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This is a guest post by Ed Ring editor of Union Watch, a project of the California Public Policy Center. California’s State/Local Governments Confront $1.0 Trillion in Debt A study released earlier today by the California Public Policy Center entitled “Calculating California’s Total State and Local Government Debt” has estimated that state and local government debt is somewhere between $848 billion and $1.12 trillion. This is the first attempt we’ve ever seen by [...] CHINA’s COMING CRACKUP: Banker jumps to death over bad loans (Beijing) – In an apparent suicide, a high-level executive of a state-owned investment company leapt to his death in downtown Beijing. Wang Shiqiang, 60-year-old chairman of the board of supervisors for China Jianyin Investment Securities Co., appeared to have jumped to his death on the afternoon of April 16 from the top of the office tower that houses China Jianyin. In an issued [...] Thursday, March 28, 2013 E-Gov Link announced today integration of B coin payments into its popular E-Gov suite of products. B coin, a global digital currency, is gaining in popularity, and provides citizens and municipalities a more cost effective solution for payments. Local governments who offer online payments can now provide their citizens with another choice of payment method. Integration with a backed payment processor provides the municipality with US Dollars [...] China Local Government Debt to Reach 16.3 trillion Yuan in 2013 “As China’s local governments cash in on real estate development, they’re amassing a lot of debt at the same time. Huatai Securities, a major Chinese securities broker says local government debt could reach 16.3 trillion yuan this year. That’s around $2.5 trillion US dollars, and almost 30% of China’s GDP.” “The threat of a banking collapse is very real concern for the [...] USA Today The gun-control law is the toughest in the nation and was the first passed in the wake of the Newtown, Conn., school shootings. ALBANY, N.Y. — More than two-dozen New York counties and local governments have passed resolutions in opposition to the state’s new gun-control law. The resolutions have come largely from rural upstate communities and range from calling the law unconstitutional, to wanting a full repeal, to raising concerns about [...] Since New York State enacted its restrictive new gun laws, many manufacturers have sent that state (and others) a message: If local governments are going to severely restrict the ability of citizens to own guns, then these companies will not be selling to law enforcement in those areas. Read more: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/02/15/group-of-second-amendment-supporting-gun-makers-now-refusing-to-sell-arms-to-law-enforcement-in-new-york-and-other-gun-restricting-states/ Chinese bank calls $1.6 trillion local government debt a timebomb Bridge to nowhere? The Agricultural Bank of China has sounded the alarm about “impulsive” local governments over-investing in the name of urbanization. China’s official government news agency Xinhua on Saturday reported that local government debt – estimated at 10 trillion yuan or roughly $1.6 trillion – “has long been considered a time bomb for [the] Chinese economy”. The bank – one of the four [...] Germany and Spain’s biggest banks report stunning losses Deutsche Bank Reported An Unexpected $3 Billion Loss FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Reducing the value of assets and lawsuit expenses pushed Deutsche Bank into a big and unexpected fourth quarter loss of €2.15 billion ($2.91 billion).
The net loss for the October-December period compared to a €186 million profit a year ago. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected a bare profit of €62 million. Deutsche Bank is [...] By Mike “Mish” Shedlock The Chinese banking system is insolvent. Of course, the entire global banking system is insolvent, but today’s spotlight is on China. Please consider China averts local government defaults. Chinese banks have rolled over at least three-quarters of all loans to local governments that were due to mature by the end of 2012, an indication of the immense challenge facing China in working down its debt load. Local governments borrowed heavily from [...] CONSUMER CONFIDENCE COLLAPSE UPDATE: The Conference Board’s consumer confidence survey for the month of January is out. The headline number fell to 58.6, well below expectations of a drop to 64.0. Last month’s number was revised higher to 66.7 from 65.1, meaning the drop is even steeper than it appears at first blush. MASSIVE WITHDRAWN FROM 25 LARGEST US BANKS SD contributor AGXIIK warned readers months ago about the FDIC’s expanded deposit insurance which was set to expire [...] by Charles Hugh-Smith of OfTwoMinds blog, If we understand the simple dynamics of value creation, total compensation costs and the cost-basis of doing business (general overhead), then we understand why employment isn’t coming back in the U.S. It is impossible to understand job creation without understanding value creation and labor/overhead costs. People hire other people when their labor creates more value than it costs to hire them. While a number of states are currently considering legislation to nullify federal gun laws, rules, acts, orders and regulations, and various sheriffs around the country are issuing notice that they will not enforce any such federal laws, a new grassroots undercurrent could be building to support those efforts. Local governments nullifying unconstitutional federal acts. Today, Beaufort County, North Carolina became the first in the country to do so. The board of [...] As Travis County commissioners are preparing again for a possible vote Tuesday on a measure to ban gun shows at county facilities, at least two commissioners are backing away from the idea, concerned that the county may not have such authority. Recent attempts by local governments in Texas and elsewhere to curb or ban gun shows suggest that such a move could land the county on shaky legal ground. It’s not clear [...] Each small act of conservation, when combined with other innumerable deeds across the country, can have an enormous impact on the health of our environment. On America Recycles Day, we celebrate the individuals, communities, local governments, and businesses that work together to recycle waste and develop innovative ways to manage our resources more sustainably. Americans already take many steps to protect our planet, participating in curbside recycling and community composting programs, [...]  Greek Economy Shrank By 7.2 Pct In Q3 Worse Than Expected While Mayors Are Deciding To Disobey The Federal Government On Austerity Greece’s economy contracted by 7.2 percent of gross domestic product in the third quarter of this year, according to data published by the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) on Wednesday. “Available non-seasonally-adjusted data indicate that, in the third quarter of 2012, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at constant prices of year [...] Philip Smith We are now only [one day] away from Election Day, and it’s starting to look very much like at least one state will vote to legalize marijuana, possibly two, and, if the gods are really smiling down, three. It’s also looking like there will soon be at least one more medical marijuana state, and like California will finally reform its three strikes sentencing law. There are also local [...] Report: Asian Credit Boom Planting Seeds for Next Financial Crisis via Money News: The current Asian credit boom is much like the credit explosion in Ireland and the Baltic countries in their run up before the 2008 financial crisis, the report warns. The situation is particularly dangerous in Hong Kong, Vietnam and China. … In China, an increase in lending has prompted a strong increase in its manufacturing. In Vietnam, the country’s property bubble is [...] Infowars.com Our country is being taken over by “sustainable development” under an environmental guise to mask a stealth takeover by bankers imposing a control grid upon the population. Infowars Nightly News reporters Aaron Dykes and Melissa Melton investigate the local initiatives driving the spread of “sustainable communities,” now taking over Central Texas and driving its population into a containment grid under the guise of “smart growth” and other such measures. [...] China’s massive bank financed stimulus was intended to keep the economy moving. It may instead lead to economic disaster. Financial collapses may have different immediate triggers, but they all originate from the same cause: an explosion of credit. This iron law of financial calamity should make us very worried about the consequences of easy credit in China in recent years. From the beginning of 2009 to the end of June this year, Chinese banks [...] Mac Slavo
Austerity measures, though unpopular and not discussed by government officials and media pundits, are in full effect across a broad spectrum of services and industries. In many parts of the country local governments are being forced to layoff or cut the salaries of thousands of emergency personnel. Education spending cuts across debt behemoths like California, Illionois and Michigan are forcing elementary and high school classrooms to capacities exceeding [...] A week ago we explained quite clearly why instead of encouraging self-defeating, short-termist behavior by promising to save Europe’s insolvent countries if and when needed, which does nothing to resolves Europe’s problems and make it worse in exchange for a brief respite from bond selling, the ECB should be doing precisely the opposite: encouraging local governments to understand that there is no magic bazooka from the central banks. Specifically we said that “this Catch [...] From Pragmatic Capitalism: We will soon get a glimpse of how the Chinese economy was doing in July and to see if it has indeed reached a bottom as most are hoping for. There are, of course, reasons to be both optimistic and pessimistic about the bottoming. As the Chinese government has put growth to a top priority and as local governments are announcing massive investment plans (never mind if they will [...] Storm Clouds Hovering Municipal bonds have long been touted for their tax-free income, but overspending and fiscal mismanagement is pushing states and cities to the brink. Increasing credit risk is also undermining the tax-free income muni-bonds are revered for. And then, there’s the uncomfortable subject of pension benefits. Under current actuarial assumptions, state and local government pensions are underfunded by roughly $1 trillion. Due to the financial crisis, it’s understandable that we’ve become [...] by WashingtonsBlog Preface: Not all banks are criminal enterprises. The wrongdoing of a particular bank cannot be attributed to other banks without proof. But – as documented below – many of the biggest banks have engaged in unimaginably bad behavior. You Wont Believe What They’ve Done … Here are just some of the improprieties by big banks: Funding the Nazis Laundering money for terrorists Financing illegal arms deals, and funding the manufacture of cluster bombs (and see this and this) and other arms which [...] |
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