Top British Banker Dooms #EUROZONE

Whatever boneheads thought that supra-constitutions were better  for economic stability or governing anything had more than a few loose marbles. Basically, such stupidity undermines both free enterprise and democracy , thereby destroying the fabric, inspiration and motivation of a society while concurrently leading to oppressive states that garner Soviet-style sluggishness and inefficiencies.

 Now, if you recall the Soviet system fell apart just for the reasons mentioned above  - meaning that it was a perfect time for the  Eurozone to copy their failed ideology ( so who needs a book to figure out common sense issues?  - More dumb!) 

Repeat after FFI folks, "Tear Down Those Walls Mr Gorbachev"  

Mervyn King: The  Eurozone is Doomed

The eurozone is doomed to fail and will lurch from crisis to crisis unless it is broken up, according to the former governor of the Bank of England.

In his new book, Lord King claims that steps towards fiscal union will not quell tensions in the 19-nation bloc and could even tear it apart. 

He warns of a looming “economic [and] political crisis” triggered by endless bail-outs, austerity demands and pressure from the “elites in Europe” and the US to create “a transfer union” to solve the eurozone’s woes. 

READ MORE

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/02/28/mervyn-king-the-eurozone-is-doomed/

China central bank cuts reserve requirement ratio by 0.5 percentage points 

China's central bank, the People's Bank of China, has cut further the reserve requirement ratio, the amount of cash the country's banks have to hold, in an attempt to calm investor jitters over the world's second largest economy. The PBOC cut the ratio ...

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/02/29/china-central-bank-cuts-reserve-requirement-ratio-by-05-percentage-points.html

China expects to lay off 1.8 million workers in coal, steel sectors 

The central government will allocate 100 billion yuan ($15.27 billion) over ... There are many issues to be dealt with, including how to pay debt as well as layoffs.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-economy-employment-idUSKCN0W205X

Financial Precipice à la 1929?  

There is a huge laundry list of leading economic indicators I could point you to for visualizing the sick economy, but perhaps the king of all leading indicators is the price of oil. It has absolutely cratered in the past year and a half. It’s gone from well over $100 per barrel to now hovering around $30 and flirting with the idea of going lower, a 70%+ decline. Now why would oil drop in price so dramatically? 

Is it because the Saudi’s are trying to drive the American shale industry out of business? No, it’s much simpler than that. People simply don’t need as much oil because they aren’t producing enough goods because there aren’t enough people willing to buy those goods. When demand dries up, sellers are forced to lower prices to entice buyers to keep buying.

https://clanagainstthegrain.wordpress.com/2016/02/15/financial-precipice-a-la-1929/

China Devalues Yuan as Stocks Crash

 

With China devaluing its currency, stocks crashing 3 percent and capital flight accelerating, China has cut back its bank reserve requirements to free up $100 billion in credit.

Facing pressure from huge capital flight, the Chinese allowed their yuan currency todevalue to 6.6 yuan to the dollar on Feb. 29, causing local stock markets to crash by 3 to 5 percent — to levels not seen since late 2014.

To try to stop the rout, China’s central bank cut its deposit reserve requirement ratio by 50 basis points, to 17 percent, in an effort to free up about $100 billion in new credit for the world’s second-largest economy. The cut marks the fifth time in the last 12 months, but the first time since October 23, that China has had to reduce bank solvency to deal with financial panic, according to Stratfor Global Intelligence.

READ MORE

http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2016/02/29/china-devalues-currency-as-stocks-crash/

www.firstfinancialinsights.blogspot.com

Eurozone Retail Sales Plunge As Concerns Spread, & More

Eurozone Retail Sales Fall Sharply In June

Retail sales in the eurozone fell more sharply than expected in June, a fresh sign that the currency area's economic recovery remains too weak to quickly bring down very high rates of unemployment, or raise inflation to the European Central Bank's target.

Separately, the final results of surveys of purchasing managers at businesses around the eurozone recorded a slowdown in activity during July, although it was less marked than first estimated.

The European Union's statistics agency said Wednesday retail sales in the 19 countries that use the euro fell 0.6% in June from May, but were up 1.2% from the same month last year. It was the largest month-to-month fall since September 2014. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had estimated sales fell 0.2%, having seen figures from Germany that recorded a large drop.

Italy's industrial output falls more than expected

ROME--Italy's industrial production fell more than expected in June, as it contracted in almost all sectors, reversing the rise seen in the previous month, in a sign that the recovery from the country's worst postwar recession is still fragile.

Industrial output in the euro zone's third-largest economy fell 1.1% on the month in seasonally adjusted terms, national statistics institute Istat said Wednesday.

A more modest fall of 0.2% had been the average forecast of 11 economists polled earlier by The Wall Street Journal.

The monthly fall was led by a 1.7% monthly contraction in the production of intermediate goods, while consumer goods fell 0.8% and energy goods' output contracted 1.0% over the period, Istat said.

Italian industrial production fell 0.3% on the year in June in workday-adjusted terms, Istat said.

OECD: Global inflation still stubbornly 

low

The OECD's figures indicate that a wave of fresh stimulus measures enacted by central banks around the world since late last year has yet to achieve its main goal--minimizing the risk of a slide into deflation. Very low inflation rates make economies vulnerable to a slide into deflation, an outcome that policy makers regard as unlikely, but highly damaging should it occur.

China state margin lender injects $32 

billion

  New Mutual Funds - China Securities Journal

China Securities Finance Corp, the state margin lender tasked with stabilizing the stock market, has injected 200 billion yuan ($32.21 billion) since July into five newly-launched mutual funds, the official China Securities Journal reported on Tuesday.

Swiss housing 

bubble risk highest

 since 1991, says

 UBS

Negative interest rates have created excess demand for property as an investment, the Zurich-based bank said, which brings the housing market back into focus for the Swiss National Bank (SNB).

New world of work: political cost of 

Spain’s recovery

The numbers of those in temporary employment — whose numbers fell during the crisis partly because of their vulnerability — is on the rise again. In July, the Spanish unemployment roll dropped by 74,000, the best July since 1998. But of the 1.8 million labour contracts that were signed during the month, only 6.9 per cent of the contracts were for permanent positions

Indian consumer sentiment lowest 

since March: MNI Indicator

Indian consumer sentiment lowest since March: MNI Indicator

Japan’s Monetary Base Stands at 

Record High

Japan’s monetary base stood at a record-high 325.74 trillion yen ($2.63 trillion) at the end of July, up 33.9 percent from a year earlier, as the Bank of Japan continued to provide more liquidity to raise the inflation rate to its targeted 2 percent, BOJ data showed Tuesday. The monetary base reached an all-time high for the 12th straight month. The central bank took additional monetary easing steps last October to raise the pace of supplying funds.

The Oil Crash Has Caused  A $1.3 Trillion Wipe-out

The California Public Employees Retirement System, a $303 billion fund that provides benefits to 1.72 million people, owned a $91.8 million slice of Pioneer Natural Resources Co. in June 2014. At the time, Pioneer was a $33 billion company and one of the biggest shale producers in Texas. Today, Pioneer is worth $19 billion and Calpers’ stake has lost about $40 million in market value.

Learning Success: 

APPLY Tips From The Best

Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway – He is a deeply conservative trader during the times that everyone around him is moving from one extreme to the other to the tune of huge losses and gains. Warren Buffett is a perfect example of patience, proving that slow and steady generally wins the business race. (Although I continue to press my own desire to spur Fishbowl’s inventory software business to race!)

Top Weekly Ideas and Insights

An Inconvenient Truth:

What Happens When Top Economists Realize Physical Growth Constraints?

 EXISTENTIAL REALITY 

"Humanity's Coming of Age"

 - The Last Days of Economic Growth -