Since Congress and the president reached a deal on the
debt ceiling, this is the second and final special shutdown edition of the
Battered Business Bureau. This week’s was the smallest Federal Register this
analyst has ever seen, with a grand total of three rules and 60 pages.
Thursday’s edition was just five pages long, the lowest total of the entire
shutdown.
The post-shutdown deluge of rules likely will begin on
either Monday or Tuesday. Expect to see very different numbers in next week’s
edition. On to the data…..To Read More……
J.P. Morgan Settlement Rips Off Taxpayers and Investors,
Punishes Some Alleged Victims, by on October 21, 2013
Recently, The Washington Post reported that
J.P.Morgan will pay $13 billion to settle lawsuits against it by the federal
government and two state attorneys general. Judging from the story, the
proposed settlement contains provisions that rip off taxpayers and punish the
very investors victimized by the misconduct alleged. This is depressing, but
perhaps not surprising from an administration that has used past mortgage
settlements to rip off innocent mortgage investors,
and enrich real estate speculators and
irresponsible mortgage borrowers .....To Read More.....
Sugar Policy Drives Out Candy Companies, by on
October 21, 2013
“Cheaper
sugar sends candy makers abroad” says a headline in today’s Wall
Street Journal (gated). The article noted that increasingly U.S. candy
makers are moving their production to other countries because federal price
supports keep domestic sugar prices way above the world market price.
Candy companies, such as Atkinson Candy Co., said it
moved 80 percent of its production to Guatemala. “It wasn’t like we did it for
profit reasons. We did it for survival reasons,” said the president of the
family-owned Texas company. And confectioners aren’t the only ones affected by
high sugar prices. Besides candy makers, general food producers feel the crunch
of high sugar prices, as sugar is an ingredient in breads and baked goods, many
canned and preserved fruits and vegetables, and other canned goods. The U.S.
Commerce Department found that for every one job saved in the sugar industry
because of the U.S. sugar program about three jobs were lost in the
candy-making industry......To Read More......
Public Pensions Are Not Property, by on October
21, 2013
Across the nation, state and local governments in dire financial straits face great difficulty in their efforts to bring their budgets under control. Pensions are one of the biggest drivers of deficits, and therein lies the problem. Many states treat pensions not as a form of compensation, but as a contractual obligation to the employee. As a result, states and cities that have tried to bring pension obligations under control have seen roadblock thrown up in court by government employee unions. As the Manhattan Institute’s Steven Malanga explains:…..ToRead More……
No comments:
Post a Comment