Gas Prices going up and Bailing out a Hedge Fund: Why the Average American is Getting Bailout Fatigue. TALF a bailout for Corporations under guise of Lending for Average Americans.
Most Americans are having a challenging time digesting the bitter fruit of all the financial news coming from Wall Street and D.C. It is hard for many to wrap their brains around what is going on. In fact, today Ben Bernanke just stated that AIG was operating like a hedge fund. Which of course begs the question if we are bailing out AIG, are we then bailing out a hedge fund and does that open the door to other beleaguered funds? This would cause some major dislocation in our philosophy of what initially was to be a credit market bailout to help homeowners. That was the initial seed and has morphed into a beast rivaling an economic Frankenstein. Now, we are simply bailing out institutions that are hand selected by Wall Street and Washington D.C.
Is the California True Unemployment Rate at 18.47 Percent? The 10.1% Headline Number is the Highest Rate in Over a Quarter Century. 1.8 Million Workers Unemployed in one State. How Many are Partially Employed or Have Given up Looking for Work?
California is a microcosm of the entire United States. The most populous state with a GDP of $1.8 trillion, much of what happens in California does spread throughout the country. California’s employment situation is deteriorating at a breathtaking speed. The latest employment numbers were released after the bell closed on Friday, which now seems to be a common trend when news is less than comforting for the soul. The unemployment rate in California has now shot up to 10.1%, a number not seen since May of 1983.  And what is even more troubling is how quickly the rate is increasing in tandem with a $42 billion budget deficit that will, at least for 2 years, hamper the state’s growth.
American Consumers Cutting up that Final Credit Card: The End of a 30 Year Consumption Era and the Nervous Breakdown of the Spending Psychosis.
Imagine sitting in a messy room. Chopped plastic all around you as you sit there clasping a set of red scissors.  Only one more credit card sits in the middle of the room starring back at you. Can I do it you ask? Is it possible to go forward in life with no credit cards? As you make the final cut, a new era has begun. The American consumer is now psychologically maxed out.
American International Group: AIG Founded in Shanghai China in 1919. Who are we Bailing out Here?
American International Group, AIG was founded in 1919 by Cornelius Starr who established the agency in Shanghai, China. The business took off and was very successful in Asia. Later, Starr expanded the company to Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East. It is fascinating how many in the media are portraying AIG as some homegrown company when in fact, it didn’t start branching out seriously into the U.S. until 1962, nearly 43 years later. I just find it fascinating how the media can beat on the automakers, American companies for the most part from day one while not batting an eye to AIG requesting an additional $60 billion lifeline. The U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve only represent the U.S. taxpayer in name alone. They are protecting the highest bidders in the financial industry.