021
This is one of the amazing links in Lyrarc because it shows WSJ article from 2007 noted by Lyrarc that year, showing UN maps on deforestation in Borneo island in Indonesia for 2000, 2005, 2020. By 2020 most of the rainforest is shown as gone. Deforestation and climate ecologist Clare Rewcastle Brown, sister in law of former British prime minister Gordon Brown, from Britain, recalls colonial days in Sarawak, north Borneo Island, where her father was a police officer. And how much of the canopy of forest from that part of Malaysia was disappearing. She continued her protests from outside Malaysia in 2013 as reported by NYT and noted in Lyrarc that year. This is an amazing story of how deforestation of some of the last rain forests in the world took place at a time when awareness of climate change was sorely lacking in 2007-2013, and how by 2020 the rain forests in Borneo may have already disappeared from planet earth to combat climate change. One woman's fight and a fight that is still on after world leaders took a pledge to end deforestation on the planet by 2030 including Russia, Brazil, Indonesia, China, and the US, and a UN report that had the foresight to show a rainforest disappearing in 2007 in Tom Wright's WSJ report from Surabaya, Indonesia the same year.
Linked Articles
WSJ 07/03/2007
Barred From Malaysia, but Still Connecting With Critical JabsNew York Times 08/16/2013
How the WHO failed as early warning system in the coronavirus after being a model during the leadership of Dr. Brundtland in 2003 SARS
05/21/2020
The contrast could not be greater between the World Health Organization today and the WHO under Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, a three time prime minister of Norway between 1981 and 1996 with great experience and a record of handling difficult issues of climate change and sustainable development.
Linked Articles
A Failed Deception: The Early Days of the Coronavirus Outbreak in Wuhan - DER SPIEGEL
SPIEGEL ONLINE 05/20/2020
‘The only way forward for WHO is...’: Full text of Trump’s letter to WHO chiefHindustan Times 05/19/2020
Elizabeth Warren and Medicare for All- The U.S. catching up with Europe and Canada
11/29/2019
Linked Articles
Elizabeth Warren’s Medicare for All Would Leave Mark on U.S. Economy
WSJ 11/01/2019
Here’s How Elizabeth Warren Could Pay for Medicare for AllWSJ 10/28/2019
The failure of the U.S., UK, Canada and Australia to take in refugees from war torn Syria and other parts of North Africa- 1500 for U.S. , 166 for UK, 800,000 for Germany
09/04/2015
Ignatieff of the Kennedy School and Kristof of the NYT say the inaction of Obama, Cameron, Harper and Abbott, is deplorable considering the gap between the 800,000 Merkel and the German people have openly welcomed and the 1500 the U.S. has accepted, and 166 the UK has taken in. There is hardly any mention of the issue by the leaders of the U.S. and Canada in September 2015, even as the global media has covered this daily. In Hungary the Orban government faile to remember the Hungarian uprising of 1956 and the violent crackdown by the Soviets, leading to a wave of refugees reaching other parts of Europe and the U.S.
Linked Articles
New York Times 09/04/2015
The Refugee Crisis Isn’t a ‘European Problem’New York Times 09/05/2015
2016 U.S. presidential candidate Carly Fiorina's record at Lucent Technologies and HP and the Trump comment of it being "not a good picture"
08/17/2015
Linked Articles
The Influence of Fiorina at Lucent, in Hindsight
New York Times 09/21/2015
Carly Fiorina’s Business Record: Not So SterlingNew York Times 08/17/2015
The Obama administration's efforts on the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), after losing allies in Asia and Europe to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
04/17/2015
The Obama administration pushes a free trade pact that includes the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam. This free trade pact is now seen as a U.S. effort to counter China in the Asian region. India, UK, Germany, France, Italy and other European countries decided to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank sponsored by China, on its merits, after the U.S. refused to join.
Linked Articles
TPP: Momentum on Trade Deal Bolsters U.S., Japan Efforts to Counter China
Wall Street Journal 04/17/2015
Lawmakers Introduce ‘Fast Track’ Trade Bill, Triggering Democratic DiscordWall Street Journal 04/17/2015
Resilence of the Russian economy in 2015-2016 compared to other emerging markets- (1) the decision to let the ruble float in Nov. 2014
02/09/2015
Linked Articles
Russia and Turkey Show Oil Prices Aren’t Everything
Wall Street Journal 01/25/2016
Ruble’s Fall Tests Governor of Russia’s Central BankNew York Times 02/09/2015
Mitch McConnell on the Senate floor "dithering and hesitation have compounded the challenges we face" and the passage of $61 billion aid to Ukraine April 2024
04/26/2024
Mitch McConnell persuades 31 Republican Senators a majority of his caucus to support Ukraine's defense by joining Democrats, working "shoulder to shoulder" with Democrat Pat Schumer to get passage of Ukraine aid legislation in the vote 79 to 18 in April 2024. It comes at a critical moment of the defense of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, just 25 miles from the border as shown by NYT in April 24 coverage. It is part of the larger effort to secure a peace in Ukraine with the help of India and China as the war drags on for another year.
Linked Articles
Bucking G.O.P. Isolationists, McConnell Was Linchpin in Winning Ukraine Aid
NYTimes.com 04/24/2024
Senate Approves Aid for Ukraine and Israel, Sending It to Biden’s DeskNYTimes.com 04/24/2024
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
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
Mr. Trump's loosening of banking regulation and regulatory culture and the crisis it caused.
04/29/2023
The laws passed in the US Congress to limit the regulation of US banks imposed after the 2009 crisis led to leaving a gap for midsized banks where there would be less regulation. The appointment of Randy Quarles to Fed Vice Chair Supervision by Mr. Trump in 2019 led to the new culture which took the attitude the less regulation the better 14 years after the 2009 banking crisis, and the collapse of several banks in 2023, endangering the US banking system when the US needs a huge capacity to invest in the nation.
Linked Articles
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
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
Floods and climate change in Bangladesh, China, India, and Indonesia in 2020
09/22/2020
Linked Articles
A third of my country was just underwater. The world must act on climate | Sheikh Hasina
The Guardian 09/22/2020
Floods Inundate Sinking Jakarta, Leaving 16 Dead After Torrential RainWSJ 01/02/2020
The success tackling coronavirus in the Indian state of Kerala
05/18/2020
Past experience with pandemics- most recently the Nipah virus in 2018 -helped the Indian state of Kerala set a unique state of preparedness of both the health ministry and the people in control of spread of coronavirus. Hardship is also a great teacher of solidarity- only recently in 2019 Kerala had the worst floods in a century from a cyclone that hit the coast of Kerala in southwestern India. It did not take long for people to take preventive action starting at the end of January when the first cases were being seen in Wuhan, China, led by Health minister Ms. Shailaja. She personally visited a region quarantined in the state to guide the effort.
Linked Articles
The coronavirus slayer! How Kerala's rock star health minister helped save it from Covid-19
The Guardian 05/14/2020
Coronavirus lockdown: Is India flattening the COVID-19 curve? | DW | 24.04.2020DW.COM 04/24/2020
Donald Trump's proposal for 45% tariff on China's exports to the U.S.- how a policy of bringing jobs home could lead to the loss of 1 million U.S. jobs
03/08/2016
By damaging the international trading system including with allies such a Canada, Britain, France and Germany, the result of a downward spiral through higher tariffs in other countries, could end up costing the U.S. 1 million jobs. Under such a system the U.S. would lose many of the advantages of its booming tech sector, its tech driven global advantages in many industries, without signifcant gains in low cost imports such as clothing which would simply migrate to other countries such as India. The problem of worker wage stagnation in the U.S., and loss of jobs in certain sectors, is very real, but this is the wrong way to tackle the problem. China is already moving towards a consumer driven economy. Economists show that trade with Mexico would be seriously hurt both ways, creating more pressure of migrants at the border under such proposals as a 45% tariff and its indirect effect on Mexico, when the actual fact is that net migration from Mexico is the lowest it has ben in decades. Politics can do strange things as when two senators Smoot and Hawley from agricultural states Utah and Oregon, at the head of important committees in the U.S. Congress pushed and passed legislation for a 60% tariff in 1930 for the industrial sector they had no idea about. When Smoot and Hawley lost reelection in 1932 they left behind a lot of damage, especially for the farmers and workers they thought they were fighting for.
Linked Articles
How Trump’s Hard Line on Trade Could Backfire
Wall Street Journal 03/25/2016
Can Trump Start a Trade War?Wall Street Journal 03/08/2016
How the Trans Pacific Partnership Trade Partnership Agreement (TPP) fell apart- (5) fears of Canada and Mexico for jobs losses in their auto industry
08/29/2015
Linked Articles
Auto-Parts Dispute Taps the Brakes on Pacific Trade Deal
Wall Street Journal 09/04/2015
The new rustbeltEconomist 08/29/2015
The devaluation of the yuan in August 2015 as China responds to lower exports, the appreciation of the euro and the yen, and the U.S. Federal Reserve's plan to raise rates
08/12/2015
China's currency appreciated 9.2% against the euro and 57% against the Japanese yen with its soft peg to the dollar in 2013-2015. The 8.3% decline in China's exports for July 2015 over the prior year led to the policy action to devalue the Chinese currency, the yuan on August 11, 2015.
Linked Articles
China is trying to save its economy with a cheaper currency - The Washington Post
Washington Post 08/12/2015
China’s Devaluation GambitWall Street Journal 08/12/2015
The response of financial markets to Russian intervention in Ukraine 2014-2015, as arms aid to Ukraine is seen as not a good option
02/11/2015
Linked Articles
New York Times 02/11/2015
Stopping Putin Without Firing a ShotWall Street Journal 02/11/2015
We took a different way to help millions around the world build educated informed mindsets that affects and shapes their lives. For a future that is open, global and digital, with everyone having access to high quality information. We believe in the renewal of America, renewal of Europe, the renewal of India, the rest of Asia, Latin America and Africa. The renewal of our supply chains, health, education, infrastructure, as we rebuild our countries after the pandemic. Literacy and knowledge we believe cannot thrive and grow in a world of web bots, web crawlers, or AI. This requires human curiosity, human learning, and human imagination. We take as inspiration the saying- “One has to be free, and as broad as sky. One has to have a mind that is crystal clear, only then can truth shine in it.” Every contribution whether big or small is precious- in this crisis and ahead.
Support Lyrarc from as small as $1
Terms and Conditions | Copyright Policy | Privacy Policy | Contact Us