Archive for the 'Economy' Category
U.S. MANUFACTURING DECLINES TO LOWEST LEVEL SINCE 1948
January 3rd, 2009Via: Bloomberg: The decline in U.S. manufacturing deepened in December as demand for such products as cars, appliances and furniture reached the lowest level since at least 1948, signaling further cutbacks in factory jobs and production this year. The Institute for Supply Management’s factory index fell to 32.4, below economists’ forecasts and the lowest level […]
UK: Thefts of Food, Metal, and Petrol Increasing
January 3rd, 2009Via: Independent: Supermarkets have been forced to tag cuts of meat because shoplifters have turned to stealing food during the credit crunch. Retailers warn that the recession has changed the pattern of crime in high street stores, with thieves switching from luxury items to basic foodstuffs. Shops have been forced to step up security around […]
UK: Flawed Accounting Method Hides True Scale of Pension Fund Losses
January 2nd, 2009Via: Guardian: Many of Britain’s biggest companies are preparing year-end accounts that show their pension schemes moved into surplus last year despite the collapse in world markets, which wiped hundreds of billions from their assets. The latest figures from the pensions advisers Aon Consulting show that a steep decline in the FTSE 100 over last […]
Is a Generalized Crackup Occurring in Britain? The Average Person Spends 2-1/4 Hours of Every Day Worrying
January 2nd, 2009Could this possibly be true? Via: Reuters: Britain is becoming a nation of worriers, according to a new survey, with the financial crisis giving people ever more reason to fret about their lives. The average person now spends 2-1/4 hours of every day worrying — six and half years of the average life span — […]
Welcome to Your New Job: One that Pays 30%, 50%, 70% Less than Your Old One
January 2nd, 2009According to CNN, phone service is an, “extravagance”? The bankers and politicians who created this mess must really think that this is hilarious. As people are getting financially screwed to within an inch of their lives, the Wall Street pricks buy new homes with taxpayer bailout money and the crooked Congress gets an automatic pay […]
Rising Desperation as China’s Exports Drop
January 2nd, 2009Maybe the Fed will bailout China? Oh, hmm, uhh… Wait, it’s supposed to be the other way around. Via: IHT: At the docks here, the stacks of shipping containers that used to loom above the highway overpass are gone. Logistics managers say they negotiate deeper discounts every week on ships that are leaving half empty. […]
Icelandic TV Program Featuring PM Forced Off Air
January 2nd, 2009Via: AP: A nationally televised meeting between Iceland’s prime minister and other political leaders was forced off the air Wednesday night when angry protesters disrupted the broadcast. For more than two decades, the leaders of Iceland’s political parties have met every New Year’s Eve over champagne and spiced herring to talk about the year ahead […]
Russia Says It Will Halt Delivery of Natural Gas to Ukraine
January 1st, 2009Via: Washington Post: Russia said Wednesday night that it planned to suspend delivery of natural gas to Ukraine on Thursday morning after negotiations to resolve a politically tinged dispute over prices collapsed without an agreement. A cutoff of fuel shipments to Ukraine could have a ripple effect across Europe, because Russia supplies a quarter of […]
Nationalization of U.S. Auto and Other Industries Will Expand
January 1st, 2009Via: Bloomberg: The U.S. Treasury drafted broad guidelines for aid to the auto industry that would let officials provide funds to any company they deem important to making or financing cars. With today’s announcement, the Treasury is giving itself room to provide money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program beyond loans already committed to General […]
Fails: Bond Dealers, Hedge Funds Will Face Penalty for Failed Trades
January 1st, 2009This is THE core process that animates the entire zombie money system… I’m at a bit of a loss to think of applicable analogies that might describe the failure of this mechanism. Have you ever seen a top fuel dragster explode at maximum throttle? That’s my best guess. —The U.S. Treasury Market Reaches Breaking Point; […]
