tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87214192413772527502010-09-03T19:37:19.269-04:00EconomyPoliticsGood Economics, Bad Politics, Pop Culture.EconomyPoliticshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07842091781247588379noreply@blogger.comBlogger500125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721419241377252750.post-29102880452108171932010-09-03T17:21:00.003-04:002010-09-03T19:37:19.279-04:00France expulses 'illegal" Roma, after Sarkozy accuses them of attacking policeVia EU Observer:
France's measures are also being scrutinised against similar moves targeting other ethnics or nationalities. A team of legal experts from French ministries are due to meet their counterparts in the commission on Friday, to give further explanations after the respective ministers met justice and human rights commissioner Viviane Reding on Tuesday (31 August).
The expulsions EconomyPoliticshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07842091781247588379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721419241377252750.post-79263408916301814622010-09-03T18:00:00.000-04:002010-09-03T18:00:04.330-04:00Why saving is right and economists are wrongI had to reprint this in full because of all the fluffery economists which are telling us both we need to spend and we spent too much and get out of debt.
My sentiments exactly.
By Jeff Harding via Minyanville:
In George Orwell’s brilliant novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, one of the characters, Syme, in discussing the nature of Newspeak, says “It’s a beautiful thing, the destruction of words.EconomyPoliticshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07842091781247588379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721419241377252750.post-22062401519513588002010-09-03T17:42:00.000-04:002010-09-03T17:42:22.703-04:00France's Roma in PicturesNo this is not from South America, or some third world countries. These are squatter settlements. These squatter settlements typically lack running water, their kids are not enrolled in school and have a host of other problems.
We call them Gypsies in typical American English, Gitanos in Spanish or Roma elsewhere.
When Europe tries to go holier than thou about US immigration policies, we EconomyPoliticshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07842091781247588379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721419241377252750.post-65730047063775090762010-09-03T17:21:00.000-04:002010-09-03T17:21:08.717-04:00Fed's Fisher: Fiscal Ball is in Congress's courtFisher right on the money. He is the same guy that says that we are screwed because of unfunded liabilities, via Reuters: Sounding a theme he has expanded on before, Fisher said businesses are holding back on investments because of uncertainty over the cost of future regulation, such as that mandated by U.S. healthcare reform, and over the country's fiscal direction and future taxes.
"For me, EconomyPoliticshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07842091781247588379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721419241377252750.post-51013515269862193442010-09-03T17:14:00.001-04:002010-09-03T17:16:22.164-04:00Bernanke still clueless: Blames Lehman failure for market turmoil, and tries to wrap his bald head around TBTFBernanke has gotten the crisis wrong, as have most of the administrations economists. They rely on fancy multipliers to show how extending unemployment actually improves the economy. They rely on trying to get consumers to spend when we actually should be saving.
Bernanke is just as guilty. He is out defending his response to Lehman Bros, but in the process is destroying his own credibilityEconomyPoliticshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07842091781247588379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721419241377252750.post-90516502859102459952010-09-03T16:49:00.000-04:002010-09-03T16:49:46.853-04:00RDQ Weekly economic updateVia RDQ:
The early reports for August support our view that concerns about the economy falling back into recession are overblown.
Manufacturing activity, which has been the primary driver of the recovery, picked up steam in August according to the ISM and the employment report suggests that the Fed’s industrial production data will show a solid gain in manufactured output in the month.
EconomyPoliticshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07842091781247588379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721419241377252750.post-25717432765916382102010-09-03T12:41:00.001-04:002010-09-03T12:54:22.707-04:00Burton: China should support a military coup in North KoreaInteresting read about the Jekyll/Hyde Koreas. There were a couple of things which stand out. First, the Kim dynasty could continue if China does nothing. Kim Jong-il is getting his son groomed to take over for him were he to become fertilizer. That is the worst possible of all outcomes. We know from sad experience that corrupt and murderous dictators seldom give up power voluntarily. It EconomyPoliticshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07842091781247588379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721419241377252750.post-90224355364173343162010-09-03T12:11:00.001-04:002010-09-03T12:12:26.269-04:00What to make of the unemployment data: unemployment rate rises to 9.6%, no wait, companies are hiring, but the government is laying off census workersNonfarm payrolls fell 54,000 in August as temporary Census workers declined 114,000. Private payrolls increased 67,000 in August, which was above expectations. Also, private payrolls in the prior two months were upwardly revised by 66,000.
The unemployment rate rose to 9.6% in August from 9.5% in July, however, this came as labor force participation rose to 64.7% from 64.6%. Household employmentEconomyPoliticshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07842091781247588379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721419241377252750.post-80057270091176121192010-09-02T19:05:00.001-04:002010-09-02T23:20:00.762-04:00Kabul Bank siezed: How US Taxpayer money gets circulated into Dubai real estate.I have business contacts in Afghanistan who tell me two things.
If order to get anything done you have to know someone in politics.
People are making money hand over fist there.
If I could convince my wife that I wouldn't come home in a box, I would have been there long ago. They also tell me the financial sophistication of some of these banks is nonexistent. So it's not surprising that EconomyPoliticshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07842091781247588379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721419241377252750.post-90211821955075135312010-09-02T12:05:00.000-04:002010-09-02T12:05:56.087-04:00Pending home sales reboudPending home sales rebounded by 5.2% in July, a stronger result than expectations, following a 2.8% decline in June. Over the last 12 months, pending home sales have fallen 20.1% versus a 20.3% year-over-year drop in June (based on the not seasonally adjusted data).
BOTTOM LINE
It is too soon to say if home sales are bottoming out following the tax-credit-driven volatility of the Spring and EconomyPoliticshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07842091781247588379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721419241377252750.post-83554229019970359162010-09-02T11:39:00.000-04:002010-09-02T11:39:39.090-04:00Factory orders rise in JulyFactory orders rose 0.1% in July, about in line with forecasts. Durable goods orders saw a slight upward revision to 0.4% from 0.3% in July, while nondurable goods orders were unchanged in the month.
BOTTOM LINE
This report has, in a sense, already been superseded by the more up-to-date (and more upbeat) ISM report for manufacturing activity. However, there is a divergence between the recent EconomyPoliticshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07842091781247588379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721419241377252750.post-80071692292111342092010-09-02T11:37:00.000-04:002010-09-02T11:37:38.875-04:00Small Businesses keep laying off, Large businesses have slowed down layoffsChallenger reported that layoff announcements fell to 34,768 in August from 41,676 in July. Layoff announcements in August 2010 were 54.5% below August 2009’s level (the data are not seasonally adjusted).
ADP employment fell 10,000 in August, weaker than expected and the first decline since January. July ADP employment saw a slight downward revision to 37,000 from an initially reported 42,000. EconomyPoliticshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07842091781247588379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721419241377252750.post-80865744181114070802010-09-02T09:50:00.000-04:002010-09-02T09:50:58.080-04:00Corporate productivity fallingNonfarm productivity was downwardly revised to -1.8% in the second quarter from an initially-reported -0.9%. Productivity in this sector has risen by 3.7% over the last four quarters. Nonfarm unit labor costs were upwardly revised to 1.1% from an initially-reported 0.2%.
Nonfinancial corporate productivity fell 0.5% in the second quarter but has risen 6.4% over the last four quarters. Unit laborEconomyPoliticshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07842091781247588379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721419241377252750.post-34786514953785057282010-09-02T09:49:00.000-04:002010-09-02T09:49:59.544-04:00Initial jobless claims in line with forecastsInitial jobless claims were about in line with forecasts, falling 6,000 to 472,000 in the week ending August 28th. The four-week average of claims declined 2,500 to 485,500.
BOTTOM LINE
Thank heavens for small mercies. Initial claims look to be slowly drifting back down into the area that they troughed at earlier in the year. We had pointed out that there had been similar backups in claims in EconomyPoliticshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07842091781247588379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721419241377252750.post-32848682084261828592010-09-01T15:35:00.000-04:002010-09-01T15:35:04.233-04:00Peru is hot with low inflation, GDP grew at 11% last year with 2.3% inflationVia Bloomberg:
Annual inflation accelerated to 2.31 percent in August as prices climbed 0.27 percent from July, Peru’s statistics agency said today in Lima. The readings were in line with the median forecasts of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
The central bank stepped up the pace of increases to its benchmark lending rate last month on concern a that a stronger- than-forecast rebound in EconomyPoliticshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07842091781247588379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721419241377252750.post-88339848708188813972010-09-01T14:44:00.000-04:002010-09-01T14:44:28.636-04:00Manufacturing expands at a solid paceThe ISM manufacturing index was stronger than expected in August, improving to 56.3 from 55.5 in July.
The new orders index moderated slightly to 53.1 in August from 53.5 in July, however, employment growth picked up to 60.4 from 58.6. Also, the production index strengthened to 59.9 from 57.0.
BOTTOM LINE
The double-dip thesis that has dominated recent market movements received a solid blow EconomyPoliticshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07842091781247588379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721419241377252750.post-52748602236568441562010-09-01T14:43:00.000-04:002010-09-01T14:43:10.908-04:00Construction spending weaker than expected due to housing tax credits expiringConstruction spending was weaker than expected in July, declining 1.0%. In addition, June construction outlays were downwardly revised to -0.8% from an originally reported +0.1%. Over the last year, total construction spending has fallen 10.7%.
BOTTOM LINE
Construction spending has taken a significant leg down in the last three months with the sharpest declines seen in private residential EconomyPoliticshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07842091781247588379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721419241377252750.post-54048040615161296122010-08-31T20:49:00.000-04:002010-08-31T20:49:58.688-04:00Stocks are risky, Bonds are a bubble, gold the safe haven is looking safer every dayA slew of analyst came out with predictions for gold. They weren't just bullish, they were superbulls. George Soros came out too and said that gold was entering into bubble territory, of course he prefaced by saying that you always want to buy at the start of a bubble. Anyway, Georgie I'm sure has done his homework but gold has years in the bubble phase. The problem is that now it is EconomyPoliticshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07842091781247588379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721419241377252750.post-41582843954717783722010-08-31T15:22:00.001-04:002010-08-31T15:24:44.561-04:00Brazil is cooling down, but still hot when compared to US growth. Inflation falling means get into Brazilian gov't bondsBrazil is slowing down a bit, after Foreign Direct Investment has been pouring in. With noplace else to go, investors have been choosing emerging markets. Treasuries have no meaningful yield. Equities markets have little upside with the current malaise of bad information. This is causing inflation in Brazil, India and China. I mean what's not to love? Lower debt levels and limited unfunded EconomyPoliticshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07842091781247588379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721419241377252750.post-37466390822184315412010-08-31T13:54:00.002-04:002010-08-31T13:54:00.333-04:00Job pessimism gets worse as consumer confidence slowly increasesConsumers’ assessment of labor market conditions weakened in August as the percentage of respondents judging jobs as being “plentiful” declined to 3.8% from 4.4%, while those viewing jobs as being “hard to get” rose to 45.7% from 45.1%.
BOTTOM LINE
The improvement in confidence in August represents only the reversal of the pessimism over the outlook that mushroomed in July (and was perhaps EconomyPoliticshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07842091781247588379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721419241377252750.post-71130737699204560842010-08-31T12:59:00.000-04:002010-08-31T12:59:54.866-04:00Chicago area Manufacturing expands at slow rateThe Chicago purchasing managers’ index was about in line with forecasts, slowing to 56.7 in August from 62.3 in July.
BOTTOM LINE
Manufacturing continued to expand in the Chicago region in August as production, orders, and employment continued to grow—albeit at a slower rate than in July. Inventories fell in August and delivery delays increased, which perhaps underscores the caution with which EconomyPoliticshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07842091781247588379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721419241377252750.post-25462164865704990602010-08-31T12:51:00.000-04:002010-08-31T12:51:01.737-04:00Housing prices bounce moderately in June, but July looks to be much worseS&P/Case-Shiller composite 20 home prices rose 0.3% in June (consensus forecasts were looking for a 0.2% increase) and May's gain saw a slight upward revision. On a year-over-year basis, S&P/CS composite 20 home prices have risen 4.2%, a slowing from the 4.6% year-over-year increase reported for May (using not seasonally adjusted data).
Of the 20 metro areas, home prices rose in June in Chicago,EconomyPoliticshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07842091781247588379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721419241377252750.post-73984748324848297882010-08-30T02:05:00.008-04:002010-08-31T00:35:24.068-04:00Naked Capitalism: What is the proper libertarian response to concentrated corporate power? (my humble response)Naked Capitalism, a popular left of center financial blog, has posted a question, "What is the proper libertarian response to concentration of power?"
Never mind the fact that Libertarians are not one blob with one given proper response. I outline my response below. It attracted attention from some so called "progressive" capitalists. I thought it might be interesting.
Well, I cannot speak EconomyPoliticshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07842091781247588379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721419241377252750.post-64367183458630356252010-08-29T04:01:00.002-04:002010-08-30T14:41:11.007-04:00Guest Post: Can senior citizens be benefited with debt consolidation program?Retirement should be an enjoyable leisure time of life, but credit card debt can spoil the fun. Seniors are always unique in a particular country and they are always given special attention by the government of a country. The population of 62+ individuals is the largest growing among the society. Most seniors are either retired or are looking forward to their retirement age within a few years. EconomyPoliticshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07842091781247588379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8721419241377252750.post-38643036568481403652010-08-30T11:58:00.001-04:002010-08-30T12:04:20.722-04:00Personal income rose and wages increasePersonal income rose 0.2% in July as although wages increased 0.3%, both nonfarm proprietors’ income and personal interest income declined 0.4%. Consumer spending rose 0.4% in July and by 0.2% when adjusted for inflation.
BOTTOM LINE
Once again personal income growth is only half of the equation. The second half is employment. While we are seeing personal income expanding and wages increasingEconomyPoliticshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07842091781247588379noreply@blogger.com0