EU Deal Reached on Bank Supervisor - WSJ.com
Doesn't what Bernanke is planning to do (i.e. buy roughly $80 billion per month of treasuries and mortgage bonds) strike one as scary in comparison with the number quoted below for Ireland?
" Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan, whose country has had to pump more than €60 billion ($78.4 billion), or one-third of gross domestic product, into its lenders,"
Flooding the US economy with liquidity is barely helping it to grow. Something else is wrong!
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Monday, December 10, 2012
Taxes impact on inflation / addiction to credit: Consumer Spending Is Losing Its Vigor - WSJ.com
Consumer Spending Is Losing Its Vigor - WSJ.com
What is also a puzzle is how tax increases are somehow ignored in terms of inflation?
Sure some people don't pay them - but, for those that do, the cost of living has gone up because the government is taking more.
And, of course, we all seem to want to ignore the 'only relatively good economic growth' is being financed on a huge pile of debt!
As many of us know from past use of credit cards, eventually credit limits and higher payments really get to bit.
In this sense, like other enablers of those with an addiction, the Fed is abetting the Democrat and Obama administration habit of borrowing 42 cents of every dollar they spend. Etc.
What is also a puzzle is how tax increases are somehow ignored in terms of inflation?
Sure some people don't pay them - but, for those that do, the cost of living has gone up because the government is taking more.
And, of course, we all seem to want to ignore the 'only relatively good economic growth' is being financed on a huge pile of debt!
As many of us know from past use of credit cards, eventually credit limits and higher payments really get to bit.
In this sense, like other enablers of those with an addiction, the Fed is abetting the Democrat and Obama administration habit of borrowing 42 cents of every dollar they spend. Etc.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Something systemically wrong: "Costco to Spend $3 Billion on Special $7 Dividend" - WSJ.com
Costco to Spend $3 Billion on Special $7 Dividend - WSJ.com
From the article,
"The big-box discounter said it would pay its stockholders a one-time dividend of $7 a share on Dec. 18. The same day, it priced new three-, five- and seven-year notes that will be used to pay the dividend, all at rates of 1.7% and below.The dividend would have consumed much of Costco's available cash. The company had $4.9 billion in cash on Sept. 2, but about $2 billion of that was held overseas, where Costco wants to keep it due to tax considerations and expansion opportunities."
From the article,
"The big-box discounter said it would pay its stockholders a one-time dividend of $7 a share on Dec. 18. The same day, it priced new three-, five- and seven-year notes that will be used to pay the dividend, all at rates of 1.7% and below.The dividend would have consumed much of Costco's available cash. The company had $4.9 billion in cash on Sept. 2, but about $2 billion of that was held overseas, where Costco wants to keep it due to tax considerations and expansion opportunities."
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Conservative Values and Moral Rectitude: McGurn: How Obama's 'Life of Julia' Prevailed - WSJ.com
McGurn: How Obama's 'Life of Julia' Prevailed - WSJ.com
A quick look at most of Europe shows what happens when the last socialist straw goes on the back of the economic camel.
Greece is the lesson people should be looking at.
And, if one wants to see the devolution of the middle class, look at California. There middle class private sector jobs disappear and higher paying tech jobs are left.
The real problem with 'conservative' is that economic self-sufficiency are mixed up with the mores of the religious right.
Thus, being fiscally conservative is compromised by the religious (can we say 'wacks') who have their own moral compass they feel they have the right to impose on others (think today's article on Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt).
It would be nice if the Republicans could become a party without the religiously intolerant and focus on fiscally conservative values supporting economic opportunity instead of equality of results.
But, when someone is indoctrinated with a religious belief, moral rectitude is far too often a part of the package - and, who likes to be told what to do!
A quick look at most of Europe shows what happens when the last socialist straw goes on the back of the economic camel.
Greece is the lesson people should be looking at.
And, if one wants to see the devolution of the middle class, look at California. There middle class private sector jobs disappear and higher paying tech jobs are left.
The real problem with 'conservative' is that economic self-sufficiency are mixed up with the mores of the religious right.
Thus, being fiscally conservative is compromised by the religious (can we say 'wacks') who have their own moral compass they feel they have the right to impose on others (think today's article on Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt).
It would be nice if the Republicans could become a party without the religiously intolerant and focus on fiscally conservative values supporting economic opportunity instead of equality of results.
But, when someone is indoctrinated with a religious belief, moral rectitude is far too often a part of the package - and, who likes to be told what to do!
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Bernanke, Others Offer No Easy Answers to Weak Economy - Barrons.com
Bernanke, Others Offer No Easy Answers to Weak Economy - Barrons.com
JR wrote: "If recent history has been any guide, the last four years have shown that the recipients of the FED's largess are not risk takers. Fear rules the Wall Street's "masters of the universe." Cash piles up. Tax idle capital. Redistribute income to those who have to spend money just to get by day to day. "
response:
The problem is more likely that capital can't do any planning because - on one hand, the tax policies are unknown and looking to be increased; and, two, the social and environmental agenda of the Democrats (for an extreme, think 'California') trump any ability to plan - or, to plan for doing investing in the US.
It's easy to whine about pay and job creation in the US. It is much harder to confront anti-job policies. (Again, think California. Here tax and regulatory policies have driven vast numbers of middle-class wage paying jobs out of the state. High tech has stayed with its high salaries; but, the middle has been hollowed out. Ring a bell?)
JR wrote: "If recent history has been any guide, the last four years have shown that the recipients of the FED's largess are not risk takers. Fear rules the Wall Street's "masters of the universe." Cash piles up. Tax idle capital. Redistribute income to those who have to spend money just to get by day to day. "
response:
The problem is more likely that capital can't do any planning because - on one hand, the tax policies are unknown and looking to be increased; and, two, the social and environmental agenda of the Democrats (for an extreme, think 'California') trump any ability to plan - or, to plan for doing investing in the US.
It's easy to whine about pay and job creation in the US. It is much harder to confront anti-job policies. (Again, think California. Here tax and regulatory policies have driven vast numbers of middle-class wage paying jobs out of the state. High tech has stayed with its high salaries; but, the middle has been hollowed out. Ring a bell?)
Bernanke, Others Offer No Easy Answers to Weak Economy - Barrons.com
Bernanke, Others Offer No Easy Answers to Weak Economy - Barrons.com
"Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke presents the official line that the economy suffers ... from the uncertainty surrounding the fiscal cliff that lies ahead at the turn of the year,..."
Somehow, if I was a banker and had a couple as a client (read: in this case the US government and not a consumer family) was borrowing 42 cents of every dollar and using most of it for current consumption, I would think it worth paying attention to.
Perhaps the family just lost a job or had sudden and unexpected bills (something not apparent with the US entitlement spending, which has already gone off-the-charts). If not, then a banker would worry about the credit extended.
Somehow most people want to believe (like apparently Obama) that taxes on the rich will make everything right!
How many bankers really think strangers will bail out their over-spending consumers?
"Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke presents the official line that the economy suffers ... from the uncertainty surrounding the fiscal cliff that lies ahead at the turn of the year,..."
Somehow, if I was a banker and had a couple as a client (read: in this case the US government and not a consumer family) was borrowing 42 cents of every dollar and using most of it for current consumption, I would think it worth paying attention to.
Perhaps the family just lost a job or had sudden and unexpected bills (something not apparent with the US entitlement spending, which has already gone off-the-charts). If not, then a banker would worry about the credit extended.
Somehow most people want to believe (like apparently Obama) that taxes on the rich will make everything right!
How many bankers really think strangers will bail out their over-spending consumers?
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Niggling Doubts: Cliff Dwellers - Barrons.com
Cliff Dwellers - Barrons.com
Maybe Obama’s house-of-cards, Greek-like economic policies won’t fall down. But, borrowing 42 cents of every dollar spent with extremely low interest rates – what will it be if rates go up as they have in much of Europe?
Somehow it niggles at me that, as widely reported, Obama et al have failed to ever come up with a long-term budget (even with tax hikes) to close the budget deficit.
I can’t help but recall in the October before the roof fell in on the Greeks, that they were still adding jobs, wanting bigger salaries, etc. – ignoring their own budget problems.
And, as the election has shown, when someone is promising ‘you’ something that ‘someone else’ is going to be paying (or borrowing) for – well, who’s to complain?
California also showed the truism of the above with new taxes on the rich to pay for public union retirement benefit (in the guise of avoided education and public safety cutbacks). We can’t even talk about cutting back public union benefits that far exceed those of the private sector.
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