Tag Archives: economy

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Before you blame China for job losses realize that China buys more U.S. made products than any other country

“Legislation that would increase tariffs on imports from China is unlikely to create any incentive for China to move expeditiously to modify its exchange policies. Rather, it would likely have the opposite effect and result in retaliation against U.S. exports into China.”-USCBC statement

The latest numbers show that not only does China hold the most U.S. bonds of any other foreign country, but China is also the biggest buyer of U.S. products!

According to the United States China Business Council (USCBC), which represents U.S. companies doing business with China, there was a U.S. $76 billion increase in U.S. products sold to China between 2000 and 2010!  So maybe we need to rethink the growing desire to slap large tariffs on Chinese products?

The USCBC also points out that even if Chinese made products stopped flowing into the U.S. it would not mean a return of U.S. jobs: “Much of what we import from China replaces imports from other countries, not products we make in the U.S. today.”-Erin Ennis, USCBC

So the United States finds itself in a conundrum: U.S. corporations love to ship off U.S. jobs to China.  China holds a lot of U.S. government debt.  China buys the most U.S. made products of any other country.  China is in a real good position to really hurt the United States economically if the U.S. government does anything to reduce Chinese made products coming in, or to reduce U.S. corporations from shipping off more jobs.  Sounds to me like this is proof of the short sightedness of our corporate and government leaders!

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? U.S. airline pilots leave for jobs in China, being able to speak Chinese not required, but it sure helps

“I had been doing the same job for 20 years and have another 15 years to go.  I said to myself, ‘It’s too boring. Let’s do something else for a few years and then come back’.”-Roy Weinberg, Spring Airlines

Weinberg, quit his job with US Airways and moved his family of four to Shanghai, where he now works for Spring Airlines.

He is not alone. Many of his aviator friends are now flying for airlines in Chengdu and Beijing.  By the beginning of 2011, China was home to at least 1,300 foreign flight captains, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

By 2015, China’s aviation industry is expected to need 18,000 more pilots, according to China Business News.  The reason why China is in short supply of airline pilots is that it takes ten years in China to become a qualified pilot.

A relatively young U.S. pilot can make decent money; Spring Airlines offers foreign pilots from $150,000 to $160,000 a year after taxes.

There is a major problem, most air traffic controllers in China don’t speak English: “What happened to me many times is that everybody around me is getting commands in Chinese, and I’m the only English speaking (pilot) in the air.”-Roy Weinberg, Spring Airlines

Business/Economics, U.S.

Class War: Protesters continue to pound the pavement in front of Wall Street, main stream media criticizes, youth unemployment higher in U.S. than in Egypt

September 23, I have to admit that most of the pics coming out of Wall Street show what look like young hippie wannabes (there are pics of old women wearing yellow ponchos that read “Granny Peace Brigade”) but what else are they gonna do?

When a society has such a high unemployment rate for young people this is bound to happen.  The U.S. Census Bureau says unemployment for young adults is 44.7%!!!

Young people led the revolution in Egypt.  What’s the unemployment rate for young people in Egypt?  According to a February 2011 report by the International Monetary Fund, 25% of Egyptian youth are unemployed.  Mmmm, and there’s 44.7% of U.S. young adults unemployed?

Yet the main stream (corporate controlled) U.S. media continues to ignore the Wall Street protesters, most likely hoping they’ll just go away.  Some newspapers are criticizing the protesters.

On September 21, an Indiana University newspaper called the Wall Street protests the “Ultimate fail”, and accused the protests of being instigated by Canada.

Also on September 21, the Associated Press wrote “What, exactly, they are protesting is somewhat unclear.”, then went on to list the ‘demands’.

On September 22, the Post Chronicle even blamed Barack Obama!  “With millions of Americans unemployed, and millions of others losing their home and their savings, the almost constant anti-capitalist rhetoric — about Wall Street and corporate “fat cats” and “billionaires and millionaires not paying their fair share” — by elected leaders such as President Barack Obama, Senator Harry Reid, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi and others is starting to take it’s toll.”

So this writer at the Post Chronicle blames politicians, who’re actually very Wall Street friendly, for the Wall Street protests, despite the fact that the very same writer mentions the true reasons for the protests: “…millions of Americans unemployed, and millions of others losing their home and their savings…”

Classic case of not seeing the forest because of the trees.

Yahoo even blocked protester’s emails from getting through: “People trying to email information about the Wall Street protests on Monday using Yahoo mail, found themselves on the receiving end of messages from Yahoo claiming ‘suspicious activity’.”

My son admitted to me that if it wasn’t for the fact that he finally got a job, after more than a year of looking for one, he’d be on his way to join the protesters on Wall Street.  If corporate America doesn’t want people protesting in front of their Mecca, the answer is very simple, give them jobs!!! 

 

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Census Bureau shows the United States is no longer the prefered destination for immigrants

September 23, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of legal immigrants moving to the United States dropped off after the year 2000.

According to the American Community Survey (ACS) the percentage of “Foreign Born: Entered before 2000” immigrants who responded to the survey (includes those who became U.S. citizens and those who still aren’t) was 65.3%.

The percentage of “Foreign Born: Entered 2000 or later” immigrants drops to 34.7%.

Business/Economics, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? No Xmas cheer at Toys R Us

September 22, Toys R Us announced they will not hire as many holiday employees as in the past.

“It looks to me like they are preparing for lowered spending and will be very cautious about hiring people until they really know they need them.”-John Challenger, analyst

Last end of year holiday season, Toys R Us hired about 45,000 temporary employees. This year Toys R Us will be hard pressed to hire 40,000.

 

Fukushima

Typhoon Roke comes ashore, heading for direct hit on damaged nuclear plant Fukushima Daiichi, 4 dead!

21 September 2011, Typhoon Roke is moving up the Pacific coastline of Japan, after coming ashore south of Tokyo at Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture.

Sustanted winds are 144 km (89.4 miles) per hour, with gusts up to 155 km (96 miles) per hour recorded at Hachioji City, near Tokyo.

During the past 24 hours, more than 400 millimeters (15.74 inches) of rain has fallen in Tokai region and Yamanashi Prefecture, and more than 200 mm (7.87 inches) of rain fell in northeastern Japan.

At least four people have died, three are missing.  More evacuation orders have been given to at least a half million more people.

The damaged nuclear plant, Fukushima Daiichi, has escaped typhoon damage from previous storms, but Roke looks like it will make a direct hit.

Roke is moving fast and should be approaching the northeastern Honshu prefecture of Fukushima. Already 200 mm of rain has fallen in Fukushima since September 20.  The nuclear plant is already flooding with rain water.

Work to stop the further spread of radiation, like the steel wall around the ocean intakes, and specially treated tarps over the exploded reactor buildings, has been halted.  Tokyo Electric says their workers have tied down everything they could think of that might get blown away.

TEPCo says reactor 1 and 2 have rain water pouring in from the roofs, and Reactor 6 basement is totally flooded.  TEPCo officials insist that none of the radioactive water will leak out.  Yeah right, how many times now have they made such promises?

 

 

Fukushima

Corporate Incompetence: Heavy rain from Typhoons & Tropical Storms are flooding Fukushima Daiichi

Nine months later, and the radiation just keeps pouring from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.  Now its Mother Earth who’s to blame.

Tokyo Electric Power Company admitted that the heavy rains from typhoons and tropical storms are flooding reactor buildings, greatly increasing the chance of massive flooding of highly contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean.

The nuclear plant is already flooding the ocean with radiation, but this would be on a massive scale.

Here’s why it’s so bad: TEPCo is already pumping 550 tons of water per day to cool three of its damaged reactors. About 80,000 tons of highly radioactive water has already accumulated in the buildings.  Now add the flooding from the storms. TEPCo says it has found 200 to 500 tons of rainwater entering every day into the basements of reactor buildings.

Business/Economics, U.S.

Class War: Wall Street protesters still at it, people from all over the U.S. are there, wearing a mask can get you arrested

“There’s a major divide between the rich and the poor in this country. One in 10 people are unemployed and my vote is nullified by corporate lobbyists.”-Alexander Holmes, from Oakland, California

People from main street U.S.A. are protesting on corporate America’s Wall Street. They started on September 17, and they’re still going!

New York Times reported at least six arrests by September 19.  Two men and a woman were arrested for wearing ski masks.  It is illegal in New York city for two or more people to wear masks in public, I wounder what’s gonna happen at Halloween?

Another man was arrested after he told police that he was having trouble walking.  Another woman was arrested after she wrote something on the sidewalk with chalk.

The New York Times confirmed that people are coming from all over the U.S. such as Massachusetts, Michigan, Virginia, New Jersey and Washington State.

Protesters say they’ve been inspired by the Arab Spring uprisings, and they hope to continue protesting just as long as their Arab peers have.

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Class War, What Economic Recovery? Yet another former U.S. Treasury Secretary says no way, because Corporate America is causing the problem, yes it is a Class War

“Wall Street is energized about its profits, and it makes its profits by arbitraging labor. So if you lay off an American worker who makes $20.00 an hour, and you hire a Chinese or Indian worker who earns $1.00 and hour, you can put $19.00 an hour in your profit pocket!  And that is what has been going on for 15 years.” -Paul Craig Roberts, former Assistant Secretary of U.S. Treasury

Roberts says there is nothing that the President, or Congress can do to stop the fall of the United States, unless they can stop U.S. corporations from moving jobs overseas: “Interest rates are near zero. There are no home buyers because between 1/4th and 1/5th of the work force is unemployed!  And millions of Americans have been dispossessed of their homes…And the Middle Class jobs, millions of Middle Class jobs have been moved, by the corporations, abroad.”

Roberts says Corporate America is actually screwing over the U.S. government in the long run: “As the jobs move off, what moves with it is the tax base, the consumer income that formerly supported the American consumer demand, and the Gross Domestic Product of the economy.”

Roberts sees no hope for the U.S. main street economy as long as Wall Street gets its way: “So as long as Wall Street and the corporations profit by moving American jobs to countries where labor costs are substantially lower, there can be no recovery of the American economy!”

Paul Craig Roberts is the second former U.S. Treasury official to come out and make such statements.  Recently, former U.S. Treasury Secretary, Lawrence Summers, said the United States is “collapsing”.