Grand Theft Economics
By MIKE WHITNEY
December 27, 2005
By MIKE WHITNEY
December 27, 2005
Wed, 28 Dec 2005 12:00 EST
Four months ago I wrote an article, "Doomsday; the Final Months of the Housing Bubble" that predicted a dramatic fall in housing prices that would have a catastrophic effect on the American economy.
In truth, I'm a lousy forecaster and simply collected the relevant data from a number of sources that convinced me that the end was quickly approaching. Now, it seems that dismal day is upon us and the Grim Reaper has begun churning out the disappointing statistics that we've dreaded from the very beginning.
Ian Sample, science correspondent
Tuesday December 27, 2005
The Guardian
Ian Sample, science correspondent
Tuesday December 27, 2005
The Guardian
Tue, 27 Dec 2005 12:00 EST
At 3am tomorrow morning a Russian Soyuz rocket is set to streak into the skies over Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan carrying a satellite that is purpose built to break one of the most ubiquitous monopolies on Earth.
If all goes according to plan, the rocket will soar to a height of 14,000 miles before releasing Giove-A, a wardrobe-sized box of electronics, into orbit. Once in position it will gently unfold its twin solar panels and begin to loop around the planet twice each day. In doing so, Europe's most expensive space project, a rival to the US military-run global positioning system GPS, will have taken its first step.
Reuters
Mon Dec 26, 2005 12:28 AM ET
Reuters
Mon Dec 26, 2005 12:28 AM ET
Mon, 26 Dec 2005 12:00 EST
TOKYO - The Nikkei share average rose to fresh five-year highs on Monday as retail stocks advanced on bright prospects for the industry after Seven & I Holdings Co. Ltd. said it planned to buy a department store group. [...]
The Nikkei rose 0.83 percent, or 131.79 points, to 16,073.16 as of 0436 GMT. It earlier rose to 16,098.59, its highest intraday level since October 2000.
Donald Hunt
SOTT.net
Mon, 26 Dec 2005 12:00 EST
Gold closed at $505.90 an ounce on Friday, up less than 0.1% from $505.50 the week before. The dollar closed at 0.8425 euros last week, up 1.2% from 0.8323 at the previous Friday's close. That put the euro at 1.1869 dollars, compared to 1.2015 the week before. Gold in euros would be 426.24 euros an ounce, up 1.3% from 420.72 euros an ounce the Friday before. Oil closed at 58.43 dollars a barrel Friday, up 0o.6% from $58.06 the week before. Oil in euros would be 49.23 euros a barrel, up 2.1% from 48.23 euros a barrel the Friday before last. The gold/oil ratio closed at 8.66 Friday, down 0.6% from 8.71 at the previous Friday's close. In U.S. stocks, the Dow closed at 10,883.27 on Friday, up less than a tenth of a percent for the week from 10,875.59. The NASDAQ closed at 2,249.42, down 0.1% from 2,252.48 the week before. The yield on the ten-year U.S. Treasury note closed at 4.38%, down six basis points from 4.44 the week before.
Friday saw the release of the U.S. new housing sales numbers for November. The numbers were surprisingly bad:
By Mark Weinraub
Reuters
Sat Dec 24, 5:47 PM ET
By Mark Weinraub
Reuters
Sat Dec 24, 5:47 PM ET
Mon, 26 Dec 2005 12:00 EST
CHICAGO - U.S. retailers faced slower-than-expected traffic in stores on the last shopping day before Christmas as extended hours and steep discounts failed to draw a big crowd of shoppers.
"I don't think the day is the kind of day that retailers thought it would be," said Britt Beemer, head of America's Research Group, which surveys consumer spending habits.
Editorial
NY Times
December 26, 2005
Editorial
NY Times
December 26, 2005
Mon, 26 Dec 2005 12:00 EST
It might seem counterintuitive that many credit card companies would inundate the recently bankrupt with solicitations for new cards. It's especially perplexing that those same companies would do so after having spent more than eight years and $100 million lobbying Congress to protect them from irresponsible borrowers with a draconian new bankruptcy law.
But the truth is that credit card companies aren't all that interested in customers who pay their bills in full every month. They really want the so-called revolvers, people who don't cover their balances and pony up those juicy interest payments and fees. The tighter repayment provisions in the new law will encourage companies to trawl for even less-qualified customers.
by Mark S. Tucker
26 Dec 2005
by Mark S. Tucker
26 Dec 2005
Mon, 26 Dec 2005 12:00 EST
There was a period in which Jack Kemp vaguely mattered. That was a long time ago. Now hes practically unknown. Theres a multitude of excellent reasons for that, the best of which can be perused in his Dec. 22, 2005, column entitled Washington Fails to Embrace Supply-Side Truths. In it, hes hoping like hell you havent a clue about economics. Hes expecting you were as miserable a student as our President-select, a man whose grasp of business produced a long string of horrifyingly ineptly run businesses, and, thus, you wont know enough to parse his, Mr. Kemps, utter gibberish for the semantic folderol it is. In the annals of columnist gobbledygook, there have been some gems, but rarely so lustrous as this one. Step behind the curtain with me, wont you?
Dec 22, 2005
Asia Times
Dec 22, 2005
Asia Times
Mon, 26 Dec 2005 12:00 EST
BEIJING - A mammoth revision in gross domestic product (GDP, the most widely accepted estimate of the size of an economy) figures by statisticians in Beijing has officially turned China into a much larger economy than previously thought.
While the new figures, which reflect a modernization of calculation methods, are widely accepted by outside analysts, who have argued for years that China has been underestimating the size of its service sector, there is some uncertainty about China's new position in the world GDP rankings. Initial press reports on the statistical readjustment, made before the release of official results on December 20, had stated that China would supplant the UK as the world's fourth-ranked economy. However, when the actual figures appeared, the government only claimed sixth place.
David Highfield
(KDKA)
Dec 21, 2005
David Highfield
(KDKA)
Dec 21, 2005
Fri, 23 Dec 2005 12:00 EST
Part of the mystery is that the blue ice that has been reported is actually purple.
KDKA David Highfield reported the purple splotches in the snow on Monday night. The report sparked phone calls and e-mails from several other people claiming to also have blue ice in their yards.
The FAA doesn't have the people to investigate each claim, but they are investigating the original case in Butler County.
The question is whether or not the purple splotches could be blue ice.
Blue ice is toilet waste that leaks from airplanes.
It's highly unlikely, said Nicole Begley, of the National Aviary. I don't want to speculate on what it was, but it would take a rather large flock of fruit eating birds.
Most of those fruit eating birds have moved on.
Begley also said that there's not much fresh fruit left around and that birds don't normally defecate all at the same time while in flight.
There was actually toilet paper inside that purple stuff, said Stan Walchesky, of Jefferson Township. I said this aint birds.
The risks of blue ice from a health perspective are relatively small, said Dr. Bruce Dixon, of the Allegheny County Health Department.
Dr. Dixon says people can hose it off in better weather to prevent stains and that there's no reason to worry about your dogs.
The issue is much more aesthetic, Dr. Dixon said. People don't like the idea of human excrement being dispersed throughout the air and landing on their property.
Comment: Comment: Naturally, "people don't like the idea of human excrement being dispersed throughout the air and landing on their property", but do people care about the fact that
bovine excrement is being dispersed throughout the ether and ending up in their minds as their "opinions"?
Dec 19 2005
CBC News
Dec 19 2005
CBC News
Fri, 23 Dec 2005 12:00 EST
A couple in Central Newfoundland has had a close encounter with a mysterious object that appeared to fall from the sky at a high speed.
"I would say [it was] the size of a chicken, probably," says Joanne Knee, who says her experience on Friday afternoon reminded her of the story of Chicken Little.
Knee and her husband were driving from Gander to Carmanville when an object narrowly missed their truck.
She said the beige-coloured rock hit the ground so close to the truck that when it exploded, shards damaged the front grill and a signal light.
"It was such an explosion from it," she said.
"It was just [as] if someone had shot off a gun in the truck. It was just amazing."
Knee and her husband returned to the spot Saturday to find a pile of charcoal-like rock.
They picked up a sample, and after a little digging observed that a cylindrical piece of the material was lodged deep into the side of the road.
Knee said there was no sign of construction or of people working in the area.
Joe Hodych, who teaches earth sciences at Memorial University, said it is possible that the object came from space, and that he is anxious to see the sample.
"Meteorites are very rare. So most reports turn out not to be meteorites in the end," Hodych said.
"But they're extremely important to science."
Knee hopes someone like Hodych will analyze the rock.
However, Knee would like to keep at least a part of the rock as a souvenir.
Comment: Comment: While meteorites that impact the earth may be officially "rare", in recent years they have become
all too common. What does this seemingly exponential increase in space rocks hitting the earth mean? Read Laura Knight-Jadczyk's book "
The Secret History of the World" to find out.
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