Someone took risks to start every business—whether Ford, Google or your local dry cleaner.
Charles Schwab writing in today's Wall Street Journal online:
"...We can spark an economic recovery by unleashing the job-creating power of business, especially small entrepreneurial businesses, which fuel economic and job growth quickly and efficiently. Indeed, it is the only way to pull ourselves out of this economic funk.
But doing so will require a consistent voice about confidence in businesses—small, large and in between. We cannot spend our way out of this. We cannot tax our way out of this. We cannot artificially stimulate our way out of this. We cannot regulate our way out of this. Shaming the successful or redistributing income won't get us out of this. We cannot fund our government coffers by following the "Buffett Rule," i.e., raising taxes on Americans earning more than $1 million a year.
What we can do—and absolutely must—is knock down all hurdles that create disincentives for investment in business.
Private enterprise works. I founded Charles Schwab in 1974, when America was confronting a crisis of confidence similar to today's. We had rapidly rising inflation and unemployment, economic growth grinding into negative territory, and paralyzed markets. The future looked pretty bleak.
Sound familiar?
Yet I had faith that our economy would recover. My vision was simple: Investors deserve something better than the status quo. I launched the company with four employees, a personal loan on my home, and an audacious dream. I didn't know exactly how we were going to do it, nor could I foresee that over the decades we would end up building a business that serves over 10 million accounts. But we went for it....
...The simple fact is that every business in America was started by an entrepreneur, whether it is Ford Motor Co., Google or your local dry cleaner. Every single job that entrepreneur creates requires an investment. And at its core, investing requires confidence that despite the risks, despite the hard work that will certainly ensue, the basic rules of the game are clear and stable. Today's uncertainty on these issues—stemming from a barrage of new complex regulations and legislation—is a roadblock to investment. We have to clear that uncertainty away.
As we did after 1974, our country can and will thrive again...."
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Link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204422404576596681526254692.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop#
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
Americans Say Federal Government Wastes Over Half of Every Dollar
From Gallup:
"Americans estimate that the federal government wastes 51 cents of every dollar it spends, a new high in a Gallup trend question first asked in 1979....
Americans have viewed the federal government as being the most wasteful of tax dollars -- and local government the least -- each time Gallup has asked these questions. That pattern is consistent with Americans' greater trust in state and local government than in the federal government.
Over time, though, Americans have become increasingly likely to see all levels of government as being wasteful of tax dollars. Americans now believe all levels of government waste at least 11 cents more on the dollar compared with 1979...."
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Link: http://www.gallup.com/poll/149543/americans-say-federal-gov-wastes-half-every-dollar.aspx
"Americans estimate that the federal government wastes 51 cents of every dollar it spends, a new high in a Gallup trend question first asked in 1979....
Americans have viewed the federal government as being the most wasteful of tax dollars -- and local government the least -- each time Gallup has asked these questions. That pattern is consistent with Americans' greater trust in state and local government than in the federal government.
Over time, though, Americans have become increasingly likely to see all levels of government as being wasteful of tax dollars. Americans now believe all levels of government waste at least 11 cents more on the dollar compared with 1979...."
-------------
Are you wasting large amounts of Personal Wealth on investment costs? Like the vast majority of investors, you are very likely wasting money that could and should stay in your accounts.
If you believe the government wastes money, consider how much of your wealth is wasted through investment costs. Mutual Funds, brokerage accounts, insurance products, and on and on: personal wealth is wasted and retirement dollars lost because the investment industry charges costs that no longer have to be paid.
Make real change - change measured in actual dollars the industry refuses to reveal. We explain a simple approach every investor can easily follow to take control over costs, reinvest the savings, and make a real difference measured in real dollars.
Learn how to cut costs - and keep that money instead. The actual dollar amounts you can save are significant and benefit you and your family.
Link: http://www.gallup.com/poll/149543/americans-say-federal-gov-wastes-half-every-dollar.aspx
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Even if Congress passes entire Obama jobs plan, economists say high jobless rate will linger
----------
From the AP via ABC News:
"Even if Congress heeds President Barack Obama's demands to "pass this bill right away" and enacts his jobs and tax plan in its entirety, the unemployment rate probably still would hover in nosebleed territory for at least three more years.
Why? Because the 1.9 million new jobs the White House says the bill would produce in 2012 falls short of what's needed to put the economy back on track to return to pre-recession jobless levels of under 6 percent, from today's rate of 9.1 percent.
That's how deep the jobs hole is.
The persistent weakness of the U.S. economy has left 14 million people unemployed and more than 25 million unable to find full-time work..."
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BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!
----------
Burned before by making overly optimistic job-creation predictions, the White House turned to prominent outside economists to crunch the numbers.
The projection of 1.9 million new jobs, a 1 percentage point drop in the unemployment rate and a 2 percentage point increase in the gross domestic product under Obama's plan came from Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics.
But Zandi said in an interview his forecast also is based on an assumption that "the president's entire package is passed by the end of the year," a slim prospect given the current divided leadership in Congress, and that there are no other budgetary policy changes.
"I assumed that it would be paid for," Zandi said. "I didn't know when I did that simulation how the president proposed to pay for it."...
----------
HE "DIDN'T KNOW." HOLD ON, THERE'S MORE!
----------
But there is one feature Obama doesn't emphasize.
Zandi said his job-creation figure only applies to 2012.
"Beginning in 2013, and certainly into 2014, the plan is a drag on the economy because the stimulus starts fading away," he said. "So by 2015, the economy is in the same place as now, as if there were no jobs package."
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AFTER THE ELECTION, "THE PLAN IS A DRAG ON THE ECONOMY."
----------
Job creation has ground to a virtual standstill. The economy produced a scant 20,000 net new jobs in June, 85,000 in July and none in August. Economic output, as measured by the GDP, has been growing this year at an anemic annual rate below 1 percent.
The global economy is showing no signs of strengthening. A divided Federal Reserve is nearly out of ammunition for additional stimulus. And the U.S. is once again facing the possibility of a government shutdown at the end of next week....
----------
SO, THE WHITE HOUSE HAS NO ANSWERS EXCEPT MORE SPENDING.
WHO WOULD DESCRIBE THIS AS LEADERSHIP?
----------
Link: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/obama-plan-make-small-dent-jobless-rate-14596098
From the AP via ABC News:
"Even if Congress heeds President Barack Obama's demands to "pass this bill right away" and enacts his jobs and tax plan in its entirety, the unemployment rate probably still would hover in nosebleed territory for at least three more years.
Why? Because the 1.9 million new jobs the White House says the bill would produce in 2012 falls short of what's needed to put the economy back on track to return to pre-recession jobless levels of under 6 percent, from today's rate of 9.1 percent.
That's how deep the jobs hole is.
The persistent weakness of the U.S. economy has left 14 million people unemployed and more than 25 million unable to find full-time work..."
----------
BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!
----------
Burned before by making overly optimistic job-creation predictions, the White House turned to prominent outside economists to crunch the numbers.
The projection of 1.9 million new jobs, a 1 percentage point drop in the unemployment rate and a 2 percentage point increase in the gross domestic product under Obama's plan came from Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics.
But Zandi said in an interview his forecast also is based on an assumption that "the president's entire package is passed by the end of the year," a slim prospect given the current divided leadership in Congress, and that there are no other budgetary policy changes.
"I assumed that it would be paid for," Zandi said. "I didn't know when I did that simulation how the president proposed to pay for it."...
----------
HE "DIDN'T KNOW." HOLD ON, THERE'S MORE!
----------
But there is one feature Obama doesn't emphasize.
Zandi said his job-creation figure only applies to 2012.
"Beginning in 2013, and certainly into 2014, the plan is a drag on the economy because the stimulus starts fading away," he said. "So by 2015, the economy is in the same place as now, as if there were no jobs package."
----------
AFTER THE ELECTION, "THE PLAN IS A DRAG ON THE ECONOMY."
----------
Job creation has ground to a virtual standstill. The economy produced a scant 20,000 net new jobs in June, 85,000 in July and none in August. Economic output, as measured by the GDP, has been growing this year at an anemic annual rate below 1 percent.
The global economy is showing no signs of strengthening. A divided Federal Reserve is nearly out of ammunition for additional stimulus. And the U.S. is once again facing the possibility of a government shutdown at the end of next week....
----------
SO, THE WHITE HOUSE HAS NO ANSWERS EXCEPT MORE SPENDING.
WHO WOULD DESCRIBE THIS AS LEADERSHIP?
----------
Link: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/obama-plan-make-small-dent-jobless-rate-14596098
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Law gives huge pension perks to union leaders
--------------
From the Chicago Tribune online:
All it took to give nearly two dozen labor leaders from Chicago a windfall worth millions was a few tweaks to a handful of sentences in the state's lengthy pension code.
The changes became law with no public debate among state legislators and, more importantly, no cost analysis.
Twenty years later, 23 retired union officials from Chicago stand to collect about $56 million from two ailing city pension funds thanks to the changes, a Tribune/WGN-TV investigation found.
Because the law bases the city pensions on the labor leaders' union salaries, they are reaping retirement benefits that far outstrip the modest salaries they made as city employees. On average, their pensions are nearly three times higher than what the typical retired city worker receives....
What's more, none of the labor officials retired in the traditional sense. Even as they collected their inflated city pensions, they held on to their high-paying union jobs. A decade ago, those public pension funds were flush, but they're now in such deep financial trouble that they threaten to burden taxpayers and dues-paying union workers alike....
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CHANGE SOME OF US CAN BELIEVE IN!!!! Just think how much stimulus those pensions are providing the economy.....
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Link: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-pensions-legislation-watchdog-20110921,0,4724416.story
From the Chicago Tribune online:
All it took to give nearly two dozen labor leaders from Chicago a windfall worth millions was a few tweaks to a handful of sentences in the state's lengthy pension code.
The changes became law with no public debate among state legislators and, more importantly, no cost analysis.
Twenty years later, 23 retired union officials from Chicago stand to collect about $56 million from two ailing city pension funds thanks to the changes, a Tribune/WGN-TV investigation found.
Because the law bases the city pensions on the labor leaders' union salaries, they are reaping retirement benefits that far outstrip the modest salaries they made as city employees. On average, their pensions are nearly three times higher than what the typical retired city worker receives....
What's more, none of the labor officials retired in the traditional sense. Even as they collected their inflated city pensions, they held on to their high-paying union jobs. A decade ago, those public pension funds were flush, but they're now in such deep financial trouble that they threaten to burden taxpayers and dues-paying union workers alike....
--------
CHANGE SOME OF US CAN BELIEVE IN!!!! Just think how much stimulus those pensions are providing the economy.....
--------
Link: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-pensions-legislation-watchdog-20110921,0,4724416.story
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Romney's China Blunder
Mitt Romney appears to be a businessman who talks like a Michigan Democrat. Does he really have the answers?
--------------
From the Wall Street Journal:
"Declaring Beijing a 'currency manipulator' is likely to backfire
At a recent Republican Presidential debate, Jon Huntsman slammed Mitt Romney's promise to designate China as a "currency manipulator" and impose trade sanctions if he is elected. "Mitt," the former U.S. ambassador to China said, "now is not the time, in a recession, to enter a trade war."
Well put. The President of the United States has a responsibility to lead on trade issues, and by extension so do serious aspirants to the office....
Mr. Romney's economic platform, unveiled this month, was marred by a crude assessment of the economic relationship with China as one-sided and harmful to the U.S....
Let's start with the simplistic logic that running a trade deficit is prima facie evidence that the U.S. is losing out. Much of the U.S. deficit with China is composed of intra-company trade conducted by U.S. firms. They outsource their parts and goods pipelines to stay globally competitive.
Using bilateral figures is especially misleading in China's case, since many Chinese factories do the final assembly of products made from imported parts. Chinese companies add little value; it is often Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese suppliers that profit most....
The real problem is China's refusal, largely for political reasons, to liberalize its financial system and allow the free flow of capital....
Especially in bad economic times ... the easiest path for Congressmen is always to vote for special or regional interests. Serious Presidential candidates have to protect the national interest."
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Link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904836104576558090193802586.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop
--------------
From the Wall Street Journal:
"Declaring Beijing a 'currency manipulator' is likely to backfire
At a recent Republican Presidential debate, Jon Huntsman slammed Mitt Romney's promise to designate China as a "currency manipulator" and impose trade sanctions if he is elected. "Mitt," the former U.S. ambassador to China said, "now is not the time, in a recession, to enter a trade war."
Well put. The President of the United States has a responsibility to lead on trade issues, and by extension so do serious aspirants to the office....
Mr. Romney's economic platform, unveiled this month, was marred by a crude assessment of the economic relationship with China as one-sided and harmful to the U.S....
Let's start with the simplistic logic that running a trade deficit is prima facie evidence that the U.S. is losing out. Much of the U.S. deficit with China is composed of intra-company trade conducted by U.S. firms. They outsource their parts and goods pipelines to stay globally competitive.
Using bilateral figures is especially misleading in China's case, since many Chinese factories do the final assembly of products made from imported parts. Chinese companies add little value; it is often Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese suppliers that profit most....
The real problem is China's refusal, largely for political reasons, to liberalize its financial system and allow the free flow of capital....
Especially in bad economic times ... the easiest path for Congressmen is always to vote for special or regional interests. Serious Presidential candidates have to protect the national interest."
-------------
Link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904836104576558090193802586.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Does Obama Really Believe He's Still Popular?
Where is the old media when you need them to give you the truth?
-----------------
From Jay Cost, of Real Clear Politics, writing for the Weekly Standard:
"I couldn’t help but take note of this video (link below):
Audience Member: I love you, Barack!
Pres. Obama: I love you back…If you love me, you gotta help me pass this bill!
So, I guess this would be yet another reason not to expect the American Jobs Act to pass through the Congress. After all, there just aren’t enough people that love President Obama anymore!
I’ve said it before, and it bears repeating, given this absurd little clip: Barack Obama is not a popular president. He certainly is not as deeply unpopular as some of his predecessors have been at various points, but he has not been popular for a very long time....
-----------------
From Jay Cost, of Real Clear Politics, writing for the Weekly Standard:
"I couldn’t help but take note of this video (link below):
Audience Member: I love you, Barack!
Pres. Obama: I love you back…If you love me, you gotta help me pass this bill!
So, I guess this would be yet another reason not to expect the American Jobs Act to pass through the Congress. After all, there just aren’t enough people that love President Obama anymore!
I’ve said it before, and it bears repeating, given this absurd little clip: Barack Obama is not a popular president. He certainly is not as deeply unpopular as some of his predecessors have been at various points, but he has not been popular for a very long time....
Let’s keep in mind that this president’s “arrogance to excellence” ratio has always been staggeringly high, and realizing that the bottom has dropped out would require him to admit that he’s screwed up somewhere along the way. The sort of fellow willing to run for president after just two years in the Senate and make patently absurd promises about what his administration could do is not the sort with a thorough appreciation of his own faults.
Despite having written two autobiographies by the time he was 45, this president is really not very self-aware, and I doubt his sycophantic advisors are much better off. So, expect him to keep doing what he’s been doing over the last two years – acting as if he is not the divisive, unpopular leader he actually is."
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Link: http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/morning-jay-does-obama-really-believe-hes-still-popular_593593.html
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
CBO lowers economic outlook
(Reuters) - The economic outlook is gloomy and any drastic action could make things worse, according to testimony Tuesday before a congressional 'super committee" trying to cut the federal deficit.
The Congressional Budget Office -- the non-partisan budget and economic analyst for Congress -- said economic growth would slow from previous estimates and a nagging, 9.1 percent jobless rate would basically remain stuck there through next year's presidential and congressional elections.
"The economic outlook remains highly uncertain," CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf told an inaugural hearing of the congressional panel charged with finding at least $1.2 trillion in new government savings over the next decade....
The unemployment rate, now at 9.1 percent, will remain "close to 9 percent through the end of 2012," Elmendorf said.
-----------
Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/13/us-usa-debt-supercommittee-idUSTRE78C40O20110913
The Congressional Budget Office -- the non-partisan budget and economic analyst for Congress -- said economic growth would slow from previous estimates and a nagging, 9.1 percent jobless rate would basically remain stuck there through next year's presidential and congressional elections.
"The economic outlook remains highly uncertain," CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf told an inaugural hearing of the congressional panel charged with finding at least $1.2 trillion in new government savings over the next decade....
The unemployment rate, now at 9.1 percent, will remain "close to 9 percent through the end of 2012," Elmendorf said.
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Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/13/us-usa-debt-supercommittee-idUSTRE78C40O20110913
Monday, September 12, 2011
Bank of America to slash 30,000 jobs
From USA Today and wire services:
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – Bank of America will cut about 30,000 jobs over the next few years in a bid to save $5 billion per year. The cost-cutting drive is part of a broader effort to reshape and shrink the nation's largest bank as it copes with fallout from the housing bust.
The bank announced the job cuts in a statement shortly after Brian Moynihan, the bank's CEO, disclosed the cost-saving goals in an address to investors in New York. "We're a much simpler company than we were 24 months ago," Moynihan said....
The latest job cuts will lead to a 10 percent reduction in the bank's work force of 288,000. The cuts come on top of 6,000 positions the bank has already eliminated through the third quarter of this year....
-----------------
Link: http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/banking/story/2011-09-12/bank-of-america-job-cuts/50368298/1
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – Bank of America will cut about 30,000 jobs over the next few years in a bid to save $5 billion per year. The cost-cutting drive is part of a broader effort to reshape and shrink the nation's largest bank as it copes with fallout from the housing bust.
The bank announced the job cuts in a statement shortly after Brian Moynihan, the bank's CEO, disclosed the cost-saving goals in an address to investors in New York. "We're a much simpler company than we were 24 months ago," Moynihan said....
The latest job cuts will lead to a 10 percent reduction in the bank's work force of 288,000. The cuts come on top of 6,000 positions the bank has already eliminated through the third quarter of this year....
-----------------
Link: http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/banking/story/2011-09-12/bank-of-america-job-cuts/50368298/1
How to Fight Black Unemployment
By Arthur Laffer in todays WSJ.com:
---------------
The tragedy of the failed stimulus is felt hard in minority communities. There's a better way.
Some people actually believe government can create jobs by taxing and borrowing from people with jobs and then giving that money to people without jobs. They call this demand stimulus. To make matters worse, other people think these demand-stimulus ideas warrant a serious response.
Government taxes cigarettes to stop people from smoking, not to get them to smoke. Government fines speeders so they won't speed, not to encourage them to drive faster. And yet contrary to common sense, it seems perfectly natural to some people that government would tax people who work or companies that are successful only to give that money to people who don't work and to bail out losing companies. The thought never crosses their minds that these policies are the very reason why our economy is in such bad shape.
I'm beginning to think that Irving Kristol was correct when he wrote, "It takes a Ph.D. in economics not to be able to understand the obvious." It shouldn't surprise anyone why the economy isn't getting better.
If the U.S. wants prosperity, government doesn't need to do something, it needs to undo much of what it already has done....
----------------
Link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904836104576558590149858436.html
---------------
The tragedy of the failed stimulus is felt hard in minority communities. There's a better way.
Some people actually believe government can create jobs by taxing and borrowing from people with jobs and then giving that money to people without jobs. They call this demand stimulus. To make matters worse, other people think these demand-stimulus ideas warrant a serious response.
Government taxes cigarettes to stop people from smoking, not to get them to smoke. Government fines speeders so they won't speed, not to encourage them to drive faster. And yet contrary to common sense, it seems perfectly natural to some people that government would tax people who work or companies that are successful only to give that money to people who don't work and to bail out losing companies. The thought never crosses their minds that these policies are the very reason why our economy is in such bad shape.
I'm beginning to think that Irving Kristol was correct when he wrote, "It takes a Ph.D. in economics not to be able to understand the obvious." It shouldn't surprise anyone why the economy isn't getting better.
If the U.S. wants prosperity, government doesn't need to do something, it needs to undo much of what it already has done....
----------------
Link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904836104576558590149858436.html
Saturday, September 10, 2011
"Grand Pursuit: The Story of Economic Genius"
Grand Pursuit: The Story of Economic Genius
By Sylvia Nasar, Simon & Schuster
(Author of "A Beautiful Mind")
Book reviewed by James Grant in the WSJ.com:
"...Economic genius would seem to be in short supply these days.
On the say-so of economists, Congress has spent upwards of $1 trillion to "stimulate" an economy that remains unstimulated.
The best economists are formidable intellects, as it goes without saying—Ben Bernanke was the spelling champion of South Carolina—but you begin to wonder if they know what they're talking about...
Her collected geniuses, Ms. Nasar claims, were "instrumental in turning economics into an instrument of mastery." I find nothing in these pages remotely to substantiate that contention...
But economists no more set the world to producing and consuming than baseball statisticians hit home runs. Then, too, you'll never see Bill James, the dean of the baseball sabermetricians, trip up a base runner the way the government thwarts an entrepreneur. The intervention-minded economists are the ones who give the government its big ideas...
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Link:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904836104576557360442970594.html?mod=WSJ_Books_LS_Books_8
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Pimco’s Gross admits US debt ‘mistake’
From the Financial Times, London:
"Bill Gross, manager of the world’s largest bond fund for Pimco, has admitted that it was a mistake to bet so heavily against the price of US government debt.
Mr Gross emptied his $244bn Total Return Fund of US government-related securities earlier this year in a high-profile call that has backfired as the bond market has rallied. As of Monday, Pimco’s flagship fund ranked 501th out of 589 bond funds in its category.
“Do I wish I had more Treasuries? Yeah, that’s pretty obvious,” Mr Gross told the Financial Times last week, adding: “I get that it was my/our mistake in thinking that the US economy can chug along at 2 per cent real growth rates. It doesn’t look like it can.”
When the yield on the 10-year Treasury was 3.5 per cent in January, Mr Gross warned that the risk of rising inflation made government debt a poor investment....
Mr Gross, one of the most influential voices in the bond market, reiterated his warning to avoid Treasuries in June, and in the July dispatch of his widely read Investment Outlook, warned that promises to America’s ageing population made them “debt men walking”.
However, this month, as turmoil in equity markets caused investors to rush to the safety of government bonds, the 10-year Treasury yield dipped below 2 per cent, a 61-year low...
Mr Gross started to buy government debt, as well as related securities and derivatives, in recent months. However, he faces a challenge to catch up to the benchmark, which has returned 4.55 per cent for the year so far, versus the Total Return Fund’s 3.29 per cent, according to Lipper, a research group."
------------------------
Link: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/dbe0ab88-d24b-11e0-9137-00144feab49a.html
"Bill Gross, manager of the world’s largest bond fund for Pimco, has admitted that it was a mistake to bet so heavily against the price of US government debt.
Mr Gross emptied his $244bn Total Return Fund of US government-related securities earlier this year in a high-profile call that has backfired as the bond market has rallied. As of Monday, Pimco’s flagship fund ranked 501th out of 589 bond funds in its category.
“Do I wish I had more Treasuries? Yeah, that’s pretty obvious,” Mr Gross told the Financial Times last week, adding: “I get that it was my/our mistake in thinking that the US economy can chug along at 2 per cent real growth rates. It doesn’t look like it can.”
When the yield on the 10-year Treasury was 3.5 per cent in January, Mr Gross warned that the risk of rising inflation made government debt a poor investment....
Mr Gross, one of the most influential voices in the bond market, reiterated his warning to avoid Treasuries in June, and in the July dispatch of his widely read Investment Outlook, warned that promises to America’s ageing population made them “debt men walking”.
However, this month, as turmoil in equity markets caused investors to rush to the safety of government bonds, the 10-year Treasury yield dipped below 2 per cent, a 61-year low...
Mr Gross started to buy government debt, as well as related securities and derivatives, in recent months. However, he faces a challenge to catch up to the benchmark, which has returned 4.55 per cent for the year so far, versus the Total Return Fund’s 3.29 per cent, according to Lipper, a research group."
------------------------
Link: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/dbe0ab88-d24b-11e0-9137-00144feab49a.html
Monday, September 5, 2011
Labor Day Blues
From Robert Samuelson at Realclearpolitics.com:
WASHINGTON -- On this Labor Day, there is little good news about labor. We have entered a long period of crushing unemployment and downward pressure on wages that may well transform the nation's economic and political landscape.
There was no job growth in August, and the overall numbers are stupefying:
People are only gradually recognizing the magnitude of the problem....
----------------
Link: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/09/05/labor_day_blues_111199.html
WASHINGTON -- On this Labor Day, there is little good news about labor. We have entered a long period of crushing unemployment and downward pressure on wages that may well transform the nation's economic and political landscape.
There was no job growth in August, and the overall numbers are stupefying:
- 14 million unemployed;
- nearly 9 million part-time workers wanting full-time jobs;
- 6.5 million who want jobs but are so discouraged that they've given up looking and are, therefore, not counted in the official labor force.
People are only gradually recognizing the magnitude of the problem....
----------------
Link: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/09/05/labor_day_blues_111199.html
Stagnant U.S. Hiring May Signal Renewed Recession
From Bloomberg.com:
The U.S. may be on the cusp of a recession for the first time in more than two years.
Stagnant payrolls in August reported last week added to data over the past month showing the economy is faltering, including slowing manufacturing, plunging consumer confidence, falling home values and lower bond yields and stock prices.
“At this stage of the typical expansion we expect above- average growth and instead we are barely seeing any growth at all,” said James Hamilton, an economics professor at the University of California, San Diego, who has advised Federal Reserve banks and studied what tips the U.S. into downturns. “We have to be more worried. Overall, the economy is in a delicate position and another shock could send us down.”
-----------------
Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-05/stagnant-august-payrolls-in-u-s-add-to-signals-of-renewed-recession-risk.html
The U.S. may be on the cusp of a recession for the first time in more than two years.
Stagnant payrolls in August reported last week added to data over the past month showing the economy is faltering, including slowing manufacturing, plunging consumer confidence, falling home values and lower bond yields and stock prices.
“At this stage of the typical expansion we expect above- average growth and instead we are barely seeing any growth at all,” said James Hamilton, an economics professor at the University of California, San Diego, who has advised Federal Reserve banks and studied what tips the U.S. into downturns. “We have to be more worried. Overall, the economy is in a delicate position and another shock could send us down.”
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Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-05/stagnant-august-payrolls-in-u-s-add-to-signals-of-renewed-recession-risk.html
Friday, September 2, 2011
First since 1945: a net job change of ZERO
From the Associated Press:
Washington— Employers added no net workers last month and the unemployment rate was unchanged, a sign that many were nervous the U.S. economy could be at risk of slipping into another recession.
The Labor Department said Friday that total payrolls were unchanged in August, the weakest report in almost a year. It's the first time since February 1945 that the government has reported a net job change of zero.
The unemployment rate stayed at 9.1 percent.
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Link: http://www.detnews.com/article/20110902/BIZ/109020414/
Washington— Employers added no net workers last month and the unemployment rate was unchanged, a sign that many were nervous the U.S. economy could be at risk of slipping into another recession.
The Labor Department said Friday that total payrolls were unchanged in August, the weakest report in almost a year. It's the first time since February 1945 that the government has reported a net job change of zero.
The unemployment rate stayed at 9.1 percent.
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Link: http://www.detnews.com/article/20110902/BIZ/109020414/
Thursday, September 1, 2011
The Do No Evil Boys follow in Buffett's footsteps
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By Matthew Ingram at Businessweek.com:
Google Confirms It Aims to Own Your Online ID
"Ever since Google launched its new Google+ social network, we and others have pointed out that the search giant clearly has more in mind than just providing a nice place for people to share photos of their pets. For one thing, Google needs to tap into the “social signals” that people provide through networks such as Facebook so it can improve its search results. There’s a larger motive, too: As Chairman and former Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt admitted during an interview in Edinburgh over the weekend, Google is taking a hard line on the real-name issue because it sees Google+ as an “identity service” or platform on which it can build other products....
What kind of services is Schmidt referring to when he says that Google is looking at Google+ as an identity platform that could support other services? Dave Winer thinks the company wants to effectively become a bank—something he suspects Apple and Amazon are interested in as well. Apple and Google both seem interested in NFC technology (near-field communication), which turns mobile devices into electronic wallets; having a social network tied to an individual user’s identity would come in handy. Ross Dawson says Google wants to build a “reputation engine,” using Google+ as a platform.
Whatever its specific interests, Google clearly sees Facebook as a competitive threat, not just because it has developed a gigantic social network with hundreds of millions of devoted users, but because it has also become a kind of identity gatekeeper—with tens of millions of those devoted users happily logging into other websites and services with their Facebook credentials, thus sending Facebook valuable data about what they are doing and where they are doing it. The ubiquitous “like” button provides even further data, something Google is also trying to mimic with its +1 buttons..."
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This is Big Brother from the Do No Evil Boys. Similar to moral frauds like Warren Buffett, who loves Big Government as long as he can take every personal and corporate tax break available while spouting that all others must pay more taxes, the Google boys invade people's private lives and work hard to influence politics and social standards. It is certainly easy to see how Google wants to control people's electronic wallets as technology moves us further into a digital world. Why should Google be able to go so far?
Think about this: Walmart was prevented from creating a bank. Walmart intended create a Walmart Bank, slash banking costs, and make banking more consumer friendly. But Washington cried foul.
Yet Google, Apple and Amazon have plans, driven by their gigantic data collection of private individual behavior, to enter and control the banking world. Are they better than Walmart?
Does a preference exist in Washington for some providers but not others?
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Link: http://www.businessweek.com/technology/google-confirms-it-aims-to-own-your-online-id-08292011.html
By Matthew Ingram at Businessweek.com:
Google Confirms It Aims to Own Your Online ID
"Ever since Google launched its new Google+ social network, we and others have pointed out that the search giant clearly has more in mind than just providing a nice place for people to share photos of their pets. For one thing, Google needs to tap into the “social signals” that people provide through networks such as Facebook so it can improve its search results. There’s a larger motive, too: As Chairman and former Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt admitted during an interview in Edinburgh over the weekend, Google is taking a hard line on the real-name issue because it sees Google+ as an “identity service” or platform on which it can build other products....
What kind of services is Schmidt referring to when he says that Google is looking at Google+ as an identity platform that could support other services? Dave Winer thinks the company wants to effectively become a bank—something he suspects Apple and Amazon are interested in as well. Apple and Google both seem interested in NFC technology (near-field communication), which turns mobile devices into electronic wallets; having a social network tied to an individual user’s identity would come in handy. Ross Dawson says Google wants to build a “reputation engine,” using Google+ as a platform.
Whatever its specific interests, Google clearly sees Facebook as a competitive threat, not just because it has developed a gigantic social network with hundreds of millions of devoted users, but because it has also become a kind of identity gatekeeper—with tens of millions of those devoted users happily logging into other websites and services with their Facebook credentials, thus sending Facebook valuable data about what they are doing and where they are doing it. The ubiquitous “like” button provides even further data, something Google is also trying to mimic with its +1 buttons..."
-----------------
This is Big Brother from the Do No Evil Boys. Similar to moral frauds like Warren Buffett, who loves Big Government as long as he can take every personal and corporate tax break available while spouting that all others must pay more taxes, the Google boys invade people's private lives and work hard to influence politics and social standards. It is certainly easy to see how Google wants to control people's electronic wallets as technology moves us further into a digital world. Why should Google be able to go so far?
Think about this: Walmart was prevented from creating a bank. Walmart intended create a Walmart Bank, slash banking costs, and make banking more consumer friendly. But Washington cried foul.
Yet Google, Apple and Amazon have plans, driven by their gigantic data collection of private individual behavior, to enter and control the banking world. Are they better than Walmart?
Does a preference exist in Washington for some providers but not others?
_____________
Link: http://www.businessweek.com/technology/google-confirms-it-aims-to-own-your-online-id-08292011.html
Buffett faults Tea Party
From Bloomberg.com:
Warren Buffett, the self-made billionaire and son of a former Republican congressman, has widened the rift with his father’s party by pressing for tax increases on the wealthy and reinforcing ties with President Barack Obama.
Buffett endured scorn from Republicans this month after he called the Tea Party approach to budget talks “insane” and proposed raising $500 billion by taxing the richest Americans. Buffett, chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., was cited as an exemplar by Obama at least three times since July....
The wealthy should pay more, given that “the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan” and are often required to contribute a greater portion of their earnings to the government, Buffett said in the Times. He said billionaires had been “coddled long enough” by Congress and proposed increasing some government revenue from capital gains that are currently taxed at 15 percent.
“Buffett has always been in favor of taxes, and he’s always been in favor of a progressive scale,” said Roger Lowenstein, the journalist and author of “Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist.” “What’s new is that the Republican Party has moved to the right of Genghis Khan.”
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Right! Buffett has "always been in favor of a progressive scale." Read the next story....
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Link: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-08-31/buffett-widens-rift-with-republicans-by-faulting-tea-party.html
Buffett's Latest Tax Break: again he foils the IRS
From the WSJ.com:
For a guy who spends a lot of time advocating for higher taxes, Warren Buffett does a remarkably good job of minimizing his own corporate tax bill. This is all to the good for Mr. Buffett and his fellow Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, who no doubt can invest the money more wisely than the federal government is likely to do.
Mr. Buffett's recent decision to invest in Bank of America represents another tax-avoidance triumph for the Berkshire chief executive. U.S. corporations are subject to a top federal income tax rate of 35%, the second highest in the world. But Mr. Buffett and the Berkshire bunch won't pay anything close to that on their investment in BofA preferred shares....
With the exclusion for Mr. Buffett and his fellow shareholders, Berkshire will enjoy an effective tax rate of 14.175% on the $300 million in dividends it will receive each year from Bank of America.
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Wisdom in action from Warren "Do as I say, not as I do" Buffett
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Link: http:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904332804576538580352785252.html
For a guy who spends a lot of time advocating for higher taxes, Warren Buffett does a remarkably good job of minimizing his own corporate tax bill. This is all to the good for Mr. Buffett and his fellow Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, who no doubt can invest the money more wisely than the federal government is likely to do.
Mr. Buffett's recent decision to invest in Bank of America represents another tax-avoidance triumph for the Berkshire chief executive. U.S. corporations are subject to a top federal income tax rate of 35%, the second highest in the world. But Mr. Buffett and the Berkshire bunch won't pay anything close to that on their investment in BofA preferred shares....
With the exclusion for Mr. Buffett and his fellow shareholders, Berkshire will enjoy an effective tax rate of 14.175% on the $300 million in dividends it will receive each year from Bank of America.
-----------
Wisdom in action from Warren "Do as I say, not as I do" Buffett
-----------
Link: http:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904332804576538580352785252.html
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