Central Perk: 11 ian. 2014

sâmbătă, 11 ianuarie 2014

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

48.6% of Spaniards Aged 18-24 Would Take Any Job, Anywhere, for Low Wages; Ikea Spain Gets 100,000 Applicants for 400 Jobs; Walmart, McDonalds Comparison

Posted: 11 Jan 2014 05:49 PM PST

In contrast to McDonalds' workers in the US demanding $15 an hour wages, Almost half of young Spaniards accept any job, anywhere, despite low salary

48.6% of Spaniards aged 18 to 24 said they would accept any job, anywhere and even with a low income. 84.9% felt very or fairly likely to have to work on what is available, 61.7% considered it equally likely to have to go abroad, and 79.2% said they need to study more. Despite this, an overwhelming majority (80%) are convinced that, at least in the near future, will have to be financially dependent on their family.

Future is Black

Young Spaniards recognize enjoy the benefits of the welfare state far more than their parents, except as regards stability and security. They are also convinced that their children will live much worse than them.

Frustrated Expectations

Only 20% of young people believe things will improve in the next two or three years, compared to 36% who think it will get worse. Moreover, nearly three in four young people (71%) considered likely to find little or no work in the coming year.

Ikea Spain Gets 100,000 Applicants for 400 Jobs

Also via translation from El Economista, please consider Ikea Spain Gets 100,000 Applicants for 400 Jobs

The Swedish multinational Ikea will have work to select staff for a store in Valencia because 100,000 people submitted applications to fill 400 jobs.

Ika received a total of 100,000 job applications through a web page offering. In the first 48 hours of processing, Ikea received 20,000 applications.

The store, which will open in summer, will have a staff of 400 employees and also generate about 80 indirect jobs to cover services such as security, transport and cleaning, among others.

Walmart, McDonalds Comparison

To be fair, there is a major difference between McDonalds' employees and Spaniards seeking jobs.

The McDonalds' employees demanding higher wages have jobs. Those seeking jobs, don't.

However, every McDonalds' employee knew their wage when they were hired. Like Spaniards willing to accept low wages, they took the jobs anyway.

1 Million McDonalds Applicants

I cannot find anything recent on McDonalds, but on April 28, 2011, Bloomberg reported "McDonald's and its franchisees hired 62,000 people in the U.S. after receiving more than one million applications, the Oak Brook, Illinois-based company said today in an e-mailed statement. Previously, it said it planned to hire 50,000."

Walmart 23,000 Applicants for 600 Jobs

On November 19, 2013 NBC Washington reported Walmart to Open First D.C. Stores Dec. 4

Walmart's H Street and Georgia Avenue locations will open Dec. 4 at 8 a.m. Both the 103,000-square-foot Georgia Avenue store and the 74,000-square-foot H Street location will feature fresh produce, a deli, organic food items and a full-service pharmacy.

The stores will hire a combined 600 associates after combing through the more 23,000 applications its received from potential employees.

The arrival of Walmart has not been a smooth one. Both stores were on the verge of never opening after the retail giant threatened to pull its plans if Mayor Vincent Gray signed a living wage bill.

The Large Retailer Accountability Act, known colloquially as the "Walmart Bill," would have required the company -- and other big-box retailers -- to pay its employees a minimum of $12.50 an hour.

Gray vetoed the bill in September.

Minimum wage in the District currently stands at $8.25 an hour.

Reflections on Living Wages

Take a poll of those employees. I bet 100% of them are happier to have a job at $8.25 an hour vs. no job at some presumed "living wage" that they would not get because there were no jobs.

Of course, now that they have a job and should be happy, some union activist is going to try to convince them they shouldn't be happy.

The Real Problem

Other than a couple of like-minded Austrian bloggers, no one has bothered to complain about the real problem: The Fed pumping money supply like mad, while holding interest rates low.

Five Results

Prices rising faster than wages
Grossly distorted income inequalities
Non-existent price signals
Interest rates that encourage hardware and software solutions to eliminate employees
Equity and bond market bubbles

I blasted the Fed regarding these issues early Friday.

For details and truly educational reading, please see Money as Communication: A Purposely "Non-Educational" Fallacious Video by the Atlanta Fed.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Spaniards Expelled from Belgium for Abusing Illegal Immigrant Social Aid Handouts

Posted: 11 Jan 2014 12:53 PM PST

What would happen if the US suddenly kicked out illegal immigrants for abuse of free handouts and social aid?

Belgium did just that. The numbers are small, but the point is that it happened at all.

Via translation from Libre Mercado, please consider Spaniards, among Europeans expelled from Belgium's abuse of social aid programs.

The Aliens Office of Belgium withdrew permission of residence to 323 Spaniards in 2013 because they no longer meet the requirements, such as having an employment contract, being a student or have become self-employed, and thus prevent impose burdens exaggerated to the coffers of the Belgian Social Security. Spanish rank third in number of expulsions, behind only Romanians and Bulgarians.

In total, Belgium expelled a total of 2,712 European citizens for these reasons over the past year. This represents an increase from 2012, when it withdrew permission for 2,407 people to stay in the country.

European citizens have the right to freedom of movement within the territory of the European Union, but must meet certain requirements during your stay at a home outside the Member State.

The Belgian Foreign Office explained that the main reason for removing these permissions have to do with "unreasonable burden on the social system" involving these citizens, by not complying with the conditions required to Europeans.

Not only does this happen in Europe, it happens in spite of alleged freedom of movement clauses for Eurozone nations.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Damn Cool Pics

Meanwhile In Detroit

Posted: 10 Jan 2014 07:58 PM PST

Welcome to Detroit.

Ensuring 2014 is a Year of Action to Grow the Economy

Featured

Weekly Address: Ensuring 2014 is a Year of Action to Grow the Economy

In this week’s address, President Obama calls 2014 a year of action, which should start with Congress quickly passing emergency unemployment insurance for the 1.3 million Americans who lost this vital lifeline as they fight to find jobs and make ends meet.

Click here to watch this week's Weekly Address.

Top Stories

Promise Zones: The President announced on Thursday the first five “Promise Zone” locations, an initiative to partners with local communities and businesses to create jobs, expand access to educational opportunities and spur economic mobility.

President Obama was joined in the East Room by students from Harlem Children’s Zone, an educational undertaking that inspired the Promise Zones, where he spoke about the importance of making sure a child’s path isn’t determined by their zip code, but rather by their hard work and determination. In his speech, the President mentioned how he wasn’t so different from one of the students who has benefitted from the Harlem Children’s Zone.

“If you want to know why I care about this stuff so much, it's because I'm not that different from Roger,” President Obama said.

There was a period of time in my life where I was goofing off. I was raised by a single mom. I didn’t know my dad. The only difference between me and Roger was my environment was more forgiving than his. That’s the only difference. If I screwed up, the consequences weren't quite as great. So if Roger can make it, and if I can make it, if Kiara can make it, every kid in this country can make it.

The Promise Zones, located in San Antonio, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Southeastern Kentucky, and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, are the first of 20 being launched over the next three years.

Extending Emergency Unemployment Insurance: On Tuesday, President Obama called on Congress to extend emergency unemployment insurance. Two weeks ago, Congress failed to renew the vital lifeline that temporarily extends insurance for 1.3 million Americans who are currently looking for work. “Now, I've heard the argument that says extending unemployment insurance will somehow hurt the unemployed because it zaps their motivation to get a new job,” the President said.

I really want to go at this for a second. That really sells the American people short...I can't name a time where I met an American who would rather have an unemployment check than the pride of having a job. The long-term unemployed are not lazy. They're not lacking in motivation. They're coping with the aftermath of the worst economic crisis in generations.

The President noted that this insurance is not an abstraction but rather a way to provide a bit of extra security, so that losing your job doesn’t mean you lose everything you’ve worked to build.

Affordable Care Act: This week, a new report showed that the growth of health care spending is continuing to slow, and Dr. Biden shared her personal connection to the fight against breast cancer to help highlight a new announcement about no-cost chemoprevention medication for women at high risk of the disease.

Since January 1, Americans across the country who signed up for health coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplaces have new access to quality and affordable health coverage. Read one man’s story as well as stories from 10 others who have received coverage and what it means to them.

We the Geeks: It was a big week for “We the Geeks,” which hosted two Google+ hangouts, one on the future of computing and the other on the polar vortex. Scientists and tech experts answered your pressing questions on computing advancements and climate change. If you haven’t already, make sure to check out this video that explains the polar vortex in two minutes and why climate change means more extreme weather is likely in the future. Want to know about future “We the Geeks” hangouts? Make sure to sign up for email updates here.

Strengthening our Nation’s Energy Infrastructure: On Thursday, the President signed a memorandum that established the first federal government Quadrennial Energy Review (QER) process. Throughout the next four years, the QER will provide a review of federal energy policies and make sure they are keeping up with the changing energy landscape.

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Seth's Blog : The feedback you've been waiting for

The feedback you've been waiting for

"You did a great job. This is exactly what I was hoping for. I wouldn't change a thing. You completely nailed it, it's fabulous."

Of course, that's not feedback, really. It's applause.

Applause is great. We all need more of it.

But if you want to improve, you should actively seek feedback. And that feedback, if it's more than just carping, will be constructive. It will clearly and generously lay out ways you can more effectively delight your customers and create a remarkable experience that leads to ever more customers.

If you're afraid of that feedback, it's probably not going to arrive as often as you'd like it to. On the other hand, if you embrace it as the gift it can be, you may decide to go looking for it.

Empty criticism and snark does no one any good. But genuine, useful, insightful feedback is a priceless gift.

Applause is good too.