The Banker's Association reported increased delinquency rates on consumer loans and credit card debt spurred higher by increasing unemployment rates. The unemployment rate must be around 20% and higher for youth and minorities.
I don't have the figures for capital spending for this quarter but for industrial machinery it fell 47% the first three months of 2009. Construction spending fell 44%. As James Cooper commented in Business Week, "Businesses don't make decisions to shell out money based on cautious optimism" and I think that unemployment is likely to continue rising along with delinquencies. The bastards are still on a capital strike.
The bankers, after receiving trillions from working people are refusing to accept IOU's from California, the 6th largest economy in the world.
I read the other day that a major lender to over one million small businesses might go under. This is not the climate for capital expenditure.
The US deficit has risen beyond one trillion dollars for the first time ever. This crisis is far from over and we are correct in making it very clear that this administration will continue to savage workers and the middle class in order to pay for the bail out. The pope is so worried he's writing economic tracts.
The capital they hoard or invest in safe havens is the product of our labor, it is the surplus value extracted from past labor power. We shouldn't feel shy about taking it back.
1 comment:
One of the key architects of this whole fiasco, Goldy Sax, has posted big earnings. They should have gone under. Investigations, prosecutions and convictions.
In stead, they've received TARP money (they don't actually fulfill the criteria, but they got a waiver), a fraction of AIG's TARP money, FDIC assistance (they never paid into it before- again, another waiver) and many billions in guarantees from the Federal Reserve.
Post a Comment