dondon

This chart shows just how deep the current job loss cycle is compared to previous recessions.

Maybe we could start with vacuous, useless, content less, egregious, crappy comments of sancs.

GE's Michigan R&D Investment Is a Great Idea

R&D is great but it will not replace manufacturing. And besides, once a product is designed, GE will have it manufactured in a country with lower manufacturing costs.

Healthcare the Hawaiian Way: As the SF Fed Sees It

I am an employer in Hawaii. I own a small grocery store with 25 employees. All of my full time employees (any employee that works over 20hrs per week for three consecutive weeks) get health insurance paid mostly by my company. The employees pay 1.5% of their gross wages toward there health care.

The hotel industry was given a get out of jail card which is commonly referred to a casual labor. If you are a casual laborer in the hotel industry, no matter how many hours you work, you will not receive health insurance. A casual employee is one that does not have a set schedule and gets called once a week with the available work shifts. The employee has the right to decline shifts or accept shifts. A large portion of hotel employees are casual and therefore without insurance.

In some hotels the spas require the massage therapists to become independent contractors so as to avoid health care benefits.

It is not unusual for some businesses to work an employee for 40hrs per week for two weeks and 19hrs the third week to avoid the mandated health insurance.

Because of escalating mandated health care costs in Hawaii, two years ago I started using an employment agency as a co-employer to reap the benefits of a 9000 strong employee group. I can now offer three different plans, UHA, HMSA and Kaiser. For the first year of employment I only pay for medical. The employee can upgrade to prescription, eye and dental at his or her own cost. After one year I pick everything up.

Since most of my employees are young, they rarely use the insurance. If my niche business was not so labor intensive with a ton of necessary training, I would probably try to put as many employees on the part-time list as possible. Anything to cut back on the $75,000 per year I pay in health insurance costs.

I love my business and I love Hawaii. Unfortunately the State and Local governments are the worst I have ever seen. As is commonly stated here," That's the price you pay to live in paradise."

House passes climate bill 219-212. Crossing party lines: 44 Democrats, 8 Republicans. The CBO puts the average monthly cost per household just under $15 in 2020 (at full phase-in); Nate Silver finds the average American is willing to pay $19/month. AP's Q&A about the bill. (Previously: I, II)

Korba,
Glaciers have been melting since the end of the last Ice Age which was 12500 years ago. Alaskan glaciers are actually increasing in size. As for polar bears there has not been a reduction in the number of bears due to climate change. Several hundred years ago the earth was much warmer than it ever got this time. Why didn't the polar bears go extinct then? Because of a crazy thing called adaptation. Antarctica is not shrinking. Antarctica is a land mass covered in ice. In some areas the ice is breaking off and in some areas the ice is thickening. As for the earth being overheated it is a fact that the earth is now in a cooling phase. I am not some right wing nut job. I own a natural foods store on an island in the middle of the Pacific. I drive a bio-diesel car. I am an environmentalist but I am not a follower of bs scientific consensus that no one is allowed to question. You want to save the world for the children, then do everything you can to reduce your carbon footprint and make sure legislation like this never makes it to the desk of the President to sign.

AIG Fraud and Goldman's CDO Collateral Calls

Next we will hear Cassano is working at GS.

Emerging Markets: Betting Against Conventional Wisdom

Just look at the EEM put activity for Sept 09 between $28 and $32.

Five Points to Eliminate Confusion About the U.S. Macroeconomy

To think that government will be able to control health care costs is ludicrous. In the short run costs may seem to come down but as the idiots in Congress get control they will cause health care costs to skyrocket knowing that they have the power to spend without recourse. And to advise thinking like Bob Rubin, one of the Wall Street crooks, is absurd. How does one get an economics professorship at Berkeley?

The Debt Conundrum, Part 2

Decreasing incomes is going to make the debt conundrum even more difficult to overcome.

Behavioral Thoughts on Home Buying

Besides shelter and possible future appreciation, the main reason to buy a house is the mortgage tax deduction. At some point in order to pay for the trillions in debt, taxes are going to have to go up for just about everybody. The government took away the deduction for credit card interest and will soon declare the mortgage interest deduction null and void. It may happen gradually starting with the wealthy but eventually it will move down the line to the middle class. When that happens look out below.

Guess who's still screwing homeowners?

I agree she should stop paying the mortgage. It will take a few months for the bank to get to her foreclosure so she should be able to save enough for 1st and last for a rental. I am sure in Mesa she can find an apartment or small house for under $500 per month.

I also agree that it is her fault she is where she is today. She never ever should have touched the equity in her home. She made a mistake and now is paying for it. Both she and the bank made a bad business decision. Walk away from it and start anew.

According to a new report, the average U.S. home price is undervalued by 12.2%.

The value of a home is ultimately what someone is willing to pay for it.

Obama (Should Say) to California: Drop Dead

California is exactly how the entire US will end up eventually.

China won't torpedo the economy by dumping our bonds: "To see China's holdings as a threat is to misjudge the goals of the Chinese government. China believes that its affluence is best guaranteed by economic interdependence with the world's most dynamic economy."

China's new interdependence with the US is exactly where China wants to be. The Chinese government can cause all kinds of mischief and the US has to sit back and let it happen. On the one hand China is openly criticising N. Korea for its nuclear ambitions yet on the other hand China is aiding N. Korea in this mischief. What can we do about it? Absolutely nothing!

Stephen Leeb's 'Game Over': Good Advice for Tough Times

Australia has decided not to build new nuclear plants because they don't have the water seems like a ridiculous reason. The last time I looked Australia is surrounded by water. Probably the reason is that the new government is liberal and we know that liberals do not categorize nuclear power as a means to reduce green house gases.

As for energy efficiency, I agree that will be a huge reason for reduced power needs. I had a monthly electric bill between $300 and $500 per month. I turned off the AC and started hanging my clothes on a line to dry. (I fluff them in the dryer for 10 minutes.) For the past six months my bill has not exceeded $80.

We have to get off this mindset that we are doomed if we don't get off fossil fuels. Making our fossil fuels use more efficient will continue our high standard of living. The earth will warm and cool regardless of what we use for energy.

Auto MPG: The Economics of CAFE, Part One

I thought the reason for more MPG was to make it easier to increase MTG (more tax per gallon). If the gov't adds MPG it reduces its tax collections. With more MPG the gov't can offset the fuel savings with a tax increase and not roil the masses.

I want to thank all of you that are paying fuel taxes for me. I drive a diesel and get over 40mpg and use used restaurant oil as my fuel.