The “Economic Recovery” Continues: Businesses Are Being Destroyed Faster Than They Are Being Created - The Economic Collapse Blog - Michael Snyder, on May 6th, 2014 - What would you say about an economy where businesses are shutting down faster than they are opening? Well, a shocking new study released by the Brookings Institution indicates that this is exactly what is happening in the United States. We are absolutely killing small businesses and the entrepreneurial spirit in this country, and as you will see below, the number of self-employed Americans has been on a downward trend for a decade even though our population has been steadily growing. Traditionally, small businesses have been the primary engine of job growth in this nation, so the fact that study after study has found that small business creation is being crippled in the United States is a really bad sign for our economic future. Personally, I write about our long-term economic decline nearly every day, but even I had no idea that businesses were being destroyed faster than they were being created. According to the Brookings Institution, this first started happening in 2009...
Manufacturing Job Postings and Hiring Data Were Weaker in March - Shopfloor.com - Chad Moutray under Economy - May 9, 2014 - The Bureau of Labor Statistics said that manufacturing job openings declined for the fourth straight month. After peaking at 298,000 in November, the number of job postings in the sector has continued to move lower, with 243,000 openings recorded in March. Weather has negatively impacted overall economic activity over much of this period, and it is possible that winter conditions hampered employment growth, as well. Nonetheless, we would expect that this trend will reverse in the coming months, particularly if the sector resumes the rebound that was occurring last fall. There had been upward movement in manufacturing job openings from May to November of last year (up from 203,000 to 298,000), for instance. The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) have a bit of a time lag. Fortunately, we already know that manufacturers added 12,000 workers on net in April, providing us with some cautious optimism. In the March data, net hiring had turned negative for the first time in eight months. Manufacturers added 231,000 workers in March, down from 234,000 in February (and 269,000 in November, its recent peak). At the same time, the number of separations – including layoffs, quits, and retirements – rose from 224,000 to 236,000. As such, net hiring (or hires minus separations) shifted from a net gain of 10,000 workers in February to a decline of 5,000 in March. This was well below the net hiring rate of 41,000 observed in November, illustrating the current softness in the labor market. Meanwhile, employment numbers in the larger economy softened slightly in March, as well. Total job openings decreased from 4,125,000 in February to 4,014,000 in March. Even with the decrease, this was still a decent figure, representing a 3.5 percent increase year-over-year. Hiring in the nonfarm business sector declined from a net gain of 240,000 in February to an increase of 194,000 in March. Education and health services and government were two major sectors that had increased hiring for the month.
Will History Record The Ending Of QE As An Archduke Moment? - Zero Hedge - Tyler Durden - May 10, 2014 - One can’t help but look at the situations transpiring around the globe and hope: things are different this time. The problem is being different puts it right back in line with that other caveat: history doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme. And so lies the most troubling aspect facing not only the U.S. economy, but quite possibly the world as whole. For if things rhyme anything inline with past events in history: We’re all in a dung heap of QE based minutia, with Geo-political ramifications the “intellectual” crowd never contemplated as possible – let alone probable. It was just a mere 4 years ago this month in which then Fed. Chair Ben Bernanke announced to the world via his now infamous Jackson Hole speech that QE would basically be adulterating the financial markets indefinitely. i.e., QE1 became QE2 signaling QE4eva. And since that time the Federal Reserve has done just. And as always that decision was heralded by the financial media as “genius.” And why wouldn’t they since this would now afford them a seemingly never-ending revolving set of happy faced hedge fund managers that could tell the world how they were just making a killing for their investors. Everything once again seemed just ducky. “Don’t fight the Fed.” again became the clarion call. However what most of these “wizards of smart” couldn’t read past their teleprompter is that the world may turn and fight them – literally. The distortions in financial markets throughout the world have been breathtaking to anyone who’ll look using a thimble full of common sense. As the emerging markets became overheated and searched for ways to deal with hot money inflows wreaking havoc within their own markets. The Fed. and crew kept the pedal down, year, after year seemingly not giving any notion of care that others may retaliate in ways never contemplated by the intellectual crowd. i.e., War...
BorgWarner adding 150 jobs in Buncombe County - WRAL (Raleigh) - May 8, 2014 - ARDEN, N.C. — A company that makes turbochargers will expand its plant in Buncombe County, creating more than 150 jobs. BorgWarner said it will spend $55 million to expand its plant in Arden over the next five years. About 60 of the jobs are expected in the next three years. The company says the 154 jobs will include engineering and production positions. They are expected to pay around $75,000 annually, including benefits. The plant opened in 1977 and currently has more than 650 employees. BorgWarner expects an increased demand for its turbocharger systems with stricter emissions standards. The company's turbochargers are used in commercial trucks and in high-performance race cars in the IndyCar races...
10 Ways That Birth Order Affects Your Life - Zero Hedge - Tyler Durden - May 9, 2014 -
Where you exist in your family’s birth order can profoundly inform your path in life, whether because of genetics or simply the way that family members tend to treat firstborns vs. middle children vs. youngest children. Psychologists have been debating the “Why?” since the 1800s, but, as ConvergEx's Nick Colas notes, the outcome is certain regardless of the cause – the effects of birth order last for a lifetime... Via ConvergEx's Nick Colas, For example, firstborn kids are often rules-following and do better in society, while younger children tend to be revolutionaries, artists and so forth. Only children generally act like firstborns. Today’s Note from ConvergEx explains how birth order matters through the lens of a top 10 list of things you should know about birth order psychology. After all, much of business and investing depends on your ability to evaluate people, and this is another useful tool. Note From Nick: If you had to size up a stranger and you could only ask them one question, what would it be? For me, the answer is simple: “Where are you in the birth order of your siblings?” Are you a first/only child, or a later born? As Beth outlines today, the answer is quite telling. By virtue of genetics or childrearing (the debate rages there), birth order matters a lot to the person you become. Question: What do Hillary Clinton, Marissa Mayer, Oprah Winfrey and Beyoncé have in common? Answer: They are all firstborn girls. Who all happen to be on the Forbes list of most powerful women in the world. And if you consult findings from the vast field of birth order psychology, you’ll see that there is probably more than coincidence at play here. A study released just last month found that firstborn girls are statistically the most likely to succeed among any combination of birth order and gender, for the simple explanation that parents devote more time and energy to them. It could be that they are more intelligent too, but evidence points to the role of parental investment as the leading cause. Well what about Jeff Bezos, Steve Jobs and Aristotle? They were all adopted. And according to Adam Pertman, author of a book on the subject titled Adoption Nation, adopted people “feel more compelled to show that they can do it” due to a sense of loss of their original family. A feeling of rejection often pushes adopted children to wonder if they are good enough and whether they are the reason their original family is no longer intact. As a result, they’re predisposed to prove their worthiness and avoid another tragedy. While birth order is not the end all be all – for example Ted Bundy was also adopted – it certainly impacts our personality and therefore the course of our lives. Success in the business world is partly dependent on your ability to read people and understand their emotional intelligence, of which birth order plays a key role. Thus we’ve compiled a top 10 list of things you should keep in mind about birth order psychology and how it factors into our lives. Read on for the details…
The Hound: I was asked to begin summarizing the articles in the Economic Stories of Relevance and how they relate to where we are today. Once again we are seeing no real economic recovery. Projections for the U.S. Deficit are not improving. Kicking the can down the road is only growing the deficit/debt in a exponential manner. Small businesses/Start-ups are the main thrust of initial businesses, but they are having a harder and harder time competing against established businesses, because only the larger businesses can compete in in the Corporocratic Environment in which the largest businesses own the regulatory process.
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