The strongest economy in the world

**nostromo** · 22-07-2012, 12:13 AM

As of yesterday (Friday) EURUSD hit the lowest in 2 years to USD, Bernanke all heard, no QE = US dollar is strong. Fok europe

UK: EURGBP, UK high 4 years. Fok europe

Australia: EURAUS, Australian is highest forev with eur. Fok europe

New Zealand: EURNZD: NZ is in much better shape than EU. Same same: Fok europe

Canada, strong country, by now you know the drill: Fok europe

Europe: Eurozone, only 2 countries left that are sound and reliable - you must actually pay to to give your money to them, to be safe your money does not disappear, Germany and Finland. Next reliable countries are UK and US. Probably you saw the chart all over Bloomberg in the last days.
Spanish bailout. Italy bailout.
France says they do not require control of their country and requires others do the same. Solidarity. Securing bailout for France when the time comes.
Socialists ruling France, increasing taxes, intimidating businesses, lowering retirement age - for non educated people only sorry.

Day after
Much wanted French bailout and Belgium bailout and others bailout, and - final solution - and agreement on permanent payouts to south europe, transfer union - failed. Germany and Finland and The Netherlands with Elvis left the building quite a long time ago. Europe is in the 3rd world. End of Euro Socialist Europe and 5-year plans of European Commission and Commissars.

US and UK and Aus and NZ, Canada and others, and northern Europe live on and prosper.

**Boon Mee** · 23-07-2012, 09:42 AM

You know what else is excruciatingly painful? Having a clown like Obama in Big White:

Check out the economics - it was an awesome week:

1. Weekly jobless claims shot up to 386,000.
2. Foreclosures are hitting our most vulnerable citizens.
3. Factory activity contracted for a second month in a row.
4. Home sales dropped a whopping 5.4% -- the biggest drop in nine months.
5. Retail sales dropped for the third straight month.
6. Consumer confidence dipped to 84.7.
7. U.S. business inventories increased by .3%...
8. …sales dropped .1%.
9. Food prices are skyrocketing.

10. More Americans are getting federal disability than jobs.

Material ripped from here

But wtf! Let's re-elect the guy, eh? Mebe he'll figure it out over the next 4 years!

**OhOh** · 24-07-2012, 11:12 PM

Has anyone an idea of the cost of this "drip pan".

Steel, aluminium or plastic. The main criteria is that it is leak proof. The installation is beneath a helicopter engine/gearbox so aerospec materials etc.

**OhOh** · 24-07-2012, 11:16 PM

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/19/us...mark.html?_r=1

"WASHINGTON — In the 1980s, the military had its infamous $800 toilet seat. Today, it has a $17,000 drip pan.

Thanks to a powerful Kentucky congressman who has steered tens of millions of federal dollars to his district, the Army has bought about $6.5 million worth of the “leakproof” drip pans in the last three years to catch transmission fluid on Black Hawk helicopters. And it might want more from the Kentucky company that makes the pans, even though a similar pan from another company costs a small fraction of the price: about $2,500.

The purchase shows the enduring power of earmarks, even though several scandals have prompted efforts in Congress to rein them in. And at a time when the Pentagon is facing billions of dollars in cutbacks — which include shrinking the Army, trimming back purchases of fighter jets and retiring warships — the eye-catching price tag for a small part has provoked sharp criticism.

The Kentucky company, Phoenix Products, got the job to produce the pans after Representative Harold Rogers, a Republican who is now the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, added an earmark to a 2009 spending bill. While the earmark came before restrictions were placed on such provisions for for-profit companies, its outlays have continued for the last three years.

The company’s owners are political contributors to the congressman, who has been called the “Prince of Pork” by The Lexington Herald-Leader for his history of delivering federal contracts to donors and others back home.

Military officials have said the pans work well, and Mr. Rogers defended them."

Continues........

**OhOh** · 25-07-2012, 03:52 AM

Apple shares drop to US$565 from US$605

**OhOh** · 26-07-2012, 07:37 AM

There is a light at the end of the tunnel. This lady illustrates the repetition of the current problems with a number of examples from past history. She has no problem in suggesting it's just a natural phenomena.

A paper outling her views more fully here:

http://www.carlotaperez.org/download...n%20AJSTID.pdf

**Boon Mee** · 27-07-2012, 05:53 AM

Obamanomics: Economy Lost More Than 200,000 Small Businesses Between 2008 And 2010

Why is this man smiling? Because he's fundamentally transforming America?

More than 200,000 small businesses vanished between early 2008 and 2010 — a period covering the Great Recession and its immediate aftermath — taking with them in excess of 3 million jobs, according to Census figures which illustrate the depth of the country’s economic hole.
Data is only available until 2010, but the U.S. Census Bureau stats reveal a startling slide for America’s businesses. While the country boasted 5.14 million firms with up to 99 employees as of March 2008, that number dropped to 4.92 million by March 2010 – representing a loss of roughly 223,800 businesses and 3.1 million workers.
The Obama administration notes that the trend has since reversed, and that the country has seen 28 consecutive months of private-sector job growth.
But a recent slowdown in private-sector hiring has raised questions about the direction and strength of that recovery. And amid an escalating campaign trail battle about President Obama’s recent remarks on businesses, a new poll shows American business owners are harboring serious doubts.

Economy lost more than 200,000 small businesses in recession, Census shows | Fox News

Strongest economy? Heh, America is the new Greece...

**barbaro** · 05-08-2012, 12:44 PM

Things are headed in the "right direction," Ray. There were a few jobs created in July. But we also have this:

What do jobless do when unemployment checks run out?
By Paul Davidson, USA TODAY
August 5, 2012

Since abruptly losing her $312 weekly unemployment check in June, Laurie Cullinan has depleted her savings, sought food from the Salvation Army and lit candles to save electricity.

Laurie Cullinan, 52, of Royal Oak, Mich., is one of hundreds of thousands of former employees who lost extended unemployment benefits this year.

If she can't find a job this month, the Royal Oak, Mich., resident worries she'll be evicted from her apartment, an unthinkable prospect for the 52-year-old, who enjoyed a solidly middle-class lifestyle until she lost her office-manager job two years ago.

"What am I going to do if I'm homeless?" says Cullinan, who collected unemployment for 1½ years. "My mind won't let me comprehend that."

Cullinan is among about 1 million long-term unemployed Americans whose jobless benefits are phasing out this year as the federal government reels in Great Recession lifelines that provided unemployment checks for as long as 99 weeks in many states. By year's end, another 2 million will see their checks cut off sooner than Cullinan's were, because extended unemployment benefits will end beyond the standard 26 weeks that states pay for. Congress could renew the program, but many economists say that's unlikely.

The cutbacks, required by a federal law passed in February, are already taking a toll. They are nudging some Americans into poverty, straining social services just as states and localities face their own budget woes and further crimping weak economic growth as those who lose benefits spend less.

The number of jobless workers has fallen from over 15 million in early 2010 to about 13 million now, but the share of unemployed workers collecting jobless benefits has dropped more sharply. It was about two out of three in 2010, but it's less than one in two now. Next year only about one in four will receive payments, according to the National Employment Law Project (NELP).

"There's going to be lots of people without any income still unable to find a job," says George Wentworth, a senior staff attorney for NELP. "You're going to see these people not be able to feed their families and not able to pay their mortgages. It will have a devastating impact on a lot of local economies."

Entire: What do jobless do when unemployment checks run out?

**Norton** · 05-08-2012, 01:21 PM

Originally Posted by barbaro

What do jobless do when unemployment checks run out?

Far too many unemployed blame others, government, employers, God, luck etc. for their problems. Simply put these folks need to understand only they are responsible for their futures.

"No man was ever endowed with a right without being at the same time saddled with a responsibility." Gerald W. Johnson

**OhOh** · 05-08-2012, 08:48 PM

Originally Posted by barbaro

There were a few jobs created in July.

You really need to see where these figures are coming from and the "adjustments" they are filtered through.

**nostromo** · 05-08-2012, 09:46 PM

Originally Posted by OhOh

Apple shares drop to US$565 from US$605

I am with Samsung.

**nostromo** · 05-08-2012, 09:58 PM

this nfp was better than expected - much better than some expected. US is growing, slowly, but growing - this means more , +163k jobs in US, in contrast to eurozone losing jobs (unemployment 8.2 to 8.3 because of rounding of figures, it was actually 0.37), eurozone is fundamentally a loser not because of this but for being totally uncompetitive socialist dream.
US and UK, and Thailand, are hit by euros who do not have the money to buy anything anymore. But alternative markets will take the place of europe. That is market economy.

Bank of Middle Earth or ECB checks are not accepted.

**barbaro** · 05-08-2012, 11:01 PM

Originally Posted by Norton

Originally Posted by barbaro

What do jobless do when unemployment checks run out?

Far too many unemployed blame others, government, employers, God, luck etc. for their problems. Simply put these folks need to understand only they are responsible for their futures.

"No man was ever endowed with a right without being at the same time saddled with a responsibility." Gerald W. Johnson

Norton,

I agree with you 100%.

People need to hustle. In many cases they need to move. They need to innovate.

I totally agree with your post and it's a great post.

And I do honestly believe, many of these people who are now habitually unemployed are looking through to narrow lenses. Horses with blinders.

Look at Asia, where we live. People hustle. They look ahead.

But my point is still very much that: there are many people over 50 that may never be accepted into the workforce in the capacity or their previous professions again.

They will have to hustle to live.

And yes, times are not rosy.

But is anyone going to die? No.

**barbaro** · 05-08-2012, 11:03 PM

Originally Posted by OhOh

Originally Posted by barbaro

There were a few jobs created in July.

You really need to see where these figures are coming from and the "adjustments" they are filtered through.

I do often look where they are coming from:

mainstream media.

And the adjustments are skewed to give the public masses the rosiest pictures of all.

Job created? The few paltry jobs created in July? What industries were they created in? Service sector?

The whole reporting is a sham.

**barbaro** · 09-08-2012, 10:09 PM

Not a good sign.

And remember that the mandatory "cut and raise taxes" may very likely happen in January. This IS, serious.

And this:

US WHOLESALE STOCKPILES FELL AS SALES PLUMMETED
BY CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER
AP ECONOMICS WRITER

AP Photo/Elaine Thompson
BUSINESS VIDEO

BUY AP PHOTO REPRINTS

WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. wholesale companies cut back their stockpiles in June as sales fell by the most in three years. The declines in sales and inventories could signal slower growth in the coming months.

Wholesale inventories dropped 0.2 percent in June, the Commerce Department said Thursday. That's the largest drop in nine months. Sales at the wholesale level fell 1.4 percent, the sharpest decline since March 2009.

Entire: News from The Associated Press

**OhOh** · 09-08-2012, 11:31 PM

Originally Posted by nostromo

eurozone is fundamentally a loser not because of this but for being totally uncompetitive socialist dream.

The EZ does not have the ability to print it's currency at 0%. Something the engines

of the world are doing right now for their children to look forward to paying.

Originally Posted by barbaro

Look at Asia, where we live. People hustle. They look ahead.

Asian culture encourages a "family" interdependence. The US workers would find living on 300THB a day tough methinks.

Originally Posted by barbaro

What industries were they created in? Service sector?

70+% part time jobs, the US determines anything between 1 and 16 hours a week as a part time job. A rush to the bottom is baked in.

**barbaro** · 22-08-2012, 11:41 PM

What do you think the chances of the NEXT RECESSION are?

CBO warns of deep recession if Congress fails to avert 'fiscal cliff'
By Erik Wasson - 08/22/12

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on Wednesday warned the economy will enter a recession next year if the country goes over the so-called fiscal cliff.

In its most dire warning yet about the fiscal cliff, the CBO said the economy would contract by 0.5 percent in calendar year 2013 if the George W. Bush-era tax rates expire and automatic spending cuts are implemented.

Unemployment also would rise from 8.2 percent in 2012 to 9.1 percent next year, the office estimates.
“The stakes of fiscal policy are very high right now,” CBO Director Doug Elmendorf said. He urged Congress to act in September to avoid the fiscal cliff.

“The sooner that that uncertainty is resolved, the stronger the economy would be in the second half of this year,” he said. “Economic growth right now is being held back by the anticipation of this fiscal tightening.”

CBO does not make recommendations to Congress but last year laid out the economic and budget effects of a range of choices for Congress, Elmendorf said.

He added that under current law, there are 2 million fewer jobs than if the fiscal cliff does not take place and said most of the contraction is due to the tax increases.

The contraction would be very severe in the first half of 2013. CBO sees the economy contracting by 2.9 percent in the first half — deeper than the 1.3 percent negative growth it had seen previously from the fiscal cliff.

To put the figures in context, the economy was contracting at a quarterly

Entire: CBO warns of deep recession if Congress fails to avert 'fiscal cliff' - The Hill's On The Money

**OhOh** · 23-08-2012, 06:31 AM

Originally Posted by barbaro

What do you think the chances of the NEXT RECESSION are?

By implication are you suggesting there has been an emergence from the current recession?

**barbaro** · 23-08-2012, 11:36 AM

Originally Posted by OhOh

Originally Posted by barbaro

What do you think the chances of the NEXT RECESSION are?

By implication are you suggesting there has been an emergence from the current recession?

No, we never got out of the one that started in 2007, which we are still in.

The gov likes to use the "2 consecutive quarters of netgative GDP growth" definition which is not accurate.

We are still in one and if the 'fiscal cliff' happens we'll go from low growth to negative growth.

I'll stay in Asia longer. Like it here better for many reasons.

**Humbert** · 23-08-2012, 11:49 AM

^^^It's a certainty that nothing will happen before the election. And maybe nothing after.

**Norton** · 23-08-2012, 11:58 AM

Originally Posted by barbaro

We are still in one and if the 'fiscal cliff' happens we'll go from low growth to negative growth.

True but the deficit will decrease. In fact if congress fails to pass a budget and do nothing the deficit will be eliminated in 10 years.

**barbaro** · 23-08-2012, 12:10 PM

Originally Posted by Norton

Originally Posted by barbaro

We are still in one and if the 'fiscal cliff' happens we'll go from low growth to negative growth.

True but the deficit will decrease. In fact if congress fails to pass a budget and do nothing the deficit will be eliminated in 10 years.

I am skeptical of the deficit being eliminated in 10 years.

I presume also, that this model of deficit elimination includes to tens of millions that will go onto Medicare A-B-C-D in the coming boomer wave hitting the age of 65.

**Norton** · 23-08-2012, 12:25 PM

Originally Posted by barbaro

I am skeptical of the deficit being eliminated in 10 years.

You should be. Perhaps better to have said nearly eliminated.

"The most recently enacted of these is the so-called triggered cuts in the debt ceiling deal that Congress passed at the beginning of August. That deal set up a special committee whose job it is to identify at least $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction over the next 10 years. If the committee cannot agree on a package of deficit reduction, or if Congress does not pass such a package, then $1.2 trillion in spending cuts will be triggered automatically. To avoid $1.2 trillion in automatic deficit reduction, Congress would have to pass a new law."

"All told, if Congress does nothing, nothing at all, the deficit will come down by about $7 trillion over the next 10 years compared to a future in which Congress extends all current policies. That is an enormous sum—more than enough to stabilize the debt-to-GDP ratio and then put it on a sharp downward trajectory."

A bit dated but still applies if triggered cuts applied.

Center for American Progress

**robuzo** · 23-08-2012, 01:09 PM

The fetishizing of the deficit is very strange. The deficit hawks have been consistently wrong for years. Niall Ferguson is a classic example:
The worst case against the Obama administration
Almost since the crisis began, Ferguson has pushed a very specific theory with a very specific prediction: The bond markets, he has said, are going to revolt against American debt. And if that doesn’t happen, inflation is going to run amok.
As Joe Weisenthal details, back in September 2009, Ferguson was warning that “long-term rates have risen by 167 basis points in the space of five months,” which “settled a rather public argument” Ferguson had been conducting with Paul Krugman, in which Ferguson argued the markets were turning on our debt and Krugman argued that they were not. So who was right? Well, the interest rate on 10-year Treasuries was 3.73 percent when Ferguson wrote that column. Today, they’re 1.81 percent. Point, Krugman.
Having been rebuffed by the bond market, Ferguson then predicted that we were entering a period that would come to be known as “the great inflation of the 2010s”. We were not. On Sunday, Bloomberg News published an article that began with the sentence, “So much for the inflation warnings.”
These predictions — and others, like when Ferguson warned that ”the Chinese clearly feel they have enough U.S. government bonds” — were the testable hypotheses generated by Ferguson’s worldview. That worldview, in essence, was that the United States was under imminent threat from its debt, and that the result would either be a crisis as the U.S. proved unable to pay its creditors or runaway inflation as the Fed printed money in excess of what the economy could handle.
These predictions were wrong. But Ferguson hasn’t updated the theory to account for their failure. Instead, he has simply applied that same theory to argue that Paul Ryan, who he first met at “a dinner in Washington where the U.S. fiscal crisis was going to be the topic of discussion,” should be vice president, because his deficit-reduction plan could “end four years of economic underperformance [and] stop the terrifying accumulation of debt.”
If Ferguson’s theory had passed its previous tests and we had evidence that the debt is what’s holding back our economy, perhaps that would be a reasonable prediction. But Ferguson’s theory failed its previous tests, and there’s no evidence that debt is what’s holding back our economy right now. Which is one more thing Ferguson never tells you.
---
But people still listen to him. Possibly something to do with telling them what they want to hear, no matter how counterfactual.

**OhOh** · 01-09-2012, 05:22 AM

China says willing to buy EU bonds amid worsening crisis | Reuters

"(Reuters) - China is prepared to buy more EU government bonds amid a worsening European debt crisis that is dragging on the world economy, Premier Wen Jiabao said, in the strongest sign of support for its biggest trading partner in months.

.........

Both countries also agreed to settle more bilateral trade in the euro and yuan, as Beijing welcomed investments in China's interbank bond market by German banks, and the issuance of yuan-denominated financial products in Germany."

Almost as an aside Reuters leaves the most important sentence is the last. Germany and Chine to use Euros and Yuan as settlement, there goes another few US$ down the drain.

The £352bn trade between the EU countires and Chine has been using US$'s for settlement, that demand for US$'s will now disappear.

Another large cut in the US$ value and exchange rate.

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