China, Uncategorized

Shenzhen–Where China’s Economic Miracle Began

Shenzhen, 2019 In 1980 Shenzhen was an unimportant fishing village adjacent to Hong Kong’s new territories. Its population was 30,000.  Today Shenzhen on a per capita basis is China’s richest city. Its population is 13 million, having become the world’s fastest growing city ever. Shenzhen is a technology center–headquarters for Huawei and Tencent. It has the world’s 4th biggest container port and China’s 5th busiest airport.   During … Continue reading Shenzhen–Where China’s Economic Miracle Began

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American History, Uncategorized

Dangerous Life of Michigan Lumberjacks

MESICK, MI: In the 1880s Michigan was America’s biggest producer of lumber.  Magnificent stands of hard wood and white pine had been purchased on the cheap by timber barons who made great fortunes clear cutting Michigan forests. By 1930 it was gone.  But the hard-living men who sweated sawing and hauling giant trees became the stuff of legend like cowboys in the American west.   Lumberjacks (they called … Continue reading Dangerous Life of Michigan Lumberjacks

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Uncategorized

Midwest American Economy on Life Support

KALAMAZOO, MI:  You have to be blind to believe the US economy is rebounding sharply from the corona virus lockdown. There is no “V” shaped recovery. At best it’s a U, with business activity mucking along the horizonal bottom of the “U.”  During seven late July days traveling in the Midwest, I visited places where commerce was just barely ticking over. City centers in Cleveland, Detroit, … Continue reading Midwest American Economy on Life Support

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Uncategorized

Painesville, Ohio: Past and Present

Painesville is a pleasant town on Lake Erie just a few miles east of Cleveland.  Through it runs the Lake Shore railroad constructed in the mid-19th century, a gateway to the west from Albany, Buffalo and Erie. In 1861 the train carrying president-elect Abraham Lincoln from Springfield to Washington stopped in Painesville where citizens, aware that war was likely, turned out to greet the prairie lawyer on … Continue reading Painesville, Ohio: Past and Present

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Uncategorized

President Trump Wants to Expand the G7. Can He Do That?

On May 29 Germany’s Angela Merkel vetoed President Trump’s plan to host this year’s Group of Seven summit in Washington at the end of June. Chancellor Merkel said the still active corona virus made it impossible for her to travel to the US.  Merkel’s public declaration did not sit well with the president who envisaged a face to face gathering of global leaders as an electoral … Continue reading President Trump Wants to Expand the G7. Can He Do That?

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