Economics and Investing:

Unemployment Rate Rises to 9.6%. That is the official figure from the BLS. But the really telling number is for under-employment. That is buried down in line U-6 in Table A-15. Alternative measures of labor underutilization. And again, that is the official figure. A 2004 article suggested that the real world numbers are probably substantially higher. (Somehow I doubt that this under-reporting has been rectified.)

Sue C. sent us this: Bernanke: Shut down banks if they threaten system

120 Days to Go Until the Largest Tax Hikes in History.

Items from The Economatrix:

Global Collapse of the Fiat Money System: Too-Big-To-Fail Global Banks Will Collapse Between Now and First Quarter 2011

Complete List of Bank Failures

Where The Banks are Failing

Investors Bracing for Dreaded “September Effect”