June 2010

Must Read Posts for June 6, 2010

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On The Economic Populist you might have noticed the right column. We try to list other sites and blogs who have exceptional insight and writing on what is happening in the U.S. economy.

Sometimes though, one cannot say it better but miss those who did.

Must Read Post #1

Gretchen Morgenson notes Banks are dumping their worthless residential loans, including home equity loans, on taxpayers via Fannie Mac and Freddie Mae.

Taxpayers are the ones holding the bag when institutions try to avoid losses by refusing to buy back problem loans they have sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage finance giants that are wards of the state.

Must Read Post #2

Angry Bear wryly comments on the G20 new momentum to reduce deficits is all about Market Concerns:

Finance ministers from the world’s leading economies ripped up their support for fiscal stimulus on Saturday, recognising that financial market concerns over sovereign debt had forced a much greater focus on deficit reduction.

Must Read Post #3

Paul Krugman bemoans the obviously coming Lost Decade, due to G20's focus on debt. Maybe the lost decade has more to do with bailing out mega banks and ignoring the U.S. middle class and real economy.

Must Read Posts for June 5, 2010

Submitted by on

On The Economic Populist you might have noticed the right column. We try to list other sites and blogs who have exceptional insight and writing on what is happening in the U.S. economy.

Sometimes though, one cannot say it better but miss those who did.

Must Read Post #1

I noted some serious doubt on a CBO report claiming the Federal Reserve's toxic holdings are money makers, but Naked Capitalism really drives it home as fiction in CBO Issues Fed Flattering Propaganda:

It conflates the discussion of budgetary costs and financial services industry subsidies, when explicit costs to taxpayers are only the tip of the iceberg of the bennies that banks received from Fed. While the other forms of support are arguably outside the CBO’s purview, the failure to state those omissions means that defenders of the Fed and the banksters can use this report to obscure the true extent of welfare for financiers.

Must Read Post #2

Unemployment 9.7% for May 2010

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The May 2010 monthly unemployment figures are out. The rate decreased to 9.7% and the number of jobs gained is 431,000. 411,000 of those jobs were temporary Census workers. Only 41,000 private sector jobs were added. The official unemployment rate dropped due to the temporary Census hiring and people plain fell off the count.

Total nonfarm payroll employment grew by 431,000 in May, reflecting the hiring of 411,000 temporary employees to work on Census 2010. Private-sector employment changed little (+41,000). The unemployment rate edged down to 9.7 percent

 

 

Below is the nonfarm payroll, seasonally adjusted:

 

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