The most powerful person in the global economy

"The most powerful person will soon be the president of the European Central Bank, the Italian banker Mario Draghi. In the last few weeks, we have seen an extraordinary expansion of the European Central Bank’s powers. It can now set interest rates, control financial markets, and effectively dictate tax and spending policies across what remains — despite its current difficulties — the world’s largest single economic bloc. But history suggests that when you concentrate too much power in a single pair of hands, and even worse when the person who wields that power is not limited by any form of accountability, the results are catastrophic." Continue reading

Continue ReadingThe most powerful person in the global economy

Yes, Virginia, Social Security Really Is Going Bankrupt.

"At the heart of every defensive of Social Security's actuarial solvency is a series of lies. It is difficult to know who started the lie, but if you follow the lies, you always get back to the truth, and the truth is admitted by the Trustees of the Social Security trust fund. This is the best-case scenario. There is a worse-case scenario: the inevitable one." Continue reading

Continue ReadingYes, Virginia, Social Security Really Is Going Bankrupt.

An assault on living standards set to run and run

"Sir Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England, warned this week that the next generation may have to live under the shadow of today's economic correction 'for a long time to come'. The Governor is still as reluctant as ever to concede the central bank's own culpability in the crisis. In his own speech, Sir Mervyn makes a clear distinction between what he calls 'good' money printing of the type the Bank of England is already practising through quantitative easing, and 'bad' money printing of the 'helicopter' variety." Continue reading

Continue ReadingAn assault on living standards set to run and run

Firings Highest Since 2010 as Ford to Dow Face Slump

"Ford Motor Co. (F) and Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) joined a growing number of companies firing thousands of workers as sluggish U.S. growth and Europe’s deepening recession lead to a persisting slump in sales. North American companies have announced plans to eliminate more than 62,600 positions at home and abroad since Sept. 1, the biggest two-month drop since the start of 2010, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The reductions coincide with a majority of U.S. companies missing analysts’ third-quarter revenue estimates and a focus on jobs in the final weeks of the U.S. presidential campaign." Continue reading

Continue ReadingFirings Highest Since 2010 as Ford to Dow Face Slump

Get Ready: Everything Is Going to Cost More Next Year

"Consumers will have to dig deeper into their pockets next year to pay for costlier health care, more expensive grocery bills and higher taxes, an extra drag on the country's already slow-moving economy. The additional outlays look set to test the resilience of consumers, whose spending accounts for around two-thirds of the U.S. economy. The strength of consumer spending has surprised some economists, given unemployment near 8 percent and anemic wage growth. Consumer spending has cushioned the blow to the United States from slower foreign demand for its goods." Continue reading

Continue ReadingGet Ready: Everything Is Going to Cost More Next Year

Soros Ex-Wife Lists Apartment for $50 Million

"Susan Weber Soros, the former wife of the billionaire financier and philanthropist George Soros, has listed her elegantly appointed 10-room apartment at the Majestic, the soaring dual-towered Art Deco co-op at 115 Central Park West, for $50 million. It is being offered fully furnished — Ms. Soros is downsizing and making a clean break — and the price includes a separate one-bedroom one-bath unit for staff. Ms. Soros bought the apartment for $25 million in an under-the-radar transaction in 2006, a year after her two-decade marriage to Mr. Soros ended in divorce." Continue reading

Continue ReadingSoros Ex-Wife Lists Apartment for $50 Million

Spanish unemployment tops 25 percent

"Spain announced Friday that its unemployment rate broke the 25-percent barrier for the first time as austerity cuts squeezed the recession-struck economy. Tens of thousands of jobs were destroyed in the third quarter, even as Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s government raised taxes, cut spending and pondered whether to snatch a eurozone rescue line. Among workers aged 16-24 the jobless rate towered at 52.34 percent in the third quarter, only slightly down from 53.27 percent in the previous quarter, the institute said. After more than a year of recession, the soaring jobless figures and biting cuts have prompted growing street protests." Continue reading

Continue ReadingSpanish unemployment tops 25 percent

Turkish gold trade booms to Iran, via Dubai

"The sums involved are enormous. Official Turkish trade data suggests nearly $2 billion worth of gold was sent to Dubai on behalf of Iranian buyers in August. The shipments help Tehran manage its finances in the face of Western financial sanctions. The sanctions, imposed over Iran's disputed nuclear program, have largely frozen it out of the global banking system, making it hard for it to conduct international money transfers. By using physical gold, Iran can continue to move its wealth across borders. Turkish trade data confirms the gold is being transported to Dubai by air." Continue reading

Continue ReadingTurkish gold trade booms to Iran, via Dubai