Monday, November 07, 2011
Elsewhere
Large numbers of US citizens don't have anything resembling "papers," and most of those who do don't carry them and would probably find it hard to locate them in the midst of a stroke. US immigration is a bureaucratic mess, and even people who are mostly doing it right get things "lost in the mail." I'm pretty sure I once worked in a foreign country without all of the appropriate papers due to some miscommunication. I worried a bit, but mostly didn't worry that hospitals would refuse me.
Fetus Police
I do my best to not wish harm on people, but I hope it's the supporters of the Mississippi "personhood" amendment who find themselves navigating a legal nightmare when it's their or their spouse's ectopic pregnancy, or when Officer Friendly declares their bathroom a crime scene due to a miscarriage.
Criminals
This post was slightly flip as I wasn't quite sure how to write it, but I'm making a serious point. There is a narrative out there about how one of the "pathologies" of "young black males" or "urban black communities" or whatever is that those bad people are unwilling to report or act as witnesses about crimes. And, you know, that's probably bad, and also sometimes true for the same reason people aren't too thrilled about being witnesses in mob trials either. But the idea that this is somehow not true for Team Rich Whitey also is pretty absurd. Often aspects of poor and off white communities are portrayed as somehow deviant when they're really perfectly 'normal.'
What Is Wrong With These People
I just cannot comprehend how people would be okay sitting around deciding on who to sterilize.
I was thinking that maybe our current crop offetish fetus worshipers would be less likely to do this stuff, but that's probably wrong.
Elaine Riddick was 13 years old when she got pregnant after being raped by a neighbor in Winfall, N.C., in 1967. The state ordered that immediately after giving birth, she should be sterilized. Doctors cut and tied off her fallopian tubes
I was thinking that maybe our current crop of
If It's Sunday...
One can always come up with some justifications for the weekly GOP Fest that is our Sunday shows. There isn't anything wrong with having a Republican only show during the Republican primary season, but if they do so the focus should be on...Republicans.
And poor John Dickerson got out of bed for nothing.
And poor John Dickerson got out of bed for nothing.
Maybe We Could Hire People To Do Some Stuff
Not nearly as fun as mass unemployment and suffering, but it might produce something of value.
In 1953, as California began its freeway building boom, drivers paid 6 cents a gallon in state gasoline taxes. Adjusted for inflation, that figure would be 51 cents today. The state gas tax is currently 35 cents, and officials with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission say it would have to be raised to 55 cents to meet today's needs just on city and county roads.
Lunatics
It doesn't take a genius blogger to see what's happening.
Austerity leads to lower growth, which requires even more austerity, which will lead to lower growth...
PARIS (Dow Jones)--French Prime Minister Francois Fillon Monday unveiled the country's second austerity package in under three months including increases in sales taxes, an acceleration of the pension reform and a levy on big business.
...
Fillon said the measures announced will save EUR7 billion in 2012, enabling France to meet its target of deficit at 4.5% gross domestic product with growth at 1% rather than 1.75% as previously forecast.
Austerity leads to lower growth, which requires even more austerity, which will lead to lower growth...
You Know What Somebody Should Try?
Oh never mind.
(Reuters) - Retail sales in the 17 countries sharing the euro fell more than expected in September from August despite some resilience in powerhouse Germany, the EU's statistics office said on Monday, reinforcing concern that the bloc's economy may be heading for a recession.
In the first negative reading since May, sales slipped 0.7 percent in September, compared to the 0.1 percent decrease forecast by a Reuters poll of economists, Eurostat said in an initial estimate. Sales in the 27-nation EU fell 0.3 percent in the same period.
Sunday, November 06, 2011
Of Course It Was A Clunker
It may have been stimulus-that-could-pass and and a justifiable could pass extra boost to the ailing domestic auto industry, but of course cash for clunkers was a super expensive program for meager results. The government spent a bunch of money to encourage people to do things that most were going to do anyway, either now or soon. Any incentive program which mostly compensates people for something they were going to do anyway is pretty low bang for the buck.
Has Anyone Tried Austerity?
That would probably work. Because suffering is good. Or something.
The NYT broke the rules here. Austerity isn't causing the downward spiral, it's fixing it!!
That the Greek economy is in a downward spiral from a relentless program of austerity is well known. Greek manufacturing saw one of its sharpest falls ever in October, and this year overall production is expected to contract by more than 6 percent. What has not yet shown up in the official figures, though, is the extent to which the crisis atmosphere has brought the economy to a virtual standstill.
...
Small shops, in many ways the lifeblood of the Greek economy, which relies on domestic demand, are shuttering by the day. And, most acutely, the heightened speculation that Greece might have to return to the drachma has given new impetus to the flood of money leaving Greek banks — money to be deposited abroad, stashed at home or in one’s car and most certainly not spent.
The NYT broke the rules here. Austerity isn't causing the downward spiral, it's fixing it!!
Sunday Bobbleheads
This Week has Boehner and Rice.
Meet the Press has Hunstman, Haley Barbour, and Bill Richardson.
Face the Nation has "GOP consultants Liz Cheney, Ed Gillespie and Ed Rollins, CBS News Political Analyst John Dickerson, and Rick Perry supporter Ken Blackwell."
I don't even think they're trying to pretend anymore.
Stay in bed.
Meet the Press has Hunstman, Haley Barbour, and Bill Richardson.
Face the Nation has "GOP consultants Liz Cheney, Ed Gillespie and Ed Rollins, CBS News Political Analyst John Dickerson, and Rick Perry supporter Ken Blackwell."
I don't even think they're trying to pretend anymore.
Stay in bed.
Business Models
Really wonder how all of this is going to end.
It appears that 10 days ago, with speculation swirling that the Jon Corzine-led firm would soon file for bankruptcy, a good number of customers started to put in requests to pull their money from the New York-based outfit. But instead of simply wiring that money back to their customers, it seems MF Global tried to buy some time for itself by sending that money back via snail mail in the form of an old-fashioned check.
Those checks cut by the folks at MF Global began arriving in customer mailboxes this week, several days after the firm filed for bankruptcy on Oct. 31 in New York federal court. And by the time customers started depositing those checks, they were rejected as having insufficient funds.
Saturday, November 05, 2011
A penny for the Guy
How to move your money
Keep Wall Street Occupied - from your home.
Out the ringers.
Dean Baker rocked the other night at Virtually Speaking. and explained that when they say they want to keep inflation low, it means they want to keep unemployment high.
Sam Seder rocks all week long on The Majority Report with some great interviews and rants. (Nice one Thursday explaining just how awful those trade deals are.)
Signed,
Not Atrios
Keep Wall Street Occupied - from your home.
Out the ringers.
Dean Baker rocked the other night at Virtually Speaking. and explained that when they say they want to keep inflation low, it means they want to keep unemployment high.
Sam Seder rocks all week long on The Majority Report with some great interviews and rants. (Nice one Thursday explaining just how awful those trade deals are.)
Signed,
Not Atrios
And How Do You Suppose They're Getting By?
Policymaker fail.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The jobs crisis has left so many people out of work for so long that most of America's unemployed are no longer receiving unemployment benefits.
Early last year, 75 percent were receiving checks. The figure is now 48 percent - a shift that points to a growing crisis of long-term unemployment. Nearly one-third of America's 14 million unemployed have had no job for a year or more.
Maybe It's In The Sock Drawer
"We found it at JP Morgan!" never made much sense.
On Friday, funds from the bankrupt brokerage firm suddenly surfaced at JPMorgan Chase. Washington and Wall Street, for a moment, were hopeful it was the money they had been searching for all week.
But then, just as quickly, nearly everyone agreed it was not the missing money, and the hunt was on again.
While MF Global has more than $2 billion in accounts at JPMorgan, regulators had previously accounted for those funds, according to people briefed on the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly. Federal officials estimate that roughly $600 million has been misplaced or misused or has disappeared altogether, two of the people said.
Happy Bank Transfer Day
You're allowed to have multiple bank accounts, so don't think you actually have to close your old one. Open a new account today, and when you can switch your direct deposits, automatic debits, etc.
Friday, November 04, 2011
Reductions
I'd prefer to just give free money to everyone, perhaps with the requirement x% of it goes to various kinds of debt reduction if you have debt to be reduced, but, yes, something should happen..
I've always never really understand why this couldn't have been set up in a win-win-win way for everyone, with a bit of a government sweetener.
Greg Lippmann, the former Deutsche Bank AG trader who gained fame for his bets against subprime mortgages before the housing market collapsed, is calling for debt forgiveness for U.S. homeowners.
“Principal reductions are necessary to help ameliorate the housing crisis,” Lippmann, chief investment officer for New York-based hedge fund LibreMax Capital LLC, said in an Oct. 31 letter to investors obtained by Bloomberg News. The step will also lower losses on loans underlying mortgage bonds, he said.
I've always never really understand why this couldn't have been set up in a win-win-win way for everyone, with a bit of a government sweetener.
Ignored
Whatever one thinks of Clinton, the press, and the various sex scandals that swirled around I think it's fair to say we spent the 90s talking about little else.
Two Lessons
One is that even rich assholes should consider how they might benefit from regulation. Two is that you should have your cash either in a fully insured FDIC account or a too big to fail institution.
Late capitalism is grand.
Late capitalism is grand.
Nobody Could Have Predicted
LEAVE THE DEFENSE DEPARTMENT ALOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONE.
Whatever - if anything - comes out of the superwankers I'm guessing the likeliest result is a cutting of Social Security benefits, a doubling of the defense budget, and a slashing of tax rates on rich people. Despite increasing the deficit by trillions, it will be hailed as a bold deficit cutting plan by the usual suspects.
Because they don't care about the deficit.
WASHINGTON — As pessimism mounted this week over the ability of a bipartisan Congressional committee to agree on a deficit-reduction plan, lawmakers began taking steps to head off the large cuts in Pentagon spending that would automatically result from a failure of the panel.
Whatever - if anything - comes out of the superwankers I'm guessing the likeliest result is a cutting of Social Security benefits, a doubling of the defense budget, and a slashing of tax rates on rich people. Despite increasing the deficit by trillions, it will be hailed as a bold deficit cutting plan by the usual suspects.
Because they don't care about the deficit.
8 Games Per Year
It really is insane that people consider giving valuable urban land over to football stadiums, even without the even more absurd public subsidies for them.
Yah there might be a couple concerts and other events on top of that, but those places are empty 350 days per year.
Yah there might be a couple concerts and other events on top of that, but those places are empty 350 days per year.
Where We Are
I suppose it's possible to believe that absolutely nothing more could have been done and that even if they hadn't misdiagnosed the situation completely in January of 2010 that everything would have played out exactly as it has.
Ruh Roh
Probably not a good sign.
Jon S. Corzine has hired Andrew J. Levander, a leading white-collar criminal defense lawyer, according to three people briefed on the matter, as the former New Jersey governor deals with fallout from the collapse of MF Global, the brokerage firm he has run since last year.
Authoritah
Aside from the violence, which is of course horrible, I'm curious how much there's been a change over time in how parents see themselves in relation to their children. I tend to think Parental Authoritah, as in the notion that obedience to parents is to some degree an end in itself, instead of just a practical part of childrearing, was fading somewhat at about my generation.
Jobs
And here, it's +80K jobs, unemployment at 9.0%.
So, uh, not good.
...-24K government jobs. Hurray belt tightening!
....some good news.
So, uh, not good.
...-24K government jobs. Hurray belt tightening!
....some good news.
The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for August was revised
from +57,000 to +104,000, and the change for September was revised
from +103,000 to +158,000.
Oh Canada
Bad news from the North.
Canadian employers were slashing full-time jobs in October, pushing Canada's overall unemployment rate up 0.2 percentage points to 7.3 per cent, Statistics Canada reports.
The number of people working full time fell by 54,000 and there were 71,700 fewer full-time jobs in the country.
These Things Have Always Been Known
What's been impressive is the long period of time during which the media pretended the Tea Party was bi- or tri- or non-partisan or whatever.
They're just the same old Republicans who always get a little overstimulated when a Democrat is in the White House, and the fact that the Democrat is of a darker hue then usual burst even more than the normal number of blood vessels. Also, too, Postum was discontinued, so there's a lot of sad.
They're just the same old Republicans who always get a little overstimulated when a Democrat is in the White House, and the fact that the Democrat is of a darker hue then usual burst even more than the normal number of blood vessels. Also, too, Postum was discontinued, so there's a lot of sad.
Fire Up The Helicopters
There is something Bernanke can do, conceptually if not legally, and that's drop giant sacks of money all over the place.
Sadly he isn't living up to his nickname.
Sadly he isn't living up to his nickname.
Here's An Idea Nobody Has Tried Yet
How about austerity?
The good news is that there's bad news for Germany. Maybe helping to destroy the economies of their trading partners isn't such a good idea.
Europe’s services and manufacturing output indicator fell the most in three years in October, adding to recession signs as government leaders struggle to contain the region’s worsening fiscal crisis.
The good news is that there's bad news for Germany. Maybe helping to destroy the economies of their trading partners isn't such a good idea.
Domestic factory orders fell 3 percent in September and export orders dropped 5.4 percent, led by a 12.1 percent plunge in demand from other euro-area countries, today’s report showed. Orders for investment goods declined 4.6 percent, while consumer goods orders rose 2.3 percent.
Thursday, November 03, 2011
Oy
I think Google search has been sucking more and more, specifically because it gives more "timely" results, ensuring that you have to wade through 20 screens of essentially the same things before you get to something you're looking for.
No Big Deal!!!
I really can't worry my beautiful mind with the details of the Cain saga, but unsurprisingly to conservatives sexual harassment is no big whoop.
Jobs
Monthly report out tomorrow. Absent genuinely good news I will root for a measurement which looks bad. A moderately not awful number like +100K jobs will help to convince our overlords that there's nothing more to be done, but numbers like that keep us at 9%+ unemployment forever.
Actual Mysteries
The one thing I can't quite figure out is why those who are most dedicated to the Euro project are the ones who are doing their best to destroy it.
Scheming Liberals
I'm barely paying attention because, well, I don't care, but I gather conservatives have convinced themselves that LIBERALS are scheming to bring Herman Cain down with something called the truth instead of recognizing the more obvious sources of this information.
They're such idiots.
They're such idiots.
Ummm
Not the important bit in all this crazy, but urinal advertising is basically everywhere these days?
Hey, Action
ECB lowers interest rates to 1.25%.
I'm pretty pessimistic that monetary policy can do much in the face of the sociopaths who are trying to shrink their way to prosperity, but lowering rates is better than not lowering them.
I'm pretty pessimistic that monetary policy can do much in the face of the sociopaths who are trying to shrink their way to prosperity, but lowering rates is better than not lowering them.
Ruh Roh
Not looking good.
MF Global, Jon Corzine's embattled securities firm, moved millions in missing client funds last week and tried to avoid detection, a regulator said Wednesday.
MF apparently made "substantial transfers" of customer money after an on-site audit last week, said the regulator, CME Group Inc.
The Problem With Kenyan Muslim Socialism
And this, basically, is the reason why it's madness to run to Congress with "compromises." The instant Obama proposes it, it's something Obama supports, and it's ultraliberal. And then conservatives must oppose it!
Wednesday, November 02, 2011
Your Banks Must Decide If They Want to Continue Their Journey Without Greece's Money
Time to end the charade.
"Unilateral." Sovereignty is such a quaint concept.
Speaking after talks between senior European Union leaders and Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, French President Nicolas Sarkozy told a news conference: "Our Greek friends must decide whether they want to continue the journey with us."
European leaders were angered by Papandreou's surprise unilateral announcement on Monday of a referendum on a bailout deal reached with euro zone leaders at a summit last week.
"Unilateral." Sovereignty is such a quaint concept.
The Big Money
I've added incumbent Brad Miller, a lonely sensible voice on housing issues, and Darcy Burner, who is running in WA-1, to the 2012 fundraising page.
I'm An Excellent Roulette Player
Ultimately that's the kind of sentiment that leads you down this path.
There's some whining about regulators in the article, but basically...if you can't possibly make your margin calls, then you're going to get fucked eventually.
The full extent of the futures brokerage's big bets on the recovery of European debt only emerged in recent weeks, as MF Global revealed in public filings that it had a long position of $6.3 billion in short-duration European sovereign debt -- roughly five times the firm's book value, or net worth.
There's some whining about regulators in the article, but basically...if you can't possibly make your margin calls, then you're going to get fucked eventually.
Maybe Somebody Should Do Something
So 8%+ unemployment through 2013 is likely.
If I had communicated this scenario in 2008 people would have assumed I was insane.
If I had communicated this scenario in 2008 people would have assumed I was insane.
Nobody Has To Lose Any Money
I'm not saying there are no downsides, but nobody has to actually lose any money. Greece can default, the ECB can just give the banks free money, and we can go on mostly like nothing happened. There are issues with the free money proposal, but there are issues with every other proposal too.
Dance With The Devils
If I thought there was any chance that making nice with the banks would actually help the economy I might be all for it, but what it will do is permanently enshrine the predator class at the top of our politics and the top of our economy, giving them license to loot the place until there is nothing left.
"Suckers"
In which Tom Friedman discovers that we are the ones who, ultimately, sucked on it.
Thanks for that, Tom.
Thanks for that, Tom.
Your Fault
Martin Wolf:
It isn't said enough that it's the job of creditors to determine whether or not to hand money over to people. If banks make too many bad loans it's because they're bad banks that don't know how to do their jobs properly.
Do creditors rule the world? Not really. In the short run, they can threaten to turn off the credit. But their surpluses depend on the willingness and ability of others to run deficits. It would be more sensible to admit that there has been too much borrowing by the profligate because there was too much lending by the supposedly prudent. Once it is understood that both are at fault, both must adjust. Imposing one-sided adjustment on erstwhile debtors will not work. As little Greece seems about to prove, debtors are able to inflict a great deal of damage on everybody – as the US discovered in the Great Depression. It would be a good idea to rediscover that reciprocal interest urgently, right now. Creditors do not sell to Mars. We are all on the same planet. Agree to fix its messes, right now.
It isn't said enough that it's the job of creditors to determine whether or not to hand money over to people. If banks make too many bad loans it's because they're bad banks that don't know how to do their jobs properly.
"Small Enough To Fail"
I'm not sure why everybody is so convinced of this.
I mean, I get it, the whole system hasn't come crashing down yet, but we don't really know yet who is out all that money.
In the end, the American people are lucky that MF Global was small enough to fail, its riskiness and recklessness absorbed by the bankruptcy process. But with the devastating damage from the crisis still hobbling the economy, relying on luck is not enough.
I mean, I get it, the whole system hasn't come crashing down yet, but we don't really know yet who is out all that money.
Um, Fail?
What the hell.
It's time to do away with the term "technocratic." It creates a category of policies which are The Right Thing To Do, yet the rightness of the policies aren't tested against anything. They aren't tested against democracy (messy pesky voters!) or results (the economy sucks, technocrats, and this is your doing). But merely say the word and we've conjured up images of very sensible highly educated wonky people doing the right thing, even as they destroy the world.
All of that technocratic management has achieved wonders and now messy politics is daring to intrude. Technocrats are doing their best to destroy the world. Intervene, politics, intervene!
PARIS — The crisis of the euro zone has finally hit the potholed road of real politics, with the Greeks now openly questioning whether their commitment to Europe and its single currency still matters more to them than control over their own future and economic well-being
...
“This is clearly the return of politics,” said Jean Pisani-Ferry, director of Bruegel, an economic research institution in Brussels. “The management of all this by the Europeans has been fairly technocratic. But now we see the gamble of a politician, which creates uncertainty again, but in a different form. But it was bound to come at some point.”
It's time to do away with the term "technocratic." It creates a category of policies which are The Right Thing To Do, yet the rightness of the policies aren't tested against anything. They aren't tested against democracy (messy pesky voters!) or results (the economy sucks, technocrats, and this is your doing). But merely say the word and we've conjured up images of very sensible highly educated wonky people doing the right thing, even as they destroy the world.
All of that technocratic management has achieved wonders and now messy politics is daring to intrude. Technocrats are doing their best to destroy the world. Intervene, politics, intervene!
Jobs
Actual number comes out Friday, widely followed estimate of private sector job gains says +110K. That isn't good enough, especially since there will probably be a negative sign on the public sector jobs number.
The Obvious Solution Is
More austerity. It's working! It's working!
Nov. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Europe’s manufacturing industry contracted for a third month in October, adding to signs the euro-area economy is edging toward a recession.
A manufacturing gauge based on a survey of purchasing managers in the 17-nation euro region fell to 47.1 from 48.5 in September, London-based Markit Economics said today. That’s below an initial estimate of 47.3 published on Oct. 24. A reading below 50 indicates contraction.
Tuesday, November 01, 2011
Glenn Becki-Becki-Becki-Becki-Stan
Heckuva job.
Goldline, a company that used endorsements from Glenn Beck and other conservative icons to sell hundreds of millions of dollars to consumers, has been charged with theft and fraud in a 19-count criminal complaint filed Tuesday by local officials in California.
The criminal complaint filed Tuesday by the Santa Monica City Attorney's consumer protection unit marks the latest in a series of allegations it has leveled against the gold dealer, which pioneered the practice of weaving its sales pitches into broadcasts by popular conservative political personalities -- including two former presidential candidates -- to sell hundreds of millions of dollars worth of gold every year.
DSUCC
I'm enough of a 'big tent' kinda guy that I can understand having a somewhat loose approach to party discipline, but there's a difference between allowing people to vote against a bill and allowing them to obstruct it by not even letting it come up for a vote.
Whose Money Got Eated?
I imagine that ultimately whether or not anyone at MF Global will have any legal troubles will depend on just who they stole from.
While MF Global began what could be a complicated process of liquidating customer positions, some customers were upset and panicked that millions of dollars were tied up, according to interviews with brokers, funds and lawyers.
Some said they expected lawsuits. Meanwhile, MF Global's first bankruptcy hearing got underway Monday afternoon at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan.
"We're basically putting out fires. There's a lot of headaches," said one MF Global employee. "Our customers are upset, and we're upset that they are upset."
Civilitude
Oh, Jeebus, cut the crap. The article at least acknowledges it, but behavioral codes are to a great degree about reinforcing hierarchies and class systems, not about people being sweet to each other.
Certainly, the owners conceded, filling the bar with women offers an economic advantage because it attracts more male drinkers. But in the South, they said, giving up a seat to a lady is also part of a culture of civility.
And Who Will Be Punished
Just lend me a tenner, this puppy's gonna come in...
WASHINGTON—A federal official says MF Global, the securities firm led by Jon Corzine, admitted to using clients' money as its financial troubles mounted
An MF Global executive admitted that to federal regulators in a phone call early Monday after regulators discovered money missing from clients' accounts, according to an official familiar with the conversation.
Toxic
Even people who hate PETA and their general approach to things often follow up with 'they do have a point.' Aside from the 27 percenters who keep screeching about Barney Frank, we all know that the bankster assholes got away with a tremendous heist. But, hey, it was a crisis and maybe it was necessary. Then they started whining about their fee fees and actively being assholes and, then, explaining that they couldn't possibly maintain their 3 yachts and a full contingent of full time yacht scrubbers unless all the regulations went away and they could find new and exciting ways to screw their customers. Also, too, that crisis? That recession? They're, you know, still happening.
So, yes, the conversation has changed, and no single bank wants to be in the crossfires.
So, yes, the conversation has changed, and no single bank wants to be in the crossfires.
Star Bankers
I don't know who is really individually responsible, and not everyone who works there even deserves to be part of collective responsibility, but perhaps being in a world in which tanking your company doesn't automatically mean a new exciting job opportunity is a good thing? Isn't that this whole meritocracy story we keep talking about?
uhh...good?
MF Global Holdings Ltd. (MF)’s bankruptcy filing is throwing into question the futures of some of Wall Street’s most experienced bankers.
...
“No big banks are hiring,” said Michael Karp, chief executive officer of New York-based Options Group Inc., whose recruitment firm fielded calls yesterday from at least three senior business managers at MF Global who want to move their groups elsewhere. “It’s very tough to move them as a team.”
uhh...good?
Government Versus The People
So in Greece MPs are rebelling because the PM might allow the people to have some voice in whether or not the government should do a very unpopular thing.
It's a complete mystery what the Occupy movement is about.
It's a complete mystery what the Occupy movement is about.
But You Are So Tasty
I've always known Chik-Fil-A came from a pretty hardcore Christian and presumably conservative founder, but I never really had much idea about whether they dabbled in evil causes or not. Now we know.
It's South Broad St.
I'm not completely unsympathetic to neighbor concerns, but generally... if you can't put a (potentially) somewhat noisy bar there then where can you put one?
Investing
I joke about the Great Casino, but almost none of what our modern investor class does these days is in any way 'investing.' MF Global made a giant bet on what policymakers were going to do.
Eschaton Assignment Desk
Something that I noticed was growing while I was in the UK, and have since seen grow in Spain (two countries which I maintain a mild familiarity with for various reasons), is the presence and influence of US-style wingnut Think Tanks, along with the international linking of the whole wingnut influence/welfare machine. There's more stuff to be uncovered here, and I really haven't seen much coverage of this.
I Have No Idea
But I'm a bit worried that a bunch of other people who probably, to be honest, have no idea either have concluded that the MF Global bankruptcy is no biggie.
In any case, it's a reminder that the current International Great Casino is almost entirely about betting on just who will or will not be bailed out by governments and central banks. Betting on what central banks are going to do is always a part of this stuff, but in "normal times" (remember them? me neither) that's about betting on whether they're going to raise or lower rates by 25 basis points. But now the bets are about just where the free money howitzer is going to be aimed.
Late capitalism is surely grand.
In any case, it's a reminder that the current International Great Casino is almost entirely about betting on just who will or will not be bailed out by governments and central banks. Betting on what central banks are going to do is always a part of this stuff, but in "normal times" (remember them? me neither) that's about betting on whether they're going to raise or lower rates by 25 basis points. But now the bets are about just where the free money howitzer is going to be aimed.
Late capitalism is surely grand.
Obviously The Only Solution
Is more austerity. It's working!! It's working!!
LONDON | Tue Nov 1, 2011 9:29am GMT
(Reuters) - The manufacturing sector contracted at its fastest pace in more than two years in October as new orders plummeted, adding to signs that the country is teetering on the brink of recession, a survey showed on Tuesday.
The Markit/CIPS Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) slumped to 47.4 in October, its lowest since June 2009, from a downwardly revised 50.8 the month before.
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