Mexico’s audit office tells Bank of Mexico to verify gold held at Bank of England

"The Mexican government audit office has reprimanded the Bank of Mexico for failing to verify its supposed purchase of $4.5 billion of gold vaulted at the Bank of England. The audit office confirms a complaint last year that the Bank of Mexico had purchased only 'paper gold' at the Bank of England and had no idea of the number of bars it had supposedly purchased, nor of the purity of the bars. The audit office has recommended that the Bank of Mexico 'make a physical inspection with the counterparty that has the gold under its custody, in order to be able to verify and validate its physical wholeness and the compliance with the terms and conditions of dealing with this asset.'" Continue reading

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Bernanke says Fed stimulus benefits clear, budget cuts a risk

"Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke strongly defended the U.S. central bank's bond-buying stimulus before Congress on Tuesday, easing worries monetary policymakers might be getting cold feet. The Fed chairman also urged lawmakers to avoid sharp spending cuts, which he warned could [..] create a 'significant headwind' for the economic recovery. Bernanke said Fed policymakers are cognizant of potential risks from their extraordinary support for the economy, including the possibility the public loses confidence in the central bank's ability to unwind its stimulus smoothly or the potentially destabilizing effect of low rates on key markets." Continue reading

Continue ReadingBernanke says Fed stimulus benefits clear, budget cuts a risk

A Little Music to “Sequester” By

For those of you who dread the Kalends of March, repeat after me:  The world will not end if the federal government spends only $15 billion more this year than last. Repeat as needed. When a panic attack is imminent, listen to this song.  Try singing along. Oh, and one [...]

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Continue ReadingA Little Music to “Sequester” By

A Little Music to “Sequester” By

For those of you who dread the Kalends of March, repeat after me:  The world will not end if the federal government spends only $15 billion more this year than last. Repeat as needed. When a panic attack is imminent, listen to this song.  Try singing along. Oh, and one more thing . . .… more

Continue ReadingA Little Music to “Sequester” By

If You Can’t Be in Lansing TODAY, You CAN Still Do This!

As you know, the Federal Level One Grant Appropriations bill HB 4111 for the implementation of the Obama Care Health Care Exchange will be voted on today in the House. Even if you can not make to Lansing YOUR voice needs to be heard! Apparently there are not enough GOP votes to pass HB 4111, …

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Continue ReadingIf You Can’t Be in Lansing TODAY, You CAN Still Do This!

FED paper warns it might not be able to undo QE

"A new paper for the US Monetary Policy Forum and published by the Fed warns that the institution's capital base could be wiped out 'several times' once borrowing costs start to rise in earnest. A mere whiff of inflation or more likely stagflation would cause a bond market rout, leaving the Fed nursing escalating losses on its $2.9 trillion holdings. This portfolio is rising by $85bn each month under QE3. The longer it goes on, the greater the risk. Exit will become much harder by 2014. What is new is that these worries are surfacing openly in Fed circles." Continue reading

Continue ReadingFED paper warns it might not be able to undo QE

Debt crisis: France puts brakes on austerity

"Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said on Friday that France would ask its EU partners and the European Commission for an extra year to cut its public deficit below a targeted 3 percent of GDP, and would outline new savings measures soon. Mr Hollande said his government had brought down the deficit to 4.5 percent in 2012. The European Commission expects a French 2013 deficit of 3.7 percent of GDP. Spending cuts in 2014 would be made in the state budget, local budgets and the social security budget, Hollande said. Mr Hollande said France would continue to try and boost growth through public investment." Continue reading

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Nervous Brussels urges Italy to stick to austerity

"The European Commission has urged any future government in Italy to keep on implementing deficit-cutting measures, despite the fact that over half the electorate voted for anti-austerity parties. 'Last Friday the Italians were speaking quite clearly about debt-reduction commitments as well as a series of other commitments. These Italian commitments remain in force and the commission expects compliance,' commission spokesperson Olivier Bailly said. His comments come after elections in Italy put former comedian Beppe Grillo, who ran on an anti-austerity ticket and has called for a referendum on euro membership, in kingmaker position." Continue reading

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Italy’s anti-austerity ‘rebellion’ promises to spread

"Any doubts that Italians were fed up with tax hikes and economic reform vanished in an election that awarded more than half of the votes to anti-austerity parties. As Italian voters supported the anti-austerity parties, they also punished the centrist, pro-austerity alliance led by Mario Monti, the technocrat prime minister who replaced Mr. Berlusconi at the height of the Italian financial crisis in late 2011. Mr. Monti rolled out a series of tax hikes, including a hated property tax that Mr. Berlusconi vowed to kill, and attempted economic reforms that met with partial success. For that, his alliance got 10 per cent or less of the votes." Continue reading

Continue ReadingItaly’s anti-austerity ‘rebellion’ promises to spread

Italian Business Taxpayers Feel ‘Persecuted’

"A nationwide poll of 2,500 businesses by Confedercontribuenti, an association of Italian taxpayers, has found that they are being harassed in their dealings with the country’s complex tax system, which is viewed as extremely complex and persecutory. On average, each company receives about 29 annual alerts regarding its obligations tothe system’s various tax authorities and collectors. Above all, it is calculated that it takes each business an average of about 250 hours per year to resolve the issues raised by the total of 13 different institutions responsible for the Italian tax and social security system." Continue reading

Continue ReadingItalian Business Taxpayers Feel ‘Persecuted’