September 2008

65 mpg from Ford- Not for US

Americans don't do diesel, or so we've been told. At the same time that hybrids have become the darling here in the United States, cars with even more impressive fuel efficiency and no need for battery packs are being produced by the big three in the UK and elsewhere in Europe.

The new diesel version of the Ford Fiesta being sold in the UK gets 65 mpg. But it's not for us.

Yet while half of all cars sold in Europe last year ran on diesel, the U.S. market remains relatively unfriendly to the fuel. Taxes aimed at commercial trucks mean diesel costs anywhere from 40 cents to $1 more per gallon than gasoline. Add to this the success of the Toyota Prius, and you can see why only 3% of cars in the U.S. use diesel. "Americans see hybrids as the darling," says Global Insight auto analyst Philip Gott, "and diesel as old-tech."

They Dare to Question Orthodoxy - We Need Corporations to Act in Our Best Interests

cheerleader
They dare to question orthodoxy in this day and age of multinational corporations dominating every single action that our government takes.

 

YES!!!!!

 

Three cheers!

 

In an exceptional article on the Huffington Post (links to article) by Margaret Blair and Ralph Gomory, they start with this declaration nailed to the Church door:

The Fannie/Freddie "Conservatorship": Sometimes abject despair is appropriate

I've been asked what my thoughts are about the Fannie and Freddie bailout leaked by the Treasury to the NYTimes and the Washington Post late Friday afternoon.
Since the actual details haven't been released, and you can click over to Tanta and Barry Ritholtz as easily as I can, I suggest you go there for the best exposition so far of the proposed details. In fact, Ritholtz' "The Big Picture" has a pretty good multi-point presentation, which forms the basis for my comments below.
This story is MAJOR, in multiple ways, and almost none of it good, particularly for the long-term. Some points below.

It must be nice to be in a rich Republican family

On Friday we saw some pretty awful economic news. Unemployment spiked to over 6%, and the word is out that the taxpayers will be bailing out the massive mortgage giants of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

With news like that it would be pretty easy to miss a much smaller item with huge political implications for the presidential race.
The news I speak of is that regulators have seized Silver State Bank.

"When the casinos treat you poorly, let Silver State treat you like a valued customer."
- the Silver State Bank motto (I kid you not)

Friday Movie Night - It's all about the Money

hot buttered popcorn

It's Friday Night! Party Time!

Time to relax, put your feet up on the couch, lay back, and watch some detailed videos on economic policy!

This weeks video clip theme is Corruption and Conventions, brought to you by Corporate Lobbyists (and now a word from our sponsors):

ABC News aptly called this spectacle Lobbyists Gone Wild:

Do You Want Professionals in Technically Related, Scientific and Engineering Careers to Form a Union?

Taxonomy upgrade extras: 

NEWSFLASH: Unemployment hits above 6%!!!

Today the latest figures of unemployment were released, and folks things are continuing to not look good.

Payrolls across the economy has dropped this month...again! Officially, the unemployment rate now stands at 6.1%. Consensus was the rate would be within 5.6-5.8%, north of the previous month's 5.5%. What we got was far above that.

The nitty gritty part is that we lost another 84,000 jobs for August. I say another, because the previous month the US economy jettisoned 51,000 jobs in July and 100,000 jobs in June. From manufacturing to the services sector, saw major losses. I don't have the exact figure before my, but CNN is right now saying that for the year we have lost 600,000 jobs! That, my friend is the Bush-McCain/Palin economy for you!

unemployment rate, manufacturing

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