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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.

Hatchet Jobs

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Hatchet Jobs

The litany of layoffs among the largest banks continues. And it’s ugly. After announcements and rumors from Wall Street, the first European banks have come out to air their dirty laundry. And now, per the Financial Times, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is adding 2,000 layoffs to the list. 63,000 by eight European banks so far. Something big is afoot.

Your Dollar—up to no Good

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Your Dollar—up to no Good

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

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Unholy Alliance

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….

Why the decline in German beer consumption?

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Why the decline in German beer consumption?

So people ask me that after reading the post below. All sorts of researchers are studying this phenomenon, and they’re coming up with a laundry list of reasons, which I may or may not buy, but here is a thought from memory lane.

PROST! Germany lost the beer war, And China won.

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on PROST! Germany lost the beer war, And China won.

Germany, country of the Reinheitsgebot (Beer Purity Law), and cradle of beer as we know it, where, at the age of fifteen, I regularly drank a few Helle too many at any pub I wanted to, well, that very country not only has failed to export its beer, but now, Germans have stopped drinking it themselves, apparently.

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.

We Should Give them a Calculator

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on We Should Give them a Calculator

The raw numbers are ugly. The federal budget deficit is nearly 40% of total spending; that is, for every $1,000 the government spends, it collects $600 in taxes and borrows $400. Doesn’t anyone do any math in Washington?

Not What You’d Expect from a Topless Beach in France

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Not What You’d Expect from a Topless Beach in France

French beaches, best known for their topless female sunbathers, have been afflicted with a disgusting and deadly scourge: floods of green algae. 

The latest victims were eighteen young wild boars, whose cadavers were found on July 26 on a beach of the Bretagne. Ten cadavers were found nearby the prior two days.