Language Abuse

October 23, 2010 2 Comments

For the Miami Herald to state in its headline that employment information is “mixed” is bordering on the ridiculous.

The unemployment situation in South Florida is terrible, about the same for many weeks and showing no signs of improving.  Let’s see what they say below the headline.

The federal government does make a seasonal calculation for Miami-Dade, one of the country’s largest local economies, and the report wasn’t encouraging. The federal numbers released Friday showed unemployment inching up in Miami-Dade, with the jobless rate climbing from 12.7 percent in August to 12.8 percent in September.

via South Florida unemployment figures mixed – Business Breaking News – MiamiHerald.com.

Filed under Economy, Miami-Dade County

Robert Reich Predicts New Bubble

October 16, 2010 Leave a comment

Basically, he says that since there is no growth in the demand for goods and services (there are not jobs), as the Fed expands the money supply stocks prices will rise, we might say, artificially. Exports won’t rise since countries are all trying to adjust their exchange rate to their own advantage in the market.

Stocks are up even though the rest of the economy is still down because of money is already so cheap. Bondholders (who can’t get much of any return from their loans) are shifting their portfolios into stocks. Companies are buying back more shares of their own stock. And Wall Street is making more bets in the stock market with money it can borrow at almost zero percent interest.

When our elected representatives can’t and won’t come up with a real jobs program, the Fed feels pressed to come up with a fake one that blows another financial bubble. And we know what happens when financial bubbles get too big.

via Robert Reich: The Fed’s New Bubble (Masquerading as a Jobs Program).

Filed under Economy

Stimulus Package with Little Stimulus

October 16, 2010 1 Comment

A definition of stimulus package politics.

…an inadequate plan combined with a wildly overoptimistic forecast was more or less guaranteed to create the impression of a failed program.

via The Boehnerization of Barack Obama – NYTimes.com.

Filed under Economy, National

Another Economic Crisis on the Horizon

October 14, 2010 Leave a comment

Read this very hard-nosed, objective view of what is happening to our economy.  The message–the crisis will be repeated unless limits are placed on the risky behavior of the financial sector and “to big to fail.”  The financial reform law didn’t do that.  The next time the US will be forced into higher taxes and Aheavily reduced social safety net.

If you want to fix the United States budget, keeping the deficit under control and reducing government’s debt, you must address the risk-seeking behavior of big banks. No fiscal strategy can be credible without addressing the major problem that brought us to this point.

via In the U.S., No True Fiscal Conservatives – NYTimes.com.

Filed under Economy, National

← Older posts

Newer posts →