Losing the Forests for the Banks

An interesting study by the Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (Teeb), commissioned by EU, puts the annual cost of forest loss at between $2 trillion and $5 trillion. This makes the current loss from financial crisis look like small change.
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After today's market decline, the S&P 500 is at 2003 levels. This despite extraordinary intervention by the Treasury and the Fed, combining fast and loose monetary and fiscal policies.

Now the government wants to guarantee payments to banks on loans the latter make to individuals and businesses, in return for some equity stakes. Why don't the bozos go the whole distance and just nationalize the banks, rather than play this charade? If the taxpayers are going to be saddled with lousy assets, let them decide who get to run these entities to the ground.
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On a lighter note...
Google's clever new idea -Mail Goggles.

Downturn Forces Cutbacks Big and Small: Two-Sided Copies, Fewer Car Rentals and Firing the Lawn Service -- Companies Trim as Business Slows

Mayor Richard Daley vowed Thursday to identify, discipline and fire city garbage workers caught loafing on the job.

"These are great jobs. No one should be loafing, drinking, smoking, quitting early or anything else. . . . If you don't want the job, just quit,” the mayor said after a news conference on property tax bills.

"We are going to identify these individuals. We are going to discipline and fire them,” he added.

The tough comments, typical for Daley after embarrassing news breaks, came after an Inspector General’s report released Wednesday blasted garbage workers for loafing in what was characterized as “systemic, pervasive” waste and fraud. The office spied on 77 garbage truck drivers and 145 laborers in 10 wards before drawing its conclusions.

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Brunswick plans to shut 4 plants, lay off 1,400 workers as boating market continues to sour

Falling prices for the flash memory used in a wide range of consumer electronics have forced Micron Technology to shut down most of a factory it shares with Intel and lay off close to 3,000 workers, the company said on Thursday.

Consumers forced to rethink buying patterns

Joe Six Packs and Hockey Moms..Moving the Country back to the Dark Ages

A few years ago, I was returning from Phoenix one late night on a Southwest Airlines flight. Landing at Midway airport is never fun, as it is in the middle of the city and the runways are relatively short, and landing in the dark is always more challenging. The landing was so smooth that there was not even the tiniest of bumps, and no one realized we were on the ground until the breaks were applied. This was the finest landing I have ever experienced. All the passengers gave a rousing ovation to the flight crew, and then the flight captain, a lady, came out and acknowledged the greetings. That pilot demonstrated experience, steadiness, and intelligence in performing a difficult task so smoothly.

Any accomplished person like that pilot would be shocked and distressed to see the performance of Sarah Palin and John McCain. The amazing part of the American 'political culture' is this- A candidate demonstrates education, intelligence, eloquence, skilled oratory and good general knowledge, and the opposing party works overtime to spread fear, hatred and animosity about him- emphasizing that he is not one of the 'Common Dumb Man or Woman.' True to form, the McPalin gang is now trying to brand Obama with his middle name, blatantly trying to mislead the Joe Six packs and the hockey moms to believe that he is somehow a 'terrorist.' The gang is also using other insinuations to label Obama as 'untrustworthy' and 'a foreigner.'
The elections of 2000 and 2004 have demonstrated that betting on the success of this disgusting strategy, based on the brains (or lack thereof) of the Joe Six Packs and the Hockey moms, has been a very rewarding one, for the bettors. The question now is - given the disastrous eight years under Bush, with the trend line pointing down and the bottom yet to be reached, will these brain-dead Joe Six Packs, the Hockey moms and the Soccer moms get an awakening?

Government Bailout helps Executives 'Retreat'

According to AP...less than a week after the federal government had to bail out American International Group Inc., the company sent executives on a $440,000 retreat to a posh California resort, lawmakers investigating the company's meltdown said Tuesday.

September consumer sales drop sharply: MasterCard

Falling behind: More Americans see utilities cut off.....The number of Americans whose electricity or natural gas has been shut off for nonpayment of their bills is up sharply in many parts of the country as people struggle with higher prices and a shaky economy.

On Education

Video Game Helps Math Students Vanquish an Archfiend: Algebra
....This fall, New York City is rolling out Dimension M — M stands for math — in 109 middle schools across the five boroughs after trying the game out in two dozen schools, including I.S. 30, last year. Like a modern twist on “Jeopardy!,” the fast-paced video game quizzes students on prealgebra and algebra topics ranging from prime numbers to fractions and complex equations. A correct answer brings 500 or more points, a wrong one as few as 25; the player with the most points wins. (No prizes, just glory.)...

The Good Old Days of Subsidized Luxury...

Ridiculously low gas prices, inexpensive food, cheap flights, time to waste (watching sports, for example) are going the way of the 5 1/4 inch floppy.

The Fed took extraordinary steps today..
******Fed Takes Steps Under Bailout Bill

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve said Monday that it would begin paying interest on commercial banks’ reserves and would expand its loan program to squeezed banks by billions of dollars, fresh steps to help ease a painful credit crisis. ......The Fed also said that 28-day and 84-day cash loans being made available to banks would be increased to $150 billion apiece, effective Monday. Those increases will eventually bring the amounts outstanding under the program to $600 billion.Loans that will be made available in November to banks also will be increased to $150 billion each. That makes a total of $900 billion in credit potentially outstanding over year’s end, the Fed said.*****

In addition the Fed added the following: "In addition, the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department are consulting with market participants on ways to provide additional support for term unsecured funding markets..... Federal Reserve stands ready to take additional measures as necessary to foster liquid money market conditions."

In addition Bloomberg reports that "Massachusetts approached the U.S. Treasury about possible financing if it can't raise the money from private investors. California, seeking to borrow $7 billion next week, also has communicated with federal authorities, with officials saying they may run out of cash by month-end without the funding."

This means that the Fed and the Treasury are going to guarantee 'commercial unsecured paper.'
This should scare the bejeezus of everyone- taxpayers saddled with unsecured paper. But then again it is all PAPER stuff...

While the CNBC folks and the Paulson/Ben gang are focused on pumping more and more money into the 'system' the reality is being captured in other headlines...

'Unbundling' of airline fees gaining speed in U.S.
American Airlines plans next year to adopt the a la carte pricing strategy of Air Canada. This move, along with capacity cuts, ensures that prices for flights will go up dramatically over the next few years.

Big Discounts Fail to Lure Shoppers Retailers... Tried Promotions in September But Worried Consumers Curbed Spending

Full of Doubts, U.S. Shoppers Cut Spending

Kraft to cut 400 jobs, most at division HQs...

Summary: eBay plans to slash work force by 1,600 jobs, its largest cut ever

These are the types of jobs that pay good salaries and benefits, and are hard to replace..

The citizens have to face up to the reality that their standard of living will become significantly lower. The competitiveness for jobs will be much higher. Students, parents, and educators have to recognize this. The days of even a 'F' student from the U.S. having a better life than an 'A' student in Shanghai are going the way of WordStar and VMS.