Economics and Investing:

New climate strategy: track the world’s wealthiest. This is the sort of fallacious logic that foments envy, and inevitably class warfare. Yes, Americans do use a disproportionately large portion of the world’s natural resources. But we also create correspondingly more with those resources. The gross domestic product (GDP) of the US is tremendous. Here is an illustration. (California, just by itself is the sixth largest economy in the world.) Consider this: Why does Kenya Airlines have Boeing 747s in their fleet? Because someone in America builds them. Could those planes be made in Kenya? No, because they have neither the expertise nor the manufacturing infrastructure. Is this situation somehow “exploitive”? No! As my old friend “Jeff Trasel” says: “Please don’t tell me that I somehow magically ‘owe the world’ more because my ‘carbon footprint’ is larger. Well, so is my productivity!” I agree with Jeff. Carbon footprint calculations and swaps of carbon credits are nothing but voodoo economics and socialist scheming.

Credit delinquencies hit record high. (Thanks to GG for the link.)

Items from The Economatrix:

G8 Still Sees Economy in Peril

True Unemployment Rate Already at 20%

The MOAB continues to grow: Dem Senator: Second Stimulus Probably Needed

California’s Nightmare Will Kill “Obamanomics”

FDIC Insurance Fund: It Doesn’t Actually Exist

US Consumers Fall Behind On Loans at Record Pace

How Wrong Can You Get? (The Mogambo Guru)

Bartering catches the attention of the mainstream media: Make Purchases Without Cash

Abandon Ship
(The Mogambo Guru)

US Stocks Drop, Sending S&P 500 to Lowest Level Since April; Exxon Falls

Morgan Stanley Plans to Turn Downgraded Loan CDO into AAA Rated Securities
[JWR Adds: I think that they should dub this new unit their Silk Purse Transformation Division]

G-8 Spars Over Stimulus, Leave “Exit Strategies” Open

Yuan Deposes Dollar on China’s Border in Sign of Future for Global Trade

Dems Split on Stimulus as Job Losses Mount, Deficit Soars