It Would Hurt the Banks....

The latest request to restructure Greece's debt has been denied. with a quote from the ECB that should be classic:

A Greek debt restructuring is not the appropriate way forward -- it would create a catastrophe” because it would damage the banking system, ECB Executive Board member Juergen Stark said today in Lagonissi.

Look at this quote on their demand to privatize:

“Privatization makes a real difference,” said Poul Thomsen, head of the IMF’s Greek mission, which is in the process of reviewing the country’s progress on the bailout conditions. “If targets can be met, it will make a change to debt sustainability.”

Oh really? And that is why the US deficit is so small today, or other nations who privatized?

Seems The Greece Prime Minster, George Papandreou, is all for denying Greece any debt restructuring as well.

Greece must avoid debt restructuring and push on with budget cuts and privatisations to overcome its debt crisis, the country's Prime Minister George Papandreou and senior ECB officials said on Saturday.

Papandreou also said:

Henceforth, the European Union will escort Greece's privatisation programme as if we were conducting it ourselves

The Jobs of Tomorrow

The BLS released their occupational employment and wages report for May 2010.

occupations bls

While the data on what kind of jobs are being created is one year old, the report still gives insight on what kind of job growth has occurred since December 2007, the start of the Great Recession. What we have are low paying service jobs as the dominant job growth.

State Unemployment & Layoffs for April 2011

The BLS has released their Regional and State Unemployment Report for April 2011. Once again, Michigan cannot get a break. They just lost another -10,200 jobs. Overall the BLS reports there is little change in April from March's State employment figures.

Healthcare Costs to Increase 8.5% in 2012

PricewaterhouseCoopers has a new report projecting health care costs to rise 8.5% in 2012 and 8% in 2011.

Insurance policies will have higher deductibles and less coverage, what the report calls a cost deflator. Obviously that's not deflator to you.

One of the most damning conclusions of the report is how health care reform is projected to have minimal impact on health care costs for 2012.

Providers are consolidating, providing less competition. Employer plans are using even higher deductibles, dumping the costs onto you. Medical services are now getting less from Medicare, 3.3% increases for 2012, so as usual, to make up the difference, these providers are dumping their losses by jacking up prices for the rest of us.

Even worst, they are projected a dramatic increase in stress related health care costs. Yes, losing your home and job affects your health.

Below is the CPI index annual change for health care costs:

and hospital related services CPI annual change:

NAR Existing Home Sales - Down 0.8% for April 2011

The National Association of Realtors released their existing home sales figures and give an April decrease of 0.8%, annualized rate, from March's increase. Existing home sales are now 12.9% below what they were one year ago.

Will the NY Attorney General Bring Doomsday Charges Against Wall Street? If So, How Long Will He Survive?

Michael Collins

Gretchen Morgenson of the New York Times just published one of the few feel good stories in months following the 2008 financial crisis. She describes a possible day of reckoning for the perpetrators of the 2008 crisis and much of the pain that has followed.

The newly elected New York attorney general, Eric Schneiderman (D), wants information from Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, and Morgan Stanley. Among other things, the information concerns mortgage pooling and bundling. This may well include information on collateralized debt obligations (CDO's) and mortgage backed securities (MBS). New York state officials told Morgenson:

"The New York attorney general has requested information and documents in recent weeks from three major Wall Street banks about their mortgage securities operations during the credit boom, indicating the existence of a new investigation into practices that contributed to billions in mortgage losses." New York Investigates Banks’ Role in Financial Crisis New York Times, May 16

Residential New Construction April 2011

The April 2011 Residential construction report showed Housing starts dropped -10.6% from March 2011 to a level of 523,000. This is -23 9% below April 2010. We're back to April 2009 levels and this monthly drop was the biggest since 1984. March had a +12.9% increase in housing starts from February 2011.

Industrial Production & Capacity Utilization for April 2011

The Federal Reserve's Factory Production report shows a no change for April 2011 Industrial Production, or output for factories and mines. Manufacturing industrial production alone dropped 0.4% for April. Here is their detailed report. March was revised one percentage point lower to 0.7% and February had a 0.3% decrease in industrial production.

Education Doesn't Pay

pewcollege
Put another nail in the American Dream Coffin. The Pew Research Center has a new study out on college. Guess what, over half of America thinks college isn't worth the money.

Strong Unions - The Worst Nightmare for the Financial Elite

Michael Collins

Man wouldn't pay you unless he had to. Chris Rock

The antiunion movement in the United States keeps us underpaid and represents a serious impediment to economic growth. Yet antiunion sentiment remains strong among the political establishment and their patrons. Why?

Worker rights and a decent wage represent a toxic brew to the ruling elite. In the past, they expressed their antiunion position in a crude fashion. From the 1870s through the 1920s, industrialists fought union growth with hired thugs and complicit law enforcement officials. Organizers and union members were harassed, maimed, and killed throughout the country for simply acting on the right to organize and participate in a union.

May 2011