“Seize the ground of new media,” Chinese President Xi Jinping said elegantly when he told state-owned media to get on the ball. So, effective today, the next chapter in seizing the ground of “new media” is this: people found by the Chinese judicial machinery to have posted libelous language online can expect three years in the hoosegow. Conditions apply.
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Japan’s Frantic Redo Of An Artificial Boom Followed By A Bust
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Japan’s Frantic Redo Of An Artificial Boom Followed By A Bust
So the Japanese economy is booming. GDP growth in the April-June quarter was revised up to 3.8%, driven by higher big-ticket spending and government outlays. The January-March quarter was revised up to 4.1%. Three quarters in a row of growth, fed by something we’ve seen before. In 1996. And it ended in tears.
David Stockman: The Debt Zombies Kept On Coming
by David Stockman • • Comments Off on David Stockman: The Debt Zombies Kept On Coming
The founders of the LBO industry – KKR, Blackstone, Apollo, TPG, and Bain Capital – are stuck in giant deals that have turned into debt zombies. The outbreak of mega-LBO mania during 2006–2007 reflected a financial market deformation that sowed recklessness across the entire private equity space. And the debt zombies are still out there.
“We Don’t Feel Any Impact Of Abenomics Here”
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on “We Don’t Feel Any Impact Of Abenomics Here”
For Japan’s megabanks, lending has rebounded. But instead of funding industrial projects in Japan, they’re funding acquisitions overseas and highfalutin real-estate speculation in Tokyo. They wrote up stock holdings and extracted fees from frenzied trading. Profits surged. They’re the prime beneficiaries of Abenomics. But smaller banks are not so lucky.
Europe Turns Blind Eye to US-UK Snooping Antics
by Don Quijones • • Comments Off on Europe Turns Blind Eye to US-UK Snooping Antics
Countries like Germany and Turkey have demanded explanations from the U.S. and U.K. governments regarding the NSA’s and GCHQ’s surveillance and wire-tapping program. But Spain’s Rajoy regime has remained conspicuously silent – despite the fact that this surveillance is a clear infringement of Spain’s domestic and external affairs.
Jobs Don’t Keep Up With Population Growth, But Unemployment Rate Drops Elegantly, Keeps Intact The Pretext For Fed “Taper”
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Jobs Don’t Keep Up With Population Growth, But Unemployment Rate Drops Elegantly, Keeps Intact The Pretext For Fed “Taper”
When the Fed said it wanted to print more money in order to create jobs, it’s this graph that came to mind. And when it now says that it wants to taper that process because it already created enough jobs, it’s also this graph that comes to mind. Job creation and economic growth were just a pretext – a pretext that has been very crummy.
Bonds Bleed: Largest Bubble In History Unwinds, But The “Great Rotation” Into Stocks Is Deceptive Wall Street Hype
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Bonds Bleed: Largest Bubble In History Unwinds, But The “Great Rotation” Into Stocks Is Deceptive Wall Street Hype
The bond-fund massacre is spectacular. Antsy investors yanked $7.7 billion in August out of the world’s largest bond fund, Pimco’s Total Return Fund. In July, they’d yanked out $7.5 billion, in June $14.5 billion. From May 1 through August 31, the fund’s assets shriveled 14%. Other bond funds got hit too. And September is shaping up to be even worse.
Massive Mission Creep In War On Syria (Already!)
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Massive Mission Creep In War On Syria (Already!)
An American attack on Syria would just be a punitive action for the gruesome gas attacks. “Regime change” wouldn’t be part of it. That was the idea. Now the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted to authorize President Obama to wage war on Syria, but amendments suddenly set new goals – smack-dab in the middle of a distant lala-land.
The Big Shift: Chinese, Russians Replace People From (Formerly) Rich Countries As Big Spenders At Parisian Airports
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on The Big Shift: Chinese, Russians Replace People From (Formerly) Rich Countries As Big Spenders At Parisian Airports
In Paris, “Chinese” has a new meaning: money. This phenomenon shows up by the busload at luxury retailers where sales staff say a few words of bad Mandarin, instead of bad English, in hawking overpriced handbags and glittery baubles. Now Aéroports de Paris has put a number on it. A glimmer of hope for France, though perhaps of the wrong kind.