crony capitalism

Doug Casey: All Banks Are Bankrupt

"The whole banking business is corrupt from top to bottom today. Part of the problem is that banks are no longer financed by the individuals who start them, putting their personal net worth on the line. Now, they are all publicly traded entities – just like all brokerages – playing with Other People's Money. Management has no incentive to do anything but pad their wallets, so they pay themselves gigantic salaries and bonuses, and give themselves options. These people aren't shepherding their money and that of clients they know personally. They've got zero skin in the game. This is true all over the world, not just in the US and Europe." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDoug Casey: All Banks Are Bankrupt

Fannie Mae record profit: How long until it pays back bailout money?

"The firm, along with a sibling corporation named Freddie Mac, is at the heart of a US mortgage market that imploded during the financial crisis. The two firms received some of the biggest taxpayer bailouts in 2008. But now, as housing markets are recovering, so are their fortunes. Fannie Mae has drawn some $116 billion in financial support from the US Treasury since the firm was taken over in a federal conservatorship in 2008. Some $35.6 billion of that has, in effect, been paid back through dividend payments to the Treasury since 2009. Executives at Fannie and Freddie are touting the role they’ve played in buoying the housing market since the recession ended." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFannie Mae record profit: How long until it pays back bailout money?

GM, Ford and Chrysler post best U.S. sales since 2007

"General Motors, Ford and Chrysler reported their best US sales performances since 2007 on Tuesday amid booming overall auto demand following the US industry’s near-collapse five years ago. Total industry sales rose 3.4 percent from March 2012 and came in at a seasonally adjusted, annual pace of 15.3 percent, according to Autodata. The strong sales come after years of painful restructuring and the plunge in demand following the 2008 financial crisis, which pushed GM and Chrysler into government-backed bankruptcies." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGM, Ford and Chrysler post best U.S. sales since 2007

Fastest-Growing Jobs Pay Under $10/Hour

"This weekend, I had a discussion with a businessman, who sits on the board of a publicly traded staffing firm. He tells me that the middle class is disappearing. The country is being split into those savvy enough to survive in the overly regulated economy and everyone else. The crony capitalists have built a moat around their businesses, eliminating the kind of competition that would hire high skilled labor. Obamacare, simply adds to the difficulties in hiring anything but very cheap labor. Outside of a tiny sliver of opportunity for software engineers and lawyers in Silicon Valley, you either launch something on your own or you will end up part a low paid tool for the crony machine." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFastest-Growing Jobs Pay Under $10/Hour

State-Wrecked: The Corruption of Capitalism in America – David Stockman

"As the federal government and its central-bank sidekick, the Fed, have groped for one goal after another — smoothing out the business cycle, minimizing inflation and unemployment at the same time, rolling out a giant social insurance blanket, promoting homeownership, subsidizing medical care, propping up old industries (agriculture, automobiles) and fostering new ones ('clean' energy, biotechnology) and, above all, bailing out Wall Street — they have now succumbed to overload, overreach and outside capture by powerful interests. The modern Keynesian state is broke, paralyzed and mired in empty ritual incantations about stimulating 'demand.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingState-Wrecked: The Corruption of Capitalism in America – David Stockman

Beekeepers sue EPA over failing to stop harmful pesticides

"The US government is being sued by a coalition of beekeepers, conservation and food campaigners over pesticides linked to serious harm in bees. The lawsuit accuses the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of failing to protect the insects – which pollinate three-quarters of all food crops – from nerve agents that it says should be suspended from use. Neonicotinoids, the world’s most widely used insecticides, are also facing the prospect of suspension in the European Union, after the health commissioner pledged to press on with the proposed ban despite opposition from the UK and Germany." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBeekeepers sue EPA over failing to stop harmful pesticides

U.S. criticizes ‘unnecessary’ EU rules on genetically modified crops

"The United States on Monday criticized 'unnecessary' European Union rules against genetically modified US crop imports as it prepares to enter free-trade talks with the EU. EU restrictions notably have resulted in delays in the approval of new GM traits 'despite positive assessments by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA),' the US Trade Representative’s office said in a report on reducing trade sanitary barriers. The USTR also criticized the EU for imposing 'commercially infeasible requirements' on GE content in food products under EU Traceability and Labeling regulations." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. criticizes ‘unnecessary’ EU rules on genetically modified crops

To protect restaurants, D.C. may curb food trucks

"Should D.C.'s food laws try to protect consumers and public safety? Or should they try to protect brick-and-mortar restaurants from competition? D.C.'s restaurant lobbyists, along with many local politicians and bureaucrats, seem to thi nk the government's job is to save the delis and diners, bistros and brasseries from the scourge of falafel trucks, barbecue buses and weenie wagons. Most of downtown D.C., according to the Food Truck Association of Metropolitan Washington, would be off-limits to food trucks under new regulations proposed by the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTo protect restaurants, D.C. may curb food trucks

Milk Machine Aims to Hook Kids on Chemical Sweeteners

"As a solution to sagging milk sales, the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) and the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) are petitioning the FDA to 'amend the standard identity of milk' and other dairy products. Dairy special interests want to be able to add high fructose corn syrup, aspartame, and other chemicals to milk while bypassing the requirement that the products be labeled 'artificially sweetened.' The attempt is to pass this off as a health benefit for children because the chemical sweeteners are not considered to be sugar." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMilk Machine Aims to Hook Kids on Chemical Sweeteners