What Could Possibly Go Wrong

Paris suburbs erupt in violent protests over veil ban

"The violence kicked off Friday evening, when some 400 people protested near the Trappes police station, southwest of Paris. They set fire to bins, destroyed bus stops and hurled stones at police who responded with tear gas. A 14-year-old boy suffered a serious eye injury and several police officers were also hurt. The veil ban, introduced in 2011, has outraged many in France’s Muslim community, which at an estimated four million is western Europe’s largest Muslim minority. Officials say more than 700 women have been stopped since the ban was introduced. The growing visibility of French Muslims has also sparked a backlash from nationalists." Continue reading →

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Spanish Pension Raids Spell Bad News for Bond Sales

"Spain’s Treasury may find one of its best customers less eager to buy its bonds as budget woes lead Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to raid a government piggy-bank for a second year. Created in 2000 to guarantee pension payments in times of hardship, the 59.3 billion-euro ($78 billion) Fondo de Reserva was tapped for the first time in December for 7 billion euros to fund Christmas bonuses and a monthly increase for retirees. Further withdrawals will have taken an additional 4.5 billion euros by the end of this month, helping to pay for pensioners’ summer bonuses and tax refunds." Continue reading →

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Bill Bonner: The Making of a Modern Debt Slave

"In China, the 'bare branches' — young men who couldn’t find wives — started a revolution. The Nien Rebellion, which took place between 1851-68, cost over 100,000 lives and almost toppled the Qing Dynasty. Will today’s young people accept their lot… and remain in docile debt servitude their whole lives? Or will they rise up, as Mr. Graeber suggests, and burn T-bonds in public spaces… rampage down Wall Street… and perhaps hang Ben Bernanke in front of the New York Federal Reserve?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBill Bonner: The Making of a Modern Debt Slave

The Anti-Default Pomposity of U.S. Officials

"White House Press Secretary Jay Carney dropped a doozie yesterday: 'We are the United States. We do not default. It is unthinkable for the greatest country on Earth to default for the first time in its history. And I believe that Republican leaders share that conviction, and the President believes that Republican leaders share that conviction.' A denial of truth, sprinkled with a dash of 'American Exceptionalism.' Hire this man! The truth is that default is not something new for the U.S. It has already been done in the past. Prior to 1971, foreign central banks, that were holding dollars, were able to turn them into the U.S. Treasury in exchange for gold." Continue reading →

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The Nightmare Ahead: 19 US Cities Have More Public Workers per Resident than Detroit

"Detroit declared bankruptcy due in no small part to $3 billion in unfunded public employee pensions as a result of a massive city workforce that kept growing even as the city’s population shriveled, but a Washington Examiner analysis found that 19 major American cities have even bigger ratios of such workers to residents. Here's the report from WE showing the number of residents per municipal employee." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Nightmare Ahead: 19 US Cities Have More Public Workers per Resident than Detroit

Federal report: E-Verify errors could wrongly exclude Americans from jobs

"Reports published by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reveal that the so-called E-Verify programme, which allows employers to check whether new workers are properly documented, is so inaccurate that if replicated across the country it could wrongfully exclude more than 200,000 people from the workforce. With more than one in 10 employers using E-Verify to weed out applicants before making a job offer, the potential for abuse is greatly increased. It is possible for applicants to be turned away from a post without ever finding out that they have been wrongly flagged as unauthorised on the database." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFederal report: E-Verify errors could wrongly exclude Americans from jobs

Pennsylvania police chief: ‘F*ck all you libtards out there, you take it in the a**’

"The mayor of Gilberton, Pennsylvania is standing by her city’s police chief despite a series of profanity-laced and threatening videos. In a video that has received wide attention, police chief Mark Kessler repeatedly tells those upset by his use of profanity to 'go f*ck yourself' as he fires various automatic weapons. Mayor Mary Lou Hannon told The Morning Call that Kessler had the right to express himself. The city would 'not take action to quash free speech, whether or not each member of council or any member of council agrees with it.' In one video, Kessler berates 'libtards' and warns of an armed rebellion against the government." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPennsylvania police chief: ‘F*ck all you libtards out there, you take it in the a**’

Are You Ready for This Coming Disaster?

"Interest rates will remain at low levels for a very, very long time. The Fed will remove the stimulus in baby steps because it has no other choice. Any significant moves would send world markets into a tailspin. When the money printing finally stops, the Fed will still keep interest rates at zero for a while, just to make sure the economy can stand on its own feet. Only then – and if everything goes well – will the Fed slowly begin to hike rates. Most bubbles burst when the Fed starts to move rates above the inflation rate. As you can see in the chart above, that’s what happened in 2006. But, the Fed will only do that when inflation starts to get out of control." Continue reading →

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The Minimum Wage Is Cruelest To Those Who Can’t Find A Job

"U.S. youth unemployment now stands at 16 percent for 16–24 year olds, 23 percent for teens, and a shocking 40 percent for black teens. Firms that are already paying more than the federal minimum wage do so because their workers are producing more than $7.25 per hour. Moreover, if workers produce at least $12 per hour, then an increase in the minimum to $10.10 would not affect their job status—but the higher minimum wage rate could drive smaller rivals out of business or prevent new firms from entering. Hence, one should be skeptical of businesses that favor raising the minimum wage." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Minimum Wage Is Cruelest To Those Who Can’t Find A Job

EU plan to cut credit and debit card fees is confirmed

"Plans to cut transaction fees on debit and credit cards in the European Union have been published - but there is disagreement over the potential impact. The European Commission estimates that the EU payment market is worth 130bn euros (£112bn) but is 'fragmented and expensive'. It wants to cap 'interchange fees' to a maximum of 0.3% of a transaction. The fees involved are paid by shops and businesses to banks, every time a consumer uses his or her card. But banks argue that consumers will instead end up paying higher charges to use debit and credit cards." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEU plan to cut credit and debit card fees is confirmed