It may not be true that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself, but it’s certainly true that lack of confidence is reining in an economy otherwise poised for gains.
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Fact: Fear is Hurting Our Future Economy
A graphic look at the fur trade by following the blood money
…Photo: claire stokoe To see a larger image click here
The idea behind this infographic was the astonishing news that fur was ‘back in fashion’ and that many fur breeders in Europe were inviting top UK designers to travel over to their farms to work on the fur for their collections. They are also asking young designers to experiment with fur in their collections, something that would have been unheard of in recent years.
This graphic follows the fur trade from the animal to the buyers and through to the designers and finally the Shops that sell it. It shows just how many animal pelts it takes to make a fur coat, which animal and how this is done.
My inspiration for this was while working on content for Richard Branson via Virgin Atlantic I came across these figures and decided to publish them as a graphic. This is to show that the luxury fur market is once again becoming a profitable enterprise, and that the cruelty behind it is alive and well….
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Bloody Fur Trade [Infographic]
The latest quarterly GDP data shows some countries growing strongly, but others are still suffering. It is an interactive graphic map.
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How world economy is recovering from the recession? (Map)
The economy has added 654,000 jobs in 2010, but the sharpest gains were in March and April. While this is an improvement over this time last year, the rate of job creation remains less than about half of what it needs to be just to keep pace with population growth, let alone make significant progress on getting the unemployed back into jobs.
…, and Republican leaders quietly explained the inevitable to then President Nixon.
In the interim, largely as a consequence of our mass-media, that consensus has dissolved and been replaced by plausible deniability, or put another way: conflict resolution by talking point. Today, defiance of laws by Bill Clinton, George Bush, and Barrack Obama sometimes don’t even make the major news media broadcasts. It’s a curious form of anarchy, wherein outcomes are determined by improvisation, based on the relative lines of power at the moment a transgression occurs. Any explanation of malfeasance on the part of anyone, depends entirely on who chooses to accept it as sufficient, or which news organizations choose to ignore it entirely.
Nowhere is this more evident than in the person of our President, who’s campaign was based on lofty ideals and an absolute belief (at least on the part of those of us who voted for him) that he would pursue them, no matter what the cost. Instead, we have arrived at a point where nearly…
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Economists React: "The Great Stall" Takes Hold
Goldman Sachs said that it believed its trades with the bailed out insurer AIG during the financial crisis were accurate and its collateral calls made to AIG were reflective of the conditions in a deteriorated market.
…In a response submitted to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) on July 28, Goldman said it priced the collateral posted by AIG based on the best available market information at the time, including observed trades, actionable bids or offers from other parties.
Earlier in July, Goldman made similar comments to the Commission, insisting that their collateral demands were based on legitimate market prices.
At the time, Commission members questioned whether Goldman was deliberately driving down prices for its own gain.
The Commission on Monday said it was reviewing Goldman’s valuation documents and said it was too early to say whether members were satisfied with the information.
In Goldman’s report to the FCIC, the bank reiterated: “We made those collateral calls based on prices that reflected the deteriorating conditions in the market for the underlying collateral in residential mortgage backed securities and collateralized debt obligations (CDOs).
On July 23, a source told Reuters that Goldman Sachs…
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Goldman defends its collateral calls to AIG
California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declares a fiscal state of emergency, putting pressure on lawmakers to pass a budget.
…12bn).
Mr Schwarzenegger said that without a budget in place the state’s government would run out of cash by October.
He also ordered most state employees to take three days unpaid leave a month.
Earlier this month, the governor ordered 200,000 state workers to be paid the minimum wage because no budget had been passed.
‘Fiscal meltdown’
The “furlough Friday”, which will start in August, requires state workers to take three Fridays off a month until a new budget is enacted.
In July 2009, Mr Schwarzenegger also declared a fiscal emergency to address the state’s deficit. That also included the furlough Friday, which ran until June 2010.
Employees in agencies involving public safety, including the California Highway Patrol and the Department of Fire and Forestry Protection, and in revenue generation, such as the Franchise Tax Board, are exempt.
“Without a budget in place that addresses our $19bn deficit, every day brings California closer to a fiscal meltdown,” Mr Schwarzenegger said in a statement.
…
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BBC News - California ‘fiscal emergency’ declared
Bosses who walked away with large payouts.
…17 billion, reflecting the cost of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Mr Hayward has received criticism over his handling of the Deepwater Horizon spill. For all the opprobrium heaped on him over the last few months, Mr Hayward’s payout is modest compared with those enjoyed by many similarly high-profile bosses….
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CEO payouts: Golden parachutes
Recent study found people are more prone to take financial chances when they’re hungry and less willing to take risk after they’ve eaten.
…or one hour after a 2,000-calorie same meal.The study found risk aversion to be at its highest immediately after consuming the big meal, though the results varied depending on hormonal changes and body types.One market pro found parallels between the real world of trading and the study on appetite and risk-taking.Nicholas Colas, chief strategist at BNY ConvergEx Group in New York, said such behavioral economics do help to explain behavior in the financial markets.”When I worked at a large (Connecticut)-based hedge fund a few years ago, I always wondered why the company kitchen was so well stocked with chips, sodas and other snacks. At my next trading gig, the company founder insisted on having lunch, as a group, every day at exactly noon,” Colas wrote Monday in an analysis. “Whether they knew it or not, both fund managers knew that staying well fed is actually a risk management tool, at least if the BPS study is any guide. Hungry traders are, well, riskier traders.”The nascent discipline has its limits,…
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Hungry Traders: Greater Appetite for Financial Risk
China overtook the U.S.
…International Energy AgencyLondon, England (FT.com) — China overtook the U.S. last year to become the world’s biggest energy user, the International Energy Agency revealed on Monday. Beijing’s new status is expected to make it even more influential in global energy markets, in determining prices and how it is used. China clinched the top slot more quickly than had been expected because the U.S. has over the past decade far outpaced China in using energy more efficiently. On a per capita basis, the U.S. still uses far more energy than China and remains less efficient than Europe. Fatih Birol, the IEA’s chief economist, said: “In the 2000, the US consumed twice as much energy as China, now China consumes more than the U.S.” He noted that the U.S. had improved the efficiency with which it uses energy by 2.5 percent annually during that time, while China managed only a 1.7 percent annual improvement. “On the one hand, the U.S. has come to a certain saturation of energy use, but there have also been lots of…
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China now world’s biggest energy user
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