USA: Debt Ceiling Drama Standoff

A standoff over the U.S. debt ceiling has begun. It could become the country's most consequential political showdown this year, with global economic repercussions.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced Thursday that the country has hit its borrowing limit and must take extraordinary measures to delay a catastrophic and once-unfathomable U.S. debt default.

We may witness months of escalating drama.

Read more at: https://www.cbc.com

US Economy repair: and its not comunism or socialism - just realism

If we truly want to stop inflation and corporate greed, Governments should nationalize Healthcare, including the Pharmaceutical industry, and the Energy industry. The Educational sector should be liberalized, and subsidized by the government, making all education free, based on student qualification proficency tests. Putting all of the  above in the hands of the private sector has not worked, and will never work. This is not Communism, or Socialism, this is pure logic.

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Read more at: https://www.eu-digest.blogspot.com

US Economy: Is the US economy benefitting from the Ukraine war ?

The beneficiary of all the current turmoil in global markets is the US while the Russia-Ukraine conflict looks to be exactly aligned with US' interests.

The risk aversion of capital markets increased sharply with capital clearly flowing to the US. Foreign financial analysts noted that on the currency front, the US dollar is now the "King" which can provide liquidity and hedge risk at the came time. 

Read more at:

 https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202203/1253787.shtml

TCB - US Economy: Economic Forecast for the US Economy

The Conference Board does not believe that the US economy is currently in a recession. We forecast that US Real GDP growth will rise to 1.9 percent (quarter-over-quarter, annualized rate) in Q2 2022, vs. -1.5 percent growth in Q1 2022. At present, US economic activity continues to expand, and the labor market remains robust, despite headwinds from inflation and interest rates. However, these forces are likely to significantly curb consumer spending and business investment over the coming quarters. Annual growth in 2022 should come in at 2.0 percent (year-over-year) and we expect growth of 0.6 percent (year-over-year) in 2023.

Read more at:Economic Forecast for the US Economy

US Economy: Just 15% Chance U.S. Economy Works Out Well: Lawrence Summers

Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers says he sees no more than a 15% chance that “it’s all going to work out well” for the U.S. economy. “The odds have gotten bit more tilted to the bad outcomes and a bit more tilted to inflation than I thought,” Summers said on “Wall Street Week” with David Westin.

Read more at: Just 15% Chance U.S. Economy Works Out Well: Lawrence Summers - Bloomberg

USA: The US Industrial Military Complex: Despite Trillions Spent, the US Military Hasn't Won a Real War Since 1945 - by Miles Mogulescu

The United States emerged from its victory in World War II as the world's preeminent superpower. Its annual military budget—about three-quarters of a trillion dollars a year—exceeds the aggregate of the next ten countries in the world.

Yet despite America's apparent global military supremacy, of the approximately dozen wars the U.S. has fought since 1945 (depending on how you're counting) the U.S. has lost every real war it has fought. (Its only "victories" have been minor military incursions to overthrow unfriendly governments in Grenada, population approximately 120,000, and Panama, population approximately 4.2 million.)

After millions of deaths of Americans and foreigners and trillions of dollars lost in places like Vietnam, Afghanistan, and the Middle East, is the U.S. any safer and secure because it fought these losing wars in far-off lands? No.

Have the American people benefited from these wars? No. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers have been killed or wounded and trillions of dollars have been spent.

So if the American people don't benefit from these endless losing wars, why do we keep fighting them? The short answer is that there are powerful forces in America that get rich from endless wars: The military-industrial complex and its political and economic servants and enablers.

Read more at: Opinion | Despite Trillions Spent, the US Military Hasn't Won a Real War Since 1945 | Miles Mogulescu

US Economy: Unfilled jobs, unemployment and price rises show Biden's spending plans carry major risks - by W. James Antle III

We're a long way from the stagflation of those bad old days under President Jimmy Carter, with the economy growing at a brisk 6.4 percent annual rate as the world reopens and the pandemic recedes. Still, a recent spate of bad economic news in what should be a fairly robust recovery is a warning that President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats' approach to fiscal policy could reap negative unintended consequences.

Read more at: W. James Antle III: Unfilled jobs, unemployment and price rises show Biden's spending plans carry major risks

USA: Biden unveils 'once in a generation' spending plan

US President Joe Biden has called for trillions in spending aimed at re-igniting America's economic growth by upgrading its crumbling infrastructure and tackling climate change.

The $2.3tn (£1.7tn) proposal would direct billions to initiatives such as charging stations for electric vehicles and eliminating lead water pipes.

The spending would be partially offset by raising taxes on businesses.US President Joe Biden has called for trillions in spending aimed at re-igniting America's economic growth by upgrading its crumbling infrastructure and tackling climate change. The $2.3tn (£1.7tn) proposal would direct billions to initiatives such as charging stations for electric vehicles and eliminating lead water pipes.

The spending would be partially offset by raising taxes on businesses.

Read more at: Biden unveils 'once in a generation' spending plan - BBC News

US Economy Poll: Americans More Pessimistic About Economic Future

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 41% of American Adults say the U.S. economy will be weaker a year from now. Thirty-seven percent (37%) say the economy will be stronger in a year, and 13% expect it to be about the same.

Read more at: Americans More Pessimistic About Economic Future - Rasmussen Reports®

U.S. economy contracted an estimated 3.5% in 2020, worst drop since WW2

The U.S. economy contracted 3.5 per cent in 2020, the Commerce Department reported Thursday, the worst economic freeze since the end of the Second World War.

The report estimated that the nation's gross domestic product — its total output of goods and services — slowed sharply in the October-December quarter after a record 33.4 per cent surge in the July-September quarter. That gain had followed a record-shattering annual plunge of 31.4 per cent in the April-June quarter.

The economy grew at a four per cent annual rate in the final three months of 2020.

Read more at:U.S. economy contracted an estimated 3.5% in 2020, worst drop since WW2 | CBC News

U.S. Economy Slows Sharply As Pandemic Resurges - by Scott Horsley

The nation's economic engine slowed considerably in recent months, as it faced off against a winter wave of coronavirus infections.

The Commerce Department reported Thursday that the nation's gross domestic product grew just under 1% in October, November and December — a marked downshift from the three previous months. On an annualized basis, the economy grew 4% in the fourth quarter.

GDP was 2.5% smaller at the end of the year than when it began. Economic activity plunged last March and April when the pandemic took hold. The economy staged a partial comeback in the summer and early fall, only to falter in the last three months of the year.

Read more at: U.S. Economy Slows Sharply As Pandemic Resurges : NPR

US Economy: Analysis: Wall Street brushes off political turmoil, looks to economic rebound

Wall Street, despite major social and political problems still upbeat about US Economy.

Read more at: Analysis: Wall Street brushes off political turmoil, looks to economic rebound | Reuters

US Economy Poll: Americans Wary That Stock Market Bubble Will Burst

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 61% of American Adults are at least somewhat concerned that the stock market bubble will burst and push the economy back into recession with 23% who are Very Concerned. Twenty-five percent (25%) don't share that fear, but that includes only seven percent (7%) who are Not at All Concerned.

Read more at Americans Wary That Stock Market Bubble Will Burst - Rasmussen Reports®

US Economy: S&P 500, Dow close at record highs, dollar gains at end of tumultuous year

All three major indexes gained ground, with the Dow and S&P 500 picking up steam in the session’s final minutes to exit 2020 at record highs. Over the course of a historic year, the indexes both roared and plummeted as economic shutdowns to contain the coronavirus brought markets to their knees.

Read more at:S&P 500, Dow close at record highs, dollar gains at end of tumultuous year | Reuters

US Economy: Nearly 8 million Americans have fallen into poverty since the summer - by Heather Long

The U.S. poverty rate has surged over the past five months, with 7.8 million Americans falling into poverty, the latest indication of how deeply many are struggling after government aid dwindled.

The poverty rate jumped to 11.7 percent in November, up 2.4 percentage points since June, according to new data released Wednesday by researchers at the University of Chicago and the University of Notre Dame.

While overall poverty levels are low by historical standards, the increase in poverty this year has been swift. It is the biggest jump in a single year since the government began tracking poverty 60 years ago. It is nearly double the next-largest rise, which occurred in 1979-1980 during the oil crisis,

read more at: Nearly 8 million Americans have fallen into poverty since the summer - The Washington Post

US Economy: How a weaker dollar could help fuel a commodities boom in 2021

Long-suffering commodity markets may have turned a corner after a pandemic-induced collapse in 2020. What happens next may depend on the fate of the U.S. dollar.

“The only way to get commodities moving in an inflationary, buying power way is a weaker dollar,” said Doug King, head of RCMA’s Merchant Commodity Fund and one of the world’s best known commodity traders, in an interview with MarketWatch.

Read more at: How a weaker dollar could help fuel a commodities boom in 2021 - MarketWatch

US Economy - the great divide between Wall Street and Main Street: as thousands Line Up In Dallas For North Texas Food Bank’s ‘Largest Mobile Food Distribution Ever’

Thousands of families lined up in Dallas on Saturday for a giveaway hosted by the North Texas Food Bank, and the organization called it its largest ever.

Organizers said the NTFB gave away over 7,000 turkeys and around 600,000 pounds of food in Fair Park to those families in need as the holidays approach and the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

Saturday’s event was also the NTFB’s fifth food giveaway in Fair Park since the pandemic began in March.

Note EU-Digest: US Economy: Wall Street versus Main street - total disparity - the recent Wall Street bounce can be better described as the US Economy's "Dead Cat bounce" , before "the walls from Jericho came tumbling down ".

Read more at: Thousands Line Up In Dallas For North Texas Food Bank’s ‘Largest Mobile Food Distribution Ever’ – CBS Dallas / Fort Worth

US Economy: It is time to stop looking at the US economy from Wall Street - by Cristina Ramirez

Crises have a way of turning existing cracks in political and economic systems into fault lines. They bring to light what has been hiding beneath the surface. This is why the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic, the most serious global health crisis in a century, has exposed the many pre-existing weaknesses of the US economy and laid bare the nation’s failure to judge the economy by what actually matters: How it works for working and middle-class Americans. 

In a matter of weeks, the pandemic left 26 million Americans unemployed and food banks overwhelmed. As one in four workers in the country are not entitled to a single day of paid sick leave, COVID-19 also forced many Americans to choose between staying healthy and putting food on their tables. It brought to the surface the growing economic precarity of tens of millions of Americans which Wall Street, and many in Washington, have long been ignoring.

While some economists and politicians, such as Treasury Secretary and former Goldman Sachs Executive Steven Mnuchin, claim that the American economy was doing just fine before the start of the pandemic, the truth is many Americans have been living on the verge of economic collapse long before COVID-19 reached the country. After the 2008 economic crash, Wall Street and big corporations rebounded quickly, but millions of Americans did not. 

The likes of Mnuchin get away with claiming the US economy was doing brilliantly before the outbreak because they judge economic success merely by the success and profitability of big corporations and not the economic stability and wellbeing of ordinary Americans, such as small business owners, warehouse workers and delivery drivers. 

If Mnuchin judged the health of the US economy by how well everyday people are coping, he would have seen that things were not so rosy on “Main Street” even before COVID-19.

Read more at: 
It is time to stop looking at the US economy from Wall Street | US & Canada | Al Jazeera

USA: The Economic Recovery Story Is As Fake As Ever - by Jeffrey Snider

Disastrous to employment. Absolutely right. And in the more modern, 21^st century sense it doesn’t even have to be outright deflation anymore. We’ve seen time and again that a realistic threat is all it takes (a reminder about what happened last September before this March).

Familiar to us, if not always easily recognizable, it’s the very hazard of unsolved, chronic liquidity risks that spikes the dollar, keeps interest rates low (interest rate fallacy), and, as Keynes said, is therefore disastrous to employment by the introduction of what current Economists and central bankers otherwise call, while they do everything humanly possible to avoid recognizing, macro slack.

Bernanke, like his predecessors and successors, claims to be a keen follower of Keynes anyway.

What comes next is the weekly reminder about the labor market; initial jobless claims were 870k last week. That is, still, in the middle of September, 200k more than any of the worst weeks on record before March. And this latest “disastrous to employment” comes to us on top of the macro slack which has already forced the Fed to redefine (undefine, really) their whole conception of full employment.

They’ve got everything covered. Recovery’s in the bag. That’s the story, and it’s one with all the same characters, all the same scenery, and, least surprising of all, the same ending.

Read more at:
The Economic Recovery Story Is As Fake As Ever | RealClearMarkets

USA: An 'ominous’ report reminds us the U.S. economy is far from OK - by Sam Ro

On the one hand, we should be encouraged by how much the ;economy has improved since the most intense days of the Covid-19 pandemic." On the other hand, the economy is far from fully recovered , but the good news is that this was the fourth consecutive week the number was below 1 million For the complete report go to:https://finance.yahoo.com/news/jobless-claims-high-ominous-for-us-economy-morning-brief-095438514.html