Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Economic Ignorance (Michael Yates)

Michael Yates (click here for Wiki) is a working man's economist. His father was a coal miner and he wasn't born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He wrote books with titles like, "Power on the Job." He has a point of view that is 'of' a different vantage point, one might say 'Street Level Economics.'

Jobs in the USA aren't to the liking of Wall Street. Besides. They are getting new regulations. Imagine that. The Kings of Capital aren't able to regulate themselves, but, are pouting that others are going to. Oh !


Wall Street Teeters, Obama Presses Economic Plan (click here)
Wall Street rang up fresh losses in early trading Wednesday as the Obama administration pressed its economic plan and moved forward with preparations to begin new "stress tests" on the banking system....


by Dollars and Sense
A great post from Michael Yates' blog.
Michael Steele is a Nitwit and Wolf Blitzer is a JackassEconomic ignorance is widespread in the United States. People think they know something about the subject, but few do. My mother is convinced that China is the cause of all our economic problems. When I challenge her, she doesn't think it matters that I have spent forty years studying and teaching the dismal science. If Lou Dobbs says it's so, it must be true. I once taught classes for automobile workers who were employed at a General Motors plant near Pittsburgh. A man insisted that recessions were caused by the media. Newspapers and television were apparently so pessimistic and intent on presenting only bad news that the public became too demoralized to spend money. It never occurred to him to ask why the media, which depend on us spending money for their existence, would want this to happen....

...I hate to tell Mr. Steele, but every one of these jobs was created by the government. And this does not tell the whole story. For three decades, governments have been busy privatizing, that is, contracting out public services to private businesses. Everything from local transit services to prisons to college food services to security forces in Iraq. The workers are private employees, but they are paid from public funds. What is more, all of these workers, direct and indirect public employees, spend their paychecks every month and this spending generates a lot more employment. These wages amount to at least 1.5 trillion dollars, which will support plenty of spending on outputs that someone has to produce.When the Obama plan is implemented, it probably will not end our current economic crisis. But one thing is certain: the money spent will cause employment to rise. The government will create jobs, just as it has always done....

World Bank says $120 billion is required to recapitalise banks in Central and Eastern Europe

If the World Bank is good enough for Europe, Pakistan and South Africa, it is good enough for Iraq. I don't see why Iraq's fiscal concerns belong to the USA anymore, after all they have budget surpluses after all.


By Finfacts Team
Feb 24, 2009 - 6:30:33 AM

The World Bank said on Monday that $120 billion is required to recapitalise banks in Central and Eastern Europe. It said just six months ago, banks were flush with cash. Some thought they might even escape the credit crisis hitting the United States. Now low interest rates and easy credit have given way to a dearth of liquidity and capital problems in the banks amid slowing global growth and trade.
Austrian banks have lent €230 billion, the equivalent of 80% of Austria's GDP, to the region, according to the Economist."A failure rate of 10% would lead to the collapse of the Austrian financial sector," reported Vienna's Der Standard two weeks ago.
Stephen Jen of Morgan Stanley, says Eastern Europe has borrowed $1.7 trillion abroad, much on short-term maturities. It must repay – or roll over – $400bn this year, equal to a third of the region's GDP....


If Iraq can make monetary policy, they can manage their own country.

Iraq Central Bank adviser: Iraq is committed to the policy of liberalization of current accounts (click here)
February 25, 2009

...The Minister of Planning and Development, Ali Baban said on Monday that the five weekly sessions convened by the Central Bank for the sale and purchase of the dollar is the process of smuggling of Iraqi funds abroad, and that the money smuggled through auction and offices of Iraqi central bank is for the private sector funds for establishing successful mega-projects, in Jordan and Syria....

60 Weeks until the USA troop withdrawal in Iraq.

99 weeks until the success to "The Road to Recovery" can be measured.

42 weeks until the rises in oil prices return.

IF the DOD wants to extend the timeline for withdrawal from Iraq they need to stock up on cheap oil. Perhaps the DOD hasn't heard that The Economic Crisis now tops the list of threats to the USA's national security. It is my point of view that the Iraqis are fully prepared to police and defend their own elections. Time to let go and get on with reducing our military budget and finding success in Afghanistan. I hope there are high priorities by the Obama Administration for hiring returning veterans from Iraq with all the supportive services for their transition in place, including automatic enrollment in unemployment benefits to a 'living standard' to help soften their return. Military health benefits for veterans should go along with the package until they transition into employment.

Oil prices jump after DOE inventory report (click title to entry - thank you)
By CHRIS KAHN – 7 hours ago
NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices jumped above $42 per barrel Wednesday as a government report showed demand for gasoline is on the rise and that crude inventories have not grown as fast as was thought.
Light, sweet crude for April delivery gained $2.54 to settle at $42.50 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Phil Flynn, an analyst at Alaron Trading Corp., said a drop in retail gas prices, combined with the Energy Department report that showed demand is rising, had traders pumping money into crude stocks.
Drivers "like a bargain, and when they see those prices go down, they'll fill up," Flynn said. "Consumers are spending more on gasoline."
But Geoff Sundstrom, a fuel price analyst for AAA, cautioned that it's too soon to say whether motorists have returned to their old driving habits.
"I'd love to be more optimistic," Sundstrom said. "But we don't have enough information to say that Americans are getting out in large numbers."...

Not Bad. Quite a national treasure to add to the wealth of a nation.


...Surprisingly, prior to the museum's restoration and reopening, 8,500 of the 15,000+ stolen items were recovered and are now either under lock and key in the vaults or under constant watch as the first few visitors cautiously peer into cases. According to the AP, there is still wariness over the 2003 looting of the museum and for now, "the museum — which holds artifacts from the Stone Age through the Babylonian, Assyrian and Islamic periods — will be open to the public starting Tuesday but only for organized tours."...

Antarctica Ice Chime
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The weather in Antarctica (Crystal Ice Chime) is:


Falling Star? No. Crashing satellite.
NASA didn't impress the new President. Nope.

NASA satellite crashes (click title to entry - thank you)
U.S. Air Force
The rocket carrying the NASA satellite blasts off from Vandenberg Air Force Base. Soon after, a protective covering failed to separate from the craft, and it crashed.
The $278-million Orbiting Carbon Observatory was designed to measure greenhouse gas emissions. It plunges into the ocean near Antarctica after a mechanical problem.
By John Johnson Jr. February 25, 2009
A NASA satellite designed to measure greenhouse gas emissions and pinpoint global warming dangers crashed Tuesday after a protective covering failed to separate from the craft shortly after launch at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.The loss of the $278-million satellite came as a severe blow to NASA's climate monitoring efforts, as well as the builder of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory, Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va....



July 26, 2008 at 3:22 PM

Approximately seven months ago, there was significant frigid air masses over Antarctica. The 'orange to red' color is an indication of colder air. July 26th of 2008 was the day there were severe winds that hit the Tamaki Yacht Club (click here). It was the day after a Qantas Jumbo Jet landed from 29,000 feet with a hole in its fuselage (click here). It was two days after a deadly tornado in NEW HAMPSHIRE (click here), and 14 days after the EPA stated Americans' lives were losing value (click here). Yep. The USA HAS TO reduce its carbon load on the troposphere. Without question !!!!!!!!!!!

And I don't want to hear how the 'end of the term' of George Walker Bush was met with a Banking Crisis EMERGENCY. There were signs of it coming for an entire year and no one did a damn thing !

Why do I have the opinions that I do? Gee, I wonder.


Febrary 25, 2009 at 8:24 PM EST


The Warmest Place in Antarctica

Base Esperanza, Antarctica

Local Time :: 12:10 AM GMT (GMT +00)

Lat/Lon :: 63.4° S 57.0° W

Temperature :: 40 °F

Conditions :: Mostly Cloudy

Humidity :: 50%

Dew Point :: 28 °F

Wind :: 23 mph from the WSW

Wind Gust :: -

Pressure :: 28.96 in (Rising)

Visibility :: 6.0 miles

Clouds :: Mostly Cloudy 1181 ft
Mostly Cloudy 19685 ft
(Above Ground Level)

Elevation :: 43 ft



The Coldest Places in Antarctica

Dome C, Antarctica

Lat/Lon :: 74.5° S 123.0° E

Local Time :: 11:51 PM GMT (GMT +00)

Elevation :: 10761 ft

Temperature :: -56 °F

Wind :: 7 mph from the WSW

Wind Gust :: -

Pressure :: in (Rising)


Vostok, Antarctica

Local Time :: 5:55 AM VOST on February 26, 2009

Lat/Lon :: 78.4° S 106.9° E

Elevation :: 11220 ft

Temperature :: -52 °F

Conditions :: Overcast

Humidity :: 36%

Dew Point :: -61 °F

Wind :: 12 mph from the SSW

Wind Gust :: ­-

Pressure :: in (Rising)

Visibility :: 12.0 miles

UV :: 0 out of 16

Barak ain't no slacker. The boy needs to just sign autographs.

There isn't much to say, is there? As Americans? Those that desired change, got what they asked for. Complete and absolute transparency. He is something. He knew what would bring this country back and he's on a track to achieve it.

That is a touching picture. Really nice. That was a beautiful moment. All these photos are from the NY Times.


Mr. Obama greeted Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who returned to the bench this week after surgery for pancreatic cancer.
Photo: Stephen Crowley/The New York Times



President Obama told Congress, "Now is the time to act boldly."

...The young new president projected a voice of generational confidence to a public that by one measure is less confident than at any other time since Mr. Obama was in grade school. He invested his popularity behind a plan that he said would not only "restart the engine of our prosperity" but also transform the country with "bold action and big ideas."...






President Obama delivered his first address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night. He urged the nation to use the economic crisis to raise its ambitions, calling for new efforts to address energy, health care and education issues even as he warned that more money might be needed to bail out banks and restore the economy.
Photo: Doug Mills/The New York Times