Veren of Lood biedt u op zondag wekelijks een inkijkje in 10 belangrijke of informatieve artikelen en interviews die de voorafgaande 7 dagen op economisch terrein verschenen.

De kop is de link naar het oorspronkelijke artikel, waarvan de eerste (twee) alinea’s hier gegeven zijn.

——————————————————————————————————
Freight Goes to Heck, Now Even in the US – Wolf Richter
14 september
The Dow Jones Transportation index has been warning us: by August 25, it was down 19% year-to-date before bouncing. It’s now off 13%. Not all is well in the transportation sector – and by extension in the global economy.

The World Trade Monitor, when I last wrote about it on July 22, painted a very un-rosy picture of global trade by having dropped the most since the Financial Crisis.
——————————————————————————————————
France downgraded to Aa2 – Moody’s
18 september
Moody’s Investors Service has today downgraded France’s government bond ratings by one notch to Aa2 from Aa1. The outlook on the ratings is stable. The key interrelated drivers of today’s action are:
1. The continuing weakness in France’s medium-term growth outlook, which Moody’s expects will extend through the remainder of this decade; and
2. The challenges that low growth, coupled with institutional and political constraints, poses for the material reduction in the government’s high debt burden over the remainder of this decade.
——————————————————————————————————
In Thrall to the Federal Reserve – Jeff Deist
17 september
Perhaps no economic pronouncement in history has been anticipated, discussed, predicted, dissected, and reported like the Federal Reserve’s momentous decision today not to raise interest rates.
The outpouring of relief witnessed today by the financial press is nothing short of cathartic. Fear and anxiety, built up over months, is replaced by relief, even euphoria.
——————————————————————————————————
World Holds Breath, Waits for “Death of the Dollar” – Wolf Richter
18 september
Dismantling the dollar hegemony one yuan at a time.
I’ve been asked many times about the impending “death of the dollar.” I know some folks who expect the dang thing to die. They’re already envisioning the spectacle. An entire industry has sprung up to prepare and equip people for the moment when the dollar dies. It’s like insurance, the theme goes: hopefully you’ll never need it.
——————————————————————————————————
Nauwelijks democratische én externe controle op miljardenrisico’s uit noodfondsen – Jean Wanningen
19 september
De Algemene Rekenkamer kraakt harde noten over het beleid van de Nederlandse regering ten aanzien van Europese steunprogramma’s en noodfondsen. Controle, verantwoording en transparantie over de gegeven leningen schieten ernstig tekort en democratische verankering ontbreekt.
De Nederlandse belastingbetaler loopt voor tientallen miljarden risico bij de Europese noodfondsen zonder dat er sprake is van een deugdelijke controle of democratische verankering van de besluitvorming. Dit constateert de Algemene Rekenkamer in haar rapport, dat vorige week verscheen.
——————————————————————————————————
Understanding contemporary capitalism part 2 – David Kotz
17 september
While it is widely agreed that capitalist economies underwent significant change after around 1980, there are different interpretations of the new form of capitalism that emerged. There is no agreement about the best organizing concept for post-1980 capitalism. Some view it as financialized capitalism, some as globalized capitalism, and some as neoliberal capitalism. These different conceptions of contemporary capitalism have implications for our understanding of the problems it has produced, including the financial and economic crisis that emerged from it in 2008. Focusing on the U.S. economy, I presented a case in part 1 that “neoliberal capitalism” is the best overall concept for understanding the form of capitalism that arose around 1980.
——————————————————————————————————
The Next Financial Crisis Won’t be Like the Last One – Charles Hugh Smith
15 september
Central banks are like generals: they tend to fight the last war. The Great Financial meltdown of 2008 was centered in too big to fail, too big to jail transnational banks and other financial entities with enormous exposure to collateral risk (such as subprime mortgages), highly leveraged bets and counterparty risk (the guys who were supposed to pay off your portfolio insurance vanish in a puff of digital smoke, leaving you to absorb the loss).
In response, the central banks and treasuries of the major economies “did whatever it took” to save the private banking sector from insolvency and collapse. In effect, central banks launched a multi-pronged bailout of banks and other financial heavyweights (such as AIG) and hastily constructed a clumsy and costly Maginot Line to protect the now-indispensable private banks from a similar meltdown.
——————————————————————————————————
Yellen’s “New” Mandate – Why We Are All Fed-Watchers Now – Tyler Durden
18 september
Perception is everything in contemporary economics and the Fed is the center of perception; the medium has become the message. The truth is more this: the Fed no longer reacts to the waxing and waning of animal spirit-led demand. In the current monetary regime it exists to create and maintain animal spirits with a secular policy centered on ever-expanding credit, but it is very aware that admitting it’s centrality would defeat its purpose.
——————————————————————————————————
Gold and Silver Bullion Demand Very Robust – Delays and Premiums Rising – Goldcore
19 september
Demand for physical gold and silver in August and September has been exceptionally strong as investors seek a safe-haven from market turmoil, as the global economy slows down and as it becomes clear that the Federal Reserve and central banks generally are slowly losing credibility and ultra loose monetary policies are set to continue for the foreseeable future.
——————————————————————————————————
Neo-Feudal America – Median Wages for Male Employees Down 5% Since 1973 – Michael Krieger
19 september
Another day, another data point proving what anyone with two functioning braincells already knows. That for most citizens, the U.S. economy is a neo-feudal Banana Republic oligarch hellhole. The facts are indisputable at this point, and the trend goes back decades when it comes to the American male. All the way back to 1973, in fact, just two years after the U.S. defaulted on gold and the economy started its grotesque transformation into a Wall Street controlled, financialized gulag.
——————————————————————————————————

Disclaimer: De VoL-redactie selecteert deze artikelen op interessante inzichten, of naar wij denken nuttige informatie. Wij kunnen echter geen enkele aansprakelijkheid aanvaarden voor de gevolgen van beslissingen die op grond hiervan door lezers zijn genomen, zakelijk zomin als privé.