(Crazy) economy news

[Skybird]

^ "The FED could loose its independence."


What...? It were politicians/governments founding central banks, after the precedental founding of the bank of England. Central banks serve the purpose governments have assigned to them, and they do it from beginning on: they inflate currency in circulation so that politicians have the play money to bribe voters to elect them by making unsustainable promises that int he long run are beyond the national economy's reach to support. Or to finance war: it was the debts from the Napoleonic war that led to the forming up of private lenders that later became legitimately the "Bank of Enland" and then more and dropped under governmental control and legislation over the cause of three decades. Other central banks skipped that foreplay and immediately founded them as an extension of the government structure.



No central bank has ever been "independent", and never will be. Its chief staff is at the mercy of the government. Always. It does not take crime and violence to enforce compliance, though. Allowing self-enrichment and giving privileges and then hinting at that both can be cancelled, is enough. Centrla banbks are an extension of the state structure. They are an integrated part of the system.



Central bank cannot loose what they never had: "independence". They do not give orders endlessly - in the end they receive orders.



Neither the FED's nor the ECB's policies and their changes are surpising or unexpected. They truly fulfill their purpose for thwich they were founded. Independence was not part of that intention. Never.



See, the problem is when a state claism for itself the exclusive monopoly to mint coins and print banknotes. Thats were the misery begins. The other arch sin is fractional reserve banking, and a currency that is not backed 1:1 by tangible goods whose value is determined by the market, but can and is politically determined and influenced by government's interests and agendas. It is here when a moeny is no money anymore, but just a worthless currency. A counting unit of no intrinsic value. And over time, the buying value of each of these currencies tends to zero.

[Rockstar]

[em2nought]

Originally Posted by Rockstar

Hey everyone the economy in 2024 could be just tiny bit concerning. Here’s an idea to help get you by.

During the Great Depression, onions were a commonly grown and easily stored vegetable, making them both abundant and, notably, cost-free.

I think I could eat an onion sandwich. When I order Bacon McDoubles once I get them home I pile up a generous mound of chopped onion on top. I can do pretty good on refried beans too as long as it's Rosarita brand to which I add a can of low salt kidney beans.

[Rockstar]

Totalitarian Democracy anyone?

[mapuc]

What would happen to US economy if rest of the world goes from Dollars to Euro/Other currency as payment ?

Markus

[em2nought]

Originally Posted by mapuc

What would happen to US economy if rest of the world goes from Dollars to Euro/Other currency as payment ?

Markus

Nothing good for the USA.

[Rockstar]

Shares of Maersk plunge 18% as shipping giant announces 10,000 job cuts, says profit will be at lower-end of guidance (CNBC)

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/03/ship...olatility.html

Shipping giant Maersk, a bellwether for global trade, on Friday announced plans to reduce its workforce by more than 10,000 people and said it expected profit to be at the low end of prior guidance.

The firm’s Denmark-listed shares had fallen 18% by early afternoon to their lowest level since October 2020.

“Our industry is facing a new normal with subdued demand, prices back in line with historical levels and inflationary pressure on our cost base,” CEO Vincent Clerc said in a statement, adding that overcapacity in most regions had driven down prices.

[Skybird]

OPEC has decided a substantial production cut. Still, prices do not go up, but stall and go down. That means most likely that the global demand is dropping and this again indicates that the economy is contracting. For national economies living on the edge of a razor blade already, this means no good news, but could mean that they get kicked out off the saddle. Which is the intention behind Russia support for this OPEC policy: to further increase global chaos and then benefitting from that. The russians closely coordinated this move with the Saudis. The Saudis play ball, which tells more than anything that they decouple from the US and look for new friendships a consequences of the disastrous ME policy started by Obama and continued by Trump, spiced up further by endless European moral chilli poweder and endless lecturing.



The West should be deeply concerned about how the Middle East and large parts of Africa are giving Europe the cold shoulder. Once again, to my disappointment, it isn't. At least not officially, and not enough. And certainly not in Germany.



The accelerating speed by which Europe looses global relevance, is breathtaking.



Also, Europe's relation with South America is suffering, and gets disillusionised more and more.

[Skybird]

https://www-achgut-com.translate.goo..._x_tr_pto=wapp


Another EU nail in the coffin for medium-sized companies: the EU is now forcing companies to examine their entire “value chains” for “actual or potential adverse impacts on human rights and the environment”. Violations can result in high penalties. A bureaucratic madness.

[Gorpet]

Originally Posted by Skybird

https://www-achgut-com.translate.goo..._x_tr_pto=wapp


Another EU nail in the coffin for medium-sized companies: the EU is now forcing companies to examine their entire “value chains” for “actual or potential adverse impacts on human rights and the environment”. Violations can result in high penalties. A bureaucratic madness.

Hell , i forgot how to post. Anyway i wish you a Merry Christmas

[Skybird]

[NZZ] Ten commandments of common sense

The "legendary" words of Abraham Lincoln about the strong and the weak and the dangers of debt were never spoken by him. They were not written until long after his assassination by a preacher of German descent. But they have retained their validity in their practical dimension.

As the focus of my column today is a text that was not written by me, some will say: he's taking the easy way out. Perhaps they will be indulgent because of the festive season. But that would be a malicious insinuation. This column has always been about regulatory policy.

I occasionally encounter the misunderstanding that this is a synonym for law and order, for the rigorous enforcement of internal security. In fact, the term "regulatory policy" encompasses something completely different, namely an understanding of the state that assigns it a very restrained role. It should only set a general framework in the economy and society that applies to everyone and not intervene selectively or in favor of individual groups.

The concept was coined by economists and lawyers and often seems somewhat anemic due to its academic roots. This cannot be said of the following text. Although it is not a regulatory pamphlet in the true sense of the word, it speaks to the hearts of many regulatory politicians, especially in view of the current attacks on the debt brake.

For a long time, the text was attributed to Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States of America, who was assassinated in 1865 (at the age of 56). However, it was written by a Presbyterian religious leader, William John Henry Boetcker, who was born in Hamburg in 1873.His Ten Commandments ("The Ten Cannots") were published in 1916 and falsely attributed to Lincoln in 1942.There are several traditions and translations. My version reads:

- You cannot prosper unless you exhort thrift.
- You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
- You cannot help the little man by destroying the great.
- You cannot help those who earn a wage by ruining those who pay it.
- You cannot help the poor by wiping out the rich.
- You cannot create solid security by going into debt.
- You cannot create brotherhood by fomenting class hatred.
- You cannot solve your difficulties by spending more than you take in.
- You cannot inspire commitment to public affairs and enthusiasm if you deprive the individual of his initiative and independence.
- You cannot help people permanently if you do for them what they could and should do for themselves.

Of course, you can hear the preacher here, some things sound old-fashioned, many things are simplified, some things are said several times. For example, the warning against debt and the emphasis that the economy is not a zero-sum game were particularly close to Boetcker's heart, as were Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, who quoted these "commandments" approvingly. But overall, they express a very fresh liberal-conservative set of values that could simply be described as common sense - then as now.
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https://www.nzz.ch/wirtschaft/zehn-g...nds-ld.1771379

[Skybird]

[Focus] 2.9 percent - that's how high the inflation rate is expected to be in January 2024 (in Germany). That's great: inflation is under control, now it's just a question of when the central banks will cut interest rates. With inflation so low, we have to be careful not to slip into deflation.
We are a bit strange, aren't we? From September 2022 to February 2023, we always had an 8 before the decimal point, after which things slowly went downhill. But downhill only means that the rates of increase are falling again. The bottom line is that prices are continuing to climb, even though they have already risen like crazy in the last two years!

A simple fictitious calculation to illustrate this:

Commodity A cost exactly 100 euros in 2021.

2021 - 10 percent inflation - 110 euros
2022 - 10 percent inflation again - 121 euros
2023 - 5 percent inflation - 127.05 euros
2024 - 2.9 percent inflation - 130.73 euros.

Raise your hand if you are happy that prices have only risen by 2.9 percent at 130.73 euros. Anyone who can think clearly will be annoyed that the goods have become 30 percent (!) more expensive since 2021.

Now let's take product B, which has risen by four percent every year:

2021 - 4 percent inflation - 104 euros
2022 - again 4 percent inflation - 108.16 euros
2023 - again 4 percent inflation - 112.49 euros
2024 - again 4 percent inflation - 116.99 euros.

Do you understand what I'm getting at? Although the price of product B has recently increased significantly due to four percent inflation, at 117 euros it is significantly cheaper than product A.

Falling inflation rates are all well and good, but with the previous increases, it's just a drop in the ocean... . The experts can say that the "inflation dynamic in Germany has been broken". Sounds great, but people can still afford to live less and less. This is because food prices rose again in January by 3.8 percent, which is enormous. And this is despite the massive rise in prices beforehand, i.e. despite the base effect.

And what is happening now? The Germans are happy that inflation is marching back towards the ECB's two percent target and are keeping quiet? No. They want financial compensation for inflation, i.e. higher wages. It's called a wage-price spiral. Prices are rising, I need more pay to maintain my standard of living. This creates a second-round effect, because companies react to the higher costs caused by wages and the cost of goods with higher prices, making things more and more expensive. And the spiral continues, fueled by the unions. No criticism, they're just doing their job.
What does that mean? Inflation may return sooner than many people think. It is far too early for a swan song. And anyone who is already conjuring up the dangers of deflation is frankly beyond help.

And for those who are now emphasizing that we can afford these wage increases: Germany is sliding into recession for a reason. Unfortunately, that is the case. Among other things, we are paying significantly more for our hunger for energy abroad. As a result, there is less to distribute in this country. Or to put it another way: we are becoming poorer as a nation. And if inflation picks up again, many people will soon be walking through the dark forest whistling.

[Skybird]

The biggest looting of all time is imminent. A gigantic redistribution from the bottom to the top. To call it just a "looting spree" is actually trivializing it.

https://www-achgut-com.translate.goo...en&_x_tr_hl=de

There's no longer just a knock on the front door, but the one outside is pounding on the door leaf with both fists, unmistakably. His robbery buddies who fetched the battering ram are already back in the stairwell, hooting and hollering.

I'm 57, not yet old enough not to be afraid, too much life expectancy left to just become dead in time. My age group too will be hit hard. It's going to be bad and end even worse.

10 years left, I say - 15 at best. Enjoy this fading silence before the storm while it still lasts. Once feudlaism is here again and the peace and freedom is gone they will be lost for generations.

[Rockstar]

Originally Posted by Skybird

ady back in the stairwell, hooting and hollering.

I'm 57, not yet old enough not to be afraid, too much life expectancy left to just become dead in time. My age group too will be hit hard. It's going to be bad and end even worse.

10 years left, I say - 15 at best. Enjoy this fading silence before the storm while it still lasts. Once feudlaism is here again and the peace and freedom is gone they will be lost for generations.

The sun is at Solar maximum so it could all end sooner if earth is hit by a coronal mass ejection that rips away what’s left of our already weakened magnetosphere.

[Skybird]

Or calling Darth Vader and giving him our galactic adress.