STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Friday, 30 October 2015

[Tansy_Gold]

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Friday, 30 October 2015[font color=black][/font]

SMW for 29 October 2015

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 29 October 2015
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Dow Jones 17,755.80 -23.72 (-0.13%)
S&P 500 2,089.41 -0.94 (-0.04%)
Nasdaq 5,074.27 -21.42 (-0.42%)


[font color=red]10 Year 2.17% +0.06 (2.84%)
30 Year 2.96% +0.07 (2.42%) [font color=black]


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[font size=2]Market Conditions During Trading Hours[/font]
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(click on link for latest updates)
Market Updates
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[font size=2]Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold[center]

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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Market Data and News:[/font][/font]
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Economic Calendar
Marketwatch Data
Bloomberg Economic News
Yahoo Finance
Google Finance
Bank Tracker
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Daily Job Cuts
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Economic Blogs:[/font][/font]
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The Big Picture
Financial Sense
Calculated Risk
Naked Capitalism
Credit Writedowns
Brad DeLong
Bonddad
Atrios
goldmansachs666
The Stand-Up Economist
The Automatic Earth
Wall Street on Parade
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Essential Reading:[/font][/font]
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Matt Taibi: Secret and Lies of the Bailout


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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Government Issues:[/font][/font]
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LegitGov
Open Government
Earmark Database
USA spending.gov
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Videos:[/font][/font]
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Charlie Rose talks with Roubini
Charlie Rose talks with Krugman
William Black: This Economic Disaster
Bill Moyers with Kevin Drum and David Corn
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[font color=red]Partial List of Financial Sector Officials Convicted since 1/20/09 [/font][font color=red]
2/2/12 David Higgs and Salmaan Siddiqui, Credit Suisse, plead guilty to conspiracy involving valuation of MBS
3/6/12 Allen Stanford, former Caribbean billionaire and general schmuck, convicted on 13 of 14 counts in $2.2B Ponzi scheme, faces 20+ years in prison
6/4/12 Matthew Kluger, lawyer, sentenced to 12 years in prison, along with co-conspirator stock trader Garrett Bauer (9 years) and co-conspirator Kenneth Robinson (not yet sentenced) for 17 year insider trading scheme.
6/14/12 Allen Stanford sentenced to 110 years without parole.
6/15/12 Rajat Gupta, former Goldman Sachs director, found guilty of insider trading. Could face a decade in prison when sentenced later this year.
6/22/12 Timothy S. Durham, 49, former CEO of Fair Financial Company, convicted of one count conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, 10 counts of wire fraud, and one count of securities fraud.
6/22/12 James F. Cochran, 56, former chairman of the board of Fair, convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, one count of securities fraud, and six counts of wire fraud.
6/22/12 Rick D. Snow, 48, former CFO of Fair, convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, one count of securities fraud, and three counts of wire fraud.
7/13/12 Russell Wassendorf Sr., CEO of collapsed brokerage firm Peregrine Financial Group Inc. arrested and charged with lying to regulators after admitting to authorities he embezzled "millions of dollars" and forged bank statements for "nearly twenty years."
8/22/12 Doug Whitman, Whitman Capital LLC hedge fund founder, convicted of insider trading following a trial in which he spent more than two days on the stand telling jurors he was innocent
10/26/12 UPDATE: Former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta sentenced to two years in federal prison. He will, of course, appeal. . .
11/20/12 Hedge fund manager Matthew Martoma charged with insider trading at SAC Capital Advisors, and prosecutors are looking at Martoma's boss, Steven Cohen, for possible involvement.
02/14/13 Gilbert Lopez, former chief accounting officer of Stanford Financial Group, and former controller Mark Kuhrt sentenced to 20 yrs in prison for their roles in Allen Sanford's $7.2 billion Ponzi scheme.
03/29/13 Michael Sternberg, portfolio mgr at SAC Capital, arrested in NYC, charged with conspiracy and securities fraud. Pled not guilty and freed on $3m bail.
04/04/13 Matthew Marshall Taylor,fmr Goldman Sachs trader arrested, charged by CFTC w/defrauding his employer on $8BN futures bet "by intentionally concealing the true huge size, as well as the risk and potential profits or losses associated."
04/04/13 Matthew Taylor admits guilt, makes plea bargain. Sentencing set for 26 June; faces up to 20 years in prison but will likely only see 3-4 years. Says, "I am truly sorry."
04/11/13 Ex-KPMG LLP partner Scott London charged by federal prosecutors w/passing inside tips to a friend in exchange for cash, jewelry, and concert tickets; expected to plead guilty in May.
08/01/13 Fabrice Tourré convicted on six counts of security fraud, including "aiding and abetting" his former employer, Goldman Sachs
08/14/13 Javier Martin-Artajo and Julien Grout charged with wire fraud, falsifying records, and conspiracy in connection with JP Morgan's "London Whale" trade.
08/19/13 Phillip A. Falcone, manager of hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners, agrees to admit to "wrongdoing" in market manipulation. Will banned from securities industry for 5 years and pay $18MM in disgorgement and fines.
09/16/13 Javier Martin-Artajo and Julien Grout officially indicted on charges associated with "London Whale" trade.
02/06/14 Matthew Martoma convicted of insider trading while at hedge fund SAC (Stephen A. Cohen) Capital Advisors. Expected sentence 7-10 years.
03/24/14 Annette Bongiorno, Bernard Madoff's secretary; Daniel Bonventre, director of operations for investments; JoAnn Crupi, an account manager; and Jerome O'Hara and George Perez, both computer programmers convicted of conspiracy to defraud clients, securities fraud, and falsifying the books and records.
05/19/14 Credit Suisse, which has an investment bank branch in NYC, agrees to plead guilty and pay appx. $2.6 billion penalties for helping wealthy Americans hide wealth and avoid taxes.
09/08/14 Matthew Martoma, convicted SAC trader, sentenced to 9 years in prison plus forfeiture of $9.3 million, including home and bank accounts
08/03/15 Former City (London) trader Tom Hayes found guilty of rigging global Libor interest rates. Each fo eight counts carries up to 10 yr. sentence.
08/21/15 Charles Antonucci Sr, former pres. Park Ave. Bank sentenced to 2.5 years in prison for bribery, fraud, embezzlement, and attempt to steal $11MM in TARP bailout funds, as well as $37.5MM fraud on OK insurance company. To pay $54MM in restitution and give up additional $11MM.
09/21/15 Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn apologizes for VW cheating on air quality standards with emission testing avoidance device. Stock drops 20%, fines may total $18B.
09/22/15 Stewart Parnell, CEO Peanut Corp. of America, sentenced to 28 years in prison for selling salmonella-tainted peanut butter that killed nine.





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[font size=3][font color=red]This thread contains opinions and observations. Individuals may post their experiences, inferences and opinions on this thread. However, it should not be construed as advice. It is unethical (and probably illegal) for financial recommendations to be given here.[/font][/font][/font color=red][font color=black]

[Demeter]

1. In a winter garden

One of the rose trees has 7 buds, one of which will bloom this weekend. The other has several new leaves sprouting, as its two blossoms are spent. I am so thrilled that they are both thriving! The other plants brought in from the cold are surviving so far. I am thinking of potting the snapdragons that seeded themselves, they are such lovely shades of ruby, before a killer frost or snow comes along....

This year I am trying to bring my home environment into the state of supporting my needs. I've been limping along for several winters in chaos and limited functionality, but this winter something needs to get better. While I am feeling better myself, I am still coughing and even sneezing, and have been doing so since the second week of August. Enough already! I have reverted to chocolate therapy, even. It does help with mood and motivation....

Found out today that I have been in my new gig for 13.5 months....thought it was only a year. Time flies when it isn't killing you minute by minute. I guess, if you can't remember when you signed up, it's a good job.

[DemReadingDU]

5. sounds like spring coming, not winter

blooming flowers are nice to see any time of the year

[Demeter]

7. That's the plan!

Denial is a girl's best friend.

[Demeter]

2. Thorough Savaging of the Managerial Class from Naked Capitalism

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2015/10/the-scourge-of-managerialism-generic-management-the-managers-coup-detat-mission-hostile-management-rolled-up-as-described-by-some-men-from-down-under.html

[mother earth]

24. Demeter, dare I compliment you, you are a gift to DU.

As always,

[Demeter]

25. Aw shucks,

[Demeter]

3. Record number of Americans renounce citizenship

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/record-numbers-renounce-citizenship/article/2575085

A record number of Americans have renounced their citizenship so far this year, according to data from the Internal Revenue Service.

According to IRS data published in the Federal Register on Monday, 1,426 Americans expatriated in the third quarter of 2015, bringing this year's total to 3,221 so far. The figure is 25 percent higher than the same period last year, when 2,585 renounced their citizenship.

The federal government made money from the move. The administrative processing fee required from those who renounce citizenship increased from $450 to $2,350 last year, which means those who left paid the feds a record parting gift total of just over $7.5 million.

In addition to being a record for the year to date, it was the second quarterly record broken in 2015. The previous record was 1,336, set in the first quarter of the year. The IRS began collecting the data in 1996 as part of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

[Demeter]

4. Budget provision lets US gov’t robocall debtors

SINCE IT'S AN ELECTION YEAR, ANYBODY WITH CALLER ID WON'T BE ANSWERING ANYWAY....

https://www.rt.com/usa/320001-budget-robocall-student-debt/

Hidden in the US budget compromise is an amendment that would allow automated calls to the cell phones of those who owe money to the government, including debts related to student loans, taxes and mortgages. As part of the two-year budget bill, Section 301 would amend Section 227(b) of the 1934 Communications Act, which prohibits automated calls to any phone service for which the recipient is charged, by adding the qualifier “unless such call is made solely to collect a debt owed to or guaranteed by the United States.” The bill gives the Federal Communications Commission nine months to “prescribe regulations to implement the amendments made by this section,” in consultation with the Department of the Treasury.

Automated calls are one of the most hated issues the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) deals with. In 2014 alone, the agency received some 215,000 complaints. In June this year, the FCC issued stricter regulations on autodialing to prevent telemarketers from skirting the rules, and allowed phone companies to block automated calls and texts.

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, said the provision was offered up by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and that the initiative has been part of President Obama's budget requests for the past several years, according to The Hill. "I guess this particular issue, I don't have big heartburn over," Thune told reporters Wednesday, adding that it is meant to help government collectors recoup student loan debt.

The government pays millions of dollars to private contractors who handle payments, answer questions and keep borrowers from defaulting on their loans. The performance-based arrangement rewards the contractors for keeping the payments coming. In a recent report to the White House, however, the Department of Education complained the servicers are having difficulty staying in touch with student loan borrowers, the Washington Post revealed. “Many student loan borrowers, especially those that may just be graduating, move frequently in addition to no longer having landline phone numbers,” the department wrote. “It can be difficult for servicers to find a borrower except by using a cell phone number.” Consumer advocates say that robocalls are abusive and harassing, and urge the lawmakers to reject the provision as dangerous. “Giving one of the most abusive industries in the US free rein to inundate people with robo-calls to their cellphones is a terrible idea,” said Margot Saunders of the National Consumer Law Center. “Cellphone calls can distract people while driving, interrupt them at their jobs, and needlessly impose a cost on struggling families by using up scarce minutes.”

MORE

[Demeter]

6. Malnutrition and 'Victorian' diseases soaring in England 'due to food poverty and cuts'

3RD WORLD STATUS, HERE WE COME! THEY WON'T EVEN STUDY THE ISSUE IN THE USA...BECAUSE THEY DID IT LAST DEPRESSION, AND APPALACHIA AND THE RESERVATIONS ARE STILL THERE....

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/malnutrition-and-other-victorian-diseases-soaring-in-england-due-to-food-poverty-and-cuts-a6711236.html

Cases of Victorian-era diseases including scurvy, scarlet fever, cholera and whooping cough have increased since 2010... in what campaigners said was a result of cuts to social services and rising food poverty.

NHS statistics show that 7,366 people were admitted to hospital with a primary or secondary diagnosis of malnutrition between August 2014 and July this year, compared with 4,883 cases in the same period from 2010 to 2011 – a rise of more than 50 per cent in just four years.

Cases of other diseases rife in the Victorian era including scurvy, scarlet fever, cholera and whooping cough have also increased since 2010, although cases of TB, measles, typhoid and rickets have fallen.

MORE

[Demeter]

8. The Republican Tax Plans Are All Basically Insane: They would cost trillions of dollars.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/republican-tax-plans_56315815e4b00aa54a4cb1b1?utm_hp_ref=business&ir=Business&section=business

Republicans on debate night are all promising to slash taxes and unleash economic growth. Many of them, of course, haven't actually presented a specific tax plan. But those who have are peddling economic fantasies. Even the conservative Tax Foundation believes these plans would balloon the national debt.

Donald Trump's plan would cost over $10 trillion.

Bobby Jindal's plan would cost $9 trillion.

Rick Santorum's would cost $1.1 trillion.

Jeb Bush's plan? $1.6 trillion.

Marco Rubio? More than $1 trillion over the next decade.

One exception: The Tax Foundation says Rand Paul's tax plan would save the government $737 billion. But other tax experts are far less sanguine. Citizens for Tax Justice estimates that Paul's plan would cost $15 trillion. Much of the difference is due to less optimistic assumptions about economic growth. The Tax Foundation assumes that tax cuts benefitting Wall Street and the wealthy will generate very high levels of growth. Citizens for Tax Justice does not.

Total debt held by the public is currently $13.08 trillion.


AND OF COURSE, THE PLAN THAT CANNOT BE NAMED---BERNIE'S PLAN FOR UNIVERSAL SINGLE PAYER HEALTH CARE...WOULD SAVE A BUNDLE!

[Demeter]

9. HALLOWEEN SPECIAL REPORT: Hershey: U.S. Income Inequality Is Transforming The Chocolate Business

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hershey-income-inequality_56317721e4b0c66bae5afcd2?utm_hp_ref=business&ir=Business&section=business

Chocolate maker Hershey Co , long a staple of middle-class U.S. households, is getting squeezed as consumers either pay up for fancier sweets or seek more savings. The maker of Hershey kisses and Reese's peanut butter cups reported lower-than-expected U.S. sales on Wednesday and cut its profit forecast for the year, sending shares down 6.5 percent. It has cut such forecasts for five quarters in a row. Hershey executives said the company is grappling with a growing gap between low and high-income households in the United States, which has changed buying patterns for many consumer goods. On the high-end, consumers are more willing to pay up for premium brands like Green & Black's organic chocolate bars. On the low end, families hunt for greater discounts for products.

Across the board, consumers are making fewer trips to stores, a trend that reduces impulse buying of chocolate bars and other items. Retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc are devoting less space to promote products from Hershey and other manufacturers as they respond to the new trends.

"We think the consumer bifurcation has been an important driver," Hershey Chief Executive John P. Bilbrey said on an investor call, referring to the growing wage gap. Bilbrey said the company has secured more merchandising space for its products in the holiday season and expected trends to improve in the fourth quarter.

Companies ranging from Campbell Soup Co to Mondelez International Inc have spoken of similar pressures in the United States. Some have tried to introduce more products to appeal to low-income consumers at convenience stores and dollar stores.

"We are seeing a widening disparity between upper-income and lower-income" consumers, said Mondelez CEO Irene Rosenfeld in an interview. The maker of Cadbury chocolates and Oreo cookies has responded by increasing the variety of sizes, and prices, of its products on sale.

A BIT MORE

[Hotler]

17. I quit buying Hershey products when they moved

the factories to Mexico. If I'm going to eat chocolate I'm going with a better quality than Hershey. Something like Omanhene chocolate. If they have it in stock you can buy one pound slabs for baking and cooking. I just keep some around and break a chunk off and eat it.
http://www.omanhene.com/

[Demeter]

19. I'm partial to Lindor truffles

and Costco's almond bark is divine! Made in the store.

[DemReadingDU]

20. Hershey has declined

It is gritty, cheap. Or maybe my taste in good chocolate has improved


Have not heard of Omanhene, but am definitely going to check into their products.


edit, in our area, Esther Price has the best chocolates
http://www.estherprice.com/

[Demeter]

10. Paul Ryan Won the Right to Do Nothing By Jeffrey Toobin

http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/paul-ryan-won-the-right-to-do-nothing

The deal announced on Tuesday between President Obama and congressional leaders will, if approved, keep the government open for the remainder of his term in office and offer modest budget increases in both military and domestic spending. In agreeing to the deal, Speaker John Boehner, who departs his post on Friday, gives his successor, Paul Ryan, a parting gift: the right to do nothing. The deal, in short, makes sure that the government will fulfill its most rudimentary obligations. Federal law-enforcement agents will continue to go to work; food-safety inspectors will keep up their duties; park rangers will keep tourists from falling into Old Faithful, at Yellowstone. The debt ceiling will be lifted, so the government’s credit will remain intact. And, because the continuing operations of these functions will be guaranteed through March, 2017, two months into the new President’s term, the House and Senate will not be compelled to do anything else.

Under normal circumstances, this would hardly be seen as an advantage. Throughout most of its history, Congress did a lot more than pass a budget. It passed laws to address national problems—to guarantee voting rights or expand access to health insurance or reform immigration laws. But the modern Republican Party operates principally as a negative force. It exists to oppose, and regards compromise as surrender. Indeed, it seems likely that the only reason Boehner could agree to this budget deal at all is that his comrades in the G.O.P. have no leverage against him—they’ve already forced him out.

In deference to the feelings of a good number of his new constituents (that is, the Freedom Caucus and other radically conservative House Republicans), Ryan pronounced himself disappointed with the deal. “I think the process stinks,” he said. But it appears that he will vote for it. Still, if the deal does pass (not a sure thing at this point), it will be mostly with Democratic votes in the House, along with a few straggling relics of what used to be called moderate Republicanism. IT PASSED...ON THE BACKS OF DEMOCRATIC VOTES--DEMETER. The bizarre, extreme behavior of the Republicans now in charge of the House of Representatives reveals itself most strikingly in those it has chosen as its principal enemies—Boehner and his counterpart in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, now the Majority Leader. They are hardly what conservatives like to call “squishes.” As the leader of his party in the Senate, McConnell was best known for this expression of his priorities: “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term President.” Likewise, Boehner said the following about his plans for Obama’s agenda: “We’re going to do everything—and I mean everything we can do—to kill it, stop it, slow it down, whatever we can.” In expressing these views, Boehner and McConnell were channelling the beliefs of their party. Republicans had no higher goals than to defeat Obama and stall his agenda. They failed to stop him from winning in 2012, but they did manage to vote dozens of time to repeal his signature achievement, the Affordable Care Act. In taking all these votes, the Republicans in the House never came up with an alternative to Obamacare, but that was never the point. The point was to oppose—endlessly.

The chilling reality, though, is that the new leadership in the House may make Obama and the country regard Boehner’s reign as the good old days. When he wasn’t hurling insults at the President, Boehner did have the temerity to meet with Obama and try to find common ground on a handful of areas, at least on keeping the government open. Mindful of the consequences of Boehner’s apostasies, Ryan’s team will probably not make that mistake. And the Republican Presidential candidates? During the debate Wednesday, in Boulder, they were already competing to oppose the budget compromise the loudest, cripple it the most, and, if possible, shred it altogether.

[Demeter]

11. Dutch state to sell off ABN Amro in initial public offering (NATIONALIZED BANK)

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/865994-dutch-state-to-sell-off-abn-amro-in-initial-public-offering/

Seven years after saving it from collapse, the Dutch government announced Tuesday it is selling nationalized bank ABN Amro through an initial public listing that could be launched in the last three months of the year.

ABN Amro said the exact timing of the IPO depends on market conditions. Financial details of the offering have not yet been set. In a letter to Parliament, Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem said analysts will now begin gauging investor sentiment to arrive at a target share price and decide the size of the first offering.

The Dutch state spent 21.7 billion euros to save the bank when it was nationalized in 2008 together with the Dutch operations of one of its would-be acquirers, Belgium's now-defunct Fortis NV, in a takeover bid that went horribly wrong. ABN Amro has since gone through an aggressive restructuring, including slashing jobs and selling off foreign units.

"Today's announcement marks an important step toward our new future," said the chairman of the bank's board, Gerrit Zalm. The re-privatization of ABN Amro had been expected earlier this year, but the government delayed it amid anger at pay rises given to the bank's directors. In March, ABN Amro announced that most of its directors had received pay rises of just over 100,000 euros per year to compensate for the fact that they were banned from receiving bonuses after the bank's nationalization.

ABN Amro had underlying net profit of 1.14 billion euros in the first half of the year, up from 700 million euros in the same period a year earlier.

[Demeter]

12. ILARGI: Europe’s On A Road To A Very Bleak Nowhere

http://www.theautomaticearth.com/2015/10/europes-on-a-road-to-a-very-bleak-nowhere/


On the day after a bunch of European countries headed into yet another -emergency- meeting, and as the refugee situation in Greece and the Balkans was more out of hand than ever before, not in the least because the numbers of refugees arriving from -in particular- Turkey are larger than ever, let’s reiterate what should always be the guiding principle driving the response to issues like this. That is, the only way to approach a crisis such as this one is to put the people first. To say that whatever happens, we will do what we can, first and foremost, to not allow for people to drown, or go hungry or cold, or contract diseases. Because that contradicts our basic morals. The loss of lives and prevention of misery should be the most important thing for everyone involved, all the time, from politicians to citizens.

If we cannot approach both the issue and the people with decency and humanity, we are as lost as they are. If only because we have no claim to being treated better than we ourselves treat others. After all, if someone else’s life is neither sacred nor valuable, why should yours be? Looking through the response across Europe to the growing numbers and the growing crisis, what’s remarkable is the difference between individual citizens and the governments that are supposed to represent them. Apart from outliers like Hungary PM Victor Urban and the ubiquitous fascist groups from Greece through Germany, citizens win hands-down and across the board when it comes to humanity.

The arguably worst record is set by the European Union, ironically the one body that claims to represent everyone in the 500 million strong continent. Individual politicians in leading nations like Germany, France and the UK are close behind. European ‘leaders’ are not looking for a European solution, they’re all only trying to deal with their own part of the problem. As long as the refugees don’t burden their nations, they’re satisfied...After a year of increasing refugee arrivals it’s safe to say that the pan-European approach, to the extent that it can even be said to exist, is a dismal and deadly failure.

MORE

A LENGTHY EXPOSE/DIATRIBE AGAINST THE EU, ITS "LEADERSHIP" AND THE TOTAL FAILURE OF THE EUROZONE....GOOD SCHADENFREUDE!

[Demeter]

13. Winter Scramble; Refugees Will Freeze to Death :Juncker; Tony Blair Apologizes for Creation of ISIS

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2015/10/migrant-scramble-on-as-winter.html

November is less than a week away and nighttime temperatures are dropping rapidly.

What is Europe supposed to do with hundreds of thousands of migrants in need of shelter?

This is one of those things German chancellor Angela Merkel, Swedish prime minister Stefan Löfven, and EU head Jean-Claude Juncker should have thought about before welcoming economic migrants with open arms, essentially begging for this very crisis.

Those bureaucrats don't admit their own foolish policies helped create this crisis...


Read more at http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2015/10/migrant-scramble-on-as-winter.html#qZrPgp2E6l5DMiQR.99

[DemReadingDU]

22. VISUALIZATION OF EUROPEAN REFUGEE CRISIS

click link...

The map below shows the flow of asylum seekers to European countries over time.

Each moving point on the map represents 25 people. That corresponds to approximately one busload with every other seat taken.

http://www.theburningplatform.com/2015/10/29/visualization-of-european-refugee-crisis/

[Demeter]

14. Economists Prove That Capitalism Is Unnecessary

http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevekeen/2015/10/25/economists-prove-that-capitalism-is-unnecessary/

Actually they’ve done no such thing. But they do effectively assume that it’s unnecessary all the time.

This transcendental truth became apparent to me in the reactions I have had from mainstream economists to a lecture I gave to my Kingston students this month (which is posted on my YouTube channel and blog). In it I explained that, at a very basic level, the original “Neoclassical” mathematical model of a market economy is mathematically unstable: it doesn’t converge to a stable pattern of relative prices and a stable growth path for the economy, as its developer Leon Walras thought it did.

Mainstream economists reacted to my lecture by saying that, while the argument, which was first made in the 1960s by Jorgenson (who was applying a mathematical theorem from the early 1900s) was mathematically correct, all one had to do was assume that “economic agents” would then notice the instability and change their behavior. The model would then converge to equilibrium—problem solved.

And how would “economic agents” notice this instability? They would realize that a pattern of relative prices that had occurred once before in the past happened again. Hmmm. O.K.A.Y…

MORE

[Demeter]

15. 'Good' Jobs Aren't Coming Back ONSHORING DEBUNKED

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/10/onshoring-jobs/412201/



In the last several years some American companies have moved their operations back to the states, but the resulting factory work isn't providing the prosperity and security that such work once did...GM is one of the hundreds of companies, big and small, that have moved manufacturing back to the United States from overseas. Outsourcing decimated American manufacturing in the 1980s and 1990s, erasing nearly six million jobs between 1989 and 2009.

But the number of manufacturing jobs has started to slowly grow again, and about 700,000 jobs have been added since 2010. “Onshoring,” as it’s called, is at this stage delivering just a trickle of new jobs, but states such as Tennessee are offering companies generous incentives to try and speed up the process, luring some big-name companies. Whirlpool in 2013 said it was moving production of commercial washing machines from Mexico to the U.S. The company that makes Otis elevators announced in 2012 that it would move production from Mexico to South Carolina. Caterpillar moved some heavy-equipment manufacturing back to the U.S.

But these are not your father’s manufacturing jobs. Many of the companies are locating their new plants in right-to-work states where it’s less likely their workers will join a union, and the prevailing wages are far lower.

In fact, nationally, the average wages of production and non-supervisory employees in manufacturing are lower than they were in 1985, when adjusted for inflation. In September, those employees made an average $8.63 an hour, in 1982 to 1984 dollars, while they made an average of $8.80 an hour in 1985, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

***********************************

There are many reasons for companies to move manufacturing back to the U.S. Wages are rising in China, and many companies find it difficult to control the quality of goods made there. It takes a long time to make something overseas and then ship it back to the U.S, so locating in the U.S. can speed up production. In the U.S., companies can make small batches of goods, test consumer demand, and quickly adjust accordingly.

NO D'UH! MORE AT LINK

[Demeter]

16. Federal Deficit by President

http://angrybearblog.com/2015/10/federal-deficit-by-president.html




If you look at the federal deficit as a share of GDP by presidential administration an interesting pattern emerges.

Every Republican administration left office with a larger deficit than they inherited.

Every Democratic administration left office with a smaller deficit than they inherited.



Why should we pay any attention to anything any Republican says about the deficit?

[Demeter]

18. American Exceptionalism: You can find it everywhere but in the country-comparison statistics

Sources: CDC/NCHS, linked birth/infant death data set (U.S. data); OECD 2014 (all other data); Infographic: Erik Vrielink

Infant mortality rate, 2010: This revealing measure is a good proxy for overall quality of life. It is therefore telling that the United States comes in 26th, well below Greece, whose financial troubles recently have put it in the headlines.

Belief in “American exceptionalism”—that unique blend of ideals, ideas, and love of liberty made so powerful by great technical and economic accomplishments—is alive and well. Even President Obama, a reluctant endorser to begin with, has come around. Early in his presidency (in April 2009), he affirmed his belief by essentially denying it: “I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism.” By May of 2014, he had relented: “I believe in American exceptionalism with every fiber of my being.”

But such proclamations mean nothing if they cannot stand up to the facts. And here what really matters is not the size of a country’s gross domestic product or the number of warheads or patents it may possess but the variables that truly capture its physical well-being and educational standard. These variables are simply life, death, and knowledge.

Infant mortality is an excellent proxy for a wide range of conditions including income, quality of housing, nutrition, education, and investment in health care. Very few babies die in those affluent countries where people live in good housing and well-educated parents (themselves well nourished) feed them properly and have access to medical care. How does the United States rank among the world’s roughly 200 nations? The latest available comparison (for 2010) shows that with 6.1 of every 1,000 live-born babies dying in the first year of life, the United States does not figure among the top 25 nations. Its infant mortality is far higher than in France (3.6), Germany (3.4), and Japan (2.3). And the U.S. rate was 60 percent higher than in Greece, a country portrayed in the press as an utter basket case.

Excusing that very poor rating by saying that the European countries have homogeneous populations does not work: Modern France and Germany are full of recent immigrants (just spend some time in Marseille or Düsseldorf). What matters more is parental knowledge, good nutrition, the extent of economic inequality, and access to universal health care, the United States being (notoriously) the only modern affluent country without the latter...

http://spectrum.ieee.org/at-work/education/american-exceptionalism

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE! SEE LINK

[Demeter]

21. Reality beckons (sword in hand)

I'm not really ready, but...see you tonight on Halloween Eve!

Must be time for more chocolate...

[Demeter]

23. A prime Example of what I mean (not for me, thankfully)

[Demeter]

26. How the Koch brothers and the super-rich are buying their way out of criticism ROBERT REICH

http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Robert-Reich/2015/0408/How-the-Koch-brothers-and-the-super-rich-are-buying-their-way-out-of-criticism

It’s bad enough big money is buying off politicians. It’s also buying off nonprofits that used to be sources of investigation, information, and social change, from criticizing big money. Not long ago I was asked to speak to a religious congregation about widening inequality. Shortly before I began, the head of the congregation asked that I not advocate raising taxes on the wealthy.

He said he didn’t want to antagonize certain wealthy congregants on whose generosity the congregation depended.

I had a similar exchange last year with the president of a small college who had invited me to give a lecture that his board of trustees would be attending. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t criticize Wall Street,” he said, explaining that several of the trustees were investment bankers. It seems to be happening all over:

A non-profit group devoted to voting rights decides it won’t launch a campaign against big money in politics for fear of alienating wealthy donors.

A Washington think-tank releases a study on inequality that fails to mention the role big corporations and Wall Street have played in weakening the nation’s labor and antitrust laws, presumably because the think tank doesn’t want to antagonize its corporate and Wall Street donors.

A major university shapes research and courses around economic topics of interest to its biggest donors, notably avoiding any mention of the increasing power of large corporations and Wall Street on the economy.

MORE

[DemReadingDU]

27. We are so screwed, n/t