Economy

Americans have lost faith in pretty much everything - Gallup Poll - Market Watch

Market Watch - June 14, 2016
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/americans-have-lost-faith-in-pretty-much-everything-2016-06-14?mod=MW_story_recommended_d...
...with link to Gallup Poll
http://www.gallup.com/poll/192581/americans-confidence-institutions-stays-low.aspx?g_source=Politics&g_medium=newsfeed&g_c...

EXCERPTS
...As Gallup’s Jim Norman explains: “Americans clearly lack confidence in the institutions that affect their daily lives: the schools responsible for educating the nation’s children; the houses of worship that are expected to provide spiritual guidance; the banks that are supposed to protect Americans’ earnings; the U.S. Congress elected to represent the nation’s interests; and the news media that claims it exists to keep them informed.”...
...
...Congress actually earned the “ignominious” distinction of being the only institution sparking little or no confidence in a majority of Americans in the poll....

Cuomo assesses damage of WTC site The vehicle security center's underground ramps literally funneled storm surge into the floode

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20121030/REAL_ESTATE/121039991

Cuomo assesses damage of WTC site
The vehicle security center's underground ramps literally funneled storm surge into the flooded construction pit.

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By Daniel Geiger @dangeiger79
October 30, 2012 2:44 p.m.
inShare

Updated: October 30, 2012 3:50 p.m.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday said the World Trade Center site had suffered extensive flooding as a result of Superstorm Sandy.
"What I saw last night in downtown Manhattan were some of the worst conditions I had ever seen," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said during a press conference on Tuesday morning, providing the first official description of the impact of the storm at the WTC site. "The Hudson River was literally pouring into the Ground Zero site with such a force we were worried about the structure of the pit itself."
Patrick Foye, the executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the bi-state agency's top New York official, said he doubted the storm surge had caused any structural damage at WTC site but that equipment and electrical systems being installed may have been damaged by the flood waters.
"There was a substantial incursion of water," Mr. Foye said. "I think it's fair to say that salt water and modern electrical equipment don't mix well. We don't expect structural damage but damage to equipment. That assessment is underway and is a high priority."
Mr. Foye said that West, Washington and Cedar streets, roadways that surround the WTC site, were all flooded during the storm. The storm surge swept into the WTC site, a construction pit largely open to the elements, primarily through the Vehicle Security Center on the southern end of the project. The security center will have ramps to allow traffic to pass underground via subterranean roads and parking areas. It appears those ramps served as a chute for the storm's oncoming water.
The WTC site is especially vulnerable to flooding because its located in low lying neighborhoods. Metropolitan Transportation Authority CEO Joseph Lhota said in a press conference Tuesday morning that the nearby South Street station at the southern tip of Manhattan had been completely flooded during the storm.

"THE 9/11 DECADE" by David Chapman

THE 9/11 DECADE
by David Chapman 9/23/2011
http://www.bmgbullion.com/document/988
pdf - http://www.bmgbullion.com/doc_bin/9.23.11_TechnicalScoop_9_11Decade.pdf

"...One could go back further and find further evidence of financial collapses... ...What does appear to be consistent is that war, speculation, debt and financial chicanery (usually present in all periods of speculation) resulted in sovereign, banking and individual debt collapses...This time has been no different..."
"...But the process takes years and the 9/11 decade was probably only the beginning. This coming decade may be even more stressful as bankruptcy and war continue to dominate the headlines. History seems to suggest that the long-term down cycles are in full force and the worst may be yet to come.... -- David Chapman

When the airplanes struck the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 (aka 9/11) the stock market had already been falling for over 18 months. The high tech/internet bubble of the 1990s had topped first with the Dow Jones Industrials (DJI) on January 14, 2000 followed by the NASDAQ on March 10 and the S&P 500 on March 24. By the close of September 10, 2001 the DJI was down 18 per cent, the NASDAQ had fallen an incredible 66 per cent and the S&P 500 was off 28 per cent from the highs of 2000. The markets re-opened on September 17, 2001 and after four more days of losses, the markets found a temporary rest on September 21. By that time the DJI was down 30 per cent, the S&P 500 was off 37 per cent and the NASDAQ 72 per cent from the highs of 2000. Fear gripped the markets just as it gripped the world on 9/11.

9/11 and the Economy: Counting the $5 Trillion in Costs to America

 

Al Jazeera provided an interactive breakdown on how much 9/11 has cost  to the American economy in 10 years.

I have outlined it below in short; further down is the longer version with explanation details for each main and sub-category. It is stated that many of these categories are conservative calculations and that many categories are certain to rise in cost.

Note: $5 trillion dollars is equal to 5 million millions.

Environmentalist Osama Bin Laden Demands Green Economy

http://wearechangenewjersey.com/?p=324

Glenn Zarmanov
10/01/10
WeAreChangeNewJersey.COM

The internet is abuzz with rumors of a new terror attack to be launched by alleged 9/11 mastermind Osama Bin Laden and his latest unconfirmed audio warning that America must be punished for climate change and its economic practices.

http://green.yahoo.com/news/afp/20101001/wl_afp/qaedabinladenpakistanclimateislam.html
Bin Laden concerned by climate, Pakistan floods: audiotape
By Wissam Keyrouz
Fri Oct 1, 2010

The tape would be the first time Bin Laden has spoken publicly since March 25.

Bin Laden's whereabouts are unknown, but in August, the US commander in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, said bin Laden is "far buried" in the remote mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan and that capturing him remains a key task.

How economic depression leads to fascism: history to Austria, warning to America

hyperlinks and video live at source: http://www.examiner.com/x-18425-LA-County-Nonpartisan-Examiner~y2010m1d21-How-economic-depression-leads-to-fascism-history...

Kitty Werthmann was born in Austria in 1925; her family experienced the depression-era economy and her nation’s desperate embrace of Nazi fascism. Today, she tells her story to all who will listen. Her audio testimony is transcribed below.

As a teacher of US Government classes with an Ed.M from Harvard, I can tell you that the defining US policies are now fascist and not those of a constitutional republic. This conclusion from understanding basic definitions of political theory requires only a high school-level understanding, the time to examine the objective facts of US policies, and the intellectual integrity and moral courage to tell the truth.

Therefore, the topic of this article is not US descent into fascism, but rather a warning about consolidation of fascist power as a "solution" presented to desperate Americans facing economic depression caused by the fascists themselves.

US Government sues banksters: Fraud on student loans. Vampire banks feed on near-children

hyperlinks and video live at source: http://www.examiner.com/x-18425-LA-County-Nonpartisan-Examiner~y2009m11d28-US-Government-sues-banksters-for-fraud-on-stude...

Banksters took a hit through disclosure of court documents of US lawsuit for $280 million for fraud to college students through student loan disinformation. JP Morgan, Citigroup and Nelnet are the defendants in the lawsuit.

Banksters have sucked trillions through direct transfer of American taxpayer money to their pockets. This suit is heartening and I hope shows true law enforcement for the public good. However, the larger context is that our political “leaders” of both parties facilitate ongoing fraud as the banksters’ pimps while heartlessly ignoring Americans’ unemployment and poverty and reneging on their promise of funding the end of poverty with only 0.7% of GNI.

Congress and Mr. Obama stand aside and allow a million children to die every month from preventable poverty. As you should know, ending poverty in every historical case reduces population growth rates, decreases environmental pressure from desperate people, and reduces terrorism.

Washington's Blog: Instead of creating jobs for American, Obama spends in Afghanistan, Iraq

abundant hyperlinks live at source: http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-25059-Nonpartisan-Examiner~y2009m11d27-Washingtons-Blog-Instead-of-creating-jobs-for-Am...

Washington’s Blog is one of my favorite sources for revealing facts and analysis in economics and policy. The recent post, Instead of fixing the US Economy or creating jobs for AMERICANS, Obama will spend the money in Afghanistan and Iraq, is so comprehensively brilliant in putting together the documentation that our wars are fraudulent and damaging to our economy, I’m reprinting it for you.

Needless to say, I recommend following Washington’s Blog for such insightful writing! Without further ado:

America is in the most severe unemployment crisis since - and perhaps including - the Great Depression.

And yet Obama, like Bush, has done virtually nothing to create more jobs. Instead, they both gave trillions to the biggest banks (who are not loaning it out to the little guy) and for waging wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Obama is apparently escalating - not ending - the wars. And its not cheap.

Maximizing employment: the ONLY policy proposal for full success

hyperlinks and video live at source: http://www.examiner.com/x-18425-LA-County-Nonpartisan-Examiner~y2009m9d7-Achieving-full-employment-the-ONLY-policy-that-ca...

Today is Labor Day, a holiday celebrating workers' organized efforts to achieve living wages, safe and dignified working conditions, and benefits (economists translate this into wages). I want to consider a more fundamental goal: achieving employment in order to have the above.

One of the key statistics to determine how well government policy is supportive of labor is unemployment. A government role in employment may be distasteful for some of you, but give me a moment to explain government's rightful role in supporting full employment. The failure of unemployment often translate into even more distasteful social costs: loss of potential economic productivity, crime, public health costs, and the immeasurable feeling you get seeing beggars in arguably the most successful economic environment in world history.

Major news suppression: ALL government cost studies show sheltering the homeless is most cost-effective

hyperlinks and video live at source: http://www.examiner.com/x-18425-LA-County-Nonpartisan-Examiner~y2009m9d3-All-government-cost-studies-sheltering-the-homele...

The US Interagency Council on Homelessness has found that all cost-benefit analyses show that paying for the homeless to have minimal housing, food, health care, and job counseling costs less than public costs of their street life. The greatest savings come from decreased emergency room visits, police calls, and court time. What isn't counted, and significant, is the increase of business in areas where the homeless are vagrants. In addition, these studies show most of these participants find jobs and leave these programs.

As always, please share this with all who say they want to be responsible citizens.

Philip Mangano, former Director of the US Interagency Council on Homelessness, provides an overview of the US and local government's experience of the costs and benefits:

SHIP OF STATE OR SHIP OF FOOLS

SHIP OF STATE OR SHIP OF FOOLS

The Money Party at Work

We keep doing the same things over and over again and expect different results.

Michael Collins

The Economy Will Not Recover Until The Perpetrators Of Our Crises Are Held Accountable

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2009/05/economy-will-not-recover-until.html

One of the leading business schools in America - the Wharton School of Business - has written an essay on the psychological causes and solutions to the economic crisis. Wharton points out that restoring trust is the key to recovery, and that trust cannot be restored until wrongdoers are held accountable:

How To Solve the Economic Crisis

9/11 is mentioned at the end.

http://georgewashington2.blogspot.com/2009/02/most-dangerous-words-theres-nothing-we.html

The Economics of Trust

A 2005 letter in premier scientific journal Nature reviews the research on trust and economics:

Trust ... plays a key role in economic exchange and politics. In the absence of trust among trading partners, market transactions break down. In the absence of trust in a country's institutions and leaders, political legitimacy breaks down. Much recent evidence indicates that trust contributes to economic, political and social success.

Forbes wrote an article in 2006 entitled "The Economics of Trust". The article summarizes the importance of trust in creating a healthy economy:

The Madoff Scandal and Post-World War II America

http://georgewashington2.blogspot.com/2008/12/madoff-scandal-and-post-world-war-ii.html

This is the third of 3 essays on trust and the economy (the first two are here and here).

An article in Business Week says this of the Madoff scandal:

How To Restore Trust So As to Revive the Economy

http://georgewashington2.blogspot.com/2008/12/how-to-restore-trust-so-as-to-revive.html

In addition to the technical factors which have brought on the financial crisis - the huge speculative bubble and leverage, derivatives, fractional reserve banking, spending beyond our means, etc. - there is another major factor.

As market psychologists Richard L. Peterson M.D. and Frank Murtha, Ph.D. wrote in October:

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