Is There An Example?
Posted: 26 July 2012 Filed under: Economics, Observations | Tags: Cartoon, Economic Collapse, Political Humor, Postaday 2012 Leave a comment »
Do You Know What happened In 2008?
Posted: 20 February 2012 Filed under: Economics, Observations, Professor's Classroom | Tags: Banks, Economic Collapse, Financial Markets, Postaday 2012, Recession 7 Comments »Yes, I am talking about the crash and the ensuing recession, the unemployment, foreclosures and the tune continues…….you may know that your 401k is not worth the paper it is printed on…..but do you know just how the crash happened?
I am guessing that most Americans either do not know or maybe they just do not give a crap……but if you are truly interested in educating yourself on how you were screwed….then by all means read on…….if not then maybe a good episode of “Jersey Shore” that teaches a lot about life is on MTV….if you do not care enough to learn what happen then keep thy mouth shut when it blows up again….and make NO mistake ….IT WILL!
A very good explanation has been written by Zeus Yiamouyiannis……..
Here is how the counterfeit value derivative con works. It’s a game of “I pretend, you pretend, we all pretend, and the taxpayer will pay in the end”.
1) I’ll create an instrument, say a credit default swap (CDS), an unregulated insurance with no capital requirements, with a certain “notional” value. Notional value is just something I assign. It does not have to be attached to or backed by any real asset or actual money/principal, but I can pretend as if it is. (Notional amount.)
2) As a seller, I will just declare that this swap covers the full value X of this company, contract, etc. if credit event Y happens. I receive lucrative insurance premiums and fees for my unbacked promise. The CDS’s value is based in nothing more than my promise to pay. I don’t have to have adequate capital reserves on hand, but I can pretend as if I do perhaps with some mini-reserves based on objective-seeming risk ratios calculated by my mathematical models. (credit default swap.)
3) As a buyer, you can then buy as many of these CDS’s as you want, even for a single default. If you are really sure something is going to tank you can insure it 30 times over (or a 100 or 1,000) and get 30 (or 100 or 1,000) times the return when it goes bust! In regulated insurance it is unacceptable to insure beyond the full replacement value of the underlying asset. Not so with CDS’s. The seller has gotten 30x the premiums and the buyer gets 30x value in the event of default. As a buyer of this phony “insurance” you don’t have a stake in the affected properties, but you can essentially pretend you do.
4) As buyer and seller of CDS’s either one of us can assign our risks to a third party through another contract, and pretend as if we are covered in case our own game playing blows up in our faces. This allows us to retain even less reserve capital and spend freed-up funds on more high-risk, high-(pseudo) return speculation. (The monster that ate Wall Street.)
5) We can purchase and sell of these derivative contracts to each other at unlimited rates to generate massive volume and huge fees and profits. We can simply hyper-cycle risk and take our chunk each time.
According to the Bank of International Settlements, as of June 2011 total over-the-counter derivatives contracts have an outstanding notional value of 707.57 trillion dollars, ( 32.4 trillion dollars in CDS’s alone). Where does this kind of money come from, and what does it refer to? We don’t really know, because over-the-counter derivatives are not transparent or regulated.
The answer to your questions are not as difficult to understand as the msm and the economists want you to believe……..once you learn the facts then you can keep your bank and brokers in check….that is if you really give a crap……and Dodd-Frank is a blowjob….it does little to keep the financial sector from gaming the system again and causing another meltdown….personally, I want to see someone go to prison because of what has been done to the economy and beyond that I want to make sure these con men cannot either game the system again so that we, the taxpayer, give them an out…..let them ROT in their own deceitfulness!
Target Acquired!
Posted: 19 December 2011 Filed under: Economics, Government, News, Observations, Public Policy, Society | Tags: Economic Collapse, Food Stamps, Justice, Postaday2011 10 Comments »We all know just how pissed off most people are over the realization that for decades they have been the tools used by the greedy to acquire massive wealth…..and we know that almost a third of the country is now considered near poverty or below poverty……
Based on the new measure, of the 51 million “near poor,” more than 50 percent were pushed down from higher income levels: more than eight million by taxes, six million by medical expenses, and four million by work expenses like child care and transportation, according to the Times.
In another revelation, using the new measure the percentage of seniors who are either poor or near poor rose from 22 to 34 percent, which is slightly less that the share among children, 39 percent. High medical costs are likely to account for the increase for seniors.
Now the banks were using taxpayer money and such as a casino for their secretive financial dealings and in doing so they alone crashed the economy and since these, at least some of them, were using questionable tactics you would think that the DoJ would be hot on the heels of those people that were acting in a shady way…..right?
Think again!
Going after criminal cases targeting fraud has come down to what’s easier to prosecute for the Obama administration.
While Americans of all stripes have clamored for justice in the wake of the financial crisis, the U.S. Department of Justice has chosen to not pursue jail time for banking executives whose decisions wreaked havoc on the financial industry and the economy. The reason: Building cases against bankers is just too hard to do and carries too much risk of failure in the courtroom.Instead, the Justice Department has allowed the Securities and Exchange Commission to pursue civil cases directed at banks that can yield large financial penalties, but no criminal prosecutions.With bank fraud out of reach, federal prosecutors have reached for lower-hanging fruit—namely, food stamp cheaters.The lousy economy has resulted in a surge of Americans on food stamps and a corresponding increase in those fraudulently using the assistance, according to administration officials. More than 46 million people are receiving about $75.3 billion in help from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (aka food stamps). Of this amount, more than $750 million may be spent fraudulently, says Obama’s people.Seven hundred and fifty million dollars is nothing to sneeze at. But compared to the total expenditure for food stamps, the amount of potential fraud going on amounts to only 1%.–Noel BrinkerhoffWhy No Financial Crisis Prosecutions? Ex-Justice Official Says It’s Just too Hard (by Marian Wang, ProPublica)An Ex-FBI Official Explains Lack of Convictions Tied to Financial Crisis (by Joe Palazzolo, Wall Street Journal)Obama Administration Targeting Food Stamp Fraud as Program Reaches Record Highs (by Ed O’Keefe, Washington Post)
This is just sick! Fat Cats lounging around on a yacht or the place in the Hamptons with NO worry of prosecution………yeah, let’s worry about a family that gets $100 too much in food stamps and let the real criminals live in the lap of luxury with their ill gotten gains…..sounds like justice to me (that is sarcasm in case you missed it)……
If you like writing letters to the editor or congresspeople then by all means write and bitch….bitch so much they cannot ignore you….we need to take back the government from the bastards that are playing it like their personal game of Monopoly!
Get involved! Make some noise!
What Are They Really Saying?
Posted: 28 November 2011 Filed under: Economics, News, Observations, Society | Tags: Economic Collapse, Financial Crisis, Postaday2011 10 Comments »We have heard all the hoopla about the economy…..it looks slow but steady….it looks like a piece of bovine fecal matter….tax cuts will save us all…..without demand there is NO recovery….on and on….everybody has an opinion on the direction of the economy in the next year, maybe 5…….but what are the economic experts really saying about what is going to happen?
Michael Synder of blacklisted news.com has put together 17 quotes of what we can expect in the future……
The following are 17 quotes about the coming global financial collapse that will make your hair stand up….
#1 Credit Suisse’s Fixed Income Research unit: “We seem to have entered the last days of the euro as we currently know it. That doesn’t make a break-up very likely, but it does mean some extraordinary things will almost certainly need to happen – probably by mid-January – to prevent the progressive closure of all the euro zone sovereign bond markets, potentially accompanied by escalating runs on even the strongest banks.”
#2 Willem Buiter, chief economist at Citigroup: “Time is running out fast. I think we have maybe a few months — it could be weeks, it could be days — before there is a material risk of a fundamentally unnecessary default by a country like Spain or Italy which would be a financial catastrophe dragging the European banking system and North America with it.”
#3 Jim Reid of Deutsche Bank: “If you don’t think Merkel’s tone will change then our investment advice is to dig a hole in the ground and hide.”
#4 David Rosenberg, a senior economist at Gluskin Sheff in Toronto: “Lenders are finding it difficult to finance their day-to-day operations with short-term funding. This is a lot like 2008 but with more twists.”
#5 Christian Stracke, the head of credit research for Pimco: “This is just a repeat of what we saw in 2008, when everyone wanted to see toxic assets off the banks’ balance sheets”
#6 Paul Krugman of the New York Times: “At this point I’d guess soaring rates on Italian debt leading to a gigantic bank run, both because of solvency fears about Italian banks given a default and because of fear that Italy will end up leaving the euro. This then leads to emergency bank closing, and once that happens, a decision to drop the euro and install the new lira. Next stop, France.”
#7 Paul Hickey of Bespoke Investment Group: “More and more, we are hearing anecdotal comments from individual and professionals that this is the most difficult environment they have ever experienced as the market is like a fish flopping around after being taken out of the water.”
#8 Bob Janjuah of Nomura International: “Germany appears to be adamant that full political and fiscal integration over the next decade (nothing substantive will happen over the short term, in my view) is the only option, and ECB monetisation is no longer possible. I really think it is that clear and simple. And if I am wrong, and the ECB does a U-turn and agrees to unlimited monetisation, I will simply wait for the inevitable knee-jerk rally to fade before reloading my short risk positions. Even if Germany and the ECB somehow agree to unlimited monetisation I believe it will do nothing to fix the insolvency and lack of growth in the eurozone. It will just result in a major destruction of the ECB‟s balance sheet which will force an ECB recap. At that point, I think Germany and its northern partners would walk away. Markets always want short, sharp, simple solutions.”
#9 Dan Akerson, CEO of General Motors: “The ’08 recession, which was a credit bubble that manifested itself through primarily the real estate market, that was a serious stress….This is much more serious.”
#10 Francesco Garzarelli of Goldman Sachs: “Pressures on Euro area sovereign bond markets have progressively intensified and spread like a wildfire.”
#11 Jim Rogers: “In 2002 it was bad, in 2008 it was worse and 2012 or 2013 is going to be worse still – be careful”
#12 Dr. Pippa Malmgren, the President and founder of Principalis Asset Management who once worked in the White House as an adviser to President Bush: “Market forces are increasingly determining what the options are and foreclosing on options policymakers thought they had. One option which is now under discussion involves permitting a country to temporarily leave the Euro, return to its native currency, devalue, commit to returning to the Euro at a better debt to GDP ratio, a better exchange rate and a better growth trajectory and yet not sacrifice its EU membership. I would like to say for the record that this is precisely the thought process that I expected to evolve,but when I proposed this possibility back in 2009, and again in September 2010, I had a 100% response from clients and others that this was “impossible” and many felt it was “ridiculous”. They may be right but this is the current state of the discussion. The Handelsblatt in Germany has reported this conversation, but wrongly assumes that the country that will exit is Germany. I think that Germany will have to exit if the Southern European states do not. Germany’s preference is to stay in the Euro and have the others drop out. The problem has been the Germans could not convince the others to walk away. But, now, market pressures are forcing someone to leave. Germany is pushing for that someone to be Italy. They hope that this would be a one off exception, not to be repeated by any other country. Obviously, though, if Italy leaves the Euro and reverts to Lira then the markets will immediately and forcefully attack Spain, Portugal and even whatever is left of the already savaged Greeks. These countries will not be able to compete against a devalued Greece or Italy when it come to tourism or even infrastructure. But, the principal target will be France. The three largest French banks have roughly 450 billion Euros of exposure to Italian debt. So, further sovereign defaults are certainly inevitable, but that is true under any scenario. Growth and austerity will not do the trick, as ZeroHedge rightly points out. Ultimately, I will not be at all surprised to see Europe’s banking system shut for days while the losses and payments issues are worked out. People forget that the term “bank holiday” was invented in the 1930’s when the banks were shut for exactly the same reason.”
#13 Daniel Clifton, a policy strategist with Strategas Research Partners on the potential for more downgrades of U.S. debt: “We would expect further downgrades, a first downgrade from Moody’s and Fitch and possibly a second downgrade from S&P.”
#14 Warren Buffett on the problems in the eurozone: “The system as presently designed has revealed a major flaw. And that flaw won’t be corrected just by words. Europe will either have to come closer together or there will have to be some other rearrangement because this system is not working”
#15 David Kostin, equity strategist for Goldman Sachs: “The wide range of possible outcomes on both the super committee process and the unstable political economy in Europe drives our view that investors should assume the worst while hoping for the best.”
#16 Mark Mobius, the head of the emerging markets desk at Templeton Asset Management: “There is definitely going to be another financial crisis around the corner”
#17 Gerald Celente, founder of The Trends Research Institute: “The whole system is going down. Pull your money out your Fidelity account, your Scwhab accout, and your ETFs.”
So basically, what are these experts really saying (the simplified version)……
They are telling us that “time is running out”.
They are telling us that “there is definitely going to be another financial crisis”.
They are telling us that this “is going to be worse” than 2008.
They are telling us that “the whole system is going down”.
The time is NOW to remove your head from the sand….there is very little in the economic world that is GOOD news…..
What If China………….?
Posted: 16 November 2011 Filed under: Economics, International Situations, News, Observations, Trade | Tags: China, Economic Collapse, Economic Crisis, Postaday2011 4 Comments »We hear daily from Repubs, Dems, Media hacks and faux economists tell us just how much trouble we are in because of China’s booming economy and their owning of our debt……you know it is so……..we are being preached to using the ever popular “Fear Factor” to push one form of thinking or another towards China…..whether it is their currency, or their manufacturing or their social policies……you have heard it all…in news stories, in debates, yada yada…..but what is the real story on China?
What is the future with China in the wings…..waiting…….
Larry Lang, chair professor of Finance at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said in a lecture that he didn’t think was being recorded that the Chinese regime is in a serious economic crisis—on the brink of bankruptcy. In his memorable formulation: every province in China is Greece.
Lang’s assessment that the regime is bankrupt was based on five conjectures.
Firstly, that the regime’s debt sits at about 36 trillion yuan (US$5.68 trillion). This calculation is arrived at by adding up Chinese local government debt (between 16 trillion and 19.5 trillion yuan, or US$2.5 trillion and US$3 trillion), and the debt owed by state-owned enterprises (another 16 trillion, he said). But with interest of two trillion per year, he thinks things will unravel quickly.
Secondly, that the regime’s officially published inflation rate of 6.2 percent is fabricated. The real inflation rate is 16 percent, according to Lang.
Thirdly, that there is serious excess capacity in the economy, and that private consumption is only 30 percent of economic activity. Lang said that beginning this July, the Purchasing Managers Index, a measure of the manufacturing industry, plunged to a new low of 50.7. This is an indication, in his view, that China’s economy is in recession.
Fourthly, that the regime’s officially published GDP of 9 percent is also fabricated. According to Lang’s data, China’s GDP has decreased 10 percent. He said that the bloated figures come from the dramatic increase in real estate development each year (accounting for up to 70 percent of GDP in 2010).
Fifthly, that taxes are too high. Last year, the taxes on Chinese businesses (including direct and indirect taxes) were at 70 percent of earnings. The individual tax rate sits at 81.6 percent, Lang said.
Once the “economic tsunami” starts, the regime will lose credibility and China will become the poorest country in the world, Lang said.
Professor Frank Xie at the University of South Carolina, Aiken, said that the idea of China going bankrupt isn’t far fetched. Major construction projects have helped inflate the GDP, he says. “On the surface, it is a big number, but inflation is even higher. So in reality, China’s economy is in recession.”
Further, Xie said that official figures shouldn’t be relied on. The regime’s vice premier, Li Keqiang for example, admitted to a U.S. diplomat that he doesn’t believe the statistics produced by lower-level officials, and when he was the governor of Liaoning Province “had to personally see the hard data.”
Cheng Xiaonong, an economist and former aide to ousted Party leader Zhao Ziyang, said that high praise of the “China model” is often made on the basis of the high-visibility construction projects, a big GDP, and much money in foreign reserves. “They pay little attention to things such as whether people’s basic rights are guaranteed, or their living standard has improved or not,” he said.
Behind the fiat control of the economy, which can have the appearance of being efficient, there is enormous waste and corruption, Cheng said. It means that little spending is done on education, welfare, the health system, etc.
Cheng says that for the last decade the Chinese regime has accumulated its wealth primarily by promoting real estate development, buying urban and suburban residential properties at low prices (or simply taking them), and selling them to developers at high prices.
According to Cheng, the goals of regime officials (to enrich themselves and increase their power) are in direct conflict with those of the people–so social injustice expands, and economic propaganda meant to portray the situation as otherwise prevails.
If this report is true…..what is to gained from lying to the American people?
Was Perry Right?
Posted: 1 September 2011 Filed under: Business, Economics, Fiscal Policy, Government, News, Observations, Public Policy | Tags: Banks, Economic Collapse, Economic Problems, Federal Reserve, Postaday2011 6 Comments »Recently Gov. Perry of Texas and presidential candidate accused Bernanke of treason or that his actions were treasonous…..many pundits condemn his statement as amateur swagger….that it was a rookie mistake on the first couple of days on the campaign trail…and as much as it pains me…..(pause here for grimacing)……he could be right.
What! Prof. Chuq is siding with Perry?
Sorry, but Perry does have a point in his statement…..
The Federal Reserve is quietly continuing with one of the many outrageous bank-bailout programs it initiated during the financial crisis–the one in which it pays big banks interest on their “excess reserves.”
What are “excess reserves”?
Money that the banks have but aren’t lending out–money that banks are just keeping on deposit at the Fed.
The Fed is paying banks 0.25% interest on this money.
0.25% interest may not sound like much, but it’s more than the banks are paying you to keep money in your savings or money-market account. It’s also more than you’ll earn if you lend the Federal government money for 2 years.Why on earth is the Fed paying banks not to lend? Well, back in the financial crisis, the Fed wanted to find ways to secretly bail out the banks without it being screamingly obvious to every American that that was what it was doing. And this particular bailout program was one of the more successful ways it discovered of doing that. Over the past few years, this program has secretly funneled about $10 billion in risk-free cash (rough estimate) directly to the banks, just for being banks and not lending. Don’t you wish you could get in on that game?
The Fed pays banks about $4 billion of interest a year on that money–the money the banks aren’t lending. And bankers get big bonuses based on that interest, for being so smart as to not lend money and instead just take the free interest from the Fed.Source:BI
Read the entire piece at Business Insider and then say that you cannot understand the frustration that Perry may feel….personally, I think the Perry is an idiot and most likely never heard of the piece in BI….but beyond all that…..we are still being screwed by the Banksters and we are smiling all the time…..how smart are we?
But let me add……I think Prick….my bad……Rick Perry is an idiot…he is a self-serving little toad…Just so there is NO confusion of what I really think of this arrogant snake……if he wins the election in 2012, I will look for property in Nova Scotia…….why? All is lost for this country!
The Self-Destruct Sequence
Posted: 19 August 2011 Filed under: Business, Economics, Government, Observations, Professor's Classroom | Tags: Capitalism, Economic Collapse, Free Markets, Marx, Political Ignorance, Postaday2011 2 Comments »Kirk….admiral…..1A1
McCoy….ship’s doctor…..B1B
Scott..chief engineer……1B1
(computer replies)….self-destruct in 60 seconds
Okay, sorry, when I came up with the title that was the first thing that pop into my head…..I know my mind works in mysterious ways…..
We need to establish a few things…like what are free markets? And what is capitalism?
The free market…….A market economy based on supply and demand with little or no government control. A completely free market is an idealized form of a market economy where buyers and sells are allowed to transact freely (i.e. buy/sell/trade) based on a mutual agreement on price without state intervention in the form of taxes, subsidies or regulation.
Now for capitalism……an economic system dedicated to production for profit and to the accumulation of value by private business firms. In the fully developed form of industrial capitalism, firms advance money to hire wage laborers and to buy means of production such as machinery and raw materials. If the firm can sell its products for a greater sum of value than that originally advanced, the firm grows and can advance more money for a new round of accumulation. Historically, the emergence of industrial capitalism depends upon the creation of three prerequisites for accumulation: initial sums of money (or credit), wage labor and means of production available for purchase, and markets in which products can be sold.
Those are a bit simplistic, but for this post and for a better understanding, they will do……..
There has been lots of opinions about the direction our economy is traveling free marketeers see this whole economic shake up as a good thing and others do not see it as something we should look forward to….a couple of years ago I wrote a post entitled, “Marx Was Right” and was not very popular at the time….read it here……http://t.co/IUnlAIJ
And since I posted that we have seen companies sitting on trillions and buying up their competition at record paces…..while sticking to the lie that they are not investing because of the uncertainty coming out of Washington…..yes, I believe this is a lie….they are buying up their competition so that when the government starts programs that will be more conducive for them….then they will have less competition and it will maximize their profits even more so than today….
It seems that I am NOT alone when I say that pure free markets and capitalism is self-destructing……watch this video from a couple of days ago……..http://t.co/q8994D5
So will capitalism self-destruct? Just in case you were not paying attention…..in Marx own words…..
In capitalist society the working-class continues to grow, and ownership over the means of production continually dwindles into fewer and fewer hands. One example of this is the stock market, where the finance banks emphasize that “all workers” can own a piece of various companies. In fact, through offering “ownership” of these companies to more people, financial oligarchies are able to gain greater control over these companies by diluting the ownership amongst an unorganized group while also extracting capital from this large group for further investment. For example, a bank need only own 10 or 15 percent of a certain company to have an enormous controlling interest over that company, so long as the vast majority of stocks in that company are owned by thousands and tens of thousands of different people, people who do not have the time to attend shareholder meetings and are not united and unorganized on how to exert control over the company. Furthermore in capitalist society, the value of labour increases while labourers continually receive a smaller portion of that value they create. The selling of labour itself is continually reduced from something that is sold on a monthly or yearly basis to something that is sold day by day, and hour by hour, piecemeal or in short term contracts. As a result, the income gap grows continually larger.
You may NOT appreciate Marx….but his criticism from over a hundred years ago….sounds pretty close to damn accurate. Bullsh*t! He was DEAD ON! The Banksters are pushing the self-destruct sequence for capitalism….you know that economic theory they so love!
Would You Like A Double Dip?
Posted: 9 August 2011 Filed under: Economics, Fiscal Policy, Government, News, Observations | Tags: Economic Collapse, Economic Crisis, Postaday2011, Recession, US Congress, Wall Street 6 Comments »I wish my question was about a visit to Ben and Jerry’s…..but unfortunately it is not but rather a crashing economy…….the debt deal has been made and it will involve tax cuts, spending cuts, balance budget and NO revenue…….and I am old enough to ask….where have I heard all this before?
But what do the people think about all the wheelin’ and dealin’?
A new USA Today/Gallup poll finds 39% of Americans approve of the debt ceiling agreement that President Obama signed into law this week with 46% opposing it.
Key finding: Only 33% of independent voters approved of the deal, while 50% disapproved.
First Read: “But if you want evidence that conservative opinion leaders (Limbaugh, Red State, DeMint) might have more sway over Republicans and conservatives than liberal opinion leaders (Krugman, Daily Kos, Bernie Sanders) have over Democrats and liberals, check out these numbers. According to the poll, 64% of Republicans and 64% of conservatives opposed the deal. By comparison, 58% of Democrats and 51% of liberals supported it. Bottom line, at least per this poll: More Democrats and liberals sided with Obama. than with the liberal opinion elite.”
But let us get back to where I have heard all this BS before?
In 1937 the Roosevelt administration attempted to balance the federal budget by curtailing public works and cutting relief employment programs, while the Federal Reserve limited credit and reduced the money supply to prevent a resurgence of inflation. These actions weakened the economy, which already suffered from a lack of business confidence, and a severe recession ensued after the stock market plunged steeply on 7 September 1937. Over the following nine months, manufacturing employment fell by almost a quarter, industrial output by a third, the stock market by half, and profits by over three-quarters. By June, as the economy began to revive, 4,000,000 workers had become jobless. A major reason for the upturn in business activity was a greater willingness to use budget deficits for economic stimulus……….Geez all that sounds darn familiar, huh? By all means Google this and see if I lie…please…do not take my word for it!
Everybody has claimed victory in the new debt deal…….the truth is these twats are just repeating the mistake made in 1937…..and that was a disaster…..and guess what? This will be also! The use of budget deficits is a proven solution for a recession……regardless of what Tea baggers want you to believe……….recent activity or the lack thereof, on Wall Street shows the reader that all is NOT well with the American economy…..and to keep playing moronic, childish little games will do NOTHING to help the country…it will NOT create demand and without demand….we have NOTHING!
A Double dip? This from the Economist magazine…..
WALL STREET is betting on a double-dip recession.
All financial-market signs now point to a return to economic contraction. The S&P 500 has dropped 9% in two weeks. American government borrowing costs are plummeting, which could conceivably be construed as a result of increased confidence in America’s finances in the wake of the debt-ceiling deal, except for three things: 1) the deal didn’t fundamentally improve America’s finances, 2) equities are tanking, and 3) so are inflation expectations. Yesterday afternoon, yields on inflation-protected Treasuries signaled a 5-year expected inflation rate of about 2.08%. That has since fallen to about 1.86%. The yield on 3-month debt is back to 0.0%, the yield on the 30-year Treasury is 3.79%, and 10-year yields are back to levels observed last August, which prompted the Fed to engage in QE2. Commodities are dropping like rocks.
If Washington continues down this road…that would be the road that that darn pesky can is on…….we have nothing to look forward to but More Economic Misery……..don’t you just love this crap?
But wait, sports fans….there is more observations….this one from Newser……..
Economists say we could be headed for a second recession—and if they’re right, it’s poised to be even more devastating than the first, writes Catherine Rampell in the New York Times. That’s because the starting point for the second dip would be our current weak economy, and this time, policymakers have little room to fix things. Consumers don’t have much fat to cut, either—they did that already—meaning families would have to “cut from the bone.” Other signs round two would be a doozy: Consumer spending hasn’t grown; industrial production is down 8% compared to December 2007; and while the civilian working-age population has grown about 3% since 2007, there are 5% fewer jobs for it. Interest rates can’t go lower than their current zero, and Washington lacks the financial and political means for another stimulus. Finally, “and perhaps most worrisome,” is the fact that the economy is smaller now than it was at the beginning of the recession.
This country is in deep trouble……as long as we allow idiots to run the country and shape economic policy….the deeper the recession will get and the harder it will be to pull out of it…..
The World Teeters!
Posted: 20 July 2011 Filed under: Economics, Fiscal Policy, International Situations, News, Observations, Society | Tags: Economic Collapse, Economic Crisis, Europe, Postaday2011, World Recession 15 Comments »You know the budgetary problems here in the Us and you have heard all the claptrap in Greece and other European countries and all the opinions of what could happen if this is not done or that is not done…..but what are we really looking at………. for all things go to crap?
From Reuters……
The IMF, in its regular assessment of global economic prospects, said bigger threats to growth had emerged since its previous report in April, citing the euro zone debt crisis and signs of overheating in emerging market economies.
The Washington-based global lender forecast that U.S. gross domestic product would grow a tepid 2.5 percent this year and 2.7 percent in 2012. In its forecast just two months ago, it had expected 2.8 percent and 2.9 percent growth, respectively.
With regard to the global economy overall, the IMF struck a measured tone, saying the slowdown of recent months should be “temporary.” It trimmed its forecast for global growth this year only slightly, to 4.3 percent from 4.4 percent, and maintained its estimate for robust Chinese growth of 9.6 percent despite recent signs of a slowdown there.
With predictions for most of the world, with the exception of China, in the crapper……………. is now a good time to crash an economy? Here in the US if we are to follow the lead of the Repubs, that is exactly what will happen……..where is the logic that with fewer jobs and even fewer consumers, that this will somehow save the economy…….then ask for WHOM will it be saved?
P.S. After writing this I have learned that Italy is starting down the drain….yet another country that has to get help?
Is There A Serfdom In Our Future?
Posted: 19 July 2011 Filed under: Economics, Fiscal Policy, Government, News, Observations, Politics, Public Policy, Society | Tags: Economic Collapse, Middle Class, Postaday2011, Workers, Working Class 16 Comments »Weiner’s weiner is gone! Can we now return to the act of running a country into the ground?
Do you remember your history lessons? Remember the term serf? Let me help your memory a bit…..a serf is the lowest individual of society that is required to perform labor in return for certain legal or customary rights or a person in bondage or servitude. I bring all this up….why?
The way the economy is going with all the greed and deceit that corporations are using on the average person…we could be looking at an updated form of serfdom. In short, we are once again becoming peasants. And now I bet that you are asking just what am I going on about, right?
How about a simple definition of indentured servitude…….servants could not marry without the permission of their owner, were subject to physical punishment, and saw their obligation to labor enforced by the courts. To ensure uninterrupted work by the female servants, the law lengthened the term of their indenture if they became pregnant. But unlike slaves, servants could look forward to a release from bondage. If they survived their period of labor, servants would receive a payment known as “freedom dues” and become free members of society. One could buy and sell indentured servants’ contracts, and the right to their labor would change hands, but not the person as a piece of property. (Does that silly to you as it does to me?)
Basically, it is more acceptable form of slavery!
Think not? Today we have massive debates about marriage, who can and cannot do the deed…..we have legislation that is making it difficult for workers to get a fair shake from corporations and governments…..courts are siding with the special interests over the needs and desires of the people, especially the working majority…..we see women looked upon as the lower end of the worker population…..and finally we have the takeovers of one company over another and the workers used as a bargaining chip….workers at the mercy of capital and greed…..
There is even a push to repeal child labor laws……
business trade associations, employer groups, reactionary
Republican politicians and Tea Party activists to urge severe weakening of
the state laws, and, ultimately, of the federal law. They agree with Supreme
Court Justice Clarence Thomas that the child labor laws are unconstitutional
for a variety of obscure legal reasons. They’ve begun their legal attacks on
state laws with the laws in Maine and Missouri.
Basically, we have a growing updated form of serfdom and indentured servitude….and thanx to the Congress and the politicians it will continue to get worse for the worker……and eventually…our children. I realize that it is a bit of a stretch but look at the economy and the jobs picture in the US or the GOP and its attacks on the working class or the Middle class, if you prefer……the worker is becoming a tool of diminishing value or a serf……
I know that there will be people who think is fantasy and just a shot at capitalism……Well, I guess it is…in a way…..But just in case you do not see the working class disappearing….take a look at this Business Insider website…..
Without an abundance of good jobs, the middle class in the United States is going to shrivel up and die. Right now, rampant unemployment is absolutely killing communities all over America.
Click here to see the signs >
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