Not that anyone around here will really be surprised by the reports that the US dollar will sooner than later lose its position and the global reserve currency. A Financial Post headline on Wednesday summed it up: “Day of reckoning looms for the U.S. dollar.“
In the very short term – like today’s trading day – one of the things which will influence is the continuing rise in unemployment is the weekly report out this morning that says unemployment rolls are now up to 6.662 million workers, with the Labor Department laying much of the increase at the feet of the failing auto industry. What’s up and down?
“The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending May 2 were in Oregon (7.4 percent), Michigan (6.9), Puerto Rico (6.6), Nevada (6.4), Pennsylvania (6.3), Wisconsin (6.2), Idaho (6.0), California (5.6), Alaska (5.5), New Jersey (5.4), and North Carolina (5.4).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending May 9 were in Michigan (+16,817), North Carolina (+3,783), Virginia (+2,871), Kentucky (+2,768), and Pennsylvania (+2,444), while the largest decreases were in California (-10,052), Wisconsin (-1,691), Kansas (-1,415), Oklahoma (-1,084), and Washington (-843). “
All of which combines to make the markets worry - both here in the US and in the UK as well.
My dime is on the next unemployment report coming in about 9.2% from the present 8.9 – and that’s before you get to the PhD’s flipping burgers part of the report. Not good.
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So what to do in the kind of setting? Well, lots of meetings among billionaires of late. And not just last week’s Bilderberger meeting in Greece. Turns out there was a private confab of a few billionaires in NYC, too.
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The answer? Try like hell to pump money into the consumer economy and with that we are seeing headlines like “Treasury set to lend GMAC more money.“
The reason that all the government stimulus hasn’t kicked in yet? Simple! The democorps want to see impact closer to the next presidential cycle. Between now and 2011, the game is hold the line. It’s in 2011 that the democorps will want to have good times all round. A strategy picked up from the republicorp, eh?
Oh, and this oughta cheer you up: “Greenspan warns crisis yet to end.” Economic genius.
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And where is all that transparency? Good question explored in this morning’s Washington Post.
Terror Plot Foiled
Four men have been arrested in NYC for allegedly plotting to blow up synagogues and trying to buy Stinger missiles from undercover feds. No clue why anyone in their right mind, given the anti-terrorism operations worldwide these days. Clearly these folks skipped (or never got to) statistics 101 in school.
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Meantime, president 0 and the former vice Dick are still exchanging non-compliments on job performance.
Internet Police Force?
Look, here’s a headline that makes the case for what expect to be Internet use and publishing licensing: “7 arrested in NYC Craigslist Prostitution Ring.”
Now that we’re in the midst of the Second Depression, and since we have a rhyme on FDR & the “New Dealers” encamped in Washington – the “Change Dealers” it’s only a matter of time until the modern analog to the Communications Act of 1934 comes along. That, in case you have forgotten gave the federal government power to control the airwaves, which have recently been pretty well handed off to a handful of powerful yet happily compliance major corporations which fit into the corpgov mold.
So, just as when the FCC was set up, a licensing scheme was developed, the more of less constant memeering about ‘child stalkers’ and ‘prostitutes’ using the internet seems to be pushing the public down a road which ends with checkpoints of some kind for access to the ‘net.
Just as there are two elements to the FCC (regulation and enforcement), so too, we can reasonably forecast that the promoters of ‘protecting the public’ will point to the Boston Craigslist murder case, now this prostitution bust – and lots more – to mind-mold the public.
Of course, we don’t need internet licensing, or do we?
It’s common knowledge among thieves, for example, that auction sites and free classified sites are ideal places to fence stolen property. Good deals abound, especially in an economic downturn. And what’s more, it’s almost impossible to put enough law enforcement manpower on the problem of surfing the net looking for stolen goods rings.
But clearly, over time, this is one of those issues that is not going to go away. The only question is whether surfing becomes a new branch of law enforcement, or whether the ‘on ramps’ to the net will be controlled. A deep ponder, for sure.
Google’s Plans
Google has reportedly dropped the idea of a non-profit newspaper. Too many of them already, you think?