Economy
Related: About this forumWeekend Economists Host a Moveable Feast October 10-12, 2014
Well, I came home early from the vet's. My old kitty (19 or so) has some kind of tumor which has cost her all the teeth on one side of her upper jaw. Since I think taking her to an oncologist would be the height of cruelty, she's on palliative care. But she's eating! So it can't be too dire just yet.
Some people eat to live, others live to eat. Me, I go both ways. Share your favorite recipes (if you are in the mood) and we can talk food. It's the staff of life, not the stock market, after all!
And what a week it's been! Stocks on a roller-coaster, peace elusive as ever, and the election barreling down on us while who knows what lurks in the health of humankind...
I think I'll have some more chocolate, thank you!
This kitty looks a lot like mine (only bigger)!
Demeter
(85,373 posts)The US economy has a problem: millions of Americans are left out.
There are at least 7m Americans who find their lives stagnating, the work they desire just out of reach. These workers get various names from economists discouraged workers, part-time for involuntary reasons but their ranks are still strong. Can the US do better than this? Heres a better question: could we do worse? Consider: of all the unemployed people counted by the American government, more than one-third have been without even a scrap of work for 27 weeks or more. Thats 27 weeks of stress and unpaid bills.
Its possible to work for a giant global company like Amazon and get paid so little that a homeless shelter is the only place for your family. Unemployment is a fact of life for many baby boomers into their golden years without a cushion. The price of education is still forbidding, and for those who can somehow cobble together the money through loans, the debt will be far greater than income for years...
We asked a panel of experts to pick their best policy ideas for fixing the unemployment crisis in America. Democratic senator Amy Klobuchar and former Republican senator Olympia Snowe criticise the intransigence of Congress and highlight job training. So do two respected economists, MIT professor Simon Johnson and Keystone Research labour economist Mark Price, who also advocate immigration reform and minimum wage increases....
Mark Price
Mark Price is a labour economist at the Keystone Research Center. His areas of research include income inequality, trends in employment and compensation, the construction industry, and low-wage labour markets.
You want to fix the unemployment crisis? Repeat after me: Save the planet, raise wages and make sure the kids really are alright. In order to forestall the worst predictions of catastrophic climate change the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has recommended that greenhouse gas emissions be reduced by 40% by 2035. Robert Pollin and his colleagues from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst in Green Growth layout an ambitious 20-year plan for America to do its part to meet that goal. One component of this plan is for the countrys largest landlord, the federal government, to fully fund a programme to make public buildings more energy efficient. With construction unemployment high the cost of construction is much cheaper now than it will be when the economy finally does fully recover. Act now and we can put people to work, save the taxpayer money and save the planet. Easy peasy.
Another side effect of Americas unemployment crisis is falling wages which is also sapping the economy of its most important dynamo consumer spending. David Cooper of the Economic Policy Institute estimates that a minimum wage increase to $10.10 hour would boost the incomes of millions of workers while generating thousands of jobs.You got that, Congress? Repeat after me in your best Ben Stiller impression: dooo it! MORE
IMO, THE OTHER THREE ARE CLUELESS IDIOTS...ESPECIALLY THE PETERSON INSTITUTE SHILL WHO WANTS MORE IMMIGRATION.
Demeter
(85,373 posts)You tell them, Oliver!
DemReadingDU
(16,000 posts)snot
(10,478 posts)Demeter
(85,373 posts)We have known since . . . well, when havent we known that our public officials are incompetent? Their incompetence is always expensive, but now it risks a worldwide ebola pandemic. With so little known about a deadly disease, one would think that with ebola on the rampage in three west Africa countries, air flights to and from these countries would be halted.
When riots or kidnappings present dangers in foreign lands, the State Department issues a travel advisory and warns, and sometimes prevents, Americans from traveling to areas of danger. As the ebola danger goes beyond the person himself, one would think public officials would have halted traffic to and from west Africa. In fact, it is harder for a critic of the US government, especially if the critic is Muslim, to enter the US than for a person infected with ebola. Indeed, there are a number of Russians who cannot enter the US because of unilaterally imposed US sanctions. But there are no sanctions against ebola.
Apparently, public health officials have an outdated and incorrect comprehension of ebola and how it spreads. A sufficient number of medical personnel protected against ebola patients body fluids but without respirators have now been infected to indicate that the current strain of ebola can spread by air like flu. This also means surface contact. Airplane cleaning crews at New York LaGuardia are on strike because there are no precautions or protections for cleaners who could come into contact with ebola from an infected passenger. Neither does the next passenger on an outgoing flight have any assurance that he will not be sitting in the seat occupied by an ebola carrier on the incoming flight.
In fact, something like this might have already occurred. A British citizen who has not been to countries where there are ebola outbreaks has just died in Skopje, Macedonia, apparently from ebola. His companion told authorities that they had travelled straight from the UK. The hotel has been sealed off, and the hotel staff and ambulance crew have been isolated. I assume also the traveling companion, but the report doesnt say. http://rt.com/news/194640-briton-ebola-macedonia-dead/
Five US airports that have flights to the infected west African countries have imposed screening on incoming passengers, such as temperature checks. This is better than nothing, but if, as is believed, the deadly virus has a long incubation period, this screening would only catch people with symptoms, and, of course, there are many reasons for high temperatures, especially during cold and flu season.
So what our incompetent public officials have arranged is screening that will quarantine people who have caught a cold but fail to catch those carrying ebola who have not yet come down with it.
Par for the course.
Dr. Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal. He was columnist for Business Week, Scripps Howard News Service, and Creators Syndicate. He has had many university appointments. His internet columns have attracted a worldwide following. Roberts' latest books are The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism and Economic Dissolution of the West and How America Was Lost.
See also -
Ebola scare: LaGuardia on strike, 58% of Americans want to ban flights from W. Africa: ?Airplane cabin cleaning crews at New Yorks LaGuardia International Airport began a 24-hour strike on Wednesday, citing, in part, possible exposure to the Ebola virus. Meanwhile, a poll found most Americans want flights banned from Ebola-ravaged areas. http://rt.com/usa/194596-ebola-laguardia-airport-strike/
Demeter
(85,373 posts)when you're diving at night, and your feet feel the bite,
that's a moray
when your hand's in the cave, suddenly you'll need saved,
that's a moray
when you blubber and scream, but you have a bad dream
that's amore
when he hits all your fingers, with teeth that are stingers,
a moray...
that's a moray that's a moray
little fella
when he bites on your thumb, takes a chunk of your bum,
that's a moray
when you reach in his cave, he's all bravo and brave
he's a moray
and it's not how it feels, and you know you have eels,
that's a moray....
scuzza me, but you see, let them be, or you'll see
lotsa morays.......
Demeter
(85,373 posts)When the moon hits your eye
like a big pizza pie
that's amore.
When an eel bites your hand
with a pain you can't stand
that's a moray.
When our habits are strange
and our customs deranged
that's our mores.
When your horse munches straw
and the bales total four
that's some more hay.
When a beam from the sun
lights the heath where we run
that's a moor ray.
When a sand-coated board
buffs your nails, yes milord,
that's emory.
And our friend Mitch Albom
every Tuesday would come
to hear Morrie.
A New Zealander lad
sports tatoos by his dad.
That's a Maori.
When a glacier's retreat
piles up stones at its feet
that's a moraine.
When two patterns of lines
cross to form new designs,
that's a moiré.
The briefest of pauses
in poetic clauses,
they are morae.
What the palest young man
needs to get a good tan,
that's some more rays.
When Othello's poor wife,
she gets stabbed with a knife
that's a Moor, eh?
A great whale in the sea
chases Raymond and me.
That's Shamu, Ray.
When a Japanese knight
used a sword in a fight
that's Samurai.
When a taffeta gown
looks like waves swirling round
that's a moiré.
When King Kong has gone flat,
rent the film Vampire Bat.
That's some more Wray.
He's a clown, he's a ham,
and his name's Amsterdam,
that's a Morey.
East of Eden's a book,
west of Sweden, go look,
that is Norway.
When the Chinese are shook
by the Little Red Book,
that's the Mao way!
http://www.contestcen.com/puns.htm
Demeter
(85,373 posts)In the Kafkaesque world of Guantanamo, even inmates cleared for release are held indefinitely and if they try to kill themselves via hunger strikes are brutally force-fed to keep them alive. Finally, a U.S. court is confronting whether the force-feeding can be done more humanely... In the first trial weighing the legality of force-feeding methods at the Guantanamo Bay prison, U.S. government lawyers have tried to disparage doctors and refute medical assessments regarding the best practices and ethics for treating inmates who have engaged in hunger strikes to protest their indefinite confinements, often after being cleared for release.
The case before Judge Gladys Kessler in Washington D.C.s District Court involves Abu Wael Dhiab, 43, a Syrian who ran a successful business in Afghanistan before the U.S. invaded 13 years ago. He fled, together with his wife and four children, to Pakistan where police seized him and turned him over to the U.S. probably for a large bounty, as was the usual practice.
In summer 2002, Dhiab was brought to Guantanamo Bay where he was held without charge or trial. Though cleared for release in 2009, Dhiab remains at the notorious prison, using hunger strikes to protest his Kafkaesque existence. In response to the hunger strikes, he like other inmates has been roughly removed from his cell and strapped to a chair as tubes are forced down his throat to feed him.
It is the manner in which the force-feeding process is carried out that is primarily at issue in Dhiabs case, including the forced cell extractions and the five-point restraint chair in which the head and limbs are tied down during the feeding.
Reprieve, a British-based human rights organization, filed a court challenge against Dhiabs treatment with some of the legal skirmishing around whether the public will be allowed to see video of Dhiab being dragged from his cell and force-fed once or twice a day, a total of 1,300 times, according to his lawyer. In June, 16 news organizations intervened in Dhiab v Obama seeking the videos of Dhiabs treatment...
BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE, EH?
Demeter
(85,373 posts)bread_and_roses
(6,335 posts)Last edited Sat Oct 11, 2014, 07:08 AM - Edit history (1)
I think extreme treatments for animals who can't understand what's going on is cruel. But I know that others make different decisions out of love, so try not to be judgmental about it.
On edit - what an idiot I am. I realize that's an idiotic statement - to say "I think it's cruel" and then try to ameliorate by saying "I try not to be judgmental" - what could be more judgmental?
antigop
(12,778 posts)DemReadingDU
(16,000 posts)"Weird Al" Yankovic was interviewed in last Sunday's Parade magazine
10/5/14
Alfred Yankovic (he used the nickname Weird Al for college radio gigs, and it stuck) has had a career longer than many of the musicians whose songs hes parodied, and that amazes him. I never thought Id be able to make a living doing exactly the things I love, he says. Yankovic, 54, who lives in the Hollywood Hills with his wife and 11-year-old daughter, tells Joel Keller, It seems like with each album, a new generation discovers me.
more...
http://parade.condenast.com/340203/joelkeller/weird-al-on-curly-hair-care-and-the-michael-jackson-song-that-got-away/
snot
(10,478 posts)when needed thx!
antigop
(12,778 posts)antigop
(12,778 posts)antigop
(12,778 posts)Also from Sweeney Todd:
WARNING: This is gross
"A Little Priest"
antigop
(12,778 posts)antigop
(12,778 posts)antigop
(12,778 posts)antigop
(12,778 posts)Fuddnik
(8,846 posts)Demeter
(85,373 posts)The most consequential civil liberties case in years is being argued before three judges in California on Wednesday, and it has little to do with the NSA but everything to do with taking away your privacy in the name of vague and unsubstantiated national security claims.
The landmark case revolves around National Security Letters (NSLs), the pernicious tool for surveillance-on-demand that the FBI has used with reckless abandon since 9/11 almost completely hidden from public view, even though theyre used to view the publics private information. To wit, NSLs allow the FBI to demand all sorts of your stuff from internet, telephone, banking and credit-card companies without any prior sign-off from a judge or their unwitting customers. Worse, companies are served a gag order, making it illegal for them not only to tell you which of your info is being pulled but to tell the public theyve received such a request at all.
Which is why the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is in court on Wednesday, why Twitter is now suing the US government, and the reason that anyone who cares about his or her privacy should be just as aware of the three letters NSL as everyone has no doubt already become with the acronym NSA.
The FBI has issued NSLs well over a hundred thousand times in the past decade, yet theyve only been challenged in court a handful of time. This is despite the fact that NSLs have been subject to countless scathing reports from civil-liberties groups showing they are widely abused, used in any number of cases that have nothing to do with national security, and have never been the basis to a terrorism conviction. Again, we sadly know few details about the scope of these powers, but the FBI also may have been using NSLs to help the NSA conduct internet surveillance on Americans. The bureau even has secret rules that allows them to use NSLs against journalists.
But last year, in a rare case, EFF won a huge case in California, where a judge ruled that the gag orders attached to NSLs are an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment, and struck down the entire National Security Letters statute. But the case was so consequential that the judge put a hold on enforcing her ruling until the Court of Appeals could rule on the contentious issue first. (Disclosure: I worked for EFF until just after the ruling.)
Yet hardly anyone remembers much of anything about this about what could be the end of the FBIs secret power over your secrets because it all happened just a couple months before Edward Snowdens revelations about the NSA re-drew Americas surveillance landscape.
Heres a clue as to how consequential National Security Letters really are and just how much federal law enforcement is clinging to that unjust power: None of the main Snowden revelations touched on NSLs, but when President Obamas hand-picked surveillance review panel issued their report on NSA reform recommendations late last year, two of the first three recommendations included a complete overhaul of the NSL system, given the FBI handing them out like candy, virtually unchecked, for over a decade....
MORE FASCISM AT LINK
snot
(10,478 posts)Demeter
(85,373 posts)In terms of purchasing power, China now has the largest economy on the entire planet, but that is not the only area where China has surpassed the United States. China also accounts for more total global trade than the U.S. does, China consumes more energy than the U.S. does, and China now manufactures more goods than the U.S. does. In other words, the era of American economic dominance is rapidly ending. Global economic power is making a dramatic shift to the east, and that is going to have huge implications for our future. We already owe the Chinese well over a trillion dollars, and as our economic infrastructure crumbles we are feverishly borrowing even more money in a desperate attempt to prop up our falling standard of living. We cant seem to match the work ethic, inventiveness and determination of China and other Asian nations and it is showing. If we continue down this path, what will the future look like for future generations of Americans?
In terms of raw GDP, the U.S. is still number one, at least for now. But according to the IMF, China is now the number one economy on the entire planet in terms of purchasing power
So the IMF measures both GDP in market exchange terms, and in terms of purchasing power. On the purchasing power basis, China is overtaking the US right about now and becoming the worlds biggest economy.
When I first learned about this, I was quite stunned. I knew that Chinas economy had been roaring, but like most Americans I just assumed that the U.S. would continue to remain head and shoulders above everyone else. Unfortunately, things are changing at a pace that is much faster than most people ever thought possible. The following are 26 other ways that China has surpassed America
#1 When you add up all imports and exports, China now accounts for more total global trade than the United States does.
#2 There is now more total corporate debt in China than there is in the United States.
#3 During 2013, we sold about 121 billion dollars worth of stuff to the Chinese, but they sold about 440 billion dollars worth of stuff to us. That was the largest trade deficit that one nation has had with another nation in the history of the world.
#4 China is now the leading manufacturer of goods in the entire world.
#5 Back in 1998, the United States had 25 percent of the worlds high-tech export market and China had just 10 percent. Today, Chinas high-tech exports are more than twice the size of U.S. high-tech exports.
#6 The United States had been the leading consumer of energy in the world for about 100 years, but during the summer of 2010 China took over the number one spot.
#7 China now has the largest new car market in the entire world.
#8 China has more foreign currency reserves than anyone else on the planet.
#9 China is the number one gold producer in the world.
#10 China is also the number one gold importer in the world.
#11 15 years ago, China was 14th in the world in published scientific research articles. But now, China is expected to pass the United States and become number one very shortly.
#12 China is also expected to soon become the global leader in patent filings.
#13 China awards more doctoral degrees in engineering each year than the United States does.
#14 China has the worlds fastest train and the worlds most extensive high-speed rail network.
#15 China uses more cement than the rest of the world combined.
#16 Today, China produces nearly twice as much beer as the United States does.
#17 85 percent of all artificial Christmas trees are made in China.
#18 There are more pigs in China than in the next 43 pork producing nations combined.
#19 China is now the number one producer of wind and solar power on the entire globe.
#20 China produces more than twice as much cotton as the United States does.
#21 China produces more than three times as much coal as the United States does.
#22 China now produces 11 times as much steel as the United States does.
#23 China controls over 90 percent of the total global supply of rare earth elements.
#24 An investigation by the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services found more than one million counterfeit Chinese parts in the Department of Defense supply chain.
#25 According to author Clyde Prestowitz, Chinas number one export to the U.S. is computer equipment. According to an article in U.S. News & World Report, the number one U.S. export to China is scrap and trash.
#26 Nobel economist Robert W. Fogel of the University of Chicago is projecting that the Chinese economy will be three times larger than the U.S. economy by the year 2040 if current trends continue.
The Chinese are using some of their new wealth to buy up land, properties and businesses here in the United States. In fact, just the other day we learned that a group from China is buying New York Citys Waldorf Astoria hotel...MORE
Demeter
(85,373 posts)An American passenger was booted off a US Airways flight and screened after reportedly joking that he had Ebola and telling the rest of the flyers they were screwed.
During a flight from Philadelphia to the Dominican Republic, the 54-year-old American who remains unidentified reportedly yelled, I have Ebola, you are all screwed, according to the Dominican news outlet Diario Libre.
He also yelled out, Ive been to Africa! an airport official told Fox News Latino.
He didnt yell bomb, but he might as well have. After the supposed joke was aired, there was noticeable panic and concern on the airplane, which was carrying 290 passengers. The plane was isolated as soon as it landed in Punta Cana, where a medical team outfitted with hazmat suits boarded the aircraft and removed the passenger.
After conducting a medical check, the passenger was found not to be infected with the virus. Though he was coughing on the flight, he had no fever when he was inspected. He had never been to Africa, either....
Demeter
(85,373 posts)Though U.S. military spending is at historic highs, Obama suggests nearly non-existent cuts are going too far....
President Obama's comments on Wednesday that U.S. military spending is under threat of "draconian" cuts were met with immediate rebuke from analysts, who say the poor are bearing the brunt of austerity while the war budget remains largely untouched. That the president's comments came in the midst of the expansion of the costly U.S.-led war against Iraq and Syria sparked concern that the president could be signaling further escalation to come.
"The fact that President Obama is talking about military cuts right now, just as he is escalating the war in Syria and Iraq, is a very dangerous sign that he might be anticipating escalations that would be even more costly than the current round of bombings, drone strikes, special operations, and relatively small numbers of boots on the ground," said Phyllis Bennis, director of the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, in an interview with Common Dreams.
Addressing the Pentagon leadership Wednesday, Obama stated, "We have done some enormous work, and I want to thank everybody sitting around this table to continue to make our forces leaner, meaner, more effective, more tailored to the particular challenges that were going to face in the 21st century. But we also have to make sure that Congress is working with us to avoid, for example, some of the draconian cuts that are called for in sequestration."
His statements echo those of Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who argued in March that that military sequestration jeopardizes "America's traditional role as a guarantor of global security, and ultimately our own security."
Hawkish lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have been using the expanding U.S. war on Iraq and Syria to argue against U.S. military spending cuts. "If we dont replace the cuts in sequestration, were going to compromise our ability to be successful against ISIL and other emerging threats," said Sen. Lindsey Graham.
"The supposed slashing leaves the military budget higher than all but a couple of years of the budget since World War II."Miriam Pemberton, Institute for Policy StudiesRaed Jarrar, policy impact coordinator for the American Friends Service Committee, told Common Dreams, "The crisis within Iraq and Syria is being used to promote the vision that the world is a scary place, we need more weapons to protect ourselves, and the military is facing these crazy cuts. But the premise that we have military cuts is not accurate. Obama's remarks signal there will not be any push-back from the White House."
Mattea Kramer, research director at National Priorities Project, argues in a March article that the Pentagon, in fact, is "crying wolf." When it went into effect in March 2013, sequestration was supposed to cut $54.6 billion from the $550 billion Pentagon budget. But thanks to intervention from Congress, as well as the Pentagon's manipulation of budgeting rules, the Pentagon only ended up cutting $31 billion from its 2013 budget, explains Kramer.
The 2014 budget tells a similar story. Sequestration was supposed to slash $54.6 billion from the military budget in 2014, but thanks to a deal between lawmakers, and war funding from other stashesincluding extra congressional funds and the "Overseas Contingency Operations" budgetthe 2014 budget was only cut by $3.4 billion, less than one percent. "After two years of uproar over mostly phantom cuts, 2015 isnt likely to bring austerity to the Pentagon either," Kramer writes.
Miriam Pemberton, research fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, told Common Dreams that the "the supposed slashing leaves the military budget higher than all but a couple of years of the budget since World War II."
The U.S. continues to spend more on the military than the next 11 countries combined, and for the year 2015, 45 percent of U.S. income tax money is slated to go to current and past military spending. Meanwhile, domestic public servicesfrom cancer research to the Head Start program to domestic violence sheltersface real austerity. Furthermore, as Pemberton and Ellen Powell point out in an Institute for Policy Studies report released last month, U.S. spending to address the climate crisis lags far behind military spending: between 2008 to 2013, climate change spending grew from 1 percent of military spending to 4 percent.
"The Pentagon's budget remains bloated, and it gets much too big a chunk out of our tax dollars," said Bennis. "The really draconian impact of sequestration cuts have been felt by working people and poor people across the United States far more than it has by the Pentagon."
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License
Demeter
(85,373 posts)snot
(10,478 posts)xchrom
(108,903 posts)WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Friday on that prior to the 2008 bailout of American International Group <aig.n>, he was concerned that the insurer "was on the brink of default" and not about punishing AIG.
Bernanke's comments came in a fifth day of testimony by former top government officials, who mean to convince a federal judge that their actions in rescuing the insurance company were legal.
Bernanke, on the witness stand for a second day, said when the initial $85 billion loan package for AIG was approved, he focused on the idea that "our intervention would spare it the discipline of the market."
Former AIG Chief Executive Hank Greenberg, who also was the company's largest shareholder before the bailout, sued the government in 2011. He argued that the loan, which came with an interest rate of more than 12 percent and a nearly 80 percent U.S. stake in AIG, resulted in an illegal taking of the company from shareholders.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/r-ex-fed-chair-bernanke-wanted-to-stop-aig-default-not-punish-firm-2014-10#ixzz3FpabZEKF
xchrom
(108,903 posts)Friday's 115-point sell-off in the Dow Jones Industrial Average sent the 30-stock index into the red for the year.
Closing at 16,544, the Dow is now below its Dec. 31, 2013 close of 16,576.
Some market-watchers think this is just a brief blip in the 5-year old bull market. Others warn this could be the beginning of something much scarier.
One thing's for sure: volatility is back in the markets.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/dow-average-negative-for-2014-2014-10#ixzz3FpdTU8tD
xchrom
(108,903 posts)The Pentagon is estimating the cost of U.S. air operations in Iraq and Syria at about $7.6 million a day.
Thats about $424 million from the start of airstrikes on Aug. 8 through through Oct. 2, according to new data provided by the Defense Department.
The latest estimate is at the low end of a range of $7.5 million to $10 million a day that Pentagon officials, including Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, have cited since last month. The monthly cost of about $225 million compares with an average of $4.6 billion a month that the Pentagon has been spending on air and ground operations in Afghanistan as of June 30, the most recent data available.
The Pentagon said from the beginning that their initial cost estimates were just rough estimates, so its not surprising to see the numbers change, Todd Harrison, the defense budget analyst for the nonpartisan Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in Washington, said in an e-mail.
Defense officials also confirmed for the first time that AC-130 gunships made by Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) have joined bombers such as the the B-1B and fighters such as the the F-16, F-15E and F/A-18 in attacking Islamic State targets in Iraq. Announcements have referred only to the use of unspecified attack aircraft.
xchrom
(108,903 posts)For most American stocks, the correction has arrived.
While gauges such as the Standard & Poors 500 Index (SPX) cling to gains for the year, declines that exceed the 10 percent are spreading in the broader market. In the Russell 3000 Index (RAY), for example, 79 percent of companies are down that much from their highs, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Thats a bad sign to Doug Ramsey, the chief investment officer of Leuthold Group LLC who correctly predicted in July 2013 that the U.S. bull market had months more to go. He said that when losses multiply in stocks away from benchmark indexes, it usually means the bigger companies are next.
Were not expecting a bear market, but we are expecting a significant additional correction, Ramsey, who helps oversee $1.7 billion at Minneapolis-based Leuthold, said by phone. Were seeing very classic late-cycle action where the Dow and S&P 500 are painting a very false picture of whats going on underneath.
Concern the rate of global growth is slowing and the Federal Reserve is preparing to raise interest rates has pushed the S&P 500 down 5.2 percent from its September record. The 1,700-stock Value Line Arithmetic index, which strips out weightings related to market value to show how the average U.S. stock has fared, is down 10 percent since July.
xchrom
(108,903 posts)To fight wrong-headed oversight, insurers traditionally turn to lobbyists and lawmakers.
Axa SA (CS) is picking up the Bible.
Some regulators have proposed restrictions on contracts that they see as new and risky. The Bible shows there is a long history of making such deals, said Christian Thimann, who joined Axa from the European Central Bank this year.
If one looks back, one finds that derivatives are almost as old as mankind, Thimann said yesterday at a conference held by the Institute of International Finance in Washington.
In the Old Testament, Jacob bought an option to marry Rachel, he said. So there are derivatives 1,700 years before Christ.
In the Bible, Jacob agrees to work for seven years to earn the right to marry Rachel. Hes tricked into marrying her older sister Leah, then eventually weds Rachel as well.
Thimann, whos head of strategy and public affairs at Paris-based Axa, has a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Munich. He spoke yesterday alongside regulators and executives from New York-based MetLife Inc. (MET) and Swiss Re Ltd. at a conference panel, which focused on how to regulate insurers that operate globally.
Demeter
(85,373 posts)Slavery by any other name smells bad
antigop
(12,778 posts)"Hes tricked into marrying her older sister Leah,..."
Oh, so people have been screwed by derivatives since the very beginning of their existence.
xchrom
(108,903 posts)The European Central Bank will discuss next week whether to begin laying the groundwork to add the Chinese yuan to its foreign-currency reserves, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.
Governing Council members gathering in Frankfurt for their Oct. 15 mid-month meeting will consider the move, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions arent public. Should officials eventually decide to buy the currency, initial purchases would be small and might start in a year at the earliest, one of them said.
Such a measure by the ECB would mark a major step in the internationalization of Chinas currency, also known as the renminbi. While China is the worlds second-largest national economy, the yuan isnt ranked among the most-held foreign reserve assets, according to data from the International Monetary Fund. The U.S. dollar leads at 61 percent of holdings.
The agenda of the Governing Council is confidential, an ECB spokesman said, declining to comment further on the matter.
Demeter
(85,373 posts)the US should slam the borders shut (you can come in, if you are impoverished). And change the money system entirely and renounce the dollar (both paper and digital).
Then rebuild under non-Capitalistic organizations.
xchrom
(108,903 posts)Glance at Portugals government bond yields and youd think the securities shouldve been lifted to investment grade months ago. Dig below the surface, and market conditions tell you its a case of buyer beware.
The debt outperformed that of regional peers this month through Oct. 8 as analysts at Danske Bank A/S predict the nations junk status will be removed by Fitch Ratings today. Yet with the gap between offers to buy and sell the bonds 15 times bigger than for Germany, Lombard Odier Investment Managers and Pacific Investment Management Co. are cautious. Even with Portugals yields more attractive than Germanys, the investors are unsure about finding enough buyers when prices drop.
We still may have the same economic view as someone buying Portuguese bonds, but I think the liquidity premium is key here, Grant Peterkin, a senior money manager at Lombard Odier, which oversees the equivalent of $164 billion, said by phone on Oct. 8 from London. Its great to get the yield but you dont want the drawdowns.
Portugals 10-year government bond yield has fallen by more than half this year as the nation exited its international bailout program and ended a three-year exile from bond auctions. Tapping investors appetite for longer-maturity debt, the nation auctioned bonds due in 2020 this week, and its 10-year yield tumbled to a record 2.92 percent today.
Within the absolute return strategies that Peterkin manages, he prefers government bonds from core countries such as the U.K. and Germany, and has not bought any Portuguese debt.
xchrom
(108,903 posts)Climate change policy is often assumed to be a lose-lose proposition. Nations can pay now for expensive carbon-reduction policies, or they can pay later -- potentially a lot more -- through destructive climate-related events like storms, droughts and flooding.
In the U.S., however, that take may not be correct, according to a new study by the environmental group World Resources Institute. It says that improving buildings' energy efficiency, boosting the fuel-economy of automobiles and cutting leaks from the production and transport of natural gas can save money now and cut climate change later.
GDP growth and energy use historically tend to be coupled, moving up and down in near unison. The U.S. economy since the early 1990s has demonstrated thats not necessarily the case, at least to the degree commonly assumed. Climate change itself imposes economic costs, the report states, and reducing each ton of greenhouse gas emissions has a value that is not currently internalized in the U.S. economy.''
Demeter
(85,373 posts)I hope you post this in the greater DU world, X. It's very important!
xchrom
(108,903 posts)Manfred Noetzel has a message for Deutsche Bank AG (DBK): Dont mess with Bavarian justice.
A day after his Munich Prosecutors Office sealed a $100 million settlement with Formula Ones Bernie Ecclestone in August, Noetzels team slapped criminal charges on five current and former executives at Germanys largest bank.
Noetzel, 64, is taking his fight on crime to the heart of the countrys financial industry as he reaches the pinnacle of a career that spans more than three decades and blazes a trail through the boardrooms of companies from Siemens AG to MAN SE and now Deutsche Bank.
Today, theres no company that could say: Were untouchable, no one can get us, Noetzel, chief of the Munich Prosecutors Office, said in an interview. Those times are over.
Demeter
(85,373 posts)A new UN resolution is being compared to the US Patriot Act. How the text could allow countries to increase surveillance under the name of counter terrorism, as well as giving states new tools to crack down on dissent by simply labeling activists terrorists.
kickysnana
(3,908 posts)xchrom
(108,903 posts)WASHINGTON (AP) -- The United States expressed frustration that a number of countries were not doing enough to boost growth in their economies as finance ministers from the world's largest economies conveyed determination to prevent a slide into another global recession.
Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew complained that governments in Europe, Japan and China were failing to deliver needed support.
"European leaders should focus on recalibrating policies to address persistent demand weakness," Lew said in comments prepared for a session of the policy-setting committee of the International Monetary Fund, which was scheduled to conclude its discussions Saturday.
The policy-setting committee of the World Bank also was to meet, and both groups were expected to return to addressing the Ebola crisis in West Africa.
xchrom
(108,903 posts)Here are the key issues.
AS GERMANY GOES: So does Europe, in many ways. Strong business activity in Germany has made the overall growth figure for the 18 countries that use the euro look a lot better in the past few years. And Europe showed zero growth in the second quarter. Germany is 28 percent of European GDP. And the value chain for companies in other countries often runs through Germany. Suppliers in Italy or France, for example, sell chemicals, coatings or parts to a Germany company that assembles the final factory machine or car.
GLOBALLY SPEAKING: A renewed slump, or long-term stagnation in Europe is a risk for the global economy as a whole. That's one reason why International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde keeps urging more stimulus for the region. The European Union, of which Germany is the biggest economy, is the world's largest economy and trading bloc. It's a key export market for many firms in the U.S., and a source of investment capital, big-ticket goods and technology for China. In particular, U.S. auto firms such as Ford Motor Co. and General Motors, through its Opel subsidiary, have struggled through a long slump in consumer demand for cars in Europe.
STIMULUS NEEDED: Things in Europe are so worrisome that the European Central Bank is launching more stimulus measures. It cut its interest rate to near zero and is preparing to purchase bundles of bank loans to encourage more lending. Yet even bank President Mario Draghi has warned that the stimulus will not be effective unless several eurozone governments act to make their economies more business-friendly. France and Italy are often mentioned as countries that could make labor rules more flexible to encourage hiring and investment. But progress is slow.
Demeter
(85,373 posts)...First, ordinary Americans arent celebrating the deficits decline because they dont know about it. Thats not mere speculation on my part. Earlier this year, YouGov polled Americans on fiscal issues, asking among other things whether the deficit had increased or declined since President Obama took office. (In case youre wondering, the pollsters carefully explained the difference between annual deficits and the level of accumulated debt.) More than half of those polled said it had gone up, while only 19 percent correctly said that it had gone down. Why doesnt the public know better? Probably because of the way much of the news media report this and other issues, with bad news played up and good news downplayed if its reported at all.
This has been glaringly obvious in the case of health reform, where every problem with the Affordable Care Act has been the subject of headlines, while in right-wing media and to some extent in mainstream news sources favorable developments go unremarked. As a result, many people even, in my experience, liberals have the impression that the rollout of Obamacare has been a disaster, and have no idea that enrollment is above expectations, costs are lower than expected, and the number of Americans without insurance has dropped sharply. Surely something similar has happened on the budget deficit. But what about people who pay a lot of attention to the budget, the self-proclaimed deficit hawks? (Some of us prefer to call them deficit scolds.) Theyve spent the past few years telling us that budget shortfalls are the most important issue facing the nation, that terrible things will happen unless we act to stem the flow of red ink. Are they expressing satisfaction over the fading of that threat? Not a chance. Far from celebrating the deficits decline, the usual suspects fiscal-scold think tanks, inside-the-Beltway pundits seem annoyed by the news. Its a false victory, they declare. Trillion dollar deficits are coming back, they warn. And theyre furious with President Obama for saying that its time to get past mindless austerity and manufactured crises. Hes declaring mission accomplished, they say, when he should be making another push for entitlement reform.
All of which demonstrates a truth that has been apparent for a while, if you have been paying close attention: Deficit scolds actually love big budget deficits, and hate it when those deficits get smaller. Why? Because fears of a fiscal crisis fears that they feed assiduously are their best hope of getting what they really want: big cuts in social programs. A few years ago they almost managed to bully the nation into cutting Social Security and/or raising the Medicare eligibility age; they even had hopes of turning Medicare into an underfinanced voucher program. Now that window of opportunity is closing fast.
But isnt the falling deficit just a short-term blip, with the long-run outlook as dire as ever? Actually, no. Falling deficits right now have a lot to do with a strengthening economy plus some of that mindless austerity the president condemned. But there has also been a dramatic slowdown in the growth of health spending and if that continues, the long-run fiscal outlook is much better than anyone thought possible not long ago. Yes, current projections still show a rising ratio of debt to G.D.P. starting some years from now, and uncomfortable levels of debt a generation from now. But given all the clear and present dangers we face, its hard to see why dealing with that distant and uncertain prospect should be any kind of policy priority. So lets say goodbye to fiscal hysteria. I know that the deficit scolds are having a hard time letting go; theyre still trying to bring back the days when Bowles and Simpson bestrode the Beltway like colossi. But those days arent coming back, and we should be glad.
Demeter
(85,373 posts)Customers may unknowingly sign away their right to free speech by accepting the terms of service without reading the fine print. To prevent consumers from posting negative reviews, some companies are slipping non-disparagement clauses into contracts. If users post bad reviews online, even accounts that are completely truthful, they could be sued for violating the terms of these so-called agreements. Companies do have the right to sue people for disparaging reviews if they are false. The issue at hand is whether a company can sue a client for posting a negative review that is true. As of now, litigation is largely determined on a case-by-case and state-by-state basis...
...
However, the law doesn't always stand on the side of the consumer; particularly when a reviewer posts libelous and slanderous content that is impossible to prove. In 2011, a plastic surgeon and a physician in Arizona were awarded $12 million in damages after suing a former patient who created a website defaming the doctors' credentials and accusing them of botching her surgery... Yelps senior litigation director Aaron Schur said, Litigation isnt a very good substitute for customer service, and businesses considering using the courts as a weapon against their customers should think twice. Overreacting to a bad review can often make things worse, as most courts are quick to protect online reviewers in the face of intimidation.
...
Last month, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed what's known as the "Yelp Bill" into law. This law prohibits California businesses from incorporating non-disparagement into contracts and penalizing customers for posting negative reviews.
Several weeks later, the Consumer Review Freedom Act was proposed in Congress by California representatives Eric Swalwell and Rep. Brad Sherman. This national act would also prohibit businesses from including non-disparagement clauses in their contracts. The law will go into effect in 2015; any company that attempts to penalize a client for posting an honest negative review will be fined $2,500 for the first offense and $5,000 for each additional offense.
"It's un-American that any consumer would be penalized for writing an honest review," Swalwell said in a statement. "I'm introducing this legislation to put a stop to this egregious behavior so people can share honest reviews without fear of litigation."
....
How Consumers Can Protect Themselves
When signing a contract, always read the fine print. Look for key phrases such as agree not to disparage, non-disparagement, and a no-review policy. The wording isn't always straightforward, so note anything that implies legal action or a fine for reviews and/or disparagement.
Paul Alan Levy of Public Citizen advises consumers to "be leery of any company that attempts to dissuade its customers from writing honest reviews. A respectable business builds a positive reputation through word of mouth. Any sort of no-review or non-disparagement policy should be regarded as a red flag, indicating that a company may have something to hide."
For those who are facing fines and litigation, First Amendment advocacy groups like Electronic Frontier Foundation and Public Citizen are dedicated to protecting consumers. They often give legal help, but these services can be costly.
Some homeowners and renters insurance policies cover libel suits. Defamation, slander and libel often fall under personal injury coverage or umbrella liability.
These recent legal battles shouldn't discourage customers from posting honest reviews online. Many businesses thrive thanks to consumer review sites. Amazon and Yelp encourage users to share their opinions, whether they're good or bad, as long as they are truthful and accurate. Both Amazon and Yelp provide guidelines for unbiased content that won't land users in hot water.
xchrom
(108,903 posts)http://vimeo.com/108517403
In Bologna, locals are fanatical about their namesake dish, that very famous slow-cooked meat sauce called Bolognese. It must always dress tagliatelle (never spaghetti!) and it mustn't ever be rushedsimmering Bolognese can be an all-day affair.
This classic recipe, with its obsessive attention to detail, needs nothing extra. Yet chefs across the country have started to play around with itnot to improve upon the original, necessarily, but to use it as a springboard for something new entirely.
Case in point: a recent dinner at Còmodo, a tiny, candlelit nook in downtown New York, where at least half the tables were hushed over their plates, leaning forward to share a bowl of roasted poblano Bolognese.
Read more: http://www.tastingtable.com/entry_detail/national/18057/Video_How_to_Make_Poblano_Bolognese_with_Comodo.htm#ixzz3FptAbdD9
xchrom
(108,903 posts)NEW YORK (AP) -- Standard & Poor's Rating Services on Friday lowered its outlook for France's credit rating to "negative" from "stable," saying the country's economic picture is dimming.
S&P maintained France's rating at "AA" - two notches below the firm's highest investment grade. But the lowered outlook indicates the rating could be downgraded sometime in the next two years if France's economy deteriorates, the firm said.
The French economy may run into trouble because the government may not be able to implement reforms need to spur growth, S&P said.
The firm lowered its projections for France's economic growth over the next three years and predicted that government deficits will take up a larger portion of the country's gross domestic product.
xchrom
(108,903 posts)Remember, your loved ones will consume as many pretzel slider sandwiches as you can make. So make plenty.
Servings:35 rolls
Ingredients
6 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 1/2 cups warm water
3/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
7 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more for sprinkling
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/4 cup baking soda
2 cups warm water
Directions:
In a mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, briefly blend the yeast, warm water, and 1 teaspoon of the sugar. Let rest about 10 minutes so it can bloom to activate the yeast.
After yeast has activated, add the flour, remaining sugar, salt and oil. Mix for 5 minutes or until a smooth, dense dough has formed.
Remove the dough from the mixer and transfer to a greased medium-sized bowl. Let the dough rise in a warm place for 2 hours or until doubled in size.
Line a baking sheet with kitchen parchment and spray it with nonstick cooking spray. Divide the dough into 3 equal pieces and roll each piece into a rope about 2 inches in diameter. Cut each rope into 1-inch pieces. This should give you roughly 35 rolls.
Place the rolls on the prepared baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Cover with a clean dishcloth and let rise again for 30 minutes.
Heat the oven to 425 degrees F. In another bowl, combine the baking soda and warm water. Transfer the baking soda solution to a spray bottle and spray the rolls generously with the solution. Sprinkle with extra kosher salt if you like. Bake for 15 minutes until the rolls are a rich dark brown all over. Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet.
xchrom
(108,903 posts)Servings:12 to 16 pies
Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter, cold
2 cups all- purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup Melted unsalted butter for serving, cold, cut into cubes
3 to 5 tablespoons, ice water
Directions:
1. Cut the butter into 1/2-in/12-mm cubes, and freeze them while you measure and mix the dry ingredients.
2. To make the dough in a food processor: Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in the processor and pulse three or four times to mix. Retrieve the butter cubes from the freezer, scatter them over the flour mixture, and pulse until the mixture forms pea-size clumps. Add the ice water, 1 tbsp at a time, and pulse to mix, adding just enough water for the dough to come together.
To make the dough by hand: In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, and salt. Retrieve the butter cubes from the freezer and distribute them evenly in the flour mixture, coating them with the flour mixture. Sink your fingers into the mixture and begin pinching the butter and flour together, making thin, floury disks of the butter. Continue working the mixture until the butter is broken down first into floury pea-sized beads and then into a loose mixture that resembles wet sand. Drizzle in 3 tbsp of the ice water and use your hand like a comb to mix in the liquid just until the dough holds together. If necessary, add additional water, 1 tbsp at a time, until the dough comes together in a crumbly mass.
Alternatively, if using a pastry blender, whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Scatter the butter evenly over the flour mixture, and stir to coat with the flour mixture. Using a swift, downward motion, cut the butter into the dry ingredients, turning the bowl and then plunging the cutter into the mixture repeatedly. You may need to stop occasionally to slip chunks of butter from the blades back into the flour. Continue cutting until the mixture resembles wet sand. Drizzle in 3 tbsp of the water and use a fork or your fingers to mix in the liquid just until the dough holds together. If necessary, add additional water, 1 tbsp at a time, until the dough comes together in a crumbly mass.
3. Turn the dough out onto a clean, floured work surface or sheet of parchment paper. Gather the dough together in a mound, then knead it a few times to smooth it out. Divide it in half, and gently pat and press each half into a rough rectangle, circle, or square about 1 in/2.5 cm thick. The shape you choose depends on what shape you will be rolling out the dough. If you dont know how you will be using the dough at this point, opt for a circle. Wrap in plastic wrap or in the parchment paper and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 3 days.
DemReadingDU
(16,000 posts)I have always made pie crust with Crisco. I don't know why I never tried butter. Butter is much more flavorful than Crisco! I need to make a pie!
bread_and_roses
(6,335 posts)... "cold, in cubes."
Butter is better than Crisco, and a lard-butter combo better yet. And a pastry cutter works better than fingers, which tend to make the butter "greasy" even with flour coating. Cold is better, the less handling the better.
Demeter
(85,373 posts)...Concerned with their legacies, the main actors in the unfolding drama of the 2008 financial crisis have been intent on the public knowing exactly how they believe it happened. Former Treasury secretary Tim Geithner wasted no time before going on a tour to defend his role in the bailouts. These tours and book by the main players are specifically to help historians see what they were seeing and to defend their role in history. Bernanke is no exception. He took the stage at Radio City Music Hall as the closing speaker for the 2014 World of Business Forum. He used most of the hour-long session to defend his role in the response to the financial crisis and to express optimism about the current state of economy.
Asked who was to blame for the 2008 financial crisis, he pleaded for some understanding from historians, saying:
I would just talk a little bit about the experience of Lehman weekend, because there is a lot of revisionism out there, Bernanke told an audience in New York on Wednesday, This kind of a view that says: Well, everybody knew that Lehman should be protected and not allowed to fail, but the Fed and Treasury they went ahead and let it fail anyways. Thats really got the history exactly backwards.
Even as Bernanke works hard to ensure his legacy is portrayed in a more positive light, there is a feeling that most Americans could not care less.
You know, according to a recent poll, 17% of the population still thinks that Alan Greenspan is the chairman of the Federal Reserve. So I must have made a big impression, Bernanke joked Wednesday, referring to a Pew Research Center poll that came out earlier this month.
Bernanke painted himself as a salesman one who has to sell the message of recovery to the public. Its something he feels he hasnt done well.
BEN, REALITY DOESN'T NEED A SALESMAN...FRAUD AND CON GAMES DO
Main St and the average Americans are still not feeling this so-called recovery. Despite the fact that the recovery began as early as June 2009, about 46% of Americans still think that the US is in recession. This month unemployment rate has dropped below 6% for the first time since July of 2008, but there are still 6.3 million people who are long term unemployed. Another 7.1 million of workers are working part-time jobs because they cannot find a full-time job. American pay checks are at levels not seen since 1995....
MORE SELF-JUSTIFICATION
The message seems to be that a good economic recovery wont come into existence from spinning a positive narrative or selling a good story. Those protecting their legacies from presidents to Fed chairmen to Treasury secretaries seem to be telling the story of a world that has diverged significantly from the reality that many Americans feel. Stop selling, Americans seem to be saying, and start doing.
Demeter
(85,373 posts)I guess last night's lasagna is finally digested...
Well, breakfast and a whirl of responsibilities call me away...see you all tonight!
rogerashton
(3,918 posts)We are off to the vet with our 14 year old kitty in a half-hour. Hope she comes back. The 17 year old is hanging in.
For the song whimsey -- sung to the tune of Amapola, the Pretty Little Poppy:
Paranioa!
Those funny little fears
have troubled me for years
and years
incessantly.
Paranoia!
I really don't enjoy ya.
You complicate my
daily life
incredibly.
I'm afraid of falling over!
On the street I run for cover!
And I never trust my lover --
though she treats me just fine.
And I know that people hate me,
and they constantly berate me,
laugh at me and always slight me
behind my back all the time.
Paranoia,
those funny little fears
have troubled me for years
and years
gone by.
Paranoia!
Paranoia!
How I fear that all my fears
are paranoid.
Demeter
(85,373 posts)If you feel kinship, stop in again. We are open each weekend, and during the week, on the Stock Market Watch daily thread....
And remember, just because you are paranoid, it doesn't mean they aren't out to get you!
antigop
(12,778 posts)MattSh
(3,714 posts)We do not read much about Ukraine lately, do we? With unseemly speed, among the most important developments of the last few years has fallen out of the paper. There is a reason for this: Washington has sustained another, in this case very major, defeat. The policy failed. And we Americans cannot talk about defeat and failure if they are our own.
The moment of truth was the cease-fire accord the Kiev government, Moscow and the two republics declared in eastern Ukraine signed in Minsk on September 5. With that document, Vladimir Putin succeeded in putting a stop to the preposterous charade wherein Ukraine was supposed to swerve smoothly into the Euro-American camp, so rolling out the neoliberal agenda like linoleum straight up to Russias borders.
Nice try, Victoria Nuland and all other new world order idolators. Actually, it was a very horrific try, costing several thousand lives and wrecking cities and vast parts of eastern Ukraines productive infrastructure. All this for the sake of deregulated capital and free markets. Is there a widow in Donetsk who will one day explain, Son, your father died because the Americans put people in charge who wanted corporations such as Chevron to profit from our resources while pushing our family into poverty?
The Minsk protocol provides for a sanitized corridor nearly 20 miles wide between Kiev-controlled territory and the eastern sections of the country, where Russian is the first language and the seductions of free-market capitalism have not gone over so well. This is near-term common sense.
Further out, the eastern Donbass is to get some degree of autonomy greater than the insincere offer Kiev has made to date. And the eastern region will hold its own elections, these now brought forward over Kievs objections to November 2.
Complete story at -http://www.salon.com/2014/10/07/weve_corporatized_the_planet_the_unseemly_secret_about_americas_foreign_policy/
Still maybe a bit optimistic, if you ask me...
antigop
(12,778 posts)MattSh
(3,714 posts)As if the fast degenerating geo-political situation isnt bad enough, heres another lorry load of concerns to add to the pile.
The UK and US economies may be on the mend at last, but thats not the pattern elsewhere. On a global level, growth is being steadily drowned under a rising tide of debt, threatening renewed financial crisis, a continued squeeze to living standards, and eventual mass default.
I exaggerate only a little in depicting this apocalyptic view of the future as the conclusion of the latest Geneva Report, an annual assessment informed by a top drawer conference of leading decision makers and economic thinkers of the big challenges facing the global economy.
Aptly titled Deleveraging? What Deleveraging?, the report points out that, far from paying down debt since the financial crisis of 2008/9, the world economy as a whole has in fact geared up even further. The raw numbers make explosive reading.
Contrary to widely held assumptions, the world has not yet begun to de-lever. In fact global debt-to-GDP public and private non financial debt - is still growing, breaking new highs by the month.
Complete story at - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11129108/Mass-default-looms-as-world-sinks-beneath-a-sea-of-debt.html
Demeter
(85,373 posts)but surely, there must be some end to this madness in the near future....
I just hope it's not a pandemic with 90% mortality. That would be world-class deleveraging, dropping us back into the 14th century....7000 years down the tubes.
Or, it could be 9000% inflation, finally coming to bear (in spite of Dr. Krugman's protestations).
Or, it could be WWIII, brought to you by those friendly people at PNAC.
Or, it could be all three at once. A massive Karmic balancing that few survive.
I think it's time for more chocolate. On the house!
MattSh
(3,714 posts)Demeter
(85,373 posts)That would make the perfect 99% Survivalist Movement theme song.
MattSh
(3,714 posts)OK, how many of you remember this from it's original release in 1970. Come on, fes up. I remember.
The original monster hit?
A long, long time ago...
I can still remember
How that music used
to make me smile.
MattSh
(3,714 posts)Foxconn workers are striking againthis time in Chongqing. But you have to look at the map to see why this is an event of extraordinary significance. In a word, these strikes mean that the rice paddies of China have been nearly drained of cheap, docile labor.
So the strikes in Chongqing are of global and potentially epochal significance. It was the two-decades-long flow of quasi-slave labor into the export factories of east China that enabled the major global central banks to go on a money printing rampage like the world has never before seen. The latter was conducted with apparent impunity because during that same period the induction of several hundred million peasants into the worlds factory system caused worldwide prices of consumer goods to fall, even as the money printers were enabling an orgy of credit-fueled spending by American and European households.
Yes, there is an extensive geography west of Chongqing, but heres what it mostly consists of: mountains, as in the massive Plateau of Tibet; arid lands, culminating in the forbidding expanse of the Gobi Desert; and the factory-less rain forests of southwest China.
In short, there are few rice paddies west of Chongqing to drain because no one lives there. And this means the closing of the worlds cheap labor frontier is at hand.
Indeed, it had been approaching for several years now as Chinese manufacturers desperately migrated westward, attempting to perpetuate a regime of ultra-cheap factory labor. This perverse arrangement is virtually symbolized by Foxconns million plus workers in sweatshops throughout China-factories which keep the likes of Apple, HPQ, Sony, Samsung and all the rest, as well as their American and European customers, in cheap gadgets, cheap electronics and cheap computers. But economically speaking, Chinas cheap labor frontier has now it reached its Pacific Ocean equivalent.
Complete story at - http://davidstockmanscontracorner.com/alert-from-chongqing-foxconn-strike-is-an-epochal-inflection-point/
MattSh
(3,714 posts)The closing down of the recently built factory belonging to Coca-Cola in India, located close to Varanasi in the state Uttar Pradesh, is the result of a prolonged and persistent struggle by the local residents, which has been going on for the past 11 years. The grounds for the protests were the concerns of the locals regarding the depletion and the pollution of the ground waters, due to the activities of the company, as well as the unlawful seizure of the territories belonging to local communities. As a result, the Regulatory Authorities of India refused to issue Coca-Cola a permit for the activities of the new enterprise (one of the 58 factories, located on the territory of the country) and refused to present their decision for consideration to the National Green Tribunal (NGT), which sanctioned the closure of the enterprise in the first place. India is one of the few developing countries, where the active role in supporting ecological safety belongs to the court system.
The Court ruled that the five-fold increase in groundwater withdrawals, requested by the company will aggravate the water supply situation even further, which has significantly deteriorated since the arrival of Coca-Cola in India in 1999.
Back in 2009, the local authorities of Mehdiganj (the area of Varanasi being part of it) were forced to impose restrictions for peasants to use the ground waters, which could not but entail their negative response, aimed at the largest American corporation. The situation was aggravated by the fact that 70% of the water withdrawal accounts for the period from March till June, when the level of the groundwater occurrence reaches its minimum, which restricts the possibility of it being used by the locals, living at the expense of agriculture.
One Coca-Cola enterprise only uses one million liters per day. However, the production of the final product (600 bottles per minute) requires a quarter of the withdrawn ground water volume. A large part of it becomes waste which is discharged, without a full cycle of purification, into the environment and reaching the fields and water reservoirs, causing their contamination. State ecological authorities of India took samples of the waste produced by nine Coca-Cola factories and found a very high content of lead, cadmium and chromium, exceeding the safe standards for the health of the population by 30 times, which can result in the immune system malfunctions and presents a danger for cancer occurrence. One cannot say the same about the Coca-Cola drinks sold in the USA. There, according to conclusions made by the Indian non-government organisation Centre for Science and Environment, no poisonous substances were found in the companys products. The Indian parliament has even prohibited the sale of Coca-Cola drinks in the building of the legislation authority, due to the high content of pesticides and chemicals, including DDT.
http://journal-neo.org/2014/10/07/rus-coca-cola-vlasti-indii-zakry-vayut-zavod-kompanii/
Demeter
(85,373 posts)Karma...didn't the Indians invent it?
MattSh
(3,714 posts)Today was the latest day of the year of +20 degree (Celsius) weather in the time I've been in Kiev. That's 68 Fahrenheit for you Celsius challenged Americans. The previous time I remember was October 8, about 4-5 years ago, when it hit 22C. And this is supposed to stick around another 3 days.
But that's not the strangest part. We went out to her family's house in the country. We still had string beans on the vine. They're usually gone late August. We've never had raspberries after August, but will had more today than any day this year. The mint is popping up again as if spring is coming. And we still had spices, rucola, and peppers.
So we had BBQ Chicken, fresh salad, and potatoes. I have to admit that I've learned more about the art of proper barbecue in my time in Ukraine than in my many decades in the USA. If I ever need to return to the states, I could probably make a living doing that. Of course, I'd like to think I could retire sometime soon, but who knows what might go wrong there.
antigop
(12,778 posts)Demeter
(85,373 posts)Wonder why they never used it for commercials?
Fuddnik
(8,846 posts)This one will be published in Monday's Tampa Bay Times.
--------------------------------------------------------------
The moneyed interests (My title was "Campaign cash, Money Laundering"
I'd like to know how much campaign cash from Duke Energy, the insurance industry, developers, Big Sugar and the Koch brothers is being funneled through the Republican Party of Florida and the Republican Governors Association. For one state House race alone, I have gotten a full-color mailer almost every day for over a month all paid for by the Republican Party of Florida.
Contrast this with another state House race a few years ago. The candidate recruited by the Democrats was promised five mailings by the party for the entire election season. He got three.
This big money is not being "invested" to take care of the citizens' interests. It's a down payment on higher insurance and medical costs and more outrageous utility bills.
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The only thing they edited out was the Republican candidates name.
DemReadingDU
(16,000 posts)Probably gazillions of money.
We actually are getting mailings that say that the mailing was not paid from public funds.
Who paid for those mailings!
Fuddnik
(8,846 posts)But they can donate to the Florida Republican Party, without disclosure, and "wink, wink-nod,nod" earmark it. Same thing with the tv ads.
Between them, and the Republican Governors Assn., they're a bigger money laundering operation than Wells Fargo.
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(108,903 posts)LONDON (Reuters) - China's economy, the second largest in the world, gets a spot check this week with a barrage of data due that should indicate how successful Beijing has been in supporting growth.
It may be even more pertinent than usual, given that the Federal Reserve has been surprisingly cautious about the U.S. economy and with euro zone powerhouse Germany suddenly appearing to stagger.
The world economy may not be on the brink of falling back into recession, but it is hardly on fire.
The International Monetary Fund, for example, has lowered its growth expectations for this year and next in Europe, Japan and China, among others.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/r-china-offers-hint-of-growth-prospects-germany-expects-more-bad-news-2014-10#ixzz3Fvcgd7fR
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(108,903 posts)WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A stronger U.S. dollar and weak global inflation are putting downward pressure on the pace of price increases in America, posing a challenge for the Federal Reserve, a top Fed official said on Saturday.
"The dollar, it puts downward pressure on our inflation ... and we're at the point where we have to get inflation up," Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans told a conference hosted by Goldman Sachs.
"As long as inflation is under 2 percent ... it tells us that the monetary authority is supposed to be doing more."
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/r-feds-evans-says-dollar-putting-downward-pressure-on-inflation-2014-10#ixzz3FvdU74ri
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(108,903 posts)WASHINGTON (AP) -- World financial leaders are pledging to act boldly and ambitiously to give a weak and uneven global recovery some momentum, but they have often fallen short in the past when trying to follow through on their promises.
The pledge from the International Monetary Fund's policy-setting committee comes after a week of volatile swings in the financial markets - powered by concerns that parts of Europe may be sliding into another recession.
The IMF called increasing economic growth an "utmost priority" during the fall meeting of the IMF and World Bank. In a closing statement Saturday from the steering committee of the 188-nation IMF, the finance leaders also committed to making the necessary structural changes that would boost growth.
Officials also endorsed the IMF's efforts to support three West African countries battling the Ebola crisis, which could be added to ministers' usual concerns over interest rates and budgets, particularly if the virus becomes widespread.
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(108,903 posts)While leaders of the World Bank, the powerful financial institution that governs key aspects of the global economy and international development, converged in Washington D.C. on Friday for their annual meeting, a coalition of grassroots and community organizations from around the world are using the day to speak out against the bank's destructive policies which they say "are facilitating a rampant theft of land and resources from some of the worlds poorest people."
Coming together under a new campaign called "Our Land Our Business" and using the social media hashtag #WorldVsBank to help spread their message, individuals and a coalition of more than one hundred NGOs, farmers' groups, and indigenous organizations have organized "creative mobilizations" in 10 cities around the world demanding the World Bank abandon its disastrous policies that continue to harm the very people they claim to be helping: small farmers, the rural and urban poor, and indigenous peoples.
In the cities of Nairobi, Lagos, Mexico city, Delhi, Kinshasa, Johannesburg, Dhaka, Brussels, London, and Washington, DC supporters of the day of action say they are coming together "to stand against [the bank's] insane, suicidal prescription for development that puts the growth of corporate power above all else; that ignores the truth of how the world is fed by ordinary people on small farms, not corporations; and that denies the science of how our fields, our rivers, and even our bodies are being poisoned by industrial farming whose only true beneficiaries are the 1%."
Though the World Bank's stated purpose is to leverage its large financial resources to invest in development projects designed to alleviate poverty, the coalition's members say the bank's policies are having the opposite impact. According to Alnoor Ladha, co-founder of /TheRules, which has helped organize the day of action, "If the World Bank keeps promoting economic activity that destroys biodiversity and the livelihoods of smallholder farmers, pastoralists, and indigenous communities, they should not have a mandate to exist."
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(108,903 posts)here are rising concerns in Europe over negotiations to liberalise trade with the United States.
The project, the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or TTIP, aims to remove a wide range of barriers to bilateral commerce.
Demonstrations were taking place across Europe on Saturday, with large numbers of events in Germany, France, Spain and Italy,
In Britain, events were planned in at least 15 cities and towns.
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(108,903 posts)EXCLUSIVE: Elizabeth Warren on Barack Obama: They protected Wall Street. Not families who were losing their homes. Not people who lost their jobs. And it happened over and over and over
enator Elizabeth Warren scarcely requires an introduction. She is the single most exciting Democrat currently on the national stage.
Her differentness from the rest of the political profession is stark and obvious. It extends from her straightforward clarity on economic issues to the energetic way she talks. I met her several years ago when she was taking time out from her job teaching at Harvard to run the Congressional Oversight Panel, which was charged with supervising how the bank bailout money was spent. I discovered on that occasion not only that we agreed on many points of policy, but that she came originally from Oklahoma, the state immediately south of the one where I grew up, and also that high school debate had been as important for her as it had been for me.
In the years since then, Professor Warren helped to launch the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (which will probably be remembered as one of the few lasting achievements of the Obama Administration); she wrote a memoir, A Fighting Chance; and she was elected to the United States Senate from Massachusetts.
This interview was condensed and lightly edited.
I want to start by talking about a line that youre famous for, from your speech at the Democratic National Convention two years ago: The system is rigged. You said exactly what was on millions of peoples minds. I wonder, now that youre in D.C. and youre in the Senate, and you have a chance to see things close up, do you still feel that way? And: Is there a way to fix the system without getting the Supreme Court to overturn Citizens United or some huge structural change like that? How can we fix it?
Thats the question that lies at the heart of whether our democracy will survive. The system is rigged. And now that Ive been in Washington and seen it up close and personal, I just see new ways in which that happens. But we have to stop and back up, and you have to kind of get the right diagnosis of the problem, to see how it is thatit goes well beyond campaign contributions. Thats a huge part of it. But its more than that. Its the armies of lobbyists and lawyers who are always at the table, who are always there to make sure that in every decision that gets made, their clients tender fannies are well protected. And when that happens not just once, not just twice, but thousands of times a week the system just gradually tilts further and further. There is no one at the table I shouldnt say theres no one. I dont want to overstate. You dont have to go into hyperbole. But there are very few people at the decision-making table to argue for minimum-wage workers. Very few people.
They need to get a lobbyist. Why havent they got on that yet?
Yeah. Why arent they out there spending? In the context when people talk about get a lobbyist, the big financial institutions spent more than a million dollars a day for more than a year during the financial reform debates. And my understanding is, their spending has ratcheted up again. My insight about that, about exactly that point, [is] in the book [A Fighting Chance], in the second chapter, which is when my eyes first get opened to the political system. Here I am, Im studying whats happening to the American family, and just year by year by year, Im watching Americas middle class get hammered. They just keep sliding further down. The data get worse every year that I keep pulling this data. Bankruptcy is the last hope to right their lives for those who have been hit by serious medical problems, job losses, a divorce, a death in the family that accounts for about 90 percent of the people who file for bankruptcy. Those four causes, or those three if you combine divorce and death. So, how could America, how could Congress adopt a bankruptcy bill that lets credit card companies squeeze those families harder?