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A Comparison of Economic Policies
This article places the economic policies of the two candidates side by side and shows the actions they would take in the areas of spending, taxes and businesses and houses.
It is nice to see actual policies and plans for a change. Check it out. This article places the economic policies of the two candidates side by side and shows the actions they would take in the areas of spe... more -
The Bailout Reader by Mises.org
The events taking place in the financial market offer an illustration of the soundness of the Austrian theory of money, banking, and credit cycles, and Mises.org is your source not only for analysis of these events but also the economic theory that helps explain what is happening and what to do about it. There are many thousands of articles available, and also the full text of thousands of books as well as journal articles. It is impossible to draw attention to the full range of literature one can use to understand the crisis.
However, below we offer a brief look into the topics most discussed in these times, with extended treatments of each in the sidebar. Mises.org also offers both a blog and a community forum for reading and discussing them all.
It's never been more important to spread a sound view of money and banking, not only as a protection against the fallacies of "stabilization" and "reflation" but also as way to see what kind of reforms are essential now.
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(Articles and texts available at link and are divided in the following categories: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, The Housing Bubble, Inflationary Finance, Community Reinvestment Act, Short Selling, The Austrian Theory of the Business Cycle, Who Predicted This?, What To Do and Books to Distribute) The events taking place in the financial market offer an illustration of the soundness of the Austrian theory of money, banking, and c... more -
The Faces of the Financial Crisis
ANP Essay: About the CEOs who got very rich while their firms crumbled.
The U.S. financial system faces a grave crisis as investment giants teeter on the edge of collapse. These institutions aren't merely made of paper and percentages, though. They're led by people - people who've made some rotten decisions in recent years. Whereas we'll hear much in the coming weeks about the federal regulators who are scrambling to avert a disaster, we should also hear about the CEOs who got very rich while their firms crumbled. ANP Essay: About the CEOs who got very rich while their firms crumbled. ... more -
Sen. Bernie Sanders on the Collapse of the Middle Class
While the corporate press has been busy covering political mud-slinging and Paris Hilton ads, Meet the Bloggers focused on the real issue facing the majority of Americans: the economic crisis. Not only is the middle class in our country collapsing, but Bushonomics have left us on the verge of stagflation. Millions of Americans who can no longer afford health insurance, gas for their cars, mortgage payments, and credit card bills are sinking below the poverty line.
As special guest Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) indicated, our country is in the midst of a class war, and both the politicians and the media need to wake up and look at the causes of this crisis, such as the Bush administration's war in Iraq, its no-bid contracts, tax cuts for the wealthy.
From "Meet the Bloggers" - http://meetthebloggers.org/ While the corporate press has been busy covering political mud-slinging and Paris Hilton ads, Meet the Bloggers focused on the real is... more -
The next bubble: credit cards
While many eyes are focusing on the housing meltdown and its hugely negative effect on an economy clearly moving into recession, few are paying attention to the next bubble expected to burst: credit cards.
Combined with the subprime losses, such a credit card nightmare has the potential, experts say, of bringing down the entire financial system and global economy. It has brought us to a brink not seen since just before the Great Depression.
While campaigning in Edinburg, Texas, in February, Barack Obama met with students at the University of Texas-Pan American. “Just be careful about those credit cards, all right? Don’t eat out as much,” he said. After the foreclosure crisis, he warned, “the credit cards are next in line.”
Fewer people are paying their credit card bills on time. And, to flip the old paradigm, more are using high-interest credit card cash to pay at least part of their mortgages instead of the other way around.
Happily, this issue is finally being addressed by Congress and the Federal Reserve Bank. When asked for comments, the public overloaded the Fed’s website as the New York Times commented:
When the Federal Reserve asked for comments on its proposed rules on abusive credit card practices, an astonishing 56,000 poured in. Most were from outraged consumers. They told of interest rates skyrocketing when they paid an unrelated bill late. They complained of unwarranted late fees and pushed-up due dates. One Pennsylvania customer fumed: “I’m fed up with credit card company tricks that drive us deeper in debt.”
This anguished deluge should send a clear message to leaders in Washington. The Federal Reserve should swiftly adopt its proposed rules against unfair or deceptive credit card practices. But the real burden to curb these abuses falls on Congress.
This discontent is being organized to press Congress to act by groups like the Consumer Federation of America and the Center for Responsible Lending. And Congress is listening:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Legislation aimed at curbing credit card billing practices that surprise borrowers with unexpected interest rate increases and fees was approved on Thursday by a U.S. House of Representatives committee.
The bill approved by Financial Services Committee mirrors Federal Reserve proposals that would effectively end double-cycle billing — in which card companies reach back to prior billing cycles to help calculate the interest charged in the current cycle.
These reforms are a start but much more needs to be done because it’s not just billing practices that is at issue — it’s high interest changes, deceptive marketing, and arbitrary rules. On top of that, there are other loans that need scrutiny including payday lenders and student loans. And of course our own addiction to shop until we drop.
Also, let us not forget that our credit card companies have been colonizing markets throughout the world. As the New York Times explained in a series on debt, “As the American blessing of credit cards became widespread, so did the American curse of debt.”
Bear in mind the experience of another addicting industry — tobacco. As they came under restraints in the US, they escalated their poison pushing worldwide.
Debt is a global issue and has to be treated as such.
Just as groups like NACA provide help to homeowners in distress, we need a major effort to help the victims of credit cards — with practical assistance and political demands for regulation and relief.
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excerpted from, "The Next Bubble Is on the Way: Credit Card Debt" by Danny Schechter While many eyes are focusing on the housing meltdown and its hugely negative effect on an economy clearly moving into recession, few a... more -
"The American Dream is Just That" by Peter Schiff
"In holding overnight rates steady at 2% this week, the Fed once again put forth its belief that despite a cascade of horrific financial data, the economy was likely to continue to grow slowly and that inflation would moderate. Although wrong on both counts, this view is consistent with the relative optimism that prevails across the country. After nearly two decades of an uninterrupted consumption binge, most Americans simply refuse to believe that anything can seriously derail the American economy. It’s a pleasant dream, but the wakeup call can’t be too far off."
(End of excerpt)
Full commentary at link by Peter Schiff (select 'August 8, 2008' article)// Euro Pacific Capital "In holding overnight rates steady at 2% this week, the Fed once again put forth its belief that despite a cascade of horrific fi... more -
Revaluation cuts 10 zeroes off Zimbabwe dollar
"The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe yesterday lopped 10 zeroes off the value of the Zimbabwe dollar, thereby revaluing Z$10bn of existing currency to one Zimbabwe dollar from tomorrow.
Gideon Gono, central bank governor, said the revaluation was necessary to 'address cash constraints in the payments system' as well as "challenges" to financial and accounting IT systems caused by the proliferation of zeroes.
Independent estimates put Zimbabwe's inflation rate well above the official 2.2m per cent - the world's highest. The economic crisis has been blamed on President Robert Mugabe's policies, whichhave led to shortages of food and foreign currency.
While bankers and economists welcomed the move, one warned it was 'a Band-Aid that will ease the currency crisis for a few months and no more'."
(End of excerpt)
Full article at link by Tony Hawkins// Financial Times
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Photo by flickr user ZeroOne
http://www.flickr.com/photos/villes/2693551009/
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en "The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe yesterday lopped 10 zeroes off the value of the Zimbabwe dollar, thereby revaluing Z$10bn of existi... more -
Adoptable Animals over-filling shelters
SOUTH SALT LAKE - As more people lose their homes and jobs in a shaky economy, more pets are showing up at this suburban city's animal shelter.
Some are brought in by tearful owners who can't afford to keep them or who are moving to apartments that don't allow four-legged residents. Others are left at the door at night with a note asking that someone find the animal a good home. Some are simply abandoned in apartments by evicted tenants.
As a result, the South Salt Lake Animal Shelter is bursting at the seams and trying to adopt out its 62 cats and 22 dogs to make room for new arrivals. "There's a lot of animals coming in and a lot not being redeemed. We're thinking it's got to be the economy."
Dogs and cats have filled all the regular cages and overflowed to kennels in the lobby, the playroom and the garage. Some have been there a few days or weeks, while others have been awaiting new homes for months.
Generally, healthy, adoptable animals are not euthanized, said Hyden-Leek.
Autumn Wagner, of No More Homeless Pets in Utah, said her group has so many animals in foster care - including previously adopted pets that have been returned - that it has stopped going to shelters to pick up more. Volunteers already are taking care of more than 100 cats and 30 dogs, she said.
"We've gotten a lot of returns because people are moving, and they're moving to places that don't allow animals," Wagner said. "A lot of returns are people who are suffering economically."
Ladybug, a basset hound, was returned recently by a family that adopted her five years ago but was moving and couldn't afford to keep her, she said. Cats Wyatt and Coco are in the same bind, brought back by a woman who no longer had the ability to support them after six years of ownership.
And Wiggles, a tan pitbull that had been previously adopted, showed up at the door by himself earlier this month. The owner could not be traced, and the dog is available once again...
THIS IS HAPPENING ALL OVER THE USA! PLEASE VOLUNTEER YOUR TIME &/OR ANY OTHER RESOURCES THAT YOU CAN. THIS IS A PROBLEM WE CREATED & OUR ANIMAL COMPANIONS ARE PAYING THE ULTIMATE PRICE.
If you would like more information on how you can help, please visit: http://www.sltrib.com/News/ci_10007591 (Article)
http://www.ssl.state.ut.us/animal/animal.html (Animal Shelter) SOUTH SALT LAKE - As more people lose their homes and jobs in a shaky economy, more pets are showing up at this suburban city's a... more -
Will survivalists get the last laugh?
They used to be paranoid preparation nuts who built bomb shelters for a place to duck and cover during nuclear dustups with communist heathens, but their tangled roots go back to the Great Depression for a reason. If you want to get sociological about it, survivalism started out as a response to economic catastrophe. And now, with a cratering stock market, a housing meltdown that has devalued everything in sight, and skyrocketing prices for food, gas and pretty much everything else, survivalists are preparing for -- and are prepared for -- the rerun. In fact, they may be the only people in America feeling good about the prospects of a major crash.
And the interesting thing about the once-fringe movement at this moment in history is that survivalism has now gone green -- at least in theory.
Social critic and overall hilarious dude James Kunstler tackled that weirdness, otherwise known as an incoming post-oil dystopia, in his recent novel, "World Made by Hand."
"At least they're aware that we've entered the early innings of what could easily become a very disruptive period of our history," the Clusterfuck Nation columnist explains. "Most of them are responding constructively rather than just defensively. They're much more interested in gardening and animal husbandry than firearms."
SurvivalBlog owner James Rawles wrote, "All parties concerned may not realize it, but the left-of-center greens calling for local economies and encouraging farmers markets have a tremendous amount in common with John Birchers decrying globalist bankers and gun owners complaining about their constitutional rights. At the core, for all of them, is the recognition that big, entrenched, centralized power structures are not the answer. They are, in fact, the problem." They used to be paranoid preparation nuts who built bomb shelters for a place to duck and cover during nuclear dustups with communist ... more -
Homeowners get help in DC, but not from government
Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America helps tens of thousands restructure their home mortgage.
This week, while Congress was busy providing assistance to Fannie May and Freddie Mac, a non-profit organization called The Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America was provided free consulting to homeowners who could no longer afford their mortgage. The five day event, called "Save the Dream of Home Ownership", ended on Wednesday after providing assistance to countless people who are at risk of losing their largest equity holding. NACA has also been providing financial counseling to the countless Americans who are lost in the complexities of the US banking system. Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America helps tens of thousands restructure their home mortgage. ... more -
Congress helps banks, but what about homeowners?
Danny Schechter: "This is a 50 state Katrina"
Danny Schechter, "The News Dissector," is a former network TV producer, radio newscaster, and edits MediaChannel.org. He has written nine books on media themes. His latest, Squeezed: America As The Bubble Bursts was inspired by his latest film, In Debt We Trust: America Before The Bubble Bursts Danny Schechter: "This is a 50 state Katrina" ... more -
Ron Paul comments on the Housing Bill or "The Mother Of All Bailouts"
In addition to throwing economic fundamentals out the window, Paul points out the peculiarities that mortgage brokers must now be fingerprinted and that credit card transactions will now be reported to the I.R.S. CONgress ≠ PROgress.
The following is excerpted from Congressman Paul's Statement on H.R. 3221:
"Madam Speaker, For several years, followers of the Austrian school of economics have warned that unless Congress moved to end the implicit government guarantee of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and took other steps to disengage the US Government from the housing market, America would face a crisis in housing. This crisis would force Congress to chose between authorizing a taxpayer bailout of Fannie and Freddie, and other measures increasing government’s involvement in housing, or restoring a free-market in housing by ending government support for Fannie and Freddie and repealing all laws that interfere in housing. The bursting of the housing bubble, and the recent near-collapse in investor support for Fannie and Freddie has proven my fellow Austrians correct. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, instead of ending the prior interventions in the housing market that are responsible for the current crisis, Congress is increasing the level of government intervention in the housing market. This is the equivalent of giving a drug addict another fix, which will only make the necessary withdrawal more painful.
The provision giving the Treasury Secretary a blank check to purchase Fannie and Freddie stock not only makes the implicit government guarantee of Fannie and Freddie explicit, it represents another unconstitutional delegation of Congress’ Constitutional authority to control the allocation of taxpayer dollars. While the Treasury Secretary has to file a report with Congress, the lack of any effective standards for the expenditure of funds makes it impossible for Congress to perform effective oversight on Treasury’s expenditures.
HR 3221 also takes another troubling step toward the creation of surveillance state by creating a Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry. This federal database will contain personal information about anyone wishing to work as a “loan originator.” “Loan originator" is defined broadly as anyone who "takes a residential loan application; and offers or negotiates terms of a residential mortgage loan for compensation or gain." According to some analysts, this definition is so broad as to cover part-time clerks and real estate agents who receive even minimal compensation from "originators." Additionally, this database forced on industry will be funded by fees paid to the federal banking agencies, yet another costly burden to the American taxpayers.
Among the information that will be collected from loan originators for inclusion in the federal database are fingerprints. Madam Speaker, giving the federal government the power to force Americans who wish to work in real estate to submit their fingerprints to a federal database opens the door to numerous abuses of privacy and civil liberties and establishes a dangerous precedent. Fingerprint databases and background checks have been no deterrent to espionage and fraud among governmental agencies, and will likewise fail to prevent fraud in the real estate market. I am amazed to see some members who are usually outspoken advocates of civil liberties and defenders of the Fourth Amendment support this new threat to privacy."
(End of excerpt)
Full transcript of Congressman Paul's Statement
http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2008/cr072408h...
For more information on H.R. 3221 please visit THOMAS (The Library of Congress)
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h.r.03221: In addition to throwing economic fundamentals out the window, Paul points out the peculiarities that mortgage brokers must now be fing... more -
Inflation Deflation Red-flation Blue-flation
"A debate has been raging for some time among those in the finance industry about whether the United States is currently experiencing inflation, deflation, stagflation, reflation, hyperinflation, or maybe even some other sort of "-flation" that only Dr. Seuss could imagine.
Unfortunately, much of this debate is unproductive because the participants use varying definitions of these terms, and even when they use the same ones, deciding on one simple label might not be sufficient to describe the deeper economic forces at work and what their effects are likely to be. Given the confusion, this article will add some color to the debate by offering usable definitions of the terms inflation and deflation and then attempt to show what is occurring in today's economy."
(End of excerpt)
Full article at link by Matthew Beller// Ludwig von Mises Institute "A debate has been raging for some time among those in the finance industry about whether the United States is currently experien... more -
Ron Paul tells Bernanke he is the "biggest taxer in the country" at Mone...
Segments of Congressman Paul (R-TX) addressing Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke at the Humphrey Hawkins Hearing on Monetary Policy on July 16th. Paul speaks about the problems with the Federal Reserve system and the current economic crisis. When making his point about the damaging consequences of inflation (3:29) Paul stated: "... Inflation is a tax. And if the Federal Reserve and you as chairman have this authority to increase the money supply arbitrarily you're probably the biggest taxer in the country. You're a bigger taxer than the congress..."
Congressman Ron Paul's Statement before the Financial Services Committee
http://www.house.gov/apps/list/hearing/financialsvcs_de...
Archived webcast of Humphrey Hawkins Hearing on Monetary Policy
http://financialserv.edgeboss.net/wmedia/financialserv/...
House Financial Services Committee
http://www.house.gov/apps/list/hearing/financialsvcs_de...
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Video by YouTube user PopularHypocrisy Segments of Congressman Paul (R-TX) addressing Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke at the Humphrey Hawkins Hearing on Monetary Policy on July 16... more -
Obama, McCain, and Financial Disaster - Reason Magazine
"Federal budget policy is a dry subject with far too many numbers and charts, which makes it uninviting to most Americans. But the theme of the current budget story is one that could have come from a blockbuster summer movie: We are doomed. There is a fiscal asteroid on course to pulverize us, and no one is coming to the rescue.
The problem is simple and depressingly familiar. This year, federal spending will exceed federal revenue by more than $400 billion. Given the weak state of the economy, the deficit will get worse before it gets better.
Actually, it may never get better, because the current shortfall coincides with the start of the most dreaded fiscal event of all time: the retirement of the baby boomers, who will soon consume eye-popping amounts in Social Security and Medicare.
If that's not bad enough, Bruce Willis is not on hand to intercept the doomsday object before it arrives. Worse yet, neither Barack Obama nor John McCain wants the job..."
(End of excerpt)
Full article at link by Steve Chapman// Reason Magazine
Image by flickr user w.wabbit licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/deed.e... "Federal budget policy is a dry subject with far too many numbers and charts, which makes it uninviting to most Americans. But th... more -
NY Times: Consumer confidence declines to a 16-year low
Consumer confidence dropped to its lowest point in 16 years in June while home values fell in 20 metropolitan areas across the country, according to two economic reports released Tuesday.
The Conference Board, a private firm, said that its consumer confidence index fell to 50.4 in June, down from 58.1 in May, its lowest point since January and February 1992. The data reinforced what many on Wall Street had already accepted as a given: the Federal Reserve will hold interest rates steady at its meeting that ends Wednesday.
All 20 of the metropolitan areas surveyed in the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index, released Tuesday, recorded year-over-year declines in the value of single-family homes from April 2007 to April 2008.
The average home price in all 20 regions fell 1.4 percent from March and 15.3 percent from a year earlier. That was worse than the 14.3 percent year-over-year drop recorded in March. The housing market has been hard hit by foreclosures and squeezed by tighter standards at lending agencies, which have made it harder for even qualified homeowners to obtain mortgages. Consumer confidence dropped to its lowest point in 16 years in June while home values fell in 20 metropolitan areas across the country... more -
S. Korea girds for protests; cabinet offers to quit
South Korea's entire cabinet offered to resign on Tuesday in the face of massive street protests, as its increasingly unpopular president warned that Asia's fourth-largest economy could be heading into crisis.
The protests against the government, in office barely three months, were sparked by public outcry over a deal to widen its market to U.S. beef imports and have cast a darkening cloud over President Lee Myung-bak's plans for sweeping reform.
"The prime minister offered the cabinet's resignation at the regular meeting this morning (with Lee)," a spokeswoman at the prime minister's office said, in what local media said was in response to the mounting anti-government protests.
(End excerpt)
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FULL STORY AT LINK
By Jon Herskovitz and Yoo Choonsik// Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSSEO2920...
Photo by Jo Yong-Hak// Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/news/pictures/articleslideshow?a... South Korea's entire cabinet offered to resign on Tuesday in the face of massive street protests, as its increasingly unpopular p... more -
"Dollar Crisis Nearer Than Our Politicians Think?"
The Richter Report writes:
On June 3, 2008, The Gulf Times, a newspaper in Qatar, published an editorial which should send chills down the spine of any American who cares about the status of the dollar as the world's reserve currency. The title of the opinion piece said it all: "Paulson dollar hype is not worth a dime."
The article was published so as to coincide with Treasury Secretary Paulson's visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. In that part of the world, if something gets published, it is a good bet that the government approves of it. Secretary Paulson has recently been quoted in the press as having claimed that the U.S. has the world's most liquid and open markets. He has also uttered the usual garbage about the "fact" that the U.S. supports a strong dollar policy. This, at a time when our total money supply (M3) is expanding at an annualized rate of between 16-17%! The truth of the matter is that our leaders support a WEAK DOLLAR policy. Do not listen to what these people say. Pay attention to what they do!
The reckless expansion of our money supply is THE REASON why the dollar buys less and less with each passing day. Inflation is always a monetary phenomenon. Higher prices are merely a symptom of excessive money/debt creation by central banks, governments, and by fractional reserve banking institutions.
Many nations have "pegged" their currencies to the dollar and are suffering severe problems with inflation as a result. If the U.S. actually had a "strong dollar" policy, the prices of oil, gasoline, diesel, natural gas, coal, uranium, corn, wheat, rice, soybeans, coffee, sugar, pork bellies, beef, chicken, orange juice, lead, zinc, nickel, copper, potash, steel, cement, molybdenum, rhodium, silver, platinum, palladium, and gold would be lower...
(Full story at link) The Richter Report writes: ... more -
America: 2008-2012
Possible future for America?
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The hypocrisy of US economic relief
In the 1990s, during the Latin America and Asia financial crises, Washington officials were quick with stern advice: don't bail out distressed banks. Don't intervene when stock market and real estate bubbles pop. Let your overblown economies shrink to their natural levels. Pretty much the opposite of what they're doing now. In the 1990s, during the Latin America and Asia financial crises, Washington officials were quick with stern advice: don't bail ... more
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Economic Collapse
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Economic Collapse
