Capitalism is the Crisis

New data released by the U.S. Labor Department on Wednesday revealed that the Producer Price Index (PPI) rose in July by more than expected. The PPI is an indicator of wholesale inflation, and currently it is at its highest peak in the last six months, effectively lowering real wages, and consequently consumerism – this has increased worries among economists about the possibility of a double-dip recession. USA Today polled thirty nine economists, who put the chances of another downturn at 30% – twice as high as when they were polled three months earlier. But, corporate profits are robust – up 22% since 2007, even while the personal finances of most Americans are fragile. The current official unemployment rate of 9.1% shows little sign of improvement; 13.9 million Americans continue to look for work.   Read more...


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Also read:

• Debt, Debt, Debt: 90% of Americans Experience Income Decline As Wealth Gets Sucked Back Into Top .1% -- Debt Explodes As We Try to Make Ends Meet

Greece Is the Way We Are Feeling

The European Union proudly claims to be more than the sum of its 27 parts, with a collective wealth and influence that gives it elephant status in the global zoo. Its common currency, the euro, used by 17 of its governments (but not, importantly, Britain), ranks second only to the dollar as a reserve currency. But it only took a hungry Greek mouse running up the elephant’s trunk to send the beast into an intensifying panic.

The ghastly mess generated by the follies of Greece, a marginal, profligate and congenitally ill-governed Tammany Hall of a Mediterranean nation, is greater by far than Ireland’s banking difficulties or even Portugal’s debts. It has spooked markets worldwide. If it continues to be mishandled, it could derail Western growth.  - Newsweek
Also read:

• Q&A: What's behind the rioting in Greece?
• Greece votes in favor of sweeping austerity bill.
• Greece approves austerity bill, setting in motion brutal budget cuts.

Athens Riot Madness: Video of explosions, tear gas in Greece

 Other video:

Raw Video: Greece Passes Cuts; People Riot

Greece scenario to repeat for the US? 

How Miserable Are Americans? Index Says the Worst in 28 Years

The index, first compiled during the soaring inflation days of the 1970s by economist Arthur Okun, is registering a nausea-inducing 12.7—9.1 percent for unemployment and 3.6 percent for annualized inflation—a number not seen since 1983. The index has been above 10 since November 2009 and had been under double-digits from June 1993 through May 2008.  - CNBC

Debt ceiling debate lingers into summer

America is coming closer and closer to decision day regarding whether or not the debt ceiling should be raised. It's happened ten times in the last decade, so many think the answer is inevitable. As lawmakers let more and more time go by before reaching a verdict, however, is this indecision becoming another act in the political theatre? Less Government's Seton Motley says the ceiling cannot be raised as he opposes Occidental College's Caroline Heldman.