When the TSA Strip Searches a Little Boy ...

A Productivity Boom-in-Waiting?
BERKELEY A Double-Dip Recession is one thing, but a Lost Decade is something far more sinister. In the United States, there is growing concern that the worst Recession since the Great Depression has damaged The Economys capacity to grow. Indeed, there are good reasons for worrying that the US and other advanced countries will now be consigned to a long period of sub-par growth. Having been burned by the crisis, banks have tightened their Lending standards, and will now be subject to more...

Why Basel III won't hurt banks or the economy
The new Basel III capital ratios are going to be announced this weekend, and the banks are going to complain about how much the new ratios are going to raise Lending costs and hurt Economic Growth. The BIS, of course, has taken these complaints seriously, and has released two monster reports calculating exactly what the impact of higher capital standards will be. The first report looks at the long-term effects of higher capital standards. They look something like this: On the x-axis, you have...

Limiting Psychological Damage From Debt Collections
By Michael Casey When Joe Bonadio negotiated a 69% reduction in $54,000 of Credit Card Debt this year, his most valuable tool was a caller ID box with ring controller made by JF Technical Developing Co. By blocking his telephone’s ring on designated numbers, the device kept the financially strapped musician from Mt. Vernon, NY, in peace while representatives from the country’s three biggest banks barraged him with 40 to 50 automated calls a day. Although Bonadio is happy to have...

Limiting Psychological Damage From Debt Collections
By Michael Casey When Joe Bonadio negotiated a 69% reduction in $54,000 of Credit Card Debt this year, his most valuable tool was a caller ID box with ring controller made by JF Technical Developing Co. By blocking his telephone’s ring on designated numbers, the device kept the financially strapped musician from Mt. Vernon, NY, in peace while representatives from the country’s three biggest banks barraged him with 40 to 50 automated calls a day. Although Bonadio is happy to have...

Osborne welfare plans under fire
Labour have attacked Government plans to Cut the annual welfare bill by a further 4bn, one MP said the poorest were being made "scapegoats" Chancellor George Osborne wants more welfare savings on top of 11bn already identified, targeting those he says make a "lifestyle choice" not to work. Shadow Treasury Minister Liam Byrne accused him of "taking an axe" to Unemployment Benefits. Lib Dem MPs have also queried the Coalition Government's plans. Mr Osborne...

USW Files Complaint Against China's Renewable Energy Subsidies
The United Steelworkers ( USW ) today filed a comprehensive Trade case under Section 301 of the Trade law claiming China has used hundreds of Billions of dollars in Subsidies, performance requirements, preferential practices and other Trade-illegal activities to dominate the Renewable Energy market. The 5,800-page petition, filed with the U.S. Trade Representative, identifies five major areas where Chinas protectionist and predatory practices helped develop their green Energy sector at...

Air Zimbabwe pilots in pay strike
Striking pilots at Air Zimbabwe began talks with management on Thursday demanding to be paid their full wage. The pilots started a strike on Wednesday, abandoning two planes on the runway at Harare International Airport. The Boycott has led to the national carrier cancelling all its flights. Air Zimbabwe chairman Jonathan Kadzura told state television that pilots were being paid at least $1,200 a month, but the airline could not afford to pay them the full $2,500 Salary. The carrier's...

SkyRider airline seats pack fliers into 23 inches of space
Think your seat in coach is cramped? Take a look at the SkyRider. The new airplane seat, to be unveiled next week at the Aircraft Interiors Expo Americas conference in Long Beach, would give passengers an experience akin to riding horseback. They'd sit at an angle with no more than 23 inches between their perch and the seat in front of them — a design that could appeal to Low-Cost Airlines that have floated the idea of offering passengers standing-room tickets on short flights. The...

Broder's middle is a strange place
BRODER'S MIDDLE IS A STRANGE PLACE.... Over the weekend, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said President Obama could only "survive" politically if he chooses to " come back to the middle ." It's already obvious that this will be the accepted conventional wisdom, if it isn't already, within the political establishment: Dems shouldn't have been so darn liberal. Cue David Broder . Nov. 2 is likely to be marked as the official start of Phase Two of the Obama presidency, but in some respects, the...

It's the Mortgages, Stupid
( Barack Obama , Economic Policy , Society ) Barack Obama and the Democrats he led to a stunning victory two years ago are going down hard in the face of an Economic Crisis that he did nothing to create but which he has failed to solve. Robert Scheer

Communism is Bad, Policy is Discontinuous
Cuban Economic performance under 50 years of Communist Dictatorship has been unimpressive as even Fidel Castro seems prepared to admit. This leads Daniel Mitchell to post the following chart which he deems “a good illustration of the human cost of excessive government.” I think this mostly illustrates the difficulty of having a rational conversation with Cato Institute employees about Economic Policy in the developed world. Cuba is poor, but it’s much richer than Somalia....

China calls in Japanese ambassador for 3rd time to complain about detention of boat captain
Beijing — China summoned Japan's ambassador for a third time Friday to Protest the detention of the captain of a Chinese fishing boat that collided with Japanese patrol vessels near disputed islands, demanding he and his ship be released unconditionally. China has said the incident could damage bilateral relations, showing the sensitivity of the territorial dispute, one of several that form a troubling undercurrent in China's relations with its Asian neighbors. As the robust Chinese...

China demands boat captain's release
China has demanded that Japan "unconditionally" frees the captain and crew of a fishing boat it seized in disputed waters. China's Foreign Minister summoned the Japanese ambassador to Beijing for a third time to make a formal Protest. The Chinese trawler collided with two Japanese patrol boats on Tuesday near islands in the East China Sea that are claimed by both China and Japan. Beijing says it is sending a Law Enforcement ship to the area. The Foreign Ministry said this...

China tells Japan to back down in sea dispute
Beijing | Fri Sep 10, 2010 12:19am EDT Beijing (Reuters) - Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi demanded on Friday that Japan unconditionally free a Chinese fishing boat captain seized in disputed waters, raising the pitch of Beijing's latest territorial quarrel with Tokyo. Yang summoned Japan's ambassador to China, Uichiro NIWA, and made a "solemn representation and Protest" over the sea dispute that has fueled discord between Asia's two biggest economies. The row threatens to become a...

McCaskill hopeful for two Chinese cargo flights a week by mid-2011
Sen. Claire McCaskill said Tuesday that she is "optimistic" that St. Louis will have at least two Chinese cargo flights a week by the summer of 2011. McCaskill made the comments at a luncheon with the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association, about 16 hours after she got off a plane from Beijing, where she and Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond had led a weeklong trade delegation for talks about the region's China Hub project. Trade with China is a great opportunity for the U.S. to...

ECB: Lending Outlook Uncertain
BY GEOFFREY T. SMITH Frankfurt—Improved money-market conditions in the euro zone over the summer haven't made up for the disruption caused by the Financial Crisis and may prove short-lived, the European Central Bank said Thursday. "The coming months will clarify whether the resumption of [interbank] Lending in July ... heralds a more sustained return to normality," the ECB said in its monthly report for September. Yves Mersch, ECB board member from Luxembourg, said Thursday that the...

They Call Him "The Leader"
John Keefe: Food Stamps Slated For Cuts, by John Keefe : While the numbers of people receiving food assistance through the USDA SNAP program (formerly know as food stamps) are growing, funding is set to be cut, if a bill passed by the House makes its way into law. It comes down to Budget priorities, and is a preview of the Austerity we will be seeing from federal and State Governments as they try to mitigate the costs of the Financial Crisis and the weak economy we are all...

Foreign carriers may be offered Philippine Airlines routes if attendants strike
Manila, Philippines — Foreign carriers may be invited to fly routes served by the troubled flag carrier Philippine Airlines if its Flight Attendants go on strike, the Tourism chief said Friday. Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim said that the government should prepare to ask foreign Airlines to take up the slack in case Attendants push through with their threat to call a strike over stalled negotiations on a collective bargaining agreement. The Flight Attendants' and Stewards' Association of...

IT'S A DEPRESSION
Some of you have intimated that I have become too chipper lately, and that lowering our cash position from ~86% to ~50% can only be the work of a madman, a rampaging perma-bull. Well then, its time to run some counter-programming to that perception. Hence, I thought that David Rosenberg of Gluskin Sheff would help Balance out my short term Bullish leanings. I love when David and I disagree, as I am always trying to find people whose approach and methodology I respect, but have reached...

Does STL County Executive Dooley Favor Raising Your Taxes: "Yes, I support Investment in Ourselves"
PRESIDENT Obama: The Last Thing You Want To Do Is To Raise Taxes In The Middle Of A Recession Because That Would Just Suck Up — Take More Demand Out Of The Economy And Put Businesses In A Further Hole. ( MSNBC, 8/5/09 ) Is the pressure from the toughest election of his Political Career starting to get to Charlie Dooley? How else do you explain Dooley calling St. Louis County government “the biggest bargain in our town” and his much accomplished opponent Bill Corrigan ...

American despond
This is the most depressing poll you’re likely to see this electoral season, and it’s not even political. StrategyOne decided that ordinary Americans can’t possibly be worse economic forecasters than Economists, so they asked whether we’re going to have a Double Dip. 65 percent said yes, we are . And the rest of the answers are entirely consistent with that: 48 percent of Americans think that our best days are behind us. 71 percent think that “America is...

Data Improve, as Some in Fed Offer Context for Recovery Pace
By Michael S. Derby When Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke spoke late last month at the posh gathering of central Bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyo., he acknowledged the recovery wasn’t turning out exactly as he had hoped. The Fed boss told the audience that while the expansion was continuing, “the pace of that growth recently appears somewhat less vigorous than we expected.” That acknowledgment allowed Bernanke to lay out what else the Fed could do to support The Economy,...

IMF Chief Economist: Advanced Countries' Output 'Too Tepid'
By Darrell A. Hughes The International Monetary Fund ’s chief Economist on Thursday said output in advanced countries, such as the U.S., is “too tepid” to reduce Unemployment rapidly. IMF Chief Economist Olivier Blanchard fears Unemployment could become a “structural problem,” and is urging world policy makers to act swiftly. “We have to use fiscal and monetary policies to support as strong an output recovery as we can: Output growth is the single most...

AP source: Obama to name Goolsbee to head council
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama has chosen one of his longtime economic advisers, Austan Goolsbee , to be the chairman of his Council of Economic Advisers, a White House official said. Obama was expected to announce the appointment at the beginning of his news conference on Friday. The official spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity because the formal announcement had not been made. Goolsbee, a University of Chicago professor of economics, is one of three economists on the council. He...

Salmond urges unity on carriers
First Minister Alex Salmond has written to the leaders of Scotland's political parties urging a "united front" over the UK's strategic defence review. Mr Salmond wants a joint submission to UK Defence Secretary Liam Fox in an effort to secure the future of two new Royal Navy Aircraft carriers. Looming Ministry of Defence cuts led to speculation the carriers may not be constructed on the Clyde and at Rosyth. Mr Salmond said it was one of the biggest issues facing the...