sunnsea

The U.S. Dollar: Now at Parity with the Swiss Franc

It would be better if we pegged the USD to the Z dollar.


On Nov 26 09:04 AM Davewmart wrote:

> I believe that Bernanke still denies that his medium term objective
> is parity with the Zimbabwean dollar.....

Another Crisis Looms Right Around the Corner

One thing that Japan has that we no longer have is a great industrial base from which to operate. That is why our "recovery" will not last. Two mistakes that Japan made: 1) not letting the big banks fail and 2) putting more money into infrastructure in a country which already had an excellent physical infrastructure, so it came down to make-work projects (kind of like our "defense" budgets) such as bridges to no where, high speed rail lines in thinly populated parts of northern Japan, etc.. Many Japanese I speak to feel that in retrospect the social and health infrastructure should have been upgraded instead and there would have been much more benefit and money circulating in the real economy.


On Nov 25 12:33 PM woollyB wrote:

> What scares the perma bears is that the debt bubble that we are (not)
> dealing with right now is far greater than the one that caused the
> Great Depression. Notwithstanding his claims of Depression "scholarship,"
> Bernanke & Co. are following the same patterns that were followed
> back then, and repeating all the mistakes that Japan made.
>
> This isn't the end of the world. We will come through it. But not
> without a depression, no matter how hard we try to fight it off.
> The time to avoid a depression was years ago.

Another Crisis Looms Right Around the Corner

Good post. Thanks for the link to globalresearch.ca. Leave it to a Canadian to provide a good history which pretty much sums up the past 40 years. It does take a look back that far to see how all this got started and developed. It also shows how much we have lost in many different ways and that really there is no economy left, only printing money. I especially like the part about Nixon, China and the banks. This part of the 70s is often overlooked and is at the root of the Great American De-industrialization, an act of national suicide by a 1000 cuts.
Only quibble is about FDR and the GD. The common US folk wisdom is that WWII got us out the GD and not the New Deal.. However, I take a different view. When FDR took office unemployment was at 25% and by 1936 it was down to 14% or an 11% drop in the rate, so some people were going back to work. This employment growth coincided with annual growth rates of from 8 to 9.5% from 1934 to 1937, like China now. (We are far, far from this type of growth rate now). The economy was definitely recovering. But the mistake FDR made was in not continuing his recovery policies forcefully after 1936 thinking that they were not fully necessary. However, the recovery from the GD was too fragile in 1937 and without cotinued jobs programs and direct stumulus, it could not be sustained. There was stagnation from 1937 to 1941. If you think about it, the huge increase in public spending and manpower utilization of WWII shows just how much stimulus and direct spending was needed to pull the US out of the Depression. Same as now except we do not have the industrial base any longer and essentially have to start over from scratch, an immense effort that would require a unified nation in a common cause of rebuilding, like China now. But, sapped as we are from endless cable TV and a fraudulent financial sector, we have neither the will nor the ambition for any large undertakings anymore that are not in some way connected to violence. We prefer to bash each other calling each other names on cable-TV and have the upper class get richer from better ratings.


On Nov 25 08:24 AM SusanGrisanti wrote:

> You are right on. For a 40 year amazing look also see globalresearch.ca/...

10 Reasons to Believe That We're in a Depression

It would have been better, in retrospect, to have Palin as President and Gramm as Treasury Sec so that the Depression would occur full bore without any dancing around and full pain for everyone, not just the middle class. Then from the true wreckage of a false and fraudulent financial services economy and its limo-driver two political parties,a strong progressive leader would emerge with programs ready to be put in place on Day One in 2012: re-institute Glass-Steagall, restart manufacturing via machine tools, increase tariffs on goods from low-wage countries (EU, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan: no tariffs), end corporate tax exemptions on profits earned on foreign operations, large banks broken up, phase out the Federal Reserve, increase funding for creating worker-owned enterprises, institute a single-payer health care system.

Unfortunately, Obama was elected in the wrong place and time. (It's still only 1930 on the year-to-year comparison with the GD, so instead of Palin/Hoover, we have Carter/Obama) So we will have to live through at least 2016 before the final collapse occurs and then the true progressive era can begin, assuming he does not get re-elected.


On Nov 20 08:57 AM Tom B wrote:

> AND Obama has to show SOME positive improvement in the economy by
> next November or he could lose seats in the House and Senate-- nevermind
> the whole deprsesion is "W's" fault; people have short memories.
> So far, we have lots of stim, money spent with NO really obvious
> results--employment still sucks and that's the biggest number in
> people's consciousness.

Our Steroid Pumped Economy

So what did you really expect to happen, Mr. Steroids? When you ship all of your manufacturing to China or Mexico and expect the left over American labor to work at Walmart at half the wages without health care, do not protect yourself against low-wage countries products, have tax write-offs for corporations making their products in low-wage countries, then have consumers borrow from you to make up the difference in their standard of living from the loss of the aforementioned manufacturing, you actually expected that they could pay you back? No, so you created derivatives and credit default swaps, but then it is YOU who can't pay those obligations and now we have the collapse you helped create.

The real problem here is that the collapse did not go far enough or deep enough. It was deep enough to destroy the last vestiges of the American middle class, but not deep enough to destroy the upper class. There are enough of them around now to fund the anti-Obama propaganda machine and sweep to a Republcian victory in 2010 and 2012. Obama is the unfortunate one caught in a vortex not of his making. It would have been better in retrospect to have a Palin victory. This would have ensured a total and complete collapse with Phil Gramm as the Treasury Secretary, deep enough so the upper classs would have been taken down, too. Destruction of the upper class with its entitlements and tax benefits, is the key to eventual recovery and the rebuilding of this country to a better, brighter future and a return to its middle class roots.

Murdoch: Without eTablets, 'Newspapers Will Go Out of Business'

Your "young civilians" did not "expose" Acorn except in the limited minds of you on the right. Acorn employees in most cases (not hyped on FAKE "News") either threw the imposters out or called the cops. Of course none of this was reported on FAKE. The two situations where that did not happen (in San Bernardino CA and Baltimore), the employees were fired immediately. However, your "civilians" (are you a "militarist"?) probably committed felonies in California and Maryland, where in both states, it is illegal to record a person without their knowledge and permission (ask your buddy Linda Tripp how this works) and I believe that there is an investigation underway in CA by the state AG on the San Bernardino incident. But who really cares? You got what you wanted out of it, 24 X 7 Cable and talk radio on Acorn and got their funding cut by a cowardly and easily intimidated Congress that does not own 3000 A.M. talk radio outlets and 3 Cable TV "news" networks. The law is only for suckers, right? and does NOT apply to FAKE, "young civilians," Limbaugh or yourself ("militarist"?).
You right wing law breakers got away with one this time.


On Nov 18 08:37 AM tmorris007 wrote:

> Please let me know where you get your "credible" news. Is it the
> mainstream media? When was the last time the mainstream media broke
> a "Watergate' or "Contra" type story?
>
> Today we rely upon the creativity of two young civilians to expose
> the likes of "Acorn"
>
> The internet will democratize news and peoples reputation will once
> again become their calling card. Matt Drudge is a pioneer in this
> regard and there are many others.

And Bernanke Didn't Think Unemployment Would Reach 10%

Yes, Reagan's path to recovery: cut taxes on the wealthiest Americans, borrow the difference from foreigners amd change from being a creditor nation to a debtor nation. Then start allowing the same foreigners to buy up US companies with the remaining US corporations start having their products made in the foregin countries. And of course curse government from the inauguration for the next eight years. Yes, let's keep following that path. It sure has been working....Wrong. I want a government big enough to stand up to the largest global corporations, not kowtow to them. And that "govmunt" that Reagan hated was ultimately you and me.


On Nov 08 09:05 AM long_on_oil wrote:

> My God, we have been through this once before when Reagan got elected.
> For Petes sake politicians, swallow your pride and do what Reagan
> did. His plan set us on a path to recovery and prosperity that lasted
> over 20 years. We all know what he did now all we have to do is replicate
> it.

George Soros: The Guru Outlook

Agree. People who watch Fake News and listen to right-wing talk radio all day generally have a very limited vocabulary. Soros has lived under both fascism and communism. He knows a lot more about either of them then any Fake News pundit or corporate dupe teabagger.


On Oct 29 09:46 AM kmf wrote:

> Because he is so smart!
> You guys should stop yelling "liberal" every time you don't agree
> with a person's view. You gave up communist when the Wall came down.
> How about "not-conservative"

George Soros: The Guru Outlook

Yes, but only if it is MADE here not in a BRIC country.


On Oct 29 09:11 AM kagame wrote:

> US needs startling new technological innovation to recover its economic
> dominance. Just think what we could have accomplished if any substantial
> part of that bailout and TARP stimulus was put into real industries
> that could produce actual products and create industrial jobs and
> supporting service jobs. We need more research and development! Think
> how bad the future will be for the US if we truly lose our innovative
> edge along with everything else.

How to Boost U.S. Exports

It's the US corporations that benefit from the 0% US tariffs and it is the US Chamber of Commerce among other lobbyists that promoted this. They have never been interested in exporting US- made products. Their entire interest has been in finding lowest wage, no tax or subsidized locations anywhere on the planet from which to increase profit and then reducing US tariffs from the same countries to zero under the false rhetoric of a "global economy." It has nothing to do with a "global economy" only in destroying uppity US workers. Of course, this foolish short-term thinking is the basis of our current economic calamity. Your article leaves out the critical percentage of the so-called "China trade" made up of US products made under contract or in a special economic zone in China and shipped bacl to the US. It may be as high as 60% of all "China trade" is simply US products made there.

Nouriel Roubini, One on One: More Doom and Gloom

Since 1968 you have had essentially two political choices: 1) The Government run by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (popularly known as the Republicans) or 2) Government run by Goldman Sachs (neo-liberal Democrats). What both 1) and 2) have in common is they both stand for low wages for Americans due to cutting all tariffs, especially from low wage countries. The difference between them is their disposition toward the displaced American workers. Number 1) does nothing and while 2) gives "tax credits" to people who have lowered income and indirect "stimulus" packages. Neither one of these poor alternatives should be allowed to continue. To put it another way, Number 1) is for low wages and low welfare and 2) is for low wages and high welfare. I am for a complete New Deal revivial as currently embodied in Germany and Japan (ironically), that is high wages and low welfare. Revival of manufacturing through employee-owned high-tech factories exporting high quality products world-wide and high tariffs on products from countries that exploit workers. It's about raising the global standards on everything from wages to environment and not lowering them to satisfy the egos of the American predator class or "shareholder value."


On Oct 24 10:15 AM TeresaE wrote:

> The lost wages are directly attributed to cheap foreign labor, both
> imported and outsourced.
>
> Want better pay? Quit buying your stuff at the WalMart and start
> buying AMERICAN.
>
> Anything else will just price MORE jobs out of the country.
>
> It really is that simple. Too simple for this entertainment based
> generation to understand.
>
> The days of family-supporting wages are over. Soon black market jobs
> and government dole will be the only way the average American can
> afford to buy their Chinese-made Sam's Choice foodstuffs & socks.
>

Nouriel Roubini, One on One: More Doom and Gloom

Yes. And the American form of toxic, predatory capitalism is dead. That is our great hope. The next step in the process is accelerated movement toward democracy in the workplace via employee owned firms so American workers can begin to recoup the losses they have suffered in lowered wages over the past 35 to 40 years.


On Oct 23 10:37 AM rcstocks wrote:

> "There is a global recovery." No there isn't. There is global coordinated
> government spending, e.g., cash for clunkers. We truly are all socialists
> now that economic commentators accept this as a recovery. Marx has
> won.

What Goldman Learned from a Trip to China

And surely this will result in a continued explosive situation in Pakistan/Afghanistan spilling over into India and Southwest China. China is also making solar panels and other green technologies. What about that?

Three Asset Classes that Can Actually Outpace Coming Inflationary Price Increases

You should also mention that the 11% cut in the 1995 Canadian budget also led to the rationing of health services that you on the right like to use as criticism of a "public option." As far as Ontario is concerned, the job losses are part of the overall extreme downturn in the global demand, i.e., U.S. demand for cars and trucks. Prior to in 2006 that GM for example moved engine production from Detroit across the river to Ontario mainly because they have a single-payer health insurance system at lower cost to GM.


On Oct 19 09:34 PM derryl wrote:

> E Nuff Said:
> Good point about turning around a "hopeless" fiscal situation. <br/>
>
> In 1995 Finance Minister Paul Martin balanced Canada's federal budget
> by cutting the federal health and social transfer to the Provinces
> by $11B. Scaled up 10X to the US economy that would equal a $110B
> reduction in annual transfers from Washington to the states. Canada's
> provinces use the health and social transfer mainly to fund health
> care and education, which are provincial responsibilities under Canada's
> constitution. The provinces all squealed but responded by rebalancing
> their own budgets and cutting whatever they could from the 2 big
> ticket provincial budget items, health and education. So if there
> was 'pain' it was dispersed as widely as possible by Martin's budget
> balancing move. And now Canada leads the OECD in fiscal (and banking)
> health.
>
> In 1993 Alberta Premier Ralph Klein and Treasurer Jim Dinning attacked
> Alberta's deficit spending, that began with the oil collapse and
> depression (in Alberta) of 1982. They required ALL gov't departments
> to find 5% cuts, which actually happened. Alberta had a 25 year plan
> to pay off its net debt, but after oil began rising in 1998 and natural
> gas took off the debt was paid out in full 10 years early. Alberta
> now has no net debt (some debts are longer term and can't actually
> be paid out until they come due, but Alberta has set money aside
> to pay these). This year due to the collapse in natural gas, Alberta's
> major royalty cash cow, Alberta is running an $8B deficit. But over
> the past few fat years the province has saved $17B in a sustainability
> fund, so no new borrowing will be required to fund the deficit. Gas
> royalties are still low but tarsands construction is starting up
> again so Alberta should endure the present recession quite well.
>
>
> Most other Cdn provinces have been behaving as fiscally responsibly
> as Alberta (and some are doing even better which is why political
> change is in the Alberta air), with the exception of Canada's biggest
> province--Ontario. Ontario's socialist premier is determined to 'go
> green'. Admittedly, Ontario has suffered fully 1/2 of all Cdn manufacturing
> job losses as steel and autos are way down, but if you want to see
> what Obama's greenonomics might do to America just have a look at
> Ontario.

Who Is Carlos Slim in Today's Market?

This is getting to smell more and more like the Weimar Republic, not the United States of America. And the populism could take a very nasty turn. But then again we never had our right-wing tendencies bombed out of us like Germany, Italy and Japan. Since we have not had such a regime, I suppose it follows naturally than one must go right first, have a national conflagration, have a benefactor nation come in help rebuild truly democratic institutions and develop the New Deal that was meant to be before being short-circuited by the 1946 Republicans with the passage of Taft Hartley and it has really been downhill for labor since and since 1970 for the American Middle Class as a whole. But when in power the Democrats, instead of standing up for working and middle Americans, have proven themselves nearly as corruptible as their Republican partners. So the whole of cards will start collapsing. Unfortunately, Obama, as with Clinton before him, appears more like the tottering 84-year von Hindenberg not a strong "I welcome their hate" FDR. So we have a continuation of the Carter-Clinton neo-liberalism: that post-Nixon toxic combination that is fully at home with false "globalism, aiding and abetting with their Republican pals in creating a low-wage, high-welfare state based on cheap imported products, and high interest credit, instead of adjusting New Deal principles and strategies and maintaining the high-wage, low welfare policies that the New Deal promoted. Will Europe and Japan need to come in and help us rebuild our nation to that high wage, low welfare state, eliminating the dominance of Goldman and JP Morgan? Afterall, those Mercedes and BMWs that many posters love to drive did not come out of nowhere.