Page 3 of 4 FirstFirst 1234 LastLast
Results 61 to 90 of 98

Thread: Economic Shenanigans / Market Crisis

  1. #61
    Ja mata, TosaInu Forum Administrator edyzmedieval's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Fortress of the Mountains
    Posts
    11,389

    Default Re: Economic Shenanigans / Market Crisis

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...-eat-last-week

    Unbelievable. It's unreal, honestly, how can the richest nation in the world have 30 million people without food?
    Ja mata, TosaInu. You will forever be remembered.

    Proud

    Been to:

    Swords Made of Letters - 1938. The war is looming in France - and Alexandre Reythier does not have much time left to protect his country. A novel set before the war.

    A Painted Shield of Honour - 1313. Templar Knights in France are in grave danger. Can they be saved?

  2. #62
    Praefectus Fabrum Senior Member Anime BlackJack Champion, Flash Poker Champion, Word Up Champion, Shape Game Champion, Snake Shooter Champion, Fishwater Challenge Champion, Rocket Racer MX Champion, Jukebox Hero Champion, My House Is Bigger Than Your House Champion, Funky Pong Champion, Cutie Quake Champion, Fling The Cow Champion, Tiger Punch Champion, Virus Champion, Solitaire Champion, Worm Race Champion, Rope Walker Champion, Penguin Pass Champion, Skate Park Champion, Watch Out Champion, Lawn Pac Champion, Weapons Of Mass Destruction Champion, Skate Boarder Champion, Lane Bowling Champion, Bugz Champion, Makai Grand Prix 2 Champion, White Van Man Champion, Parachute Panic Champion, BlackJack Champion, Stans Ski Jumping Champion, Smaugs Treasure Champion, Sofa Longjump Champion Seamus Fermanagh's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Latibulm mali regis in muris.
    Posts
    11,450

    Default Re: Economic Shenanigans / Market Crisis

    Our system was not set up to purchase, prepare, and provide food for all as a basic right. There is no overarching authority guaranteeing that all are fed unless they refuse food.
    "The only way that has ever been discovered to have a lot of people cooperate together voluntarily is through the free market. And that's why it's so essential to preserving individual freedom.” -- Milton Friedman

    "The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule." -- H. L. Mencken

  3. #63

    Default Re: Economic Shenanigans / Market Crisis

    Quote Originally Posted by Seamus Fermanagh View Post
    Our system was not set up to purchase, prepare, and provide food for all as a basic right. There is no overarching authority guaranteeing that all are fed unless they refuse food.
    This is not true, the New Deal directly addressed this challenge.

    Purchasing (this covers not just food costs but its preparation and distribution costs as well) is done by the CCC: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commod...it_Corporation
    It is then provided through the (at the time) Food Stamp program, now SNAP: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supple...stance_Program

    Conservatives kept the former going to maintain US interests and subsidize big ag. but have successfully stigmatized the latter which has resulted in these people going hungry as we have been led to believe they are all 'welfare queens'.

    But make no mistake, we have the structure in place to expand SNAP and end hunger in this country.

    Member thankful for this post:



  4. #64

    Default Re: Economic Shenanigans / Market Crisis

    Just want to make a correction on some sloppiness in my previous post. PUA (Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, glad this usage of the acronym overwhelms others in the lexicon) is one of the programs extending eligibility for unemployment insurance - to the part-time, furloughed, independent contractor, gig worker, self-employed, etc. It expires at the end of the year. What expired at the end of July - in relation to UI; federal eviction protections covering a large minority of all residential rental units also expired - was FPUC (Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation). That was the flat $600 enhancement.
    Vitiate Man.

    History repeats the old conceits
    The glib replies, the same defeats


    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 



  5. #65

    Default Re: Economic Shenanigans / Market Crisis

    Vitiate Man.

    History repeats the old conceits
    The glib replies, the same defeats


    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 



  6. #66
    Senior Member Senior Member ReluctantSamurai's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    2,483

    Default Re: Economic Shenanigans / Market Crisis

    Here is a case that's been ongoing quietly under the radar, but has consequences equal to, or even greater than the coming battle over Roe vs Wade or the ACA, IMHO:

    https://www.vox.com/22106497/supreme...cutive-housing

    Collins v. Mnuchin (and a companion case called Mnuchin v. Collins) is the stuff that lawyers’ nightmares are made of. It involves a brain-twistingly convoluted array of issues, a complex set of transactions that may have saved the economy from a second Great Depression, and an astonishing amount of money: The plaintiffs argue that the federal government must give up as much as $124 billion.

    Beginning in 2008, the federal government took extraordinary steps to prop up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two semi-private companies that, combined, were tied up in about half of all mortgages in the United States. Had the federal government not spent hundreds of billions of dollars to prop up Fannie and Freddie, both companies could have collapsed, and that collapse would have rippled throughout the world economy and potentially triggered a global depression.

    And yet, the Collins plaintiffs seek to unravel many of the steps — potentially even all of the steps — that the government took to save Fannie and Freddie.
    Monumental enough, considering the amount of money involved, but tucked into this case is a fundamental restructuring of the powers of the president, as it involves several semi-independent government agencies. That involves something called the "unitary executive":

    https://www.vox.com/2020/6/29/213070...tary-executive

    Most federal agencies are under the full control of the president — if the president wants to fire a cabinet secretary, for example, the president may do so for any reason they choose. A handful of agencies, meanwhile, are “independent,” meaning that the president may only fire the heads of those agencies for cause. Under the statute that was struck down in Seila Law, for example, the CFPB director could only be fired for “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.”

    Conservatives have fought a long fight against such limitations on executive authority. In 1988, dissenting in Morrison v. Olson, Justice Antonin Scalia suggested that insulating independent agency heads from presidential control in this way is unconstitutional.

    The Constitution provides that “the executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States.” This provision, according to Scalia, “does not mean some of the executive power, but all of the executive power.” Thus, if a federal official has the power to execute a federal law, they must either be fireable by the president or by someone else who is ultimately accountable to the president.

    This theory, that all executive branch officials must be responsible to the president, is known as the theory of the “unitary executive.”
    Background to the Collins vs Mnuchin lawsuit:

    FHFA effectively took control of Fannie and Freddie in 2008 and entered the companies into an agreement with the Treasury Department. Under the original agreement between the Treasury and the two companies, the government agreed to give Fannie and Freddie up to $100 billion each — though the companies weren’t obligated to take all of this money if they did not need it. Two subsequent amendments to the agreement allowed Fannie and Freddie to draw even more money from the federal government.

    In return, Fannie and Freddie (which, again, were under FHFA’s effective control) agreed to a significant number of concessions. Most importantly for the Collins case, they agreed to pay a recurring “dividend” to the government that would increase as the companies took more and more money from the Treasury.

    But this growing dividend soon created problems of its own. Fannie and Freddie had to draw so much money from the Treasury in order to remain stable that they were soon obligated to pay dividends to the government that exceeded their overall earnings. Before long, they were drawing money from the Treasury just to pay the dividends — which were owed to the Treasury in the first place.
    Now comes the contested part of the FHFA agreement which stemmed from the problem noted above:

    That led to a third amendment, in 2012, to Fannie and Freddie’s agreement with the Treasury, which the Collins plaintiffs hope to invalidate. Under the terms of this third amendment, Fannie and Freddie would no longer have to pay fixed dividends to the Treasury. Instead, each company would be allowed to maintain a capital reserve of up to $3 billion. Any money earned by either company that exceeded this $3 billion cap would be paid to the Treasury.

    Thus, the third amendment eliminated the escalating dividend payments that threatened to overwhelm both Fannie and Freddie. But it also eliminated either company’s ability to earn a profit for as long as they were bound by the third amendment.
    Now comes the meat and potatoes:

    At least according to the Collins plaintiffs, Fannie and Freddie’s fortunes improved around the same time that this third amendment went into effect. The plaintiffs claim that this third amendment “netted the federal government an astonishing windfall of $124 billion,” and they insist the third amendment must be invalidated — and that all the money that Fannie and Freddie paid to the government under that amendment must be credited back to the two companies.
    So why should anyone give a crap about an internal squabble over $124 billion dollars? Well:

    Most federal agencies are under the full control of the president. If the president wants to fire a Cabinet secretary, for example, they may do so at any time and for any reason. And thus the president can use this ability to remove agency leaders to ensure that those leaders do not implement policies that the president finds objectionable.

    The FHFA, however, is unusual in that its director serves a five-year term and can only be removed by the president “for cause.” Thus, the FHFA director has some job security in the event the president wants to remove them.

    At least according to Scalia, such an arrangement violates the Constitution. The Constitution provides that “the executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States.” This provision, according to Scalia’s dissenting opinion in Morrison v. Olson(1988), “does not mean some of the executive power, but all of the executive power.” Thus, if a federal official has the power to execute a federal law, they must be fireable either by the president or by someone else who is ultimately accountable to the president.

    This theory, that all federal officials who execute federal laws must be accountable to the president, is known as the “unitary executive.” When Scalia embraced this theory, he was all alone — Morrison was a 7-1 decision with Scalia in a solitary dissent. But that dissent gained a cult following among conservative lawyers, some of whom now sit on the Supreme Court. Justice Brett Kavanaugh said in 2016 that he wanted to “put the final nail” in the Morrison majority opinion’s coffin.

    For the moment, at least, Scalia’s vision remains a dream deferred. Current law allows for the existence of agencies such as the Federal Reserve or the Federal Communications Commission, which are led by multi-member boards made up of individuals who can only be fired for cause. But last June, in Seila Law v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Supreme Court held that it is unconstitutional for an agency to have a single director who cannot be fired at will by the president.

    The Collins plaintiffs did not bring this case solely so they can get a court order allowing Biden to fire Trump’s FHFA director. To the contrary, they argue that radical consequences flow from the fact that directors of the FHFA have operated under the assumption that they can only be fired for cause. Senior executive branch officials, they claim, must “be appointed in the manner specified by the [Constitution] and subject to oversight by the President.” If these constraints “are not observed, the official’s actions are ultra vires and must be set aside.”

    Taken to its logical extreme, this argument could mean that literally everything the FHFA has ever done in its 12 years of existence is invalid. Because the Court also invalidated the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) single-director structure in Seila Law, the Collins plaintiffs’ arguments also suggest that everything that the CFPB did prior to Seila Law may also be invalid.
    A foreboding conclusion on what this conservative attempt at gerrymandering the rules governing agency heads, and injecting SCOTUS into government policy:

    To be clear on what’s happening here: The plaintiffs’ arguments threaten a dozen years of work by a federal agency that very well may have rescued the US housing market and prevented what one country’s former finance minister described as “Armageddon.” Those plaintiffs offer constitutional arguments that, until fairly recently, were widely viewed as extreme and were rejected by the overwhelming majority of the Court. But then they ask for a carefully tailored remedy: invalidation of the third amendment of the Treasury agreement.

    That makes no sense. If the FHFA lacks the power to act while its director cannot be fired at will by the president, then everything the FHFA has done up to this point is invalid. There’s no principled way to carve out the third amendment.

    And yet seven of the 16 appeals court judges that heard this case voted to give the Collins plaintiffs exactly what they ask for: a court order invalidating the third amendment and only the third amendment. As Judge Don Willett wrote in a thinly reasoned dissenting opinion that barely explains why such a gerrymandered remedy could be justified, “the Third Amendment is the smallest independent agreement that caused the Shareholders’ injury, so that is what to rescind.”

    Collins v. Mnuchin is a monster of a case. It is complicated. The potential consequences are enormous. And the amount of money at stake is more than the gross domestic product of the entire nation of Ecuador.
    More than the GDP of a major S. American country. To say nothing of eliminating the ability of critical agencies to be somewhat outside the whims of a sitting president to control.
    Last edited by ReluctantSamurai; 12-08-2020 at 17:11.
    High Plains Drifter

  7. #67

    Default Re: Economic Shenanigans / Market Crisis

    EDIT: On the COVID front, I am aware of at least the UK (Pfizer-bioNtech), China, and Russia currently administering vaccine doses to the general population. By the time a round is tolerably-available to me it should be one of the easier-handling formulations we've been hearing about. Two negative antibody tests up to today, fingers crossed I clear the bend. (Come to think of it, I'll probably take a third just before I'm vaccinated, for assurances' sake.)


    Quote Originally Posted by ReluctantSamurai View Post
    Here is a case that's been ongoing quietly under the radar, but has consequences equal to, or even greater than the coming battle over [FONT=comic sans ms]Roe vs Wade [FONT=arial][FONT=verdana]or the ACA, IMHO:

    https://www.vox.com/22106497/supreme...cutive-housing
    The topic of unitary executive regarding executive branch, or independent, agencies/officials was also raised at some point in the election thread. As usual the Republicans won't admit to the heat of the fire they're playing with (the jurisprudence is implausible as usual, to put it kindly, but jurisprudence is beside the point today). If the president has unlimited authority to dispose of federal office(r)s as they please, we will be put on the slippery slope to indulging in that power ourselves in a desperate bid to stay afloat; executive power will increasingly be the only meaningful sort as long as Congress is disabled. (See even Obama with respect to Bush-era executive expansion.)

    An example of a damaging side effect of this doctrine would appear to be the invalidation of all federal legal provisions, going back to the famous Pendleton Act of the 19th century, that regularize the civil service on the basis of merit rather than political nepotism. Even Trump has struggled to fire (as opposed to "reassign") career bureaucrats, particularly those with military rank, because as I understand it they have for-cause protections from even a president (I could be wrong and these are just another normative holdover against deleterious top-down micromanagement). Under a unitary executive no position could have any sort of conditional insulation from the whims of the chief. That development would be potentially fatal to the professional ethos of the civil service that we've painstakingly and pridefully built in this country (we do have some accomplishments to our name) and generate even greater bureaucratic dysfunction in its place.

    Speaking of which...

    Executive Order 13957: Creating Schedule F in the Excepted Service is a presidential executive order issued by President Donald Trump (R) on October 21, 2020, that directed agencies to reclassify federal civil service employees in the competitive service who serve in policy-related roles as members of the excepted service.[1][2]

    Background
    The order instructed agencies to reclassify competitive service employees who serve in "confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating positions and that are not normally subject to change as a result of a Presidential transition” as members of the newly created Schedule F within the excepted service.[1][3]

    The classification change, according to the order, aimed to give agency heads greater flexibility in the appointment of staff members who serve in policy-related positions. The order also claimed that the change would make it easier for agency management to remove poor-performing employees. Though the change made the qualifying employees ineligible for the adverse action protections of the competitive service, the order directed agencies to develop rules that create similar protections for Schedule F employees. The order also instructed the Federal Labor Relations Authority to determine whether Schedule F positions should be eligible for union membership.[1][4]

    Competitive vs. excepted service
    See also: Civil service
    Members of the competitive service are hired according to a neutral, merit-based selection process and have protections against at-will removal by their supervisors. Members of the excepted service, on the other hand, are hired by agencies to fill certain positions for which candidates cannot be appropriately assessed through the merit-based selection process, and do not share in the competitive service's at-will removal protections.
    Sad.

    At least according to the Collins plaintiffs, Fannie and Freddie’s fortunes improved around the same time that this third amendment went into effect. The plaintiffs claim that this third amendment “netted the federal government an astonishing windfall of $124 billion,”
    Sounds like good government tbh. The feds made a whole lot of money from emergency loans during the recession: bailouts are better than no bailouts.

    That makes no sense. If the FHFA lacks the power to act while its director cannot be fired at will by the president, then everything the FHFA has done up to this point is invalid. There’s no principled way to carve out the third amendment.
    Republican severability doctrine makes more sense when you recall the secret subclause, "heads I win tails you lose."

    Heck it, new constitutional principle: For the Equal Protection (of the laws) clause of the 14th Amendment to be realized, it is prerequisite that all citizens maintain a roughly-similar proportion of national wealth to one another. Let's see where that runs in an expanded court.
    Last edited by Montmorency; 12-09-2020 at 04:14. Reason: Coronavirus
    Vitiate Man.

    History repeats the old conceits
    The glib replies, the same defeats


    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 



  8. #68
    Senior Member Senior Member ReluctantSamurai's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    2,483

    Default Re: Economic Shenanigans / Market Crisis

    Sounds like good government tbh. The feds made a whole lot of money from emergency loans during the recession
    Fannie & Freddie would have gone under had the Federal Government not intervened, and in the process, the Feds became one of the larger holders of real estate in the country (as I understand it). I don't have a problem with the Feds making back some of the money they pumped into F & F, but I wonder if there are conflicts of interest in the whole arrangement that I don't see...

    The prospect of expanding "unitary executive" is what caught my eye. And yes, it can be abused by Republican and Democrat alike. It will be interesting to see where SCOTUS goes with this.
    High Plains Drifter

  9. #69
    Senior Member Senior Member ReluctantSamurai's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    2,483

    Default Re: Economic Shenanigans / Market Crisis

    Here are some eye-opening numbers:

    https://www.nationofchange.org/2020/...-person-in-us/

    “As tens of millions of Americans suffer from the health and economic ravages of this pandemic, a few hundred billionaires add to their massive fortunes,” ATF executive director Frank Clemente said in a statement. “Their pandemic profits are so immense that America’s billionaires could pay for a major Covid relief bill and still not lose a dime of their pre-virus riches.”
    https://americansfortaxfairness.org/...andemic-began/

    The collective wealth of America’s 651 billionaires has jumped by over $1 trillion since roughly the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to a total of $4 trillion at market close on Monday, December 7, 2020. Their wealth growth since March is more than the $908 billion in pandemic relief proposed by a bipartisan group of members of Congress, which is likely to be the package that moves forward for a vote in the next week, but has been stalled over Republican concerns that it is too costly.
    The $1 trillion wealth gain by 651 U.S. billionaires since mid-March is:
    More than it would cost to send a stimulus check of $3,000 to every one of the roughly 330 million people in America. A family of four would receive over $12,000. Republicans have blocked new stimulus checks from being included in the pandemic relief package.

    Double the two-year estimated budget gap of all state and local governments, which is forecast to be at least $500 billion. By June, state and local governments had already laid off 1.5 million workers and public services—especially education—faced steep budget cuts.

    Only slightly less than total federal spending on Medicare ($644 billion in 2019) and Medicaid ($389 billion in FY2019), which together serve 120 million Americans (69 million in Medicaid, 63 million in Medicare, less 12 million enrolled in both).

    Nearly four times the $267 billion total in stimulus payments made to 159 million people earlier this year.

    At $4 trillion the total wealth of all U.S. billionaires today is nearly double the $2.1 trillion in total wealth held by the bottom half of the population, or 165 million Americans.


    Last edited by ReluctantSamurai; 12-11-2020 at 19:06.
    High Plains Drifter

    Member thankful for this post:



  10. #70

    Default Re: Economic Shenanigans / Market Crisis

    International corporate accountability, financial/environmenal regulation, and tax (even wage) floors. Most countries wouldn't be covered at first, but there isn't much risk of billionaires or megacorps relocating to Ivory Coast, for example.

    The US is currently the top tax haven on the planet. That will have to change. But if any of the island or microstates around would prefer to take up the torch, an international Alliance would be well within its rights to outright conquer it and direct a new dispensation.


    Also, wow. Early 1900s sure were a rotten time to be sub-wealthy. Glad we're deep into the new Gilded Age:



    Last edited by Montmorency; 12-11-2020 at 23:49.
    Vitiate Man.

    History repeats the old conceits
    The glib replies, the same defeats


    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 



  11. #71
    Ja mata, TosaInu Forum Administrator edyzmedieval's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Fortress of the Mountains
    Posts
    11,389

    Default Re: Economic Shenanigans / Market Crisis

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...nflation-fears

    Next up on our economic plate, the scary I word - Inflation.

    While it's true that the stimulus spending packages both in the USA and the EU give a significant worry to those focused on market fundamentals, and seeing the stability of the economic model go awry, we have to consider that there's still a pandemic around us. Still, prices, in Europe at least, of essential goods, are slowly creeping up...
    Ja mata, TosaInu. You will forever be remembered.

    Proud

    Been to:

    Swords Made of Letters - 1938. The war is looming in France - and Alexandre Reythier does not have much time left to protect his country. A novel set before the war.

    A Painted Shield of Honour - 1313. Templar Knights in France are in grave danger. Can they be saved?

  12. #72
    Senior Member Senior Member ReluctantSamurai's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    2,483

    Default Re: Economic Shenanigans / Market Crisis

    I don't know how much Bloomberg News is the mouthpiece of the man himself, but he is a self-described autocrat who thinks he can solve democracy's problems by simply writing a check....

    Where was all this concern about inflation back in 2006-07, or when the GOP handed big business huge tax cuts in 2017? He may be right about the current status of inflation problems, but make no mistake, he's a bottom-line businessman with politics more related to the GOP than the Dems....
    High Plains Drifter

  13. #73
    Ja mata, TosaInu Forum Administrator edyzmedieval's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Fortress of the Mountains
    Posts
    11,389

    Default Re: Economic Shenanigans / Market Crisis

    I think we're amalgamating a bit the details - Bloomberg News is by far the most used market data / economics news company around the world, because they provide a lot of raw data which is sourced properly, which companies around the world use. I'm a very big fan of the system / company in itself, the data is reliable and accurate. (not always but you get the idea)

    Also there's no link between personal and business, editorial line I mean.

    As for inflation, this happens when there's too much money on the market which is what happens now.
    Ja mata, TosaInu. You will forever be remembered.

    Proud

    Been to:

    Swords Made of Letters - 1938. The war is looming in France - and Alexandre Reythier does not have much time left to protect his country. A novel set before the war.

    A Painted Shield of Honour - 1313. Templar Knights in France are in grave danger. Can they be saved?

  14. #74

    Default Re: Economic Shenanigans / Market Crisis

    As far as I can find inflation has remained very low in the US and Europe?
    Vitiate Man.

    History repeats the old conceits
    The glib replies, the same defeats


    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 



  15. #75
    Senior Member Senior Member ReluctantSamurai's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    2,483

    Default Re: Economic Shenanigans / Market Crisis

    As for inflation, this happens when there's too much money on the market which is what happens now.
    An oversimplification, I think. Economics has never been a strong suit of mine, but it seems to me the money is becoming more concentrated in the hands of a few, even more than before. Here in the states, that "too much money on the market" is being used by the GOP to strongly push for ending COVID relief (and by market, I assume you're referring to stock markets?). Tell that to the millions who still can't feed their families or pay their mortgages....hence my reference to politics....
    High Plains Drifter

  16. #76
    Ja mata, TosaInu Forum Administrator edyzmedieval's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Fortress of the Mountains
    Posts
    11,389

    Default Re: Economic Shenanigans / Market Crisis

    Per the Morning Brew newsletter I received yesterday morning:

    Food: A UN food price index soared 40% in May, the largest jump in a decade. Low-income countries will suffer the worst effects of this food inflation.
    https://www.ft.com/content/8b5f4b4d-...e=morning_brew
    Ja mata, TosaInu. You will forever be remembered.

    Proud

    Been to:

    Swords Made of Letters - 1938. The war is looming in France - and Alexandre Reythier does not have much time left to protect his country. A novel set before the war.

    A Painted Shield of Honour - 1313. Templar Knights in France are in grave danger. Can they be saved?

  17. #77

    Default Re: Economic Shenanigans / Market Crisis

    Updated version of "A comparison of worker pay, worker productivity, and CEO Pay from 1950 to 2020".

    Spoilered so as not to break your view.

    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 


    Vitiate Man.

    History repeats the old conceits
    The glib replies, the same defeats


    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 



  18. #78
    Coffee farmer extraordinaire Member spmetla's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Kona, Hawaii
    Posts
    2,985

    Default Re: Economic Shenanigans / Market Crisis

    An interesting .gov website looking at US revenue and expenses. Enjoying looking at this while contemplating our oncoming debt ceiling dilemma. Certainly easier to navigate than past iterations.

    Government Revenue
    https://datalab.usaspending.gov/amer...guide/revenue/

    Government Spending

    https://www.usaspending.gov/explorer/agency

    Crazy how little revenue the govt gets from Corporate taxes!

    Also crazy how the interest we pay on our national debt is $524 billion all on its own.
    Last edited by spmetla; 10-02-2021 at 04:19.

    "Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?"
    -Abraham Lincoln


    Four stage strategy from Yes, Minister:
    Stage one we say nothing is going to happen.
    Stage two, we say something may be about to happen, but we should do nothing about it.
    Stage three, we say that maybe we should do something about it, but there's nothing we can do.
    Stage four, we say maybe there was something we could have done, but it's too late now.

  19. #79

    Default Re: Economic Shenanigans / Market Crisis

    Vitiate Man.

    History repeats the old conceits
    The glib replies, the same defeats


    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 



  20. #80
    Ja mata, TosaInu Forum Administrator edyzmedieval's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Fortress of the Mountains
    Posts
    11,389

    Default Re: Economic Shenanigans / Market Crisis

    Speaking of shenanigans with an economic impact... Facebook / Instagram / WhatsApp have been down right now for almost 4 hours, a major major internet blackout.

    https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/4/2...whatsapp-error
    Ja mata, TosaInu. You will forever be remembered.

    Proud

    Been to:

    Swords Made of Letters - 1938. The war is looming in France - and Alexandre Reythier does not have much time left to protect his country. A novel set before the war.

    A Painted Shield of Honour - 1313. Templar Knights in France are in grave danger. Can they be saved?

  21. #81
    Praefectus Fabrum Senior Member Anime BlackJack Champion, Flash Poker Champion, Word Up Champion, Shape Game Champion, Snake Shooter Champion, Fishwater Challenge Champion, Rocket Racer MX Champion, Jukebox Hero Champion, My House Is Bigger Than Your House Champion, Funky Pong Champion, Cutie Quake Champion, Fling The Cow Champion, Tiger Punch Champion, Virus Champion, Solitaire Champion, Worm Race Champion, Rope Walker Champion, Penguin Pass Champion, Skate Park Champion, Watch Out Champion, Lawn Pac Champion, Weapons Of Mass Destruction Champion, Skate Boarder Champion, Lane Bowling Champion, Bugz Champion, Makai Grand Prix 2 Champion, White Van Man Champion, Parachute Panic Champion, BlackJack Champion, Stans Ski Jumping Champion, Smaugs Treasure Champion, Sofa Longjump Champion Seamus Fermanagh's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Latibulm mali regis in muris.
    Posts
    11,450

    Default Re: Economic Shenanigans / Market Crisis

    Quote Originally Posted by Montmorency View Post
    Careful with the sexist references Monty. There are more elegant ways to signal your opinion of the former PM -- and it is not as though you are alone in your less-than-stellar opinion of him.
    "The only way that has ever been discovered to have a lot of people cooperate together voluntarily is through the free market. And that's why it's so essential to preserving individual freedom.” -- Milton Friedman

    "The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule." -- H. L. Mencken

  22. #82

    Default Re: Economic Shenanigans / Market Crisis

    You're right, I should update my Britishisms.
    Vitiate Man.

    History repeats the old conceits
    The glib replies, the same defeats


    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 



  23. #83
    Praefectus Fabrum Senior Member Anime BlackJack Champion, Flash Poker Champion, Word Up Champion, Shape Game Champion, Snake Shooter Champion, Fishwater Challenge Champion, Rocket Racer MX Champion, Jukebox Hero Champion, My House Is Bigger Than Your House Champion, Funky Pong Champion, Cutie Quake Champion, Fling The Cow Champion, Tiger Punch Champion, Virus Champion, Solitaire Champion, Worm Race Champion, Rope Walker Champion, Penguin Pass Champion, Skate Park Champion, Watch Out Champion, Lawn Pac Champion, Weapons Of Mass Destruction Champion, Skate Boarder Champion, Lane Bowling Champion, Bugz Champion, Makai Grand Prix 2 Champion, White Van Man Champion, Parachute Panic Champion, BlackJack Champion, Stans Ski Jumping Champion, Smaugs Treasure Champion, Sofa Longjump Champion Seamus Fermanagh's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Latibulm mali regis in muris.
    Posts
    11,450

    Default Re: Economic Shenanigans / Market Crisis

    RS:

    By definition, monies coming from other countries fall under the oversight of the Federal government -- that's pretty well established in the Constitution. I have little problem with fed regulation etc. in such an instance. Even if the "shell game" involved only multiple states, the feds could still legitimately step in.
    "The only way that has ever been discovered to have a lot of people cooperate together voluntarily is through the free market. And that's why it's so essential to preserving individual freedom.” -- Milton Friedman

    "The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule." -- H. L. Mencken

  24. #84

    Default Re: Economic Shenanigans / Market Crisis

    Despite an estimated 10 million job openings in the country, August saw a reportedly-high rate of quits among workers, with 3% of the (non-farm) workforce quitting their jobs in September; in fact, there have been similarly-elevated, and increasing, rates of quits throughout the year. This is also despite a steady level, relative to pre-pandemic, of overall separations (e.g. layoffs and other job losses). Here it is also important to note that a quits rate of over 2% per month was typical throughout 2019, reflecting the churn of an economy in the most active phase of expansion, but I suppose the elite expectation going into 2021 was that the economic precarity intensified by the pandemic would subdue the expectations and behavior of labor.

    Losses have been particularly massive, on a continuing basis, in food and hospitality, retail, business services, and healthcare. It is thought, and has been reported all year, that there is a rising undercurrent of broad labor dissatisfaction with low wage, low benefit, low security, high stress jobs. The move into, or reclassification into, gig, contract, freelance, and temporary work - now representing a full third of the labor force - is forebodingly-ominous by those standards.

    (I'd also like to note that immigration and women's labor force participation are still both way down since at least February 2020...)

    So despite the rates of separations and hiring actually being roughly the same as in 2018-19, an unprecedented surge in labor demand has combined with geographical and sectoral concentration or reassessment of supply to produce a so-called "labor shortage." Robert Reich seemingly likes to think of it as a generalized rebellion against the service industry within late capitalism, which is too purposive and focused a read in my mind, though optimists would certainly feel impelled to fit this data as a stage along a rumbling trend of popular backlash to exploitation in advanced societies.

    "In reality, there's a living wage shortage, a hazard pay shortage, a childcare shortage, a paid sick leave shortage, and a health care shortage – and American workers are demanding an end to all these shortages. Or they won't return to work."

    Among other aggravating factors, BLS' report highlighted parents struggling to return to the workplace as a result of high childcare fees.

    Reich added that since the COVID-19 pandemic, some workers retired, found other income or "simply don't want to return to backbreaking, low-wage s*** jobs."

    In September, the unemployment rate slid to 4.8 percent, the lowest rate since the start of the pandemic; however, one factor that contributed to the drop was that 183,000 people weren't counted as jobless because they did not look for work.

    The labor force participation rate dropped to 61.6 percent in September, below the 63 percent experienced pre-pandemic.

    "In other words," Reich wrote, "many American workers are now engaged in the equivalent of a general strike."
    Last edited by Montmorency; 10-13-2021 at 05:50.
    Vitiate Man.

    History repeats the old conceits
    The glib replies, the same defeats


    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 



  25. #85

    Default Re: Economic Shenanigans / Market Crisis

    US Women Still Less Likely than Men to Be in Work or School; Gap Grows with Age
    The pandemic turned many things upside down, but not the education or employment gender gap, according to a new CEPR analysis released today. Young women at all age levels are less likely than young men at all age levels to be in school or working. Furthermore, that gap widens as women enter their late 30s and early 30s.

    CEPR researchers Shawn Fremstad, Julie Cai, and Tamara Sokolowsky used the “NEET” rate — an internationally recognized measure of an age group that is Not in Employment, Education, or Training — to find that gender differences in higher education or employment are narrowest at ages 20–24, but they widen at ages 25–29 and 30–34, mostly because “more women than men [take] on greater unpaid care obligations.”

    That’s not the case in Sweden, a country with expansive work-family policies. Only about 10 percent of Swedish women ages 30–34 were not in employment or education in 2020 compared to about 29 percent of US women in the same age range.
    Young Men Aren’t Falling Behind Young Women
    In the figures below, we add to that picture by charting the percentage of young men and young women who are not in school or paid employment, segmented by age levels. Internationally, this is sometimes referred to as the “not in employment, education, or training,” or NEET rate, a term we use here with the caveat that it isn’t clear how well short-term job training is captured in US data.
    [...]
    While the NEET rate is a useful indicator, it’s also important to note that it underestimates gender gaps when it comes to labor force attachment. This is because people who are “not in education or employment” include unemployed people (people in the labor force and actively looking for work) and people not in the labor force. If the numerator of the NEET rate excluded unemployed people who were looking for work (and not in school), the gender gap would widen somewhat because men are more likely to be unemployed and women are more likely to be out of the labor force.

    The widening gender gap in NEET rates as young women enter their late 20s and early 30s is largely, if not exclusively, due to more women than men taking on greater unpaid care obligations. The current NEET gender gap for adults ages 25–34 who live with one or more of their own minor children is roughly 23 percentage points, while among adults in the same age range not caring for children, there is currently no meaningful gap (but there was a small one prior to 2020). One result is the well-documented “motherhood wage penalty” — the fact that mothers earn less than both men and childless women with similar educational levels and other characteristics.

    Countries with expansive work-family policies, including paid leave and universal childcare have lower NEET rates for young adults and narrower NEET gender gaps than the United States. In Sweden, for example, there is no meaningful NEET gender gap at ages 20–24, and only a 3 percentage point gap in ages 30–34. Only about 10 percent of Swedish women ages 30–34 were not in employment or education in 2020 compared to about 29 percent of US women in the same age range.

    The Build Back Better and infrastructure bills currently moving through Congress would increase the educational attainment, health, well-being, employment, and incomes of the diverse American working class. But for both young men and young women in the working-class to benefit in a roughly equal manner, both the infrastructure legislation and the economic security provisions in the Build Back Better Act, including universal childcare, paid family leave, and child allowances, need to be included.




    Vitiate Man.

    History repeats the old conceits
    The glib replies, the same defeats


    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 



  26. #86
    Coffee farmer extraordinaire Member spmetla's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Kona, Hawaii
    Posts
    2,985

    Default Re: Economic Shenanigans / Market Crisis

    Anyone heard anything about the debt ceiling? I know it was punted until December but doesn't look like raising it is being including into the BBB plan so are we just going to have another Xmas showdown/crisis?

    "Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?"
    -Abraham Lincoln


    Four stage strategy from Yes, Minister:
    Stage one we say nothing is going to happen.
    Stage two, we say something may be about to happen, but we should do nothing about it.
    Stage three, we say that maybe we should do something about it, but there's nothing we can do.
    Stage four, we say maybe there was something we could have done, but it's too late now.

  27. #87
    Senior Member Senior Member ReluctantSamurai's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    2,483

    Default Re: Economic Shenanigans / Market Crisis

    A couple of weeks old, but it does a pretty good job of explaining the Dems options:

    https://www.cbsnews.com/news/debt-ce...st-2021-10-07/

    McConnell is on record stating that there will be no Republican support for anything the Democrats try...despite the fact he was responsible for raising the limit himself along with his colleagues (in 2017, if I'm not mistaken...)
    High Plains Drifter

  28. #88
    Coffee farmer extraordinaire Member spmetla's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Kona, Hawaii
    Posts
    2,985

    Default Re: Economic Shenanigans / Market Crisis

    I'm tracking the various options but I'm curious what they're actually going to try and do, like actually do. BBB and infrastructure won't mean squat if the Rs are willing to tank the US economy and standing in the world for the sake of helping them in '22. If a a one time rule change needs to happen then so be it but sort that out first. Waiting for another crisis moment to hope that we can kick the can down the road a few more months is lunacy as it wouldn't secure any stability and therefore the economic recovery and the markets will always lag and the economic slowing/stagnation will ensure Republican success is widespread in the midterms.
    I'm sure that of course this is being dealt with behind closed doors at the moment but I wouldn't bank on the Rs flinching again. Patriotism certainly doesn't win out over opportunism with them anymore.

    "Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?"
    -Abraham Lincoln


    Four stage strategy from Yes, Minister:
    Stage one we say nothing is going to happen.
    Stage two, we say something may be about to happen, but we should do nothing about it.
    Stage three, we say that maybe we should do something about it, but there's nothing we can do.
    Stage four, we say maybe there was something we could have done, but it's too late now.

  29. #89
    Senior Member Senior Member ReluctantSamurai's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    2,483

    Default Re: Economic Shenanigans / Market Crisis

    If either party allows for a default, there will be another riot at the US capital, and they won't be wearing MAGA hats this time. Corporate donors for both parties will want heads, as they would lose billions on a default. Not to mention what other countries around the world might have to say, because if the US economy tanks dramatically, that destabilizes the world market.

    It's a political game of chicken being played, but both sides realize what's at stake...
    High Plains Drifter

  30. #90
    Ja mata, TosaInu Forum Administrator edyzmedieval's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Fortress of the Mountains
    Posts
    11,389

    Default Re: Economic Shenanigans / Market Crisis

    Speaking of shenanigans, how are you guys feeling the inflation?

    Inflation in the Eastern Europe neck of the woods is up to even 6% in some places. ( https://www.romania-insider.com/inde...tion-sept-2021 )
    Ja mata, TosaInu. You will forever be remembered.

    Proud

    Been to:

    Swords Made of Letters - 1938. The war is looming in France - and Alexandre Reythier does not have much time left to protect his country. A novel set before the war.

    A Painted Shield of Honour - 1313. Templar Knights in France are in grave danger. Can they be saved?

Page 3 of 4 FirstFirst 1234 LastLast

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Single Sign On provided by vBSSO