Harmonic Tremors Of Economic Disaster

by JASmius



Your daily dose of impending....



1) Mandatory Increase in Minimum Wage a "Silly Proposition"

The issue of increasing the minimum wage has become a hot topic, with 20 states having recently acted on the issue, but a mandatory hike is a bad idea, Jack Mozloom, director of media and communications for the National Federation of Independent Business, told Newsmax TV.

"Everybody including our members supports higher wages for workers," he told the network's "MidPoint" program.

"The question is do you have the sales to support that? Not every business of every size can afford to pay their workers what Costco can pay or the Gap or Google," he said. "So it's kind of a silly proposition, the idea that every business everywhere should be forced to pay higher labor costs regardless of their individual business circumstances."

No, Mr. Mozloom, it is "economic justice".  Because retail businesses of whatever size are money trees whose "fruit" can be effortlessly maintained by waving the magic tail of the Skittles-pooping unicorn every greedy "boss" secretly possesses.  After all, it's worked out wonderfully in San Francisco and Seattle, right?


2) California Drought Means Higher Food Prices

The drought in California, which has resulted in the first water usage restrictions in the state's history, will have an impact much further than California itself, David Weidner, a columnist for MarketWatch, told Newsmax TV.

"California is bigger than the four next biggest states combined in terms of agriculture production," he told the network's "MidPoint" program.

"Farmers are going to be forced out of production, this is going to be very disruptive. How does this translate to you and me? We're going to be paying higher food prices."

And how high will the price increases be?

"For specific food, it's going to be significant increases, 30%," Weidner said. "And this is just in the short term. This is just this year. Some of the produce that comes out of the state, asparagus, that kind of thing, is going to be much more expensive."

Food and beverages account for 18% of the consumer price index, so this is a big deal.

"The real problem starts next year when many of these crops are going to become particularly expensive to grow," Weidner said.

"That means we're going to see less in the marketplace. Supply and demand: we could see prices shoot up. Some experts talk about 50%, [a] doubling in prices. That's going to hit pocketbooks." [emphases added]

Well.  THAT's a snootful.  Especially for households on fixed incomes.  And those on NO incomes, like mine.  It's a good thing I don't like asparagus.

And I saved the best for last....


3) "There Will Be Another Crisis"

And it will be the Final one:

David Stockman, White House budget director under President Reagan, sees a crisis looming close on the horizon.

"The worldwide central bank money printing spree of the last two decades has generated massive excess capacity and mal-investment all around the planet," he writes on his blog.

The Federal Reserve has kept its federal funds rate target at a record low of zero to 0.25% since December 2008 and inflated its balance sheet to $4.5 trillion through quantitative easing.

"What is coming, therefore, is not their father's inflationary spiral, but an unprecedented and epochal global deflation," Stockman states. In the United States, consumer prices were unchanged in the twelve months through February.

Not for long (see #2)

"So the central banks just keep printing, thereby inflating the asset bubbles worldwide. What ultimately stops today's new style central bank credit cycle, therefore, is bursting financial bubbles," he says.

"That has already happened twice this century. A third proof of the case looks to be just around the corner."

Runaway unemployment, runaway labor force shrinkage, runaway business closures, runaway inflation, runaway deflation....

And never, EVER forget: This is for what sixty-two million Americans voted for in consecutive presidential elections that saddled us with a POTUS we'll never, EVER get rid of.

I'll be thinking of y'all when my family is reducing me to cold cuts after the food stamps run out.