Middle Class Dismissed

‘Asset forfeiture’ laws designed to strip criminals of assets target innocent homeowners

"Over the last two decades, forfeitures have evolved into a booming business for police agencies across the country, from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration to small-town sheriff’s offices. In 2000, officials racked up $500 million in forfeitures. By 2012, that amount rose to $4.2 billion, an eightfold increase. Often the victims are minorities like Bing without the financial resources or legal know-how to protect their assets. And prosecutors typically prevail. Of nearly 2,000 cases filed against Philadelphia houses from 2008 through 2012, records show that only 30 ended with a judge rejecting the attempt to seize the property." Continue reading →

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San Francisco still has a seedy heart

"The Tenderloin is a large turd – often a literal one – floating in the crystal punchbowl that is San Francisco. So why is it still here? Because the city wants it to be here. For decades, the Tenderloin has been carefully protected by the city and various non-profit organizations. It’s not that these officials, social workers, homeless advocates and low-cost housing activists want to maintain a zone of misrule, crime and filth in the heart of the city: it’s simply an inescapable consequence of their laudable commitment to defend society’s most vulnerable members. The result is, in effect, a protected urban wildlife zone, a Bottle City of Squalor." Continue reading →

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When Price Controls Reach Your Dining Table

"Those of us who are West Indian (Caribbean) have had, over the last fifty years, the opportunity to observe this situation previously in island nations that made the mistake of choosing socialism or communism as a 'better way,' then discovered the way in which collectivism limits or eliminates basic necessities. In particular, in Cuba, a toilet paper shortage twenty years ago resulted in restaurants hiring aides to sit by the door of the loo and hand out paper – six squares to a diner. Observing the above occurrences seems almost comical… unless you are actually experiencing it first-hand. Then it is not humorous at all." Continue reading →

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Georgia Insurance Rates Spike Under Obamacare

"Health insurance rates in Georgia are rising by up to 198 percent under Obamacare, the Georgia Insurance Commissioner said in a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Monday. 'Georgia consumers cannot afford these massive rate increases,' Hudgens wrote to Sebelius. For an average 25 year-old male, premiums are set to rise 85 to 198 percent within the exchanges, while for a 45 year-old male, premiums will rise 40 to 100 percent, Florence said. A 64 year-old male will pay 18 to 48 percent more under Obamacare’s regime." Continue reading →

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Employment Ratios: Total, Men, and Women

"Tyler Cowen and Scott Sumner are debating over the significance of the sharp decline in the employment ratio (which looks at what percentage of the working-age population is employed, and is a different indicator from the labor force which considers the percentage of those actively seeking employment). Although someone brought it up in his comments, Scott didn’t deal with what is clearly one of the huge drivers of the total ratio over the last 50 years: women entering the work force. When you decompose it by sex (red=women, green=men, blue=total), it sure does look like the economy is broken." Continue reading →

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The Sad Unemployment Picture Now Compared to the 1982 Recession Recovery

"The chart below via John Taylor shows the change in the employment-to-population ratio—the percentage of working age population that is actually working--now compared with the end of the 1982 recession. The current increase in jobs is not enough to employ a greater fraction of the working population. Blame it on growing regulations businesses are forced to deal with, minimum wage laws and the confusion and unknown costs associated with Obamacare." Continue reading →

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Greece should defy the gunboat creditors

"Nothing whatsoever has been resolved, either in Greece, or in Portugal, or in Cyprus, or in Spain, or in Italy. Nor will there be under the current contractionary policy structure. There is no Deus Ex Machina. These nations will remain trapped in slump and mass unemployment until they take matters into their own hands, form a debtors cartel, confront the head-on gunboat creditors from a position of strength, and dictate the outcome. But first they have to defenestrate out their own cowed elites." Continue reading →

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Obamacare Full Frontal: Of 953,000 Jobs Created In 2013, 77%, Or 731,000 Are Part-Time

"When the payroll report was released last month, the world finally noticed what we had been saying for nearly three years: that the US was slowly being converted to a part-time worker society. This slow conversion accelerated drastically in the last few months, and especially in June, when part time jobs exploded higher by 360K while full time jobs dropped by 240K. In July we are sad to report that America's conversation to a part-time worker society is not 'tapering': according to the Household Survey, of the 266K jobs created, only 35% of jobs, or 92K, were full time. The rest were... not." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObamacare Full Frontal: Of 953,000 Jobs Created In 2013, 77%, Or 731,000 Are Part-Time

Australian Government to establish bank bailout fund with new levy

"The Federal Government is expected to announce a new levy on banks set to start in 2016 to help fund any future bailouts. The levy will start on January 1, 2016 and will be set at 0.05 per cent on deposits of up to $250,000. It is understood the levy will raise $733 million in its first 18 months. The money raised will go into a new Financial Stability Fund and will be used in the event of a bank collapse. The Financial Stability Fund will appear as revenue in the budget, as the Government grapples with revenue shortfalls ahead of releasing its economic update." Continue reading →

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500,000 Indian workers lose jobs as jewellers curb gold imports

"Vijay Gopal, a goldsmith at one of India's leading branded jewellery manufacturing unit in Coimbatore, lost his job last month. 'Since last three decades I was working in this market and never felt the need to learn any other skill. I am clueless on how I will feed my family of six,' said Gopal. Gopal is not alone. The government’s move to tighten the screws on gold imports, and the decision by major jewellers such as Tata Group's Tanishq, TBZ, Geetanjali Jems and others to curb gold sales, have caused some collateral damage: a cloud over the future of industry workers. Mrityunjay Sarangi, secretary, ministry of labour, refused to comment on the issue." Continue reading →

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