Spinning Bad Financial News Into Good

Paul Craig Roberts, Contributor
riday’s payroll jobs report says that 96,000 new jobs were created in August and that the unemployment rate (U.3) fell from 8.3% to 8.1%. As 96,000 new jobs are not enough to keep up with population growth, the decline in the U.3 unemployment rate was caused by 368,000 discouraged job seekers giving up on finding employment and dropping out of the work force as measured by U.3.

Discouraged workers are not included in the U.3 measure of unemployment, which makes the measure useless. The only purpose of U.3 is to keep bad news out of the news. the U.3 unemployment rate only measures those who have not been discouraged by the inability to find a job and are still actively seeking employment.

The government produces another unemployment measure, U.6, which includes people who have been discouraged by the inability to find a job and have been out of the work force for less than a year. This measure of unemployment is 14.7%, a number that would get attention if reported.

When the long-term (more than one year) discouraged workers are included, the US unemployment rate is about 22%. In other words, the real US rate of unemployment is almost three times higher than the reported–headline rate–of 8.1%. What is the purpose of reporting an unemployment rate that is about one-third the real unemployment rate? The only answer is deception through Happy News.

2012 US Elections -- Obamney vs. Rombama: What Should We Do About It?

War, economic collapse, and personal devastation await Americans no matter who they vote for - and what we should do instead.

freakingnews.com

Tony Cartalucci, Contributor

A vote for Obama will bring war with Syria, Iran, and eventually Russia and China. The economy will continue to suffer in order to bolster the interests of off-shore corporate-financier interests, while the collective prospects of Americans continue to whither and blow away. A vote for Romney, however, will also bring war with Syria, Iran, and eventually Russia and China. The economy will also continue to suffer in order to bolster the interests of off-shore corporate-financier interests, while the collective prospects of Americans continue to whither and blow away. Why?

Because the White House is but a public relations front for the corporate-financier interests of Wall Street and London. A change of residence at the White House is no different than say, British Petroleum replacing its spokesman to superficially placate public opinion; when, in reality, the exact same board of directors, overall agenda, and objectives remain firmly in place. Public perception then is managed by, not the primary motivation of, corporate-financier interests. 

It is the absolute folly to believe that multi-billion dollar corporate-financier interests would subject their collective fate to the whims of the ignorant, uninformed, and essentially powerless voting masses every four years. Instead, what plays out every four years is theater designed to give the general public the illusion that they have some means of addressing their grievances without actually ever changing the prevailing balance of power in any meaningful way.

The US Budget Explained in Simple English

Editor's Note:  Keep in mind that the call to "balance the budget" is about implementing budget cuts that usually have the greatest impact on the most vulnerable in our Society.  Remember when Bill Clinton "balanced the budget"...it was done on the backs of the poor.  I suggest that we balance the budget on the backs of the international banking elites before we get rid of the the social safety net.  Abolish the "income tax" which was never ratified by Congress, thus illegal, and instituted to fund the criminal activities of the Federal Reserve Private Banking Institution.

Slightly outdated numbers which have only gotten worse, but still relevant.

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Economic Armageddon and You (Video)

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Rich Dad's Kiyosaki Predicting Economic Collapse (Video)

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US sanctions Iran's national airline

The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions against
Tehran's state-owned national airline, Iran Air
© AFP/File Thomas Coex

AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions against Tehran's state-owned national airline, Iran Air, barring Americans from doing business with it.

Iran Air has been used by Tehran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to "transport military related equipment" since 2006, the Treasury Department said in a statement.

"Rockets or missiles have been transported via Iran Air passenger aircraft, and IRGC officers occasionally take control over Iran Air flights carrying special IRGC-related cargo," the statement said.

"Additionally, commercial Iran Air flights have also been used to transport missile or rocket components to Syria."

Keiser Report: Greece Resistance Special (Video)

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Missing Iraq money may be as much as $18 billion

Photo Credit - Raw Story

David Ferguson
Raw Story

In 2004, the Bush administration flew twenty billion dollars of shrink-wrapped cash into Iraq on pallets. Now the bulk of that money has disappeared. The funds flown into the war zone were made up of surplus from the UN's oil-for-food program, as well as money from sales of Iraqi oil and seized Iraqi assets. Recent estimates had the amount of missing money at about $6.6 billion, but according to Al Jazeera, Iraqi Parliament Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi says the figure is closer to three times that amount.

Officials were supposed to distribute the money to Iraqi government ministries and U.S. contractors tasked with the reconstruction of Iraq, but it now appears that the bulk of the cash was stolen in what may be one of the largest heists in history.

The Iraqi government argues that U.S. forces were supposed to safeguard the cash under a 2004 agreement, making Washington responsible for the money's disappearance. Pentagon officials claim that given time to track down the records they can account for all of the money, but the U.S. has already audited the money three times and no trace of what happened to it can be found.

Al Jazeera says that it has been unable to find any documents whatsoever accounting for the money's disappearance. Some believe that U.S. officials absconded with the money, but it's more likely, sources say, that corrupt Iraqi officials used the funds to line their own pockets.

To date, it's estimated that the Iraq War has cost the United States more than a trillion dollars.

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Jim Rogers on Dylan Ratigan: Cut spending and write off the debt

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Obama calls on private sector to create jobs

Only 54,000 new jobs had been created in May
© AFP/Getty Images/File Justin Sullivan

AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President Barack Obama on Saturday called for the private sector to create more jobs, but underlined the government's role in promoting professional education.

"Now, government is not -- and should not be -- the main engine of job-creation in this country. That’s the role of the private sector, " the president said in his weekly radio and Internet address.

"But one thing government can do is partner with the private sector to make sure that every worker has the necessary skills for the jobs they’re applying for," Obama added.

US foresees $46 billion in 2011 military sales

US military equipment sales, tripled to $30bn after 2005
© AFP/File Louisa Gouliamaki

AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States plans to export $46.1 billion in weapons this year, nearly doubling its 2010 figures, officials said.

During the fiscal year 2011, which ends September 30, Washington expects the sales of equipment and military services through its Foreign Military Sales process to grow. About 79 percent of these exports are financed by client countries and organizations, with the remainder funded by US aid programs.

US military equipment sales, confined to about $10 billion in the early 2000s, tripled to around $30 billion after 2005.

Bernanke sees 'loss of momentum' in jobs market

© AFP/Getty Images/File Scott Olson

AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) - After a slew of wretched economic news, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has warned there had been a "loss of momentum" in the already tepid US jobs market.

Two years into a slow and largely jobless recovery, Bernanke predicted employment and growth would eventually pick up, but that a recent soft-patch needed to be carefully monitored and that stimulative policies were still needed.

"Until we see a sustained period of stronger job creation, we cannot consider the recovery to be truly established," Bernanke told an audience in Atlanta, Georgia.

Bin Laden bounce definitely OVER for Obama as new poll shows he could lose the presidency over the economy

Dees Illustration

Daily Mail

Those who forecast Barack Obama had sealed his second term as president with the killing of Osama Bin Laden look to be wrong.

According to a new poll, the 'Bin laden bounce' has already evaporated 

Obama's approval rating surged to 56 per cent in the aftermath of the terrorist's death but now just 47 per cent think he is doing a good job.

But it is domestic policies - notably Obama's handling of the economy - that is driving the frustration of the American public, according to a joint poll conducted by The Washington Post and ABC news.

Fifty-nine per cent, a new high, gave Obama negative marks for his handling of the economy, up from 55 per cent a month earlier.

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US warns of repeating British regulatory 'tragedy'

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner
© AFP/File Saul Loeb

AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner vowed not to repeat the mistakes of Britain's "light touch" financial regulation Monday, as the United States and Europe continued to tangle over banking reforms.

Speaking days after a senior European envoy pointedly called on the United States to quicken the pace of reform, Geithner said Washington did not want to see "another race to the bottom around the world."

During a visit to the United States on Friday, EU internal market commissioner Michel Barnier pressed Washington to fully implement laws aimed at mending the banking system -- after shoddy practices plunged the world economy into crisis.

US new jobs plunged in May; jobless rate up

© AFP/Getty Images/File Spencer Platt

AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The number of jobs generated by the US economy plunged in May and inflation continued to erode workers' incomes, deepening the challenge to the Obama administration, official figures showed Friday.

The economy added just 54,000 net new jobs in May, only one-quarter of the February-April pace, while the unemployment rate edged up to 9.1 percent, the Labor Department said.

The private sector, expected to drive the economy as governments slash spending, added a measly 83,000 positions, one-third of the rate of the previous three months.

US recovery slows, fueling stagnation fears

A home is for sale in Glendale, California, in May
© AFP/File Robyn Beck

AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Revelations that key sectors of the US economy were pummeled last month have rekindled fears that the world's largest economy faces protracted high unemployment and lackluster growth.

Exactly two years after the recession officially ended, weakness in the jobs, housing and manufacturing sectors left economists scrambling to downgrade their growth predictions on Wednesday.

"This week is the most important week for assessing the strength of the May economy, and growth is looking much softer than we were forecasting," said John Ryding and Conrad DeQuadros of RDQ Economics.

Despite Political Theater US Gov't is "Too Big to Fail"

Paul Craig Roberts
Lew Rockwell

Although the financial press speculates about a downgrade of the US government's credit rating and default if political impasse prevents the debt ceiling from being raised in time, I doubt anyone really believes that the debt ceiling will not be raised. It is just all a part of the political theater of the next couple of months.

Republicans will blame the budget deficit and accumulated national debt on Medicare and Social Security. Wall Street sees billions of profits in privatizing either, and debt rating agencies will oblige their Wall Street paymasters by opining from time to time that US Treasury bonds might be downgraded unless "entitlements can be addressed and the deficit brought under control."

Democrats will say that the budget deficit cannot be addressed without an increase in tax revenues, especially from the rich whose incomes have exploded upward while their tax rates have declined.

Public schools' 'pay to play' fees: By the numbers

In the face of budget cuts and rising costs, public schools across the country are making ends meet by nickel-and-diming students

Wiki Image

The Week

In some financially struggling school districts, students have to pay fees to participate in extracurricular activities... or not participate at all.

Public schools are supposed to be free. But faced with budget cuts, rising staff costs, and declining tax revenues, many are instituting "pay to play" fees, charging students extra for everything from electives to after-school sports — and even some required classes, like French and basic sciences. Here, a brief guide, by the numbers, to these "controversial" fees:

$18

Course supplies fee for students taking English 9 at Dakota Ridge High School in Littleton, Colo.

Why the Rich Love High Unemployment

Mark Provost  
Dissident Voice

Christina Romer, former member of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisors, accuses the administration of "shamefully ignoring" the unemployed. Paul Krugman echoes her concerns, observing that Washington has lost interest in "the forgotten millions." America's unemployed have been ignored and forgotten, but they are far from superfluous. Over the last two years, out-of-work Americans have played a critical role in helping the richest one percent recover trillions in financial wealth.

Obama's advisers often congratulate themselves for avoiding another Great Depression – an assertion not amenable to serious analysis or debate. A better way to evaluate their claims is to compare the US economy to other rich countries over the last few years.

On the basis of sustaining economic growth, the United States is doing better than nearly all advanced economies. From the first quarter of 2008 to the end of 2010, US gross domestic product (GDP) growth outperformed every G-7 country except Canada.

America Is Bankrupt (But Not the Way You Think)

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Harvard Business Review

Healthcare, schools, police, tax breaks: which would you keep, slash, or cut? The axe has to swing, so where, if you were the lumberjack, would you aim it? It's the central, polarizing question in this age of austerity.

Or is it? Maybe relying on cuts to reboot prosperity is a bit like starting a diet to treat Alzheimer's: probably not going to work.

Consider an allegory: a household racking up debt not just because they have easy credit, but because they're a dysfunctional family to begin with. Meet the new Joneses: they're a little less Cleaver and little more Soprano.

Dad Jones is the CEO of Toxico, a major, blue-chip energy corporation. He's an imperious millionaire, but he's stingier than Scrooge McDuck. Though he rakes it in, he flat-out refuses to contribute much, if anything, towards basic household costs--and when the family sets up rules to make him, he quickly finds loopholes. In fact, last year, instead of contributing to the household purse, he managed to find a way get a net contribution from it.