Gregman2

The Worst Case Scenario (Someone Has to Say It)

Jake, I love reading you--this is akin to the film "MadMax." I tend to a greee with a few of your points (and scenarios). I too have wondered what a total breakdown and Balkanization would look like in the U.S.
But, in the end the single biggest problem we have is too much debt.
If this ultimately is forced to be restructured we can begin to pro--
gress. And ultimately if prices become cheap enough here it will make sense once again to manufacture in the U.S.;-)

The Coming Economic Collapse, Part 2

Once again, Graham, you are correct. America is a coal miner living in a Chinese town shopping at the company store. All the lessons learned from Apalachia in the 30s and 40s were lost on all our bright Harvard business titans...who knew better.;-)

Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, Charlie Gasparino Bash Finance Blogs

A couple of bloviating gas bags.

California's Default Is Certain

We need a new Chate in the U.S. Bankrutcy Code to address states.
It should be modelled on the same that manages municipalities (I think it's Chapter 9?) But the state needs a Constitutional Convention to recall all of its legacy initiatives that lock-in spending regardless of revenues; we need to break all the state employee unions, and spin off CalPers.

Washington Drinking the Kool-Aid of Incompetent Economists

You are correct, sir. Again. It is not a level playing field when it comes to U.S. Exports and our industrial manufacturing base is ruined. The neoclassical morons leading the way do not get it. Unemployment, according to ShadowStats, is much higher than the official number.

Kool-Aid and GDP: The Delusion of Economic Activity

Well done, Steve. I'm not sure we're just kool-aid drinkers, but more a nation of deniers: we're having serious limits getting our arms around the enormity of the problem we're facing. Now, we have pundits trying to "rationalize" things by talking in terms of "Global GDP," as thoug that actually means anything to anyone. I think we're being fed a lot of misinformation by overly consolidated information sources. I think the fundamental question needs to be (and isn't being asked): why are jobs drying up here in the U.S.?

Roubini on Unemployment: 'The Worst Is Yet to Come'

Is it time for an industrial policy that examines outsourcing (given the
U.S. labor surplus)?

'Bad Money' by Kevin Phillips: A Terrific Primer on Today's Issues

Kevin Phillips was predicting our current financial fiasco 15 years ago. He was one of the visionaries. Go back and review his books. This latest is just part of a series...the guy's been right for a long time.

Health Care Bill: Prescription for Disaster

A health care reform bill should be introduced in two phases. (1) Cost reduction. Unless current costs are reduced (via reforms), then it's just inane to procede with the bill. Introducing a public option in a very limited way may be what legislators have in mind, but it doesn't get to the core of the problem which are costs and cost inflation.

12 Signs That the Economy Is Not Getting Better

The only fix is radical debt discounting and partial repudiation and finally currency devaluation.

Pictures of the Real Economy

Household debt increase is proportional to drop in real wages. Correlates to Nixon opening China and the end of Vietnam, which correlates to the winding down of U.S. manufacturing and the rise of Japan's manufacturing as well. This is a great piece. Thank you.

Here Come the Economic Clowns

"Our changing methodology in deriving the unemployment rate makes backward comparisons between past WWII recessions difficult – our current methods paint a rosier picture." Many of today's "Good Morning America" economic pundits resemble the film critic Gene Shallot that never saw a movie he didn't like.

Housing Data Jolts Economists

I just spoke with a realtor friend. He said, "Greg, there's never been a better time to buy." I asked him why? He laughed, "Because hardly anyone can afford to buy."

Geithner's Outburst Was Misdirected; Read the Riot Act to Bankers Instead

"Geithner really needs to be delivering a few choice words to are the nation’s bankers — especially the ones who were bailed out by U.S. taxpayers and now act as if last fall never happened." Excellent point and well said.

Faber Expects a Total Collapse

So, the subtext is...Obama is a "facilitator," an "enabler"...letting the
folks at Treasury avoid the inevitable liquidationist cleansing?;-)