Central Perk

sâmbătă, 31 martie 2012

Passing the Buffett Rule So That Everyone Pays Their Fair Share

Your Daily Snapshot for
Saturday, March 31, 2012

Passing the Buffett Rule So That Everyone Pays Their Fair Share

President Obama calls on Congress to pass the Buffett Rule, a principle that ensures that millionaires and billionaires do not pay less in taxes as a share of their income than middle class families pay -- as a matter of fairness.

Watch the President's weekly address:

President Barack Obama tapes the Weekly Address in the Library of the White House, March 29, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

Weekly Wrap Up

Your quick look at this week on WhiteHouse.gov:

From Dartmouth to the World Bank: On Friday, the President named Dr. Jim Yong Kim – president of Dartmouth college, co-founder of Partners in Health and global health and development expert – as his choice to head the World Bank. “[Despite] its name, the World Bank is more than just a bank,” the President explained. “It’s one of the most powerful tools we have to reduce poverty and raise standards of living in some of the poorest countries in the planet.”

Nuclear Security Summit: Just after midnight on Saturday morning, President Obama boarded Air Force One and departed for a trip to South Korea. His three-day trip included a tour of the DMZ and a meeting with U.S. troops stationed at the border; a talk with students at Hankuk University; and a series of bilateral and trilateral meetings with foreign leaders -- including President Hu Jintao of China, President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan, and President Dmitry Medvedev of Russia.

All Right, Let’s Plant!: Students and Girl Scouts from across the country joined the First Lady on the South Lawn Monday for a sunny afternoon planting the White House Kitchen Garden.

Big Data, Big Deal: On Thursday, the Obama Administration announced the “Big Data Research and Development Initiative, "which promises to help accelerate the pace of discovery in science and engineering, strengthen our national security, and transform teaching and learning.

Facebook Timeline: The White House’s Facebook timeline launched on Friday, now providing both the latest news and a glimpse into history. The timeline highlights special moments from our rich history, including all forty-four presidential inaugurations, FDR’s first “fireside chat,” and the launch of the first White House website.

West Wing Week: Your video guide to everything that's happening this week at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Watch here.

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Seth's Blog : How much for a really small slice?

How much for a really small slice?

When the hardware store sells you a single screw for a dime, shouldn't they just give it to you? Especially if you're a good customer?

Shouldn't that singer (you bought all her albums) return the love? You're only asking for a few seconds, a hug, a handshake, an autograph...

It's easier than ever to break your offering into smaller bits, into pieces that are part of the whole but are tiny on their own.

Add up enough small slices and that's the whole cake. Asymmetry is the rule now, not the exception.

Small slices can't be free in the long run, not if that's the only kind of slice there is.

Either you need to figure out how to sell your small slices, or you need to invent some big slices that are obviously worth what you need to sell them for.

• Email to a friend •

vineri, 30 martie 2012

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Canada Eliminates The Penny

Posted: 30 Mar 2012 01:06 PM PDT

In a welcome, albeit long overdue attack of common sense, Canada Eliminates Penny Costing Penny-and-a-Half to Make.

Canada will withdraw the penny from circulation this year, saving taxpayers about C$11 million ($11 million) annually and forcing retailers to round prices to the nearest nickel, the government announced in its budget today.

The Royal Canadian Mint, which has produced 35 billion pennies since it began production in 1908, will cease distribution this fall due to the coin's low purchasing power. Production and handling cost for the one-cent coin are a C$150- million drag on the economy, according to a 2006 study by Desjardins, a Levis, Quebec-based financial institution.

Business groups welcomed the move, which follows other countries such as Australia, Brazil and Sweden, and economists said it would have little impact on inflation.

The penny, with two maple leafs on one side and Queen Elizabeth II on the other, can continue to be used in payments. As they are gradually withdrawn from circulation, price rounding on cash transactions will be required, the government said.

Retailers and other businesses can continue to price goods and services in one-cent increments and there will be no need to reprogram cash registers, according to the government.

Catherine Swift, president and chief executive officer of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said the move will increase efficiency.

"It has been a long time coming," she said. "It's been a real pain more than anything else. We've actually polled our members on this and they're supportive."

Economists said there would be "little" impact on inflation. Actually, there will be "no" impact on inflation. The penny has not been discarded as a pricing point, rather final transaction costs will be rounded to the nearest nickel.

The US needs to follow suit. Dealing with pennies is a nuisance.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List

Question on Jobs: How Many Does It Take to Keep Up With Demographics?

Posted: 30 Mar 2012 10:29 AM PDT

John Mauldin pinged me with a question on jobs and demographics from one of his readers.

Hello John.
In past letters you have cited the need to create 125,000 jobs per month to stay even with the growth rate in the labor force. Dick Hokenson of ISI Research has recently published reports suggesting that 75,000 jobs is a more accurate estimate based on his demographic analysis. This difference obviously has profound implications for the pace of recovery and potential improvement in the unemployment rate. Have you seen any of Hokenson's work? Do you have any insights into why his analysis is so different than consensus?

How Many Does It Take to Keep Up With Demographics?

Ben Bernanke has estimated 125,000 jobs a month. That is the number I have been using recently.

However, based on demographics alone, I believe 75,000 is indeed the correct number.

75,000 is a number I arrived at a couple of years ago independently, for the boomer-bust years of 2013-2015.

So why use 125,000 if it only takes 75,000? I do not know Bernanke's rationale, but I can explain mine.

Between January 2008 and February 2010, the U.S. economy lost 8.8 million jobs.
In the last year, the civilian population rose by 3,584,000. Yet the labor force only rose by 1,569,000.
Millions of people dropped out of the labor force in the last several years and if jobs are available they will start looking again
As soon as people start looking for jobs, the number it will take to hold the unemployment rate steady will rise, perhaps to a number well above 125,000

Point number 4 above is the key issue.

Household Survey Data - March 9, 2012

click on chart for sharper image

Take a good look at the household survey from the latest BLS jobs report. Recall that the unemployment rate comes from the household survey, and not the headline jobs number.

Note that 428,000 jobs were allegedly created in February. Also note the unemployment did not change. Why? Because the civilian labor force went up by an even larger 476,000. Thus the unemployment rate actually rose a fractional amount that rounding took away.

If I would have told you that a rise in 428,000 jobs would not drop the unemployment rate you would have thought I was off my rocker. Yet it happened, assuming of course you believe BLS numbers, complete with amazing seasonal adjustments.

Back to School Stats

Let's take a look at some interesting points from Consumer Credit "Demolishes Expectations" Really? No Not Really! The "Non-Bounce" in Non-Revolving Credit

Non-Revolving credit rose $11.8 billion in December. However, $8.8 billion of that is growth in federal government loans (which just happens to be where student loans are parked).

Here are some charts I put together stripping out federal government loans.

Non-Revolving Loans Minus Government Loans

Non-Revolving Loans Minus Government Loans Detail

True Bounce in Percentage Terms

Note that the year-over-year "bounce" has not even gotten back to the zero-line in spite of exceptionally easy comparisons.

Middle-Aged Borrowers Pile on Student Debt

Reuters reports Middle-Aged Borrowers Pile on Student Debt

Educational borrowing is up for every age group over the past three years, but it has grown far more quickly among those between 35 and 49, according to the analysis of more than 3 million credit reports provided to Reuters by the credit score tracking site CreditKarma (CreditKarma.com). That group saw its school debt burden increase by a staggering 47 percent, according to the analysis.

The average student loan debt for those aged 38 to 41 was the biggest of that group -- about $12,000, up from just under $9,000 in 2009. Young people still carry the biggest student loan burdens; those aged 26 to 29 have an average of $14,000 in student debt. But the increased levels in middle-aged student debt is a new phenomenon.
Negative Payback on Retraining

The benefit of going back to school at age 49 is likely negative.

My friend "BC" comments:

The payoff for 40- and 50-somethings taking on debt to change occupations or trying to find jobs in "health care" or "education" and compete with Millennials trying to secure similar positions is low or negative.

Statistically, the benefit to "education" occurs between ages 14 and 22, where one goes to high school and university. Obtaining an MBA, law degree, or another graduate degree after age 26-28 historically has not resulted in a net benefit in terms of job/career prospects or wage/salary income; and this has become particularly the case since the late '90s.

In other words, the vast majority of people running up debt at universities, community colleges, and for-profit technical schools are wasting their time and money, as well as directing scarce resources to the "health care" and "education" sectors that don't need more misallocation further driving up costs.

Needless to say, there is no precedent in US history for middle-aged unemployed, underemployed, or unemployable Americans running up debt in an economy that has not created a net new private sector full-time job per capita in at least 10 years.
Fewer Nonfarm Employees Now Than December 2000

Here is one key chart (of many) from Fewer Nonfarm Employees Now Than December 2000; Unemployment Rate: Some Things Still Don't Add Up; Obamanomics?

Total Nonfarm Employees

There are currently 132,409,000 nonfarm employees. In December of 2000 there were 132,481,000 employees. How's that for job growth?

Retraining Scam

Job retraining is scam perpetrated by for-profit universities, fueled by statements from Obama regarding re-training people for new jobs.

Brick-layers are told they can be "chefs", take $10,000 courses and the universities call it a "success" if they land a job "in their field" at McDonald's. Unemployed roofers are led to believe they can become Java programmers, and they waste collective $billions trying. Meanwhile out of work Java programmers are told to take up a trade like roofing or auto mechanics.

The cost of education keeps rising because Obama (like Bush before him), keeps adding to the student loan program when the entire student loan scam really needs to be shut down.

Why Does the Scam Roll On and On?

No politician wants to stand up and tell the truth: Retraining is a waste of money and the odds of launching a new career in other than a low-paying job requiring few skills is simply not likely.

For-Profit universities pad politicians' pockets

One can always find success stories, but in aggregate, retraining middle-aged workers is a net waste of money.

To Paraphrase Joe Weisenthal

Now, to paraphrase Joe Weisenthal: "It's hard to think that the economy is NOT going back into a recession with numbers like these." The difference in viewpoint is understanding what the underlying numbers really represent.

Hiding Out In School

All those hiding out in school, including those going back to school for retraining are not counted in the ranks of the unemployed. Nor are discouraged workers, who stopped looking for a job.

As soon as those folks think there are jobs, they will start looking. Economically speaking, that would be a good thing if it happened, but it would also increase the number of jobs it will take to hold the unemployment rate steady.

In a vacuum, all things being equal, it would take about 75,000 jobs a month demographically speaking. But things are not equal. Millions of workers want back in the labor force and they will start looking, especially students who at some point will have no choice. It may take 150,000 jobs a month or even 175,000 jobs a month, if those workers come back into the labor force in a 2-year surge.

That is still not the end of the story. What if we slip back into recession and people stop looking? How many will it take then? The answer may be closer to 100,000. The middle of the road approach is to stick with the number I have been using recently which is 125,000 a month.

The irony is, the better the economy is, the more jobs it will take. One way or another, headwinds on lowering the unemployment rate are very strong.

All things considered, I see no reason to deviate from my "Structurally High Unemployment For a Decade" call made years ago and reiterated in January in Fundamental and Mathematical Case for Structurally High Unemployment for a Decade; Shrinking Job Opportunities and the Jobs Gap; The Real Employment Situation.

For further discussion please see Where is the Unemployment Rate Headed? Interactive Mapping Lets "You" Set the Parameters, and Plot a Graph

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List

Damn Cool Pics

Marauder Armored Vehicle Featured in Top Gear
Is An MBA Worth It? [Infographic]
22 Month Old Rock Climbing Baby
Titanic Movie Mistakes
Important Lessons Learned On Facebook
Gaming is Good for You [Infographic]

Marauder Armored Vehicle Featured in Top Gear

Posted: 30 Mar 2012 01:47 PM PDT

Top Gear episode 1 of season 17 aired on the BBC featuring a high-mobility armoured personnel carrier called the Marauder.

Claimed to be the "world's most unstoppable vehicle" the Marauder can provide protection against mines, IEDs and ballistic attack. It can also carry up to 10 fully armed troops and can be configured in a number of variants depending on the role.

Designed and built by the Paramount Group of South Africa, Top Gear sent co-host Richard Hammond there to put the Marauder through a series of extreme challenges. Without breaking a sweat, the Marauder flattened cars, smashed through brick walls and fended off attacks by hungry lions in the South African bush. As a finale, a Marauder and a Hummer were blown up in explosions simulating the roadside bombs faced daily in conflict zones. The Hummer was totally destroyed, but the Marauder was barely damaged and drove away. Weighing around 15 tons, the Marauder can carry 3 tons, hit a maximum speed of 120 km/h (75 mph).

Via: 4wheelfun

Is An MBA Worth It? [Infographic]

Posted: 30 Mar 2012 01:44 PM PDT

Deciding whether to get an MBA can be a tough decision. On one hand, business school is a big investment of time and money. On the other, an MBA opens doors to new job opportunities and increased earning potential.

So, how do you know if an MBA is right for you?

Like any good businessperson, you need to look at facts and figures. Check out this infographic for key stats on business school's potential ROI. Compare lifetime earnings for people with MBAs and those without, learn about the pros and cons of Executive MBA programs, and check out reasons other aspiring b-school students cited for going back to school.

Click on Image to Enlarge.

Created by: MBAOnline.com

22 Month Old Rock Climbing Baby

Posted: 29 Mar 2012 09:57 PM PDT

This 22-month-old girl tackles her parents' home rock climbing wall like a pro to retrieve increasingly perilously placed toys.

Titanic Movie Mistakes

Posted: 29 Mar 2012 09:49 PM PDT

Titanic is getting a 3D re-release next week. Since its release in 1990 a lot of eagle-eyed viewers have spotted well over 200 mistakes in it - here are 15 of the best.

Via: Moviemistakes

Important Lessons Learned On Facebook

Posted: 29 Mar 2012 07:36 PM PDT

Believe it or not, you can learn a lot of really important things on Facebook.

Via: Buzzfeed

Gaming is Good for You [Infographic]

Posted: 29 Mar 2012 07:30 PM PDT

Our latest infographic goes over some really great things video games are responsible for. It's pretty surprising to find that genre to genre, games can do some remarkable things for your brain and body. While I'm not thrilled to find my kids three hours in to a Halo session, I'm certainly relieved to learn that some real good can come out of their gaming.

The other useful thing I took away is that moderation is crucial to healthy gaming. It makes sense. Video games have very real benefits but too much of the same thing, day in, day out, actually ends up hurting you. As a dad, it's a relief to hear that if I have to, I can still yank the plug and point to the door. Check out the inforgraphic and see what good gaming can do for you.

Click on Image to Enlarge.

Via: Frugaldad

sâmbătă, 31 martie 2012

Passing the Buffett Rule So That Everyone Pays Their Fair Share