August 13, 2013
I Can’t Get No Satisfaction
Error Over Quota This application is temporarily over its serving quota. Please try again later
Hard hitting global and local news
Hard hitting global and local news
Error Over Quota This application is temporarily over its serving quota. Please try again later
With that backdrop, please consider Will Portugal Bring Down the Spanish Banking Sector?
See original article: US Consumer Spending Flat Since March – Gallup
Read More: Fed Balance Sheet vs. Stock Market; Will QE Cause Inflation? US in a Minsky Bubble? About to Go…
The above link is from the Fox News story Army won’t suspend contracts with Al Qaeda-tied companies, citing ‘due process rights’ In a scathing passage of his latest report to Congress, Special Inspector General John Sopko said his office has urged the Army to suspend or debar 43 contractors over concerns about ties to the Afghanistan insurgency, "including supporters of the Taliban, the Haqqani network and al Qaeda." Sopko wrote that the Army "rejected" every single case. Sopko pointed out the apparent disconnect between one part of the Army that is killing insurgents and the other part that allegedly is doing business with them
Weakest rise in service sector activity in nine months Services employment and new orders broadly stagnate Ninth successive month of higher input prices in the service sector Summary The latest data for Japanese service providers indicated that the expansion evident in previous surveys continued in July, but the pace slowed. Business activity increased only marginally, whilst new business and employment stagnated, in each case ending eight-month sequences of growth. The headline seasonally adjusted Business Activity Index fell in July to 50.6 from 52.1 in June
Read this article: An Analysis of July Employment Numbers 1955 to 2013; Full-Time Employment Down Over 5 Million Since 2007
I am normally critical of IMF forecasts, but their baseline unemployment projection for Spain of 25% or more with no more than .6% annual growth through 2017 seems reasonable. The pessimistic scenario is a toxic deleveraging downward spiral that continues right now. The optimistic scenario assumes 2% growth, but that scenario does not start until 2018, and only if labor reforms in Spain and Europe take place
Will Rouhani bring a tectonic shift to Iran’s political landscape? Nile Bowie discusses the challenges and controversies of recent Iranian political developments with award-winning journalist Kourosh Ziabari: NB: Hassan Rouhani, a reform-minded moderate cleric and former nuclear negotiator under President Khatami, will be Iran’s new president.