United States
Question: Is an Amazon warehouse job the new aspirational middle class job for America? Was that the underlying message yesterday?
I ask because I don’t get why the President chose tough, low-paying Amazon warehouse jobs to push his new plan for Middle Class America. Seeing this photo made me think of the President seeing the Amazon warehouse akin to a GM factory floor.
So in my mind, the photo said “the Amazon Warehouse is the 21st century equivalent of the GM factory”. If that’s the message underlying the President’s visit to Amazon, I don’t think it’s a good one because the warehouse jobs aren’t as good.
Who Should Bear the Pain? – Bloomberg
This essay makes sense to me in that recessions and crises expose people and companies to ‘pain’ that is unavoidable. Much of the pain is the result of excess or miscalculation in the past that needs to unwound or recalibrated. Denying that this is so is pure fantasy. The question is “who pays for that?”
Home prices rise in May, though pace slows | Reuters
Concern grows for Huma Abedin within Clinton world – Maggie Haberman – POLITICO.com
Fed
Central Bank reserve creation in the era of negative money multipliers | vox
This seems right to me from my recollection – and it explains why the Obama Administration has done what it has done on economic policy.:
“Back in the fall of 2009 the word I got was that senior Administration officials believed that we were in a Treasury bubble,and that long-term interest rates — then around 3.5 percent — might soar any day now. This in turn was partly behind the disastrous “pivot” away from unemployment to deficits.
The bad news from that Times interview is that it suggests that the president is still listening to the people who were telling him, four years ago, to be afraid of surging rates unless we turned to fiscal austerity. Not good.”
Hawks and Doves, Again – Tim Duy’s Fed Watch
Yellen/Summers and the Twilight of the VSPs – NYTimes.com
This is told in Krugman’s traditional partisan way but the basic story is that Obama is losing his base by going the Summers route. Combined with the NSA scandal, this is making his second term look ugly. That’s my view.
Where Larry Summers Went Wrong : The New Yorker
Dem Leadership To Obama: Nominate Summers To Fed Chair At Your Peril | TPMDC
There’s something about Larry – Ben White and Patrick Reis – POLITICO.com
“Multiple sources close to the White House told POLITICO that while no decision has been made, Summers remains Obama’s preferred choice and the leading candidate for the job. Representatives for Summers and the White House declined to comment. The key questions: Can Summers withstand a summer assault from the forces arrayed against him? And, if nominated, can he win approval in the Senate?”
This is right:
“One does have the sense that economic policy discussion in the WH has grown dangerously insular; just about anyone outside, if asked, could have told them what a mess they’d make by floating the idea of choosing Summers over Yellen. But they seemed blissfully unaware of what was coming.”
Europe
ekathimerini.com | Bank of Cyprus deposit haircut is 47.5 percent, says central bank
AFP: EU business, consumer confidence edges higher
“The July gains maintain the upward trend seen since May and are the best outcome for more than a year but the readings remain below the 100-points boom-bust line for this indicator.”
Swedish Economy Unexpectedly Shrinks as Export Slump Deepens – Bloomberg
Swedish warning – Telegraph Blogs
“My worry is that the ECB and Commission – who have an almost totemic belief in the power of confidence – will mistake the current PMI bounce as a sign of genuine health, and commit yet another of their serial errors. They will fail to loosen policy. If they are really stupid, they will allow further passive tightening beyond the 70 basis point jump in rates already caused by Fed tapering.”
Economisch vertrouwen in eurozone stijgt voor derde maand op… – De Standaard
Economic confidence in the euro zone has risen for the third month in a row. I don’t put a lot of stock in these kinds of surveys though. Look at it as just one small data signpost.
Barclays’ £5.8bn rights issue triggers flashbacks – FT.com
Privacy/Civil Liberties
Raif Badawi wurde in Saudi-Arabien zu 600 Peitschenhieben verurteilt – SPIEGEL ONLINE
This Saudi blogger is getting 7 years in jail and 600 lashes. When we talk about civil liberties, we should feel privilged by comparison.
NSA Lawyer Questioned Over Cellphone Location Tracking of Americans – Digits – WSJ
This is from 2011 but I expect location tracking to be the next big story. Notice that in the article it’s the same Ron Wyden asking questions he already knows the answer to from security briefings under gag order.
Google’s Privacy Balancing Act – WSJ.com
In 2011, Google wanted to simplify its privacy settings but ran up on two problems. First, they have so many prperties that doing so was difficult. Second, Google wants to take on Facebook in social and so they want people to share MORE information, not less. Good read.
Feds will declassify Yahoo PRISM decision by September — Tech News and Analysis
Atlas Bugged II: Is There an NSA Mass Location Tracking Program? | Cato @ Liberty
Technology
“The mobile landscape in the U.S. is balkanizing. The big regional carrier is disappearing, leaving us with four national operators dominating the cities and only the tiniest of carriers filling the gaps in between.”
Samsung boosts Galaxy S4 benchmark results – John Paczkowski – Mobile – AllThingsD
Samsung claims innocence in face of benchmark-rigging allegations | The Verge
Review of Google’s New Chromecast – Walt Mossberg – Personal Technology – AllThingsD
Android fragmentation is greater than ever, according to new report — Tech News and Analysis
How is this any different than Windows on PCs? Post Vista, everyone was still running XP. A company I worked for was running Windows 2000 in 2007.
“According to a new report from Open Signal, a third of Android devices surveyed are running a 2-year-old version of the operating system. That’s bad news for Google, but even worse for consumers.”
Society
Scientists Trace Memories of Things That Never Happened – NYTimes.com
Why Work Loneliness Isn’t a Personal Problem (And How to Conquer It)
Placebo Buttons « You Are Not So Smart
Which Professions Have The Most Psychopaths? — PsyBlog
Reuters Next — Iraq security forces outmatched as ‘open war’ returns