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While many economists and market watchers have failed to notice, we have entered a new chapter in the short and checkered history of central banking. This paradigm shift, as yet unaddressed in the textbooks, changes the basic policy tools that have traditionally defined the sphere of macroeconomic decision-making. The job of a central banker is supposed to be the calibration of interest rates to achieve the optimal rate of growth for any particular economic environment. It is hoped that successful decisions, which involve perfectly timed moves to raise rates when the economy overheats and lower them when it cools, would...

Investment & Finance Week in Review (Thread -Sept. 21 edition)Prices finally picked a direction and went for it  --topping a super week w/ metals collapsing, an FOMC meeting, Scottish Vote not to do anything, new IRS rules, stocks leaping, and the Alibaba IPO hype,  --and in the lull before the end of Q3 and beginning a new earnings season.  One thing at a time; metals finally broke in to newer lower levels as support folded,    ...and stock traders made up their minds deciding to respect the 50-day moving average support and rebound prices into what IBD calls "market in...

IÂ’m a big advocate of the Laffer Curve. Simply stated, itÂ’s absurdly inaccurate to think that taxpayers and the economy are insensitive to changes in tax policy.Yet bureaucracies such as the Joint Committee on Taxation basically assume that the economy will be unaffected and that tax revenues will jump dramatically if tax rates are boosted by, say, 100 percent.In the real world, however, big changes in tax policy can and will lead to changes in taxable income. In other words, incentives matter. If the government punishes you more for earning more income, you will figure out ways to reduce the...

There has been a lot of talk about regulations, more specifically about how the number of regulations have grown during the last several years. Sad to say, if you take a longer-term view and look again at the regulatory environment, you’ll find it has been what an investor would call a growth industry, with the number of restrictions in the Code of Federal Regulations growing 28% since 1997 – that’s nearly 2% per year. If page count is an indicator, then hang on to your collective hats — in 1975, the Code of Federal Regulations had 71,224 pages. By 2013,...

An uprising by residents in several Seattle neighborhoods has prompted a City Council proposal, backed by the mayor, that attempts to strike a balance between developers of micro-apartments, opponents, and the needs of a fast-growing city that is home to many one-person households.

This week, both the House and Senate overwhelmingly passed legislation to train, arm and fund the elusive “moderate” Muslim rebels fighting to overthrow the Assad regime in Syria. The plan calls for the U.S. to start supporting between 3,000 and 5,000 rebels in the Free Syrian Army. It is part of a $500 million aid package that will authorize U.S. support through December 11, 2014. While the bill passed both houses with ease, it received more support from Republicans than Democrats. Yes, it is a truly sad day for the country when Democrats sound more reasonable than Republicans. According to...

A Colorado couple are suing the Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort & Spa, alleging that the resort had a bedbug problem and failed to tell them about it last year when they stayed at the hotel. Aaron and Sharon Tucker of Aurora County, Colorado, booked their stay at the Hilton Hawaiian Village on July 30, 2013, and were not told about a bedbug infestation, they said in the lawsuit. The couple claim they suffered from bedbug bites during their stay from Aug. 24-31, 2013, and claim they continued to be bitten after returning home, ... A search through bedbugregistry.com found...

Cisco Systems, which designed a computer program enabling the Chinese government to inflict human rights abuses on members of the Falun Gong religious sect, apparently won’t be held liable for those abuses because China didn’t bring its victims to the United States to be tortured. Cisco sold a system called “Golden Shield” to the Chinese government, touting its ability to uniquely identify members of Falun Gong and as “the only product capable of recognizing over 90% of Falun Gong pictorial information,” according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).

Co-written by Stephen Moore Maybe the U.S. economy, a weakling for the last six years, is finally starting to flex some muscle. We're referring to the return of King Dollar For those who haven't been paying attention, the greenback is in the midst of a rally not seen since the 1990s. It's racing past the euro, the yen and other currencies. Investors worldwide are buying the equivalent of stock in America, Inc. If the rise in the dollar's valuation is sustainable, it's welcome news for the stock market, for fighting inflation and for U.S. growth prospects. Ronald Reagan said it...

After months of planning, the People’s Climate March began rolling through a large swath of Midtown Manhattan on Sunday, taking public frustration over stalled efforts to curb carbon emissions to the streets in a noisy, vivid display of unity. At 11:30 a.m., the march began moving east along 59th Street from Columbus Circle, proceeding along a circuitous, two-mile route, and drawing labor and immigrant groups, students and politicians, scientists and religious leaders. The march will turn south on Avenue of the Americas, head west on 42nd Street to 11th Avenue and finish at 34th Street. The protest comes two days...

Funded by the National Science Foundation and Duke University, a team of scientists at Ohio State and other universities conducted extensive research into the purported link between groundwater pollution and fracking. (The full title of the report, available online, is “Noble Gases Identify the Mechanisms of Fugitive Gas Contamination in Drinking-Water Wells Overlying the Marcellus and Barnett Shales.”) In an examination of 130 wells, the researchers found that, when properly conducted, no groundwater or aquifer pollution resulted from the practice of fracking itself.

Four years ago, Kirk Swallow received state money to set up a compressed natural gas filling facility at the Rifle Shell station he co-owns. The Colorado Energy Office, then under Gov. Bill Ritter and known as the Governor’s Energy Office, gave Swallow’s company a $675,000 grant — money from fines collected from companies that violated state regulations. Swallow said he chipped in about $300,000. But, in June, Swallow had to permanently shut down the CNG pumps at 101 Railroad Ave., in Rifle, Colo. He said he was losing money because of increased competition, excessive electricity fees to run the pumps...

<p>OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- An Oklahoma City-based energy company has unveiled a new formation in south-central Oklahoma that the company's CEO said will elevate the state as an oil producer.</p> <p>Continental Resources Inc. said western Oklahoma's Springer Shale deposit is in the heart of the South Central Oklahoma Oil Province, Continental's last big discovery, The Oklahoman reported (http://bit.ly/1qk32sd).</p>

China Fines GlaxoSmithKline Nearly $500 Million in Bribery Case By KEITH BRADSHER and CHRIS BUCKLEY SEPT. 19, 2014 HONG KONG — Global multinationals have invested billions of dollars in China over the last decade, with the prospect of selling to 1.4 billion people. But the promise of China’s growth is increasingly offset by the dangers of being caught up in the country’s anticorruption campaigns and rising economic nationalism. In the strongest signal yet, a Chinese court on Friday imposed a fine of nearly $500 million on the British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline for bribery, dwarfing the penalties in earlier criminal cases

ericynot1 wrote: As is so often the case, Ransom, in an effort to tarnish Democrats, has twisted things and left out much of the interesting stuff about this story. The special prosecutor, Michael McCrum, who investigated this case against Perry, and took it to a grand jury, is anything but a political hack. He's an ex-cop (four years in Dallas and Arlington, TX) turned lawyer/ federal prosecutor who's known to be non-partisan (donates money to candidates from both parties, though more to Republicans), and was appointed by Bert Richardson, a Republican judge appointed by GW Bush. Brian Wice, Tom DeLay's attorney...

NEW YORK — Exxon Mobil said Friday that it will wind down a drilling project in Russia in compliance with U.S. sanctions, but said it received a license to keep working beyond the sanctions' deadline in order to complete the work. U.S. sanctions against Russia over its involvement in the Ukraine require the removal of U.S. workers on projects in the Russian Arctic and other select locations by September 26.

NEW YORK — The maker of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer is being sold to Russian company Oasis Beverages for an undisclosed sum. Oasis is buying Pabst with TSG, an investment firm known for its work with consumer products companies. TSG Consumer Partners will take a minority stake in Pabst. In addition to its namesake beer, Pabst Brewing Co. makes Colt 45, Old Milwaukee and Schlitz, in addition to regional brews such as Lone Star, Rainier and Old Style. Pabst was acquired in 2010 by C. Dean Metropoulos & Co., which is known for investing in food brands, including Twinkie maker...

Ferguson is not just about systemic racism—it's about class warfare, and how America's poor are held back ill the recent rioting in Ferguson, Missouri, be a tipping point in the struggle against racial injustice, or will it be a minor footnote in some future grad student’s thesis on Civil Unrest in the Early Twenty-First Century? More Feds Will Perform Another Autopsy on Michael Brown NBC NewsHungry Heroes: 25 Percent of Military Families Seek Food Aid NBC News'We Have Had Enough': Ferguson Rally Remembers Michael Brown NBC NewsFerguson Protesters Guard Stores From Looters Huffington PostWestboro Baptist Church's Plan To Protest Robin...

Rather than waiting until specifics about the Michael Brown case are known — such as autopsy results, detailed officer reports, toxicology or other details regarding his death — some Ferguson residents, Brown supporters and various hangers-on decided to act. Learning nothing from the Trayvon Martin case, people took to the street with demands for “justice” and homemade protest signs. They were aided by a media seemingly excited about exploiting the narrative that Brown’s death was at the hands of a brutal and possibly racist cop in a militarized police force that cares little about black residents. Ensuing nights after the...

Maybe the U.S. economy, a weakling for the last six years, is finally starting to flex some muscle. We’re referring to the return of King Dollar. For those who haven’t been paying attention, the greenback is in the midst of a rally not seen since the 1990s. It’s racing past the euro, the yen, and other currencies. Investors worldwide are buying the equivalent of stock in America, Inc. If the rise in the dollar’s valuation is sustainable, it’s welcome news for the stock market, for fighting inflation, and for U.S. growth prospects. Ronald Reagan said it best: A strong dollar...