Recent comments

  • One of the things that moved them was China's moves into their own semiconductor chip. A while back, do you remember the big stink on how some mainland electronics firms were stealing designs from AMD and Texas Instruments? There is also the story about the Loongson (also known as the "Dragon chip"), which is a MIPS based CPU. Its no secret that China wants it's own version of Intel, and there have been rumors of workers at one of "chipzilla's" plants in China stealing design info. You have to figure the folks in Santa Clara are figuring that as the Chinese ramp up their move high up the value chain, that they will attempt to mooch off of more of Intel's designs.

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    www.venomopolis.com

    Reply to: Saturn's diesel savior and the foundation of a new "Big 3 or 4 or 5??"   15 years 6 months ago
    EPer:
  • Zero Hedge has an article regarding the projection of the unemployment stats. Scary stuff!

    Reply to: Jobless rate slows, unemployment up and traders are happy   15 years 6 months ago
  • After watching a very thought provoking Friday Night video last night I observed this:

    When it comes to trade, economic, labor policies, the stuff that really matters, it seems to not matter at all who is President or even who controls Congress.

    They continue down this inane path, regardless of what the people want and even what all of the statistics say (and they are telling them loud and clear they are destroying the middle class, increasing wealth inequality, eroding the standard of living, already destroyed retirement and with the financial implosion, caused a global economic collapse).

    It is like there is no administration change at all. and that could be due to multinational corporations running the country.

    Reply to: U.S. export business lost today because of the VAT   15 years 6 months ago
    EPer:
  • Canada did just before it signed NAFTA. Clinton on the other hand repealed ours just before he signed it. Clinton opened more doors to our economic destruction than any of the Republicans ever did.

    Reply to: U.S. export business lost today because of the VAT   15 years 6 months ago
    EPer:
  • I don't think it's quite the same. In VLSI Si manufacturing they do not have to retool the process, it's just another die to create the wafers, the process i.e. 156nm, 65nm, 45nm, is where one needs to "Retool" and it's very expensive.

    Autos on the other hand, as I understand it for each assembly I think they need to retool, each different car.

    Now I don't know exactly how they make cars, but it seems already GM, Ford, Chrysler have already outsourced almost all of the real design and manufacture. i.e. engine, transmission, radios, seats, mirrors, ...
    almost all of the real design of these components I believe they outsourced and in house they are playing legos.

    So clearly that isn't much of a money saver.

    this is what I meant by as far as I know their global supply chain is pure insanity.

    I don't know what Toyota, Honda, etc. do but I suspect a lot of their component design, i.e. engine, transmission, drivetrain, etc. is more in house.

    Good question because the argument that it's all about the "labor costs" is pure B.S. No one is mentioning Japan has high labor costs in their country.

    So, the answer is not always to look for the cheapest labor and the supposed cheapest manufacturing around the globe.

    Even on FABs, Intel just committed billions to building up new FABs in the U.S. So even there clearly there is an advantage to having manufacturing in their home country and I suspect in Intel's case it has to do with quality control and having the most advanced VLSI process in the world, keeping it so is possibly their motivation.

    (We know they are not patriotic or believe in doing their duty or being a good corporate citizen!)

    Reply to: Saturn's diesel savior and the foundation of a new "Big 3 or 4 or 5??"   15 years 6 months ago
    EPer:
  • My job depends on consumer purchasing power. The EI's are deceptive.

    From Credit SlipsThe fact of the matter is that there is already a tremendous credit contraction going on in the credit card space.  The chart using data from Carddata.com shows the annualized rate at which card issuers are closing down accounts at their own initiative.  As of April, it was 19.01% (I understand that to mean that in April about 1.6% (=.19/12) of all accounts were closed).  Remember, this is account closings, not credit line reductions, which are occuring on top of the account closings. 


    In other words, a fair conclusion is that even without the legislation, we'd be seeing credit lines cut and eliminated right and left. 

    (Chart included at the site). 

    Crude Oil has risen 53% since Jan. 09. 

    We still have record job losses, personal and small business bankruptcies and the unknown effects of Bernanke flooding money supply.

     

    It is possible that as Naomi Klein prophesied that the transfer of private debt has been transferred to the public and economic recovery will result in an wider chasm between socioeconomic classes. In that case, the EI's are indicative of recovery.

    Unfortunately, the former middle class constituents will not see it realized.

    Reply to: Jobless rate slows, unemployment up and traders are happy   15 years 6 months ago
  • I've been toying around these past few months an idea for the auto industry. Basically applying the "Nvidia model" for the domestic car companies. I really thing the fabless model would have worked for GM and the other two. Seperate the manufacturing aspect from the rest of the company. Instead of all that money going to GM, take the billions to retool the existing viable plants to me able to produce a wider range of jobs on contract.

    Yes, I think it's highly doable. This would releave the burdon of these companies of such heavy costs. It would open up competition as many of the smaller car companies could now take advantage of much larger production capabilities that simply was not available before. Workers on the line would not have their futures tied to one single management's abilities or mistakes. Companies like GM could not blame a union, as their success would hinge soley on their remaining responsibilities: design, marketing, finance, and retail & service.

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    www.venomopolis.com

    Reply to: Saturn's diesel savior and the foundation of a new "Big 3 or 4 or 5??"   15 years 6 months ago
    EPer:
  • I believe those are the ones that burn clean,51 MPG and you can also turn them into french fry cars with no modification at all to the diesel engines.

    If so, that's wise, because I frankly want a french fry car where I can load up on diesel or at McDonalds and it also gets 51 MPG with loads of HP.

    Or, how about an alcohol car? Makes siphoning and DUI 1-stop shopping. All ya need then is a drive thru attorney and automatic bail bonds supercenter. Perhaps Wal-mart would get into the biz?

    Put those vices to work baby. None of this wheat grass and bicycle to work stuff. ;)

    Reply to: Saturn's diesel savior and the foundation of a new "Big 3 or 4 or 5??"   15 years 6 months ago
    EPer:
  • The Salt River Project out of Phoenix Arizona is readying an RFP to outsource the majority of IT jobs in an effort to "save money" over the next five years. US jobs are being lost to India, China, and South America. This “Global Market” is impacting yet another company. What isn’t being talked about is how SRP is also in the process of applying for hundreds of millions in stimulus dollars for Smart Grid technologies and various other IT projects. Here our government is handing over money to a quasi-governmental organization so they can fund outsourcing their jobs overseas. Not only should we be worried about outsourcing additional American jobs but how about the Security of the Nation’s Electric Grid? How about a company taking tax payer money while moving jobs overseas?

    There is always a half truth behind every news report like the one below. They have every intention of outsourcing all of IT no matter how they spin it with the media.
    http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/2009/05/21/20090521biz-outsou...

    Reply to: How Many Jobs in the Stimulus Bill Could Be Offshore Outsourced?   15 years 6 months ago
  • Chris Martenson has a few questions about the BLS numbers.

    First, he wonders what is so special about this particular May, in the year 2009?

    Of course, there was also that ADP report from Wednesday which showed

    Nonfarm private employment decreased 532,000 from April to May 2009 on a seasonally
    adjusted basis, according to the ADP National Employment Report®. The estimated change of
    employment from March to April was revised by 54,000, from a decline of 491,000 to a decline
    of 545,000.

    And, finally, there is the question of what has happened to those temporary census workers that were hired in April but were out of work in May.

    The interesting part is that the ADP number does not include government workers, so I would have expected the BLS release (which does) to have tracked lower, not higher, than the ADP data. I say this because every state I have looked at has either cut or frozen government jobs. Yet the BLS report estimated that only 7,000 government jobs were lost across the entire country, which is mysterious, since quite a few of the temporary census jobs were terminated in May.

    {snip}

    Given that 60,000 temporary census jobs went away, I am at a loss to figure out how all the other government hiring and firing collectively added up to a 53,000 job gain to secure the final -7,000 reading.

    Once again, one is left to wonder if the BLS has one too many letters or if it is more accurately an acronym for Bureau of Lying Statistics!

    Reply to: WOW! May nonfarm payrolls -345,000   15 years 6 months ago
    EPer:
  • Felix Salmon is quick to remind us how these unemployment improvements relate to the now infamous stress tests.

    So, we're already one half or one full percentage appoint ahead of the stressful projections for this year and it's only thru 5 months AND the auto bankruptcy related losses haven't even begun. Makes one wonder where housing prices are eventually headed, especially in light of the rising mortgage rates. This Bear rally in the stock market is most definitely a sucker rally, IMO. We are not even close to hitting bottom in this recession. I think this is going to get ugly this Autumn.

    Reply to: Jobless rate slows, unemployment up and traders are happy   15 years 6 months ago
    EPer:
  • I feel exactly the opposite, unless somebody becomes uncomfortable with what I post, then I might as well be talking to thin air. Only the uncomfortable ever change.

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    Maximum jobs, not maximum profits.

    Reply to: Jobless rate slows, unemployment up and traders are happy   15 years 6 months ago
    EPer:
  • not at all and for comments, blast away, it's more for posts where the data, stats need to be there to back it up.

    I just have on my mind how EP is not only growing, it's taking off because the writers are posting such detailed economic analysis, statistics, references...

    so I just want to keep that direction going.

    I post a lot of comments, fast, trying to keep up the general dialog so we can have a conversation and like most conservations, sometimes something is typed which might sound wrong from it's intent and so on.

    Not even directed at u.

    Reply to: Jobless rate slows, unemployment up and traders are happy   15 years 6 months ago
    EPer:
  • Robert,

    "But, by the theory, by the statistics, by the numbers is the focus, not just blasting and name calling ..."

    Well, nothing compels my posting here if someone is going to be made in some way uncomfortable by it. Consider the problem remedied.

    Reply to: Jobless rate slows, unemployment up and traders are happy   15 years 6 months ago
  • on Sunday. They are clearly working to be our personal house band.

    Reply to: Henry C. K. Liu of the Asia Times: It's a Global Wage Crisis   15 years 6 months ago
    EPer:
  • says it all. One can have a "recovery" while working America is royally screwed, falling more and more into poverty, standard of living declining.

    I'll have to take this up as a blog post later.

    Reply to: Jobless rate slows, unemployment up and traders are happy   15 years 6 months ago
    EPer:
  • Bloomberg's audience is the super rich, the investor with at least $100k portfolios and so on.

    This has been a major problem generally with EIs, they are not weighting enough of working America, what is happening on main street, in my opinion.

    Take 2002, while the numbers said the recession was over, the fact is middle class wages were on a downward spiral, employment security was a joke now and they blasted all retirement for the next generation.

    So, that's a hidden timebomb which doesn't get enough attention...

    I mean it's like it's not realized without a middle class not only does one not have a Democracy but also it will lead to macro economic implosion.

    But all of that said, a minor drop is a signal, so ya know, gotta read up on EIs and what they all imply to get the headline.

    EP is all about focus on main street, right. We don't have Populist in the title for nothing.

    But, by the theory, by the statistics, by the numbers is the focus, not just blasting and name calling (although that is allowed, more put your outrage next to a graph and statistics table).

    Reply to: Jobless rate slows, unemployment up and traders are happy   15 years 6 months ago
    EPer:
  • April

    Current unemployment = 13.7 million Americans

    Discourged workers = 700,000

    Marginally attached workers = 1.4 million people

    Unemployed, underemployed or had given up looking for a job = 25 million

    In the last year

    Involuntary part-timers has increased by 4.9 million in the past year, according to a May study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland

    Estimated total = 40,800,000

    Reply to: Jobless rate slows, unemployment up and traders are happy   15 years 6 months ago
    EPer:
  • period. That is the U.S. government and Congress's job.

    The financial oligarchy is seemingly alive and well, now fat on taxpayer money.

    How's that for a Thomas Paine type of statement?

    Reply to: The Fed Loves the Shadow Banking System   15 years 6 months ago
    EPer:
  • Nick Turse has an outstanding article on the real unemployment numbers. Makes for some interesting reading.

    Reply to: Jobless rate slows, unemployment up and traders are happy   15 years 6 months ago

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