The results of Obamanomics

[CARLHAYDEN]

Summer job bummer: Teen unemployment 24 percent
By Bill Whitaker

The Labor Department says the unemployment rate for those aged 16 to 19 last month was more than 24 percent.

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/06/04/eveningnews/main20069017.shtml#ixzz1OfYKCSzM

[CARLHAYDEN]

New jobless claims unexpectedly rise

Thu Jun 9, 2011 8:37am EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose by 1,000 last week, according to a report on Thursday that could stoke fears the labor market recovery has stalled

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/09/us-usa-economy-jobless-idUSTRE7582SV20110609

[CARLHAYDEN]

Ohio restaurant referenced by Obama is closing

Associated Press - June 9, 2011 6:15 AM ET

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) - An Ohio restaurant mentioned last week by President Barack Obama as an indirect beneficiary of the government's Chrysler bailout will go out of business Sunday after a more than 70-year

http://www.fox19.com/Global/story.asp?S=14872850

[CARLHAYDEN]

 
AEP to close plants, trim 600 jobs to comply with EPA rules

Published June 10th, 2011 | Added June 10th, 2011 4:18 am |

American Electric Power on Thursday announced it plans to shut down several coal-fired power plants, convert or retrofit others, and cut as many as 600 jobs in the next few years to comply with regulations proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9032750

[CARLHAYDEN]

Political Connections

by Ronald Brownstein

Why millennials can’t start their careers and baby boomers can’t end theirs.

June 9, 2011

It’s hard to say this spring whether it’s more difficult for the class of 2011 to enter the labor force or for the class of 1967 to leave it.

http://www.nationaljournal.com/columns/political-connections/our-upside-down-workforce-20110609

[CARLHAYDEN]

China to US: Forget debt ceiling, cut spending

Jun 6, 2011 13:49 EDT

http://blogs.reuters.com/james-pethokoukis/2011/06/06/china-to-us-forget-debt-ceiling-cut-spending/

Just a few years ago, who would have imagined a U.S. administration so fiscally irresponsible as to be lectured by the Communist government of China  to cut spending?

[CARLHAYDEN]

I'm surprised you missed this bit of economic news, CARL, since it uses your favorite word when it comes to economic news: "unexpectedly".

U.S. Economy: Trade Gap Narrows as Exports Rise to Record
By Alex Kowalski - Jun 9, 2011 5:13 PM ET

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-09/trade-deficit-in-u-s-unexpectedly-narrows-as-oil-auto-imports-decrease.html

You must be logged in to read this quote.

We can always count on you to try to find some way to defend Obama.

The reason the balance of trade is narrowing is because the American dollar is being devalued and we cannot afford foreign goods.

Check the exchange rates.

If you think this is 'good' news, then you are really unable to comprehend basic economics!

[CARLHAYDEN]

I'm surprised you missed this bit of economic news, CARL, since it uses your favorite word when it comes to economic news: "unexpectedly".

U.S. Economy: Trade Gap Narrows as Exports Rise to Record
By Alex Kowalski - Jun 9, 2011 5:13 PM ET

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-09/trade-deficit-in-u-s-unexpectedly-narrows-as-oil-auto-imports-decrease.html

You must be logged in to read this quote.

We can always count on you to try to find some way to defend Obama.

The reason the balance of trade is narrowing is because the American dollar is being devalued and we cannot afford foreign goods.

Check the exchange rates.

If you think this is 'good' news, then you are really unable to comprehend basic economics!

Actually its great news for exporters my friend.  China has been doing it for years.  Take a look at their economic progress relative to ours.

PS You might want to tone down your critique of other people's knowledge of basic economics.

So, when the dollar further collapses, that will be 'good' news?

[CARLHAYDEN]

We can always count on you to try to find some way to defend Obama.

With you around, I don't need to expend any effort on bashing Obama, since that is the only thing you do with Obama, sometimes with reason, but more often for items that are beyond any president's ability to do anything about.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

The American dollar has been consistently overvalued for a long time now and contributes to our economic problems.  While the good side of having the world's standard currency has been that it has kept our interest rates lower than they otherwise would have been, the bad side is the overvaluing of the dollar, making imports less expensive and our exports more expensive.  That would be a good thing if we were anywhere near full employment, but we aren't and we likely won't be for at least several more years.

Its nice to see you admit that you want the dollar devalued. 

In your strange world, we will be so much better off when it reaches the level of the currency of Zimbawbwee.

Oh, and I note that you keep telling the same lie.  You would have us believe that your obamamessiah is just some helpless fool who is subject to events outside his control.  You purposively ignore the policies he has implemented which are making things worse! 

Is closing down coal powered electric energy plants something 'beyond his control,'  or part of his policy to drive up energy prices?

[CARLHAYDEN]

CitizenX,

Is yours an act?

Do you really believe that if we continue to devalue the currency we will be on the road to prosperity?

Apparently the world of reality is too complicated for you. 

Too bad you seem to have trouble reading, as I posted the information (including link) on the EPA regulations which are causing the shut-down of coal fired electric generating plants on this thread!  But perhaps, you believe that the less electric power we have, the better.

[CARLHAYDEN]

Its nice to see you admit that you want the dollar devalued.  

In your strange world, we will be so much better off when it reaches the level of the currency of Zimbabwe.

CARL, comparing a devaluation of the dollar to a healthy level for the economy to the hyperinflation of Zimbabwe is like comparing an obese person who needs to go on a diet to someone who suffers from anorexia nervosa.

First, there is NO SUCH THING as a "healthy level of inflation"!!!   There is merely bad inflation and worse inflation.  That you are in favor of inflation is no suprise.  You are really strange.

Next, some more data for you to try to spin for your master...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Retail sales fell in May

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110614/bs_nm/us_usa_economy_retail_3

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer Martin Crutsinger, Ap Economics Writer – 1 hr 23 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Businesses added to their stockpiles for a 16th consecutive month in April. But their sales grew at the slowest pace in 10 months, supporting other data that show the economy weakened this spring.

Also,

WASHINGTON, June 14, 2011 – For the third consecutive month, NFIB’s Small Business Optimism Index fell

http://www.nfib.com/research-foundation/surveys/small-business-economic-trends?utm_campaign=SBET&utm_source=Releases&utm_medium=Releases

[CARLHAYDEN]

CitizenX,

Is yours an act?

Do you really believe that if we continue to devalue the currency we will be on the road to prosperity?

Apparently the world of reality is too complicated for you. 

Too bad you seem to have trouble reading, as I posted the information (including link) on the EPA regulations which are causing the shut-down of coal fired electric generating plants on this thread!  But perhaps, you believe that the less electric power we have, the better.

Carl,

If you want the freedom to pursue unfettered capitalism without regard to the effects on the environment move to China.  You Republicans are NOT smart.  All these ingenious ideas have been tried.  Since you like links check this out... http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/08/07/us-china-pollution-police-idUST7191620070807

China's economy is doing better than ours.  Oh, and a traffic cop in their capitol city has a life expectancy of 43 yrs because the pollution is terrible.  No offense Carl I like America THE BEAUTIFUL.  I have no desire to live in a toxic capitalistic wasteland like China.  If you love it so much move there and inhale all the fossil fuel based wonderfulness.

You and your Republican friends are going to learn that you can't get something for nothing.

Apparently it is an act.

We already have Opebo.

No need for a cheep knockoff

[CARLHAYDEN]

Its nice to see you admit that you want the dollar devalued.  

In your strange world, we will be so much better off when it reaches the level of the currency of Zimbabwe.

CARL, comparing a devaluation of the dollar to a healthy level for the economy to the hyperinflation of Zimbabwe is like comparing an obese person who needs to go on a diet to someone who suffers from anorexia nervosa.

First, there is NO SUCH THING as a "healthy level of inflation"!!!   There is merely bad inflation and worse inflation.  That you are in favor of inflation is no suprise.  You are really strange.

Carl!

Are you being serious or is this just one big joke?  Not a single central bank sets its inflation target to zero.  Where are you getting this stuff?  If a countries inflation rate is 1.5% I don't know a single central banker who would even be discussing inflation let alone intervening to push it to zero.  Every single central bank is in favor of some positive level of inflation.  No central bank sets its target at or below 0.  Again Carl, what do you read?!

You are really crazy.

Inflation is good?!?

Yeah, and the more the merrier?

Get real.

[CARLHAYDEN]

Its nice to see you admit that you want the dollar devalued.  

In your strange world, we will be so much better off when it reaches the level of the currency of Zimbabwe.

CARL, comparing a devaluation of the dollar to a healthy level for the economy to the hyperinflation of Zimbabwe is like comparing an obese person who needs to go on a diet to someone who suffers from anorexia nervosa.

First, there is NO SUCH THING as a "healthy level of inflation"!!!   There is merely bad inflation and worse inflation.  That you are in favor of inflation is no surprise.

CARL, are you one of those weirdos who thinks that bimetallism actually has a snowball's chance in hell of working?  Only someone who subscribes to the theory that objects have an inherent fixed value (which is what would be needed to have bimetalism work) would be likely to confuse currency revaluation with inflation.  The value of the Chinese yuan and the American dollar can only remain at a fixed ratio by means of an artificial peg, such as what the Chinese have been trying to maintain.  Their effort to distort the value of the dollar relative to the yuan so that the dollar is artificially overvalued is one factor that has contributed to our weak economy.

Of the various means to try and stimulate the US economy, dollar devaluation is one of least inflationary, so long as the economy is not near full employment, which ours most decidedly is not.  While its effect of increasing import prices does have a modest inflationary impact, mainly in foreign goods for which no good domestic substitute exists, the increased demand for domestic goods has a negligible effect on inflation unless we are near full employment.

The main problem with currency devaluation is that like tariffs, it is a tool that only works if not everybody tries to do it.  We've allowed the Chinese and other countries to make use of it, and so long as we were near full employment, it was beneficial to our economy to have the dollar overvalued.  That is not the case now.

You keep getting stranger and stranger.

There is absolutely NO mention of bimetalism in any of my posts, but YOU choose to bring that up.  Are you just trying to create another red herring?

You misunderstanding of currency exchange rates is unsurprising. So, let me try to explain it to you.  If currency A is undergoing inflation (lets call it the American dollar) and currency B is NOT undergoing such inflation (say the Australian or Canadian currency), then the exchange rate will charge, with the American dollar being valued less (over time) relative to the Australian or Canadian currency.  This is one (but not the entire) explanation or exchange rate changes.

It is nice (and humorous) or you to blame thd "weak economy" (presumably in the United States) on China.  But, YOU were telling us everything was great under the Obamamessiah's policies.  ROTFLMAO!

Here is an explanation for you:

http://mises.org/daily/4256

[CARLHAYDEN]

Its nice to see you admit that you want the dollar devalued.  

In your strange world, we will be so much better off when it reaches the level of the currency of Zimbabwe.

CARL, comparing a devaluation of the dollar to a healthy level for the economy to the hyperinflation of Zimbabwe is like comparing an obese person who needs to go on a diet to someone who suffers from anorexia nervosa.

First, there is NO SUCH THING as a "healthy level of inflation"!!!   There is merely bad inflation and worse inflation.  That you are in favor of inflation is no suprise.  You are really strange.

Carl!

Are you being serious or is this just one big joke?  Not a single central bank sets its inflation target to zero.  Where are you getting this stuff?  If a countries inflation rate is 1.5% I don't know a single central banker who would even be discussing inflation let alone intervening to push it to zero.  Every single central bank is in favor of some positive level of inflation.  No central bank sets its target at or below 0.  Again Carl, what do you read?!

You are really crazy.

Inflation is good?!?

Yeah, and the more the merrier?

Get real.

I don't run the worlds central banks.  If you think I'm crazy then you must think the people that set the inflation targets for the world's central banks are crazy.

So you think the Republican appointees Greenspan and Bernacke are crazy?

Do you think the president of the ECB is crazy?

Here's what happens when you go to school and actually read about central bank policy...

Since 1999, euro area headline inflation has averaged 2.1% a little above the ECB’s comfort zone of below but close to 2%.

-Jacques Cailloux

http://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/konjunktur/shadow-council/is-the-ecbs-inflation-target-too-strict-is-the-ecb-too-ambitious-in-trying-to-achieve-it-soon/2951984.html

So who knows more about economics the president of the ECB or some nameless hack that posts uninformed nonsense on internet forums?

A two year old knows more than the Preisdent of ECB, since a two year old knows nothing of economics, and the President of the ECB is deluded!

Bernacke is one of the most evil men alive.

Look at how wonderful everything is progressing under the guidance of the two lunatics.

A 'random walk' policy would be better than those they have pursued!

[CARLHAYDEN]

A two year old knows more than the Preisdent of ECB, since a two year old knows nothing of economics, and the President of the ECB is deluded!

Bernacke is one of the most evil men alive.

Look at how wonderful everything is progressing under the guidance of the two lunatics.

A 'random walk' policy would be better than those they have pursued!

Ok.  I have no rebuttal.

No, you are simply incapable to comprehending a rebuittal!

Homebuilder Confidence in U.S. Slides to Nine-Month Low on Sales Outlook

By Timothy R. Homan - Jun 15, 2011 7:00 AM MT Wed Jun 15 14:00:00 GMT 2011

Confidence among U.S. homebuilders slumped in June to the lowest level in nine months as executives turned more pessimistic on the outlook for sales, a sign that any pickup will take time to develop.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-15/homebuilder-confidence-in-u-s-slides-to-nine-month-low-on-sales-outlook.html

[CARLHAYDEN]

Foreclosure filings in the U.S. tumbled last month to the lowest in almost four years, according to RealtyTrac Inc.

Thank god "Obamanomics" (whatever that is) is beginning to stop all these W Bush foreclosures.

Unfortunately, this isn't very good news because what matters isn't the drop in foreclosures, but why it is happening. A major reason for the drop is that banks are now having to get their paperwork done right before foreclosing rather than just making assertions vaguely backed up by forms churned out by a lawyer mill.  The real estate bubble has yet to fully deflate.

CARL will of course just claim I'm making an excuse for the "Obamamessiah", but the after effect of this bubble, which popped before Obama was elected, much less in office is one reason why our economy is in trouble.  Our economy is undergoing a major adjustment, and I expect it'll be at least a decade before home construction gets to be anything close to normal again, let alone the abnormal absurdity it reached in the 201st decade.

Well, at least you have the 'virtue' of consistency!  You are consistently a defender of your Obamamessiah and therefor consistently wrong.

I'll try to explain it to you in simple terms.

The problem with foreclosures has radically changed under Obama.

While the initial problem which began before the Obama was the result of bad loans, securitzation of said loans, etc., the problem since Obama has assumed office has changed due to increases in unemployment.

Loans which would have been 'good,' with the rates of unemployment we experienced under Bush went bad under Obama due to increased unemployment rates.

Now, the so-called 'stimulus' bill was in fact basically just a spending bill for liberal interests which did not 'stimulate' the economy.

Experts urged that the money go for infrastructure (particularly transportation) improvements, but were largely ignored.

So, yes, Obama policies made things worse!

[CARLHAYDEN]

A two year old knows more than the Preisdent of ECB, since a two year old knows nothing of economics, and the President of the ECB is deluded!

Bernacke is one of the most evil men alive.

Look at how wonderful everything is progressing under the guidance of the two lunatics.

A 'random walk' policy would be better than those they have pursued!

Ok.  I have no rebuttal.

Oh, and since you reject data and logic, prefering "authority," here's an authority for you:

IMF cuts U.S. growth forecast, warns of crisis

By Luciana Lopez

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund cut its forecast for U.S. economic growth on Friday and warned Washington and debt-ridden European countries that they are "playing with fire" unless they take immediate steps to reduce their budget deficits.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/imf-cuts-u-growth-forecast-warns-crisis-130529571.html

[CARLHAYDEN]

CitizenX,

First, rational people do not engage in all or nothing thinking   Certainly Bush deserves blame for policies (the bank bailout), but so does Obama for his policies (Porkulus, Obamacare, etc) which have also hurt the economy.

Second, policies implemented DO matter.  You seem to believe that no matter what policies Obama implemented he should be considered blameless.

Third, the unemployment rate has increased since Obama took office (including recently), and the percentage of the adult population employed has proportionately decreased.

[CARLHAYDEN]

Let me try to explain, for the simpleminded, the misleading nature of CitizenX's diagram.

Suppose you are at sea in a leaky boat.

Being an Obamanoid, you decided to do something about the leak -- you make it larger.

So, instead of dealing with the leak, you snort some coke and do a little bailing.

The quantity of water you bail (being an Obamanoid you don't want to fix problems, you want to engage in bailouts), is less than the water coming in as a result of the damage you did to increase the lead.

The answer is simple, ignore the water streaming in and publicize the amount of water being bailed.

The problem is that this attempt at hiding the truth only works for the incredibily stupid, as the boat is continuing to sink.

To put this in statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the (not seasonally adjusted) number of persons in the population age 16 and over has increased since Bush left office while the number of persons employed has decreased!

Year          Month          Civilian Noninstitutional Population          Employed           Percentage

2008       December                     235,035,000                           143,350,000             61.0
2011          May                            239,913,000                           140,028,000            58.5

[CARLHAYDEN]

Why do you hate the free market, karlhayden?  It is precisely a reduction of employment which achieves the free market solution to depressions - reduction in wages to a market-clearing price.  That or starvation, same thing.

Is CitizenX one of your sock puppets?

His views strangely parallel yours.

[CARLHAYDEN]

Even Bernanke is admitting that "the outlook for next year has gotten worse."

Federal Reserve, acknowledging slowdown, reins in forecasts for economic growth

By Neil Irwin, Wednesday, June 22, 9:58 AM

The economic recovery is slowing and the outlook for next year has gotten worse, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said Wednesday, backing away from the view that the slowdown of the past few months was merely temporary.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/nationals-journal

[CARLHAYDEN]

Jobs Picture Grows Worse as Weekly Claims Post Jump

Published: Thursday, 23 Jun 2011 | 8:36 AM ET

New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week, a government report showed on Thursday, suggesting little improvement in the labor market this month after employment stumbled in May.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/43507567

[CARLHAYDEN]

Smitty nails it with “Thank’ee Bernanke”:

“Farce… the Financial Frontier. These are the voyages of the Federal Reserve. Its five-score-year mission: to explore strange new monetary value depths, to seek out new life in zombie Economics, to boldly go where no man with a shred of policy sense has gone before. . .”

http://theothermccain.com/

[CARLHAYDEN]

Geithner: Taxes on ‘Small Business’ Must Rise So Government Doesn’t ‘Shrink’
Thursday, June 23, 2011

By Terence P. Jeffrey

Wednesday, June 22, 2011.

(CNSNews.com) - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told the House Small Business Committee on Wednesday that the Obama administration believes taxes on small business must increase so the administration does not have to “shrink the overall size of government programs.”

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/geithner-taxes-small-business-must-rise