Welcome to the weekly roundup of great articles, facts and figures. These are the weekly finds that made our eyes pop.
Whole Foods - Made in China
Spending $8 bucks a pound for organic grapes? Think again. This video report shows Grocery chain Whole Foods so called organic foods are actually imported from China. Check out what happens with organic inspection and certification when food is imported.
$13 million, 13 debates which said ...oops....I can't remember what was said, media black outs on some candidates, talking pundits ad nauseum and 6 months later, the Iowa caucuses are finally over. Thank God! 122,255 people decided who to pick in the Republican Iowa caucuses. That's about one hundred dollars per vote. The millions in spending bought actually a guy who had the least amount of money.
The world is running out of money. If money is credit, and credit relies on confidence, there is not enough confidence in the financial system to supply the world with the money it needs. Since the initial credit crisis struck in 2008, credit and money have been withdrawn from the system in such staggering amounts that international trade can no longer grow. The world’s central banks are playing a rear guard action by acting as lender of last resort to banks that no longer trust each other and have stopped lending in the interbank market. As liquidity flows out from the system, the rottenness that has corrupted the foundations of global finance is now exposed for all to see.
This was especially evident in the bankruptcy of MF Global, when the unthinkable happened – innocent bystanders on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange were stuck with over $1.0 billion in losses that should otherwise have been allocated to MF Global’s lenders. For over 100 years the futures exchanges have bragged that no customer on an exchange has lost money due to a broker-dealer’s default. No longer. This is how confidence is lost in the financial system – investors are surprised by large losses from institutions or products thought to be impregnable.
It's Friday Night! Well, actually it's not, but this documentary was just released. In keeping with our series on economic documentaries let's just pretend it is Friday. So, Party Time! Time to relax, put your feet up on the couch, lay back, and watch some detailed videos on economic policy!
A new year, a new day and a flurry of economic and financial predictions. Who are we to buck the trend? Yet, buck the trend we shall. While many news articles claim jobs will appear in 2012 and the economy is on the mend, uh, we don't think so. What we have is America stuck in a Labrea tar pit of bad policy and a never ending middle class head shrink.
It's that time of year. As we say goodbye and good riddance to 2011, it is time to review what grabbed the most attention here at The Economic Populist. From ridiculous political tricks to protesting people, 2011 saw more of the same.
As we type out the new year, here at The Economic Populist we're forever grateful to our readers and participants who make the site happen.
As we approach the new year, everyone and their brother are publishing best of 2011 top 10,20,50, gazillion stories. In the year of the click listomania proliferates and the end of the 2011 brings an enumeration epidemic. We've sifted through the muck and bring you the best of the best of the best collections for 2011.
Everybody has heard the reason manufacturing goes to China and services jobs are offshore outsourced to India is cheap labor. Well, there appears to be more than a grain of truth to this claim. The BLS maintains an international labor comparison statistics site. Manufacturing labor costs in China and India are 4% of the United States for 2009.
At the same time though, European labor costs are much more than the United States and one of the reasons Germany's economy is so strong, is their exports and manufacturing sector. Germany clearly has bucked the trend, yet the below percent change for 2009-2010 in manufacturing unit labor costs graph, shows other nations are lowering wages. The great labor arbitrage race to the bottom looks full on.
The uber-rich have given us a Christmas gift. Yes, they have formed an organization, the Job Creators Alliance, to run public relations against us imbeciles who point out they are greedy bastards and to shape the national agenda. They even ask for donations on their website so they can pour money into lobbying, and media spin. All of this effort is to advocate for...the super-rich.
Thank you Bloomberg News who alerted us to the wonders of the CEOs, board members and super rich, bestowing their gifts upon us to explain why they should have all the money.
If successful businesspeople don’t go public to share their stories and talk about their troubles, “they deserve what they’re going to get,” said Marcus, 82, a founding member of Job Creators Alliance, a Dallas-based nonprofit that develops talking points and op-ed pieces aimed at “shaping the national agenda,” according to the group’s website. He said he isn’t worried that speaking out might make him a target of protesters.
“Who gives a crap about some imbecile?” Marcus said. “Are you kidding me?”
Welcome to the weekly roundup of great articles, facts and figures. These are the weekly finds that made our eyes pop.
$13 million, 13 debates which said ...oops....I can't remember what was said, media black outs on some candidates, talking pundits ad nauseum and 6 months later, the Iowa caucuses are finally over. Thank God! 122,255 people decided who to pick in the Republican Iowa caucuses. That's about one hundred dollars per vote. The millions in spending bought actually a guy who had the least amount of money.
It's Friday Night! Well, actually it's not, but this documentary was just released. In keeping with our series on economic documentaries let's just pretend it is Friday. So, Party Time! Time to relax, put your feet up on the couch, lay back, and watch some detailed videos on economic policy!
A new year, a new day and a flurry of economic and financial predictions. Who are we to buck the trend? Yet, buck the trend we shall. While many news articles claim jobs will appear in 2012 and the economy is on the mend, uh, we don't think so. What we have is America stuck in a Labrea tar pit of bad policy and a never ending middle class head shrink. 
It's that time of year. As we say goodbye and good riddance to 2011, it is time to review what grabbed the most attention here at The Economic Populist. From ridiculous political tricks to protesting people, 2011 saw more of the same. 
The uber-rich have given us a Christmas gift. Yes, they have formed an organization, the 
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