Yellen about the benefits of education.

Fed Chair Janet Yellen said in a speech yesterday that “public education spending is often lower for students in lower-income households than for students in higher-income households.” The Fed’s unusual comment on education came in a speech, delivered at the Conference on Economic Opportunity & Inequality sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, and …
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Asset prices down, money chasing security. What’s the problem?

While there has been enthusiasm for a recovering global economy, optimism is being dampened by market movements. There are some fundamental concerns about projected consumption levels and production costs. There are a number of geopolitical risks festering around the world: The strife in Hong Kong is being calmed by force.  That will be re-assuring now, …
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The “Actual Situation” in Hong Kong is that democracy is happening…

David Webb, who has supported transparent financial markets and open government in Hong Kong for a decade and a half, spoke to the crowds in Hong Kong yesterday.  His vision is good for Hong Kong and good for China.  And he indicates a way out of the confrontation.  The speech is below and on Webb-site.com …
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Why Naomi Klein Must Not Blame Capitalism

“I haven’t finished reading the book; I don’t want to know who wins, capitalism or the climate, but I assume it’s capitalism because the book costs $30 and it’s printed on dead trees.”
–Stephen Colbert, interviewing Naomi Klein (23 Sept 2014)

Weak and uneven global economic recovery? Like the remedies applied to the financial system.

The IMF has slightly downgraded economic forecasts and highlighted regional stagnation in its latest World Economic Outlook. It certainly seems that some regions are more positive than they have been, and that seems related to good economic management. It is not easy to be prescriptive in this increasingly complex world, but economic growth rates of …
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Your money and your life. What kind of deal is that?

EDF wants to extend the life of a 40 year old nuclear reactor which has cracks in it. So, what do you think that’s about?  Money. EDF can patch the reactor to get another decade out of it and all the revenue that comes with it.  That is small marginal investment for large incremental cash …
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Poor in America: conditions influence behaviour too.

Try being poor.  OK, that’s not going to happen.  The closest some people come of us come is “slumming it”.  Or maybe we eat at a roadside kiosk while backpacking during a year “off” before or after college. Actually not having resources, no cash, no car, no home, no job, no education, no family, no …
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Standing up to bullies … works?

A senior legal investigator was fired by the FED for standing up to Goldman Sachs and her bosses at the FED.  She got fired for doing her job. What happened?  She highlighted the corruption in the FED and Goldman Sachs which was protecting bosses and their cash at the expense of Goldman Sachs clients and …
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The end of fossil fuels.

The Rockerfeller Foundation plans to divest fossil fuel assets in its portfolio. The Fund will first focus on limiting its exposure to coal and tar sands, with a goal to reduce these investments to less than one percent of the total portfolio by the end of 2014. It is planning for further divestment as quickly …
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Socialism for the rich. Capitalism for everyone else.

Well that’s an unexpected idea, but it makes some sense. Banks and big business benefit hugely from the state, through subsidies, bailouts and privayisations.  That’s like socialism. Everyone else deals with market forces and have little chance to influence the law or regulations or taxes. That sounds a lot more like the truth, although it …
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