The U.S. Commerce Department has just released data showing that the American economy shrank by 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012. This data is seen as a shocking development, particularly after the claimed growth in GDP of 3.1 percent in Q3 of 2012. The miserable data for Q4 of last year marks the first contraction in GDP of the U.S. economy since the last recession of 2008-2009.
The commentators are already trying to spin the Q4 data, attributing it to, among other things, reduction in inventories and reduced military spending by the Pentagon. However, spin aside, it is clear that nearly five years after the supposed end of the last recession, the U.S. economy is still on life support, depending on a trillion dollars every year in deficit spending to remain afloat, and create artificial “growth” in GDP. Now, despite the massive borrowing binge by the U.S. government and its policymakers, even tepid growth cannot be assured. At best, the American economy is at stall speed, and with increased talk by politicians in Washington of fiscal consolidation and austerity, the worst may be yet to come.
WALL STREET KILLS--A CHILLING NOVEL ABOUT WALL STREET GREED GONE MAD
To view the official trailer YouTube video for “Wall Street Kills,” click image below:
In a world dominated by high
finance, how far would
Wall Street go in search of
profits? In Sheldon Filger’s terrifying novel about money, sex and murder, Wall Street has no limits. “Wall Street Kills” is the ultimate thriller about greed gone mad. Read “Wall Street Kills” and blow your mind.
The International Monetary Fund is projecting a continuing contraction of the Eurozone during 2013. According to the IMF’s most current projection, overall the Euro area will see an economic contraction of 0.2 percent, with global growth overall of 3.5 percent due primarily to China and India.
The austerity measures that are being undertaken by the weakest Eurozone nations have led to historically high levels of unemployment and depression-level economic contraction. The weak economic dynamics within the Eurozone periphery have also taken a toll on economic performance among the strongest Eurozone members, including Germany.
With anti-growth austerity measures being ruthlessly imposed by several Eurozone nations most vulnerable to the sovereign debt crisis, including Spain and Greece, it is hard to see how a significant level of real economic growth will be achieved-and without that growth, there is no resolution to the European debt crisis, no matter how many more austerity measures are imposed on a skeptical public by the policymakers.
WALL STREET KILLS--A CHILLING NOVEL ABOUT WALL STREET GREED GONE MAD
To view the official trailer YouTube video for “Wall Street Kills,” click image below:
In a world dominated by high
finance, how far would
Wall Street go in search of
profits? In Sheldon Filger’s terrifying novel about money, sex and murder, Wall Street has no limits. “Wall Street Kills” is the ultimate thriller about greed gone mad. Read “Wall Street Kills” and blow your mind.
Official statistics reveal that in November 2012 Eurozone unemployment levels reached 11.8 percent, compared with 10.6 percent in November 2011. This record level of joblessness in the 17 nation monetary union clearly shows that the massive, repetitive efforts at solving the Eurozone’s intractable sovereign debt crisis has worsened economic vitality, contributing directly to a worsening employment picture within the monetary union.
The unemployment rate revealed in official figures obfuscates the very uneven economic performance within the Eurozone, especially with respect to employment statistics. In Austria is found the lowest level of unemployment within the Eurozone, at 4.5 percent. In contrast, Spain now has the highest level of unemployment in the Eurozone, a staggering 26.6 percent, surpassing even insolvent Greece, which had an unemployment rate of 26 percent.
It appears clear that the Eurozone is not a unified monolith, but a tale of two economic orders. There is the debt ridden, increasingly jobless periphery, and the still relatively prosperous core countries, such as Germany. The question is, how long can the core of the Eurozone remain immune to the depression-level economics within the PIIGS nations? My guess; if the insolvent Eurozone countries remain mired with high unemployment by mid-year, it is hard to see how jobless rates will not start to rise dramatically in the core of the Eurozone.
WALL STREET KILLS--A CHILLING NOVEL ABOUT WALL STREET GREED GONE MAD
To view the official trailer YouTube video for “Wall Street Kills,” click image below:
In a world dominated by high
finance, how far would
Wall Street go in search of
profits? In Sheldon Filger’s terrifying novel about money, sex and murder, Wall Street has no limits. “Wall Street Kills” is the ultimate thriller about greed gone mad. Read “Wall Street Kills” and blow your mind.
The patchwork, “kick the can down the road” last-minute measure enacted by Congress to avoid its own creation, the so-called “fiscal cliff,” has predictably sent bourses across the globe swooning for the stars. However, many excellent economists have pointed out that this deal is a meaningless diversion. In two months, America’s constipated political establishment will again confront the debt cliff, as it did once before, in 2011. All the signs point to a major battle-royal over extending the debt ceiling, and the spending cuts and/or tax increases that will be tied in with the deal.
It is often said that watching legislation being made in Washington DC is like watching sausage being fabricated at a meat-packing plant. With the U.S. economy only being kept on supposedly tepid GDP growth through trillion dollar annual deficits, facilitated by the Federal Reserve’s ill-disguised monetization of the debt, any partisan wrangling over the debt cliff (a likely scenario,) will likely impose severe repercussions on the global economy.
WALL STREET KILLS--A CHILLING NOVEL ABOUT WALL STREET GREED GONE MAD
To view the official trailer YouTube video for “Wall Street Kills,” click image below:
In a world dominated by high
finance, how far would
Wall Street go in search of
profits? In Sheldon Filger’s terrifying novel about money, sex and murder, Wall Street has no limits. “Wall Street Kills” is the ultimate thriller about greed gone mad. Read “Wall Street Kills” and blow your mind.
