Tuesday, September 21, 2004

Posted here Tuesday, September 21, 2004 at 10:48:55 AM     US population growing at 3.2 million per year. (http://www.npg.org/popfacts.htm and we have http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/040921/economy_6.html Housing Construction Highest in 5 Months Tuesday September 21, 10:50 am ET By Jeannine Aversa, Associated Press Writer Housing Construction Climbs in August to Highest Level Since March, a Sign of Economic Expansion WASHINGTON (AP) -- Housing construction in August surged to its highest level in five months, a dose of encouraging news for the economy's expansion. The number of housing projects launched by builders clocked in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2 million units, a 0.6 percent increase from July's level, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. That means about one new house for every new 1.6 people. That is, we are keeping up. Builders in the Northeast broke ground on 196,000 units, on an annualized basis, last month, a 6.5 percent increase from July's level. In the Midwest, housing construction rose by 4.8 percent to a rate of 370,000. In the South, housing starts went up by 1 percent to a pace of 907,000. But in the West, housing construction dropped by 4.7 percent to a pace of 527,000. ********

	Tuesday, August 31, 2004

Posted here Tuesday, August 31, 2004 at 8:36:24 AM     History moves in a muddy way. Just as something seems clear, most people are reacting in ways that are contrary to the major trend. Its a bit like a river overflowing its banks and seeking many little new ways to get on. The result is muddied and indefinite. For example, this action will make a difference, contrary to major trends. from http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A47284-2004Aug30?language=printer Saudis Fight Militancy With Jobs Private Posts Formerly Held by Foreigners Are Offered to Locals By Scott Wilson Washington Post Foreign Service Tuesday, August 31, 2004; Page A01 RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Aug. 30 -- The government of Saudi Arabia is drawing on a multibillion-dollar oil windfall to place hundreds of thousands of young Saudis in jobs traditionally held by foreigners, betting that greater economic opportunities in the kingdom will counter the rising Islamic militancy challenging the royal family. Millions of dollars are flowing into job-training, technical schools and cash incentives for Saudi companies to hire local citizens. In a process known as "Saudization," some of the foreigners who have long been the backbone of the kingdom's private-sector labor force are returning home. Fahad Amri, a 34-year-old Saudi, greets shoppers at the new Azizia Mall. Such service jobs have traditionally been held by foreign workers. (Scott Wilson -- The Washington Post) The new approach was on display this week at the grand opening of the Azizia Mall in downtown Riyadh, where Saudi men in head scarves and black-cloaked women were strolling along cool marble aisles, holding cups from Seattle's Best Coffee and wandering past a McDonald's, sporting goods stores and boutiques. ********

	Monday, August 30, 2004

Posted here Monday, August 30, 2004 at 1:29:58 PM     a point of view Change, real median household income (2003 adjusted dollars) Bush II: -$1,535 Clinton: +$5,489 Bush I: -$1,314 Change, number in poverty Bush II: +4,280,000 Clinton: -6,433,000 Bush I: +6,269,000 ********

	Thursday, August 26, 2004

Posted here Thursday, August 26, 2004 at 10:54:01 AM     Update on Census economic report, full report at http://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/p60-226.pdf   So far it looks like they use mostly median values. ********

Posted here Thursday, August 26, 2004 at 8:43:40 AM     So much happening. I find interset and drama in very local politics: what;s happening in your town?  Take the time to get to know the  council, mayor, developers, editors. It makes life more realizeable, and, you can see how larger issues affect local choices and thinking. But meanwhile, http://money.cnn.com/2004/08/26/news/economy/poverty.reut/ Survey: More Americans in poverty Census Bureau report says 1.3 million slipped below benchmark; health care coverage also declines. August 26, 2004: 10:28 AM EDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Some 1.3 million Americans slid into poverty in 2003 despite the economic recovery, and children and blacks were worse off than most, the government said Thursday in a report certain to fuel Democratic criticism of President Bush. The percentage of the U.S. population living in poverty rose to 12.5 percent from 12.1 percent in 2002, the Census Bureau said in its annual poverty report, seen by some as the most important score card on the nation's economy and Bush's first term in office. The ranks of the poor rose to 35.9 million, a boost of 1.3 million. Health care coverage also dropped last year and incomes were essentially stagnant, the Census Bureau said in its annual poverty report, seen by some as the most important score card on the nation's economy and Bush's first term in office.   It will be important to take these numbers apart. For example, when it saya income is stagnanat, if that is an average, it may mean that upper went up, and lower went down. The question is, where is the tipping point. If the top 1% goes up 1% that may mean the bottom ten percent or more going down 1%. "on average, humans are all dead." ********

	Monday, August 23, 2004

Posted here Monday, August 23, 2004 at 9:59:06 PM     Highly recommend this unusual article. on the nature of a negaqtive economy, that is, the US now. http://www.sandersresearch.com/Sanders/NewsManager/ShowNewsGen.aspx?NewsID=667   ********

	Wednesday, August 11, 2004

Posted here Wednesday, August 11, 2004 at 5:36:45 PM     Good article on the passing of rsik from corporatrions to individuals - that is, workers. http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=20040816&;s=hacker081604 udged on this basis, what my evidence shows is deeply troubling. When I started out, I expected to see a rise in the instability of family income. But nothing prepared me for the sheer magnitude of the increase. At its peak in the mid-'90s, income instability was almost five times as great as it was in the early '70s, and, although it dropped somewhat during the late '90s (my data end in 1999), it has never fallen below twice its starting level. By comparison, permanent income differences across families have risen by a more modest, if still troubling, 50 percent over the same period.  The full explanation for this dramatic rise in instability is still unclear, but two causes loom large. The first, and most obvious, is changes in the nature of work. In today's postindustrial economy, less skilled workers are much more vulnerable than when unionized, manufacturing labor was more of the norm. (Not surprisingly, instability is greater for families headed by less educated workers, though it has actually risen more quickly in the last decade for workers who went to college.) Workplace benefits, such as health insurance and pensions, have been on the chopping block. And corporate America increasingly relies on part-time, contingent, and contract workers--all of whom enjoy precious little security.  ********

	Monday, August 09, 2004

Posted here Monday, August 09, 2004 at 1:12:58 PM     A week away, and what has happened is  a perceived increase in the amount of tension, economic and international, social and personal. From http://www.dailyreckoning.com/ This first slide is a graph of national debt. Notice how total national debt continues to climb at its eerie linear rate, namely $52 billion per month. Look at that number again. That's right; look at it - look at the number $52 billion! A month! Make sure the number is burned into your brain, because years from now your grandchildren are going to be sitting in the dirt playing with rat bones and dried doggy-doo, the only kind of toys you can afford to give them, and they will be asking you, "How much money were you guys spending, anyway, that has caused us to suffer such misery?" To put it in perspective, it's $372 in extra debt, PER MONTH, for everybody who has a job in this whole country, INCLUDING government workers! And next month it is going to be ANOTHER $372! And then another and another and another! Month after month, year after year, the government is putting you farther and farther into debt. And this does not even include the debt that you voluntarily take on, so that you can have those matching Jet Skis. In the last, short 25 months, we bozo Americans have accumulated, in spooky straight-line fashion, another $1.3 trillion in new federal debt. Even if all of this money was loaned out at a lousy 2%, then the interest expense alone, which is one of those federal budget line items, is rising by $26 billion a year! At 3%, it's another $39 billion! At 4%, $52 billion! At 6%, which is closer to where short-term rates should be given the current inflation rate, we will be paying $78 billion a year in extra interest costs on the debt! That's $557 for everybody who has a job in America! Where does this money go? Who is going to end up with $26 billion a year? It's obvious... to the guys who had money to start with, and who loaned it to the government! And who are these guys? Well, it ain't the poor, who don't have any money to lend, and it ain't the Mogambo, who was trying to borrow money from the poor, and we all know how well that worked out. So, once again, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. And how did the poor get poorer? Well, the Bush people just put a nice big tariff on imported shrimp, and now the price of shrimp is going to go up. So the poor are going to pay for this by suffering a decline in their standard of living, which translates into their not being able to afford to eat shrimp anymore. ********