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![bernanke[1]](http://www.businessinsider.us/BusinessInsider/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/bernanke1.jpg "bernanke[1]") (Hellenic Shipping News) The stock market has enjoyed a significant rally since the end of the first quarter. The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported last week that the economy grew at a 3.5% annual rate in the third quarter–a figure they achieved by that claiming inflation was running at only a 0.8% annual rate, despite a sharp drop in the dollar, a spike in commodity prices and record highs for gold. The cyclical bull market in stocks and positive print on GDP has caused some on Wall Street and in … Continue Reading
By Martin Hill
(L.A. County Libertarian Reporter) The most recent Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) from the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) reveals that the majority of jobs for the top principal employers in six counties are government jobs.
In the six southern California counties of Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside, Ventura and Imperial, more than half of the top employers in those counties, on average, are government entities.
Table 13 on Page 96 of the 104 page document lists Principal Employers By County in the SCAG Region for 2008.
San Bernardino County tops the list of private employers with six out of ten … Continue Reading
(The Sacramento Bee) California’s state budget crisis is so severe that the Pew Center on the States, a Washington-based policy think tank, is using it as an example of conditions that imperil other states.
Nine other states, the Pew report says, … Continue Reading
Universal health care will not be free – it will devastate the economy, warns Congressman,
 Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
If the Obama administration keeps its promise in guaranteeing not to raise taxes to pay for universal health care, the only way to cover the costs will be for the Federal Reserve to print even more money out of thin air, a process that will kill the dollar and lead to lower living standards for all Americans, warns Congressman Ron Paul.
In his … Continue Reading
![hundred_dollar_blur[1]](http://www.businessinsider.us/BusinessInsider/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/hundred_dollar_blur11.jpg "hundred_dollar_blur[1]") By Louis Uchitelle
(CNBC – The New York Times) A widening gap between data and reality is distorting the government’s picture of the country’s economic health, overstating growth and productivity in ways that could affect the political debate on issues like trade, wages and job creation.
The shortcomings of the data-gathering system came through loud and clear here Friday and Saturday at a first-of-its-kind gathering of economists from academia and government determined to come up with a more accurate statistical picture.
The fundamental shortcoming is in the way imports are accounted for. A … Continue Reading
In a survey of 1,500 registered voters, 80% say the state is on the wrong track. Respondents express little confidence in state politicians and candidates, even as support for Obama remains high.
By Cathleen Decker
(The Los Angeles Times) Frustrated at California’s woes, voters are sharply pessimistic about whether the next governor will be able to move the state in the right direction, and most believe California is in the midst of a long-term decline, a new Los Angeles Times/USC poll shows.
Against that grim backdrop, next year’s political contests loom as potentially volatile, but Democrats start out holding the upper hand, … Continue Reading
(The Ticker – The Washington Post) Each month, as regular readers know, I like to unpack the new unemployment number and get behind the data. The news this month continues to be grim. Indeed, it is climbing rapidly toward record-grim territory.
The official U.S. unemployment rate in October rose to 10.2 percent from 9.8 percent in September, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.
But the truer measure of unemployment — a total count of everyone who should be working full time but is not — hit 17.5 percent in October, the highest level in modern times.
The official unemployment number … Continue Reading
Many California jobs ’saved’ by stimulus funds weren’t in jeopardy
By Phillip Reese
(The Sacramento Bee) Up to one-fourth of the 110,000 jobs reported as saved by federal stimulus money in California probably never were in danger, a Bee review has found.
California State University officials reported late last week that they saved more jobs with stimulus money than the number of jobs saved in Texas – and in 44 other states.
In a required state report to the federal government, the university system said the $268.5 million it received in stimulus funding through October allowed it to retain 26,156 employees.
That total represents more … Continue Reading
Bullion tops $1,100 mark for first time as easy money seems assured
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Gold futures finished at a record Friday, after earlier tapping $1,100 an ounce, as news that the U.S. unemployment rate topped 10.2% in October lifted expectations the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates near zero well into next year, pressuring the dollar.
Gold for November delivery rose $6.40, or 0.6%, to end at $1,095.10 an ounce, the highest closing level for a front-month contract.
The more-actively traded December contract gained $6.40, or 0.6%, to $1,095.70. December gold earlier hit a record intraday high of $1,101.90 on the … Continue Reading
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