Naskah Pidato Pasar Ekonomi

Assalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,

Oleh : Nurfalah Hidayat

Puji dan syukur kita panjatkan ke hadirat Ilahi Rabbi, atas berkat karunia dan rahmatnya kita dapat berkumpul bersama dalam keadaan sehat wal afiat. Tak lupa sholawat dan salam kita haturkan pada panutan junjungan alam Rasulullah Muhammad SAW, berkat beliau kita bisa hidup di jaman yang penuh dengan ilmu dan pengetahuan.

Bapak kepala sekolah yang saya hormati serta bapak ibu guru yang saya hormati tak lupa kepada teman-teman seperjuangan yang saya banggakan. Sebelumnya saya menyucapkan terima kasih banyak kepada semua yang telah memberi kesempatan kepada saya untuk berdiri di sini menyampaikan beberapa patah kata yang mungkin kalau diukur nilainya tak seberapa.

Hadirin yang saya banggakan.

Apa yang ada dalam pikiran anda bila mendengar kata pasar? Mungkin anda akan berpikir mengenai pasar tradisional dengan banya penjual yang sibuk berteriak menawarkan dagangan, sementara para pembeli bernegosiasi berusaha menawar barang. Kita dapat mengartikan pasar merupakan tempat bertemunya penjual dan pembeli. Sebenarnya dalam ilmu ekonomi jauh lebih dalam mengenai pasar dan berbagai jenisnya.

Pasar tradisional sudah mewakili bentuk pasar, karena secara garis besar, bentuk pasar dapat digolongkan menjadi dua, yaitu pasar nyata (konkrit) dan pasar tidak nyata (abstrak). Yang termasuk kedalam pasar nyata yaitu pasar tradisional, supermarket, mall. Kenapa digolongkan pasar nyata karena memang adanya kenyataan, bisa dilihat dan diraba bendanya. Secara jelas kita dapat melihat pertemuan fisik antara pembeli dan penjuala dalam melakukan jual beri barang. Dengan demikian dapat disimpulkan bahwa pasar nyata adalah pasar tempat bertemunya penjual dan pembeli untuk melakukan transaksi jual-beli barang atau jasa.

Yang kedua yaitu pasar abstrak. Pada pasa ini pembali dan penjual tidak harus melakuan pertemuan. Dengan semakin majunya teknoligi, penjual dan pembeli tidak perlu bertemu untuk mengadakan transaksi. Pada pasar abstrak ini, penjual hanya perlu mengajukan contoh barang saja. komputer misalnya dalam iklan, pembeli dapat melihat contoh komputer yang akan dibeli lengkap dengan berbagai rinciannya. Bila kita suka, kita dapat melakukan transaksi melalui telepon, surat, atau internet.

Bentuk-bentuk pasar digolongkan atas dua sisi yaitu sisi penawaran yang meliputi pasar persaingan sempurna, pasar persaingn monopolistik, pasar oligopoli, dan pasar monopoli, sedangkan di sisi permintaan terdiri atas pasar persaingan sempurna, pasar persaingan monopolistik, pasar oligopsoni, dan pasa monopsoni.

Pasar persaingan sempurna merupakan pasar di mana terdapat banyak pembeli dan penjual yang menjual barang yang sama sehingga tidak ada pihak yang mempengaruhi harga pasar. Contohnya pasar tradisional yang harganya ditentukan oleh pasar atau oleh jumlah permintaan dan penawaran di titik keseimbangan. Ciri-ciri pasar persaingan sempurna yaitu jumlah penjual banyak, bersifat homogen, bebas keluar masuk, penjual dan pembeli mengetahui pengetahuan sempurna tentang pasar, distribusi relatif lancer. Kelemahannya barang yang homogen dan kondisi perekonomian ideal.

Pasar oligopoli dapat dikondisikan sebagai pasar di mana hanya terdapat beberapa penjual yang saling bersaing dengan jumlah pembeli yang banyak. Suatu stuktur pasar yang   lebih menedekati pada kenyataan bahwa struktur pasar selalu berbentuk pasar oligopoli atau pasar persaingan monopolistik. Kaadaan ini merupakan semacam bentuk campuran antara persaingan bebas yang sama sekali sempurna dengan monopoli yang sama sekali murni. Bahkan dapat dikatakan 80% kehidupan nyata dalam perekonomian masyarakat sepenuhnya ada dalam naungan dan kondisi-kondisi pasar yang besifat oligopolistik atau persaingan monopolistik.

Pasar persaingan monopolistik terletak diantara pasar persaigan sempurna da pasar monopsoni, tetapi posisinya lebih dekat dengan pasar persingan sempurna. Di pasar ini, sejumlah besar pembeli dan penjual saling menukarkan produk yang relatif berbeda (heterogen) sehinga setiap peserta sedikit sekali memiliki pengetahuan untuk menetapka harga produknya, karena harga dipengaruhi oleh diferensiasi produk, produsen berlomba-lomba menciptakan produk yang sesuai dengan selera dan kebutuhan pasar.

Pasar monopoli merupakan keadaan di mana pasar dikuasai sepenuhnya oleh penjual. Penjual mempunyai kekuasaan yang dapat didiktekan kemauannya baik dalam bentuk harga, volume, tempat, waktu, dan pembelian dengan siap barang itu akan dijual. Hampir dapat dikatakan bahwa dalam pasar monopoli kedaulatan pasar berada sepenuhnya di tangan penjual. Penjualah yang berdaulat menentukan harga, jumlah, waktu, dan tempatnya di mana barang itu akan dijual. Jadi monopoli adalah kebalikan dari persaingan bebas. Contonya perusahaan “PT Pertamina” merupakan perusahaan yang berbentuk monopili segala hal yang mencangkup produktipitasnya diatur oleh pemerintah. Contoh lain PLN.

Hadirin yang saya hormati.

Kita tidak sadar bahwa ternyata dalam hidup untuk memenuhi kebutuhan yang diperoleh dari pasar-pasar yang sering kita jumpai dari satu pasar ke pasar lain dapat  berbeda bentuknya. Apabila kita pergi ke pasar tradisional di sanah yang dapat kita jumpai adalah pasar persaingan sempurna dimana harga ditentukan oleh banyaknya permintaan dan penawaran.

Lalu apakah peran pemerintah dalam mengendalikah harga barang-barnag kebutuhan pokok yang selama ini terus naik seiring dengan naiknya harga minyak di pasaran dunia. Pemerintah memiliki andil yang penting dalam menentukan harga pasar karena tinggi rendahnya sebuah harga akan memepengaruhi jumlah barang yang dibutuhkan. Hal ini berdasarkan hukum permintaan dan penawaran yang menyatakan bahwa apabila harga barang naik maka jumlah permintaan akan menurun dan apabila harga barang turun maka jumlah permintaan akan naik.

Peran pemerintah dalam pasar yang pertama adalah menentukan harga eceran. Penetepan harga ini dapat ditujukan untuk melindungi baik produsen dan konsumen. Jika harga yang ditawarkan produsen dianggap terlalu mahal atau tidak sesuai dengan harga pasaran untuk barang sejenis, maka pemerintah dapat menetapkan suatu harga eceran tertinggi. Sehingga produsen tidak menjual barang melebihi harga yang sudah pemerintah tetapkan. Contohnya harga keseimbanyan semula untuk gula pasir Rp 8.500 per kilo. Sebagai salah satu kebutuhan pokok, pemerintah memandang harga untuk gula pasir ini terlalu mahal sehingga dapat meugikan masyarakat. Oleh karena itu, pemerintah menetapkan harga eceran tertinggi sebesar Rp 6.500 di bawah keseimbangan agar masyatakan tetap dapat memenuhi kebutuhan akan gula pasir tersebut. Sebaliknya, jika harga pasar suatu barang atau jasa terlalu rendah, maka pemerintah juga dapat melindungi produsen dengan menetapkan harga eceran terendah. Misalnya saja, harga jagung manis per kilogram di pasar sebesar Rp3.000. pemerintah memandang hal ini dapat merugikan produsen karena harganya yang rendah. Akibatnya pemerintah menetapakan harga dasar sebesar Rp 5.000/kg.

Ke dua yaitu penetapan pajak. Pajak adalah iuran rakyat kepada kas negara berdasarkan undang-undang denagn tidak mendapat balas jasa secara langsung. Pajak dipungut berdasarkan norma-norma hukum unruk menutup biaya produksi barang-barang dan jasa kolektif.. Tujuan di pungutnya pajak adalah untuk membbayai pemerintahan dan untuk kesejahteraan umum. Sebuh negara tidak akan bisa berdiri kalau rakyatnya tidak pernah membayar pajak. Selain untuk kesejahtraan umum pajak pun dafat berfungsi sebagai pengendali harga. Apabila pemerintah menaikan harga pajak maka harga barang akan naik dan apabila pemerintah menurunkan harga pajak, maka harga barang pun akan turun.

Selain dalam bentuk penetapan harga eceran dan pajak, juga dapat dilakuan dengan pemberian subsidi. Tujuannya agar produsen dapat menghasilkan barang atau jasa yang kompetitif, terutama agar bersaing dengan barang-barang impor. Selain itu pemberian subsidi dapat mengendalikan inflasi.

Mungkin sekian yang dapat saya sampaikan semoga bermanfaat khususnya bagi diri saya sendiri dan umumnya untuk kita semia. Saya ucapkan terima kasih banyak atas perhatiannya dan mohon maaf apabila ada pertakataan saya yang kurang berkenan di hati.

Wassalamu’alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.

[Via http://rayvictory.wordpress.com]

Average "Family" Health Insurance Policy: $13,375, up 5%

Average “Family” Health Insurance Policy: $13,375, up 5%

By John Fritze, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — An average family health insurance policy now costs more than some compact cars, and four in 10 companies will likely pass more of that expense on to workers, according to a closely watched survey of businesses released Tuesday.

The average cost of a family policy offered by employers was $13,375 this year, up 5% from 2008, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust survey found. By comparison, wages rose 3% over that period, the study said.

The new numbers underscore warnings by President Obama about the growing cost of health insurance and were embraced by Democratic lawmakers who are pushing for legislation to change the nation’s health care system. “The trends are crushing millions of businesses and American families,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said.

The annual survey of more than 2,000 companies also found that 40% of small-business employees enrolled in individual health plans pay annual deductibles of $1,000 or more. That’s almost twice the number who paid that much in 2007.

Drew Altman, president of the Kaiser foundation, said it is the combination of higher health care costs along with the recession and other rising prices that “creates the pain level.”

Those who oppose Democratic versions of the health care legislation, such as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, agree that the rising cost of insurance has become a hardship on families and businesses. The two parties disagree on how to address the problem.

“It’s a significant issue for our members,” said Jeri Kubicki with the National Association of Manufacturers. “They want to continue to offer this benefit. At the same time, it’s a daunting task to try to control costs.”

Since 1999, health insurance premiums for families rose 131%, the report found, far more than the general rate of inflation, which increased 28% over the same period. Overall, health care in the United States is expected to cost $2.6 trillion this year, or 17% of the nation’s economy, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.

Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., who is leading a bipartisan group negotiating health care legislation, has promised that his bill eventually will drive down costs. Baucus said the bill could come up for a vote this month.

As insurance costs increase, workers are also picking up a larger share, the survey found. The average employee with family coverage paid 26% of the premium, the study found, but 41% of companies said they are “very likely” or “somewhat likely” to increase the amount employees pay for coverage in the next year.

Marion Cowen, insurance coordinator for H.A. Cover & Son Lumber, Co., in Thayer, Mo., said her company switched to a plan with a $1,000 deductible a few years ago. Though Cowen expects the cost of the plan to rise about 4%, she said she doesn’t think employees will pay more.

“If there’s any way they can bring the costs down, that is the big thing,” Cowen said of efforts in Washington. “The costs just seem to be going up, up, up.”

Source: http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/health/2009-09-15-insurance-costs_N.htm

[Via http://iactnow.org]

Wachovia Admits They Laundered Millions In Mexican Drug Money

March 21, 2010: Tim Elfrink / Miami New Times – March 17, 2010

Wachovia bank executives have admitted that the banking giant laundered millions of dollars for Mexican drug lords between 2003 and 2008, prosecutors announced in Miami this afternoon. The bank has promised to pay $160 million in fines and penalties and to set up new safeguards within a year to prevent drug money from coming through the bank. If it fails in that effort, Wachovia could face criminal charges, says Jeffrey Sloman, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District.

“Wachovia’s blatant disregard for our banking laws gave international cocaine cartels a virtual carte blanche to finance their operations,” Sloman said at a meeting in downtown Miami. “[They] laundered at least $110 million in drug proceeds.”

The feds built a case against Wachovia around the bank’s relationship with Mexican exchange banks called CDCs (or casas de cambio). Wachovia execs knew as early as 1996 that the Mexican CDCs were hot spots for drug money but kept doing business with them anyway, Sloman says.

The American bank routed billions of dollars in the past ten years through the CDCs without any effective oversight into where the cash was coming from. Prosecutors were able to trace some of that money to the purchase of several airplanes used in drug runs, which led to more than 20,000 kilos of cocaine being seized by investigators.

Under an agreement signed by federal Judge Joan Leonard this afternoon, Wachovia will forfeit $110 million in illegal proceeds from drug sales and pay an additional $50 million fine.

The Tonka Report Editor’s Note: What’s disturbing here is not the fact that these banks are laundering drug money, that’s been known for years. What’s bothersome is the fact that Wachovia not only got caught, but admitted their guilt and yet nobody goes to jail. Nope! They’ll just use the bailout money they stole from the taxpayers to pay a fine and that’s the end of it. Welcome the the new Amerika!  - SJH

Link to original article below…

http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2010/03/wachovia_admits_it_laundered_m.php

[Via http://stevenjohnhibbs.wordpress.com]

REFUGEE'S TREK AIMS TO RAISE A BEACON OF HOPE FOR ZIMBABWE'S CHILDREN

ADOPTED FROM THE CAPE-ARGUS ( 24/12/2009)

A 17 year old Zimbabwean refugee set out on a 200km walk today,without provisions to shed light on the plight of Zimbabwean children who brave the perilous journey to South-Africa

Ephraim Ntlamo made that some journey from Zimbabwe to South-Africa with about 26 other illegal immigrants last year

He said they had walked for 100km and had swum the Limpopo River, where they came across bodies of people who had been trying to escape to South- Africa.

Ntlamo started at Hangklip light house at 9am today and plans to arrive at the Cape-Agullas lighthouse on January 2 with only his note book, which he will use to document every day of the journey.

On his blog Ntlamo talks about the importance of his journey today.

”What’s symbolic about the lighthouse to me is when I fled Zimbabwe for South-Africa, I did not know exactly where I was going to end up, but i was following the brightness of the lights from far away and it’s where I believed hope was.”

He said he hoped to gain the Zimbabwean government’s attention so they could consider creating a national holiday or memorial for children who died in Zimbabwe during political violence and while trying to flee the country.

”I also want the Zimbabwean to be accountable for it’s children in exile by considering the influx of Zimbabwean children into neighbouring countries as a crisis and therefore put something reasonable in place to get them back to Zimbabwe.

”You can not talk about fixing the economy or the country when half a million children between the ages of 14 and 18 are in foreign countries without any skills, What do you expect them  to be when that economy is fixed ? Criminals ”he said

Ntlamo also said the Zimbabwean government responsible for the immense suffering of Zimbabwean children in foriegn countries should put centres in place that would accommodate returnees and those should be run by international children’s organisations like Unicef and not ”former state thugs.”

He said he would be asking for food from people along the journey,in the same manner he did when he was coming to South-Africa.

”I will be resting anywhere without a blanket; if it rains, I will keep on as there was no way to hide from the rain on my way to South -Africa,” he said

Last night Ntlamo,who now has asylum seeker status in the country, said he was feeling excited about the journey.

He said it the perfect time to shed light on the issue of immigrant children as they would be vulnerable to human traffikers during the World cup.

Ntlamo said he did not have a structured plan for his walk as he’d had none when coming to South- Africa.

He will, however, be passing through Hanglip, Silver Sands, Betty’s Bay, Kleinmond, Fisher Haven, Hawston, Hermanus, Stanford, Die Kelders, Gansbaai, Franskraal Strand, Strandskloof, Baardskeerderbos, Vogelvlei, Struis Bay and Cape Agulh.

DUE TO TRANSPORT INCONVIENCE I HAD TO CHANGE THE ROUTE….…….

[Via http://childmigrant.wordpress.com]

Greece

The Greece problem was one of the uncertainties during the correction that began in Jan. It has now surfaced again. Reuters reported that the Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou warned on Friday his country was one step from being unable to borrow and appealed to labor unionists to support his efforts to escape a debt crisis shaking the euro zone. 

The man seems unable to be take responsibility for his country’s problem.

From the Telegraph:

Mr Papandreou said speculators were the cause of his country’s woes and demanded that Europe “put the loaded gun on the table” to deter attacks by hedge funds. This argument is starting to irritate Berlin, where it is seen as a ploy to absolve Greece for responsibility for its own troubles, and to circumvent legal restrictions on EU aid.

The man also has a warped sense of reasoning.

From Business Insider:

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has been making statements that reveal a frightening sense of entitlement to the wealth of outsiders. He has said that the markets must be tamed by democracy, which we take to mean that he thinks Greek politicians have some metaphysical right to borrow the world’s wealth at low interest rates. In particular, he seems to share the view of many Greeks that the wealthier European countries—and Germany in particular—just owe Greek money. Which is a very strange attitude for a the country with the world’s highest debt-to-GDP ratio.

The man is adopting the ways of terrorists as well.

From the Telegraph:

We have the worst of the IMF and none of the advantages. This is where Europe must come in and provide what the IMF can offer. Or Greece will have to go to the IMF. We hope that will not be necessary,” he said.

I prefer a European solution as part of the eurozone, to show the world that Europe can act together. This is not to ask for money but to have an instrument on the table to stop the speculation. We expect the EU to live up to the challenge facing it. We are a eurozone country,” he said.

The Business Insider explains why this is a terrorist act:

So what’s the problem? Why might Europe be scared into caving to Greek demands? Because if Greece goes to the IMF, some believe credibility in the euro would be shattered since it would be seen as unable or unwilling to support its member countries when in trouble.

The Greek Prime Minister seems to be a really exceptional man.

[Via http://unprecedentedtimes.wordpress.com]

For Americans Wishing To Leave The United States, What Is The Best Country In The World To Move To?

NOTE:  My choice is Costa Rica — short flight from most U.S. cities; a history of peace without a military; low rate of violent crime; year-round perfect weather; and — most importantly — a strong local community that still produces food and offers a self-sufficient lifestyle.  A friend of mine has started a business in CR to help people relocate and retire.  More info. is available here:

From The Economic Collapse Blog

For those seeking to move outside of the United States, figuring out the best country to move to can be a very daunting task.  There are a ton of social, cultural, economic and safety issues to be considered.  In addition, those who have never been outside of North America should not underestimate the severe “culture shock” that can take place when moving to another nation.  While moving outside of the United States may seem like an attractive alternative, the truth is that it is not easy and it is not something to be done lightly.  But there have been many Americans who have done it successfully and are now loving life.  Our recent article, “Is Moving Out Of The United States A Way To Escape The Coming Economic Collapse?”, generated some really great comments about what various areas of the world are like for Americans who move there.  Today we wanted to share with you some of those comments.  These commenters have some very strong opinions about where the best places for Americans to move to are, but the reality is that each person and each situation is different so keep that in mind as you read these….

Saigonbrian:

I’ve lived in China, Vietnam, and am currently living in Malaysia for the last few years. I’ve also traveled extensively during that time. Given the likely future problems in the US it’s certainly prudent to at least evaluate an alternative.

Our top two choices would be New Zealand (NZ) and Costa Rica (CR) with Malaysia coming in 3rd. NZ and CR are both beautiful countries and pretty much self-sufficient in needed resources. English, of course, is the language of NZ and it is widely spoken in CR. Though if you choose a country where English is not the native language; you’d be way better off learning the local language.

Some other options would be: Thailand; a beautiful very expat friendly country. Indonesia, in particular Bali. Vietnam and Cambodia would be OK for the more adventurous and they are cheap, cheap. Australia is fine, though the prices are pretty much US level. Singapore is nice if you want to live in one big city. Malaysia is interesting. It tries very hard to get expats to retire there. They have a formal program called “Malaysia My Second Home” (MM2H). You apply for it, and if you meet the criteria, you get a 10 yr, unlimited entry visa. There should be no trouble renewing it. You need to keep about $30,000 USD in a local bank account, buy a home that costs at least $175,000 USD, and have an income of $3,000 a month. I suspect these requirements will lessen. The program is relatively new and the government hasn’t seem to have chosen which expat group they’re really targeting: rich foreigners, well off investors, or retirees with more modest moola. The country is beautiful and fairly cheap to live in. We have a gorgeous 5,000 sf apartment with great, modern security features. Did I mention it’s on the beach with amazing views. The cost? About $2,400 USD a month!! Our electric bill, and we run the aircon a lot; is $25 bucks. We haven’t used our health insurance yet, as we’d not hit the deductible limit and the prices are very cheap. And the quality of care is 1st rate. My daughter twisted her ankle recently so we put the system to the test. The initial exam by an orthopedic surgeon, xrays, and a soft cast cost about $35 USD! Follow-up visits with the orthopedic surgeon cost $9 USD! Pretty darn good. My primary concern? The worry that the country will become too islamic. It is the official state religion though now it does treat the Chinese and Indian minorities relatively fairly. I’m just not sure it can resist the tendency for islam to become more intrusive and radical. Hopefully not, but the jury is still out.

Overall I’d suggest doing some research and find a few contenders. Then go to these places for a vacation. That will give you some 1st hand data. One thing you notice living overseas is that Americans are the least adventurous, 1st world; folks. We need to get over that.

Bon voyage!

Gringo in Brazil:

I recently made the move to Brazil with my family based primarily on the social and economic factors I witnessed and experienced. In Michigan, I found my business drying up, my home value plummeting, the job market disappearing, etc. More importantly, if the youth I saw at the malls and high schools are any indication of the future leadership of our country; we are in serious trouble. With less than 50% of our youth even graduating from High School, how do we stand a chance.

Fortunately I speak fluent Portuguese so I am able to adapt. I am earning about $1,300/mo plus commissions which is enough for a simple apartment and living expenses. My wife is looking for the right job and should be able to earn about the same which will afford us a modest lifestyle.

Most Americans couldn’t cope with the heat, mosquitoes, open sewers, long lines, hellish traffic, and other cultural issues, unless they could afford to live in a luxury neighborhood and have a maid and personal assistant. However, the outlook here in Brazil is very positive. Most young people are investing in their education and advancement. I liken it to stepping back 70 years in our country and being on the verge of a great industrial revolution that I can be a part of. I have decided it is better to be starting at the bottom of the hill, climbing towards the top, then to be at the top and sliding out of control towards the bottom.

If you can afford it, do what my wife and I did, we took a two month “vacation” a couple of years ago, rented a furnished apartment and did a trial “residency” in which we had time to evaluate the pros and cons. When we moved here last month, we were well prepared, knowing what we were getting into, bringing along the necessary items and resources to be able to live relatively comfortably.

If you can master the native language sufficiently (or take an immersion course when you arrive for 6 months), you can often get a job at a language school, or company needing bi-lingual workers or professionals. Best bet is to scour the classifieds online ahead of time so you have something guaranteed when you arrive.

Kenneth:

Australia is the best country in the world to live in. This is the statement of Australians who have been to USA and other countries. It is what USA used to be years ago. It will be a few years before Australia becomes like USA. USA has left its Christian roots and I am afraid there are those who will make sure it never goes back.

AsiaExpat:

Singapore is the best place to live and work. It has a real future and very reasonable taxes. Peaceful, modern, they even speak English (kind of). Bring your best attitude and a necktie, because you have to work and you have to be kind to your neighbors. Who wants to be cloistered nervously behind a wall, anyway?

Bill:

Best places as far as quality of life? Social Democratic countries like Scandanavia- Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark.

If language is a problem Canada would be the closest best choice, then Australia, New Zealand, and for Central America, Costa Rica would be the number one choice for climate, civility, medical care and a beautiful environment.

For most places that provide good quality of life, expect to pay high taxes, which most civilized countries, yours excepted, equate with civilization. I’m afraid you folks are letting your inherent selfishness, ignorance of other cultures, militarism and a “screw you Jack, I’ve got mine” mentality destroy you.

Better than moving, stay there and try to turn things around. You have too much that is still good to lose it all. We’re all hoping-well, your firends are anyway- that you’ll pull out of this before its too late.

Time is running out folks.

Mongoos:

Not all Americans are “ugly Americans.” We are guests in the host country and most expats act as such. I retired in Sept 2009 and plan on living, teaching, and writing in Thailand. I have lived and worked overseas before, so this is nothing new for me. You make do and blend in and stay out of trouble. Leave your attitudes and preconceptions at the door when you check in. Otherwise, you will be creating problems for those of us who wish to live in peace and enjoy the pleasures of a different culture.

James:

There are over 100,000 Americans living in Costa Rica and loving it. Things are getting stronger here everyday and in most schools they teach English for half the day and Spanish for the other. The majority of the people like Americans and if you want to have it shipped here you can get everything here that you can get there. WalMart is the largest retail chain here as well as there.

This week Costa Rica moved ahead of the US in medical care. A huge % of the national income is from Medical Tourism. They are using adult stem cell treatment here to cure MS, Heart Decease, diabetes, Spinal Cord Injuries, Cancer and many other conditions. A good source for getting information on Costa Rica is the Association of Residents of Costa Rica.

http://www.arcr.net

They have a seminar once a month that brings in Doctors, Lawyers, Dentist, Shippers, Realtors, Investment Councilors and many other experts to brief you on the pros and cons of moving to Costa Rica. There are many communities here that are all American and the “Culture Shock” is nonexistent. The weather is perfect and they have never had a hurricane.

Bruce:

We moved to the French Riviera 10 years ago when we retired. Cost of living here in Nice is much less than New York or any other major American city. We’re on the sea, a big plus, near Italy, also a big plus, and we enjoy terrific food that we can afford. The medical system in France is incomparable and truly inexpensive compared to the U.S. We calculated our fixed living expenses for the year: it came to 11,000 Euros, or about $15,000 for all our taxes, medical coverage, utilities, condo fees, dentistry, etc. We live in a 2 bedroom top floor condo with a very large terrace and 2 balconies. There’s plenty of money left for travel, dining out, movies, and quick jaunts up to London and Paris for culture and ethnic food (especially London). Don’t regret the move at all.

John:

I moved to Ensenada Mexico in 2000. It was the best thing I ever did for my future because there is no future in America. I now enjoy more freedom than I ever had in the US. Spanish is easy to learn and the people are much more friendly here. There are lots of ex-pats here also. In the coming years the US is going to be the worst place to be. Escape now while you still can.

AmericanInOz:

I am an American that immigrated to Australia in 2001 (after Bush took office). My wife and I didn’t like what we saw coming. Politically, culturally, financially and socially.

When Big Media first started covering the US’s economic problems here in 2008 they drug out the old phrase “When America catches a cold Australia gets a flu”. Two plus years on and this couldn’t be further from the truth. The economy here is going great guns, and demand from Asia and a better government are a good part of the reason.

House prices are having solid gains every year, unemployment is reasonably steady, and the federal reserve is trying to raise interest rates to cool the economy (.25% again today)

To that point, the government here doesn’t subsidise 30 year fixed mortgages the way they do in the US, so they can still manage the economy by slightly manipulating interest rates. The longest you can fix a mortgage for is 5 years, at a very high premium, so most people don’t.

America has become an after thought, if not the laughing stock, of many Australians. It saddens me to see how far everything has fallen over there. I no longer try to defend the US or the American people. The time for real public outrage passed many years ago, and I have not only given up on the government, but also on the people themselves. So many dear family and friends spend their lives watching TV while their freedoms, lifestyle, culture and wealth were/are being destroyed around them. Ignorant and apathetic to the realities of the real world. Living with some strange notion of the past as if it represents the present.

Not all is doom and gloom here. And although it could still come, if it does it will have little, if nothing at all, to do with the problems in America.

[Via http://rulersofusall.wordpress.com]

Fake Fight

Have you noticed the sense of urgency the President has attached to getting health care passed. Time is of the essence, even though the health coverage promised by the Castro Care legislation doesn’t kick in for a few years… and our economic survival depends on getting it passed.

U.S. President Barack Obama said on Wednesday a broad healthcare overhaul was critical to an economic recovery and promised to push a reform package through Congress this year despite growing doubts about the plan, even among fellow Democrats.

Is this part of a strategy of creating a phony crisis over healthcare? Here’s what author David Kupelian writes:

As I explain in my new book “How Evil Works,” anyone even superficially familiar with the history of the political left has heard references to the strategy of creating crises as a means of transforming society. You’ve probably heard of the “Hegelian dialectic,” a key Marxist technique whereby an idea (“We need more gun control laws!”) generates its opposite (“No, we don’t need more gun laws, we just need tougher sentencing of criminals!”) which leads to a reconciliation of opposites, or synthesis (“OK, we’ll compromise by passing new gun-control laws, but watering them down somewhat”).

The Obama economic argument may make perfect sense to you given our economic situation, but Bill Clinton took the White House during a recession, and here’s what he had to say about health reform and the economy!

Sound familiar?

Likewise, maybe you’ve heard of the “Cloward-Piven Strategy” inspired by leftwing radical organizer Saul Alinsky, whose methods Barack Obama adopted which openly advocates the creation of crises to destroy capitalist society. This is how socialist progress is achieved “peacefully” through conflict or crisis and always in the direction of greater socialism.

Something to think about as the Castro Care legislation makes its way to a vote.

[Via http://realclearthinker.com]

Bracing for the Bernanke Put

The FOMC decision on interest rates is expected today at or around 2:15 PM EST.  Most market pundits are expecting no change to the Fed Funds Rate.  The target of 0.00% to 0.25% is still being maintained as consensus.  Today’s focus is likely going to be on how many more Fed governors are wanting to see rate hikes come into play as well as its exit strategy for its balance sheet assets.  The last FOMC had only 1 calling for a hike, some feel there could be two calling for a hike today.  It seems unlikely that Bernanke and friends can turn on a dime just yet, but the FOMC should be raising rates today.

It seems that very few actually believe that the real unemployment rate has changed or really improved as the data from the Labor Department has shown in recent months.  It is believing in that “opting out of the workforce” issue as if everyone who couldn’t find work went to a permanent retreat at the Zen monastery or just all took on the house-spouse role permanently.

What is interesting is that Bloomberg noted “there is a possibility that the Board could announce another 25 basis point increase in the discount rate….” and noted that the current 50 basis point spread between the discount rate and the fed funds rate compares to what is traditionally 100 basis points.

Whether the FOMC changes the discount rate or not, the Fed needs to begin hiking rates.  Even if this is just setting at 0.25% rather than the virtual-zero rate we have today, this would be a start.  That is no signal at all that things are overheating.  In that regard, Fed Funds of 3% used to sound exceptionally low.

There is an interesting notion here that is not being talked about.  Hiking the Fed Funds now would probably have a very small impact.  This would actually give the Federal Reserve some ammunition next year if we end up in a double-dip recession after the tax rate resets are likely to come back into play.

The FOMC can rarely get away with a rate hike and then have to turn right around with a rate cut.  But getting at least one of the incremental hikes today would get us closer to a normalized interest rate structure.  Imagine if the FOMC just leaves rates here with no changes at all and we do end up getting a double-dip recession.  At that point the Fed would not even have the classic tool of cutting rates to ease the burden.  Then the Fed will get to start considering asset purchases all over again.

Isn’t the market looking for a continued ‘Fed Exit Strategy’?  If the Fed doesn’t start hiking rates soon, the exit strategy could ironically have to be put off indefinitely.

There are literally hundreds of other opinions here.  Many want rates kept here until unemployment really improves rather than just gets less-bad or improves nominally.  Many want the yield curve steep for the banks to be able to stay healthy as they try to get off the government dime and as they try to remain profitable from operations.  And no one wants the consumer to face much higher interest rates.

Hiking rates now would at least allow for rate cuts ahead if things start to weaken again or if we do get the double-dip recession scenario.  Still, the odds of a rate hike today are almost nil.

JON C. OGG

[Via http://247wallst.com]

Nice to see some savings

I’m pretty skeptical that we’re seeing any sort of sustained recovery in the economy. I keep feeling there is a second shoe somewhere waiting to be dropped.

However, I came across the first little bit of what I consider to be sustainable good news, it is 1.7%

That is the amount of decline in household since 2009.

Its a small number, hopefully it is a trend and yes, increased savings may stall an immediate recovery. But the word I’m fixating on is sustainable and a reduction in household debt is a small step in that direction.

The Big Picture » Blog Archive » Consumers Modestly Improving Balance Sheets.

[Via http://ronpiovesan.wordpress.com]

Elizabeth Warren for President

She’s called “mild-mannered,” this chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel, which monitors the TARP bailout. She hails from Harvard, has the appropriate shoulder-length bob but check out this quote, noted by Sis. Cynical:

My first choice is a strong consumer agency. My second choice is no agency at all and plenty of blood and teeth left on the floor.

Now that’s an overseer I can get next to.

[Via http://datingjesus.wordpress.com]

The Role of Diversification

Corporate diversification is everywhere. Virtually all of the Fortune 1,000 (the largest 1,000 corporations in the US) are diversified, many of them to a great extent. Some corporations consist of dozen—even hundreds—of different businesses. Besides such corporate giants, many smaller firms, some with only a handful of employees, also diversify.

What is the strategic role of diversification? Popular answers to this question have changed dramatically over the last several decades. During the 1960s, diversification fueled tremendous corporate growth as corporations bought up dozens of businesses, regardless of the good or service sold. Managers based this diversification on unrelated businesses on the assumption that good managers could manage any business, allowing the formation of huge conglomerates of completely unrelated businesses. In the 1970s, managers began to emphasize diversification based on balancing cash flow between businesses. Corporate managers attempted to diversify so that the resulting portfolio would offer a balance between businesses that produced excess cash flows and those that needed additional cash flows beyond what they could produce themselves. The 1980s brought a broad-based effort to restructure corporations, as managers stripped out unrelated businesses and focused on a narrower range of operations. Restructuring usually also involved downsizing, and the largest corporations shrank in relation to the rest of the economy. In the 1990s, corporations have once again taken an interest in using diversification to grow. But unlike the unrelated diversification that took place in the 1960s, the trend in the 1990s is to diversify into related businesses, or at least into businesses in which the strengths of a popular managerial team fit the needs of the new business being added to the corporation.

My Consultancy–Asif J. Mir - Management Consultant–transforms organizations where people have the freedom to be creative, a place that brings out the best in everybody–an open, fair place where people have a sense that what they do matters. For details please visit www.asifjmir.com, and my Lectures.

[Via http://asifjmir.wordpress.com]

Robert Reich's "The Sham Recovery"

I was planning to write about the supposed economic recovery that one hears about every so often. You know, the recent increases in GDP and such. Most of us are, of course, having none of that. I suppose that’s because so many of us are out of work, scared of being out of work, or just plain scared by the multitude of worries that are descending on us. My plans for writing about the “recovery” ended when I found former Sec. of Labor Robert Reich’s “The Sham Recovery.”

It’s the March 12 entry on his blog.

I strongly suggest you click your ruby mouse and go there, but I’ll take the liberty of copying it here.

The Sham Recovery

Friday, March 12, 2010

Are we finally in a recovery? Who’s “we,” kemosabe? Big global companies, Wall Street, and high-income Americans who hold their savings in financial instruments are clearly doing better. As to the rest of us – small businesses along Main Streets, and middle and lower-income Americans – forget it.

Business cheerleaders naturally want to emphasize the positive. They assume the economy runs on optimism and that if average consumers think the economy is getting better, they’ll empty their wallets more readily and – presto! – the economy will get better. The cheerleaders fail to understand that regardless of how people feel, they won’t spend if they don’t have the money.

The US economy grew at a 5.9 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter of 2009. That sounds good until you realize GDP figures are badly distorted by structural changes in the economy. For example, part of the increase is due to rising health care costs. When WellPoint ratchets up premiums, that enlarges the GDP. But you’d have to be out of your mind to consider this evidence of a recovery.

Part of the perceived growth in GDP is due to rising government expenditures. But this is smoke and mirrors. The stimulus is reaching its peak and will be smaller in months to come. And a bigger federal debt eventually has to be repaid.

So when you hear some economists say the current recovery is following the traditional path, don’t believe a word. The path itself is being used to construct the GDP data.

Look more closely and the only ones doing better are the people and private-sector institutions at the top. Many of America’s biggest companies are sitting on huge amounts of cash right now, but that says nothing about the health of the U.S. economy. Companies in the Standard&Poor 500 stock index had sales of $2.18 trillion in the fourth quarter, up from $2.02 trillion last year, and their earnings tripled. Why? Mainly because they’re global, and selling into fast-growing markets in places like India, China, and Brazil.

America’s biggest companies are also showing fat profits and productivity gains because they continue to slash payrolls and cut expenditures. Alcoa, for example, had $1.5 billion in cash at the end of last year, double what it had on hand at the end of 2008. Sounds terrific until you realize how it did it. By cutting 28,000 jobs – 32 percent of workforce – and slashed capital expenditures 43 percent.

Firms in S&P 500 are now holding a whopping $932 billion in cash and short-term investments. And they can borrow money cheaply. Corporate bond sales are brisk. So far in 2010, big U.S. corporations have issued $195.2 billion of debt, excluding government-guaranteed bonds. Does this spell a recovery? It all depends on what the big companies are doing with all this cash. In fact, they’re doing two things that don’t help at all.

First, they’re buying other companies. (Walgreen last month spent $618 million for New York drugstore chain Duane Reade; Bank of New York Mellon, $2.3 billion for PNC Financial Services; Monster, $225 million for jobs.com; Diamond Foods, $615 million for Kettle Foods.) This buying doesn’t create new jobs. One of the first things companies do when they buy other companies is fire lots of people who are considered “redundant.” That’s where the so-called merger efficiencies and synergies come from, after all.

The second thing big companies are doing with all their cash is buying back their own stock, in order to boost their share prices. There were 62 such share buy-backs in February, valued at $40.1 billion. We’re witnessing the biggest share buyback spree since Sept 2008. The major beneficiaries are current shareholders, including top executives, whose pay is linked to share prices. The buy-backs do absolutely nothing for most Americans.

(None of this, by the way, is stopping supply-side fanatics from arguing government needs to cut taxes on big corporations in order to spur the recovery. Their argument is absurd on its face. Big companies don’t know what to do with all their cash they have as it is. They aren’t investing it in new plant and equipment and new jobs. So why should the government cut their taxes and enlarge their cash hoards even more?)

The picture on Main Street is quite the opposite. Small businesses aren’t selling much because they have to rely on American – rather than foreign – consumers, and Americans still aren’t buying much.

Small businesses are also finding it difficult to get credit. In the credit survey conducted in February by the National Federation of Independent Businesses, only 34 percent of small businesses reported normal and adequate access to credit. Not incidentally, the NFIB’s “Small Business Optimism Index” fell 1.3 points last month, just about where it’s been since April.

That’s a problem for most Americans. Small businesses are where the jobs are. In fact, small businesses are responsible for almost all job growth in a typical recovery. So if small businesses are hurting, we’re not going to see much job growth any time soon.

The Federal Reserve reported Thursday that American consumers are shedding their debts like mad. Total US household debt, including mortgages and credit card balances, fell 1.7 percent last year – the first drop since the government began recording consumer debt in 1945. Much of the debt-shedding has been through default – consumers simply not repaying and walking away from homes and big-ticket purchases.

This is hardly good news. But here’s the Wall Street Journal’s take on it: “the defaults are leaving many people with more cash to spend and save, jump-starting the financial rehabilitiation” of the economy.

Baloney. As of end of 2009, debt averaged $43, 874 per American, or about 122 percent of annual disposable income. Most economic analysts think a sustainable debt load is around 100 percent of disposable income – assuming a normal level of employment and normal access to credit. But unemployment is still sky-high and it’s becoming harder for most people to get new mortgages and credit cards. And with housing prices still in the doldrums, they can’t refinane their homes or take out new loans on them. The days of homes as ATMs are over.

Some cheerleaders say rising stock prices make consumers feel wealthier and therefore readier to spend. But to the extent most Americans have any assets at all their net worth is mostly in their homes, and those homes are still worth less than they were in 2007. The “wealth effect” is relevant mainly to the richest 10 percent of Americans, most of whose net worth is in stocks and bonds. The top 10 percent accounted for about half of total national income in 2007. But they were only about 40 percent of total spending, and a sustainable recovery can’t be based on the top ten percent.

Add to all this the joblessness or fear of it that continues to haunt a large portion of the American population. Add in the trauma of what most of us have been through over the past year and a half. Consider also the extra need to save as tens of millions of boomers see retirement on the horizon. Bottom line: Thrifty consumers are doing the right and sensible thing by holding back from the malls. They saved a little over 4 percent of their disposable income in fourth quarter of 2009. In the months or years ahead they may save more.

Right and sensible for each household but a disaster for the economy as a whole. American consumers accounted for 70 percent of the total demand for goods and services in the American economy before the Great Recession, and a sizable chunk of world demand.

So what happens when the stimulus is over and the Fed begins to tighten again? Where will demand come from to get Main Street back, create jobs, raise middle class wages? Not from big businesses. Certainly not from Wall Street. Not from exports. Not from government.

So, where? That question is the big unknown hanging over the U.S. economy. Until there’s an answer, an economic “recovery” for anyone other than big corporations, Wall Street, and the wealthy is a mirage.

You have to love the Internet, doncha? I hope our electrical grid holds out.

Cassandra

[Via http://uncommonscolds.wordpress.com]

House Democrats Ready To Pass Health Care Without Voting On It!

March 13, 2010: Jon Ward / The Daily Caller – March 12, 2010

Republicans now expect Democrats to pass health care through the House with a trick only Capitol Hill could dream up: approving the Senate bill without voting on it. Democrats will vote on a separate bill that includes language stating that the original Senate bill is “deemed passed.” So by voting for the first bill — a reconciliation measure to fix certain things in the Senate bill — that will automatically pass the second bill — the original Senate bill — without a separate roll call taking place.

It’s called the “Slaughter Solution” (prepare for a weekend of endless TV gabbing about it). And after debating House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer on the chamber floor, Minority Whip Eric Cantor emerged convinced that Democrats are going to use the tactic, and that they won’t allow Republicans, and the public, to see the text of any legislation for 72 hours before a vote.

“I can infer that we’re going to see a rule that will deem the Senate bill as having passed, and at the same time not even have 72 hours to even look at what they are passing,” Cantor, a Virginia Republican, said in an interview outside his office at the Capitol. “The outrage to me on the part of the public is going to be focused on the fact that there is not even an up or down vote, a clean up or down vote,” Cantor said.

Here’s the reason Democrats are using such a complicated procedure: many in the House completely do not trust the Senate to pass fixes to the bill passed by the Senate in December. But according to the rules of reconciliation, the House must go first in passing the Senate bill and passing a reconciliation fix.

So House Democrats have been searching for a way to alleviate members’ concerns that if they vote for the Senate bill and the Senate does nothing to fix it, they will be hung out to dry as having supported a piece of legislation that many across the country dislike, either for spending reasons, or because of special provisions like the extra money for Nebraska’s Medicaid population (the “Cornhusker kickback”).

Technically, using the “Slaughter solution,” they’ll never have voted for the bill they find odious, even if their vote on the reconciliation legislation will have been the vote that passed the Senate bill into law. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, alluded to all this at her weekly press conference Friday. “There are certain assurances that they want and that we will get for them before I ask them to take a vote,” Pelosi said.

The “Slaughter solution” is named for House Rules Committee Chairman Louise Slaughter, the New York Democrat who came up with the idea. She told the Daily Caller on Thursday that the chances of her procedure being used were “pretty good.”

Despite doubt among some on Capitol Hill on whether the “Slaughter solution” was feasible, Cantor expressed no doubt that the tactic could be used. “It’s a self-executing rule. It is akin to passage but hidden in a rule as a side-note, passing the 2,700-page, $1 trillion bill, oh by the way,” he said.

Hoyer rejected the idea that Republicans have not had enough time to review the legislation. “You have had months to review the substance of that bill. You don’t like it. We understand. You’re going to oppose it. We understand that as well. The fact of the matter is you cannot say you have had no notice of each and every provision for over two months,” said Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat.

Cantor said he wanted 72 hours to review the final text of the reconciliation bill. “The reconciliation bill is new text. He claims it’s old hat, but this is clearly where they’re reconciling differences,” Cantor said, expressing concern that Democrats would rush the final text to the House floor for a vote to keep “sweeteners” used to buy off votes from being discovered.

Democrats are coalescing around a schedule for the bill’s route to the House floor for a vote. They are expecting a final score from the Congressional Budget Office later today. On Monday, the House Budget Committee will mark the bill up, leading to an expected vote in the Rules Committee on Wednesday, with a final vote by the full House possible next weekend. The question remains, however, whether Pelosi will even be able to round up enough votes to pass a bill. Momentum continued to go the wrong direction for her on Friday, as two more Democrats said they are opposed to the bill.

The Tonka Report Editor’s Note: Now here’s a government conspiracy right smack in our face! - SJH

Link to original article below…

http://dailycaller.com/2010/03/12/house-democrats-appear-set-to-pass-senate-bill-without-voting-on-it/

[Via http://stevenjohnhibbs.wordpress.com]

Cut Back!

If an individual is spending more money than they make, they must either make more money or spend less.  If they decide to spend less, they will maintain the essentials and trim back on the non-essentials.

The same is true in the business world.  If you are not making a profit, then you need to remove non-essentials from your operating costs.  This can sometimes involve painful decisions.  It is important to make the right cuts.

The same is true with our government.  It is time to recognize  what is necessary, and what is non-essential.  It is high time to reduce spending in non-essential areas. It is not a time to be spending more money.  It is time to be spending less.

[Via http://cgirod.wordpress.com]

Ex-President Blasts Mills

Ex-President, John Agyekum Kufuor, has stated that the calculated attempt by the Mills-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) government to criminalize every initiative of his erstwhile administration saddens his heart.

Issues

• .

“I do not simply understand why the Mills Administration has made it a grand agenda to make evil of every initiative my administration undertook,” the immediate past President wondered.

The Gentle Giant, as he is affectionately called, told Angel Fm in an exclusive interview that he was particularly worried about the government’s decision to reverse the four-year duration of the Senior High School (SHS) system.

In order to ensure that students have enough learning space, ex-President Kufuor’s administration adjusted the hitherto three-year duration of the SHS programme to four years.

But immediately after assuming office, President Mills, through his Minister of Education, Alex Tettey-Enyo, announced that the four-year duration has been reverted to three years. “I am particularly unhappy about that decision because governments do not change decisions for the mere reason that it was taken by a previous administration,” ex-President Kufuor said.

He emphasized that the decision to adjust the four-year duration of the SHS programme was taken in the supreme interest of the nation since it had the potential to arrest the high number of failed candidates.

Observing that it was dangerous as a country to politicize every initiative of a past government, the two-term former President entreated the Mills Administration to be circumspect about the review of initiatives of his out-gone government. “If President Mills is unable to come out with initiatives that would benefit the nation, then it will be prudent for him not to alter the already existing ones that were undertaken in the utmost interest of the state,” former President Kufuor stressed.

He expressed utter disgust about President Mills’ claims that his government, since assumption of office a little over a year ago, has worked assiduously to turn the country’s economy around.

Ex-President Kufuor noted that the tax law professor cannot claim credit for any improvement in the country’s economy because the financial system was on a sound footing before Mills assumed the reigns of government. “There is no evidence of a single initiative that the Mills Administration has taken with respect to improving the nation’s economy since coming into office, so where are these boastful claims coming from?” the immediate past President asked.

According to him, President Mills and his government deliberately painted an erroneous impression in the minds of Ghanaians that the economy they inherited was ‘broke’ in order to criminalize the past administration. “President Mills should come out and tell us what he and his government have done since coming into office that has dramatically changed the so-called distressed economy to a hopeful one,” ex-President Kufuor dared.

He said the quadrupling of the country’s reserves from a woeful $2billion in 2001 to a whopping $16 billion in 2008 was enough evidence that his administration left behind a healthy economy.

Furthermore, the incredible springing up of financial institutions and other investments in the nation speaks volumes about the vibrant economy the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration handed down to the National Democratic Congress (NDC). “If we did not handle the economy well, I do not think the banks and the big companies would have mustered courage to invest in the country,” ex-President Kufuor observed.

Additionally, the one-time deputy Foreign Affairs Minister in the Busia regime, said the country’s successful borrowing from the Euro Bonds was ample testimony of the international community’s confidence in the country’s economy.

Still talking about the proficient handling of the country’s economy, former President Kufuor indicated that the nation’s ability to wean herself of the dictates of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank was a clear sign of a sound economic management.

Responding to criticisms that his administration left behind a huge deficit, the immediate past President said his administration used the funds to advance the development agenda of the country. “What is wrong with borrowing money to carry out a purposeful mission that has ripple beneficial effects?” ex-President Kufuor quizzed, stressing that he who borrows for a good reason commits no crime.

He explained that the visible developments dotted across the country such as roads, hospitals, schools and other infrastructural projects are the fruits of the deficit that has become the ‘chewing stick’ of the ruling party.

Source: Daily Guide/Ghana

[Via http://dossierghana.wordpress.com]

The markets are taking note of our bad numbers

After my earlier post, I thought I might take a look at Bloomberg, and the FT’s Alphaville. Crikey, Bloomberg is reporting that one of the leading ratings agencies is saying,

“The U.K. government needs to reduce the shortfall in its finances earlier than currently planned because the nation’s credit profile has deteriorated “pretty sharply,” Fitch Ratings said.”

Brain Coulton, head of global economics at Fitch Ratings also said,

“The U.K. sovereign credit profile has deteriorated pretty sharply. If we don’t get an improvement in the medium-term outlook in the U.K., there will be cause for concern.”

Forget all the froth about party funding, what matters is the state of the UK economy, and the voters choice of the most credible plan to set it back on the path to recovery.

[Via http://lightwater.wordpress.com]

Money for the People

KENYATAAN MEDIA

8 MAC 2010

SELANGOR TUBUHKAN PROGRAM PINJAMAN MIKROKREDIT

SHAH ALAM: Kerajaan Selangor akan membangunkan Program Pinjaman Mirokredit bagi membantu rakyat miskin dan berpendapatan rendah di negeri bagi mengeluarkan golongan ini dari garis kemiskinan.

Program Mirokredit ini akan berkonsepkan perbankan Islam, Qardhul Hassan iaitu sistem yang sama diguna pakai oleh sebuah bank di Bangladesh, Grameen Bank, yang telah berjaya membantu golongan miskin di negara itu.

Dana permulaan untuk Program Pinjaman Mikrokredit ini akan menggunakan hasil kutipan hutang yang telah berjaya dikutip setakat ini dari syarikat Talam Corporation Berhad (Talam) yang berjumlah RM50 juta.

Sehubungan itu, sebuah Jawatankuasa Khas akan ditubuhkan bagi menentukan proses dan pendekatan program itu. Jawatankuasa Khas ini akan diketuai oleh Exco Hal Ehwal Islam, Adat-adat Melayu, Infrastruktur dan Kemudahan Asas negeri, Datuk Dr Hasan Mohamad Ali.

Beberapa pakar perbankan Islam tempatan dan antarabangsa akan dilantik dalam Jawatankuasa khas yang akan memberi khidmat nasihat dan bimbingan bagi memastikan program itu menepati matlamat penubuhannya.

Kerajaan Negeri memberi jaminan pemilihan bagi penerima pinjaman mikrokredit akan dibuat secara telus dan adil tanpa wujud unsur-unsur kronisme atau kepartian.

Kerajaan negeri yakin akan mengutip keseluruhan hutang Talam yang berjumlah sebanyak RM392 juta sepanjang tahun ini dan kutipan ini akan digunakan untuk program-program yang  selari dengan agenda Merakyatkan Ekonomi Selangor.

SEKRETARIAT AKHBAR

PEJABAT MENTERI BESAR SELANGOR

————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

PRESS STATEMENT

MARCH 8, 2010

SELANGOR SETS UP MICROCREDIT FINANCING PROGRAMME

The Selangor Government will set up a Islamic microcredit programme to help the poor and marginalized in Selangor improve their income.

The microcredit programme will be based on the concept of Qardhul Hassan – a similar concept that was adopted by Bangladeshi’s Grameen Bank founded by Professor Muhamad Yunus who was awarded the Nobel Peace  Prize for his efforts in helping thousands of poor people in Bangladesh.

The microcredit financing programme will be allocated an initial fund of RM50 million which was collected from Talam Corporation Berhad.

A taskforce will be set up to finalise the concept and approach of the programme before it is officially launched. The taskforce will be headed by Datuk Dr Hassan Mohamad Ali, the state executive councilor for Islamic affairs, Malay customs, Infrastructure and Public Utilities.

A few Islamic banking experts will be appointed to advise and guide the taskforce thus ensuring that the programme will meet the objectives of its establishment.

The state assured that the selection of the receipients of the microcredit programme will be done in a fair, transparent and free of cronyism and political affiliation.

The state is confident that it will be able to acquire the RM392 million debt from Talam within a year and the fund collected will be used for programmes which are inline with the state’s agenda of “Merakyatkan Ekonomi Selangor”.

PRESS SECRETARIAT

SELANGOR MENTERI BESAR’S OFFICE

[Via http://rozainimohdrosli.wordpress.com]

Managing Age Discrimination

It’s not at all unusual to see written or hear oral descriptions from job seekers giving their pitch for why they should be hired with phrases like, “…with over thirty years experience in…”, “…over two decades of dedicated service in…”, or “I am a Systems and Network Administrator with over 25+ years.”  Naturally, these references to long-term experience devoted to a particular career are meant to convey expertise, commitment, and reliability. There is also a strong dose of pride in being able to make the claim that one’s chosen career has been focused on building significant levels of knowledge and talent. The mature diligent career oriented worker deserves to feel esteemed for such an undertaking. Unfortunately, these claims of longevity can be job search killers for the older workforce cohort. There is plenty of anecdotal evidence that age discrimination does exist. And announcing that you are relatively old does place you at a disadvantage when it comes to career or job shifting later in life.

The stumbling block of age discrimination comes at a particularly inconvenient time. Part of the recessionary fall-out is that older workers are having to delay full-time retirement. And even without the down economy this generation of workers have come to believe that leveraging honed skills over many years would better position them for encore careers of their choice. For many, the choice is staying with what work you have or finding something else. Not surprisingly, many, including older workers, have been laid-off or have had their workloads increased to make up for those who were recently laid-off. The decision-making and negotiating power they thought they would have at this time of life is not there. 

Yes, there does exist the federal Age Discrimination Employment Act (ADEA) designed to protect workers aged 40+ from discrimination in hiring and other employment related situations in workplaces with at least twenty employees. Many states have laws covering discrimination in workplaces with fewer than twenty employees. Specifically, the ADEA:

• Prohibits job advertising from mentioning age.
• Prevents age limits from being set for training & development programs.
• Restricts retaliation against workers filing violation claims.
• Prohibits employers from forcing early retirements.

But is not too difficult for the company who wants to shun older workers from doing so. Job descriptions can be written in ways that are within the letter of the law, but which include items that make it difficult for the older worker to comply.

So, why does this age discrimination exist? In a way it seems counterintuitive to discriminate against the older worker. It’s not hard to identify advantages to having more mature employees. They tend to have a proven work ethic, aren’t as concerned about work/life balance such as younger workers are, and have deeper levels of wisdom and expertise. From the point of view of younger recruiters and hiring managers, however older workers conjure some unflattering images like:

• old school thinking and lacking innovation
• working at a slower pace
• more costly in salaries and benefits
• not having future long-term viability
• not as tech savvy

The list goes on. It’s enough to make the plus 50 workers’ blood boil. I can hear them saying, “We’ve earned the right to be hired! We’ve paid our dues!”

Nevertheless, if you’re older and looking for work you need to update the resume, write new cover letters, and refine the way in which you describe your value to hiring personnel. So face facts. You may have earned respect, but you haven’t earned that new position any more than any else has. You still have to make the case for why you are the best candidate. If you’re truly at the top of your game, then show it in your value proposition. Know what that company is looking for and convince them that you are their guy or gal. They are going to be looking for the greatest value at the lower cost. Present yourself with that in mind. Resting on past laurels won’t get you that new job. Attaining it will.

[Via http://ryancareerservice.wordpress.com]

What to watch

US February non-farm payrolls released at the end of last week put the finishing touches to a week that saw risk appetite continue to improve each day. There were no big surprises from the various central bank decisions including the RBA, BoE and ECB last week though Malaysia’s central bank did surprise by hiking 25bps.

Sentiment towards Greece has improved in the wake of the announcement of fresh austerity measures by the Greek government, which provoked a short covering EUR/USD rally from around 1.3435 lows though the EUR never really showed signs of embarking on the sort of rebound the massive short EUR speculative position had suggested.

US jobs report revealed that non-farm payrolls dropped by 36k and was all the more remarkable given the potentially very negative impact of severe weather distortions to the data. The data provides the setting for a firm start to the week in terms of risk appetite which will likely put the USD under a bit of pressure into the week.

This week’s events include central bank decisions in New Zealand and Switzerland. The RBNZ has already indicated that it sees no reason to raise interest rates in H1 and an unchanged decision will come as no surprise to the market. The NZD offers better potential for appreciation than the AUD in the short term and I suspect that a “risk on” tone at least early in the week will keep the Kiwi supported.

The SNB in Switzerland is also unlikely to offer any surprises in its rate decision with an unchanged outcome likely. It appears that the Bank has take a somewhat more relaxed tone to the strength of the CHF and any comments on the currency will be scrtunised for hints of intervention.

It probably isn’t much of a shock to expect Greece to remain in the spotlight this week as markets continue to deliberate whether Greece needs financial aid and if so, whether it will provided by EU countries such as Germany and/or France, at least in terms of some form of debt guarantee.

Further tensions within Greece, with more strikes in the pipeline will test the resolve of the government to carry through austerity measures while likely acting as a cap on any EUR upside over coming days.

Meanwhile, GBP/USD looks like it will find it tough going to gain much traction above 1.50 with political uncertainties in the form of a likely hung parliament as well as what looks like various efforts by the BoE officials to talk GBP down, likely to prevent an real recovery.

[Via http://econometer.org]

Obama Budget: CBO Ups Budget Deficit by 1.2 Trillion, Over Already unsusatibale Levels.

So tell me, how can you still think this isn’t on purpose, no one could be this big of a  dumbbell.

The CBO announced today that the US long term deficit picture is even worse than originally predicted.

From the AP:

A new congressional report released Friday says the United States’ long-term fiscal woes are even worse than predicted by President Barack Obama’s grim budget submission last month.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office predicts that Obama’s budget plans would generate deficits over the upcoming decade that would total $9.8 trillion. That’s $1.2 trillion more than predicted by the administration.

The agency says its future-year predictions of tax revenues are more pessimistic than the administration’s. That’s because CBO projects slightly slower economic growth than the White House.

The CBO predicted that the federal deficit would hit $1.5 trillion in 2010 under President Barack Obama’s proposals. This tops last year’s record deficit and is more than three times the deficit during George W. Bush’s last year in office.

[Via http://tarpon.wordpress.com]

"Health Care Reform is not a Political Lose-Lose for President and Democrats."

Mr. David Brody, White House Correspondent of CBN News, stated at Huffington Post that “health care reform is a political lose-lose for President Obama and Democrats.”

He said:

“politically, this health care reform issue could end up as a lose-lose situation for President and administration… If health care reform does not pass it’ll look like the Democratic Party and this administration can’t get their act together. If they pass health care reform, we’re really not going to see any sort of tangible result for years, leaving no quantitative way for the Democrats to measure its potential for success in 2010 or even 2012….this administration has already been saddled with the narrative (fair or unfair) that they want to shove big government programs down the throats of Americans.”

I do not agree to Mr. Brody’s statement.

I believe, President’s biggest problem of not passing health care reform will be gainning public’s perception of his failure of not delivering his reform promise. This will rule over anything else. Passing health care reform will become his historical political achievement, even with weak one, after many ex-presidents failed. Not working economy, failed reforms, and continuously malfunctioning social system will be core issues and bite President/administration most, not the ideological debate of big government. If everything goes fine, people will forget about “What Big Government?.” Public seem to change their mind all the time.

[Via http://mikyunglim.wordpress.com]

Weekly Jobless Data Prelude to Confusing Unemployment Report

The weekly jobless claims from the U.S. Labor Department showed a decline from the week before.  The weekly claims fell by a 29,000 adjusted figure to 469,000 claims after last week’s figure was moved up to 498,000 versus a prior 496,000.  The 4-week average also fell 3,500 to 470,750.

The big change here is in the army of unemployed measured by the continuing claims.  The figure dropped by 134,000 to 4,500,000 from a revised 4,634,000 a week ago.  This figure is still high yet appears to be a year low.

Weather is playing an issue in these figures.  Some government offices in the Northeast have been closed or were on shorter hours as a result of major snow storms.  Despite Larry Summers trying to prep us for a weak jobs figure on tomorrow’s unemployment report, there is no clear barometer or major change seen from any of this week’s labor data.

JON C. OGG

[Via http://247wallst.com]

Credit Card Companies scramble to invent new ways to screw you over.

Credit Card Companies scramble to invent new ways to screw you over. From CofCC.org Staff

Just because new legislation went into effect last month to clamp down on credit cards, don’t expect your problems to be over.

Let me give you an example. I have an HSBC credit card. HSBC advertises that you can pay your bill online. Last month my bill was due on the 4th and didn’t open the bill until the fourth. So I rushed to computer and paid online. When my next bill arrived I had $39 late bill.

After navigating through a HSBC call center that sounded like Indians, I was told by a very nasty American supervisor that you must pay your bill online four days in advance. Of course no where are you told this on the actual bill. You have to physically hunt for this information on their website.

While fighting with the HSBC call center I did read some shocking things in the tiny print on the back of the bill. HSBC has an entire laundry list of reasons they can deem an on time payment as late and charge you a $39 fee.

If any of the following are true, HSBC says they must receive your payment five days before the due date or you can be charged a late fee.

1. You use a different envelope
2. There is a staple or paper clip on the payment coupon
3. The actual payment coupon is not used
4. The envelope contains two checks instead of one
5. The payment coupon is folded.

That’s right. Stated on the back of your HSBC bill is tiny print that says you can be charged a $39 late fee if your payment coupon is folded in half and not received five days in advance! Talk about being screwed!

By the way. Business Week states that HSBC (which is not even an American company!) received $3.5 BILLION in the taxpayer funded AIG bailout.

http://cofcc.org/

[Via http://whitelocust.wordpress.com]

IBM 2010 Global CFO Study: Sixty Percent of Finance Organizations Plan Significant Changes to Adapt to New Economic Demands

Decision-Making Role of CFOs in the Boardroom More Important Than Ever; Point to Large Gap in Effectiveness. “Never before has the importance of strong Finance capabilities been highlighted more than during the recent global economic downturn.”

IBM’s massive study of over 1,900 Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) and senior finance executives from 81 countries and 35 industries worldwide revealed that more than 60 percent of CFOs plan major changes to respond to the new economic climate.

CFOs and senior finance executives believe the already intense pressure on three fronts — reducing the enterprise cost base, making faster, more accurate decisions and providing more transparency to external stakeholders — will increase dramatically over the next three years.

The IBM study is the largest sample of CFO sentiment during the worst economic downturn in decades. As part of the impetus for change, Study participants ranked “providing inputs into enterprise strategy” number one when asked what was most important. Surprisingly, cost reduction was not at the top of the CFO agenda. However, they also revealed a major gap in organizational effectiveness, as only 50 percent feel their Finance organizations are currently effective in providing the necessary business insight to support these broader enterprise priorities.

One group of CFOs, dubbed “Value Integrators,” were found to consistently outperform their peers in all key financial metrics by driving two key qualities across their organization:

Finance efficiency – The degree of common process and data standards across the organization

Business insight – The maturity level of Finance talent, technology and analytical capabilities dedicated to providing business optimization, planning and strategic insights.

I think these issues are extremely important to Indian CFOs since they are not operating in a vacuum, and are increasingly interdependent on each other.

[Via http://supercfo.wordpress.com]

WEEKLY COMMENTARY 1st - 05th March

Series of economic data amid Indian Union Budget resulted in erratic price movements in commodities throughout the week. Market participants indulged actively themselves in the market. Bullions cut some of their losses in the later part of the week on short covering. Expiry of February contract of base metals also made them very volatile. Most of them surrendered their previous gain on poor outcome of economic data. Strong dollar together with the most recent signs that the U.S. economy is still struggling to recover, led bearishness in all base metals. On the date of expiry, lead closed down and the gap between lead and zinc  narrowed down to 90 paisa. Similar to base metals, even energy complex drifted lower on negative economic releases in the middle of strong dollar. A stronger dollar makes oil and other commodities less affordable for holders of other currencies. On MCX, it touched the 3722 and moved down towards the level of 3600 on profit booking. Rising number of rigs coupled with rising mercury in Midwest cooled down natural gas prices further. On Friday, commodities recovered marginally on improved US GDP. Bears were seen active in agro-commodities last week as most of the future contracts on NCDEX settled in red zone on weekly basis. Guar pack settled in red territory as weak domestic and export demand hammered maize prices on future bourses. In oil seeds section, soyabean also ended the week with negative impression as the Indian market moved in line with weak overseas market. Continuation of subdued demand for soy meal from South East Asian countries and ample stocks of edible oil kept prices under check during the week. Mustard seed futures traded range bound. Lack of demand and improvement in weather condition had a bearish impact on market in the week gone by. In spices pack except turmeric futures all other futures settled in red zone. Pepper and jeera futures maintained their downtrend during the week taking cues from the higher fresh arrivals to the physical market. However turmeric futures ended the week on positive note supported by good export demand. Maize also traded in negative zone due to fresh crop arrivals and higher output estimates. According to latest government estimates the total output of current rabi season will be at 5.64 million tonnes over 5.61 million tonnes last year.

[Via http://smcinvestment.wordpress.com]

Soros Speculates Against the Euro/SOROS ESPECULA CONTRA L'EURO

Soros Speculates Against the Euro Ask not for whom the bell tolls: Greece is tiny compared to bankrupt California. Below: It was easy to speculate against the fixed pound, but Soros now stands to lose his amassed fortune undermining the euro by means fair and foul from his shaky base in the flawed dollar. Soros and his Wall Street gang have been revealed to be behind the falsification of budget deficits in Greece and Italy, by selling forward public debt, that allowed these countries to join the euro. Now Soros is speculating on the fall of the euro by betting against Greece. Soros, who made $1 billion speculating against the pound in 1992, believes the structure of the euro is patently flawed. In fact he is behind the flaw by cooking the books of weak economies, but more than making another billion he stands to lose his shirt. The dollar is in a much shakier position than the euro, despite speculating China would lose its trillion dollar holdings if it lets the dollar fall (Search Euro or Dollar Suicide Watch?).

George Soros is placing large bear bets against the euro. A secretive group of Wall Street hedge funds are behind a plot to cash in on the decline of the euro. At an ideas dinner in Manhattan, the speculators argued that the euro is likely to plunge to parity with the dollar. The euro has been under enormous pressure because of Greece’s debt crisis, plus financial worries in Portugal, Italy, Spain and Ireland. But, it has also struggled because these hedge funds have been placing huge bets on the currency’s decline, which could make the speculators billions. Soros warned that the euro could fall apart even if the European Union agrees to support stricken Greece. Hitting back Greek PM George Papandreou blames speculators for preying on the country’s troubles. He believes that unless the European Commission is given sweeping powers over taxation and spending, the euro will always be vulnerable to financial turbulence in individual states. Greece is desperate to restore the confidence of investors in its debt after revealing that it understated its budget deficit by half: “There is only one dilemma: Will we let the country go bankrupt or will we react? Will we let the speculators strangle us, or will we take our fate in our own hands?” Angela Merkel admitted that Greece’s debt crisis has plunged the euro into a difficult situation, warning that the euro faces a dangerous period.

(“Man who broke the Bank of England, George Soros, at centre of hedge funds plot to cash in on fall of the euro,” by Karl West, Daily Mail, 27 February 2010)

Soros especula contra l’euro

Li va ser fàcil especular contra la lliura fixa, però Soros arrisca ara perdre la seva fortuna acumulada soscavant l’euro a les bones o les dolentes des de la seva base inestable en un dòlar a l’UVI. Primera foto: No preguntis per qui repiquen les campanes: Grècia és minúscula comparada amb la Califòrnia en bancarrota. Soros i la seva banda de Wall Street han estat exposats com les mans negres darrere la falsificació dels dèficits fiscals de Grècia i Itàlia, venent al futur deute públic per permetre aquests paisos integrar-se a l’euro. Ara Soros especula que l’euro caigui apostant contra Grècia. Soros, que va guanyar mil milions de dòlars especulant contra la lliura el 1992, creu que l’estructura de l’euro és defectuosa d’entrada. En realitat ell és el responsable del defecte a base de falsificar els comptes d’economies dèbils, però més que guanyar altre mil milions podria ara perdre la camisa. El dòlar es troba en una situació més insegura que l’euro, malgrat especular que Xina perdria el seu bilió en valors en dòlars si permet que el dòlar caigui (Veure search Euro o dòlar en estat de suicidi?).

George Soros està apostant massivament a la baixa contra l’euro. Un grup secret de fons d’inversió lliure està al darrere d’una conspiració per enriquir-se amb el descens de l’euro. En una sopar d’intercanvi d’idees a Manhattan, els especuladors argumentaren que l’euro segurament caurà a la paritat amb el dòlar. L’euro ha estat sotmés a una enorme pressió degut a a la crisi del deute grec, més els dubtes financers sobre Portugal, Itàlia, Espanya i Irlanda. Però també ha patit perqué els fons de lliure inversió han realitzat enormes apostes sobre la caiguda de la divisa, que reportaria bilions als especuladors. Soros avisa que l’euro podria petar encara que la Unió Europea acordi sostenir la malferida Grècia. Contratacant el primer ministre grec Georgios Papandreou acusa els especuladors de fer d’incendiaris amb els problemes del país. Creu que si la Comissió Europea no prén poders amples sobre impostos i despesa, l’euro sempre restarà vulnerable a turbulències financeres en paisos concrets. Grècia lluita desesperada per restablir la confiança dels inversors en el seu deute després d’haver admès que va amagar la meitat del seu dèficiti pressupostari: “Queda una sola pregunta: permetrem que el país es declari en bancarrota o reaccionarem? Permetrem que els especuladors ens ofeguin o ens fem amos del nostre propi destí?” Angela Merkel ha admès que la crisi del deute grec ha dut l’euro a una situació difícil i avisa que que l’euro encara viurà moments perillosos.

(“Man who broke the Bank of England, George Soros, at centre of hedge funds plot to cash in on fall of the euro,” by Karl West, Daily Mail, 27 February 2010)

[Via http://larepublicacatalana.wordpress.com]

TGR-RE: February 26, 2010

This week’s broadcast includes:

Millions of unemployed face years without jobs

Top firms cause $2.2 trillion of environmental damage

Unions blast $15 billion jobs legislation as ‘puny’

A new kind of leaf blower

Kucinich challenges Gates on civilians killed in Afghanistan

Gates calls European mood ‘danger to peace’

US media replays Iraq fiasco on Iran

Iraqi parliamentarian denies US charges of terrorism

Poland admits role in CIA rendition program

Afghan wounded tell of more left behind in Marjah

Darfur signs cease fire as violence in south claims 28 lives

Groups demand Turkey do more to protect transgender people

Rachel Corrie’s family bring civil suit over human shield’s death in Gaza

UN says US aid restrictions on Somalia are hurting millions of hungry Somalis

Escalating Falklands oil dispute goes to UN

Dutch cabinet collapses in dispute over Afghanistan

[Via http://theglobalreportradioedition.wordpress.com]

Summary Box: Live Nation 4Q losses shrink

LOSSES SHRINK: Higher ticket fees and the lack of large impairment charges helped fourth-quarter losses shrink at Live Nation Entertainment Inc. Live Nation’s operating losses fell to $64 million from $323 million, while merger partner Ticketmaster turned a $35 million operating profit, reversing a $1.07 billion loss.

REGULATORY HEADWINDS: Merger conditions costing $20 million this year will mean adjusted operating profits will be flat to down in 2010 personal humidifier.

FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES: The combined concert company hopes to benefit from paperless ticketing, dynamic pricing where consumers can pick the seat they want, and selling music and merchandise with tickets.

Summary Box: Live Nation 4Q losses shrink

Hot News:

[Via http://djonbri.wordpress.com]

Ronald Reagan Speaks Out Against Socialized Medicine

I could have easily titled this: “Ronald Reagan Speaks Out Against Obama’s Healthcare Reform.”

Friends, listen.  Listen closely.

When will President Obama and his fellow Democrats realize that no means no?  The American people oppose, by a 2/3 margin, the healthcare legislation Obama is trying to ram down our throats.  Yet, he isn’t giving up.  Consider that.

A government by the People, for the People?

[Via http://oddnotunusual.wordpress.com]

NAR General Counsel Laurie Janik Top 10 Legal Issues for 2010

Wednesday, February 24, 2010 by Les Sulgrove

I want to start this blog with a disclaimer.  The photograph of Laurie is one that I took.  It belongs to me.  I have the original image data from my digital camera recorded and any re-use of this image without my expressed written permission is prohibited.  Yes it’s a lousy photo, but I did not want to run the risk of surfing the Internet for a better picture of Laurie for fear of litigation!

The blog material below was taken from personal video and notes taken during a speech given by Ms. Janik to the Iowa Association of REALTORS annual Legislative luncheon.

Thank you for taking time to come to speak to the Iowa Association of REALTORS, Laurie.  (All comments above were intended as humor Laurie.. really!)

Top 10 Legal Issues for REALTORS in 2010

1. RESPA. Receiving increased attention by HUD and the Plaintiff’s Bar.  Two hot topics investigated now are Transaction Fees/Administrative Fees.  8th Circuit has established that this practice is lawful.  2nd area being litigated is the Home Building Industry where Builders are offering to pay buyers costs if the buyer uses a builder affiliated mortgage company.  Remember that it’s illegal for REALTORS to accept anything of value or pay anything of value in exchange for a “naked” referral.  Meal in a restaurant, green fees, tickets to an event are not allowed.
2. Misrepresentation in the sale of a property. Failure to disclose material facts.  Most common plaintiff is a buyer of a home.  Best defense is use of a property condition disclosure form.  Must be filled out BY the seller, not the agent.  You want it to be what the seller has to say about the property.  Agent has a duty to disclose knowledge of falsities made by sellers on forms and will be held liable.  Disclose and give buyers the opportunity to complete their own independent inspections.
3. Agency.  NAR statistic: 23% of buyers recall being talked to about Agency at the beginning of the home buying process.  Litigation is increasing regarding agents putting their interests ahead of the client.  You can NEVER put your interests ahead of your client.  It’s very expensive to breach your fiduciary duties.  Make your disclosures more memorable.
4. Fair Housing.  The law is over 40 years old and we are still seeing discrimination in the housing market.  Disability is 43% of claims.  37% on Race.  13% on Familial Status.  Seeing complaints against agents based on remarks in listings on MLS.  “Cottage suitable for Singles”  “Single Professional Preferred”.  Advice: ALWAYS describe Property, NOT the prospective occupant.
5. Unauthorized Practice of Law.  Seeing increased complaints against real estate agents alleging that agents are engaging in the unauthorized practice of law stemming from your conduct in guiding and assisting home sellers who are facing foreclosure.  And you engaging in negotiations or advising these home sellers who are facing foreclosure on the strategy for their negotiations with their lenders.  Keep in mind you are licensed to broker property, to market the property, to bring buyers and sellers together.  You should not be attempting to represent the legal interests of these home sellers in their negotiations with their lenders.  You shouldn’t be advising them of their legal rights during their negotiations with their lenders.  Be cautious, this is an emerging issue.
6. Anti Trust.  FTC and USDOJ have taken a keen interest in the real estate industry.  Watching that “Traditional Brokers” are not doing anything to impede the ability of new innovative brokers from coming into a market.  Don’t discuss commission rates, etc.  Be prepared to explain your fees and tell consumers what services you provide for the services you provide them.
7. Social Media.  When on the Internet the Code of Ethics and Laws of the Land DO apply.  You have to be responsible for what you post.  Do not steal others copyright… text, photos, statistics, etc.  Be careful of what you post in comments.  If you have a Blog and/or Website, check with your E&O carrier to see if they cover claims that arise from Blogs & Websites.  New Rules propagated by the FTC:  Testimonials on Blogs must disclose if you have been paid to disclose.  This is a whole new area for us to get into trouble so proceed with caution.
8. Independent Contractor Status.  The Federal and State governments are beginning to take a closer look at Independent contractors as potential sources of taxes.  Obama administration is searching for Misclassified Workers looking to crackdown and yield at least 7 Billion dollars over the next 10 years.  Appraisal firms are now being audited for this issue.
9. Private Transfer Fees.  Not a transfer tax, but rather a private fee that goes to someone (a developer for example) that is filed and runs with the land that says every time this land gets sold, a fee gets paid.  So every subsequent sale of the property generates this fee.  These fees can be up to 1% in some cases.  Four states have banned this practice.  Florida, Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri.  NAR is firmly on record as opposed to this practice.
10. Mortgage Interest Deductibility.  The Obama Administration is proposing taking away the Mortgage Interest deduction for the top 33% & 35% of tax bracket.  NAR is opposing this and working to get this out of the budget proposals.  The housing market can not take any more bad news at this time.

From a speech given by Laurie Janik, NAR Legal Counsel on February 23rd, 2010 in Des Moines Iowa.

[Via http://roadlestravels.com]

Obama's Riddle Song

New Health Care Plan was unveiled by the White House.

It occurred to me that I have heard this song before.  Over the last 18 months or so, the true believers of Obama’s powers to transform have helped to create a narrative that doomed this President with respect to meeting expectations.

Obama promised many things and helped to paint vivid imagery of how he would be a “transformative” (new word) force in politics like Ronald Reagan.  It was a nice pander to independents and Republicans, but totally devoid of historical fact.

Here is the rambling quote – from comments to the Reno Gazette Journal Editorial Board:

I don’t want to present myself as some sort of singular figure. I think part of what’s different are the times. I do think that, for example, the 1980 election was different. I think Ronald Reagan changed the trajectory of America in a way that you know Richard Nixon did not, and in a way that Bill Clinton did not. He put us on a fundamentally different path because the country was ready for it. I think they felt like, you know, with all the excesses of the 60’s and the 70’s and, you know, government had grown and grown but there wasn’t much sense of accountability in terms of how it was operating. And I think people just tapped into – he tapped into what people were already feeling, which is we want clarity, we want optimism, we want you know a return to that sense of dynamism and you know, entrepreneurship that had been missing, alright?

His message of hope and change and a host of empty promises followed right up through and even after his inauguration.

Obama has been singing the first verse of the Riddle Song to us the whole time.  The public just interrupted him and smashed his guitar against the wall.

Obama promised us a cherry, that has no stone. (Stimulus would reduce unemployment and save the economy from recession)

Obama promised us a chicken, that has no bone. (Health care “reform” that has no reform – just a “progressive” wet dream)

Obama told us all a story, that has no end. (Transparent government? Close Gitmo?  End war? Talk is cheap – so far, there isn’t much doing)

SMASH!!!!!! Election losses overwhelm push polls that were artificially keeping his numbers up.

Sorry.

The original lyrics are here

[Via http://atimetochoose.wordpress.com]