Bernanke urges caution in overly rapid deficit cutting. WASHINGTON – Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke defended the central bank's decision to hold interest rates at record-low levels for the next three years, during a contentious hearing Thursday before federal lawmakers. The Fed chief told the House Budget Committee that the central bank's plan is an appropriate step to combat high unemployment while inflation is stable. Bernanke was challenged immediately on the issue by the panel's chairman, Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, who said the Fed's move would risk higher inflation and hurt growth. STORY: Fed: Interest rates unchanged, no hikes likely till late 2014 "This policy runs the great risk of fueling asset bubbles, destabilizing prices and eventually eroding the value of the dollar," Ryan told Bernanke. "The prospect of all three is adding to uncertainty and holding our economy back.
" Bernanke disagreed. The Fed chair testified one week after the Fed signaled that a full recovery could take at least three more years. Rep. Rep. Obama budget to miss deficit goal. By Richard Wolf, USA TODAY Updated 2012-02-10 6:56 PM President Obama with Jacob Lew, his former budget director, last month upon Lew's promotion to White House chief of staff. Updated at 6:30 p.m. President Obama's proposed 2013 budget will forecast a $901 billion deficit for next year, falling far short of his goal to halve the deficit in four years.
The budget, an outline of which was released by the White House Friday night, will show a higher deficit this year than in 2011, up from $1.3 trillion to $1.33 trillion. In addition, the projected decline to $901 billion in 2013 is dependent on enactment of the president's policies, including spending reductions agreed to last summer and ending George W. For weeks, White House officials have said the budget would make little news because many of its elements were well known: But the outline released Friday includes a few details sure to draw attention on Monday, when Obama releases the full 2013 spending plan: See photos of: Barack Obama. Obama's Deficit Reduction Promise. U.S. to hit debt limit before election day. Thanks For Paying Taxes. Here's A Receipt. : Planet Money. Chart: 'America’s Per Capita Government Debt Worse Than Greece' A.I.G. Earnings an Illusion of a Bend in U.S. Tax Laws.
ReutersRobert Benmosche, the chief executive of the American International Group since 2009, at his villa in Dubrovnik, Croatia. Last week, the American International Group reported a whopping $19.8 billion profit for its fourth quarter. It was a quite a feat for a company that was on its death bed just a little over three years ago, so sick that it needed a huge taxpayer bailout. But if you dug into the numbers, it quickly became clear that $17.7 billion of that profit was pure fantasy — a tax benefit, er, gift, from the United States government. The company made only $1.6 billion during the quarter from actual operations. Yet A.I.G. not only received a tax benefit, it is unlikely to pay a cent of taxes this year, nor by some estimates, for at least a decade. The tax benefit is notable for more than simply its size.
It is the result of a rule that the Treasury unilaterally bent for A.I.G. and several other hobbled companies in 2008 that has largely been overlooked. S.E.C. Is Avoiding Tough Sanctions for Large Banks. Psychologists explain financial market madness. MELBOURNE -- Some economists have described the Great Financial Crisis (GFC) as the worst financial downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
While data on the causes and effects of the economic catastrophe are still being gathered, a group of global psychologists are providing some insights. Co-edited by RMIT University's Adjunct Professor Susan Long, Towards a Socioanalysis of Money, Finance and Capitalism is a book that applies psychoanalysis to explain the decisions which triggered the financial collapse. "Many key factors that led to the financial crisis were due to wishful thinking, when leaders fooled themselves that various risks could be overcome despite evidence to the contrary,” RMIT University's Adjunct Prof.
Long explained. The book is based on a study that suggests that fear and anxiety among the highest level of management contributed significantly to the disaster. "Too often that anxiety is managed by bravado, avoidance or other such defences. Adjunct Prof. Obama Readies Plan to Cut Corporate Tax Rate. The Obama administration will propose today reducing the U.S. corporate tax rate to 28 percent from 35 percent along with removing tax breaks for companies to help offset lost revenue, an administration official said.
The plan would eliminate dozens of tax breaks and reshape the current manufacturing deduction to reduce the tax rate on manufacturing to 25 percent, according to the official, who outlined the proposal on condition of anonymity because it hadn’t been released. The restructured tax code would still include incentives for research and development and renewable energy. President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner have said corporate taxation is an issue that could provide an area for agreement with congressional Republicans and business groups. The plan may face opposition from Republicans who want net tax cuts, corporations who say the rate reduction should be deeper and companies that would lose tax breaks they now enjoy. International Competitiveness.
Blaming Capitalism for Corporatism - Edmund S. Phelps and Saifedean Ammous. Blaming Capitalism for Corporatism - The shift of power from owners and innovators to state officials is the antithesis of capitalism : Economics. Timothy Noah: The Mobility Myth. When Americans express indifference about the problem of unequal incomes, it’s usually because they see the United States as a land of boundless opportunity. Sure, you’ll hear it said, our country has pretty big income disparities compared with Western Europe. And sure, those disparities have been widening in recent decades. But stark economic inequality is the price we pay for living in a dynamic economy with avenues to advancement that the class-bound Old World can only dream about.
We may have less equality of economic outcomes, but we have a lot more equality of economic opportunity. The problem is, this isn’t true. IN THE 1830s, Alexis de Tocqueville wrote that, in notable contrast to the “aristocratic nations” of Europe, the United States was a place where “new families are constantly springing up, others are constantly falling away, and all that remain change their condition.”
Born half a century apart, neither Alger nor Adams could claim to have risen from the bottom. Employment Jumps; Rate 8.3%, 243,000 New Jobs Created - US Business News. Both numbers were far better than consensus, which expected a growth of 150,000 jobs and a steady unemployment rate of 8.5 percent. The stock marketrallied on the jobs news, with gains of better than 1 percent, while bond yieldssurged as well to push the benchmark 10-year Treasury to 1.93 percent. "What’s not to like about the report?
" said Andrew Wilkinson, chief economic strategist at Miller Tabak in New York. "Not only did payrolls exceed forecasts...but between the November and December revisions employers added 160,000 more jobs than first thought. " The overall work week remained unchanged at 34.5 hours while wages rose an average of four cents an hour to $23.29. On the downside, the closely watched labor-force participation number, which can skew the unemployment rate, fell to 63.7 percent, the lowest since May 1983. The January numbers can be volatile as the Bureau of Labor Statistics makes seasonal adjustments. Record 1.2 Million People Fall Out Of Labor Force In One Month, Labor Force Participation Rate Tumbles To Fresh 30 Year Low.
A month ago, we joked when we said that for Obama to get the unemployment rate to negative by election time, all he has to do is to crush the labor force participation rate to about 55%. Looks like the good folks at the BLS heard us: it appears that the people not in the labor force exploded by an unprecedented record 1.2 million. No, that's not a typo: 1.2 million people dropped out of the labor force in one month! So as the labor force increased from 153.9 million to 154.4 million, the non institutional population increased by 242.3 million meaning, those not in the labor force surged from 86.7 million to 87.9 million. Which means that the civilian labor force tumbled to a fresh 30 year low of 63.7% as the BLS is seriously planning on eliminating nearly half of the available labor pool from the unemployment calculation. Chart below shows it all - that jump is not a fat finger! And Labor Force Participation: Chart: Bloomberg. Santelli: Here's What's Wrong With the Jobs Number.
Controller: State to run out of cash in March without action. California will run out of cash by early March if the state does not take swift action to find $3.3 billion through payment delays and borrowing, according to a letter state Controller John Chiang sent to state lawmakers today. The announcement is surprising since lawmakers previously believed the state had enough cash to last through the fiscal year that ends in June.
But Chiang said additional cash management solutions are needed because state tax revenues are $2.6 billion less than what Gov. Jerry Brown and state lawmakers assumed in their optimistic budget last year. Meanwhile, Chiang said, the state is spending $2.6 billion more than state leaders planned on. The Assembly budget committee approved a bill today that would enable $865 million of borrowing from existing state accounts, Senate Bill 95. Absent these actions, the state would fall below its prudent $2.5 billion cash cushion on Feb. 29, Chiang estimated. Updated at noon to reflect comments from today's legislative hearing. Dependent Nation: Dependency Index Surges 23% Under President Obama; 67 Million Get Aid.
Job growth surges, jobless rate near 3-year low. Romney Says Obama Doesn’t Deserve Credit for January’s U.S. Payrolls Gain. Mitt Romney looked to solidify his front-runner status in the race for the Republican presidential nomination today with a win in today’s Nevada’s caucuses, with early results showing him ahead. Romney had 39 percent of the vote, with 8 percent of the precincts reporting, according to the Associated Press tally. Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich had 25 percent, followed by U.S. Representative Ron Paul of Texas with 22 percent and former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania with 13 percent. Signaling confidence about his prospects in Nevada, Romney left the state today for a rally in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Gingrich is seeking a better-than-expected showing in a contest that comes four days after the former Massachusetts governor beat him by 14 percentage points in Florida’s primary.
Colorado Speech In Colorado, Romney addressed a crowd at a metal-works factory. “He said if he borrowed that money he would be able to hold unemployment at below eight percent,” Romney said. January U.S. jobs rise 243,000; jobless rate 8.3% U.S. Stocks Jump on Upbeat Data. Dollar Gets No Respect Despite Economic Gains - US Business News Blog. Paul McGuire -- Illuminati Behind Global Government. By Paul McGuire February 7, 2012 NewsWithViews.com The destruction of the American economy and the dollar did not happen by accident.
It was a planned event, like the demise of the euro and other currencies around the world. There is no energy crisis: there are alternative sources of energy and there are vast oil reserves in the United States and around the world. There is no real food shortage, only the manipulation of crops through genetically altered terminator seeds and artificial shortages, for the purpose of population control. Winston Churchill seemed to be aware of the real roots of the Communist Revolution before he was ever Prime Minister of Great Britain. Every major political, economic and social crisis for over the last century has been planned and implemented by an international banking elite, guided by occult forces through Luciferian groups like the Illuminati.
This revolution in a parallel universe or invisible realm is being played out in our world in countless ways. Many Of You Will Not Believe Some Of The Things Americans Are Doing Just To Survive. You might not want to read this article if you have a weak stomach. Most Americans have absolutely no idea what is going on in the dark corners of America, and when people find out the truth it can come as quite a shock. Many of you will not believe some of the things Americans are doing just to survive.
Some families are living in sewers and drain tunnels, some families are living in tents, some families are living in their cars, some families will make ketchup soup for dinner tonight and some families are even eating rats. Some homeless shelters in America are so overloaded that they are actually sending people out to live in the woods. The following is a half hour documentary produced by the BBC entitled "Poor America". Wasn't that video absolutely mind blowing? Those of us that still live comfortably are often completely unaware of what life is like out on the streets of America at this point.
And more join the ranks of the hopeless with each passing day. Be Sociable, Share! Gallup Finds Unemployment Climbing to Nine Percent in February. A man looking for work stands on a street corner in Portland, Maine. (AP) (CNSNews.com) – Unemployment in the U.S. rose to nine percent in mid-February, up from 8.3 percent a month earlier, according to a new Gallup survey. The polling company said this suggests that it is “premature” to assume the economy will not feature prominently in the 2012 election season. Gallup figures typically provide an indication of what the government will report at the end of the month. “The U.S. unemployment rate, as measured by Gallup without seasonal adjustment, is 9.0% in mid-February,” Gallup said in its mid-month unemployment survey , released on February 17.
Gallup said the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) would likely report a rise in the official unemployment rate in early March, when it publishes its February figures. Gallup’s mid-month figures are not seasonally adjusted, and so may not predict the official unemployment rate precisely. Dow Closes at Highest Level in 4 Years. Obama to Congress : don't 'muck up' recovery. CBO: Longest Period of High Unemployment Since Great Depression. After three years with unemployment topping 8 percent, the U.S. has seen the longest period of high unemployment since the Great Depression, the Congressional Budget Office noted in a report issued today. [Dems Tout GOP Payroll Tax Plan as Political Victory.] And, despite some recent good news on the economic front, the CBO is still predicting that unemployment will remain above 8 percent until 2014.
The report also notes that, including those who haven't sought work in the past four weeks and those who are working part-time but seeking full-time employment, the unemployment rate would be 15 percent. The CBO made its comments in a report examining the long-term effects of joblessness, and possible policy options to boost employment, including unemployment insurance reforms and job training programs. The report came at the request of Democratic Michigan Rep. [Virginia is for Lovers—and Politicos.] aparker@usnews.com. Growing number of people become 'super-commuters' From 2002 to 2009 the number of super commuters grew in eight of the 10 largest U.S. metropolitan areas. (WTOP/Dave Dildine) Man commutes from Bethesda to Syracuse. WTOP's Kristi King reports. Download WASHINGTON - A growing number of people are traveling really long distances to work. Researchers call them "super-commuters.
" Many of them travel hundreds of miles from their homes to work. New York University's Rudin Center for Transportation reports from 2002 to 2009 the number of super-commuters grew in eight of the 10 largest U.S. metropolitan areas. The growth of super-commuters has occurred not just on the East Coast, but in cities such as Seattle and Houston, which had the greatest increase. The super-commuter is defined as someone who works in the central county of a given metropolitan area, but lives beyond the boundaries of that metropolitan area.
The use of computers, mobile phones and videoconferencing has contributed to the trend. Are you a super-commuter?