Archive for the 'Economy' Category
The Big Lie: 5.6% Unemployment
February 4th, 2015Via: Gallup: Here’s something that many Americans — including some of the smartest and most educated among us — don’t know: The official unemployment rate, as reported by the U.S. Department of Labor, is extremely misleading. Right now, we’re hearing much celebrating from the media, the White House and Wall Street about how unemployment is […]
Massive Worldwide Layoff Underway At IBM
February 4th, 2015Via: IEEE: Project Chrome, a massive layoff that IBM is pretending is not a massive layoff, is underway. First reported by Robert X. Cringely (a pen name) in Forbes, about 26 percent of the company’s global workforce is being shown the door. At more than 100,000 people, that makes it the largest mass layoff at […]
Brookings Video Piece on Aquion
February 3rd, 2015Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in NZ. Bring it on. Via: Brookings Institution: More: America’s Advanced Industries: What They Are, Where They Are, and Why They Matter
Uber Opening Robotics Research Facility In Pittsburgh To Build Self-Driving Cars
February 3rd, 2015Via: TechCrunch: Driver-on-demand service Uber is building a robotics research lab in Pittsburgh, PA to “kickstart autonomous taxi fleet development,” sources close to the decision have confirmed to TechCrunch. They say the company has hired talent from Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute, including lead engineering and commercialization experts.
S&P Reaches $1.38 Billion Settlement with U.S. Government, States
February 3rd, 2015No, it’s not comedy hour this morning on Cryptogon. Via: Reuters: McGraw Hill Financial Inc (MHFI.N) and its Standard & Poor Ratings Services unit have reached a $1.38 billion settlement with the U.S. government and several states over ratings of mortgage-backed securities that went sour in the runup to the 2008 financial crisis. McGraw Hill […]
Senior Abbott MP Concedes Australians Ready to Leave the Grid
January 31st, 2015Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in NZ. Via: RenewEconomy: A senior member of Australia’s ruling Coalition has conceded that Australian consumers are ready to leave the grid, and rely instead on solar and storage, and suggested that state-owned assets such as electricity networks need to be sold quickly before they lose too much value. […]
China’s Pearl River Delta Overtakes Tokyo as World’s Largest Megacity
January 31st, 2015Via: Guardian: China’s Pearl River Delta has overtaken Tokyo to become the world’s largest urban area in both size and population, according to a report from the World Bank. The megacity – which covers a significant part of China’s manufacturing heartland and includes the cities of Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Foshan and Dongguan – is now home […]
Oil Surges 8 Percent as U.S. Rig Count Plunges, Shorts Scramble
January 30th, 2015Disclosure: I’m long oil and multiple companies involved with oil exploration and production. Via: Reuters: Oil prices roared back from six-year lows on Friday, rocketing more than 8 percent as a record weekly decline in U.S. oil drilling fueled a frenzy of short-covering. In a rally that may spur speculation that a seven-month price collapse […]
Intervention in Civil Wars Far More Likely in Oil-Rich Nations
January 29th, 2015Via: Independent: Conspiracy theorists have long insisted that modern wars revolve around oil. Now research suggests hydrocarbons play an even bigger role in conflicts than they had suspected. According to academics from the Universities of Portsmouth, Warwick and Essex, foreign intervention in a civil war is 100 times more likely when the afflicted country has […]
Beijing Smog Makes City Unliveable, Says Mayor
January 29th, 2015Via: Guardian: Beijing’s mayor, Wang Anshun, has called the city “unliveable” because of its noxious smog, according to state media. “To establish a first-tier, international, liveable and harmonious city, it is very important to establish a system of standards, and Beijing is currently doing this,” he said last Friday, according to the China Youth Daily […]
