Tag Archives: economy

Fukushima

Government & Corporate Incompetence: Radiation levels increasing in Japanese Rivers!

Japan’s Environment Ministry reports that radiation levels in rivers, downstream of the radiation spewing Fukushima Daiichi, are only increasing.

The latest official readings come from samples taken back in September.

In northern Fukushima Prefecture, the cesium levels were 3,200 becquerels per kilogram in the upstream Niida River.  The cesium levels in the downstream side of the same river were 13,000 becquerels!  That’s triple the levels reported in May!

Cesium levels in the Mano River have doubled!

Kinki University Professor Yamazaki Hideo says the government should step up radiation monitoring in all rivers.

Business/Economics, Fukushima

Global Economic War: Japanese industry moving to China

Since the 11 March 2011 disasters, Japanese industries moving to China has increased 65%.  That’s according to the Chinese Commerce Ministry.

There are two big factors why Japanese industries are moving to a mortal enemy’s territory: Money and Electrical Power.

Since the March disasters, including the ongoing Fukushima Daiichi meltdown, about half of Japan’s nuclear power plants are shut down.  The problem is that Japan built it’s current industries around nuclear power.  There just isn’t enough alternative electricity sources to power Japan’s factories.

Also since March, the Japanese yen has been going up in value.  This makes it more expensive to build things in Japan; Japan has no significant resources so it must import everything.

Japanese media are finally getting concerned about the growing unemployment there, mainly because so many factories have shut down and moved out of the country.

I wounder how this will affect the plans to create a TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership), especially since one of its goals is to block out China.

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Global Economic Class War: Proof the banks are taking over Europe; the new Prime Ministers were not elected! New governments will not be elected either!

Who elected the new Italian Prime Minister, Mario Monti?  Not the people of Italy, but one man, the Italian President Giorgio Napolitano.

Here’s the thing, in Italy the position of President is not one of much power.  The Prime Minister is the top dog.  It’s like John Boehner appointing Barack Obama’s successor (some people would like that).

Italy’s new national government will not be elected either, it will be hand picked by the new hand picked Mario Monti.   Italian officials are using the excuse that Italy can’t wait for elections.

The same can be said about the new Greek Prime Minister, Lucas Papademos.  He was hand picked, not elected.

Some opponents of Papademos said he’s planning on delaying the scheduled Greek national elections, that are supposed to be held on February 19, 2012.  When Papademos was asked about such a rumor, he simply said that as far as he was concerned, no specific time frame had been set for national elections!

According to the opposition Greek Socialist Party, Lucas Papademos asked for a promise of no political interference in his plans for Greece, and he got it.

This sure looks like the big banks have taken control of Italy and Greece: Both Monti and Papademos have a long history working in the banking/finance industry. Both have gone to university in the U.S., or taught in U.S. universities.  Both men are members of the European chapter of the Rockefeller founded Trilateral Commission!

 

 

Business/Economics, Idaho, International, Technology, U.S.

U.S. increases embassy staffing in Brazil & China. Officially it’s to help foreign students come to the U.S. Unofficially it’s to bring in cheaper labor to the U.S., and help U.S. citizens leave the U.S.

“Idaho’s the last state that should say we don’t want to do business with Asia. Asia’s where the money is.”-Brad Little, Lieutenant Governor of Idaho

Recently the U.S. Department of State announced they were increasing staffing in China and Brazil.

Most U.S. and Chinese media reports suggested this was due to the increasing number of foreign students wanting to go to school in the United States.  The Chinese media even said it was a money making scheme for U.S. colleges: “A number of state governments in the U.S. are tightening their grip on education spending, which means smaller subsidies for public colleges to pay teachers and fund research. International students on average pay far more for tuition expenses than U.S. residents.”-ChinaDaily

According to U.S. Department of Commerce (yes it’s a “department”, not an “agency” as Rick Perry said), it’s also about the money Chinese tourists bring to the U.S.  In 2010 those visitors contributed more than $5 billion to the U.S. economy.

What about Brazil? In 2008 there were reports that Brazilians working in the U.S. wanted to go back to Brazil.  Now the U.S. State Department claims they can’t keep up with demands from Brazilians wanting to come to the U.S.

In September a report showed that the U.S. government has been wooing new Brazilian companies to move to the U.S.

EverWrite and DeskMetrics were two companies mentioned.  Young Brazilian entrepreneurs say it’s much too hard to start a new company in their home country, so they move to the United States (that’s funny ’cause just this past week Idaho business leaders told our U.S. Congress that it’s too hard to maintain a business in the United States).

Chinese businesses are being wooed here as well.  This brings me to one of two points; that increasing U.S. Embassy staffing in China and Brazil is really about bringing foreign workers into the U.S.  You see, many of those Chinese and Brazilian companies are bringing their own employees.

In fact, here in Idaho our state leaders have made a deal with the Chinese.  They will have their own 10,000 to 30,000 acre industrial and housing zone south of the Boise Airport, with their own Chinese employees, and even some level of national sovereignty.

“I think China’s coming over here shows they are willing to collaborate on the re-invigoration of the American industrial base.”-Jeff Don, Idaho representative for the Chinese company, called Sinomach

Here in southeast Idaho the Chinese have already moved in.

Sinomach is China’s third-largest contractor, and pressured Southeast Idaho Energy for a contract to build SIE’s $2 billion goal gasification fertilizer plant in Power County.  In May, 2011, SIE closed its American Falls, Idaho, office claiming they were trying to reduce operating expenses.

A polysilicon factory is just about to start up in Pocatello.  It’s run by Hoku International, which is now a subsidiary of a Chinese company.  The few local employees hired went to China to learn about their job duties.  So far no more word on anymore local hires, which makes you wonder if the main Hoku labor force will be coming from China?

Officials in Boise, Idaho, admit they’re working with more Asian corporations: “We’re getting calls from investors from all across Asia who are interested in Idaho.”-Cece Gassner, assistant to the mayor of Boise, for economic development.

The other point (regarding increased U.S. Embassy staffing) is that U.S. citizens are flocking to China and Brazil.

Japanese, and even PBS, media reports show that many U.S. citizens aren’t waiting until they’ve been hired to move to China; there’s a growing number of U.S. citizens who’ve moved to China, and are still looking for employment.  In fact many U.S. job seekers in China, are finding that they’re competing not only against Chinese job seekers, but their fellow U.S. citizens.

In Brazil, the current population, according to the World Bank, is more than 194 million people. That’s an increase of almost 3 million since 2008!  Most of those people moved to Brazil, many from the United States.

 

 

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

No Economic Recovery for the U.S.: Brazil about to beat out U.S. as number 1 Coffee drinkers. Coffee consumption a sign of good times

“In Brazil the middle class has grown and has more money nowadays. Consumers are becoming more sophisticated and want more quality, they want differentiation.  In 2000 you could not find gourmet coffee on supermarket shelves, now we have 104 different brands that are certified as gourmet coffees in the program in the stores.”-Nathan Herszkowicz, ABIC

Right now Brazil is the number one producer of coffee, and according to Brazil’s coffee industry association ABIC, Brazil is about to become the number one consumer as well.

According to officials with ABIC, the coffee consumption rate, in Brazil, is increasing by 4% every year.

While increased coffee consumption is a sign of good economic times for Brazilians, it could be bad news for everyone else: Coffee farmers in Brazil are now focusing on growing for domestic sales, rather than exporting their drinkable beans. That could increase prices for the rest of us.

By the way, the ranking of biggest coffee consumer is based on a country’s consumption of 60 kilogram (132 pounds) bags of coffee.  If you look at per capita (per person) consumption of coffee, then Finland is number one!

 

Business/Economics, Idaho, Technology, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? After donating $1 million to charity, HP will lay off Idaho employees

At the beginning of November, Hewlett-Packard reported they had donated $1 million to charity, for the fiscal year which ended October 31.

Now, according to a Boise TV station, HP employees called and reported a major layoff at the HP Boise operation was in the works.

KBOI says they contacted HP officials.  The officials stated they are still working on the details of a forthcoming press release, which will explain the layoffs.

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Corporate Incompetence: United States involved with Olympus scandal, Olympus to be delisted from stock market

Japan’s NHK reporting that the incredibly bad investment deals Olympus made, were influenced by a U.S. financial advisory company.

The company was created in 1997 by former Japanese stock brokers.  The company charged Olympus outrageous mediation fees for their advise on taking over other companies.  Reports say at least U.S.$687 million in mediation fees were paid to what could be a bogus company.

Olympus officials are said to have spent a lot of time visiting their U.S. based, but Japanese run, financial advisory company.

The Japanese Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission has ordered Olympus to present accurate financial reports by December 14.  If they do not, Olympus will be delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange.  If you have Olympus stocks, sell, sell, sell!

Business/Economics, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Jefferson County, Alabama, makes largest bankruptcy claim in U.S. history! Thank you JP Morgan Chase.

“Despite the county’s best efforts, these negotiations have not produced a deal that fairly treats the county and its citizens, and there is no reason to believe that further out of court negotiations will lead to a fair, acceptable result.”-David Carrington, County Commission President

On November 10, Jefferson County, in Alabama, filed the biggest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.  They can’t pay back a loan from JP Morgan Chase of U.S.$3 billion, used to upgrade the county sewer system.

Just like many business owners and individuals have tried, the county was trying to negotiate for a new loan.  At the last minute (again, small business owners, construction contractors and individuals have experienced this) the finance industry changed its mind.

The failed negotiations put all other county services at risk of being shut down, so they had no choice but to file bankruptcy.  It’s not just the county that’ll be affected: “Bankruptcy will negatively impact not only the Birmingham region, but also the entire state.”-Robert Bentley, Governor of Alabama

Amazingly, JP Morgan Chase says the $3 billion bankruptcy will not negatively affect them financially!

Jefferson County, Alabama, is part of a growing trend of municipalities going bankrupt.  Since 2010 seven U.S. cities and towns have gone officially bust.

 

Business/Economics, International, Technology

Corporate Incompetence: Olympus made extremely stupid investment deal, or was it a conspiracy?

The latest revelation about Japanese camera maker Olympus is that they lost most of their money in what looks like a deliberately stupid stock buy back program.

On November 8 it was revealed that Olympus has been almost broke since the late 1990s, and was cooking their accounting books.  Now we have an explanation of how they finally lost most of their money.

The book cooking was just the beginning.  In 2008 Olympus bought a British surgical equipment maker, Gyrus Group.

Olympus paid a stock brokerage company, located in the tax haven Caribbean island of Cayman, to handle the buyout.  That company was called AXAM.  Total payment to AXAM was 17 billion yen (about U.S.$220 million), in cash and Gyrus stocks.

In 2010, Olympus bought back the stock for a total of 60 billion yen (about U.S.$770 million)!  AXAM closed up shop three months later!

Talk about corporate incompetence, Olympus officials violated the golden rule of investing: Buy low, sell high.  But was it incompetence or a conspiracy?  It’s very suspicious that Olympus used a broker in a known tax haven country, who then closed up shop after Olympus bought back the Gyrus stocks, at grossly inflated prices.

To add to the conspiracy theory, it has just been revealed by NHK in Japan, that Olympus fired its independent accounting auditors when they began to question the company’s accounting books.

In 2009 the independent auditors questioned Olympus officials’ buyouts of three Japanese companies between 2006 and 2008.  All the companies were considered bad investments.  To make it more questionable, the auditors pointed out that Olympus had a yearly revenue of 2 billion yen (about U.S.$30 million), at most.  The three Japanese companies cost Olympus more than 73 billion yen (about U.S.$940 million)!

The Japanese Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission claim it will investigate the Olympus scandal.

 

 

 

 

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

Occupy America: Foreclosure is not the end, Idaho one of many states that allow banks to sue you for money they lost on your home foreclosure. It’s now part of Wall Street’s new investment scheme

“I wish somebody had come to us, you know, in the months before all of this happened and said, look, you really, really should look at a short sale or taking any other option other than foreclosure.”-Ben Jensen, Idahoan who lost home to foreclosure and was still sued by Bank of America

Did you know that as many as 40 U.S. states allow banks, and debt collectors to sue you even after a home foreclosure is finalized?  It’s called ‘deficiency judgment’.

Idaho attorney Brian Webb, says he’s seeing a sudden increase in such legal action by Corporate America:  “I only probably handled five or six in 2010; versus 2011, it’s been, you know, off the top of my head, between 15 and 25 deficiency cases.”

If you lose your home to foreclosure you could get hit with a lawsuit fives years after the fact: “In many other states around the country, homeowners find themselves subject to deficiency actions one, two, three, four or five years after they’ve been foreclosed.”-Geoff Walsh, National Consumer Law Center

Another Idaho attorney, Terri Pickens, says the sudden increase in deficiency judgments are due to a disturbing new trend; banks are selling their deficiency claims to collection agencies.  It’s all part of Wall Street’s new “investment” strategy: “I do know some private investors who are coming in and purchasing up bank loan packages and have been paying literally pennies on the dollar; just sitting on the paper, waiting for the right time to collect on it.”