"New year off to good start on Wall Street
The major indexes all gained last week.... improving news on manufacturing in China, the United States, and Europe hinted at a strengthening global economy.
Optimism on manufacturing offers a boost
"Optimism as November trade deficit increases to $36.4 billion; Exports also rise as economy shows signs of recovery" by Martin Crutsinger, Associated Press | January 13, 2010
WASHINGTON - The US trade deficit jumped to the highest level in 10 months as an improving US economy pushed up demand for imports. Exports rose as well, however, boosted by a weaker dollar, supporting the view that American manufacturers will be helped by a rebounding global economy.
The Commerce Department reported yesterday....
PFFFFFFFTTT!!!!
I no longer believe what the government says, so why bother?
The politically sensitive deficit with China narrowed.... US manufacturers contend China is unfairly manipulating the value of its currency to gain trade advantages, a point President Obama raised with Chinese leaders during his November visit to that country....
Related: Chinese Cold War Has Begun
But as the US economy has begun to mount a recovery from the worst downturn since the Great Depression, imports have started to rise. Economists expect that development will continue in 2010....
What are they looking through, huh?
However, they also contend that the fortunes of American manufacturers will be lifted by a continued rise in demand for US exports as the country’s major overseas markets mount a recovery.
You know, like a THIRD WORLD SLAVE SOCIETY EXPORTING for FIRST WORLD MARKETS, America. And you wonder where the jobs went?
The fall in the dollar against most major currencies since the US currency hit a 2009 high last March is also expected to boost export sales.
Yeah, and YOU will be able to BUY LESS of those EXPENSIVE IMPORTS flowing into the country, Americans! How about that, huh?
Nigel Gault, an economist at IHS Global Insight, said strong overseas demand and a weaker dollar would lift the fortunes of US manufacturers....
Does that make sense to you, American?
Related: Americans Not Doing Their Fair Share For Economy
Oh, Nigel a first-class bulls***ter, is he?!
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"Industry strong in region, study says; But advanced manufacturing’s potential unrealized" by Robert Gavin, Globe Staff | January 15, 2010
Massachusetts and New England are thriving centers of advanced manufacturing, which, if supported with the right policies, could generate thousands of high-paying jobs a year, a new study concludes.
Pile is getting a bit large, isn't it?
While often dismissed as dirty, dangerous, and declining, manufacturing in New England has evolved into a cutting-edge industry of sophisticated products and highly skilled workers, according to the study by the New England Council, a nonprofit regional advocacy group. Few places in the world can match the concentration of skills, innovation, and capital that drives advanced manufacturing in New England and provides a competitive advantage that could generate up to 8,000 new jobs a year.
Well, WHERE YOU HIDING THEM?
See: Blue-collar workers bear brunt of economic decline
Yeah, NOT THERE, huh?
Also see: Not Making It in Massachusetts
And who wrote this PoS again?
“This is a sector with underrealized potential,’’ said New England Council president James T. Brett. “If we do the right thing, we can create jobs.’’ Advanced manufacturing, which makes everything from navigational instruments to medical devices to nanotechnology products, differs greatly from traditional manufacturing. Instead of low-cost labor and high production volumes, advanced manufacturing relies on skilled workers and specialized, complex products.
Advanced manufacturing accounts for about 400,000 jobs, or nearly two-thirds of all manufacturing employment in New England, according to the study. The highest concentrations of advanced manufacturers are in Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts.
Then why are we in such s*** shape?
New England’s strength in advanced manufacturing comes from the region’s unparalleled network of scientists, engineers, researchers, financiers, and skilled machinists, according to Mike Reopel, a principal at Deloitte Consulting in Boston and the study’s author. Before the recent recession, employment in advanced manufacturing was growing at about 2 percent a year in New England.
In many ways, the sector has been overlooked by policy makers, who tend to focus on hot industries and large companies, Reopel said. For example, state manufacturing policies often include tax breaks that generally benefit big companies with large profits.
Related:
State Keeps Watering Evergreen
Pigs at the State Trough
A Slow Saturday Special: Statehouse Slush Fund
Biotech Giveaway Was Borrowed Money
UBS Picks Up Pike
Slow Saturday Special: Day at the Movies
The Hollywood Heist of Massachusetts
Massachusetts' Business Tax Increase Was a Corporate Tax Cut
Slow Saturday Special: Patrick Pimps Football Footpath For Patriots
Just wanted you to know where all those taxes are going.
But such tax breaks don’t produce much savings for the small, lower-profit firms that dominate advanced manufacturing in New England....
Advanced manufacturing is already a key component of the state’s economic strategies, said Greg Bialecki, Massachusetts secretary of Housing and Economic Development. The state has put in place programs to boost advanced manufacturing, including tax breaks for capital investments, loans through quasipublic development agencies, and workforce training.
“Advanced manufacturing has the potential to be a significant part of the Massachusetts economy for many years,’’ Bialecki said. “It relies on technology and innovation, so we can be in the hunt. We are going to talk about advanced manufacturing in a much more high profile way.’’
So when did newspapers turn into business agents, anyway?
Advanced manufacturing already has a strong presence outside Greater Boston, and it could provide a catalyst for development in areas such as Western Massachusetts, where a number of precision manufacturing firms are concentrated, Reopel said. Earlier this week, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston president Eric Rosengren said the high costs of housing and wages in the Eastern Massachusetts make it difficult for manufacturers to expand. But, he told Boston Globe editors and reporters that Western Massachusetts, with a lower cost of living, abundant space, and even cheap hydroelectric power could be promoted as a growth area for manufacturers.
Stay the F*** out of my part of the state, looters!
One of greatest challenges is changing the image of manufacturing, still perceived as “dark, dirty, dangerous and declining,’’ the study said. Few outside the industry realize advanced manufacturing is clean and technology-based, using advanced computers, requiring workers to have technical skills, and paying them well. The study estimated average pay and benefits at about $80,000.
Manufacturing’s out-of-date image, in turn, contributes to another problem facing the industry: a labor shortage. Since few students consider manufacturing as a career, the study said, a lack of skilled workers threatens the growth of the industry - a problem that may only get worse as the baby boom generation retires. Before the recession, Reopel said, up to 4,000 jobs went unfilled in manufacturing because employers couldn’t find qualified workers.
Unbelievable, aren't they?
The study calls for renewed efforts to rebrand manufacturing as a clean, technology-based industry. It calls for closer collaborations with schools, community colleges, and universities to promote manufacturing as a career, and increase hands-on technical programs.
The study also recommends closer collaboration among manufacturers, engineers, scientists, and other professionals to strengthen the networks that spur innovation and support the industry. The industry also needs to build partnerships with governments to expand worker training programs.
New England states, the study stressed, should recognize that economic activity doesn’t stop at borders, and cooperate on policies that promote advanced manufacturing throughout the region.
“What’s good for New Hampshire is also good for Massachusetts,’’ said Reopel. “If we just isolate ourselves in a few communities, we’re going to die.’’
Shoveling so much s*** will do that, too.
And let's temper the optimism a bit, huh?
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston president Eric Rosengren, in a wide-ranging interview with Boston Globe editors and reporters, said the Fed should maintain its regulatory authority over the banking system, and even get additional powers to oversee large financial institutions that would threaten the financial system if they collapsed.
In addition, he said, the bonus pay system at financial firms needs to be reformed, particularly when they encourage employees to take big risks. “It’s not a good situation when, in bad times, the taxpayers pay, and, in good times, you get bonuses,’’ he said.
What, as if the bad times are over for us you pilfering pustule?
Still....
Paper wouldn't be the same without 'em!
But EVERYTHING is GREAT!
"Buying power of families pinched; Inflation-adjusted wages fell last year" by Martin Crutsinger, Associated Press | January 16, 2010
WASHINGTON - The spending power of families is being squeezed, government data showed yesterday, highlighting doubts about consumers’ ability to drive the economic rebound.
Yeah, THEY DON'T CARE about YOU!!
They only care about YOUR MONEY!
Now SPEND what you DON'T HAVE so CORPORATIONS and BANKS can PROFIT!
Workers saw their inflation-adjusted weekly wages fall 1.6 percent last year - the sharpest drop since 1990 - even as consumer prices rose only modestly.
And YOU ALSO BAILED OUT BANKS!
Slack pay and scarce job growth, along with tight credit and a rising savings rate, are holding back spending. That’s hindering the recovery. For some families, the overall inflation rate last year - 2.7 percent - understates their burden. Many are struggling with surging costs for health care and college tuition, both of which have been galloping far above the overall inflation rate.
We call it price-gouging, but....
Energy led consumer prices higher last year, offsetting the biggest drop in food costs in nearly a half century, the Labor Department said yesterday.
And here I was told energy was cheap last year.
Core inflation, which excludes the volatile food and energy sectors, rose 1.8 percent. That’s the second-smallest rise in four decades.
And YOUR DOLLAR FELL!
But to middle-class people like Angie and Larry Kimbrel of Birmingham, Ala., inflation feels anything but moderate. With three sons, the Kimbrels say they’re just scraping by. Angie Kimbrel, who works for an insurance underwriter, has gone without raises and bonuses and faces higher health insurance premiums.
Should have become a banker.
Work is slow for her husband, a painter, because of the sagging construction and housing markets....
And yet FOR MONTHS I have been told they have been getting better, blah, blah, blah.
Yeah, why did you guys hide that for 10 months, huh?
And WHY the LOW-BALL on the job losses!
"The economy has lost more than 8 million jobs since the recession began in December 2007"
Yeah, the papers are telling you the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, right!
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Then again, I have to stop being so negative all the time!
"Economy takes toll on child support; Unemployment means more can’t make payments" by Eileen AJ Connelly, Associated Press | January 17, 2010
Even parents who have gone their separate ways often share the pain of the recession.
Related: What a Man Won't Do For His Children
Tracie Donahue’s first reaction to the news her former husband lost his job as a stockbroker was to be thankful her salary can support their three kids.
Losing approximately $2,000 in monthly child support since last April hasn’t been easy for the Rocklin, Calif., mom. It’s impossible to totally shield the kids. The holidays were leaner, for instance. And her 16-year-old daughter, Britanni, had to put off getting her driver’s license.
Aww, I'm feeling really bad for them as 1 in 7 Americans goes hungry, aren't you?
But they’re making it through while her former husband continues to look for work.
What happened to the Donahues is part of a nationwide trend....
In addition, men have been disproportionately hit by the downturn’s impact on industries like manufacturing and construction. That’s critical because nearly 83 percent of custodial parents are women, leaving men to pay most child support obligations....
What can they possibly mean?
Donahue uses some of what she’s learned at work to deal with the situation. Her job is at the nonprofit California Healthy Marriages Coalition, which aims to help parents avoid divorce. The work has helped improve communication with her ex, and she is trying to allow for what he is dealing with during his unemployment.
So SHE is a PERSONAL FAILURE and she is advising others how to stay together, huh?
“He’s struggling right now, and I understand that,’’ she said. “He wants to pay what he agreed to pay.’’
Why does the term GOLD-DIGGER just flash across my pan of a mind, huh?
If your financial situation changes and you can’t meet your support payments, call your attorney or the state child support agency to start the review process. It can take months for a reduction to be granted, especially in communities that have cut back on staffing child support offices. But cutting payments without an official OK can cause legal problems and may, in extreme cases, lead to arrest.
Consider how much you might save with a reduction, too. Sometimes a request seeking lower payments could lead to a court fight that costs more than any cut. Cordell, the St. Louis attorney, said he’s seen a few such situations. He’s also seen more requests for higher payments from custodial parents who lost their jobs and are looking to their kids’ employed parents for more help.
Yup, there is the paper helping you out and making sure you pay back the looting government for all the generous "welfare" they provide.
How's a MAN supposed to LIVE, anyway?
What do you mean DON'T CARE?!!!!
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