Unexpected: “Retail sales in the U.S. unexpectedly fell in March by the most in nine months as employment slowed, showing households ended the first quarter on softer footing.”
It’s Probably Nothing
Portugal Considers Paying Public Workers In Treasury Bills Instead Of Cash
It’s Probably Nothing
Robin Harding explains why David Stockman doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about: “David Frum” and inflation “at 1.3 per cent”.
March Jobs Reports
The US: “The unemployment rate fell to 7.6%, amid a drop in Labor Force Participation.”
Canada: “Following an increase the previous month, employment declined by 55,000 in March, all in full time. The unemployment rate rose 0.2 percentage points to 7.2%.”
Saskatchewan: “While employment in Saskatchewan was little changed in March, the province experienced the strongest year-over-year growth in the country, at 4.6%. The unemployment rate was 3.9% in March, still the lowest among all provinces.”
Note, CDN numbers are not comparable to US numbers, different means of measurement. As I understand it, if the US followed CDN metrics, the US would be around 13-14% unemployed.
It’s Probably Nothing
…the land down under is set to say goodbye to the world’s “reserve currency” in its trade dealings with the world’s biggest marginal economic power, China, and will enable the direct convertibility of the Australian dollar into Chinese yuan, without US Dollar intermediation, in the process “slashing costs for thousands of business” and also confirming speculation that China is fully intent on, little by little, chipping away at the dollar’s reserve currency status until one day it no longer is.
h/t peterj
The Decline And Fall Of The American Empire
Since the S.&P. 500 first reached its current level, in March 2000, the mad money printers at the Federal Reserve have expanded their balance sheet sixfold (to $3.2 trillion from $500 billion). Yet during that stretch, economic output has grown by an average of 1.7 percent a year (the slowest since the Civil War); real business investment has crawled forward at only 0.8 percent per year; and the payroll job count has crept up at a negligible 0.1 percent annually. Real median family income growth has dropped 8 percent, and the number of full-time middle class jobs, 6 percent. The real net worth of the “bottom” 90 percent has dropped by one-fourth. The number of food stamp and disability aid recipients has more than doubled, to 59 million, about one in five Americans.
So the Main Street economy is failing while Washington is piling a soaring debt burden on our descendants, unable to rein in either the warfare state or the welfare state or raise the taxes needed to pay the nation’s bills. By default, the Fed has resorted to a radical, uncharted spree of money printing. But the flood of liquidity, instead of spurring banks to lend and corporations to spend, has stayed trapped in the canyons of Wall Street, where it is inflating yet another unsustainable bubble.
When it bursts, there will be no new round of bailouts like the ones the banks got in 2008. Instead, America will descend into an era of zero-sum austerity and virulent political conflict, extinguishing even today’s feeble remnants of economic growth.
It’s Probably Nothing
Inquiring minds in Canada managed to slog through a massive 433 page budget proposal and discovered Depositor Haircut Bail-In Provisions For Systemically Important Banks.
Sure enough. Right on page 145 (PDF page 155) of the Canada Economic Action Plan for 2013 We see …“The Government proposes to implement a bail-in regime for systemically important banks. This regime will be designed to ensure that, in the unlikely event that a systemically important bank depletes its capital, the bank can be recapitalized and returned to viability through the very rapid conversion of certain bank liabilities into regulatory capital. This will reduce risks for taxpayers. The Government will consult stakeholders on how best to implement a bail- in regime in Canada. Implementation timelines will allow for a smooth transition for affected institutions, investors and other market participants.”
In case you are unfamiliar with bank parlance, deposits are not “assets” they are “liabilities”. A plan that would turn “certain bank liabilities” into regulatory capital is a plan to confiscate deposits.
h/t lots of you.
Honey, I Broke The Internet
[T]he attacks, which escalated over the past week, meant the Internet’s very infrastructure was overwhelmed with data – reaching 300 billion bits per second…
It’s Probably Nothing
Europe: No Need To Worry, The Fire’s Downstairs
Great Moments In Socialism
Cyprus “saved”;
The most positive aspect of last night’s deal was that a deal was reached at all, and that some steps have been taken to counter moral hazard. However, overall, this is a bad deal for Cyprus and the Cypriot population. Cypriot GDP is likely to collapse in the wake of the deal with the possible capital controls hampering the functioning of the economy. The large loan from the eurozone will push debt up to unsustainable levels while the austerity accompanying it (along with the bank restructuring plan) will increase unemployment and cause social tension. There is a strong chance Cyprus could become a zombie economy – reliant on eurozone and central bank funding, with little hope of economic growth. Meanwhile, the country will remain at the edge of the single currency as tensions increase between members with Germany, the ECB and the IMF now looking intent on a more radical approach to the crisis.
Duly noted: Amazing what you can do to an unarmed populace.
From the comments…
Last week:
– it’s a one-off they say
– it’s unique, never need happen again
– special case, doesn’t apply anywhere else
Today:
It’s a good template for Europe.
“What difference, at this point, does it make?”
The Smoking Gun: Hacker Begins Distributing Confidential Memos Sent To Hillary Clinton On Libya, Benghazi Attack
(Related)
I Amuse Myself
A run is quite catching you see, like a cough. One little bank run could set other runs off:zite.to/Z6zSiR
— katewerk (@katewerk) March 17, 2013
Zerohedge has latest updates and maniacal cackles.
What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
Eurozone Saves Cyprus, By Grabbing 10% Of Bank Depositors Money bit.ly/ZZGwvP
— AoSHQ (@AoSHQ) March 16, 2013
Full story at Business Insider, but go here for the fallout.
It’s Probably Nothing
Jim Rogers: We’re Wiping Out The Savings Class Globally
h/t Occam
It’s Probably Nothing
Study Shows More Americans Are Raiding 401(k) Accounts To Pay Bills
It’s Probably Nothing
Last December, economist Laurence Kotlikoff was interviewed by RealClearPolicy;
Cox and Archer argue that the U.S.’s underlying debt is much higher than the officially stated debt of $16 trillion. They argue that if you add up the unfunded obligations the government has — to Social Security, Medicare, federal workers’ pensions, and so on — the real debt is about $87 trillion. Can that be right?
h/t Kevin B
“When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal”
Just don’t ask for a photo ID: Drone strikes against Americans on U.S. soil are legal
h/t RFB
It’s Probably Nothing
Tacos made with horsemeat, meat pies stuffed with vegetable. Kind of makes you wonder what’s in a weiner these days.
4 Year Recovery Watch Remains On High Alert
Consumer spending in the U.S. rose in January even as incomes dropped by the most in 20 years, showing households were weathering the payroll-tax increase by socking away less money in the bank.
Household purchases, which account for about 70 percent of the economy, climbed 0.2 percent…
It’s Probably Nothing
This morning’s news has been brought to you by John Maynard Keynes;
Greece is facing a serious shortage of medicines amid claims that pharmaceutical multinationals have halted shipments to the country because of the economic crisis and concerns that the drugs will be exported by middlemen because prices are higher in other European countries.
Hundreds of drugs are in short supply and the situation is getting worse, according to the Greek drug regulator. The government has drawn up a list of more than 50 pharmaceutical companies it accuses of halting or planning to halt supplies because of low prices in the country.
…
Separately, it was announced on Tuesday that the Swiss Red Cross was slashing its supply of donor blood to Greece because it had not paid its bills on time.