Bond Funds Losing $60 Billion Foreshadow Risk of Fed Exit

By Margaret Collins & Charles Stein - Jul 4, 2013 7:00 AM GMT+0300

Investors have pulled about $60 billion from U.S. bond funds since Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke rattled markets by outlining his plan to end the central bank’s unprecedented asset purchases.

The redemptions foreshadow what’s in store for asset managers when the central bank eventually scales back the $85 billion in monthly purchases of bonds and mortgage securities that investors have come to rely on. Bond funds had $28.1 billion in net redemptions in the week ended June 26, the Washington-based Investment Company Institute said yesterday.

Krugman’s Still Wrong

NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE

By Michael Tanner

Paul Krugman has never been shy about proclaiming that he is right and everyone else is wrong — and not just wrong, but “knaves and fools.” Lately, however, one begins to worry that he might actually hurt himself, so vigorously has he been patting himself on the back for his opposition to “austerity” (defined as any cut in government spending, anytime, anywhere).

UPDATE 9-Oil tumbles on weak U.S., euro zone economic reports

Tue, Apr 30 2013
* Brent-WTI spread settles below $9 for first time since 2011
* Brent oil down over 7 pct, biggest monthly fall since May 2012
* Coming Up: EIA data, Wednesday 10:30 a.m. EDT (1530 GMT
By Anna Louie Sussman and Jonathan Leff

There’s a Reason for Deposit Insurance

By ROGER LOWENSTEIN

Published: March 23, 2013

The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/24/business/deposit-insurance-and-the-historical-reasons-for-it.html?src=recg#h[Fatpfd,2]

  FOR all the criticism of bailouts since the financial crisis struck, virtually no one has suggested that depositors in banks be made to suffer along with their investors, employees and customers. Until this week, when the euro zone proposed that, in return for a bailout of the failing banking system in Cyprus, depositors pay a “tax” of 6.75 percent of their deposits — 9.9 percent for deposits above 100,000 euros.

GDP contracts on tepid inventories, government spending drop

By Lucia Mutikani

WASHINGTON | Wed Jan 30, 2013 10:07am EST

(Reuters) - The economy unexpectedly contracted in the fourth quarter, suffering its first decline since the recession ended more than three years ago as businesses scaled back on restocking and government spending plunged.

PRECIOUS-Gold rallies from 2-1/2 wk low; eyes Fed meeting

Tue Jan 29, 2013 6:59am EST

* Federal Reserve policy meeting on Jan 29-30

* Investors alert to U.S. non-farm payrolls on Friday (Updates throughout, changes dateline from SINGAPORE)

By Clara Denina

LONDON, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Gold firmed on Tuesday, snapping a four-day losing streak, but gains were limited as investors sought further data to gauge U.S. economic strength, also looking to a Federal Reserve statement later in the week.

U.S. Budget Discord Is Top Threat to Global Economy in Poll

By David J. Lynch - Jan 23, 2013 7:50 PM GMT+0200

Global investors say the state of the U.S. government’s finances is the greatest risk to the world economy and almost half are curbing their investments in response to continuing budget battles, a Bloomberg poll shows.

Number of U.S. working poor families grows as wealth gap widens

By Susan Heavey

WASHINGTON, Jan 15 (Reuters) - The number of U.S. families struggling with poverty despite parents being employed continued to grow in 2011 as more people returned to work but mostly at lower-paying service jobs, an analysis released on Tuesday shows.

The Big Fail

By PAUL KRUGMAN

Published: January 6, 2013

The New York Times

And this year, as in past meetings, there is one theme dominating discussion: the ongoing economic crisis.

Why Paul Krugman should be President Obama's pick for US treasury secretary

Not only is he the world's best-known economist, Krugman has the intellect and integrity to resist Wall Street's calls for austerity

Mark Weisbrot

guardian.co.uk, 
Saturday 5 January 2013 13.00 GMT

President Obama hasn't picked a treasury secretary yet for his second term, so he has a chance to do something different.

New Year Resolutions

Posted: 01/04/2013 2:57 pm

Marian Wright EdelmanPresident, Children's Defense Fund

http://www.huffingtonpost.com

As New Year’s Eve countdowns wound down, many people turned to the familiar ritual of taking stock of where they are now to make resolutions for what they can do better in the new year. We all measure our accomplishments and shortcomings in different ways. Some people count numbers on a scale or in a savings account. But what if we decided to take stock as a nation by measuring how we treat our children?

Treasury 10-Year Yields Head for Record Low on Demand for Haven

By Daniel Kruger - Dec 29, 2012 7:00 AM GMT+0200

Bloomberg

Treasury 10-year note yields were poised for the lowest annual average since at least World War II as investors spent 2012 seeking haven from Europe’s debt crisis, tepid global growth and a U.S. budget showdown.

GLOBAL MARKETS-Shares, euro fall on Greece, U.S. fiscal talks

Mon Nov 26, 2012 2:48pm EST

* U.S. stocks fall as fiscal talks set to resume

 * Market focus on outcome of Greece aid negotiations

 * Euro edges down vs dollar

 NEW YORK, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Stocks around the globe and the euro were mostly lower on Monday, with investors cautious over whether Greece will receive emergency aid to keep it financially afloat and no signs of progress by U.S. lawmakers to avoid the U.S. "fiscal cliff."

Barack Obama's second term

Now, hug a Republican

A budget deal makes sense for the re-elected president, his opponents, his country and the world

Nov 10th 2012

The Economist

Global Factory Weakness Spreads as Debt Crisis Persists

By Simone Meier and Michelle Jamrisko on October 01, 2012 

From Bloomberg Buisinessweek

 (Corrects euro-area unemployment rate in third paragraph.) For more on Europe’s debt crisis, see TOP CRIS.)

Manufacturing from Europe to China contracted in September as the euro region’s fiscal crisis eroded investor confidence and clouded global growth prospects.

Hard times, lean firms

How much longer can America keep increasing productivity?

Dec 31st 2011 | NEW YORK

The Economist

… it was a productivity boost that has continued in defiance of expert predictions that workers can only be squeezed so hard for a short while…

…. Unless the economy picks up, he predicts that productivity growth will slow in 2012…

… workers are terrified of losing their jobs…

… tough times are forcing firms to strain every brain cell to become more efficient…

… there are signs that leading industrial firms are starting to increase their capital spending…

… all such advantages are temporary…

China trade surplus shrinks as global woes deepen

(Reuters) - China's trade surplus narrowed for a second straight month in September to $14.5 billion, with both imports and exports lower than expected, reflecting global economic weakness and domestic cooling that will deepen policy quandaries facing Beijing.

Be afraid

Unless politicians act more boldly, the world economy will keep heading towards a black hole

The Economist

The Social Contract

By PAUL KRUGMAN

The New York Times

This week President Obama said the obvious: that wealthy Americans, many of whom pay remarkably little in taxes, should bear part of the cost of reducing the long-run budget deficit. And Republicans like Representative Paul Ryan responded with shrieks of “class warfare.” It was, of course, nothing of the sort. On the contrary, it’s people like Mr. Ryan, who want to exempt the very rich from bearing any of the burden of making our finances sustainable, who are waging class war.

Aggregating Conceals Some Important Facts

The Wall Street Journal

Let us not praise famous men, to borrow from James Agee.

Not Angela Merkel, who asks all players in the euro-zone drama for patience, an attribute of which the market is short, rather than long. But then, markets have never been more than an annoyance to Europe's political class.