During their second term, Presidents become obsessed with “legacy.” One of the yardsticks to measure success is the stock market. Many people can relate to it. Retirement depends on it. It’s mentioned even on NPR several times a day. Outside of a few shorts, everyone wants it to go up. But President Obama must now be biting his fingernails down to the quick.
Debtor Nation
Wall-Street Engineering Hones In On Apple’s “Offshore” Cash
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Wall-Street Engineering Hones In On Apple’s “Offshore” Cash
On paper, Apple has no reason to borrow. Last time it issued bonds was in 1996 when it flirted with bankruptcy and absolutely had to get its hands on some moolah. After Steve Jobs returned in 1997, Apple wisely stayed away from Wall Street and did its own thing. But that era is over. And a new era is dawning upon the icon: Wall-Street engineering.
David Stockman: “Money Printers And Wall Street Coddlers”
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on David Stockman: “Money Printers And Wall Street Coddlers”
I’ve been a fan of David Stockman ever since he got in trouble for speaking the truth as Budget Director under President Reagan. But his new book, The Great Deformation: The Corruption of Capitalism in America—what an awesome romp through the economic, financial, and monetary shenanigans of our times!
The Great Backpedal: The World Has NOT Come To An End
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on The Great Backpedal: The World Has NOT Come To An End
Now that the “sequester” is in effect, horrid budget cuts would hit the US. 750,000 people would lose their jobs, planes would stop flying, children would go hungry, the Navy would no longer be able to operate its ships, according to the media. Fear-mongering that the White House drove to shameless heights. But suddenly, furious backpedalling has commenced.
Broke Public Pension Funds And Exotic Boondoggles
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Broke Public Pension Funds And Exotic Boondoggles
That state and local government pension funds are going broke isn’t a new problem. That it’s much worse than reported by those pension funds isn’t a new problem either. Last June, Moody’s determined that the already dizzying unfunded pension liabilities were actually three times higher than reported. To top it off, trustees are blowing a bunch of retiree money on an exotic boondoggle.
Budget Hawks Till Something Gets Cut In Their Districts
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Budget Hawks Till Something Gets Cut In Their Districts
“Preventing future acts of terrorism” is the most critical foreign-policy goal for Americans. Next: proliferation of nuclear weapons, energy supply, trade policies, etc. Fighting off Soviet tanks rumbling towards Frankfurt didn’t make the list. Yet Congress, in its infinite wisdom, is still pushing weapons designed to do just that, whether the Pentagon wants them or not.
Facebook, Coolest Cutest Corporate Welfare Queen Of Them All
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Facebook, Coolest Cutest Corporate Welfare Queen Of Them All
Last year, the government extracted $1.1 trillion in taxes from us individual taxpayers. But now it will pay, along with the states, $429 million of our taxes to the coolest Silicon-Valley beauty queen: Facebook. In net tax refunds! Part of a vast package of juicy corporate welfare programs. Facebook isn’t just hogging our data; it’s gobbling up our money.
The New Reality Of ‘Economic Recovery’ For American Workers
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on The New Reality Of ‘Economic Recovery’ For American Workers
Despite optimism-mongering in the media, in certain quarters of Washington, and elsewhere, we’ve had indication after indication in the economic data that American workers have not benefited from whatever lousy progress has been made in nudging up GDP. But now we know from the horse’s mouth: they’re mired in a tough new reality that is getting worse.
College Graduates Are The New Debt Slaves
by Contributor • • Comments Off on College Graduates Are The New Debt Slaves
Contributed by Chriss Street. With the average cost of attending college in America at $120,000, a family of four should expect their children’s college to cost more than a home. Yet, optimism about the value of education provided justification for students to borrow $42 billion from the US this year. And many of them will end up as student-loan debt slaves.
The Majestic US Debt, Visualized, Animated, With Rousing Music
by Wolf Richter • • 2 Comments
The staged posturing with its tragic-funny theatrics and lurid special effects in Washington about the Fiscal Cliff—and whether to fall off, jump off, fly off, dive off, climb down, or somehow avoid it altogether—has become an inescapable media reality, much like Y2K once was. I remember well the worldwide letdown on January 1, 2000.