Uncategorized
TOP NEWS: Economy: May 04, 2012
- Plutocracy, Paralysis, Perplexity
- U.S. Added Only 115,000 Jobs in April; Rate Is 8.1%
- Jobs Report Stinks But Stocks Don’t Collapse
- The Monthly Jobs Numbers Don’t Matter
- The fiscal cliff cometh
Top 5 links above, brief excerpts of those and more below.
Plutocracy, Paralysis, Perplexity – PAUL KRUGMAN, New York Times
Inequality is a major reason the economy is still so depressed and unemployment so high. For we have responded to crisis with a mix of paralysis and confusion — both of which have a lot to do with the distorting effects of great wealth on our society.
U.S. Added Only 115,000 Jobs in April; Rate Is 8.1% - CATHERINE RAMPELL, New York Times
The United States had another month of mediocre job growth, a Labor Department report showed, and the unemployment rate fell partly because workers left the work force.
Jobs Report Stinks But Stocks Don’t Collapse - John Dobosz, Forbes
The April U.S. nonfarm payrolls report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on its face looks like a big disappointment with 115,000 jobs created last month, versus economists’ consensus forecast for 160,000. Despite the miss on the highly anticipated monthly jobs report, there is little despair to be found in stocks.
The Monthly Jobs Numbers Don’t Matter - Zachary Karabell, Daily Beast
Today’s anemic data is neither bad nor good, just so much political football in a pre-determined game. There will be little discussion of the structural issues permanently transforming the U.S economy, writes Zachary Karabell.
The fiscal cliff cometh - Mohamed A. El-Erian, Washington Post
Economists are rightly starting to warn that the United States faces a worrisome “fiscal cliff” at year’s end. The blunt spending cuts mandated by the 2011 compromise on the debt ceiling — and the failure of the “supercommittee” that followed — along with across-the-board tax increases would derail the U.S. recovery and undermine the well-being of the global economy. We should be avoiding the edge of this cliff — and politicians should not believe that they have until the end of this year to act.
Stocks Down on Jobs Report - CHRISTINE HAUSER /DAVID JOLLY, New York Times
Stocks opened lower on Wall Street on Friday after a disappointing report on jobs in the United States, following the gloomy trend set in markets in Europe where a report suggested that Europe’s economy contracted at an accelerating pace last month.
Jobless Claims Fall Ahead of April Employment Data – Reuters via New York Times
New claims for unemployment benefits fell 27,000 last week, the biggest decline in about a year easing concerns that the recovery in the labor market was stalling. That relief was tempered, however, by other data on Thursday showing that employment in the services sector declined in April to its lowest level since December. The report indicated that American companies were still hiring, though not as fast as they did early in the year.
New Gloom on Jobs, But It May Not Last - DAVID LEONHARDT, New York Times
It’s tempting to look at Friday’s weak jobs report and conclude that the economy has entered a significant new slowdown. But it may not be correct.
U.S. Chose Better Path to Economic Recovery - FLOYD NORRIS, New York Times
American policy makers have made decisions in the last year >that strengthened the nation’s economy, while their European counterparts have made costly missteps.
While Europe Enjoys Cheap Biotech Drugs, U.S. Waits On FDA – Bruce Japsen, Forbes
While the U.S. government works out final regulations to bring cheaper copies of expensive drugs derived from biotechnology to patients here, Europe moves further ahead in the ability to take advantage of these more affordable prescriptions
The Best and Worst States in America to Do Business - CHRISTOPHER MATTHEWS, Time
Chief Executive Magazine has released its annual list of best and worse states to do business, and Southern and Mountain-West states dominated the rankings — to the detriment of the two coasts.
The World’s Biggest Publicly Traded Hedge Fund Is Getting Crushed - Nathan Vardi, Forbes Staff
Man Group, the world’s biggest publicly-traded hedge fund firm, had a terrible week that got even worse on Friday as its shares fell another 4% and hit a 52-week low. It has been a humbling decline for the once mighty Man, which has now seen its stock fall by 60% in the last year. The stock fell every day this week.
America, Land of the Equals - CHRYSTIA FREELAND, Reuters via New York Times
The America of the Founding Fathers, which is so often invoked in today’s political and social battles, was the world’s most egalitarian society – and proud to be so, new research has found.
What Apple Pays in Taxes, and Doesn’t - Readers, New York Times
Readers react to an article about how Apple keeps its taxes low while profits soar.
How to Get Business to Pay Its Share – ALEX MARSHALL , New York Times
To insure that corporations pay their fair share of Federal taxes, it’s time for a National Companies Act.
