Economy

Importing Fiasco

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Importing Fiasco

$373.6 billion got vacuumed out of the USA in just six months. And was replaced by debt.

Downgrades Don’t Matter

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Downgrades Don’t Matter

… if you can print money and are in control of the credit markets. Look at Japan. That doesn’t mean the underlying problems don’t matter.

US Gross National Debt jumps $238 billion in one day, now above 100% of GDP

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on US Gross National Debt jumps $238 billion in one day, now above 100% of GDP

As reported in the foreign media, but curiously not in the major US media, the US Gross National Debt jumped by $238 billion in one day, to $14.58 trillion, the day after the debt-ceiling deal was signed.

Your Dollar—up to no Good

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In case you didn’t stay up all night watching the spectacle, and tearing out your hair: Your very own… … your favorite one, the one you worked so hard to earn and even harder to save, yes, the ever shrinking one, well, it dropped to a new all-time low against the Japanese yen in Tokyo. And…

Unholy Alliance

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The President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness has descended on Palo Alto to meet with the usual suspects in Silicon Valley. Their topic, hilariously: How the public and private sectors can team up to create jobs. Hilariously because California—Silicone Valley in particular—has been on the forefront of transferring jobs to China and other countries.

Remember him? Creating jobs in China….

The Landmine in the GDP Report

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on The Landmine in the GDP Report

There is a landmine buried in today’s 2Q GDP report, and Congress is about to step on it while engaging in its debt-ceiling pissing match.

Our Chinese Bay Bridge

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Our Chinese Bay Bridge

The high-speed train fiasco in China makes us worry about our San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge whose gigantic one-tower landmark suspension segment was fabricated, you guessed it, in China. In return for some paltry savings, if any, California gave up enormous economic opportunities.

A Modest Proposal

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on A Modest Proposal

What galls me the most in this entire imbroglio of our debt ceiling is the hypocritical approach of our politicians: A Congress that authorizes every dollar that gets spent, gleefully accumulating a pile of debt so vast it’s hard to wrap your brains around it; and administrations who have been eager to borrow and spend as directed by Congress.

Night of the Living Debt

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Night of the Living Debt

The worldwide night of the living debt continues with Greece, Italy, and the US. And so I mention them, nasty as I am, in the same breath with Japan.

The M&A Typhoon

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on The M&A Typhoon

Another day, another series of mergers and acquisitions. Among the most prominent today: Carl Icahn’s offer to acquire Clorox Co. and BHP Billiton’s takeover of Petrohawk Energy Corp. The frenzy is blowing across the country with considerable violence. And just like the last typhoon before the financial crisis, it will leave behind massive job destruction.