Middle Class Dismissed

A Shuffle of Aluminum, but to Banks, Pure Gold

"The story of how this works begins in 27 industrial warehouses in the Detroit area where a Goldman subsidiary stores customers’ aluminum. Each day, a fleet of trucks shuffles 1,500-pound bars of the metal among the warehouses. Two or three times a day, sometimes more, the drivers make the same circuits. They load in one warehouse. They unload in another. And then they do it again. This industrial dance has been choreographed by Goldman to exploit pricing regulations set up by an overseas commodities exchange. The back-and-forth lengthens the storage time. And that adds many millions a year to the coffers of Goldman." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingA Shuffle of Aluminum, but to Banks, Pure Gold

Will Globalism Invade the US via its Cities? The Daily Beast Thinks So

"In New York, an urban area as blighted and tenuous as any, infrastructure is crumbling and the only growth industry, from what we can tell, is expanding regulation. This is one of the major cities in the world but you can't buy a large-sized soft drink or enjoy an indoor cigarette, or request eggs dabbed with trans-fat. Detroit? The city is getting ready to pay bondholders pennies on the dollar. Chicago? Drudge just posted a report on the alarming rise in shootings and murders in the 'Windy City.' All major US cities are surely in disarray to some extent. How could they not be? The same recessionary trends afflicting Fedgov are active at a local, urban level as well." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWill Globalism Invade the US via its Cities? The Daily Beast Thinks So

The Democrats Finally Embrace Money Printing

"Even though Quantitative Easing started in 2008, it seems as if Democrats didn’t really 'get it'. They viewed it as a way to save the banksters’ collective bacon—they didn’t see it as the way by which the Federal government could go into limitless debt. But with Thursday’s testimony, it’s clear like a bomb blast that the Democrats finally understand what QE really means: The Federal government can go into as much deficit spending as it wishes, because the Federal Reserve will be buying the bonds that finance this deficit spending by way of QE. And now that they understand this, they are all in favor of more of it." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Democrats Finally Embrace Money Printing

Indians urged to recycle stashed gold

"The All India Gem & Jewellery Trade Federation, representing about 300 000 gold manufacturers and retailers, was asking members to offer incentives to lure holders to recycle their old jewellery, chairman Haresh Soni said yesterday. Using more scrap and hoarded metal may further reduce Indian imports of gold, which are forecast to tumble 22 percent in the second half. Jewellers have suspended sales of coins and bars to retail buyers until the current account deficit has stabilised. On Tuesday Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram appealed to Indians to moderate their demand for the metal, while ruling out a complete ban on imports." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIndians urged to recycle stashed gold

And the Natural Result of “Planned Obsolescence” is… (Drumroll)… Bankruptcy!

"The strike lasted 44 days, until GM gave in. It marked the rise of the UAW and the slippery slope of capitulation that would kill the automaker’s competitiveness. GM started to decentralize its production process so it could never be hijacked again. Detroit’s population became decentralized along with it. As people left, the tax base shrunk. To keep revenue up, taxes were raised on things that couldn’t be moved out of the city limits, like property. Because of high property taxes, people stopped improving buildings. Eventually, it wasn’t worth it to pay the property taxes. So people just left for greener pastures in taxpayer-friendly jurisdictions." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAnd the Natural Result of “Planned Obsolescence” is… (Drumroll)… Bankruptcy!

“You’re Fired. Want to Work Part-Time?”

"The U.S. Chamber of Commerce summarizes what the situation is. 'Small businesses expect the requirement to negatively impact their employees. Twenty-seven percent say they will cut hours to reduce full time employees, 24 percent will reduce hiring, and 23 percent plan to replace full time employees with part-time workers to avoid triggering the mandate.' Thanks, Nancy. Thanks Barack. You have just created the new normal for low-paid workers: lower pay! This is why the government decided to delay implementation of small business rules until 2015. You see, there are Congressional elections in November of 2014." Continue reading →

Continue Reading“You’re Fired. Want to Work Part-Time?”

Detroit’s City Pensioners Are Wiped Out.

"This is the thing about impossible obligations. They get abandoned. This confirms economist Herbert Stein’s law: 'When things can’t go on, they have a tendency to stop.' A year ago, the experts denied that anything was wrong. Yes, there were 'problems,' but nothing that could not be fixed. 'Bankruptcy? Are you serious? Of course not. There is no possibility of that. Such talk is inflammatory. Perish the thought.' That’s what politicians always say . . . right up to the end. The pensioners will have to go back to work. They will be covered by Medicare only. They believed the politicians. They invested their working years in terms of promises made by politicians." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDetroit’s City Pensioners Are Wiped Out.

101 Million Americans Received Food Aid Last Year

"Nearly one-third of Americans received government-funded food aid in 2012, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). There are roughly a dozen federal food assistance programs operating today. The USDA reports that 59 percent of households that participated in one of the four largest food assistance programs—food stamps, school breakfasts, school lunches, and WIC—end up receiving benefits from 'two or more programs.' This indicates significant duplication, 'providing participants total benefits in excess of 100 percent of daily nutritional needs.'" Continue reading →

Continue Reading101 Million Americans Received Food Aid Last Year

The Jobs Number Is B.S., Says Former Head Of B.L.S.

"Keith Hall believes the US economy is a lot sicker than the 7.6 percent unemployment rate would lead you to believe. And he should know. Hall was, from 2008 until last year, the guy in charge of Washington’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, the agency that compiles that rate. 'Right now [it’s] misleadingly low,' says Hall, who believes a truer reading of those now wanting a job but without one to be more than 10 percent. The fly in the ointment is the BLS employment-to-population ratio, which is currently at 58.7 percent. 'It’s lower than it was when the recession ended. I think that’s a remarkable statistic.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Jobs Number Is B.S., Says Former Head Of B.L.S.

City of Detroit Files for Chapter 9 Bankruptcy

"If the Chapter 9 filing is approved, Detroit’s case would be the largest municipal bankruptcy in the history of the United States. The tax base has been destroyed. Detroit lost a quarter-million residents between 2000 and 2010. A population that in the 1950s reached 1.8 million is struggling to stay above 700,000. Much of the middle-class and scores of businesses also have fled Detroit, taking their tax dollars with them. Likely those holding any of the $11 billion in unsecured debt will get next to nothing. Per person, the debt of the U.S. government ($54K/person) is about twice as large as the debt of the City of Detroit ($26K/person)." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCity of Detroit Files for Chapter 9 Bankruptcy