Economics

Upcoming European Financial Trading Tax: “All Markets, All Actors, All Products”

"The tax would be owed no matter where the trade took place, as long as a European security or European institution was involved. If a French bank bought shares in an American company on the New York Stock Exchange, the tax would be owed. To get out of the tax, a financial institution would have to do more than simply move its headquarters out of the 11 countries that now plan to impose the tax. It would also have to forgo serving clients in any of those countries and trading in securities or derivatives from any of the countries. Officials are confident that no major institution will be willing to forsake such large markets as France, Germany, Italy and Spain." Continue reading →

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15 Percent of Malls To Close Due to Online Shopping?

"Experts are predicting that up to 15% of US shopping malls are forecast to close over the next five years as online shopping continues to surge. The United States has over 1300 regional malls (over 450,000 square feet) and that could mean that up to 195 of them will shut down. 'I think 200 are going out of business,' said Gerry Mason, executive managing director at property group Savills. 'We’re 15-20 per cent overbuilt. There are just too many stores.'" 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

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 →

Continue ReadingDebt crisis: France puts brakes on austerity

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

Doug Casey on G20 Economic Suicide

"The result is that you don't just get one currency devaluing, but all currencies devaluing against real assets, commodities, goods, and services. I do believe that within the foreseeable future all these paper currencies are going to be devalued to zero – in other words, they will reach their actual intrinsic values. This is extremely serious, because the productive people of the world – the ones who actually consume less than they produce and save the difference, which is what all economic growth and progress depends upon – will be wiped out. When their savings vanish, it's going to create a social and political earthquake right off the Richter scale." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDoug Casey on G20 Economic Suicide

Weed Country: Welcome to the Garden

"In a remote wilderness tucked deep inside the border of California and Oregon – known as the Emerald Triangle – marijuana flourishes. Farmers in this area can earn millions in a single summer, but with that kind of reward comes huge risk. Growing marijuana here is a cutthroat business -- where only the best survive. WEED COUNTRY, a new six part series on Discovery Channel premiering Wednesday, February 20, 10|9c, shows the battle between cops, dealers and the growers looking to engineer some of the most powerful marijuana on earth." Continue reading →

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Cuba part three, Cuban-U.S. relations: end the embargo now

"Although the Castro brothers have not renounced their communist ideals, the reality is that Cuba is shedding many collectivist policies. The economy is being freed up, from small business, to lifting of travel restrictions, to free market agricultural co-ops, etc. In other words, while the spirit of the Revolution is virtually everywhere, the reality is that the Cuban government is shedding the easiest depredations of collectivism. Cuba has no income tax, no sales tax, and very few, if any, real estate taxes. No doubt, Cuba’s civil liberties record should and must be improved. And it will. More interaction with freedom loving Americans will ensure that." Continue reading →

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Work in U.S. and Spain losing its appeal for Latin Americans

"For Latin Americans seeking work abroad, traditional magnets like the United States and Spain are losing their appeal because of weak economies, said a report released Thursday. Instead, more and more are looking to countries such as Canada, Japan, South Korea and Australia, according to the study by the Organization of American States. In the US, the number of legal immigrants slipped by four percent over the same stretch, and the decrease was even more pronounced among those who lack proper residency papers, the study said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWork in U.S. and Spain losing its appeal for Latin Americans