Hard hitting global and local news
See original article: Housing Headwinds: US Birthrate Lowest in 25 Years as Twenty-Somethings Postpone Having Babies
UK GDP Disaster Far Worse Than It Looks; UK Growth in 2012 "inconceivable" The global recession picked up steam today with news of a UK GDP Shock . The economy shrank by 0.7pc in the second quarter – far more than the 0.2pc fall expected, as record rainfall and the Jubilee holiday added to pressure from austerity cuts and the eurozone debt crisis.
Read More: Austerity Hits Cisco Systems as 1,300 Layoffs Coming; Chipmaker Renesas Cuts 5,000 Jobs; Investigating Mass layoffs
Prepare for Spanish Implosion: Businesses Threaten to Leave Spain Over Tax Hikes; Finance Minister Proposes 56% Tax on Short-Term Financial Transactions Cristobal Montoro, the Spain’s finance minister has made a liquidity destroying proposal to tax short-term financial transactions at an astonishing 56% tax rate. Businesses are already upset over hikes in the VAT and have threatened to leave Spain. Interestingly, in spite of raising taxes elsewhere, the VAT was lowered on the highly subsidized renewable energy sector.
Please see Target2 and the ELA (Emergency Liquidity Assistance) program; Reader From Europe Asks "Can You Please Explain Target2?" for a more compete description. There is much misinformation floating around on how Target 2 works, what Germany’s liabilities are, so please click on the above link if you are interested in target 2 balances. The following chart from PIMCO article TARGET2: A Channel for Europe’s Capital Flight shows the capital flight through March