Hard hitting global and local news
4 Synopsis Last month I stated " Manufacturing employment has grown for 43 months. I expect that trend to break next month. Production was up but inventories were way lower.
Sweden Housing Crash Coming Up; Average Swede to Repay Mortgage in 140 Years; Swedish Central Bank Ponders New Rules Average Swede to Repay Mortgage in 140 Years Swedish repay their mortgages so slowly that it will take 140 years on average , according to the IMF. The International Monetary Fund lamented Friday that Swedish households pay their mortgages so slowly that they are planning to do an average of 140 years.
May 30, 2013 ( RT – Eric Draitser ) – The worldwide March Against Monsanto this past Saturday was no mere political demonstration. Rather, it was a worldwide mobilization against corporate greed, the assault on our health and environment, and the oppression of small farmers. As the diverse crowd gathered in New York City’s Union Square on an unseasonably cold and rainy Memorial Day weekend – just as they did in hundreds of cities around the world – it was clear that Monsanto and the issue of health and food sovereignty transcends political ideology.
The last thing a country in recession should do is raise taxes. Well, Spain is in a depression, not a recession yet the EU requires Spain to raise the VAT and lower pension benefits within a year . One year.
Please consider these Google-translated snips from the Libre Mercado report Wolfgang Schäuble supports Rajoy’s policies and Cites "impressive" Results of the Spanish reforms . Schäuble is convinced that "Spain has made enormous progress in recent years under the Government of Mariano Rajoy". So much so that now Spain "has a strong economy, reduced labor costs, has significantly increased its exports and has done a good job in restructuring its banking sector, also after the trial of the Troika"
In an interesting development in the battle to see which country is bright enough to exit the euro first, a book urging a return to the Escudo (the prior Portuguese currency) became an instant a bestseller in Portugal. The Wall Street Journal reports Idea of Euro Exit Finds Currency in Portugal . A book by a Portuguese economist achieved a small feat on its release last month: It instantly topped Portugal’s bestseller list, overtaking several diet books and even the popular erotic novel “Fifty Shades of Grey.” The book, “Why We Should Leave the Euro” by João Ferreira do Amaral, has helped ignite a public debate in Portugal about the real cause of the country’s economic pain: Is it only the hated austerity needed to secure European bailout loans, or is the euro?
Speculative Gold Bets at 5-Year Low; Metal Will Get “Crushed†Says Credit Suisse Sentiment is never a perfect timing instrument.Yet, with Hedge Fund Bets on Gold at Five-Year Low I am comfortable stating the gold bull market is not over.
Inquiring minds may be interested in a chart of Spanish public debt over time to see how the policies of Spain and the Troika are working out in practice. Evolution of Spanish Public Debt Over Time I picked that chart up from estrategiastendencias . My stab at a translation of text regarding public debt reads "Spanish banks are deluded.
For example, please consider Opposition to the euro breaks: first manifesto to leave the single currency as translated from El Economista . The political opposition that Spain remains part of the euro begins to crystallize. And the tool to achieve that end-Spain output of the single currency is again signing a manifest public that, for the moment, has already been signed by around 1,000 professionals convinced "the risks of deterioration and degradation that there are the enormous social suffering caused by the persistence of adjustment policies, austerity and privatization of the public "
See more here: France Private Sector Implosion Continues