China’s New Missile May Create a ‘No-Go Zone’ for U.S. Fleet

Posted on by


[Skip to the end]

I suspect this is what Iran is developing as well to drive the US Navy out of the Gulf region.

China’s New Missile May Create a ‘No-Go Zone’ for U.S. Fleet

By Tony Capaccio

Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) — China’s military is close to fielding the world’s first anti-ship ballistic missile, according to U.S. Navy intelligence.

The missile, with a range of almost 900 miles (1,500 kilometers), would be fired from mobile, land-based launchers and is “specifically designed to defeat U.S. carrier strike groups,” the Office of Naval Intelligence reported.

Five of the U.S. Navy’s 11 carriers are based in the Pacific and operate freely in international waters near China. Their mission includes defending Taiwan should China seek to exercise by force its claim to the island democracy, which it considers a breakaway province.

The missile could turn this region into a “no-go zone” for U.S. carriers, saidAndrew Krepinevich, president of the Center for Strategic and Budget Assessments in Washington.


[top]

Share

bernanke

Posted on by


[Skip to the end]


Karim writes:

DOVISH-Focus largely on headwinds to growth; token paragraph (new) on the dollar; repeats the ‘2Es’ (exceptionally low for an extended period)

Excerpts

* Today, financial conditions are considerably better than they were then, but significant economic challenges remain. The flow of credit remains constrained, economic activity weak, and unemployment much too high. Future setbacks are possible.

* My own view is that the recent pickup reflects more than purely temporary factors and that continued growth next year is likely. However, some important headwinds–in particular, constrained bank lending and a weak job market–likely will prevent the expansion from being as robust as we would hope.

* access to credit remains strained for borrowers who are particularly dependent on banks, such as households and small businesses.. the fraction of small businesses reporting difficulty in obtaining credit is near a record high, and many of these businesses expect credit conditions to tighten further.

* With the job market so weak, businesses have been able to find or retain all the workers they need with minimal wage increases, or even with wage cuts. Indeed, standard measures of wages show significant slowing in wage gains over the past year. Together with the reduction in hours worked, slower wage growth has led to stagnation in labor income. Weak income growth, should it persist, will restrain household spending. The best thing we can say about the labor market right now is that it may be getting worse more slowly… a number of factors suggest that employment gains may be modest during the early stages of the expansion.

* I expect moderate economic growth to continue next year. Final demand shows signs of strengthening, supported by the broad improvement in financial conditions. Additionally, the beneficial influence of the inventory cycle on production should continue for somewhat longer. Housing faces important problems, including continuing high foreclosure rates, but residential investment should become a small positive for growth next year rather than a significant drag, as has been the case for the past several years. Prospects for nonresidential construction are poor, however, given weak fundamentals and tight financing conditions.

* The foreign exchange value of the dollar has moved over a wide range during the past year or so. When financial stresses were most pronounced, a flight to the deepest and most liquid capital markets resulted in a marked increase in the dollar. More recently, as financial market functioning has improved and global economic activity has stabilized, these safe haven flows have abated, and the dollar has accordingly retraced its gains. The Federal Reserve will continue to monitor these developments closely. We are attentive to the implications of changes in the value of the dollar and will continue to formulate policy to guard against risks to our dual mandate to foster both maximum employment and price stability. Our commitment to our dual objectives, together with the underlying strengths of the U.S. economy, will help ensure that the dollar is strong and a source of global financial stability.

* The Federal Open Market Committee continues to anticipate that economic conditions, including low rates of resource utilization, subdued inflation trends, and stable inflation expectations, are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for an extended period.


[top]

Share

Foreclosures and existing home sales data

Posted on by


[Skip to the end]

this is telling:

From a contact in Texas:

When I went to the bankruptcy / foreclosure auctions here a few weeks ago I found out that the whole thing is a charade. Bank of America (for instance) auctions off houses that have gone into foreclosure for the amount owed plus any carrying costs which usually makes the auction price higher than what was owed. A pre-bid was submitted by Bank of America Home Loan Servicing (the rename for Countrywide) in the exact amount of the auction minimum (mortgage owed plus carrying costs). No one else bids so the house is “sold” by Bank of America to Bank of America Home Loan Servicing. In essence, the property is simply transferred from one division to another so that clear title is established. But this is counted as an existing home sale which artificially inflates existing home sales numbers. This is what was happening for most of the 102 BAC mortgages and the 130 Wells Fargo mortgages. For the house I “rent” where the original mortgage was with Countrywide (and then transferred to B of A when B of A bought the property) this is simply a process for getting the house off of B of A’s books and back on Countrywide’s books (now BAC Home Loan Servicing). As I said, it is all charade or smoke-and-mirrors or a shell game.

Later Bank of America Home Loan Servicing will contact a realtor who will eventually put the house on the market for sale. Let’s say that the auction price was $200,000 but the house is now worth only $150,000. The house hopefully gets sold for $150,000 so that the “loss” is reduced from $200,000 to only $50,000 and the property is disposed of. Of course when this house is sold by the realtor it is again counted as an existing home sale.

Staggering 22 % of The State Of Florida are in Some Stage Of Forclosure

A staggering 22 percent of all mortgages in the state of Florida are non-current, according to a new report from Lender Processing Services.

By non-current, they mean loans that are either delinquent or in some stage of foreclosure; perhaps more troubling is the fact that 10.4 percent of home loans in Florida are in foreclosure.

The LPS October Mortgage Monitor also revealed that the nation’s foreclosure rate was 3.12 percent as of September 30, up 2.6 percent from a month earlier and 88.9 percent year-over-year.

And remember that’s with all the government intervention, foreclosure moratoria, loan modifications, and the like; the national mortgagedelinquency rate was 9.37 percent as of September 30.

The report also highlights the large shadow inventory of foreclosed properties that could wreak havoc on home prices and a possible housing recovery.

“The number of loans deteriorating further into delinquent status is now more than twice the number of foreclosure starts, indicating another major wave of troubled loans in an already clogged loan pipeline,” the company said.


[top]

Share

Obama is Losing Independent Voters

Posted on by


[Skip to the end]

this is telling:

Obama is Losing Independent Voters

By Scott Rasmussen and Douglas E. Schoen

Nov. 16 (WSJ) — A look at more detailed data shows why Mr. Obama’s ratings are likely to drop even further.

A CNN poll released Nov. 6 found that 47% of Americans believe the top issue facing the country is the economy, while only 17% say its health care. However, the bulk of the president’s efforts over the past six months have been not on the economy but on health care, an issue in which he continues to draw negative ratings.

In a Rasmussen Reports poll taken after the House of Representatives passed health-care reform by the narrowest of margins last Saturday night, 54% of likely voters say they are opposed to the plan with only 45% in favor. Furthermore, in the all-important category of unaffiliated voters, 58% oppose the bill. That’s one of the reasons why so many moderate Democratic House members opposed it.

The CNN poll also shows that in addition to health care, a majority of Americans disapprove of how Mr. Obama is handling the economy, Afghanistan, Iraq, unemployment, illegal immigration and the federal budget deficit. Put simply, there isn’t a critical problem facing the country on which the president has positive ratings.

An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll conducted from Oct. 22-25 found that the president’s personal ratings have suffered a similar decline. His rating for being honest and straightforward has fallen eight points from January to 33% and his rating for being firm and decisive has fallen 10 points to 27%.

Even more fundamentally, a Washington Post/ABC News poll conducted from Oct. 15-18 shows that the president has now reached a point where less than a majority of Americans believe he will make the right decisions for the country.

Deficit reduction and reining in spending are critically important priorities for the vast majority of the electorate. Indeed, according to a Rasmussen Reports Poll conducted at the end of last month, voters say deficit reduction is most important and health care is a distant second.

Moreover, according to a poll released by the Kaufman Foundation in September, a plurality of voters (32%) think the federal government should cut tax rates on payrolls and businesses to stimulate employment, particularly at a time when unemployment is at double-digits. Mr. Obama campaigned on tax cuts for 95% of the American people, but according to a Rasmussen Reports poll released in mid-August, just 6% of likely voters expect to get a tax cut. Over 40% of respondents believe that they will get a tax increase.


[top]

Share

Paul Davidson response to more NY Fed payroll tax holiday comments

Posted on by


[Skip to the end]

On Sun, Nov 15, 2009 at 10:47 AM, Davidson, Paul wrote:

I agree with Warren on his entire argument except for one point. He calls these New Keynesians and neoclassical people “relatively intelligent”. Ha! As an academic who has been challenging their assumptions for more than 35 years, I reject the idea that they are relatively intelligent!!


Paul


[top]

Share

more NY Fed payroll tax holiday comments

Posted on by


[Skip to the end]

>   
>   (email exchange)
>   
>   On Sun, Nov 15, 2009 at 12:12 AM, Roger > wrote:
>   
>   One can almost imagine the Rubin camp is trying to head off a
>   possible move to follow logic – by baffling people with bull.
>   Coming from the NYFed, this paper makes little sense. Could they really have a
>   manipulative agenda?
>   

No, not at all. This just somehow slipped through. They rejected full Ricardian equivalence years ago.

Ricardian equivalence states that a tax cut won’t get spent because people will ‘know’ it just means higher taxes later as they ‘know’ the federal budget ultimately has to be balanced, and therefore they will simply set aside any payroll tax holiday money in a savings account and not spend it.

This means, for example, that if you are behind on your mtg payment and your take home pay goes up due to a tax cut you will put that extra pay in a savings account and not bring your mtg up to date.

As I said, the Fed rejected all this many years ago.

I do agree the first take home pay increases received from a payroll tax holiday would largely be used to make mtg payments to avoid foreclosures, etc., and pay off other outstanding obligations, all of which is called ‘adding to savings’ which is what we need to happen in many cases before consumption can resume. And it also ‘fixes’ the banking system by stemming delinquencies and defaults.

And the longer we wait the deeper the hole we need to get out of.

>   
>   How does one call the Fed economists on such bull?
>   

It would take a letter from a recognized scholar precisely pointing out the errors.

Meanwhile, unfortunately, it’s delaying consideration of what’s needed to restore output and employment.

One last thing-

In the neo classic (math) model, which doesn’t recognize the currency itself as a public monopoly, prices and wages instantly adjust such that there is never any unemployment.

The ‘New Keynesian’ school of thought pretty much agrees, except that they believe we get unemployment like what we have now because prices (and wages) are slow to adjust. So even they believe that we will gradually ‘automatically’ return to full employment.

Keynes, however, argued that if elevated ‘savings desires’ persist low aggregate demand and high levels high unemployment can persist even if prices and wages continue to fall, and it all can only be reversed by deficit spending to restore demand.

In this administration the ‘New Keynesians’ and neo classics are clearly winning, as they are seeing forecasts of slow, gradual, long term improvement in output and employment which fit with their understanding that this is a how the adjustment works, and that prices and wages will slowly adjust and automatically return us to full employment. The reason it takes so long is that prices and wages are ‘sticky’ and slow to adjust.

They are not willing to use the likes of a payroll tax holiday to restore aggregate demand because the believe that would be ‘borrowing from china and leaving our children that debt to pay’ and all that gold standard nonsense. Further to that point, they believe we’ve already done too much of that, though probably a necessary evil due to the circumstances, and we are rising falling into the ‘debt trap’ and all the rest of that type of fiscal nonsense.

Hence the recent pronouncements from the Obama administration proposing 5% across the board cuts in federal spending for next year.

As well as pronouncements that he wants less consumption, more savings, and more exports, which means lower standards of living in the face of the greatest and rapidly growing abundance of real goods and services in history.

>   
>   Assume, assume, assume – they obviously assume too much, which is no
>   way to direct national policy.
>   

They are relatively intelligent people who happen to be wrong in their basic assumptions, and they have near universal academic support. The few academics who do understand the monetary system (less then 30) are called ‘heterodox’ vs ‘orthodox’ and not taken seriously.

I call it a massive case of what Galbraith called ‘innocent fraud.’


[top]

Share

NY Fed research report- a payroll tax holiday will make the economy worse

Posted on by


[Skip to the end]

Just read through it quickly.

Assumptions:

First, they use a full Ricardian assumption- lower taxes now ‘price in’ the higher taxes later to keep the budget balanced long term

Second, because real rates go up as nominal rates hit zero expectations are for lower prices and therefore spending goes down.

Third, as real wages go up with payroll tax cuts, the desire to work is assumed to go higher, putting downward pressure on wages and costs, reducing prices on the supply side, also raising real rates as the nominal rate can’t go any lower.

Without the Ricardian assumption it all comes apart, best i can tell so far.

And most economists reject that assumption as it means you could cut taxes all you want with no effect as people don’t spend in anticipation of higher taxes later. So that argues for cutting taxes to 0, since it won’t change spending.

So what they do is break the world into Ricardian and non Ricardian agents, and then try to determine effects of deficit changes, etc.

It gets very silly. Especially when recognizing there is no ‘natural force’ that balances the budget over time, while there are ‘natural forces’ (further influenced by institutional structure) that promote the accumulation of net financial assets in the non govt sectors which can only be supplied by govt deficit spending.

It comes from not understanding the currency itself is a (simple) public monopoly, and not just a numeraire in a relative value new Keynesian model.

A new analytical low for the cycle and a black mark for the NY Fed:

Link

Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Staff Reports
What Fiscal Policy Is Effective at Zero Interest Rates?
Gauti B. Eggertsson

Staff Report no. 402
November 2009

Abstract
Tax cuts can deepen a recession if the short-term nominal interest rate is zero, according to a standard New Keynesian business cycle model. An example of a contractionary tax cut is a reduction in taxes on wages. This tax cut deepens a recession because it increases deflationary pressures. Another example is a cut in capital taxes. This tax cut deepens a recession because it encourages people to save instead of spend at a time when more spending is needed. Fiscal policies aimed directly at stimulating aggregate demand work better. These policies include 1) a temporary increase in government spending; and 2) tax cuts aimed directly at stimulating aggregate demand rather than aggregate supply, such as an investment tax credit or a cut in sales taxes. The results are specific to an environment in which the interest rate is close to zero, as observed in large parts of the world today.


[top]

Share

foreign dollar buying

Posted on by


[Skip to the end]

The possibility of announcing an exit from Afghanistan with the funds saved to pay down the deficit would be extremely popular short term and contribute to lower GDP and higher levels of unemployment over the medium term.

Those shorting dollars are selling them to foreign central banks who want their currencies weaker vs the dollar. This means it is unlikely they ever sell their dollars.

Float to lower crude prices and modestly declining us gasoline consumption would threaten the viability of the dollar shorts.

Much of this has been a reaction to the fed building its portfolio, which many presume to be an inflationary act of ‘printing money’ which it is, in fact, not.


Dollar Overwhelms Central Banks From Brazil to Korea

By Oliver Biggadike and Matthew Brown

Nov. 12 (Bloomberg) — Brazil, South Korea and Russia are losing the battle among developing nations to reduce gains in their currencies and keep exports competitive as the demand for their financial assets, driven by the slumping dollar, is proving more than central banks can handle.

South Korea Deputy Finance Minister Shin Je Yoon said yesterday the country will leave the level of its currency to market forces after adding about $63 billion to its foreign exchange reserves this year to slow the appreciation of the won. Chile Finance Minister Andres Velasco said the same day that lawmakers approved an increase in local debt sales to finance spending, a move that will allow the government to keep more of its dollar-based savings overseas and slow the peso’s rally.

Governments are amassing record foreign-exchange reserves as they direct central banks to buy dollars in an attempt to stem the greenback’s slide and keep their currencies from appreciating too fast and making their exports too expensive. Half of the 10-best performers in the currency market this year came from developing markets, gaining at least 14 percent on average, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

“It looked for a while like the Bank of Korea was trying to defend 1,200, but it looks like they’ve given up and are just trying to slow the advance,” said Collin Crownover, head of currency management in London at State Street Global Advisors, which has $1.7 trillion under management.

The won, after falling 44 percent against the dollar in March 2009 from its 10-year high of 899.69 to the dollar in October 2007, is now headed for its biggest annual rally since a 15 percent gain in 2004. It traded today at 1,160.32, up 8.6 percent since the end of December.

‘Suffered Tremendously’

Brazil’s real is up 1.6 percent this month, even after imposing a tax in October on foreign stock and bond investments and increasing foreign reserves by $9.5 billion in October in an effort to curb the currency’s appreciation. The real has risen 33 percent this year.

“We have to be careful that our exchange rate doesn’t appreciate too much as to deindustrialize the country,” Marcos Verissimo, chief of staff at Brazil’s state development bank known as BNDES, said yesterday at a conference in Sao Paulo. “The capital goods industry has suffered tremendously.”

Russia’s Bank Rossii increased its foreign reserves by 15 percent since March 13 as it sold rubles in an attempt to cap the currency’s gain. Even so, the surge in commodities prices this year means Russia’s steps to fight a stronger ruble may “not be productive,” the International Monetary Fund said yesterday. Energy, including oil and natural gas, accounted for 69.5 percent of exports to countries outside the former Soviet Union and the Baltic states in the first nine months, according the Federal Customs Service.


[top]

Share

Comments on Obama and the economy

Posted on by


[Skip to the end]

It’s like having the job of driving the bus and fixing it when it breaks, and much of the election was about who can fix the broken bus and how they are going to do it.

This bus can be immediately fixed by anyone who knows how it actually works and what it needs to get rolling again.

We suffer from a lack of demand which is easily remedied by an immediate fiscal response.

Quantitative easing, for example, is at best like installing a second battery to give the car more power. It completely misses the point.

He didn’t just show up for the job-

He volunteered for the job insisting he could fix the economy.

He pushed the TARP (as a Senator and a candidate) not recognizing giving capital to banks was nothing more than regulator forbearance and instead believed it was deficit spending.

His stimulus package came after the automatic stabilizers hiked the deficit to muddle through levels and has proven far too small to keep millions from losing their jobs and their homes.

And now the talk has turned to deficit reduction after proclaiming on multiple occasions “the US government is out of money”

which is like moving forward with the engine at idle speed not understanding that his foot on the brake is keeping the bus from getting up to cruising speed.

Obama and his administration is in this way over their heads.

Unfortunately, the mainstream opposition is probably worse.

Risking overstatement, McCain’s proposal was to not have a bus driver.


[top]

Share

Obama Meets Asian Bankers Who May Call His Loan

Posted on by


[Skip to the end]

Keeps getting worse, as we think we need them and continue to kowtow to their demands:


Obama Meets Asian Bankers Who May Call His Loan: William Pesek

By Deborah Solomon and Jonathan Weisman

Nov. 12 (Bloomberg) — Global recession. Free trade. Security. Climate change. Afghanistan. Iraq. North Korea.

Barack Obama sure has lots to discuss on his maiden voyage to Asia as U.S. president. Yet all this is just conversation compared with the real issue on Asia’s mind: a wobbly dollar that’s putting the region’s money at risk.

Think of this trip as a visit to America’s banker, and an unpleasant one. Asia wants assurances that the U.S. can repay its fast-mounting debt and prevent a dollar crash. The reality dawning on Asia is that Obama can’t offer them such a pledge — not with U.S. borrowing so out of control.


[top]

Share