Whoops

The U.S. economy posted a stunning drop of 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter, defying expectations for slow growth and possibly providing incentive for more Federal Reserve stimulus. The economy shrank from October through December for the first time since the recession ended, hurt by the biggest cut in defense spending in 40 years, fewer exports and sluggish growth in company stockpiles. The Commerce Department said Wednesday that the economy contracted at an annual rate of 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter. That's a sharp slowdown from the 3.1 percent growth rate in the July-September quarter. CNBC

The economy must be like Fresno, CA; devoid of skills.

Evolution in progress

Egypt’s defense chief warned that political unrest could bring about the “collapse” of the state, increasing pressure on President Mohamed Mursi after almost a week of street battles in which dozens of Egyptians have died. Protesters in the Suez Canal province of Port Said -- one of three areas the president has placed under emergency rule -- vowed a second night of defiance of the overnight curfew. The unrest built on a refusal by Mursi’s secular opponents to join in talks to ease the situation. The conflict between the political forces “and their disagreement on running the country may lead to the collapse of the state,” Defense Minister Abdelfatah Al-Seesi was quoted as saying in a statement posted on the armed forces’ official Facebook page. The political instability and economic challenges “represent a real threat to Egypt’s security.”

Egyptians are like citizens of Fresno, devoid of any useful skills.

Why am I not surprised?

The financial screws have suddenly tightened by a couple of turns at Fresno City Hall. Moody's Investors Service has lowered by one notch its rating on most of the city's high-profile bond deals of the past 15 years. These deals include the pension obligation bonds, the Convention Center bonds and the No Neighborhood Left Behind bonds. In the world of credit-worthiness, the downgrade knocks Fresno's bonds from average (Baa2) to below average (Ba1 and Ba2, depending on the bond deal). Wall Street, skeptical for months that Fresno can get its financial act together, is turning pessimistic. The Moody's downgrade comes as Fresno County Clerk Brandi Orth predicts her review of residential trash petitions almost certainly will go into March. If so, City Manager Mark Scott may have no choice but to begin substantial layoffs and service cuts. Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/01/29/3151660/fresno-budget-woes-mount.html#storylink=cpy

I am not worried, the professors at UC tell me multipliers are always greater than one, so this must be fiction. Here is the problem:

But the gloom overwhelms everything: A huge general fund deficit, a general fund consumed by high fixed costs such as salaries, no reserves and a weak Valley economy made worse by the limited skills of much of the population. Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/01/29/3151660/fresno-budget-woes-mount.html#storylink=cpy

All my fault, my limited skill set.

Al Gore: Idiot

"I think that the influence of television over the last half century has been harmful to the operations of our democracy," said Gore. "In the age of our founding, and for much of the history of the republic, crucial. Individuals could gain easy access to information and could express their own views. They can't do that on television." BF Politics

Undemocrats have to be embeciles not to get these mistakes. Let me remind the mathematically challenged ex-VP, California has 1/5 the Senate vote as the medium American citizen. Really, can folks please excercise a little long division before mis-speaking about democracy in America.

Obamacare meets defined benefits

Fresno County lags most of California in embracing President Barack Obama's health-care reform, meaning thousands of uninsured residents could face delays in getting new federally funded medical care next year. County leaders say they can't afford to participate in a state program that already has begun integrating federal health care policy and signing people up for coverage. While many counties will be ready to put their uninsured residents on federal rolls and assure them services come Jan. 1 -- when the Affordable Care Act starts in earnest -- Fresno County is yet to figure out its transition. "The folks who need health care are just not going to get it," said former executive director of Fresno Metro Ministry Richard Yanes, who has been following federal reform efforts in Fresno County. "The process of taking an individual applicant through the system so that the individual is getting benefits is not easy to set up. And we're so far behind." Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/01/19/3140293/fresno-county-ill-prepared-for.html#storylink=cpy

Fresno County devotes about 30% of its budget to defined benefits. Another 10% is designated to pay off a retirement bond. This all comes to light now because the bond vigilantes are in town making the county budget honest. Negative multipliers across California on Obamacare for another four years.

California gas prices stable

Ycharts Bouncing around $3.75. A positive indicator for California. Conflicting data still.

Clinton Smart, Obama stupid

Real median household income soared to $54,932 in 1999 from $50,661 in 1996 based on constant 2011 dollars, an all-time high since the U.S. Census began reporting the data in 1967. By contrast, median household income in November was $51,310 -- $3,850 lower than when Obama took office in January 2009, according to an analysis of census data by Sentier Research, an economic-consulting firm in Annapolis, Maryland. In Clinton’s second term, gross domestic product grew at an average 4.3 percent rate and the unemployment rate averaged 4.4 percent. That created a tight labor market that provided workers leverage to press for higher wages. Bloomberg

Clinton, growth policy good for middle class. Clinton policies adopted by House, Senate and Obama in 2012. Obama, at the urging of the numbskulls in California, reverses the Clinton choice and adopts negative growth policy, specifically to destroy the middle class. I calculate the Obama has wipeed out another 5% of America's middle class. I guess stupidity is the plan of the Undemocratic Party.

Evolved squirrels solve oil problem

U.S. oil production grew more in 2012 than in any year in the history of the domestic industry, which began in 1859, and is set to surge even more in 2013. Daily crude output averaged 6.4 million barrels a day last year, up a record 779,000 barrels a day from 2011 and hitting a 15-year high, according to the American Petroleum Institute (API), a trade group. It is the biggest annual jump in production since Edwin Drake drilled the first commercial oil well in Titusville, Pa., two years before the Civil War began (see chart above).
The U.S. Energy Information Administration predicts 2013 will be an even bigger year, with average daily production expected to jump by 900,000 barrels a day. The surge comes thanks to a relatively recent combination of technologies—horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, which involves pumping water, chemicals and sand at high pressures to break apart underground rock formations.
Together, they have unlocked deposits of oil and gas trapped in formations previously thought to be unreachable.
That has meant a resurgence of activity in well-established oil regions, such as West Texas’s Permian basin, as well as huge expansions in areas that had been lightly tapped in the past, such as North Dakota’s Bakken shale region. The Bakken has gone from producing just 125,000 barrels of oil a day five years ago to nearly 750,000 barrels a day today.
The benefits of the surge in domestic energy production include improving employment in some regions and a rebound in U.S.-based manufacturing. WSJ

I am not saying oil shortages are gone, but I am ready to say the problem is known and contained.

Arnold Kling's new blog

Ask Blog Kling and his theory of sustainable and specialized trade is in line with the Shannon view of the economy, he has always been a favorite.

Shoelace industry praises Obama Arab policy

WASHINGTON – Leading medical groups quickly applauded President Obama’s moves Wednesday to ban military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines, expand mental health services and take other steps to reduce gun violence in the wake of last month’s deadly shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. LA Crimes against logic

I guess it was a slow day at the Times. I also hear that the ice cream industry praises Obama's FEMA policy.