It's the Economy, Stupid!

[bobtheinquisitor]

I always love advice that is completely out of touch with the real world. Most of the financial advice I’ve received in my life was like that.

[skyth]

Yeah, we're going to default in a week. Make sure you have 3 months of income saved up before then...

[easye]

In the US, McCarthy and Biden have a tentative Debt ceiling deal.

The R's won some token and face-saving items, but for the most part it looks like they caved. Sadly, this will only put the issue off for two more years, so that this hostage can be used again if the Dems win control of the White House but not the House yet again!

[easye]

Deal passed the House despite grand-standing by folks on the Left and Right. Onto the Senate where it is expected to pass pretty easily, and then be signed by the President.

I am seeing some people claim this is a huge win for McCarthy, but I honestly do not see it.  At best, their Hostage taking netted them token gains and chicken feed.  Nothing of any real value, and the Biden agenda won't even be slowed down by it.  Plus, his far right caucus is all-a-flutter.  Therefore, I do not see the "win" for him.  Unless a win is not letting the economy and US dominance by driven over a cliff by Toonces: The Driving Cat? 

How long does McCarthy have left before he is challenged by the right?

[Disciple of Fate]

I assume that his huge win is managing to hold on to his seat long enough to actually surrender on the majority of GoP demands?

[skyth]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=13u7rHlvzhI&ab_channel=BeauoftheFifthColumn

Analysis of what's in the deal and why it's not a win for the R's.

[adurot]

I’ll be curious if anyone challenges his leadership now, since it only take one.

[easye]

The U.S. added 339,000 jobs in May. It's a stunningly strong number

www.npr.org/2023/06/02/1179621886/jobs-employment-employers-labor-market-economy-recession-inflation

Hiring surged last month as U.S. employers added 339,000 jobs, far above expectations, according to a report from the Labor Department on Friday.

The job gains for March and April were also stronger than previously reported. The April jobs figure was revised up by 41,000, while the March number was revised up by 52,000.

The strong jobs numbers indicate the U.S. jobs engine continues to chug along, with substantial hiring in business services, health care and hospitality.

The US economy continues to push off the "coming Recession" that experts have talked about for the last 18 months. If you say it enough times, eventually you will be right and a recession will hit!

[easye]

Here are the 5 things to know about the state of the economy this Independence Day

www.npr.org/2023/07/04/1185772029/economy-inflation-recession-savings-spending-interest-rates

As the nation celebrates its 247th birthday with hot dogs and fireworks, the U.S. economy is somewhere in between sizzling and fizzling.

The job market is strong, with unemployment near a half-century low. But inflation — and the Federal Reserve's efforts to fight it — are keeping recession fears alive.

That recession is right around the corner..... right around the corner..... any day now. Any day now!

[easye]

The Job Market is still pretty strong in the US...

The U.S. added 209,000 jobs in June, showing that hiring is slowing but still solid

www.npr.org/2023/07/07/1186278500/jobs-labor-market-employers-inflation-recession-interest-rates

U.S. employers added 209,000 jobs in June, marking another solid month of job growth, though it was slower than in previous months in an indication that a hot labor market could be cooling.

At the same time, job gains for the previuos two months were revised downward by a total of 110,000 jobs, with 306,000 jobs created in May and 217,000 in April.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate, which is calculated from a different survey, inched down in June to 3.6 percent from 3.7 percent the month before.

Overall, the jobs data shows a labor market that continues to hum along in some sectors, but is slowing down in others in a sign that the Federal Reserve's aggressive rate hikes to fight inflation and having some impact though the job is far from done.

I love how the last sentence implies in order to cool the economy, we need more people out-of-work. Yeah Capitalism!

[Haighus]

amp-theguardian-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/amp.theguardian.com/society/2023/jul/18/sector-pay-rises-10-per-cent-add-little-to-inflation-uk-thinktank-ippr-rishi-sunak?amp_gsa=1&_js_v=a9&usqp=mq331AQGsAEggAID#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16896670216176&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fsociety%2F2023%2Fjul%2F18%2Fsector-pay-rises-10-per-cent-add-little-to-inflation-uk-thinktank-ippr-rishi-sunak

A UK public sector payrise of 10.5% would barely affect inflation. Meanwhile, the financial and business sector is the only one to experience a real-terms wage increase since 2008.

Rishi is stating that a public sector payrise >6% cannot be risked due to inflation, whilst removing bonus caps on the city bankers.

We have actively malevolent leaders.

[easye]

People must suffer, so our Capitalist Masters can always be promoted.

[Haighus]

Jul 18, 2023 9:14:28 GMT -5 easye said:

People must suffer, so our Capitalist Masters can always be promoted.

Indeed...

www.cityam.com/bank-of-england-dishes-out-25m-in-bonuses-despite-andrew-bailey-demanding-wage-restraint/

BoE preaches "wage restraint" during inflation crisis (ie. suck it up if you are poor), whilst handing out huge amounts of bonuses this year to their staff, who on average are paid way above the median UK wage.

[mdgv2]

Now now that is a completely false dichotomy.

You know perfectly well if Us Plebs were given decent pay, we’d only squander it on frivolous geegaws and trinkets. Like heating, housing, food, clothing, maybe the odd take away and holiday.

But the bankers will squirrel safely away off-shore, where it can’t bother the UK tax man sorry, Economy.

[easye]

I will believe this when I see it.....

FTC and Justice Department double down on strategy to go after corporate monopolies

www.npr.org/2023/07/19/1188353064/ftc-doj-merger-competition-guidelines

The Biden administration wants to shake up the rules for how corporate giants get to merge, expand and squash competition.

The Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday detailed a revised approach to corporate mergers, updating how markets are defined and expanding what regulators can consider when they approve or block deals.

"As markets and commercial realities change, it is vital that we adapt our law enforcement tools to keep pace so that we can protect competition in a manner that reflects the intricacies of our modern economy," Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter said in a statement. "Simply put, competition today looks different than it did 50 — or even 15 — years ago."

The original merger guidelines were released in 1968, although there have been updates since. The Biden administration has worked on this version for the past couple of years.

It is part of a broader push by the administration to promote competition and limit what the White House sees as excessive consolidation. By appointing regulators like Kanter at the Department of Justice and FTC Chair Lina Khan, Biden has made it clear he wants to crack down on monopolies. Both Kanter and Khan have brought several strategic lawsuits against corporations to limit their market power.