If you listen to George W. Bush, we're not in any kind of economic recession. We're in a slowdown. Rising oil prices, rising energy costs, the arrival of peak oil, the reality of global warming, the GOP denial of economic and social reality -- it's all in your head.

And, apparently, it's also on the minds of those silly folks who are in charge over at WalMart Stores' Sam's Club warehouses:

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UPDATE 3-Wal-Mart's Sam's Club limits rice purchases, By Nicole Maestri

NEW YORK, April 23 (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc's (WMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Sam's Club warehouse division said on Wednesday it is limiting sales of several types of rice, the latest sign that fears of a rice shortage are rippling around the world.

[...snip...]

Food costs have soared worldwide, spurred by increased demand in emerging markets like China and India; competition with biofuels; high oil prices and market speculation.

The situation has sparked food riots in several African countries, Indonesia, and Haiti. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has warned that higher food prices could hurt global growth and security.
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People are beginning to get worried. Nobody wants a loved one or an entire family to go hungry; add to the rising costs of gasoline the increased cost of transporting food to market, and people are finding that their relatively stagnant incomes are no longer stretching as far or buying as much at the local store.

It might be a good idea to invest in a small greenhouse or community-run garden project, folks. Not only would that provide a unique and interesting hobby, it could help offset potential shortages in staples as both the costs to purchase and the cost to bring them to market rise.

More on the rising costs of food and ways to address it tomorrow.

On Thursday, April 24th, Reuters carried a headline Jobless claims fall unexpectedly that provided an interesting contrast to the story from Friday April 18th entitled Wall St. braces for thousands of pink slips.

From the first article cited above, we get this lede:

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of U.S. workers filing initial claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell by 33,000 last week, the Labor Department said on Thursday, though the number of workers remaining on jobless benefits continued at a high level.
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Yet, the article from Friday April 18th was quite a bit more forboding:

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc, Merrill Lynch & Co and Wachovia Corp this week announced 12,400 job cuts, and the number of pink slips is likely to rise as losses mount and the economy works its way out of its malaise.

[...snip...]

Job losses will surge well beyond the current level, given that the latest data does not account for widely expected cuts among the 14,000 employees at Bear Stearns Cos following the investment bank's pending takeover by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

[...snip...]

Global financial institutions have so far sustained well over $200 billion of write-downs and credit-related losses, with the ailing U.S. housing market a central catalyst.

[...snip...]

Already, Marenzi expects at least 100,000 job losses at U.S. commercial banks, or companies that lend or collect deposits. That figure could rise to between 150,000 and 200,000 in the next 12 to 18 months, he said.
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Without even having to look too closely, however, it's not difficult to determine why the recent report appears to clash with the earlier one: timing.

The article from 18 April talks about the future of the job market as the economy continues to spiral down and institutions post record losses; the article from today discusses the expectations that analysts had leading into the week of April 12 -- the week preceding the April 18 piece.

If these articles were to be placed in reverse order, they would paint an ever-darkening picture of our short and medium term economic and employment outlook.

An Aside to the Bush Administration and Bush Republicans: Yes, Mr. Bush, we are in a slowdown: a severe one. There's a term for it -- it's recession. If it gets much worse before it is addressed responsibly, it could become a worldwide depression. And because of your inability to properly comprehend it and the habit of denial and band-aid approaches that your Administration and the Congressional Republicans have taken in hopes of leaving the burgeoning mess in lap of the next (presumably Democratic) Administration, the problem is likely to get a whole lot worse before anything is done to address it intelligently.

Just like all the other problems that have been exacerbated by your criminal neglect and malfeasance.

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For further reference, you may want to check out Tony Wikrent's Euthanize Wall Street to save the economy and GreyHawk's Gouged Out: The Consumer and the Gas Station Operator.
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promoted by roxy. Originally posted 2008-04-23 18:57:05 -1000

The “bail out” of Bear Stearns five weeks ago did nothing to solve the underlying causes of the unfolding financial meltdown, so another major crisis is unavoidable. The “bail out” of Bear Stearns has merely bought more time for the big players on Wall Street to try and drag this out past the November election, because what they fear above all else is the rise of a progressive political movement strong enough to pry loose their grasp on the credit mechanism -- the financial system -- of our economy.

The fundamental problem is the big players on Wall Street have misused the credit mechanism for their own private gains through the bloating of debt and speculation, at the expense of actually allocating and supplying capital to the real economy. This is what has caused the 30-year decline of the American industrial economy that Barack Obama observes has made many Americans bitter- a comment that was, all too typically, taken out of context by Obama’s opponents. So this diary will look at the underlying truth of Obama’s remarks, and offer some radical observations on the role of Wall Street, and what needs to be done.

definitely intriguing! -- bumped, promoted cho

The Most Powerful People in America

Joel S. Hirschhorn

They are not the rich and superrich, nor the politically powerful running the two-party plutocracy, nor the greedy heads of banking and finance companies, and certainly not the media moguls and bloviating pundits.

The most powerful people are US, American consumers that account for over 70 percent of the economy. It is exactly now, when the economy is in the toilet, that consumers hold the maximum power. So why are we the people still deluding ourselves that the path to a better future rests on electing a new president?

OhioNews Bureau

ONB COLUMBUS: In the latest monthly economic health profile issued Thursday by the Ohio Department of Budget and Management, the grim impact a decaying national economy is having on Ohio was evidenced by job losses in February and a turn down in personal income, consumer spending and consumer confidence.

intriguing stuff --cho

Several apparently diverse elements from the news this morning all point to an agenda on the part of Bush Administration, but getting a clear picture of just what that overall agenda is, and what the goals might indicate, can be mind boggling.

Anyone want to see if there are some common threads here...?

1. UBS to Write Down Another $19 Billion

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   The planned capital increase would come on top of a $13 billion infusion UBS received from the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation and an unidentified Middle Eastern investor this year.

   UBS’s problems of the last year are a stunning reversal for an institution long known for its staid, conservative style. Beginning in 2005, UBS made a huge bet on mortgage securities, seeking the higher yields they offered and trusting that the AAA ratings they bore would protect the bank from outsize losses.

   Eventually, UBS’s mortgage portfolio topped $100 billion.

   “The losses at UBS are staggering,” Ms. Whitney of Oppenheimer said. “It’s hard to fathom another quarter of $18 billion or $19 billion write-downs, but this isn’t the end of their problems.”
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   That bit about the unidentified Middle Eastern investor (emphasis mine) caught my eye.

M.Collins: The Money Party (5)

"Us versus Them"

Michael Collins
"Scoop" Independent News
Washington, D.C.

We have been warned again and again that seeing the world as an "us versus them" proposition is a fatal error. It's polarizing. It leads to "class warfare." It absolves "us" of the collective responsibility we all have in a democracy. Can't have it, not allowed.

OhioNews Bureau

ONB COLUMBUS: What do Ohioans facing home foreclosure and Shakespeare’s legendary Prince of Denmark have in common? Both hope a dream can help them escape “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.”

For the growing tide of Ohioans facing home foreclosure “to sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub” could be one way to keep their American Dream of owning a home alive long enough for circumstances to change sufficiently to allow them to tell the wolf of foreclosure that prowls outside their door today to go away.

OhioNews Bureau

ONB COLUMBUS: The Spring 2008 Akron Buckeye Poll released Wednesday covered an assessment of Ohio, government and politics and provided insight on baseline information for the 2008 general election in Ohio.

BBC: EADS wins $40bn US aircraft deal
Franco-German company EADS, owner of Airbus, has won a contract to build refuelling aircraft for the US Air Force, worth up to $40bn (£20bn). .. The deal is a huge blow to Boeing, which had been widely expected to win.

Also see: DID: The USAF’s KC-X Aerial Tanker RFP (w/Image)