We seem to have reached a kind of turning point with the “Occupy” protests. Last night’s violence in Oakland, among other incidents, raises more general questions about the “Occupy” protests. Who are these folks, really, and what do they want? Some mayors have lost patience with protests that disrupt neighborhoods and interfere with commerce. In [...]
Posts Tagged ‘economy’
The Occupy Protests Turn Weird
Posted in America, tagged America, economy, Occupy Wall Street, the '60s, Wall Street protests on November 3, 2011 | 1 Comment »
The President’s Bill Goes Down — Now What?
Posted in Politics, The Economy, tagged economy, National Debt, Politics, Unemployment on October 12, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Last night the United States Senate — in one of those weird maneuvers that make sense only to Senators — took a vote that killed President Obama’s “jobs” bill. A majority of Senators voted in favor of moving the bill forward, but there weren’t enough votes to overcome a threatened filibuster. Every Republican opposed it, [...]
Let Them Protest — It’s The American Way
Posted in America, The Economy, tagged America, economy, First Amendment, Protesting, Tea Party, Wall Street protests on October 3, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Protesters have been camping out and protesting in the Wall Street area of New York City for the last few weeks. Some participants are protesting “corporate greed,” others object to the role of corporations in politics, and still others appear to be venting general anger and frustration about our economic problems. Similar protests have occurred [...]
Looking For A Job, Any Job, In Cleveland
Posted in Ohio, The Economy, tagged casino jobs, casinos, Cleveland, economy, Horseshoe Casino Cleveland, Ohio, Unemployment, Unemployment statistics on September 30, 2011 | 2 Comments »
Times are tough in Cleveland. How tough? Today a story gave us some sense of the distress felt by many people. The times in Cleveland are so challenging that, when the Horseshoe Casino Cleveland announced that it was accepting applications for table game and poker dealer jobs that pay between $17 and $22 per hour, [...]
The President’s Speech
Posted in America, Politics, The Economy, tagged America, Congress, economy, Extended unemployment compensation, Politics, President Obama, Republicans, stimulus, Unemployment on September 8, 2011 | 2 Comments »
I watched the President’s speech tonight, and I found it to be quite interesting for a number of reasons. The first part of the speech seemed like “same old, same old,” and I think it will generally be perceived as such. It appears to be more of the “stimulus” concept that has been tried and [...]
A Costly Solar Flame-Out (II)
Posted in America, Politics, tagged America, Congress, Diane DeGette, economy, green technology, Henry Waxman, Politics, Solar Power, Solyndra on September 8, 2011 | 1 Comment »
It was bad enough that Solyndra, a solar energy company, abruptly closed its doors recently, after receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in federal loan guarantees as part of a federal government effort to promote “green jobs.” Today, the news got worse. The media is reporting that the FBI agents, working in conjunction with the [...]
What The Euros Are Thinking
Posted in America, Humor, Politics, World, tagged America, economy, Humor, Les Deux Magots, Politics, President Obama, Republicans, World on September 4, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Our friends in Europe often struggle to understand the American political system and its dynamics, which are so different from the European parliamentary systems. I’m sure the latest weird political jousting between the President and Republicans is especially baffling. I imagine this conversation between Pierre and Nicollette as they stroll past Les Deux Magots on [...]
The Power Of Zero
Posted in America, Politics, The Economy, tagged America, economy, Jobs, Politics, President Obama, recession, Unemployment, Unemployment statistics on September 2, 2011 | 2 Comments »
The August jobs report was released today, and it showed that the American economy created no net jobs in August. That’s right: a big, fat zero. Nada. Zilch. A goose egg. Naught. Zippo. What could be a more apt and powerful description for the moribund state of our economy? Neither up nor down. Dead in [...]
Confidence Game
Posted in America, The Economy, tagged America, Consumer confidence, consumers, economy, President Carter, President Obama, stock market on August 14, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
On Friday the index that purports to measure consumer confidence in the United States fell to its lowest point since May 1980. May 1980, of course, came during the grim, final months of the Jimmy Carter presidency — and I’m sure the fact that consumer confidence has fallen to Carter presidency levels probably doesn’t make [...]
Trying To Think Positive Thoughts About The Stock Market
Posted in Humor, The Economy, tagged economy, Humor, Ohio State Buckeyes, positive thinking, retirement, stock market on August 8, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
It’s hard not to be depressed about the anvil drops on the stock market. Many of us have lost about 10 percent of our intended retirement nest eggs in the space of only a few days. However, my grandmother said every cloud has a silver lining, and I always have tried to follow my grandmother’s [...]
Bursting Bubbles
Posted in Books, tagged demographic trends, economic bubbles, economy, home prices, stock market, The Great Depression Ahead on August 8, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
With the wild stock market swings in recent days I thought it might be helpful to recommend a book I just finished today, The Great Depression Ahead by Harry Dent. It is an excellent book which is simple to understand that everyone who is an investor should read with an open mind of course. Mr [...]
Retirement Fund Haiku
Posted in America, The Economy, weather, tagged America, economy, haiku, retirement, stock market, summer, weather on August 4, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
The stock market — and the 401(k) plans of millions of Americans — really took a beating today. Anytime the market plummets more than 500 points and loses almost five percent of its value in a single day, it is just not a good day. Why did the market drop like a drunken sailor after [...]
Looking On The Bright Side
Posted in America, Humor, Movies, The Economy, tagged Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, America, economy, Humor, Life of Brian, Monty Python, Movies, Optimism, recession, Unemployment, Unemployment statistics on July 8, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Today’s announcement of the latest unemployment figures was bad news all around — only 18,000 jobs created, the unemployment rate up to 9.2%, more than 270,000 out-of-work Americans who have just stopped looking for a job, and growing fears that our lingering recission is going to get worse before it gets better. One economist quoted [...]
Spinning Stimulus Statistics
Posted in America, Politics, The Economy, tagged America, Council of Economic Advisers, Economists, economy, Politics, President Obama, Republicans, stimulus, stimulus spending, The Weekly Standard on July 5, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
President Obama’s “stimulus” package has been dogged by controversy since its enactment. There have been questions about the accuracy of reports of jobs “saved or created” by the stimulus spending, claims that the money really was used mostly to maintain public employee jobs and to allow state governments to defer their own deficit-reduction efforts, and [...]
