Survey shows US is a nation of red retail and blue retail – Sent in by RBS
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Congress’s $1.15 trillion spending bill: Heads they Win, Tails you Lose
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Items from Professor Preponomics:
U.S. News
The Federal Reserve Will Hand Out $11B in Riskless Profits to Foreign Banks in 2016 (Contra Corner) From the Article: “And since there is no plan in sight for unwinding the Fed’s gargantuan balance sheet and soaking up the trillions in excess reserves parked at both domestic and foreign banks, this handout of risk-free cash will continue indefinitely.”
Third Quarter Growth Trimmed to 2% (Market Watch) No surprise here… More than six years into the “recovery” and U.S. economic growth is well below the norm.
Looking Ahead to 2016: Massive Inventory Overhang a Key Risk for Future Growth (Zero Hedge) The suggestion is that “there is a massive inventory overhang heading into Q4 and 2016, one which will likely impact GDP by at least 1.5%-2% if not more once this long overdue inventory liquidation takes place.”
International News
Top Business Story in 2015: China’s Sharp Economic Slowdown (AP) From the Article: “China’s economy lost some luster and its leaders their aura of invincibility. A commodities boom went bust, spreading pain from Texas oil fields to Indonesian coal mines.”
Chinese Leaders Approve Economic Plan for 2016 (Market Watch) From the Article: “Chinese leaders approved an economic blueprint for next year that emphasizes tackling long-term problems and reflects a realization that debt and investment can no longer power the world’s second-largest economy.”
Japan Flags Inflation Target Fudge as Commodity Rout Deepens (Reuters) From the Article: “Japan’s economics minister is laying the groundwork for the country’s central bank to fudge its own inflation target as the global sell-off in commodities pushes the consumer price goalposts further away.”
Personal Economics and Household Finance
7 Reasons Why You Can’t Get Out of Debt and What To Do About It (The Frugal Farmer) …and the key message is: what to do about it!