Free Republic

As Hedge Funds Go Mainstream, Risk Is Magnified By Ben White Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, August 11, 2005; D01 NEW YORK -- In 1990, there were about 600 hedge funds with $38 billion in assets. Today, there are about 8,000 with more than $1 trillion in assets. Estimates suggest that hedge fund trading can account for as much as half the daily volume on the NYSE...... Worst-Case Scenario The regulators and executives say the worst-case result of the industry's blistering growth and light regulation would be a repeat of 1998, when the near-collapse of hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management...

Watching the Economy Crumble Paul Craig Roberts Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2005 The United States continues its descent into the Third World, but you would never know it from news reports of the Bureau of Labor Statistics' July payroll jobs release. The media give a bare-bones jobs report that is misleading. The public heard that 207,000 jobs were created in July. If not a reassuring figure, at least it is not a disturbing one. On the surface, things look to be pretty much OK. It is when you look into the composition of these jobs that the concern arises. Of the...

The United States continues its descent into the Third World, but you would never know it from news reports of the Bureau of Labor Statistics' July payroll jobs release. The media give a bare-bones jobs report that is misleading. The public heard that 207,000 jobs were created in July. If not a reassuring figure, at least it is not a disturbing one. On the surface, things look to be pretty much OK. It is when you look into the composition of these jobs that the concern arises. Of the new jobs, 26,000 (about 13 percent) are tax-supported government jobs. That...

The June payroll jobs report did not receive much attention due to the July 4 holiday, but the depressing 21st century job performance of the U.S. economy continues unabated. Only 144,000 private sector jobs were created, each one of which was in domestic services. Fifty-six thousand jobs were created in professional and business services, about half of which are in administrative and waste services. Thirty-eight thousand jobs were created in education and health services, almost all of which are in health care and social assistance. Nineteen thousand jobs were created in leisure and hospitality, almost all of which are waitresses...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. EMPORIA, Kan. - Days after merging with a rival, the owners of a Kansas radiator plant said Monday the factory will close in September and leave 130 people unemployed. The Modine Manufacturing Co. plant opened in Emporia in 1973 to build sheet-metal radiators for Ford Motor Co. On Friday, Modine's aftermarket division merged with Transpro Inc., a Connecticut-based competitor, to form Proliance International Inc. The merger will move production to two existing plants in Mexico, and the Emporia facility will be sold. Two regional plants and branch distribution centers in Denver...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. Proponents of so-called "free" trade agreements like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which I opposed, have long promised endless riches for U.S. workers, farmers, businesses and economy. They've been wrong on all counts. Failed U.S. trade policies have led to the export of millions of high-paying American jobs; decline in U.S. living standards; soaring trade deficits; and a significant erosion of U.S. sovereignty to international trade bureaucrats. Despite this unbroken record of failure, the House is expected to vote before August on an agreement the Bush administration negotiated to...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. As data gathered in the real world of international rivalry continues to show an expanding U.S. trade deficit that will likely hit $700 billion this year (up from $617 billion last year), a great wailing is heard from the Defenders of Free Trade. Their libertarian economic faith is immune to facts, either from present observation or historical experience. That's what makes it a secular religion. Nothing better reveals its reliance on superstition and ignorance than how readily its adherents resort to falsehoods to defend its dogma. Consider two recent columns that...

Economic data continue to point to ongoing growth of the US economy, but financial-market participants have become more doubtful. This was reflected in expressions of concern following the release of the latest US trade deficit figures earlier in April, and especially in the plummeting of stockmarket indices a week ago. Moreover, the latest industrial output and import-price inflation data have prompted the revival of a nearly forgotten term, "stagflation". While the Economist Intelligence Unit is not forecasting a scenario of high inflation and a stagnant economy, the combination of creeping price pressures and slowing growth has already arrived. On the...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Steelcase Inc. announced Monday that it will cut 600 jobs over the next two years as it shuts down its remaining manufacturing operations in the city and consolidates work at other plants. The furniture maker said it will vacate the remaining factories at its sprawling Grand Rapids campus. Much of the work from the chair and panel plants will be moved to plants in Kent County's Gaines Township and Kentwood. About 30 jobs will move to Steelcase's plant in Mexico, The Grand Rapids Press reported. One hundred...

The developed world is on the brink of the greatest demographic change in its history, and America's standard of living will decrease by almost one-third by the middle of this century, according to a new study released by the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA). The report adds that over the next 30 years, the number of elderly in the United States, the European Union and Japan will more than double, while the number of workers available to pay the elderly their government-promised benefits will rise by less than 10%. That will require large tax increases – the payroll tax...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. Four hundred twenty-five jobs gone by the end of the year. That's the word Tuesday from officials who said any deal to save a furniture factory in Union County is dead. It was crushing news to Pennsylvania House workers. After three months of keeping hope alive, they went to work Tuesday morning and found their dream had been dashed. After months of sale negotiations involving local, state and federal officials, Pennsylvania House parent company La-Z-Boy said it will go through with the plant closure announced in August. Governor Ed Rendell broke...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. MOUNTAINTOP, Pa. - A Luzerne County perfume factory is closing at the end of the year, leaving 200 people out of work. New Dana Perfumes Inc., the maker of fragrances including Tabu, English Leather and Love's Baby Soft, will close its plant in Wright Township, said Peter Schreiber of Dimeling, Schreiber & Park, the Philadelphia investment firm that bought the perfume-manufacturing operation in July 1999 Dana Classic Fragrances Inc., which holds the trademark to the names and formulas and markets and sells the perfumes, will continue to operate - but officials...

Republicans are celebrating 337,000 new jobs created in October, but a look behind the numbers shows the same discouraging trend of the past four years. The U.S. economy can only create jobs in government and in areas of domestic services that cannot be outsourced or replaced with imports. Government employment accounts for 41,000 of the new jobs. The private economy produced 296,000 jobs in October. Of these jobs, 71,000 are in construction; 36,000 are in wholesale trade, retail trade, transportation and warehousing; credit services account for 17,000 jobs; employment services (primarily temporary help) account for 55,000 jobs; school administrators and...

Anchor Glass Container Corp. closed Thursday, the same day President Bush outlined his second term's emphasis on small business and concern for American interests. Union employees received word Thursday evening. Roughly 350 of them are now out of work. The 3 to 11 shift was sent home, according to Charles Tressler, president of Union Local 149 of the Glass, Molders, Pottery, Plastics and Allied Workers International Union (GMP). "The plant is closed," Tressler said. "The machines were shut down at 7:30 p.m. The reason they gave was economic. The glass industry is softer. There are fewer sales. "Once the company...

I ran into a relative at a wedding this weekend. We hadn't seen each other since the last family wedding, three years ago. I asked how her daughter was doing, and this story came pouring out. Her daughter's husband was laid off in July from a company where he had worked for 28 years. He will miss out on his pension and faces job-hunting now at age 52. His wife is working 50 hours a week and fears making any missteps at her job because she is now carrying the family's health insurance. He's depressed and is a scatterbrained substitute...

Comptroller General David Walker's most troubling briefing paper shows the federal budget growing progressively larger until spending reaches nearly half the economy's total output in 2040. Now, federal spending is nearly 20 percent of gross domestic product, the economy's annual output, and many people think that is too big. In addition, the government collects 16.2 percent of GDP (news - web sites) in taxes. The rest is red ink.

My sisters and I became ashamed when we got the news. My mother and father bought a Hyundai. My father used to be a General Motors man. Sure, he made the mistake of buying a few Fords over the years, such as the 1976 Pinto that mother wouldn't ride in for fear it would explode. And both Volkswagens were lemons, especially the Beetle that wouldn't start unless we covered the motor with a plastic diaper every night. But father only made such mistakes with our second car. Our main car was usually a GM. I still miss our 1976 Catalina...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. U.S. toolmaker Black & Decker says it will dismiss about 700 employees, shut two factories and move production offshore. The moves follow a $775 million merger with Pentair's Tools Group unit that Black & Decker bought this month, the Baltimore Sun reported Wednesday. Workers at the acquired unit will bear many of the job losses: as many as 75 sales, management, marketing and engineering employees out of 1,800, most of whom are in manufacturing and distribution, will be cut at two plants, and more than 100 sales representatives will be fired...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. If you think Pedro Martinez' numbers against the New York Yankees look bad (and they do), they're nothing compared with the government's latest monthly trade figures. Dismal as the Boston Red Sox ace's performance against the Bronx Bombers has been, he looks like a champion next to the trade numbers, which are one important measure of the U.S. economy's performance against the rest of the world. Not that the trade surplus and deficit figures tell us everything we need to know about America's competitiveness. In particular, they compare apples and oranges...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. Washington, October 16 -- The United States will lose more than 400,000 jobs this year to India, Mexico, China, and other Asian nations as multinational corporations restructure operations and shift production overseas, according to a study. The number of jobs lost will be around double those three years ago, according to the study by Cornell University and the University of Massachusetts for the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission. The study came amid heated debate ahead of the November 2 presidential elections on outsourcing of jobs to India, China and other...