Hard hitting global and local news
Continue Reading: Regrets Pour In; Cyprus Parliament Passes Bailout Plan; Will Her Highness Approve?
Backing up what Ambrose Evans-Pritchard said with hard data, the Italian site Il Sole 24 Ore reports New Fall in Bank Lending to Households and Businesses . Loans to businesses and non-financial families continue to face strong decrease
Sticking with his economically insane campaign promise to construct 500,000 new homes in 2013, Hollande Announces 20 Measures to Support Home Building . Advocating a “confidence shock” to revive the building “against the Emergency Economic, social and environmental” the head of state has shown its desire to remove “all obstacles to construction”, while there was about 340,000 starts of new homes in 2012, below the target of 500,000.
The understatement of the day comes from Fed chairman Ben Bernanke who essentially says: I’m Dispensable . “I don’t think that I’m the only person in the world who can manage the exit,” Bernanke said when asked at a news conference in Washington if he’s discussed his plans with President Barack Obama. What Bernanke said is best translated as ” I’ll get while the gettin’ is good.
Back at the beginning of time, well, to be honest Rabett Run, but did anything exist before, Eli had two excellent rants ( Rant I and Rant II ) about textbook prices and the machinations of the publishers. As you may have noticed in the US when your kid goes to college, the price of General Chemistry textbooks has shattered the $200 barrier. On the other hand, in markets where students are free to buy their own books, the price is much lower. For example, the International paperback edition (you can only get the hardcover in the US) costs ~$80 list and you can get it discounted. It is even less expensive in less expensive countries, which brings Eli to the law.
Denial is Everywhere (About Increasingly Important Things!) Posted by Michael Shedlock at 6:09 PM Disclaimer: The content on this site is provided as general information only and should not be taken as investment advice.
Flash Eurozone PMI Composite Output Index at 46.5 (47.9 in February). Four-month low
Le Monde Headline "No, France is Not Bankrupt" This amusing headline story by Bruno Moschetto, a professor of economics at the University of Paris in the French newspaper Le Monde has me laughing out loud this morning: " No, France is Not Bankrupt " No, France is not bankrupt …
More: "The Positive Impact of the Declining Yen Has Yet to be Seen"
Shameless self-promotion, Part Two So the contest of Solutions for Planetary Stability continues, and both of the solutions I entered (former blog posts) have made it to the finalist stage.