Saturday, December 26, 2009
Obamacare To Cost Middle Class Families $15,000 A Year
Families struggling in the midst of a deep recession who earn a combined total greater than $88,200 and don’t have their health care covered by their employer will be hit with a mandatory annual fee of about $15,000 according to the Congressional Budget Office’s analysis of the final Senate Obamacare bill.
As we highlighted yesterday, the health care bill would introduce a raft of new taxes that would inevitably lead to higher costs that would be passed on to the public. A Boston Globe analysis revealed that there were at least 19 new taxes contained in the legislation which is set to be passed on Christmas Eve. (more)
US home foreclosures top one million mark
The number of US homes in foreclosure topped the one million mark for the first time ever, according to figures released this week by federal agencies. The continued deepening of the housing crisis is being driven by the relentless economic squeeze on working people, confronted with declining wages and persistent and growing mass unemployment. (more)
Can shoplifting really be justified? Why violating civil law is not always immoral
The Church of England's Archdeacon of York Richard Seed has issued a statement on their website in response to the controversy surrounding comments made by priest Tim Jones suggesting people shoplift when in a desperate situation
The statement, dated December 22, read:
- Statement on shoplifting
- Fr Tim Jones, a vicar from York, has been in the media recently, advocating shoplifting if people are in desparate circumstances.
- The Ven. Richard Seed, Archdeacon of York said, "The Church of England does not advise anyone to shoplift, or break the law in any way. Fr Tim Jones is raising important issues about the difficulties people face when benefits are not forthcoming, but shoplifting is not the way to overcome these difficulties. There are many organisations and charities working with people in need, and the Citizens' Advice Bureau is a good first place to call." (more)
The stock market is feeling mellow, but the bond market is sensing inflation
As of early this morning, the yield curve -- the difference in yield between a 2-year Treasury note and a 10-year Treasury note -- sits at a record 285 basis points. Fork over your money to the gubmint for two years and you get a paltry 0.88%. But 10 years? You get 3.73%. Yes, that’s paltry too. But it’s hard to ignore the gap being this wide. Bond buyers expect a substantially higher yield if they’re going to lend money to Uncle Sam for the next 10 years. That means they sense the value of the dollars they get back will be diminishing.
At least that’s what they sense right now. We hesitate to suggest the bond vigilantes are back; we’ve been down that road before. That said, there’s evidence the mortgage vigilantes are out in force. The spread between 10-year notes and 30-year mortgage rates is also widening, and also points to growing inflation expectations for 2010.
Trade of the Decade
As we approach the end of the decade, we take stock of our “Trade of the Decade.” You know it by heart, right? “Buy gold on dips, sell stocks on rallies.” Bloomberg News has now furnished pictorial evidence of this wisdom…
Gold comes out on top among all asset classes over the last 10 years. Stocks lost ground, even before inflation.
As Bloomberg put it: "A $100 investment in gold would now be more than $380 while the same sum in commodities would have grown to about $357, according to the Standard & Poor's GSCI Enhanced Total Return Index."
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