Time Is Running Out for the West
http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig10/evans-pritchard33.html
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Deficits, debt, and self-deception
Acton Institute
by Samuel Gregg
08/18/10
Increasing numbers of people below the age of 30 are aware that their long-term financial security has been undermined by the excessive personal, corporate, and government debt incurred by previous generations. It’s much harder to honor your father and mother when you think they’ve recklessly squandered your financial future. A second cultural consequence of excessive debt is an erosion of trust. Just as wealth-creation and sound credit arrangements are ultimately built upon substantial reserves of trust, so too does a widespread inability to repay debts corrode a society’s reservoirs of trust and subsequent wealth-creation capacities. But perhaps most worryingly, societies that embrace excessive indebtedness as a way of life eventually begin to deceive themselves...
http://tinyurl.com/36a8u2b
Down on the upside
The American Conservative
by Brendan O'Neill
08/10
For the vast majority of human beings, life has never been better. We’re healthier, longer-living, less exhausted, and more nutrient-packed than any of our ancestors. Yet there’s an epidemic of pessimism. Barely a day goes by when we are not told that life was better in some distant, pastoral, pre-modern era, when men hunted for meat, women cooked it, and they spent the rest of their time banging drums and dancing around fires. We’re forever being informed that as a direct consequence of our creation of a comfortable, convenient society, the world will come to an end...
http://www.amconmag.com/article/2010/aug/01/00046/
Projected US budget deficits threaten to curtail growth
Agence France-Presse
08/19/10
The US budget deficit is expected to shrink this year but projected shortfalls over the next decade may jump by six trillion dollars and curtail growth, estimates by Congress showed Thursday. The Congressional Budget Office estimated a federal budget deficit of 1.342 trillion dollars for fiscal 2010 that ends September 30 — 71 billion dollars below last year’s total of 1.413 trillion dollars...
http://tinyurl.com/2a9bt54
A politician’s promise
Center for a Stateless Society
by Darian Worden
08/19/10
‘Mission accomplished’ is a frequent rallying cry of governments trying to keep up appearances of success. If the economy was in better shape now, recovery would be credited to the wisdom of our glorious leaders. But we’re supposed to believe that the benefits just haven’t reached us yet and without the bold measures of politicians, things could only be worse (but of course!). No matter the outcome, politicians will take credit for the good, and pass the bad onto rivals while claiming that they did not have enough control over your life to do what was necessary...
http://c4ss.org/content/3693
A U-turn on the road to serfdom
National Review
by Grover Norquist
08/19/10
In 2008, Americans worked 197 days, until July 16 — in other words, more than half the year — to pay for the total cost of government. As a result of the bailouts, stimulus, and increased discretionary spending in the federal budget and new taxes for health care, Americans this year have worked until August 19, fully 231 days. In two years, the American people have lost over a month of wages to the higher cost of government...
http://tinyurl.com/25un59s
High profits, high unemployment: What gives?
Nolan Chart
by Gene DeNardo
08/19/10
Perplexing statistics have been surfacing concerning the economy. While corporate profits are returning to pre ‘crisis’ levels, unemployment seems to remain stuck around ten percent. Worsening the scenario is the fact that this doesn’t capture the entire employment picture, as some believe at least another ten percent have given up on finding a job or have been forced into early retirement. Companies have been moving to more efficient production which translates to less labor. But, less labor per unit of output hasn’t always translated to higher unemployment. Big corporate has been dumping huge sums of capital into more efficient production for decades. Why the high unemployment condition?
http://www.nolanchart.com/article7948.html
Economic ignorance on deficits
Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G. Hornberger
08/23/10
For one thing, contrary to the Times’ fear-mongering, the so-called trade deficit doesn’t really signify anything bad. In fact, if the government stopped keeping track of these trade statistics, nobody would care and nothing bad would happen. There would be no gigantic sucking sound. America wouldn’t be sucked dry of money or wealth. Americans would not suddenly find themselves living in a land of poverty...
http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2010-08-23.asp
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
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Debt Virus Spreads During Make-Believe Recovery
Under the surface, the cracks in the euro are getting worse. The imbalances in the euro area are growing all the time. The resistance to the bailout package will rise as the terms turn out to be immoral and absurd. And the big-deficit nations are locked in a downward economic spiral.
http://bit.ly/dhUjVa
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reform: Would it add $5 trillion to US debt?
The Obama administration held a conference Tuesday about how to reform mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Reform could involve adding Fannie and Freddie's roughly $5 trillion in obligations, in effect, to the federal balance sheet.
http://bit.ly/buAbVk
US Says Bankruptcies Reach Nearly 5-Year High
U.S. bankruptcy filings have reached the highest level since 2005, government data released on Tuesday show, as the economy slows and the unemployment rate hovers just below double digits.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/38744090
From Information Clearing House
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Unemployment Insurance Claims Hit 500,000 Last Week, the Worst in 2010
Mark Trumball, The Christian Science Monitor: "Fully 500,000 Americans filed new claims for government unemployment insurance last week, the highest number in nine months and a sign of persistent trouble in the job market."
http://www.truth-out.org/unemployment-insurance-claims-hit-500000-last-week-the-worst-201062457
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97 Congressional Candidates Oppose War Spending
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/caws
From ufpj-news
Informant: David Swanson
http://sharenews.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
http://sharenews.twoday.net/search?q=debt
http://sharenews.twoday.net/search?q=deficit
http://sharenews.twoday.net/search?q=budget
http://sharenews.twoday.net/search?q=recovery
http://sharenews.twoday.net/search?q=bailout
http://sharenews.twoday.net/search?q=stimulus
http://sharenews.twoday.net/search?q=mortgage
http://sharenews.twoday.net/search?q=bankruptcies
http://sharenews.twoday.net/search?q=Fannie+Mae
http://sharenews.twoday.net/search?q=Freddie+Mac
http://sharenews.twoday.net/search?q=unemploy
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=serfdom
http://sharenews.twoday.net/search?q=/evans-pritchard
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Samuel+Gregg
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Brendan+O'Neill
http://sharenews.twoday.net/search?q=Mark+Trumball
http://sharenews.twoday.net/search?q=Darian+Worden
http://sharenews.twoday.net/search?q=Grover+Norquist
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Gene+DeNardo
http://sharenews.twoday.net/search?q=Jacob+G.+Hornberger
