Letter from the Editor

Dear Reader,

Lyrarc.com brings together in one place the best articles on the main ongoing topics of the week for the U.S. the World (Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe), Business, Technology, Health, Healthy Lifestyle,  from the most highly reputed sources, offering unusual depth and insights as the same topic is approached from different angles and perspectives.  A whole range of the best and most reputable sources- including BBC News, The Guardian, The Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, France 24, Deutsche Welle, Politico, NBC, The Economist, The Indian Express, Hindustan Times, South China Morning Post, and many others around the world.  Early Warning, Women, Renewal America, Renewal Europe, Health, and by Country, offer additional sections for browsing the best articles.

The coronavirus quarantine for China, South Korea, Taiwan, India, Italy, Spain, France, Britain, and the U.S.  is covered from different angles and perspectives showing divergent responses in each country, success rates, and the way it has affected life in each place from schools and hospitals to everyday life in cities. It shows how people are coping and the evolving impact on business and the economy in each place. Everything from how to cope, prevention, social distancing, stay at home, the effectiveness of contact tracing and quarantine, masks, to mental health, government actions for supporting incomes, and the country by country experience. The economies of all countries are reopening in phases, and the focus now shifts to bringing back jobs and cutting job loss. The U.S. April jobs report with 2.5 million jobs added, and the solidarity in the European Union with Germany under Merkel supporting 500 billion euros of support in the form of grants to small and medium business in the EU, offer new hope of a rapid economic recovery. For this to happen setup of offices and doing contact tracing and isolation of clusters in the U.S. and Britain which have fallen behind can take a lesson from the low tech successful effort for Germany contact tracing. Apps have failed here where simple low tech efforts working in Germany that can be started quickly with existing resources- a computer with a centralized national database, offices in each district, a phone and a desk, is all that is needed with the critical factor the person doing the calling having the skills to talk to people. 

Queen Elizabeth's inspiring message, the first since she was 14 years old in wartime 1940, was that we will meet again. That those who come after us will say that we of this generation were as strong as any, the attributes of  self-discipline, good-humored resolve, and fellow feeling characterize us. In her words- "The pride in who we are is not a part of our past, it defines our present and our future." In this context one can ask is national pride and endeavour not a good thing? Does it not bring out the best in us to make and brighten a world community?

The scientific work for treatments and vaccines are covered. The reopening of the economy of each country and the efforts to keep incomes flowing through lockdowns with short time work programs, paid leave, business loans for employee retention, unemployment insurance, direct payments,  and other measures show different solutions designed to meet the needs of individual countries.

The Saudi Russia oil price war brings oil price relief to oil importing nations in Asia, Africa and Latin America, particularly nations that are industrializing rapidly such as India. Yet the steep drop in the price of oil - $22 on April 12- poses risks for the economies of oil producing countries and risks for the 11 million workers in the U.S. oil industry. U.S. president Trump personally intervened to get OPEC+ and the U.S. cut production by 9.7 million barrels a day. This will increase to about 20 million barrels, says president Trump, to offset decline in demand of 30 million barrels a day.   

The U.S. China trade war  is halted in December with a new round of tariffs on laptops and mobile phones cancelled by president Trump. Other import duties on a portion of imports from China were kept in force by president Trump as the U.S. continued to monitor the declining trade deficit with China. For the first time in decades a key Trump goal of a major turnaround in the U.S. trade deficit with China is being achieved. Mr. Trump sees this as critical for U.S. jobs and U.S. manufacturing competitiveness. China is essentially decoupling from its tight export relationship with the U.S. yet retaining its goal of technological competition and its model of state subsidized enterprises. In Britain Boris Johnson's big win in with 364 seats in parliament leads to a People's Government and a pledge to unite and level, to bring opportunity to every corner of the country. New investments are planned in the NHS, schools, public services and infrastructure in Britain as a way for Britain's renewal. In America Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders offered an alternative way to tackle health, public services and middle class decline.This is part of the platform of the Democratic Party under the candidacy of Joe Biden. The changes in Argentina, Brazil and Chile as Latin America struggles with problems of debt, inflation, public spending and lack of public pension systems are covered. Providing clarity on controversial issues such as China's Belt and Road Initiative and infrastructure development in Africa, the issues facing Boeing with the 737 crashes, China's Huawei in new 5G tech networks, medical advances in Africa. Other interesting and useful articles on health, lifestyle, science, technology, work, women, and sports.

LyrArc's vision is to help build educated, informed, and dynamic participatory mindsets that impact everyday living and the future. By bringing the best articles that affect your everyday life and future to you each week from high quality sites. Before they are lost in some archive. Adding the gist and analysis of important articles. All in One Place with One Click to access, easy one stop access. Here you find not just the Gist and Analysis- you also have the Context of the articles which you can see in Groups and Links, and through Search of Keywords by bringing up the related articles over the last 5-10-15 years. Be the best informed you can be in a short time, by going quickly from Best article to Gist  to Analysis to Context to Insights in a couple of minutes, Gain clarity on controversial issues with new insights to build your educated and informed mindset to impact daily living and a better future, a need more than ever today with the pandemic.

Distortions in the investment allocations that happened during the last decade with infrastructure, public health services starved of resources, worker incomes fraught with difficulties, global supply chains neglecting the national interests of the U.S. and other countries, waste of investments in novel ideas, are exposed during this pandemic. The result being a loss of hope in a brighter future for people in many countries. Accompanying this was the growth of China and the dilution of national pride, a decline of a sense of nationhood, of cultural literacy, in America, Britain, Europe, and Allied countries of Asia, Latin America and Africa. Walt Whitman extolling the virtues of America, Carl Sandburg extolling the virtues of the American worker and a sense of "The People, Yes"  virtually disappeared, turned over to dull drab language of economists and politicians, making us derelict of responsibilities to country.

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We hope you will return to Lyrarc.com every week to build an educated and informed mindset that can affect and shape lives for a brighter future.