...the recent example of Bankia in Spain shows what will happen in London
and on Wall Street and in other Western countries a few months hence. Let’s
limit ourselves to real estate “ghost assets” which are at the origin of the
Spanish bank’s collapse and its need for a €90 billion recapitalisation. For
four years Bankia (and its regulators) tried to believe/make believe that its
real estate assets always had a value close, or not too damaged, compared to
those on their books up to the beginning of the real estate crisis. And then,
with the first major shock, the Greek crisis and its effects on the Eurozone’s
financial circuits in this particular case, the house of cards collapsed.
Confidence melted away and with it the value attributed to the real estate ghost
assets on Bankia’s balance sheet. However the City, like Wall Street, are full
of banks and other financial institutions whose balance sheets are, like
Bankia’s, stuffed with ghost real estate assets . The end of markets on focusing
on the Greece/Euro tandem will re-orientate concerns in this direction: where
are the other Bankias in the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Europe
and China? The general context of concern, even fear, which will take hold by
the end of summer 2012, will thus make it impossible to maintain the status quo
as it has been since 2008...
Revue des frets maritimes: les frets pétroliers au plus bas depuis 2009
LONDRES - Les tarifs des transports maritimes de brut et de produits
pétroliers se sont enfoncés la semaine dernière à des niveaux plus vus depuis
2009, minés par le ralentissement de la demande et l'abondance de navires
disponibles, tandis que les prix des frets secs baissaient légèrement.
The Triumph of Canadian Socialism
On July 1, Canada Day, Canadians awoke to a startling, if pleasant, piece
of news: For the first time in recent history, the average Canadian is richer
than the average American. According to data from Environics Analytics
WealthScapes published in the Globe and Mail, the net worth of the average
Canadian household in 2011 was $363,202, while the average American household's
net worth was $319,970.
Do Business Schools Incubate Criminals?
The recent scandals at Barclays Plc, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman
Sachs Group Inc. and other banks might give the impression that the financial
sector has some serious morality problems. Unfortunately, it’s worse than that:
We are dealing with a drop in ethical standards throughout the business world,
and our graduate schools are partly to blame.
Plan drawn up to cut military personnel by 20,000
The Spanish Defense Ministry has drawn up plans to cut 15,000 military
posts and another 5,000 civilian jobs over the next 13 years, a reduction
equivalent to 13 percent on current staffing levels. The drop in personnel is
included in a plan named Vision 2025 drawn up by the head of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, Admiral Fernando García Sánchez, which aims to transform Spain's armed
forces into an "agile, adaptable, sustainable and technologically advanced" unit
by that year.
Fees that can halve the value of your pension
Nine in 10 of the country’s biggest pension fund managers fail to warn
people about the levies, which typically wipe more than £100,000 from the value
of a middle-class worker’s pension. The report by the RSA, a think tank, found
that workers were routinely denied simple, low-cost pensions that are readily
available elsewhere in Europe. Ministers said they were prepared to intervene
unless pension funds reduced their fees and became more transparent.
Libor: le drapeau rouge flotte sur Bruxelles...
« De vrais salauds ! », s’exclame ce haut fonctionnaire européen qui n’en
revient toujours pas. Cinq ans après l’éclatement de la bulle des « subprimes »
américaines, quatre ans après l’explosion des bulles immobilières irlandaises et
espagnoles, trois ans après le début des attaques spéculatives contre la zone
euro, la Commission croyait que les banques ne pourraient plus la surprendre.
Loupé !
OVERNIGHT DEFENSE: Study: 600,000 federal workers at risk if sequester
goes through
As many 600,000 federal jobs could be lost if the automatic cuts through
sequestration take effect, according to a new study being released Tuesday by
the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA). In a study last year, the AIA found
that more than 1 million defense-related jobs could be at risk if the $500
billion cut to defense and non-defense spending through sequestration
occurred.
Wage growth falters amid slowdown
Trend to continue as companies feel squeeze on profits, experts suggest.
Wage increases, in percentage terms, fell dramatically last year and the trend
will continue as economic expansion slows, experts said. The annual income of
workers categorized as non-private sector, those in State-owned enterprises,
collectively owned businesses and enterprises funded by foreign investment,
stood at 42,500 yuan ($6,660) in 2011, a rise of 14.3 percent from a year earlier.
Video - Why the U.S. Is in an Invisible Depression
According to Al Lewis on The News Hub, we're actually in a depression
right now, but most people don't see it. One out of seven Americans are on food
stamps - if they weren't getting cards in the mail every month, you'd see them
in soup lines.
US Economy Goes From 'Hero to Zero'
Monday’s weak US retail sales showed that the world’s biggest economy is
slowing very quickly, leading one economist to claim America has gone from
“first half hero to second quarter zero.” The 0.5 percent fall for June was far
worse than expected and the third monthly drop, the longest run of falling sales
since 2008 when the Lehman crisis led America into recession...
L'Iran a-t-il fait sombrer PSA ?
La République islamique est-elle responsable des maux que connaît
actuellement PSA ? Depuis l'annonce, jeudi dernier, d'un plan de suppression de
8 000 postes et de la fermeture de l'usine d'Aulnay-sous-Bois, le délégué CGT du
site, Jean-Pierre Mercier, ne cesse de répéter que c'est l'arrêt des activités
du groupe en Iran qui l'a plombé. "Pour le premier semestre 2012, on constate
une baisse des ventes de 240 000 véhicules par rapport à 2011", affirme au
Point.fr le délégué CGT d'Aulnay. "Or, ce chiffre comprend les 200 000 véhicules
que Peugeot aurait dû vendre en Iran."...
The military 'solution'
Americans may feel more distant from war than at any time since World War
II began. Certainly, a smaller percentage of us - less than 1% - serves in the
military in this all-volunteer era of ours and, on the face of it, Washington's
constant warring in distant lands seems barely to touch the lives of most
Americans.
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