The Long Weekend Economists April 22-24, 2011

[Demeter]

So, I got my aching bones out of bed, logged in, and there's no Stock Market Watch! After a few minutes of intense agitation and cogitation (I'm NOT starting that beast up today--I have to get a tire fixed!) I remember that it's Good Friday, and the markets are most likely closed....

So, I'm starting this thread with no theme, and then heading out. I'll think of something, while out in the sleet and rain, to complain or muse about. Suggestions also welcome.

I just didn't see it coming. It's been a really hard week.

[Tansy_Gold]

1. All I can do today is be the first rec. n/t

[Lochloosa]

2. Ditto

[silverlib]

3. Thanks - I was having withdrawals-

normally just read and recommend, but I wanted to also kick.

I went to kitco and it looks like the markets are open - but I'm not used to their layout so perhaps I'm reading it wrong.

[Hugin]

4. Okay, I just made a fool of myself on LBN.

:blush:

How come nobody tells me these things!!!

[Fuddnik]

6. I almost did it too.

But, I went back to bed.

But, now I have to run up to the fish store. Mussels Diablo for dinner tonight. With added clams and shrimp. Beats worms any day of the week.

http://gourmetfood.about.com/od/appetizersandsoups1/r/musselsdiablo.htm

I've heard God hates shrimp, so I'll probably go to hell, but rise up again for Sunday ham!

[Demeter]

7. That's par for the course, though

You should be used to that....Happy Easter, anyway!

[Hugin]

22. Hmmm...

I choose to believe you meant that in the best sense.

Anyway, I had given up foolishness for Lent... I almost made it. ;)

[DemReadingDU]

5. Charles Hugh Smith: Your Pick, Ben, But One Goes Off the Cliff

4/22/11 Charles Hugh Smith: Your Pick, Ben, But One Goes Off the Cliff

It's one or the other, Ben: you either push the real economy over the edge or you push stocks and the risk trade off the cliff.

Now that you've pushed the dollar down, Ben, it's your pick on what to push off the cliff: your beloved risk trade or the real economy. Here's a chart of the U.S. dollar and crude oil. Notice they're on a see-saw: when the dollar tanks, oil skyrockets. When the dollar recovers a bit, oil declines.



Ben Bernanke and the Fed are replaying their 2008 game plan: drive the dollar down to goose the risk trade in stocks. But a funny thing happened on the way to blowing another equity bubble: oil bubbled up, too, and that killed the real economy.

Now the cost of oil--the lifeblood of the real economy--is close to the point that it will push the real economy into recession. This sets up a difficult choice for Ben: if he pushes the dollar down to new lows, then oil leaps up and pushes the real economy off the cliff.

Alternatively, Ben renounces QE3 and "surprises" the markets with a rate increase, thus rescuing the dollar from freefall and pushing oil down. But that will send his precious risk trade and equity Bull off the cliff.

Welcome to reality, Ben. Your "let's pretend the recovery is real" game is nearing an end. If you push the dollar down any more, then oil will go up and tip the real economy into a recession that QE3 will only make worse as you send the dollar into freefall. If the dollar rises, then your beloved "wealth effect" dies a horrible death on the rocks below.

Take your pick, but choose wisely.

more...
http://www.oftwominds.com/blogapril11/oil-USD4-11.html


4/21/11 From yesterday, Karl Denninger is at TickerCon 1
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4822243&mesg_id=4822437

[Demeter]

8. 3 Guesses As to Which Population Ben Will Sacrifice

First 3 don't count.

[bread_and_roses]

16. Now, that is interesting.

... and, when I read it, I actually thought of the Denninger item posted yesterday - so maybe I'm learning something, will I, nill I. Personally, I am thinking that global food crisis is another volatility that could spin out of control....

we're already in an (ignored by msm) water crisis ... the "unrest" in the ME has exposed the US hypocrisies as maybe never before, and Noam is sounding even grimmer than usual: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/04/21-3

interesting times.

[DemReadingDU]

18. The global food crisis is partly because the high price of oil

and also partly due to the gambling in commodities of wheat, corn, rice, etc. Oil/gas is used in processing and transporting the food which also pushes prices even higher.

My hunch is that the dollar is the world's reserve currency so the Bernank will have to save the dollar. But we shall see in the coming weeks.

[Demeter]

9. A Pair of Oliphants

http://imgsrv.gocomics.com/dim/?fh=86e5a113916b6bba56df3d074073d38e&w=750.0

http://imgsrv.gocomics.com/dim/?fh=eeb6f4edc4ba8e2e48eb6ef05cd1a9a0&w=750.0

[Demeter]

10. Nation’s Mood at Lowest Level in Two Years, Poll Shows

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/22/us/22poll.html

Americans are more pessimistic about the nation’s economic outlook and overall direction than they have been at any time since President Obama’s first two months in office, when the country was still officially ensnared in the Great Recession, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

Amid rising gas prices, stubborn unemployment and a cacophonous debate in Washington over the federal government’s ability to meet its future obligations, the poll presents stark evidence that the slow, if unsteady, gains in public confidence earlier this year that a recovery was under way are now all but gone.

Capturing what appears to be an abrupt change in attitude, the survey shows that the number of Americans who think the economy is getting worse has jumped 13 percentage points in just one month. Though there have been encouraging signs of renewed growth since last fall, many economists are having second thoughts, warning that the pace of expansion might not be fast enough to create significant numbers of new jobs.

The dour public mood is dragging down ratings for both parties in Congress and for President Obama, the poll found.


STOP THE PRESSES! Oh, they are already stopped and melted for scrap? Never mind....

[Demeter]

11. Is it 11 recs for the animation?

Thanks guys, but I'd be more impressed if I'd posted anything....

[bread_and_roses]

15. Mine is 13th Rec - on general principles!

Because I so often forget to "R" and because the thread is always too full of good stuff for me to get through half of it and because you perform such a great service for all of us every week getting it started, devising a theme, and keeping us informed.

[Demeter]

12. London trader faces Interpol over Greek debt email

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13166589

The Greek authorities have asked Interpol to question a London trader over an email he sent which talked of the high chance of a Greek default.

The email, published in a Greek newspaper, refers to "increased noise" over a Greek debt restructuring as early as Easter.

Greece is highly sensitive to allegations it may not stick to strict repayment terms on its recent bail-out.

The finance ministry says the incident amounts to "possible criminal conduct".
Greek police say the email was sent from the desk of a Citibank trader in London.

[Demeter]

23. Greece Default Hit on Banks Cushioned by ECB, Goldman Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-21/greece-default-hit-on-banks-cushioned-by-ecb-cash-goldman-says.html

The impact of a Greek debt restructuring on non-Greek European banks would be “milder” now than a year ago thanks to European Central Bank loans, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analysts.

A so-called haircut of 20 percent to 60 percent on Greek government bonds corresponds to losses of between 13 billion euros ($19 billion) and 41 billion euros for European banks, Goldman Sachs banking analysts led by London-based Jernej Omahen said in a research note today. That represents 1 percent to 3 percent of their aggregate Tier 1 capital, they said.

“In the context of the sector aggregate, this is small,” the analysts said. “By extending 91 billion euros of refinancing facilities to Greek banks (and a further 153 billion euros to Portuguese and Irish banks), the ECB has effectively dis-intermediated the ‘core’ banks from the periphery.”

“As a consequence, the knock-on effects of a restructuring would be milder for European banks today than, say, just last year,” the analysts added.

[Demeter]

24. China signals ready to invest more in euro zone

PT BARNUM'S APOCRYPHAL LIVES!

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/21/eu-china-bonds-idUSLDE73K1LC20110421

China signalled on Thursday it was ready to buy more debt from the euro zone's weaker states, in a move to help stabilise the bloc's fragile finances and protect its business interests.

After investing billions of euros in Portuguese and Greek bonds to diversity its "huge" foreign exchange reserves away from the dollar, China was now considering buying more, Song Zhe, Beijing's ambassador to the European Union, said.

China was also in talks to invest in Spain, including in the reorganisation of troubled Spanish savings banks, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said earlier in Beijing. China is keen to diversify its currency reserves -- which rose in the first quarter to $3.05 trillion -- with the euro the primary alternative to the dollar, which accounts for around two thirds of its holdings.

But Daniel Gros, a euro zone expert with a Brussels-based think tank, the Centre for European Policy Studies, said heavy bond buying in Europe by China was unlikely.

[Demeter]

13. JPMorgan to return $861 million to Lehman brokerage

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/04/21/uk-lehman-jpmorgan-settlement-idUKTRE73K8FJ20110421

JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) will return more than $800 million of cash and securities to resolve claims by the trustee for Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc's (LEHMQ.PK) brokerage after the sides agreed how best the assets should be distributed to customers. JPMorgan was the brokerage's "clearing" bank, in which it acts as a go-between in Lehman dealings with other parties and, in that role, held various of its assets, court papers show.

James Giddens, the court-appointed trustee for the bankrupt brokerage, called the settlement "a milestone" in his efforts to recover money for the customers. In a filing with the U.S. bankruptcy court in Manhattan, Giddens said the accord "would substantially increase the fund of customer property" available for distribution, "without the uncertainty and delay of litigating disputed claims."

The assets include $755 million of cash and about $106 million of securities, the filing said. Court approval is needed for the settlement. JPMorgan, the second-largest U.S. bank, said in a statement the main source of the returned assets will be from funds that the bank had set aside pending a resolution with the trustee.

The settlement will have no material financial impact on JPMorgan, the New York-based bank said...

AND THE TRUSTEE HAD TO SUE TO GET THESE ASSETS? THAT'S NOT NICE. JP MORGAN SHOULD PAY THE LEGAL FEES FOR MAKING IT NECESSARY TO SUE...

[Demeter]

14. JPMorgan Agrees to Return $800 Million to Settle Lehman Brokerage Claims

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-21/jpmorgan-chase-agrees-to-settle-lehman-brokerage-claims-for-800-million.html

...JPMorgan was the main clearing bank for the Lehman brokerage, processing billions of dollars of transactions and lending tens of billions of dollars daily to LBI, according to the filing. While some of the loans were secured by securities in the brokerage’s accounts, the bank didn’t have a valid lien on some customer property, which now is being returned, it said.

“The agreement will have no material financial impact on JPMorgan,” the bank said in an e-mailed statement.

Most of the assets were set aside to await a resolution of claims by the trustee who is liquidating the remnants of Lehman’s brokerage, it said.

Separately, JPMorgan, the second-biggest U.S. bank, is trying to get an $8.6 billion lawsuit by the Lehman parent dismissed.

[xchrom]

17. Recommend - I was out trying on new Cole-haan's and going with a girl friend to

The MAC make up counter.

That'll teach my fashion obsessed ass.

[Festivito]

19. Good Friday to all, to some for the fact that it is a day off.

--DU Search or Google produces:

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Friday April 22, 2011. AT THE CLOSING BELL ON April 21, 2011. Dow N/A N/A Nasdaq N/A N/A

--giving link:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4823769

--giving result:

Missing Topic

If you have any questions, please contact the site administrator.
Click here to go back to previous page.

--It was started, then, not moved, not set for edit. Someone expunged it. I think Good Friday left the sources with no information so it was deleted.

[Festivito]

20. Debt: 04/20/2011 14,314,796,837,035.76 (DOWN 5,671,718,055.92) (Wed, UP a little.)

(Over the old debt limit of 14.294-trillion dollars by 21-billion dollars. Good Friday. Good day.)
Don't gotta get up, don't gotta get up, don't gotta get up this afternoon.
(Debt under Obama seems to jump up big then drop slowly maybe up a little and down a little for days--repeat.)
= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
= 9,680,052,848,645.78 + 4,634,743,988,389.98
UP 31,154,878.79 + DOWN 5,702,872,934.71

Source: Debt to the penny:
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np

THINKING IN BILLIONS: Think 3 or 4 dollars per billion in a 312-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.21 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,206.84 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.62, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ federal program.
I hope that is clear. However, I'd suggest using $3 per 1B$ to underestimate it.
Use $4 per 1B$ to overestimate the cost when thinking: Is the federal program worth it?
Aid to Dependant Children: 2B$/yr =$8/yr(a movie a year) Family of 3: $24/yr(an hour of bowling)

PERSONALIZED DEBT:
Every 12 seconds we net gain another American, so at the end of the workday of the report, there should be 311,832,992 people in America.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html ON 10/04/2010 04:37 -> 310,403,677
Currently, each of these Americans owe $45,905.33.
A family of three owes $137,715.99. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 21 reports in the last 30 to 33 days.
The average for the last 21 reports is 4,282,591,243.64.
The average for the last 30 days would be 2,997,813,870.55.
The average for the last 33 days would be 2,725,285,336.86.
There were 252 reports in 365 days of FY2007 averaging 1.99B$ per report, 1.37B$/day.
There were 253 reports in 366 days of FY2008 averaging 4.02B$ per report, 2.78B$/day.
There were 75 reports in 112 days of GWB's part of FY2009 averaging 8.03B$ per report, 5.38B$/day.
There were 174 reports in 253 days of Obama's part of FY2009 averaging 7.33B$ per report, 5.07B$/day so far.
There were 249 reports in 365 days of FY2009 averaging 7.57B$ per report, 5.16B$/day.
There were 251 reports in 365 days of FY2010 averaging 6.58B$ per report, 4.53B$/day.
There were 137 reports in 202 days of FY2011 averaging 5.50B$ per report, 3.73B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 641 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 15.2 and 17.6T$.
It could be higher. It could be lower.

HISTORICAL:
President's term begins and ends on Jan 20.
(Guess who might want to hide the Reagan Bush years. Jan 20 data is missing before 1993.)
01/20/1993 _4,188,092,107,183.60 WJC Inaugural
01/22/2001 _5,728,195,796,181.57 WJC (UP 1,540,103,688,997.97)
01/20/2009 10,626,877,048,913.08 GWB (UP 4,898,681,252,731.43)
04/20/2011 14,314,796,837,035.76 BHO (UP 3,687,919,788,122.68 so far since Obama took office.)

FISCAL YEAR DEBT CHANGE, Sep 30 prior year to Sep 30 named year:
(One "* " for each 40B$ reached)
FY1994 +0,281,261,026,873.94 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1995 +0,281,232,990,696.07 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1996 +0,250,828,038,426.34 ------------* * * * * * WJC
FY1997 +0,188,335,072,261.61 ------------* * * * WJC
FY1998 +0,113,046,997,500.28 ------------* * WJC
FY1999 +0,130,077,892,735.81 ------------* * * WJC
FY2000 +0,017,907,308,253.43 ------------WJC
FY2001 +0,133,285,202,313.20 ------------* * * C&B
01-WJC +0,053,598,528,417.78 ------------* WJC 31% of FY, 40% of FY-Debt
01-GWB +0,079,686,673,895.42 ------------* GWB 69% of FY, 60% of FY-Debt
FY2002 +0,420,772,553,397.10 ------------* * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2003 +0,554,995,097,146.46 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2004 +0,595,821,633,586.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2005 +0,553,656,965,393.18 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2006 +0,574,264,237,491.73 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2007 +0,500,679,473,047.25 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2008 +1,017,071,524,649.92 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2009 +1,885,104,106,599.30 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * B&O
09GWB +0,602,152,152,000.60 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB 31% of FY, 32% of FY-Debt
09-BHO +1,282,951,954,598.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO 69% of FY, 68% of FY-Debt
FY2010 +1,651,794,027,380.00 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
FY2011 +0,753,173,806,144.00 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
Endof11 +1,360,932,867,537.43 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
03/28/2011 +000,227,402,237.21 ------------******** Mon
03/29/2011 +000,181,007,415.32 ------------********
03/30/2011 +000,670,089,469.30 ------------********
04/04/2011 +000,336,873,927.41 ------------******** Mon
04/05/2011 -000,031,815,631.67 ----
04/06/2011 -000,011,756,275.73 ----
04/07/2011 +002,235,163,853.48 ------------*********
04/08/2011 +000,001,314,747.36 ------------******
04/11/2011 +000,390,366,211.15 ------------******** Mon
04/13/2011 +000,216,450,469.86 ------------********
04/14/2011 +004,827,508,513.07 ------------*********
04/15/2011 +021,566,615,397.70 ------------**********
04/18/2011 +000,320,133,441.47 ------------******** Mon
04/19/2011 +000,498,845,624.51 ------------********
04/20/2011 +000,031,154,878.79 ------------*******

31,459,354,279.23 Total of 15 above reports.

Heavy borrowing seems to start after 09/18/2008 while Bush was in power JUST BEFORE fiscal year end.
Bush admin borrowed $962,245,245,654.01 in those last 124 days in office crossing two fiscal years.
$360,093,093,653.42 in last 12 days of FY2008, and $602,152,152,000.59 in subsequent 112 days before leaving office.

For a prettier and more explanatory view of our nation's debt:
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
DUer primer on National debt

(Debt to the penny keeps changing. Stuff is missing. Best to keep our own history.) LAST REPORT:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4822243&mesg_id=4822732

[Festivito]

21. Debt: 04/21/2011 14,290,788,661,250.50 (DOWN 24,008,175,785.26) (Thu, DOWN a lot.)

(Back UNDER the old debt limit of 14.294-trillion dollars by 3-billion dollars. Good day.)
A dark day with a great ending.
(Debt under Obama seems to jump up big then drop slowly maybe up a little and down a little for days--repeat.)
= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
= 9,650,447,904,606.47 + 4,640,340,756,644.03
DOWN 29,604,944,039.31 + UP 5,596,768,254.05

Source: Debt to the penny:
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np

THINKING IN BILLIONS: Think 3 or 4 dollars per billion in a 312-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.21 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,206.77 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.62, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ federal program.
I hope that is clear. However, I'd suggest using $3 per 1B$ to underestimate it.
Use $4 per 1B$ to overestimate the cost when thinking: Is the federal program worth it?
Aid to Dependant Children: 2B$/yr =$8/yr(a movie a year) Family of 3: $24/yr(an hour of bowling)

PERSONALIZED DEBT:
Every 12 seconds we net gain another American, so at the end of the workday of the report, there should be 311,840,192 people in America.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html ON 10/04/2010 04:37 -> 310,403,677
Currently, each of these Americans owe $45,827.28.
A family of three owes $137,481.85. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 21 reports in the last 30 to 31 days.
The average for the last 21 reports is 2,980,739,767.23.
The average for the last 30 days would be 2,086,517,837.06.
The average for the last 31 days would be 2,019,210,810.06.
There were 252 reports in 365 days of FY2007 averaging 1.99B$ per report, 1.37B$/day.
There were 253 reports in 366 days of FY2008 averaging 4.02B$ per report, 2.78B$/day.
There were 75 reports in 112 days of GWB's part of FY2009 averaging 8.03B$ per report, 5.38B$/day.
There were 174 reports in 253 days of Obama's part of FY2009 averaging 7.33B$ per report, 5.07B$/day so far.
There were 249 reports in 365 days of FY2009 averaging 7.57B$ per report, 5.16B$/day.
There were 251 reports in 365 days of FY2010 averaging 6.58B$ per report, 4.53B$/day.
There were 138 reports in 203 days of FY2011 averaging 5.28B$ per report, 3.59B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 640 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 15.2 and 17.6T$.
It could be higher. It could be lower.

HISTORICAL:
President's term begins and ends on Jan 20.
(Guess who might want to hide the Reagan Bush years. Jan 20 data is missing before 1993.)
01/20/1993 _4,188,092,107,183.60 WJC Inaugural
01/22/2001 _5,728,195,796,181.57 WJC (UP 1,540,103,688,997.97)
01/20/2009 10,626,877,048,913.08 GWB (UP 4,898,681,252,731.43)
04/21/2011 14,290,788,661,250.50 BHO (UP 3,663,911,612,337.42 so far since Obama took office.)

FISCAL YEAR DEBT CHANGE, Sep 30 prior year to Sep 30 named year:
(One "* " for each 40B$ reached)
FY1994 +0,281,261,026,873.94 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1995 +0,281,232,990,696.07 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1996 +0,250,828,038,426.34 ------------* * * * * * WJC
FY1997 +0,188,335,072,261.61 ------------* * * * WJC
FY1998 +0,113,046,997,500.28 ------------* * WJC
FY1999 +0,130,077,892,735.81 ------------* * * WJC
FY2000 +0,017,907,308,253.43 ------------WJC
FY2001 +0,133,285,202,313.20 ------------* * * C&B
01-WJC +0,053,598,528,417.78 ------------* WJC 31% of FY, 40% of FY-Debt
01-GWB +0,079,686,673,895.42 ------------* GWB 69% of FY, 60% of FY-Debt
FY2002 +0,420,772,553,397.10 ------------* * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2003 +0,554,995,097,146.46 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2004 +0,595,821,633,586.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2005 +0,553,656,965,393.18 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2006 +0,574,264,237,491.73 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2007 +0,500,679,473,047.25 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2008 +1,017,071,524,649.92 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2009 +1,885,104,106,599.30 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * B&O
09GWB +0,602,152,152,000.60 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB 31% of FY, 32% of FY-Debt
09-BHO +1,282,951,954,598.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO 69% of FY, 68% of FY-Debt
FY2010 +1,651,794,027,380.00 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
FY2011 +0,729,165,630,358.80 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
Endof11 +1,311,061,355,078.63 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
03/29/2011 +000,181,007,415.32 ------------********
03/30/2011 +000,670,089,469.30 ------------********
04/04/2011 +000,336,873,927.41 ------------******** Mon
04/05/2011 -000,031,815,631.67 ----
04/06/2011 -000,011,756,275.73 ----
04/07/2011 +002,235,163,853.48 ------------*********
04/08/2011 +000,001,314,747.36 ------------******
04/11/2011 +000,390,366,211.15 ------------******** Mon
04/13/2011 +000,216,450,469.86 ------------********
04/14/2011 +004,827,508,513.07 ------------*********
04/15/2011 +021,566,615,397.70 ------------**********
04/18/2011 +000,320,133,441.47 ------------******** Mon
04/19/2011 +000,498,845,624.51 ------------********
04/20/2011 +000,031,154,878.79 ------------*******
04/21/2011 -029,604,944,039.31 -

1,627,008,002.71 Total of 15 above reports.

Heavy borrowing seems to start after 09/18/2008 while Bush was in power JUST BEFORE fiscal year end.
Bush admin borrowed $962,245,245,654.01 in those last 124 days in office crossing two fiscal years.
$360,093,093,653.42 in last 12 days of FY2008, and $602,152,152,000.59 in subsequent 112 days before leaving office.

For a prettier and more explanatory view of our nation's debt:
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
DUer primer on National debt

(Debt to the penny keeps changing. Stuff is missing. Best to keep our own history.) LAST REPORT:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=103&topic_id=599244&mesg_id=599328

[Demeter]

74. That was probably just Hugin--See Above

[Demeter]

25. U.S. Team to Study Whether ‘Speculators’ Driving Up Pump Prices

I THINK: UNEASY LIES THE HEAD THAT WEARS THE CROWN...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-21/obama-says-u-s-team-to-study-whether-speculators-driving-up-pump-prices.html

The Obama administration is exploring whether rising oil and gasoline prices are being driven higher by illegal manipulation.

Representatives of the Justice Department, other federal agencies and state attorneys general will monitor for fraud, collusion or misrepresentation at the retail and wholesale level, the department said in a statement yesterday. The group also will examine the role of speculators and traders in oil futures markets.

“The attorney general’s putting together a team whose job it us to root out any cases of fraud or manipulation in the oil markets that might affect gas prices, and that includes the role of traders and speculators,” President Barack Obama said yesterday in Reno, Nevada. “We are going to make sure that no one is taking advantage of American consumers for their own short-term gain.”

With the 2012 presidential campaign looming, Obama faces increasing political pressure over rising gasoline prices. Previous administrations have conducted similar inquiries after gasoline price spikes.

[Demeter]

26. Where to Find the “Anti-Dollar” (Hint: It’s Not Gold) Rob Marstrand for The Daily Reckoning

http://dailyreckoning.com/where-to-find-the-anti-dollar-hint-its-not-gold/


There's a currency I think of as the "anti-dollar" that continues to appreciate against the US dollar. Unlike gold, the "anti dollar" can be used to maximize other investments...One way to protect yourself from inflation is to have investments in stronger currencies. These can be held as cash, bonds, stocks, or real estate. Where I live in Argentina, the locals keep their savings in dollars, because they keep their value better than Argentine pesos. Everything's relative. But there are much stronger currencies than the US dollar.

One such strong currency is the Singapore dollar. A hedge fund trader who is a friend of mine recently described it to me as an "Asian version of the Swiss Franc". This is a big compliment. Switzerland's currency has been strong for decades, and is well known as a safe haven in times of trouble.

The reason that Switzerland, and now Singapore, have strong currencies is that these countries live within their means. While the US borrows and spends, these countries earn and save. This is how people get rich, and it's the same for countries. No one got rich by spending money faster than they earned it...In the future, Singapore has a crucial advantage over Switzerland. Switzerland sits in the middle of the "old continent" of Europe, which looks set for a decade of slow growth and stagnation.

But Singapore sits in the middle of Asia - in fact right on some of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. And Asia is home to 60% of the world's population, and with many decades of fast economic growth ahead of it. This means that over time the Singaporean dollar is likely to gain value against the US dollar. In fact over the past five years it's gained over 23% in value, measured in US dollars...

[Demeter]

27. Expatriate Your Wallet By Terry Coxon

http://dailyreckoning.com/expatriate-your-wallet/

If everything you own is held in your own name in your own country, then you are not merely exposed, you are vulnerable absolutely, to whatever decisions the government might make about how you should behave and who gets the wealth you’ve earned. Tomorrow’s new government measure, which might land out of the blue, could be a law that affects everyone, or it could be a rule devised to deal with people like you. Or, it could be an administrative action aimed at you alone. In any case, with all your assets at home, you’d find out how the lobster feels when his trap is being hauled out of the water. Nothing he can do about it.

The only way to protect yourself against the risk of being boiled in a government pot is to keep some of your assets in another country. Depending on how you go about it, the specific benefits you might achieve are:

* Protection from currency exchange controls
* Protection from the confiscation of precious metals
* A lower profile as a lawsuit target
* Income tax planning advantages
* Estate planning advantages
* Easier access to investments in other countries
* A measure of financial privacy
* Practical readiness to move additional assets quickly
* Psychological readiness to think and act internationally when you need to

There are many ways to go about getting those benefits. None is right for everyone, and they all come with some element of cost or inconvenience. Here’s the main menu:

[Demeter]

28. Japan unveils Y4,000bn disaster budget

The Japanese government has proposed an extra budget of Y4,000bn to fund the initial stage of relief and reconstruction following the country’s devastating earthquake and tsunami last month

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/LVA6WW/8AO8EQ/T10SH/FXAI8M/UUSASU/B7/t?a1=2011&a2=4&a3=22

[Demeter]

29. M Stanley converts $7.8bn MUFG stake

Morgan Stanley agreed to convert $7.8bn in preferred shares held by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial into common stock, eliminating a steep dividend payment that would have crimped future profits

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/LVA6WW/PREYHG/9MEOW/V1JB41/IYML7A/CM/t?a1=2011&a2=4&a3=22

[Demeter]

30. Financial arm drives GE earnings growth

The industrial group beat expectations with a 48 per cent rise in underlying earnings for the first quarter, driven almost entirely by another strong performance at its GE Capital financial services unit

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/LVA6WW/PREYHG/9MEOW/V1JB41/18UXPJ/CM/t?a1=2011&a2=4&a3=22

[Demeter]

31. Blackstone supported by real estate holdings

The world’s largest private equity firm reported its strongest performance since going public almost four years ago, as its economic net income rose 58% to $568m

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/LVA6WW/PREYHG/9MEOW/V1JB41/5CHITB/CM/t?a1=2011&a2=4&a3=22

[Demeter]

32. Citi pledges higher 2012 dividend

Citigroup’s top management defended their strategy and vowed to reward shareholders with dividends and share buy-backs next year

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/LVA6WW/PREYHG/9MEOW/V1JB41/GKZUAA/CM/t?a1=2011&a2=4&a3=22

[Demeter]

33. NY Times signs up 100,000 online subscribers

The newspaper has signed up more than 100,000 paying subscribers since it started to charge for its journalism online, on smartphones and on tablet computers three weeks ago

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/LVA6WW/PREYHG/9MEOW/V1JB41/261KU1/CM/t?a1=2011&a2=4&a3=22

[Demeter]

34. HOW CONVENIENT! Libyan royal family waits in wings for Gaddafi ouster

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/africa/news/article_1634404.php/Libyan-royal-family-waits-in-wings-for-Gaddafi-ouster

Brussels - Mohammed al-Senussi has lived in exile for more than 20 years, ever since his family relinquished their claim to Libya's throne in the wake of a military coup led by Moamer Gaddafi.

Yet, Arabic remains al-Senussi's language of choice and crown prince of Libya his official title. His life abroad has also featured active participation in the exiled Libyan opposition.

'Libya is in my heart and my soul,' he told European lawmakers on a recent visit to Brussels. 'I truly hope that I will be with my people from tomorrow. As a simple, ordinary citizen living in exile, I will do all I can to support my people.'

With Gaddafi facing an internal rebellion and a NATO military intervention, al-Senussi has high hopes that the almost 42-year rule of the man he calls a dictator and a murderer will soon end...

[burf]

57. If he is so interested in

being with "his people", then why is he not on the first thing flying or sailing to Libya? Or is this another episode of the family of a certain Iranian leader who want others to risk their live to topple a regime so they can return and lead said country? Also kind of brings to mind some chap named Chalibi.

Will we ever learn?

[Fuddnik]

58. Meet the new Shah.

Same as the old Shah!

[Demeter]

35. Obama's Mexicogate?

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27934.htm

A secret operation to run guns across the border to Mexican drug cartels — overseen by U.S. government agents — threatens to become a major scandal for the Obama administration.

The operation, called “Fast and Furious,” was run out of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) office in Phoenix, Arizona. ATF sanctioned the purchase of weapons in U.S. gun shops and tracked the smuggling route to the Mexican border. Reportedly, more than 2,500 firearms were sold to straw buyers who then handed off the weapons to gunrunners under the nose of ATF.

But once across the border, the agency seemed to lose track of the weapons. Hundreds of AK-47s and Barrett .50 caliber rifles — favorites of warring drug cartels —made it easily into the hands of some of Mexico’s most ruthless crime organizations.

In arms trafficking parlance, knowingly allowing smugglers to go about their business is called “gunwalking.” According to ATF whistleblowers, the agency stood by and watched as buyers purchased up to 20 weapons at a time and quickly passed them off to smugglers in nearby parking lots. The hope was to trace the guns into Mexico and bust a major cartel...

[Demeter]

36. Bernanke Strikes Again; QE2 sends margin debt soaring to new highs By Mike Whitney

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27939.htm

-Interest rates are the Fed's main tool for implementing policy, but when interest rates are already at zero and activity is still weak, then the Fed may try other unconventional strategies to rev up the economy. Quantitative Easing (QE) is one such strategy. In practice, it works like this; the Fed purchases some type of financial asset (stocks, bonds, mortgage-backed securities) which adds to the money supply thereby creating (in effect) negative interest rates. The Fed believes that this "monetary easing" can stimulate the economy.

The Fed is currently in the process of purchasing $600 billion in US Treasuries from the big banks while at the same time recycling the proceeds of $300 billion from maturing mortgage-backed securities (that the Fed already has on its balance sheet) into reserves at the banks. This may sound complicated, but it's really not. In essence, the Fed is reducing the supply of financial assets and, thus, pushing more liquidity into riskier assets, like stocks. As a result, the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrials have climbed roughly 11 and 12 percent respectively since the program began.

So, is the Fed mainly responsible for the recent uptick in stock prices?

In large part, yes. Here's how Nomura's global macro strategist Bob Janjuah puts it:

"I strongly believe QE2 added over 250 points to the S&P based on where it closed the year....We think QE1 and QE2 have failed the real economy in the US at the expense of pushing up asset prices in financial markets. (eg house prices vs. stocks) Most American families own a home, but most Americans do not own a meaningful amount of stocks. Bernanke’s solution seems to rely on the US public buying into another round of bubble blowing and on the idea of trickledown economics.

...We think QE3 will be both unavoidable and a grave policy mistake in the hard landing outcome. We think it (QE3) is unavoidable because under this outcome, where we expect a significant slowdown in global growth in H2, driven by an EM (Emerging Market) slowdown and an end to the global super-cycle in manufacturing, it is the only "stimulative‟ policy option left, and Bernanke and Obama both seem fixated with stimulus, at any cost it seems….("Bob Janjuah – told you so America", Ft Alphaville)

So, Janjuah lays out the basic case against QE2, which is, that while it pushes stock and commodities prices up, it provides very little relief for underlying economy. In other words, Bernanke is just blowing bubbles instead of addressing the fundamental lack of demand.

QE has been the most controversial policy in the Fed's history, and for good reason. The policy is seen as a direct intervention into the markets. Bernanke denies this, but at the same time, he boasts that QE2 has raised stock prices and strengthened the recovery. So, which is it; either the Fed is meddling in the markets or it is not?

Also, Bernanke continues to say that the economy is close to a "self sustaining recovery". But if that's true then why are interest rates still below the rate of inflation (which provides a subsidy to the banks for borrowing from the Fed), and why has the Fed announced that it will not end QE2 on schedule (at the end of June) but will continue to recycle funds from maturing bonds into the purchase of more Treasuries? Here's the scoop from Bloomberg:

"Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke may keep reinvesting maturing debt into Treasuries to maintain record stimulus even after making good on a pledge to complete $600 billion in bond purchases by the end of June.

The Fed chief’s top two lieutenants said this month the economy and inflation are too weak to warrant the start of a monetary-policy reversal. Investors and economists including David Kelly at JPMorgan Funds see that as a signal the Fed will keep its balance sheet at current levels by replacing about $17 billion a month in maturing mortgage debt with Treasuries.

Ending the reinvestment policy and the $600 billion program at the same time would be like quitting stimulus “cold turkey,” said Kelly, who is based in New York and helps oversee $400 billion as chief market strategist at JPMorgan." ("Bernanke May Sustain Stimulus to Avoid ‘Cold Turkey’ End to Aid", Bloomberg)

This shocking policy reversal by the Fed suggests that the economy is still so weak, that the ventilator and feeding-tubes must remain in place to forestall another disaster. In fact, JPM's own economist David Kelly candidly compares the economy to a drug addict who can't cope without his "liquidity fix" from the central bank. While that seems like a fitting metaphor, it also illustrates the shortcomings of QE2. Clearly, the program was never intended to reduce unemployment, stimulate demand or trigger a rebound in the real economy. It's just another multi-billion dollar handout to the investor class so they can make the payments on the Jaguar or add another Chagall to their art collection. Here's an excerpt from an article by Professor Alan Nasser on Counterpunch that sums it up pretty well:

"Ben Bernanke's second round of bond buying, QE2, has been a grand flop. Housing sales and prices are falling at an unhealthy clip, foreclosures and bankruptcies continue to mount and QE2 has had no measurable impact on the dismal employment picture. Nor should we expect it to. A study by the highly reliable Macroeconomic Advisors indicates that even an additional $1.5 trillion bond purchase by the Fed would reduce unemployment by a mere two tenths of one percent. (J. Hilsenrath, "Fed Fires $660 Billion Stimulus Shot", Wall Street Journal, November 4, 2010)..." ("Putting People to Work", Alan Nasser, Counterpunch)

See? Bernanke has been pulling the wool over our eyes from the get go. QE2 was never intended to lower unemployment. The real goal was to buoy stocks with the hope that inflated asset prices would increase the "wealth effect" and trigger another credit expansion. But that hasn't happened because consumers are up to their eyeballs in debt and still deleveraging.

While it's bad enough that QE2 has made billions in profits for the same scoundrels who blew up the financial system, the program has other hidden costs as well. For example, how much damage will the economy sustain when Bernanke ends QE2 and the stock bubble pops? And, for those still in doubt, there's more and more proof that stock prices are pretty "frothy" already. According to BusinessWeek:

"Robert Shiller calculates that the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index is trading at 23 times earnings normalized over the past 10 years, compared with a historical average of 16." ("The Granddaddy of All Bubbles?", Peter Coy and Roben Farzad, BusinessWeek)

And then there's this from Marketwatch:

"There have been only four other occasions over the last century when equity valuations were as high as they are now, according to a variant of the price-earnings ratio that has a wide following in academic circles. Stocks on each of those four occasions would soon suffer big declines." ("History bodes ill for stock market", Mark Hulbert, Marketwatch)

So, why are stock prices so high? Is it because the economy is doing so well or because the Fed's zero rates and bond buying binge has ignited a flurry of speculation that's pumped up prices?

The uptick in margin debt--which is presently at its highest level since 2008--is particularly disturbing. It means that the big banks and hedge funds have been increasing their debt-load to buy equities. But haven't we seen this movie before? When investors borrow tons of money to but stocks, it always ends badly. When the bubble bursts, over-extended investors rush for the exits, and the market crashes. Bernanke should be doing everything in his power to avoid this scenario, but, instead he keeps pumping more gas into the balloon. It's madness.

Here's a clip from Gluskin Sheff's David Rosenberg who explains the debt-fueled stock buying frenzy that Bernanke has sparked with QE2:

“If there is one sure way to tell that the Fed has managed to create and nurture a speculative-led rally in the equity market, look no further than what is happening to investor-based leverage growth – it’s exploding off the page. Yes, that’s right. Debit balances at margin accounts skyrocketed $20.7 billion in February. Only two other times historically have we seen leverage rise so much so fast and both times it was during a manic phase – during the tech bubble of the late 1990s and the credit bubble just a short four years ago." ("Surging margin debt and the instability QE2 has created", Pragmatic Capitalism)

When investors start borrowing boatloads of money to buy stocks, then the "big crash" cannot be too far off. A sudden decline in stock prices can quickly turn into a full-blown rout as margin calls send investors racing for cover and debt deflation dynamics pull the economy back into another slump.

Bernanke created this problem. And when the markets implode, it's Bernanke who should be held responsible.

[Demeter]

38. Velkommen to Banktopia By Mike Whitney

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27943.htm

Let's talk turkey. The dollar is getting hammered by the day. And the dollar is getting hammered by design, because the Fed wants a weaker currency to boost exports and lower the real burden of debt on the banks. (Yes, Martha, the banks are still insolvent) So, down goes the greenback, lower and lower, pushing up gas and food prices while the buying power of the average US worker vanishes down the plughole. And this process will continue for the foreseeable future because--as Obama stated earlier in the year--Washington is committed to "doubling exports in the next 5 years." Think about that: "the next 5 years". That's the same as saying that the American worker will be reduced to third-world poverty in a half decade or so. It's a death sentence.

And none of this has anything to do with lowering unemployment or raising GDP. In fact, the revisions of first quarter GDP reveal the lies behind the policy. The first announcement from the Commerce Department put GDP at 3.2%. Remember that? Now we've slipped to 1.4% and some predict the final revision could actually show negative growth. This is from the New York Times:

"Earlier this week we wrote that several prominent economic forecasters had lowered their estimates of gross domestic product growth in the first quarter of this year. Today saw even further declines. Macroeconomic Advisers, a forecasting firm, lowered its estimate to just 1.4 percent annualized, when just a few months ago they had pegged the number at 4.1 percent.

Capital Economics likewise brought its estimate down to 1 percent, writing in a client note:

Every data release last week seemed to necessitate a further downward revision to our first-quarter GDP growth forecast. By the end of the week when the dust had finally settled, that estimate was down to only 1% at an annualized pace. Indeed, there is now even a decent outside chance that the economy contracted outright." ("G.D.P. Estimates Slide Further", New York Times)

So, it's all baloney. The economy isn't growing. How could it be? Wages are flat, credit is still shrinking, (excluding student loans) and the only reason the unemployment numbers keep dropping is because more and more people are falling off the unemployment rolls. Everyone knows that. So, while there may be a slight uptick in consumption and retail; don't be fooled. It's just because it costs more to put food on the table or drive to work, not because people are scarfing up trinkets at the mall or living the highlife.

And the American people know what's going; they can see through this "green shoots" charade. That's why the latest survey from the New York Times showed that the "Nation’s Mood (is) at the Lowest Level in Two Years" and that "Americans are more pessimistic about the nation’s economic outlook and overall direction than they have been at any time since President Obama’s first two months in office when the country was still officially ensnared in the Great Recession." ("Nation’s Mood at Lowest Level in Two Years, Poll Shows, New York Times)

People have lost faith in Obama, the congress, and the political process itself. They can see that the system is broken and no longer responds to the will of the people, which is why they're throwing up their hands and giving up. It's obvious. Gallup found the same thing. Here's a clip from their recent poll:

"Americans' optimism about the future direction of the U.S. economy plunged in March for the second month in a row, as the percentage of Americans saying the economy is "getting better" fell to 33% -- down from 41% in January....Optimism about the future of the economy declined across all political parties during the first quarter....Gallup's Economic Confidence Index, which includes the economic optimism measure, also plunged in March..." ("U.S. Economic Optimism Plummets in March", Gallup)

So, all the "happy-times" propaganda has had zilch effect. The public's not buying it. They know we're in a Depression. How could they not know? They're underwater on their mortgages, they can't get a loan, their kids and Uncle Arnie can't find work, and the guy in the Oval Office won't do a damn thing to help out. Is it any wonder why so many people are giving up on capitalism entirely. Just take a look at this survey from Globescan for a real shocker:

"American public support for the free market economy has dropped sharply in the past year, and is now lower than in China, according to a GlobeScan poll released today.....When GlobeScan began tracking views in 2002, four in five Americans (80%) saw the free market as the best economic system for the future—the highest level of support among tracking countries. Support started to fall away in the following years and recovered slightly after the financial crisis in 2007/8, but has plummeted since 2009, falling 15 points in a year so that fewer than three in five (59%) now see free market capitalism as the best system for the future.

GlobeScan Chairman Doug Miller commented: “America is the last place we would have expected to see such a sharp drop in trust in the free enterprise system. This is not good news for business.”

The results mean that a number of the world’s major emerging economies have now matched or overtaken the USA in their enthusiasm for the free market. The Chinese and Brazilians, 67 per cent of whom regard the free market system as the best on offer, are now more positive about capitalism than Americans." ("Sharp Drop in American Enthusiasm for Free Market, Poll Shows", GlobeScan)

Can you believe it? The Chinese like capitalism better than Americans. How's that for irony? And, don't kid yourself, the average working slob isn't spending his evenings thumbing through the Communist Manifesto while strumming L'Internationale on his 6-string. That's nonsense. Americans are practical people. They know they're getting screwed by both parties which is why their support for capitalism has eroded even faster under Obama. It fell "15 points in a year" since 2009. Way to go, Barry.

And things will only get worse when congress starts hacking away at the budget deficits, eliminating popular programs and services. That will just add more fuel to the fire and convince people that the system is beyond repair. Bottom line: Conditions will steadily deteriorate, activity will slow, and economy will enter a period of protracted stagflation.

But that doesn't mean Wall Street will suffer. Hell, no. The markets will continue to bubble ever-higher fueled by lavish injections of monetary stimulus from the Fed just as they have for the last 3 years. As Bloomberg reported earlier in the week, Bernanke does not plan to end QE2 at the end of June as scheduled, but will continue to recycle the proceeds from maturing mortgage-backed securities (MBS) into bond purchases to ensure that the Blue Chips continue to post record profits while 42 million workers scrape by on food-stamps, and a couple million more wait to get booted out of their homes. Sounds fair, doesn't it?

So, if it seems like the big banks are writing the policy; it's because they are. Think of it like this: The US government keeps two sets of books. One is a record of all the public's revenues and debts. The other is an off-balance sheet operation run by the Fed. When congress spends money, it must be approved through the normal democratic process. When the Fed spends money, it simply writes a check on an account backed by "the full faith and credit of the US Treasury" without any oversight or supervision. And, the debts that it rings-up, do not add to the budget deficits or force policymakers to impose constraints on the banks. No way. The $2 trillion in junk mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and other handouts the Fed has given to Wall Street since Lehman collapsed, should have sent the deficits into the stratosphere and forced the resolution (bankruptcy) of the nation's largest banks. But they didn't, because the Fed's losses are kept "off-budget", where they don't attract congress's scrutiny. So, anything goes. The only problem is that the Fed's trillion dollar Bank Welfare Project has led to diminished buying power and a plunging dollar. So, it would be more accurate to call QE2 a stealth tax on working people, instead of "monetary stimulus".(which it is not.) The truth is, Bernanke is deliberately flogging the dollar to help his underwater bank buddies stay afloat and to keep stocks "frothy". But the net-result is a huge loss of personal wealth for everyone else. These are the real losers in Bernanke's QE shell game.

Looking ahead, it will be more of the same. Stocks will continue to rally, the red ink on the Fed's balance sheet will continue to build, and the dollar will continue its agonizing descent into oblivion.

The Fed is running the whole shooting match now and the rest of us are just bystanders with no say-so. Velkommen to Banktopia.

[Demeter]

37. The New Corporate World Order By Robert Scheer

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27935.htm

The debate over Republicans’ insistence on continued tax breaks for the superrich and the corporations they run should come to a screeching halt with the report in Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal headlined “Big U.S. Firms Shift Hiring Abroad.” Those tax breaks over the past decade, leaving some corporations such as General Electric to pay no taxes at all, were supposed to lead to job creation, but just the opposite has occurred. As the WSJ put it, the multinational companies “cut their work forces in the U.S. by 2.9 million during the 2000s while increasing employment overseas by 2.4 million, new data from the U.S. Commerce Department show.”

General Electric, which was bailed out by taxpayers and which stored so much of its profit abroad that it paid no taxes for the past two years, was forced to tighten up, but while cutting its foreign workforce by 1,000 it cut a far more severe 28,000 in the United States. Jeffrey Immelt, the CEO of GE, recently appointed by President Barack Obama as his chief outside economic adviser, admits that this does not involve poorly paid work that Americans don’t want, but instead prime jobs: “We’ve globalized around markets, not cheap labor. The era of globalization around cheap labor is over. Today we go to China, we go to India, because that’s where the customers are.”

There is a bitter irony in that statement given that consumer purchasing power is down in the U.S. thanks to the devastating collapse of a housing bubble GE Capital fed with suspect mortgage financing that provided the company with well over half of its profits before the crash. The loss of well-paying jobs at multinationals like GE to other nations—54 percent of the GE workforce is foreign—exacerbates the plight of U.S. consumers while making the foreign customers even more attractive.

Of course it will be argued that multinational corporations have the right to arrange their business as they see fit in order to maximize profit. But if that is the case, do beleaguered American taxpayers have to foot the bill? When those corporations run into trouble overseas because of financial hustles or hostile locals and need the diplomatic and military might of the U.S. government to protect their interests abroad, it is again the U.S. taxpayer who must pay to maintain this new world order. It is an order, as we see with three current wars and a military budget that rivals Cold War highs, that is contributing mightily to the U.S. government debt. More than half of all discretionary spending, the dollars that the Republicans in Congress now want to take out of needed domestic programs, is accounted for by defense spending. That defense spending to support a massive network of military bases and deployed weapons and troops is key to establishing an order in which the interests of American corporations are attended to. If the companies don’t feel that way, let them operate under the flag of Liberia or the Cayman Islands...MORE AT LINK

[Demeter]

39. Matt Taibbi Follows the Money in Iowa

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/04/matt-taibbi-follows-the-money-in-iowa-ag-tom-millers-faux-tough-posture-in-50-state-mortgage-settlement-negotiations.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29

We’ve taken aim repeatedly at Tom Miller’s obvious soft touch toward banks in his role as lead negotiator in the 50 state attorney generals negotiation over foreclosure abuses. Some of his questionable actions:

Promising to put people in jail, then quickly reversing himself

Working closely with the bank-friendly Treasury Department when the state and Federal legal issues are very different, rendering the rationale for cooperation suspect

Failing to undertake any meaningful investigations, which would have given the state AGs leverage in settlement talks

Not acting in a manner consistent with a lead negotiator role: negotiating AGAINST the AG group on behalf of the Administration, and springing a preliminary term sheet on them rather than involving them in developing it.

Putting terms forward piecemeal, and in particular, not disclosing the terms of the release even to fellow AGs. In a deal, you make a complete offer and then see if the other side accepts or counteroffers. Would anyone deal with a homebuyer put in a bid for your home for, say, $220,000 and then came back the next day and said, “The tile in the master bathroom is kind of old, I want you to replace that too. Oh, and repaint it and the guest bedroom.”

We had assumed that the reason for Miller’s bending-over-backwards stance was that he was currying favor with the Administration in the hope of winning the nomination to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. But Matt Taibbi has found what appears to be an even more logical explanation: out of state bank-friendly donors dumped lots of dough into Miller’s fundraising coffers. And I mean LOTS (at least by state AG standards):

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/best-way-to-raise-campaign-money-investigate-banks-20110421

"Put it this way. If the banks had to pay what they actually owed – from the registration taxes/fees they avoided by using the electronic registry system MERS to the money taken from investors in toxic mortgage-backed securities to the fees and payments stolen from homeowners via predatory loan practices and illegal foreclosures – they would probably all go out of business. That’s how much money is at stake here: the very future of financial giants like Bank of America and Citi and JP Morgan Chase is hanging to a very significant degree on the decisions of politicians like Miller."

So here we have it: yet another example of the best justice money can buy. Which means small fry like you and me go begging.

[Demeter]

40. Terrible Political One-Liner

Do you think the re-election campaign will run out of gas?

[Demeter]

41. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the AZ House of Representatives… After passing the Senate 28-2…

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the AZ House of Representatives… After passing the Senate 28-2… S.B. 1259 Completely Disappeared

http://mandelman.ml-implode.com/2011/04/a-funny-thing-happened-on-the-way-to-the-az-house-of-representatives%E2%80%A6-after-passing-the-senate-28-2%E2%80%A6-s-b-1259-completely-disappeared/

Arizona State Senator Michele Reagan, was first elected to serve in the Arizona House of Representatives in 2002. In 2010, she was elected to the Arizona State Senate. She is Vice-Chairman of the Banking and Insurance Committee, and Chairman of the Committee on Economic Development and Jobs Creation.

Well, as you might remember from the article I posted on February 23rd of this year, she and her husband were sued by their servicer, Texas-based Colonial Savings FA, when they sent the bank a letter last July stating that they were planning to rescind their loan due to violations of the Truth in Lending Act or TILA.

Apparently, Senator Reagan found herself having a dickens of a time finding out who exactly owned her note, and she wasn’t at all happy about it. So, in response, and working with Arizona attorney, Beth Findsen, she sponsored Senate Bill 1259...Of course, it came as no surprise that Arizona Bankers Association CEO, Paul Hickman was quick to issue the banking industry’s standard threatening warning, issued whenever anything might change existing rules:

“If Arizona passes this, it will be the only state in the union that will require a production of chain of title. States that pass these types of laws will be riskier environments to lend in and more difficult environments to get a loan in.”

................................................................

Let’s be very clear here… this is not about the foreclosure crisis… even though it also is...This is not about chain of title issues, even though it is as well. This is about our country… our republic… our representative democracy… the land of opportunity… where there are no castes from which one is relegated to spend a lifetime. Where corruption, although sporadically exposed… is never abided, respected, or in any way condoned. This is about the very nature of our great society.

This proposed piece of legislation, which would have required banks and servicers to follow what are for the most part existing laws governing foreclosures and the transfer of property rights. Nothing particularly heinous… certainly nothing that makes me fear for the survival of free market capitalism.

But it was also something the bankers and servicers… and they’re really the same for our purposes… could not tolerate… and would not allow… period. To hell with out political process and system of government.

So, using their immense power to drive our democracy, they did what ever they had to do to… so that they could maintain the status quo because… well, because that’s what they wanted and decided would be best for everyone...


------------------------------------------------------------------
The content of this site is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.

[Demeter]

42. Lost decade? We've already had one

NO KIDDING! THANKS FOR NOTICING, YOU ECONOMICS WIZ KIDS...OR IS THAT WHIZ?

http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2011/04/20/lost-decade-weve-already-had-one/


The economy has been bedridden far longer than we realize -- and you can blame lying statistics for at least some of it...So says Rob Arnott of Research Affiliates, a Newport Beach, Calif., investment management firm with some $50 billion under management. He argues in his monthly newsletter that, contrary to popular belief, the roots of our current malaise predate the financial crisis – and not by a little bit.

Arnott says the U.S. economy actually went off the rails more than a decade ago. What's more, many of us have failed to realize it because the most widely watched economic indicator, gross domestic product, actually tracks consumption, irresponsible or otherwise, rather than real wealth generation.

Accordingly, Arnott takes little solace in the observation that inflation-adjusted, per capita GDP has recovered to within just a few percent of its 2007 peak. While that statistic suggests the economy is recovering steadily, if a little less quickly than we'd like, Arnott contends that most of the GDP gains we have seen since 1998 are attributable to debt-financed spending, rather than real wealth creation.

We are, in a word, considerably poorer than we imagine – something politicians of all stripes should, but probably won't, consider as they grapple with our massive deficit.

[Demeter]

43. Investors drove home sales up 3.7 pct. in March

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gmOJR51WH2YKDLYuCulD2gEaJg8A?docId=03256243df4c409ab0c4fbff028e6a3c

Investors lifted U.S. home sales last month, plunking down cash to grab cheap homes at risk of foreclosure. But purchases made by first-time homebuyers fell, a troubling sign for the weak housing market.

Sales of previously occupied homes rose in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.1 million, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday. That's a 3.7 percent increase from the February pace, but far below the 6 million homes a year that economists say represents a healthy market.

Foreclosures or short sales — when the lender agrees to accept less than what is owed on the mortgage — rose to make up 40 percent of all purchases. And deals paid for entirely in cash accounted for 35 percent of all resold homes. The Realtors group says that's the biggest percentage since it has been tracking all-cash sales.

Many of those purchases are being made by investors, who are targeting cheap properties in areas hit hardest by foreclosures: Phoenix, Las Vegas and Tampa. The trade group's data only takes into account individual investors. It does not include homes sold in bulk at auction or on courthouse steps. Many of the foreclosure sales are likely being picked up en masse by private equity firms.

Another sign of investor activity is that sales of homes priced under $100,000 have risen 10 percent from a year ago. In that same period, sales of mid-priced homes, between $100,000 and $500,000, have fallen more than 14 percent.

[Demeter]

44. Nissan to shift Infiniti SUV production to U.S.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/21/nissan-infiniti-idUSL3E7FL02620110421

Nissan Motor Co plans to start U.S. production of its Infiniti JX sport utility vehicle next year as it moves more of its manufacturing away from Japan amid a stronger yen.

The move, which follows an earlier decision to transfer production of its Rogue SUV to the United States, comes as Japan automakers look for ways to reverse currency-related losses as the yen's strength against the dollar makes vehicles shipped to the U.S. from Japan less attractive and less profitable.

Production of the Infiniti JX will be moved from Japan to the automaker's Smyrna, Tennessee manufacturing plant, where production of Rogue models will also be transferred.

[Demeter]

45. Probe launched into Pru’s failed AIA bid

The FSA orders an inquiry into the abortive $35bn deal for the Asian life assurer. The report will focus on the investment bank advisers, Credit Suisse, JPMorgan and HSBC

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/3JFELL/WLN97D/OFBYP/JI59UI/FXAR0X/FW/t?a1=2011&a2=4&a3=21

[Demeter]

46. The FDIC’s Rosy, Theoretical, Misleading Lehman Resolution Counterfactual (or Why TBTF is Still TBTF

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/04/the-fdics-rosy-theoretical-misleading-lehman-resolution-counterfactual-or-why-tbtf-is-still-tbtf.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29

The FDIC has released a document that purports to show how it could have successfully resolved Lehman Brothers using its new Title II resolution authority granted under Dodd Frank.

All I can say is that this is an interesting piece of creative writing. The Lehman counterfactual rests on a series of assumptions, which as I will discuss shortly, look pretty questionable. The most charitable assessment one can make comes from a famous exchange between two technologists. Trygve Reenskaug says: “In theory, practice is simple.” Alexandre Boily asks: “But, is it simple to practice theory?”.

[DemReadingDU]

47. FDIC closing office in Irvine, California

500 people will be out of work

Listen to audio, appx 4 minutes
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2011/04/22/135616041/economic-recovery-puts-an-office-out-of-business



So bank failures are finished on the west coast?

[Demeter]

59. Hmmmm

Probably the cost of doing business in CA...can fly in troops for less as needed.

[Demeter]

48. Doug Smith: A Stiletto In The Back Of Sane Housing Markets

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/04/doug-smith-a-stiletto-in-the-back-of-sane-housing-markets.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29

The recent federal budget deal eliminated $88 million of HUD funding for non-profit housing counselors. According to this report, these groups use roughly half the funds for foreclosure counseling and half for homebuyer education and qualification. The report says a separate foreclosure counseling effort is also being reduced by $65 million.

Historically, non-profit housing groups focused on low-income folks. But, for many years, people with moderate incomes – nurses, police, teachers and others in what used to pass for the middle class – have also sought help. The core purpose of the non-profits is simple: help people achieve affordable home ownership. This entails educating them on the realities of ownership, helping them shift credit, consumption and savings behavior, advising on how to avoid the worst practices of real estate and mortgage brokers — even at times doing lending. All of which together means, in effect, doing the real work of underwriting that has long since been abandoned by the too big to fail banks who, in their eagerness to increase volumes and squeeze out costs through technology and ‘modeled’ strategies, eliminated the capacity for this careful work...These cuts are cruel. They further jeopardize millions of families already overwhelmed by job losses, stagnant pay, diminished benefits, risk of medical bankruptcy, plummeting housing prices, ghost neighborhoods, and shrinking state and local services. Not to mention vulnerability to being duped by ongoing, complex “innovations” of fraudulent servicers and banksters obsessed with predatory fees, paper profits and taxpayer subsidized bonuses.

And, as if all that weren’t bad enough, along come not only these cuts but also bankster-wannabe, revolving door officials in Congress, the judiciary and the Obama administration who trip over themselves in a race to use consent decrees and settlements aimed at creating the illusion of putting all this unpleasantness behind them. This is not policy. It’s choreography. It’s about staging a grand ‘forward looking’ kumbaya, ‘grown up’ and ‘serious’ moment of doubling down on the status quo.

That makes this budgetary stab-in-the-back of middle and low-income folks – and those who seek to help them — just one more dreary illustration of the polar opposite treatment accorded those too small to save versus those too big to fail...Cruelty aside, though, this is also mind-numbingly stupid. The real economy will not recover without a recovery of the housing sector. (Yes, it will take more than that, too). And, even the unreal economy we call the financial sector will not see a successful conclusion to extend and pretend back-door recapitalizations without a recovery in the housing sector.

[Demeter]

49. Gov. Scott Walker Reportedly Planning Financial Martial Law In Wisconsin

http://blogs.forbes.com/rickungar/2011/04/16/gov-scott-walker-reportedly-planning-financial-martial-law-in-wisconsin/

...Following the lead of Michigan GOP Governor Rick Snyder, Walker is said to be preparing a plan that would allow him to force local governments to submit to a financial stress test with an eye towards permitting the governor to take over municipalities that fail to meet with Walker’s approval.

According to the reports, should a locality’s financial position come up short, the Walker legislation would empower the governor to insert a financial manager of his choosing into local government with the ability to cancel union contracts, push aside duly elected local government officials and school board members and take control of Wisconsin cities and towns whenever he sees fit to do so.

Such a law would additionally give Walker unchallenged power to end municipal services of which he disapproves, including safety net assistance to those in need.

According to my sources, the plan is being written by the legal offices of Foley & Lardner, the largest law firm in the state, and is scheduled to be introduced to the legislature in May of this year....


THEY WILL BOTH BE RECALLED, AND THE GOP WILL BE FINISHED FOREVER AS A VIABLE POLITICAL PARTY--OR WE ARE ALL DEAD.

[Demeter]

54. And so it begins. Emergency Financial Mgr. fires entire government of Benton Harbor, MI

http://www.eclectablog.com/2011/04/and-so-it-begins-emergency-financial.html

As you probably know, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder recently signed legislation passed by the Republican-dominated House and Senate that gives State-appointed Emergency Financial Managers (EFMs) historically broad and sweeping powers. These new powers allow the EFM to cancel or modify contracts (including with unions) and even to fire the municipality's government.

Today, for the first time, an EFM did just that. According to a press release from the Michigan AFL-CIO, Joseph L. Harris, EFM for Benton Harbor, Michigan issued "an order prohibiting all action by all city boards, commissions, authorities and other entities, except as authorized by the emergency manager."


This is a complete disenfranchisement of an entire community, an entire city in my state. The voters are now denied the ability to be governed by the people they elected in a democratic election.

This is nothing short of an abridgment of democracy in raw form.


AND WHY DID THE DWEEB IN CHIEF DO THIS? TO STEAL LAKEFRONT PROPERTY FROM THE PUBLIC PARK SYSTEM FOR A PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT.

MORE AT LINK, SUPPLEMENTAL LINKS BELOW:

How Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is quietly & intentionally creating more Benton Harbors

http://www.eclectablog.com/2011/04/how-michigan-gov-rick-snyder-is.html

Benton Harbor Emergency Financial Mgr. gets right to work

http://www.eclectablog.com/2011/04/benton-harbor-emergency-financial-mgr.html

[kickysnana]

62. FYI a rebuttal no idea what it means

http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2011/04/column.html

[Demeter]

64. sounds like cherry-picking the facts to me

to imply that Rachel Maddow is mistaken--but she's not.

[Demeter]

50. SPITZER TO HOLDER: PROSECUTE GOLDMAN SACHS OR QUIT

VIDEO

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2011/04/15/exp.arena.prosecute.resign.spitzer.cnn?iref=allsearch

[Demeter]

51. Bill Black: Fiat Justitia Ruat Caelum (Let Justice be Done, Though the Heavens Fall)

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/04/bill-black-fiat-justitia-ruat-caelum-let-justice-be-done-though-the-heavens-fall.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29

This post by Bill Black is important because it presents and dissects an ugly example of failure of morality and common sense within what passes for the elite in the US....

LENGTHY BUT WORTHY


This was not a “fraud free financial crisis.” It is a prosecution free financial crisis for the elites whose frauds caused the crisis. Historically, “control frauds” – frauds run by the senior officers who control seemingly legitimate banks and use them as “weapons” to defraud creditors and shareholders – drive serious financial crises. That was true of our two most recent financial scandals. The national commission investigating the causes of the S&L debacle found that at the typical large failure “fraud was invariably present.” The major Enron era frauds were all control frauds. This current crisis was driven by accounting control frauds. We have known, for well over a century, how to make home loans in a manner that limits fraud to negligible levels. We have known for centuries that if bankers do not underwrite the inevitable results are massive losses, endemic fraud, and failure. Honest mortgage lenders do not make liar’s loans. No one ever forced a banker to make liar’s loans. Only fraudulent mortgage lenders make material numbers of liar’s loans. My prior columns have explained that it was the lenders that overwhelmingly put the lies in liar’s loans.

[Demeter]

52. More Shots Across MERS’s Bow

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/04/more-shots-across-merss-bow.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29

Admittedly, this act of rebellion against MERS, the electronic mortgage registry by a Pennsylvania county is comparatively minor, but nevertheless illustrates the efforts various local bodies are taking to assert their authority against a system imposed without regard to state and local real estate laws.

Montgomery County estimates that it has lost $15 million in recording fees due to MERS, which its Recorder of Deeds, Nancy Becker, says has also made a mess of title records. She is working to get the county to cease doing business with banks that make use of MERS, and has launched an effort to get other counties in the state to follow suit...

[Demeter]

53. Wrongful Foreclosures

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/opinion/17sun2.html?ref=opinion

We were worried recently when we saw an advance draft of legal agreements between federal regulators and the nation’s big banks to address and correct foreclosure abuses. The actual deals were as bad as we feared...It turns out that the inquiry that preceded the agreements was limited to reviews of “foreclosure-processing functions” — things like paperwork handling and work-force supervision. The reviews found big processing problems — no surprise there — and the agreements call for more staff and better management.

What was not looked for is far more significant. Because so few files were examined, the regulators’ report says, “the reviews could not provide a reliable estimate of the number of foreclosures that should not have proceeded.” So much for the burning question of the extent of wrongful foreclosures. The reviews also did not look at potential abuses outside the foreclosure process, including unreasonable loan fees and misapplied loan payments. Such faulty charges can precipitate default by making it impossible for borrowers to catch up on late payments.

Nor did the reviews focus on faulty loan-modification processes, like instances in which bank employees wrongly told borrowers they needed to be delinquent to qualify for new loan terms. Delinquency subjects borrowers to late fees, damaged credit and an increased risk of falling hopelessly behind. It also harms mortgage investors who are stuck with the loan losses. But it can be profitable for banks that service loans; they can extract late fees from the borrower or upon the foreclosed home’s sale.

To add insult to injury, the agreements leave it largely up to the banks to investigate themselves on those issues. They require banks to choose, hire and pay independent consultants to check a sample of pending foreclosures; banks are then supposed to reimburse wronged borrowers. The regulators pledge to ensure that the reviews are comprehensive and reliable... We’re not holding our breath. The agreements do not include monetary penalties, though regulators say fines are coming. Regulators appear divided over whether the agreements should preclude efforts by the states to correct and punish foreclosure abuses. The Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation have stated clearly that the agreements do not stop other enforcement actions. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has not ruled out such interference. Over all, an important opportunity has been missed for real reform, redress and accountability.

[Demeter]

55. Fatal Risk – the must-read book on AIG's failure

http://brontecapital.blogspot.com/2011/04/fatal-risk-must-read-book-on-aigs.html

...This is a fabulous book – but it deals with complex subjects without shying away from their complexity and it assumes you have enough knowledge and intelligence to cope...


Underlying Roddy’s books are a few financial truths that bear repeating. Firstly anything that has any chance of going wrong if done for long enough will go wrong. It doesn’t matter if your model tells you that you will be fine in any mortgage default environment short of the great depression: if you continue to bet on that model you will lose. Maybe not next year. Maybe not in ten years but you will eventually lose.

Likewise if you write large quantities of out-of-the-money puts you will eventually lose a lot of money.

Likewise if your model assumes that there is always going to be a deep liquid market in any security (with the possible exception of a Treasury bond) then one day you will wake up and the buyers will have scampered like antelopes from a waterhole at first sight of a lion. Any business that has to roll a large amount of debt at regular intervals is dangerous...


IF YOU CAN'T READ THE BOOK, THERE'S A COMPREHENSIVE SUMMARY THAT FOLLOWS AT LINK

[Demeter]

56. Guest Post: Too Much Finance?

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/04/guest-post-too-much-finance.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29

One of the recent disturbing indicators of the triumph of the doomsday machine known as modern finance is Timothy Geithner’s vision that banks will continue to grow via increased penetration of emerging economies. From a recent interview by Noam Scheiber in The New Republic:

He told me he subscribes to the view that the world is on the cusp of a major “financial deepening”: As developing economies in the most populous countries mature, they will demand more and increasingly sophisticated financial services, the same way they demand cars for their growing middle classes and information technology for their corporations. If that’s true, then we should want U.S. banks positioned to compete abroad.

“I don’t have any enthusiasm for … trying to shrink the relative importance of the financial system in our economy as a test of reform, because we have to think about the fact that we operate in the broader world,” he said. “It’s the same thing for Microsoft or anything else. We want U.S. firms to benefit from that.” He continued: “Now financial firms are different because of the risk, but you can contain that through regulation.”

As anyone one with an operating brain cell realizes, “can contain” is not the same as “have contained” or “have a snowball’s chance in hell of containing”. Simon Johnson was also not happy with the Geithner vision of US financial firms occupying even bigger swathes of the world economy....This post is important because it tackles a very basic question: when does the financial sector become so large as to be unproductive? And the answer is at levels of GDP that the US passed shortly after 1980.

MUCH MORE AT LINK

[Fuddnik]

60. Went to see these guys again last night. AWESOME!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmSlYrcSsOQ

That's from the winter tour.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K5P6uP2Jf4
Somebody actually posted this from 3 hours ago.

[bread_and_roses]

61. "Right-Wingers Are Serious About Trying to Undermine Child Labor Laws"

http://www.alternet.org/story/150709/madness%3A_right-wingers_are_serious_about_trying_to_undermine_child_labor_laws/?page=entire

The fact that we're debating the social benefits of child labor laws in the second decade of the 21st century casts the madness that's gripped our right-wing in sharp relief. It took a hard-fought, century-long battle to get compliant kids working for slave-wages out of American workplaces, and that battle was supposedly won 73 years ago during the New Deal...

... And it's part of a larger assault on the working class. Maine's new governor, Paul LePage, is a Tea Party darling best known (after his “brazen” nepotism) for ordering the removal of a mural that depicted workers in a positive light.

Child labor laws and the growth of the American labor movement have gone hand-in-hand. According to the Child Labor Education Project, “Union organizing and child labor reform were often intertwined, and common initiatives were conducted by organizations led by working women and middle-class consumers, such as state Consumers’ Leagues and Working Women’s Societies.”

In 1876, the Working Men’s Party fought to ban the employment of children under the age of 14. These grassroots organizations would fight for better conditions for all workers, and for limits on children's labor, until the first federal child labor laws were passed in 1938.

And the one proposed in Missouri is even worse - see article.

It beggars belief.

[Pale Blue Dot]

63. So, challanging Bernanke and QE2 is a "right-wing" position.

AND, there is a "vast right-wing conspiracy" against him.

I logged on for a bit, and now I'm sorry I did. See you all tomorrow!

[Demeter]

65. What?

Where does it say that?

[Pale Blue Dot]

66. Not here!

Elsewhere on this site. Sorry for the confusion. :-)

[Demeter]

68. Well, Ben IS Universally Despised Outside Wall St

and usually for the right reasons.

I wonder if your correspondent delivers. I could use a yard or two of compost...

What I don't get is why Wall St. isn't on his case.

[bread_and_roses]

71. Since the "right-wing" is a wholly-owned subsidiary of our Corporate Overlords

and Bernanke is a good and loyal lapdog of same, it hardly seems likely that they would fund a "conspiracy" against him? But then, otherwise seemingly rational people engage in some spectacular intellectual contortions to deny that our Ds are 99.9% owned by those very same Corporate Overlords.

[jtuck004]

73. I read that little exchange

and it puts me in mind of Godwin's Law - the longer the discussion the more likely Nazi enters the talk - and I was thinking maybe there is a positive correlation between the validity of someone's assertion that Bernanke's actions are mostly helpful to the wealthy, injurious to most of us, and the speed with which one starts hearing "right wing" or "teabag".

I noticed you asked for a link to substantiate their position, and, curiously, it never appeared. Though on the other side some economists characterize Bernanke's actions as a "Greenspan Put" on steroids. And nearly everyone was and is worse off for that fiasco.

Here

I too am waiting for this evidence of demand driving up prices, because, frankly, we already have evidence that the pursuit of profits in commodities drives up the price. Current policies are designed to pry the cold, dead, bony fingers of the capitalists away from their hoarded wealth to create jobs by devaluing the dollar so much that we truly do create an export surplus in 5 years, their publicly stated goal. And, frankly, all the lives that go down the toilet in the meantime are just so much collateral damage. And for cryin' out loud, how many people have pointed out the failures of trickle-on economic stimulus since R. Reagan's failure? Yet it keeps getting thrown on the wall, as if people believe that it will eventually stick, like mud that never dries out.

As bad as some of the policies of other administrations have been for the country, the fact that these policies were created beginning after the loss of 4.5 million jobs, and continuing for a year as we lost another 4.5 million, and didn't result in a push for a jobs program or a guaranteed wage structure to maintain the security and integrity of this country, instead resulting in the posting of hundreds of billions of dollars to the accounts of banks and health insurance companies. That disappointed me greatly.

And everything on the horizon is just spin and surreptitious actions (guised in a costume of serious populist effort) that will continue to support and perhaps even increase the wealth of those who have treated this country as their own personal ATM, structuring finance so as to replace what few assets people have with debt that TPTB can profit from.

I will not help them any longer. And I agree with you.

[Demeter]

67. Happy Resurrection of Persephone, Everyone!

I knew I'd find something to offend everyone.

There's at least one Chinese Magnolia in full bloom, and several forsythia. Lots of hyacinths and daffs and scylla and a couple of wild violets. The willow is in leaf, and the crabs are ready to bloom if it gets a little warmer...

So, spring has finally come. I knew I'd find a theme somewhere.

[Fuddnik]

69. Persephone? Is he related to Cellphone?

Speaking of which, Mine is starting to act funny, and I may have to go out and get a new one today. It keeps turning itself off, but nobody calls me anyway, so what's the difference.

[Demeter]

70. Maybe your battery has reached the end of its useful life

[DemReadingDU]

72. My cellphone lost its display a couple weeks ago

The phone still works, I just can't see who calls me. It's like a mystery caller every time it rings.
:crazy:

It's the cellphone equivalent of the BSOD (blue screen of death)

[Demeter]

75. Hope You All Had a Good Family Get Together this Week

I'm full of ham and potato salad. And asparagus, and peas. And caviar and smoked salmon on deviled eggs. And pineapple, and chocolate. And jelly beans.

The pierogi and kapusta and kielbasa will have to wait until some of the ham supply goes down. With only 4 to dinner, can't have that many courses.

May the snow cease to fall on us, and lightning strike in DC on the heads that need enlightenment.