THE CAPE CHARLES MIRROR APRIL 6, 2024 AT 10:22 PM
Paul Plante says:
Theoretic politicians, who have patronized this species of government, have erroneously supposed that by reducing mankind to a perfect equality in their political rights, they would, at the same time, be perfectly equalized and assimilated in their possessions, their opinions, and their passions.
Think about those words, people, which were stated by Jemmy Madison two hundred thirty-seven (237) years ago now on Friday, November 23, 1787, and what you are in fact reading about there is the Joe Biden administration, which administration is a TRUE BELIEVER that if only it can reduce mankind in America, which happens to be all of us in here today, to a perfect equality in our political rights, we would then, at the same time, be perfectly equalized and assimilated in our possessions, our opinions, and our passions.
But then ask yourself this question: where and when in the history of mankind has a perfect equality in people’s political rights that would cause people to be perfectly equalized and assimilated in their possessions, their opinions, and their passions ever freely existed without coercion by the “state?”
Consider, for example, Thomas Hobbes (5 April 1588 – 20 December 1679), who was an English philosopher best known for his 1651 book Leviathan, in which he expounds an influential formulation of social contract theory drawing mostly on his Epicurean political philosophy, whereby the rule of a strong authority, the sovereign, disciplines the wills of subjects in order to properly balance their passions, to the extent that a distinct domain of peace and security is created and maintained, a domain he mostly calls simply ‘society’.
That Hobbesian rule by the strong authority is what coercion (the act or process of persuading someone forcefully to do something that they do not want to do) is all about, and in America today, pursuant to the tenets of BIDE-O-NISM, it is Joe Biden himself who is that strong authority, the sovereign, here in America, who is there to discipline the wills of we, the American people, who are his subjects in order to properly balance our passions.
But let’s go to a Foreign Policy magazine article titled “Janet Yellen and Mario Draghi Have One Last Job – The U.S. treasury secretary and the Italian prime minister have spent decades shaping this economy. But can they control what comes next?” by Adam Tooze, a columnist at Foreign Policy and director of the European Institute at Columbia University on April 1, 2021, where we have as follows when that policy or approach is attempted here in America where we are and know we are, a free people, to wit:
Yellen and her colleagues in the United States have come face to face with structural problems of their own — in the U.S. financial system, the country’s profound social inequalities, its inadequate welfare state, and its deeply polarized politics.
For all their sense of having history on their side, what the modernizing technocrats of the Democratic Party faced, in fact, was a resurgence in conservatism.
It turned out that America’s rapid social, cultural, and economic transformation was splitting the country in half.
end quotes
Which takes us forward in time to The Telegraph article titled “The Democratic party is now indisputably woke” by Joel Kotkin on March 31, 2024, where we see where we have gotten to since then, thanks to Joe Biden and Janet “TOODLES” Yellen, who was quoted in an Associated Press article tilted “At Essence Festival, Yellen touts efforts to build ‘fairer economy,’ says much work still to do” on July 2, 2023 as saying “I strongly believe that our racial equity work is not just the morally right thing to do; it’s in the best economic interests of our entire country,” as follows:
The contrast between Lieberman and his old Senate colleague, Joe Biden, could not be greater.
Lieberman stuck to his views on defense and social issues, some of which reflected his embrace of orthodox Judaism.
In contrast Biden, once regarded as a centrist, has morphed into a progressive ideologue.
He has systematically weakened our defense posture, super-charged the debt credit card, and adopted identitarian politics to an almost absurd level.
This abandonment of basic centrist principles was institutionalised under Barack Obama.
The former president, unlike Biden, could express himself with great eloquence and, with great care, shifted the party away from the centrist Clinton model to one more in line with the activist base.
By the time he left office these policies generated enough resentment among the working class to help elect Donald Trump in 2016.
Four years ago, many of these same people, fed up with Trump’s rhetorical ugliness and drama-inducing antics, voted for Biden, thinking of him as a reassuring centrist.
But this turned out to be something of a feint.
Rather than rule from the middle and make Trump irrelevant, he doubled down wokeism.
Instead of working class Joe, we got someone whose agenda reflected more than values of the faculty lounge and the oligarchic elite.
The reaction among voters has been predictably hostile.
end quotes
So, thanks to BIDE-O-NISM, are we going from the frying pan into the fire?
The more Joe tries to make us all “equal,” which he can only do through coercion, the more he makes people hostile, instead, which takes us back to The Telegraph, to wit:
Despite all the hype about “Bidenomics”, a term now being abandoned by his handlers, the current economy offers young people little hope of owning a house, as buying a new home costs an estimated 80 per cent more than four years ago.
Party hacks like the New York Times Paul Krugman may castigate the masses for not recognising how great things are, but perhaps it’s because Biden has produced an economy that favours government workers and Wall Street over ordinary voters.
The fact that Dollar Tree, a key retailer in working class areas, is closing 1000 tells us more about the state of modern America than the improvement in sales in high-end retailers.
end quotes
So, the more Joe Biden tries to make us all equal, the more he is dividing us, and never in the three-quarters of a century I have been on the globe, have I seen anything like this in our country.
It don’t bode well for the future, people, but too late now, because the BIDEN TRAIN has left the station, and all we can do now is to survive the consequences.
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/paul-p ... ent-914980
POLITICS
Re: POLITICS
Newsweek
"Joe Biden 'Drives Me Crazy' — Former Obama Strategist"
Story by Thomas Kika
8 APRIL 2024
David Axelrod, the political consultant best known for his work as chief strategist for the successful campaigns of former President Barack Obama, recently expressed frustration with President Joe Biden's economic messaging, saying that his tactics were driving him "crazy."
Biden is currently running for reelection and is the presumptive 2024 nominee for the Democratic Party, setting up a likely 2020 rematch in November against the presumptive GOP nominee, former President Donald Trump.
Despite his conservative opponents frequently claiming that the economy has withered under his leadership, Biden has made the topic of economic growth during his term a key point of his reelection pitch.
Under the Biden administration, the United States has seen consistent job growth as it emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic, with the most recent Labor Department report finding that 303,000 new jobs were created in March, bringing unemployment down to 3.8 percent.
Last February, the unemployment rate hit its lowest point in over 50 years, 3.4 percent.
Biden has overseen considerable drops in inflation and gas prices since they spiked in 2022, though the metrics remain temperamental.
The Dow Jones stock market index also hit its highest point in U.S. history in late February.
Despite this, perceptions about the economy among working-class voters have remained grim.
Biden's supporters have often pinned this discrepancy on persistent media narratives about economic troubles that have failed to credit the president for his successes.
Others have countered, pointing out that working-class people are still struggling with high prices in the areas that most impact their daily lives, such as groceries, housing, and automotive costs.
Among those criticizing Biden's economic messaging has been Axelrod, his one-time ally from his days as vice president in the Obama administration.
During an interview with Bulwark editor-at-large Bill Kristol last week, the political consultant said that Biden's economic message "drives [him] crazy," and urged him to adopt one that is more empathetic with the struggles of the working class, while still touting his economic accomplishments.
The remarks came in response to a recent comment Biden gave to NBC's Today when asked by Al Roker about people's concerns that their economic prospects are dwindling, to which the president said, "I would tell [them] we've got the strongest economy in the world."
"That is the wrong strategy," Axelrod said about Biden's response.
"The right strategy is to say, 'Look, we've made a lot of progress from the day I walked in the door as a country and I'm proud of our country for fighting through this pandemic and getting her back to where we've got this much employment."
"But the fact is, the way people experience this economy is the way I did when I was growing up in Scranton, Pennsylvania."
"How much did you pay for the groceries?"
"How do you afford the gas, [and] the rent?"
"'And these continue to be a problem and I'm fighting that fight'...So I think he needs to put himself on the side of working people in their economic fight here."
Newsweek reached out to the White House via email on Sunday for comment.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... e5e5&ei=12
"Joe Biden 'Drives Me Crazy' — Former Obama Strategist"
Story by Thomas Kika
8 APRIL 2024
David Axelrod, the political consultant best known for his work as chief strategist for the successful campaigns of former President Barack Obama, recently expressed frustration with President Joe Biden's economic messaging, saying that his tactics were driving him "crazy."
Biden is currently running for reelection and is the presumptive 2024 nominee for the Democratic Party, setting up a likely 2020 rematch in November against the presumptive GOP nominee, former President Donald Trump.
Despite his conservative opponents frequently claiming that the economy has withered under his leadership, Biden has made the topic of economic growth during his term a key point of his reelection pitch.
Under the Biden administration, the United States has seen consistent job growth as it emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic, with the most recent Labor Department report finding that 303,000 new jobs were created in March, bringing unemployment down to 3.8 percent.
Last February, the unemployment rate hit its lowest point in over 50 years, 3.4 percent.
Biden has overseen considerable drops in inflation and gas prices since they spiked in 2022, though the metrics remain temperamental.
The Dow Jones stock market index also hit its highest point in U.S. history in late February.
Despite this, perceptions about the economy among working-class voters have remained grim.
Biden's supporters have often pinned this discrepancy on persistent media narratives about economic troubles that have failed to credit the president for his successes.
Others have countered, pointing out that working-class people are still struggling with high prices in the areas that most impact their daily lives, such as groceries, housing, and automotive costs.
Among those criticizing Biden's economic messaging has been Axelrod, his one-time ally from his days as vice president in the Obama administration.
During an interview with Bulwark editor-at-large Bill Kristol last week, the political consultant said that Biden's economic message "drives [him] crazy," and urged him to adopt one that is more empathetic with the struggles of the working class, while still touting his economic accomplishments.
The remarks came in response to a recent comment Biden gave to NBC's Today when asked by Al Roker about people's concerns that their economic prospects are dwindling, to which the president said, "I would tell [them] we've got the strongest economy in the world."
"That is the wrong strategy," Axelrod said about Biden's response.
"The right strategy is to say, 'Look, we've made a lot of progress from the day I walked in the door as a country and I'm proud of our country for fighting through this pandemic and getting her back to where we've got this much employment."
"But the fact is, the way people experience this economy is the way I did when I was growing up in Scranton, Pennsylvania."
"How much did you pay for the groceries?"
"How do you afford the gas, [and] the rent?"
"'And these continue to be a problem and I'm fighting that fight'...So I think he needs to put himself on the side of working people in their economic fight here."
Newsweek reached out to the White House via email on Sunday for comment.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... e5e5&ei=12
Re: POLITICS
The New York Post
"Ship attacked outside of Yemen, vessels warned to ‘exercise caution’"
Story by Reuters
8 APRIL 2024
CAIRO, April 7 — British security firm Ambrey said it had received information indicating that a vessel was attacked on Sunday in the Gulf of Aden about 102 nautical miles southwest of Mukalla in Yemen.
“Vessels in the vicinity were advised to exercise caution and report any suspicious activity,” the firm said.
It did not say who was responsible for the attack or give further details.
Separately, a missile landed near a vessel in the Gulf of Aden on Sunday but there was no damage to the ship or injuries to crew in the incident, 59 nautical miles southwest of the Yemeni port of Aden, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said.
“The Master of the vessel reports a missile impacted the water in close proximity to the vessel’s port quarter,” UKMTO said in an advisory note.
“No damage to the vessel reported and crew reported safe,” it added.
It did not say who fired the missile or give further details.
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi militants have staged months of attacks on shipping in the Red Sea region in support of Palestinians in the Gaza war.
The attacks have disrupted global shipping through the Suez Canal, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa.
The United States and Britain have launched strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/sh ... e5e5&ei=56
"Ship attacked outside of Yemen, vessels warned to ‘exercise caution’"
Story by Reuters
8 APRIL 2024
CAIRO, April 7 — British security firm Ambrey said it had received information indicating that a vessel was attacked on Sunday in the Gulf of Aden about 102 nautical miles southwest of Mukalla in Yemen.
“Vessels in the vicinity were advised to exercise caution and report any suspicious activity,” the firm said.
It did not say who was responsible for the attack or give further details.
Separately, a missile landed near a vessel in the Gulf of Aden on Sunday but there was no damage to the ship or injuries to crew in the incident, 59 nautical miles southwest of the Yemeni port of Aden, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said.
“The Master of the vessel reports a missile impacted the water in close proximity to the vessel’s port quarter,” UKMTO said in an advisory note.
“No damage to the vessel reported and crew reported safe,” it added.
It did not say who fired the missile or give further details.
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi militants have staged months of attacks on shipping in the Red Sea region in support of Palestinians in the Gaza war.
The attacks have disrupted global shipping through the Suez Canal, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa.
The United States and Britain have launched strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/sh ... e5e5&ei=56
Re: POLITICS
REUTERS
"US will not accept Chinese imports decimating new industries, Yellen says"
By David Lawder
April 8, 2024
BEIJING, April 8 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned China on Monday that Washington will not accept new industries being decimated by Chinese imports, as she wrapped up four days of meetings to press her case for Beijing to rein in excess industrial capacity.
Yellen told a press conference that U.S. President Joe Biden would not allow a repeat of the "China shock" of the early 2000s, when a flood of Chinese imports destroyed about 2 million American manufacturing jobs.
She did not, however, threaten new tariffs or other trade actions should Beijing continue its massive state support for electric vehicles (EVs), batteries, solar panels and other green energy goods.
Yellen used her second trip to China in nine months to complain that Beijing's overinvestment has built factory capacity far exceeding domestic demand, while fast-growing exports of these products threaten companies in the U.S. and other countries.
She said a newly created exchange forum to discuss the excess capacity issue would need time to reach solutions.
Yellen drew parallels to the pain felt in the U.S. steel sector in the past.
"We've seen this story before," she told reporters.
"Over a decade ago, massive PRC (People's Republic of China) government support led to below-cost Chinese steel that flooded the global market and decimated industries across the world and in the United States."
Yellen added: "I've made it clear that President Biden and I will not accept that reality again."
When the global market is flooded with artificially cheap Chinese products, she said, "the viability of American and other foreign firms is put into question."
Yellen said her exchanges with Chinese officials had advanced American interests and that U.S. concerns over excess industrial capacity were shared by Washington's European allies, Japan, Mexico, the Philippines and other emerging markets.
PUSHBACK
China's vice finance minister, Liao Min, told Chinese media that Beijing "has fully responded" to U.S. questions on overcapacity and expressed "grave concern" over restrictions Washington imposes on trade and investment.
Liao said China's "current competitive advantages are rooted in China's large-scale market, complete industrial system and abundant human resources," decrying the "escalation of green protectionist measures by some developed economies."
"China will not sit idly and ignore it," Liao said in remarks published on the ministry's website.
China's parliament, the National People's Congress, said in March the government would take steps to curb industrial overcapacity.
But Beijing says the recent focus by the U.S. and Europe on the risks from China's excess capacity is misguided.
Chinese officials say the criticism understates innovation by companies in China and overstates the importance of state support in driving their growth.
They also say tariffs or other trade curbs will deprive global consumers of green energy alternatives key to meeting global climate goals.
WTO RULES Trade curbs on Chinese EVs would contravene World Trade Organisation rules, the industry and information technology ministry said in a statement carried by state media CCTV and China Daily.
The Chinese ministry added that it was committed to support EV exports and would help "accelerate the overseas development" of the industry including planning for shipping and logistics and support for firms to innovate and meet global standards.
Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao voiced more pointed objections during a roundtable meeting with Chinese EV makers in Paris, saying U.S. and European assertions of Chinese excess EV capacity were groundless.
Rather than subsidies, China's EV companies rely on continuous technological innovation, perfect production and supply chain systems and full market competition, Wang said on his trip to discuss a European Union anti-subsidy inquiry.
Yellen suggested a possible short-term solution was for China to take steps to bolster consumer demand with support for households and shift its growth model away from supply-side investments.
Yellen spoke about the issue at length with Premier Li Qiang and also met Finance Minister Lan Foan on Sunday.
She met People's Bank of China (PBOC) Governor Pan Gongsheng and former Vice Premier Liu He on Monday.
In a CNBC interview after the meetings, Yellen said she was "not thinking so much" about trade curbs on China, as much as shifts in its macroeconomic environment.
But she reiterated she would not rule out tariffs.
Writing by David Lawder and Marius Zaharia; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Paul Simao
https://www.reuters.com/world/yellen-me ... 024-04-08/
"US will not accept Chinese imports decimating new industries, Yellen says"
By David Lawder
April 8, 2024
BEIJING, April 8 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned China on Monday that Washington will not accept new industries being decimated by Chinese imports, as she wrapped up four days of meetings to press her case for Beijing to rein in excess industrial capacity.
Yellen told a press conference that U.S. President Joe Biden would not allow a repeat of the "China shock" of the early 2000s, when a flood of Chinese imports destroyed about 2 million American manufacturing jobs.
She did not, however, threaten new tariffs or other trade actions should Beijing continue its massive state support for electric vehicles (EVs), batteries, solar panels and other green energy goods.
Yellen used her second trip to China in nine months to complain that Beijing's overinvestment has built factory capacity far exceeding domestic demand, while fast-growing exports of these products threaten companies in the U.S. and other countries.
She said a newly created exchange forum to discuss the excess capacity issue would need time to reach solutions.
Yellen drew parallels to the pain felt in the U.S. steel sector in the past.
"We've seen this story before," she told reporters.
"Over a decade ago, massive PRC (People's Republic of China) government support led to below-cost Chinese steel that flooded the global market and decimated industries across the world and in the United States."
Yellen added: "I've made it clear that President Biden and I will not accept that reality again."
When the global market is flooded with artificially cheap Chinese products, she said, "the viability of American and other foreign firms is put into question."
Yellen said her exchanges with Chinese officials had advanced American interests and that U.S. concerns over excess industrial capacity were shared by Washington's European allies, Japan, Mexico, the Philippines and other emerging markets.
PUSHBACK
China's vice finance minister, Liao Min, told Chinese media that Beijing "has fully responded" to U.S. questions on overcapacity and expressed "grave concern" over restrictions Washington imposes on trade and investment.
Liao said China's "current competitive advantages are rooted in China's large-scale market, complete industrial system and abundant human resources," decrying the "escalation of green protectionist measures by some developed economies."
"China will not sit idly and ignore it," Liao said in remarks published on the ministry's website.
China's parliament, the National People's Congress, said in March the government would take steps to curb industrial overcapacity.
But Beijing says the recent focus by the U.S. and Europe on the risks from China's excess capacity is misguided.
Chinese officials say the criticism understates innovation by companies in China and overstates the importance of state support in driving their growth.
They also say tariffs or other trade curbs will deprive global consumers of green energy alternatives key to meeting global climate goals.
WTO RULES Trade curbs on Chinese EVs would contravene World Trade Organisation rules, the industry and information technology ministry said in a statement carried by state media CCTV and China Daily.
The Chinese ministry added that it was committed to support EV exports and would help "accelerate the overseas development" of the industry including planning for shipping and logistics and support for firms to innovate and meet global standards.
Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao voiced more pointed objections during a roundtable meeting with Chinese EV makers in Paris, saying U.S. and European assertions of Chinese excess EV capacity were groundless.
Rather than subsidies, China's EV companies rely on continuous technological innovation, perfect production and supply chain systems and full market competition, Wang said on his trip to discuss a European Union anti-subsidy inquiry.
Yellen suggested a possible short-term solution was for China to take steps to bolster consumer demand with support for households and shift its growth model away from supply-side investments.
Yellen spoke about the issue at length with Premier Li Qiang and also met Finance Minister Lan Foan on Sunday.
She met People's Bank of China (PBOC) Governor Pan Gongsheng and former Vice Premier Liu He on Monday.
In a CNBC interview after the meetings, Yellen said she was "not thinking so much" about trade curbs on China, as much as shifts in its macroeconomic environment.
But she reiterated she would not rule out tariffs.
Writing by David Lawder and Marius Zaharia; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Paul Simao
https://www.reuters.com/world/yellen-me ... 024-04-08/
Re: POLITICS
REUTERS
"TSMC wins $6.6 bln US subsidy for Arizona chip production"
By David Shepardson and Stephanie Kelly
April 8, 2024
WASHINGTON, April 8 (Reuters) - The U.S. Commerce Department said on Monday it would award Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co's U.S. unit a $6.6 billion subsidy for advanced semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona and up to $5 billion in low-cost government loans.
TSMC agreed to expand its planned investment by $25 billion to $65 billion and to add a third Arizona fab by 2030, Commerce said in announcing the preliminary award.
The Taiwanese company will produce the world's most advanced 2 nanometer technology at its second Arizona fab expected to begin production in 2028, the department said.
"These are the chips that underpin all artificial intelligence, and they are the chips that are necessary components for the technologies that we need to underpin our economy, but frankly, a 21st century military and national security apparatus," Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a statement.
TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker and a major supplier to Apple and Nvidia, had previously announced plans to invest $40 billion in Arizona.
TSMC expects to begin high-volume production in its first U.S. fab there by the first half of 2025, Commerce said.
The $65 billion-plus investment by TSMC is the largest foreign direct investment in a completely new project in U.S. history, the department said.
Congress in 2022 approved the Chips and Science Act to boost domestic semiconductor output with $52.7 billion in research and manufacturing subsidies.
Lawmakers also approved $75 billion in government loan authority.
TSMC Arizona has also committed to support the development of advanced packaging capabilities through partners in the U.S. to allow customers to purchase advanced chips that are made entirely on U.S. soil, the department said, adding 70% of TSMC customers were U.S. companies.
TSMC CEO C.C. Wei said the company would help U.S. tech firms "unleash their innovations by increasing capacity for leading-edge technology through TSMC Arizona."
Commerce expects the projects will create 6,000 direct manufacturing jobs and 20,000 construction jobs.
The department said 14 direct TSMC suppliers plan to construct or expand U.S. plants.
At full capacity, TSMC's three fabs in Arizona will manufacture tens of millions of leading-edge chips in 5G/6G smartphones, autonomous vehicles, and AI data center servers, the department said.
Through its Arizona fabs, TSMC will support key customers like Apple, Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices and Qualcomm "by addressing their leading-edge capacity demand, mitigating supply chain concerns, and enabling them to compete effectively in the ongoing digital transformation era," the department added.
TSMC said in a separate statement that its Arizona factories aim to achieve a 90% water recycling rate, adding that the company has started the design phase of building a water reclamation plant with a goal of achieving "near zero liquid discharge".
Commerce last month announced $8.5 billion in grants and up to $11 billion in loans for Intel to subsidize leading-edge chip production from the same program.
The department is expected to unveil an award for South Korea's Samsung Electronics as soon as next week, sources said.
Commerce declined to comment.
Samsung did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
Reporting by David Shepardson; Additional reporting by Alexandra Alper, and Ben Blanchard in Taipei; Editing by Jamie Freed, Kirsten Donovan
https://www.reuters.com/technology/tsmc ... 024-04-08/
"TSMC wins $6.6 bln US subsidy for Arizona chip production"
By David Shepardson and Stephanie Kelly
April 8, 2024
WASHINGTON, April 8 (Reuters) - The U.S. Commerce Department said on Monday it would award Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co's U.S. unit a $6.6 billion subsidy for advanced semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona and up to $5 billion in low-cost government loans.
TSMC agreed to expand its planned investment by $25 billion to $65 billion and to add a third Arizona fab by 2030, Commerce said in announcing the preliminary award.
The Taiwanese company will produce the world's most advanced 2 nanometer technology at its second Arizona fab expected to begin production in 2028, the department said.
"These are the chips that underpin all artificial intelligence, and they are the chips that are necessary components for the technologies that we need to underpin our economy, but frankly, a 21st century military and national security apparatus," Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a statement.
TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker and a major supplier to Apple and Nvidia, had previously announced plans to invest $40 billion in Arizona.
TSMC expects to begin high-volume production in its first U.S. fab there by the first half of 2025, Commerce said.
The $65 billion-plus investment by TSMC is the largest foreign direct investment in a completely new project in U.S. history, the department said.
Congress in 2022 approved the Chips and Science Act to boost domestic semiconductor output with $52.7 billion in research and manufacturing subsidies.
Lawmakers also approved $75 billion in government loan authority.
TSMC Arizona has also committed to support the development of advanced packaging capabilities through partners in the U.S. to allow customers to purchase advanced chips that are made entirely on U.S. soil, the department said, adding 70% of TSMC customers were U.S. companies.
TSMC CEO C.C. Wei said the company would help U.S. tech firms "unleash their innovations by increasing capacity for leading-edge technology through TSMC Arizona."
Commerce expects the projects will create 6,000 direct manufacturing jobs and 20,000 construction jobs.
The department said 14 direct TSMC suppliers plan to construct or expand U.S. plants.
At full capacity, TSMC's three fabs in Arizona will manufacture tens of millions of leading-edge chips in 5G/6G smartphones, autonomous vehicles, and AI data center servers, the department said.
Through its Arizona fabs, TSMC will support key customers like Apple, Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices and Qualcomm "by addressing their leading-edge capacity demand, mitigating supply chain concerns, and enabling them to compete effectively in the ongoing digital transformation era," the department added.
TSMC said in a separate statement that its Arizona factories aim to achieve a 90% water recycling rate, adding that the company has started the design phase of building a water reclamation plant with a goal of achieving "near zero liquid discharge".
Commerce last month announced $8.5 billion in grants and up to $11 billion in loans for Intel to subsidize leading-edge chip production from the same program.
The department is expected to unveil an award for South Korea's Samsung Electronics as soon as next week, sources said.
Commerce declined to comment.
Samsung did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
Reporting by David Shepardson; Additional reporting by Alexandra Alper, and Ben Blanchard in Taipei; Editing by Jamie Freed, Kirsten Donovan
https://www.reuters.com/technology/tsmc ... 024-04-08/
Re: POLITICS
REUTERS
"US small-business sentiment slides to lowest level in more than 11 years"
By Reuters
April 9, 2024
WASHINGTON, April 9 (Reuters) - U.S. small-business confidence slipped to the lowest level in more than 11 years in March amid rising concerns about inflation, according to a survey on Tuesday.
The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) said its Small Business Optimism Index fell 0.9 point to 88.5 last month, the lowest level since December 2012.
It was the 27th straight month the index was below the 50-year average of 98.
Twenty-five percent of owners reported inflation was their single most important problem in operating their business, reflecting higher input and labor costs, up 2 points from February.
The share of businesses raising average selling prices rose 7 points from the prior month.
That aligns with a pick-up in consumer prices in the first two months of the year.
Price increases were prevalent in the finance, retail, construction, wholesale and transportation sectors.
There was also an increase in the share of businesses raising compensation even as demand for labor is cooling.
The NFIB reported last week that hiring plans among small businesses in March were the weakest since May 2020.
Nonetheless, small businesses in the transportation, construction and services industries are experiencing an acute shortage of workers, both skilled and unskilled.
The government reported last week that the economy added 303,000 jobs in March, with the unemployment rate falling to 3.8% from 3.9% in February.
It is expected to report on Wednesday that the consumer price index rose 0.3% in March after advancing 0.4% in February, according to a Reuters survey of economists.
The CPI is expected to have increased 3.4% year-on-year in March after advancing 3.2% in February.
Inflation remains above the Federal Reserve's 2% target.
The U.S. central bank is expected to start cutting interest rates this year, though the timing is uncertain.
The Fed has kept its policy rate in the 5.25%-5.50% range since July.
It has raised the benchmark overnight interest rate by 525 basis points since March, 2022.
Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Peter Graff
https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/us-s ... 024-04-09/
"US small-business sentiment slides to lowest level in more than 11 years"
By Reuters
April 9, 2024
WASHINGTON, April 9 (Reuters) - U.S. small-business confidence slipped to the lowest level in more than 11 years in March amid rising concerns about inflation, according to a survey on Tuesday.
The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) said its Small Business Optimism Index fell 0.9 point to 88.5 last month, the lowest level since December 2012.
It was the 27th straight month the index was below the 50-year average of 98.
Twenty-five percent of owners reported inflation was their single most important problem in operating their business, reflecting higher input and labor costs, up 2 points from February.
The share of businesses raising average selling prices rose 7 points from the prior month.
That aligns with a pick-up in consumer prices in the first two months of the year.
Price increases were prevalent in the finance, retail, construction, wholesale and transportation sectors.
There was also an increase in the share of businesses raising compensation even as demand for labor is cooling.
The NFIB reported last week that hiring plans among small businesses in March were the weakest since May 2020.
Nonetheless, small businesses in the transportation, construction and services industries are experiencing an acute shortage of workers, both skilled and unskilled.
The government reported last week that the economy added 303,000 jobs in March, with the unemployment rate falling to 3.8% from 3.9% in February.
It is expected to report on Wednesday that the consumer price index rose 0.3% in March after advancing 0.4% in February, according to a Reuters survey of economists.
The CPI is expected to have increased 3.4% year-on-year in March after advancing 3.2% in February.
Inflation remains above the Federal Reserve's 2% target.
The U.S. central bank is expected to start cutting interest rates this year, though the timing is uncertain.
The Fed has kept its policy rate in the 5.25%-5.50% range since July.
It has raised the benchmark overnight interest rate by 525 basis points since March, 2022.
Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Peter Graff
https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/us-s ... 024-04-09/
Re: POLITICS
REUTERS
"US to award Samsung up to $6.6 billion chip subsidy for Texas expansion, sources say"
By Alexandra Alper
April 9, 2024
WASHINGTON, April 8 (Reuters) - The Biden administration plans to announce it is awarding more than $6 billion to South Korea's Samsung next week to expand its chip output in Taylor, Texas, as it seeks to ramp up chipmaking in the U.S., two people familiar with the matter said.
The subsidy, which will be unveiled by Commerce Department Secretary Gina Raimondo, will go toward construction of four facilities in Taylor, including one $17 billion chipmaking plant that Samsung announced in 2021, another factory, an advanced packaging facility and a research and development center, one of the sources said.
It will also include an investment in another undisclosed location, the source said, adding that Samsung will more than double its U.S. investment to over $44 billion as part of the deal.
The Commerce Department and Samsung declined to comment.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott's office did not respond to requests for comment.
One of the sources said it would be the third largest of the program, just behind Taiwan's TSMC, which was awarded $6.6 billion on Monday and agreed to expand its investment by $25 billion to $65 billion and to add a third Arizona factory by 2030.
The announcement will cap off a string of major Chips and Science grants in quick succession as the U.S. seeks to expand domestic chip production and lure away capital that might have been used to build plants in China and the region.
Congress in 2022 approved the Chips and Science Act to boost domestic semiconductor output with $52.7 billion in research and manufacturing subsidies.
Lawmakers also approved $75 billion in government loan authority, but one of the sources said Samsung plans to take no loans.
The CHIPS Act's goal is to reduce reliance on China and Taiwan, as the share of global semiconductor manufacturing capacity in the U.S. has fallen from 37% in 1990 to 12% in 2020, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association.
U.S. President Joe Biden will not attend the event, the two people said.
He faces a tough fight to win a second term in November against former President and Republican rival Donald Trump.
Greg Abbott, the Republican governor of Texas was invited to attend, one of the people added.
While both TSMC and Intel, which was awarded $8.5 billion to expand its U.S. chip output last month, will expand production in the key swing state of Arizona, Samsung' expansion in reliably Republican Texas is seen as less likely to help Biden at the polls.
Reporting by Alexandra Alper; additional reporting by David Shepardson Editing by Marguerita Choy and David Gregorio
https://www.reuters.com/technology/sams ... 024-04-08/
"US to award Samsung up to $6.6 billion chip subsidy for Texas expansion, sources say"
By Alexandra Alper
April 9, 2024
WASHINGTON, April 8 (Reuters) - The Biden administration plans to announce it is awarding more than $6 billion to South Korea's Samsung next week to expand its chip output in Taylor, Texas, as it seeks to ramp up chipmaking in the U.S., two people familiar with the matter said.
The subsidy, which will be unveiled by Commerce Department Secretary Gina Raimondo, will go toward construction of four facilities in Taylor, including one $17 billion chipmaking plant that Samsung announced in 2021, another factory, an advanced packaging facility and a research and development center, one of the sources said.
It will also include an investment in another undisclosed location, the source said, adding that Samsung will more than double its U.S. investment to over $44 billion as part of the deal.
The Commerce Department and Samsung declined to comment.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott's office did not respond to requests for comment.
One of the sources said it would be the third largest of the program, just behind Taiwan's TSMC, which was awarded $6.6 billion on Monday and agreed to expand its investment by $25 billion to $65 billion and to add a third Arizona factory by 2030.
The announcement will cap off a string of major Chips and Science grants in quick succession as the U.S. seeks to expand domestic chip production and lure away capital that might have been used to build plants in China and the region.
Congress in 2022 approved the Chips and Science Act to boost domestic semiconductor output with $52.7 billion in research and manufacturing subsidies.
Lawmakers also approved $75 billion in government loan authority, but one of the sources said Samsung plans to take no loans.
The CHIPS Act's goal is to reduce reliance on China and Taiwan, as the share of global semiconductor manufacturing capacity in the U.S. has fallen from 37% in 1990 to 12% in 2020, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association.
U.S. President Joe Biden will not attend the event, the two people said.
He faces a tough fight to win a second term in November against former President and Republican rival Donald Trump.
Greg Abbott, the Republican governor of Texas was invited to attend, one of the people added.
While both TSMC and Intel, which was awarded $8.5 billion to expand its U.S. chip output last month, will expand production in the key swing state of Arizona, Samsung' expansion in reliably Republican Texas is seen as less likely to help Biden at the polls.
Reporting by Alexandra Alper; additional reporting by David Shepardson Editing by Marguerita Choy and David Gregorio
https://www.reuters.com/technology/sams ... 024-04-08/
Re: POLITICS
THE CAPE CHARLES MIRROR APRIL 9, 2024 AT 8:42 PM
Paul Plante says:
When I was young, some years back now in a different century and millennium than the one I am stuck in today in this trying time of DEMOCRAT autocrat Joseph Robinette Biden, Junior, himself the descendent of Irish royalty from back in the time of Brian Boru and a long line of Delaware Bay watermen after that, before Joe was a hardhat union coal miner in Scranton, where Joe was dirt poor before he got into politics and became filthy rich, and this is in the fifth grade, there was a series of books on the lives of the presidents from Washington up to Truman, and I sat down and read them all, but I have to say that when I got to Harding and especially Coolidge, it was a real slog to keep turning pages because I found absolutely nothing in the least inspirational in the life stories of either of them, which had my young mind wondering how on earth it is that people like these become the president of this country when there is nothing in their life story that would seem to recommend them for the position.
So when I read the political essays of H.L. Mencken who was covering the political campaigns of both of them, Harding first, and then Coolidge, who became president when Harding decided to drop dead instead of running again, what I am reading is contemporary American political history as seen through his eyes, just as I today write about contemporary American history today as seen through my eyes, since it is quite impossible that I should be able to see clearly through any other, just as Mencken saw life through his own eyes and reported it as he saw it, which takes us back to the Baltimore Evening Sun on October 6, 1924 and “The Coolidge Buncombe” by H.L. Mencken, where we have some of what I will call “comparative politics” between his time and ours, and more importantly, a basis of comparison of Joe Biden with both Harding, who before Joe Biden took the crown from him was deemed the worst American president, and Calvin Coolidge, or “Silent Cal,” as he was known, to wit:
One of the chief arguments made for Dr. Coolidge is that the majority of businessmen are for him.
If this were true, then it would be fair to conclude, not only that businessmen can put their private profits above the public good — which they probably do in fact, precisely like the rest of us — but also that they are singularly lacking in sense and prudence.
For if anything is plain today, it must be that another Coolidge administration, if it is inflicted upon us, will end inevitably in scandal and disaster.
end quotes
Knowing history as it happened thereafter, which was the stock market crash, the GREAT DEPRESSION. WWII as a result of the collapse of the Weimar Republic, and on through Korea and Viet Nam up to our times today, when I read those words of Mencken’s from October 6, 1924 about scandal and disaster, my mind flashed forward to today and where it is that Joe Biden, and his crowd are taking the nation as they keep running up the debt like there is no tomarrow, which crowd includes Janet “TOODLES” Yellen who has been in China lecturing the Chinese on how to run their country when it is crystal clear to the Chinese, who are keeping this country functioning by buying up the debt “TOODLES” has to issue to pay for Joe Biden’s fiscal profligacy, that neither Joe nor “TOODLES” have a clue when it comes to running this country, as opposed to running it into the ground, which takes us back to 1924 and Cal Coolidge as seen through the eyes of H.L. Mencken, to wit:
The day good Cal is elected every thieving scoundrel in the Republican party will burst into hosannas, and the day he is inaugurated there will be song and praise services wherever injunctions are tight and profits run to 50 per cent.
Then will follow, for a year or two, a reign of mirth in Washington, wilder and merrier, even, than that of Harding’s time.
And then there will come an explosion.
How all this will benefit legitimate business I can’t make out.
The only businessmen who will gain anything by it will be the one who manages to steal enough while the going is good to last him all the rest of his life.
All the others will get burnt in the explosion, as they always do when political dynamite is set off.
end quotes
And five years later, in 1929, that political dynamite did explode, and down came Wall Street in flames, which has me wondering, as I follow the economic news each day, about the explosion that is waiting in the wings as a result of the fiscal profligacy and irresponsibility of the Joe Biden regime and its Stalinistic CENTRAL PLANNING, which according to the Reuters article titled “TSMC wins $6.6 bln US subsidy for Arizona chip production” by David Shepardson and Stephanie Kelly on April 8, 2024, just handed TSMC, a Taiwanese company, a fistful of American taxpayer coin, to wit:
WASHINGTON, April 8 (Reuters) – The U.S. Commerce Department said on Monday it would award Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s U.S. unit a $6.6 billion subsidy for advanced semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona and up to $5 billion in low-cost government loans.
end quote
In that same article, it was stated as follows:
Commerce expects the projects will create 6,000 direct manufacturing jobs and 20,000 construction jobs.
end quote
Oh, really?
Then where are all these jobs?
I go through the job reports each month, and I fail to see where all that money is going, except into corporate coffers, where it seems to get swallowed up, as we see by going to the Reuters article titled “Strong US labor market underpins economy in first quarter” by Lucia Mutikani on April 5, 2024, where we have the latest job figures from Joe’s own government, to wit:
The healthcare sector led the broad increase in employment, adding 72,000 jobs that were spread across ambulatory services, hospitals as well as nursing and residential care facilities.
Government payrolls increased by 71,000 jobs, boosted by local and federal government hiring.
The construction sector added 39,000 jobs, about double the average monthly gain of 19,000 over the last 12 months.
Leisure and hospitality payrolls rose 49,000, returning employment to its pre-pandemic level.
There were also increases in employment in the social assistance, retail and wholesale trade sectors.
Financial activities reported modest gains in payrolls as did mining and logging, transportation and warehousing.
Professional and business services employment rose slightly, with temporary help – seen a as harbinger for future hiring – posting a small decline.
But manufacturing added no jobs last month as did the information sector.
Utilities shed 400 jobs.
Wages increased 4.1% on a year-on-year basis, the smallest gain since June 2021, after advancing 4.3% in February.
end quotes
And that subsidy (a sum of money granted by the government to assist an industry or business so that the price of a commodity or service may remain low or competitive) to TSMC is on top of $8.5 billion in grants and up to $11 billion in loans for Intel to subsidize leading-edge chip production from the same program, while Joe is expected to unveil an award for South Korea’s Samsung Electronics as soon as next week, sources said.
But this is as much about character of presidential candidates in America as it is policy, which takes us back to Mencken in 1924, to wit:
Do they quake today before the menace of La Follette?
end quote
There he is talking about Robert Marion “Fighting Bob” La Follette Sr. (June 14, 1855 – June 18, 1925) who was an American lawyer and politician that represented Wisconsin in both chambers of Congress and served as the governor of Wisconsin from 1901 to 1906, and then ran for president of the United States as the nominee of his own Progressive Party in the 1924 presidential election that Mencken is writing about above.
As Wikipedia tells us, with the Republican and Democratic Parties each nominating conservative candidates in the 1924 presidential election, left-wing groups coalesced behind La Follette’s third-party candidacy, and with the support of the Socialist Party, farmer’s groups, labor unions, and others, La Follette briefly appeared to be a serious threat to unseat Republican President Calvin Coolidge.
La Follette won 16.6% of the popular vote, one of the best third party performances in U.S. history, which takes us back to Mencken, to wit:
If so, let them consider how La Follette came to be so formidable.
Three years ago he was apparently as dead as Gog and Magog.
The Farmer Labor party snored beside him in the political morgue; Socialism was already in the dissecting room.
Then came, in quick succession, the oil scandal, the Veterans’ Bureau scandal and the intolerable stench of Dougherty.
In six months La Follettism was on its legs again, and now it is so strong that only a miracle can keep the election out of the House.
end quotes
And let’s pause here for station identification before going back to 1924, to see if we can learn anything at all about where we are today with Joe Biden in the white house, but stay tuned and don’t touch that dial, because we will be right back with more.
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/paul-p ... ent-916339
Paul Plante says:
When I was young, some years back now in a different century and millennium than the one I am stuck in today in this trying time of DEMOCRAT autocrat Joseph Robinette Biden, Junior, himself the descendent of Irish royalty from back in the time of Brian Boru and a long line of Delaware Bay watermen after that, before Joe was a hardhat union coal miner in Scranton, where Joe was dirt poor before he got into politics and became filthy rich, and this is in the fifth grade, there was a series of books on the lives of the presidents from Washington up to Truman, and I sat down and read them all, but I have to say that when I got to Harding and especially Coolidge, it was a real slog to keep turning pages because I found absolutely nothing in the least inspirational in the life stories of either of them, which had my young mind wondering how on earth it is that people like these become the president of this country when there is nothing in their life story that would seem to recommend them for the position.
So when I read the political essays of H.L. Mencken who was covering the political campaigns of both of them, Harding first, and then Coolidge, who became president when Harding decided to drop dead instead of running again, what I am reading is contemporary American political history as seen through his eyes, just as I today write about contemporary American history today as seen through my eyes, since it is quite impossible that I should be able to see clearly through any other, just as Mencken saw life through his own eyes and reported it as he saw it, which takes us back to the Baltimore Evening Sun on October 6, 1924 and “The Coolidge Buncombe” by H.L. Mencken, where we have some of what I will call “comparative politics” between his time and ours, and more importantly, a basis of comparison of Joe Biden with both Harding, who before Joe Biden took the crown from him was deemed the worst American president, and Calvin Coolidge, or “Silent Cal,” as he was known, to wit:
One of the chief arguments made for Dr. Coolidge is that the majority of businessmen are for him.
If this were true, then it would be fair to conclude, not only that businessmen can put their private profits above the public good — which they probably do in fact, precisely like the rest of us — but also that they are singularly lacking in sense and prudence.
For if anything is plain today, it must be that another Coolidge administration, if it is inflicted upon us, will end inevitably in scandal and disaster.
end quotes
Knowing history as it happened thereafter, which was the stock market crash, the GREAT DEPRESSION. WWII as a result of the collapse of the Weimar Republic, and on through Korea and Viet Nam up to our times today, when I read those words of Mencken’s from October 6, 1924 about scandal and disaster, my mind flashed forward to today and where it is that Joe Biden, and his crowd are taking the nation as they keep running up the debt like there is no tomarrow, which crowd includes Janet “TOODLES” Yellen who has been in China lecturing the Chinese on how to run their country when it is crystal clear to the Chinese, who are keeping this country functioning by buying up the debt “TOODLES” has to issue to pay for Joe Biden’s fiscal profligacy, that neither Joe nor “TOODLES” have a clue when it comes to running this country, as opposed to running it into the ground, which takes us back to 1924 and Cal Coolidge as seen through the eyes of H.L. Mencken, to wit:
The day good Cal is elected every thieving scoundrel in the Republican party will burst into hosannas, and the day he is inaugurated there will be song and praise services wherever injunctions are tight and profits run to 50 per cent.
Then will follow, for a year or two, a reign of mirth in Washington, wilder and merrier, even, than that of Harding’s time.
And then there will come an explosion.
How all this will benefit legitimate business I can’t make out.
The only businessmen who will gain anything by it will be the one who manages to steal enough while the going is good to last him all the rest of his life.
All the others will get burnt in the explosion, as they always do when political dynamite is set off.
end quotes
And five years later, in 1929, that political dynamite did explode, and down came Wall Street in flames, which has me wondering, as I follow the economic news each day, about the explosion that is waiting in the wings as a result of the fiscal profligacy and irresponsibility of the Joe Biden regime and its Stalinistic CENTRAL PLANNING, which according to the Reuters article titled “TSMC wins $6.6 bln US subsidy for Arizona chip production” by David Shepardson and Stephanie Kelly on April 8, 2024, just handed TSMC, a Taiwanese company, a fistful of American taxpayer coin, to wit:
WASHINGTON, April 8 (Reuters) – The U.S. Commerce Department said on Monday it would award Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s U.S. unit a $6.6 billion subsidy for advanced semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona and up to $5 billion in low-cost government loans.
end quote
In that same article, it was stated as follows:
Commerce expects the projects will create 6,000 direct manufacturing jobs and 20,000 construction jobs.
end quote
Oh, really?
Then where are all these jobs?
I go through the job reports each month, and I fail to see where all that money is going, except into corporate coffers, where it seems to get swallowed up, as we see by going to the Reuters article titled “Strong US labor market underpins economy in first quarter” by Lucia Mutikani on April 5, 2024, where we have the latest job figures from Joe’s own government, to wit:
The healthcare sector led the broad increase in employment, adding 72,000 jobs that were spread across ambulatory services, hospitals as well as nursing and residential care facilities.
Government payrolls increased by 71,000 jobs, boosted by local and federal government hiring.
The construction sector added 39,000 jobs, about double the average monthly gain of 19,000 over the last 12 months.
Leisure and hospitality payrolls rose 49,000, returning employment to its pre-pandemic level.
There were also increases in employment in the social assistance, retail and wholesale trade sectors.
Financial activities reported modest gains in payrolls as did mining and logging, transportation and warehousing.
Professional and business services employment rose slightly, with temporary help – seen a as harbinger for future hiring – posting a small decline.
But manufacturing added no jobs last month as did the information sector.
Utilities shed 400 jobs.
Wages increased 4.1% on a year-on-year basis, the smallest gain since June 2021, after advancing 4.3% in February.
end quotes
And that subsidy (a sum of money granted by the government to assist an industry or business so that the price of a commodity or service may remain low or competitive) to TSMC is on top of $8.5 billion in grants and up to $11 billion in loans for Intel to subsidize leading-edge chip production from the same program, while Joe is expected to unveil an award for South Korea’s Samsung Electronics as soon as next week, sources said.
But this is as much about character of presidential candidates in America as it is policy, which takes us back to Mencken in 1924, to wit:
Do they quake today before the menace of La Follette?
end quote
There he is talking about Robert Marion “Fighting Bob” La Follette Sr. (June 14, 1855 – June 18, 1925) who was an American lawyer and politician that represented Wisconsin in both chambers of Congress and served as the governor of Wisconsin from 1901 to 1906, and then ran for president of the United States as the nominee of his own Progressive Party in the 1924 presidential election that Mencken is writing about above.
As Wikipedia tells us, with the Republican and Democratic Parties each nominating conservative candidates in the 1924 presidential election, left-wing groups coalesced behind La Follette’s third-party candidacy, and with the support of the Socialist Party, farmer’s groups, labor unions, and others, La Follette briefly appeared to be a serious threat to unseat Republican President Calvin Coolidge.
La Follette won 16.6% of the popular vote, one of the best third party performances in U.S. history, which takes us back to Mencken, to wit:
If so, let them consider how La Follette came to be so formidable.
Three years ago he was apparently as dead as Gog and Magog.
The Farmer Labor party snored beside him in the political morgue; Socialism was already in the dissecting room.
Then came, in quick succession, the oil scandal, the Veterans’ Bureau scandal and the intolerable stench of Dougherty.
In six months La Follettism was on its legs again, and now it is so strong that only a miracle can keep the election out of the House.
end quotes
And let’s pause here for station identification before going back to 1924, to see if we can learn anything at all about where we are today with Joe Biden in the white house, but stay tuned and don’t touch that dial, because we will be right back with more.
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/paul-p ... ent-916339
Re: POLITICS
CNBC
"The ‘supercore’ inflation measure shows Fed may have a real problem on its hands"
Brian Evans @BRIANSYNDICATES
PUBLISHED WED, APR 10 2024
KEY POINTS
* Markets are buzzing about an even more specific prices gauge contained within the data — the so-called supercore inflation reading.
* The gauge measures services inflation excluding food, energy and housing and has been roaring higher lately, up 4.8% year over year in March and more than 8% at a 3-month annualized pace.
* The picture is more complicated because some of the most stubborn components of services inflation are household necessities like car and housing insurance as well as property taxes.
A hotter-than-expected consumer price index reading rattled markets Wednesday, but markets are buzzing about an even more specific prices gauge contained within the data — the so-called supercore inflation reading.
Along with the overall inflation measure, economists also look at the core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, to find the true trend.
The supercore gauge, which also excludes shelter and rent costs from its services reading, takes it even a step further.
Fed officials say it is useful in the current climate as they see elevated housing inflation as a temporary problem and not as good a gauge of underlying prices.
Supercore accelerated to a 4.8% pace year over year in March, the highest in 11 months.
Tom Fitzpatrick, managing director of global market insights at R.J. O’Brien & Associates, said if you take the readings of the last three months and annualize them, you’re looking at a supercore inflation rate of more than 8%, far from the Federal Reserve’s 2% goal.
“As we sit here today, I think they’re probably pulling their hair out,” Fitzpatrick said.
An ongoing problem
CPI increased 3.5% year over year last month, above the Dow Jones estimate that called for 3.4%.
The data pressured equities and sent Treasury yields higher on Wednesday, and pushed futures market traders to extend out expectations for the central bank’s first rate cut to September from June, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
“At the end of the day, they don’t really care as long as they get to 2%, but the reality is you’re not going to get to a sustained 2% if you don’t get a key cooling in services prices, [and] at this point we’re not seeing it,” said Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Santander U.S.
Wall Street has been keenly aware of the trend coming from supercore inflation from the beginning of the year.
A move higher in the metric from January’s CPI print was enough to hinder the market’s “perception the Fed was winning the battle with inflation [and] this will remain an open question for months to come,” according to BMO Capital Markets head of U.S. rates strategy Ian Lyngen.
Another problem for the Fed, Fitzpatrick says, lies in the differing macroeconomic backdrop of demand-driven inflation and robust stimulus payments that equipped consumers to beef up discretionary spending in 2021 and 2022 while also stoking record inflation levels.
Today, he added, the picture is more complicated because some of the most stubborn components of services inflation are household necessities like car and housing insurance as well as property taxes.
“They are so scared by what happened in 2021 and 2022 that we’re not starting from the same point as we have on other occasions,” Fitzpatrick added.
“The problem is, if you look at all of this [together] these are not discretionary spending items, [and] it puts them between a rock and a hard place.”
Sticky inflation problem
Further complicating the backdrop is a dwindling consumer savings rate and higher borrowing costs which make the central bank more likely to keep monetary policy restrictive “until something breaks,” Fitzpatrick said.
The Fed will have a hard time bringing down inflation with more rate hikes because the current drivers are stickier and not as sensitive to tighter monetary policy, he cautioned.
Fitzpatrick said the recent upward moves in inflation are more closely analogous to tax increases.
While Stanley opines that the Fed is still far removed from hiking interest rates further, doing so will remain a possibility so long as inflation remains elevated above the 2% target.
“I think by and large inflation will come down and they’ll cut rates later than we thought,” Stanley said.
“The question becomes are we looking at something that’s become entrenched here?"
"At some point, I imagine the possibility of rate hikes comes back into focus.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/10/the-sup ... hands.html
"The ‘supercore’ inflation measure shows Fed may have a real problem on its hands"
Brian Evans @BRIANSYNDICATES
PUBLISHED WED, APR 10 2024
KEY POINTS
* Markets are buzzing about an even more specific prices gauge contained within the data — the so-called supercore inflation reading.
* The gauge measures services inflation excluding food, energy and housing and has been roaring higher lately, up 4.8% year over year in March and more than 8% at a 3-month annualized pace.
* The picture is more complicated because some of the most stubborn components of services inflation are household necessities like car and housing insurance as well as property taxes.
A hotter-than-expected consumer price index reading rattled markets Wednesday, but markets are buzzing about an even more specific prices gauge contained within the data — the so-called supercore inflation reading.
Along with the overall inflation measure, economists also look at the core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, to find the true trend.
The supercore gauge, which also excludes shelter and rent costs from its services reading, takes it even a step further.
Fed officials say it is useful in the current climate as they see elevated housing inflation as a temporary problem and not as good a gauge of underlying prices.
Supercore accelerated to a 4.8% pace year over year in March, the highest in 11 months.
Tom Fitzpatrick, managing director of global market insights at R.J. O’Brien & Associates, said if you take the readings of the last three months and annualize them, you’re looking at a supercore inflation rate of more than 8%, far from the Federal Reserve’s 2% goal.
“As we sit here today, I think they’re probably pulling their hair out,” Fitzpatrick said.
An ongoing problem
CPI increased 3.5% year over year last month, above the Dow Jones estimate that called for 3.4%.
The data pressured equities and sent Treasury yields higher on Wednesday, and pushed futures market traders to extend out expectations for the central bank’s first rate cut to September from June, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
“At the end of the day, they don’t really care as long as they get to 2%, but the reality is you’re not going to get to a sustained 2% if you don’t get a key cooling in services prices, [and] at this point we’re not seeing it,” said Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Santander U.S.
Wall Street has been keenly aware of the trend coming from supercore inflation from the beginning of the year.
A move higher in the metric from January’s CPI print was enough to hinder the market’s “perception the Fed was winning the battle with inflation [and] this will remain an open question for months to come,” according to BMO Capital Markets head of U.S. rates strategy Ian Lyngen.
Another problem for the Fed, Fitzpatrick says, lies in the differing macroeconomic backdrop of demand-driven inflation and robust stimulus payments that equipped consumers to beef up discretionary spending in 2021 and 2022 while also stoking record inflation levels.
Today, he added, the picture is more complicated because some of the most stubborn components of services inflation are household necessities like car and housing insurance as well as property taxes.
“They are so scared by what happened in 2021 and 2022 that we’re not starting from the same point as we have on other occasions,” Fitzpatrick added.
“The problem is, if you look at all of this [together] these are not discretionary spending items, [and] it puts them between a rock and a hard place.”
Sticky inflation problem
Further complicating the backdrop is a dwindling consumer savings rate and higher borrowing costs which make the central bank more likely to keep monetary policy restrictive “until something breaks,” Fitzpatrick said.
The Fed will have a hard time bringing down inflation with more rate hikes because the current drivers are stickier and not as sensitive to tighter monetary policy, he cautioned.
Fitzpatrick said the recent upward moves in inflation are more closely analogous to tax increases.
While Stanley opines that the Fed is still far removed from hiking interest rates further, doing so will remain a possibility so long as inflation remains elevated above the 2% target.
“I think by and large inflation will come down and they’ll cut rates later than we thought,” Stanley said.
“The question becomes are we looking at something that’s become entrenched here?"
"At some point, I imagine the possibility of rate hikes comes back into focus.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/10/the-sup ... hands.html
Re: POLITICS
CNBC
"Fed wants more confidence that inflation is moving toward 2% target, meeting minutes indicate"
Jeff Cox @JEFF.COX.7528 @JEFFCOXCNBCCOM
PUBLISHED WED, APR 10 2024
Federal Reserve officials at their March meeting expressed concern that inflation wasn’t moving lower quickly enough, though they still expected to cut interest rates at some point this year.
At a meeting in which the Federal Open Market Committee again voted to hold short-term borrowing rates steady, policymakers also showed misgivings that inflation, while easing, wasn’t doing so in a convincing enough fashion.
The Fed currently targets its benchmark rate between 5.25%-5.5%
As such, FOMC members voted to keep language in the post-meeting statement that they wouldn’t be cutting rates until they “gained greater confidence” that inflation was on a steady path back to the central bank’s 2% annual target.
“Participants generally noted their uncertainty about the persistence of high inflation and expressed the view that recent data had not increased their confidence that inflation was moving sustainably down to 2 percent,” the minutes said.
In what apparently was a lengthy discussion about inflation at the meeting, officials said geopolitical turmoil and rising energy prices remain risks that could push inflation higher.
They also cited the potential that looser policy could add to price pressures.
On the downside, they cited a more balanced labor market, enhanced technology along with economic weakness in China and a deteriorating commercial real estate market.
They also discussed higher-than-expected inflation readings in January and February.
Chair Jerome Powell said it’s possible the two months’ readings were caused by seasonal issues, though he added it’s hard to tell at this point.
There were members at the meeting who disagreed.
“Some participants noted that the recent increases in inflation had been relatively broad based and therefore should not be discounted as merely statistical aberrations,” the minutes stated.
That part of the discussion was partly relevant considering the release came the same day that the Fed received more bad news on inflation.
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/10/fed-mee ... ation.html
"Fed wants more confidence that inflation is moving toward 2% target, meeting minutes indicate"
Jeff Cox @JEFF.COX.7528 @JEFFCOXCNBCCOM
PUBLISHED WED, APR 10 2024
Federal Reserve officials at their March meeting expressed concern that inflation wasn’t moving lower quickly enough, though they still expected to cut interest rates at some point this year.
At a meeting in which the Federal Open Market Committee again voted to hold short-term borrowing rates steady, policymakers also showed misgivings that inflation, while easing, wasn’t doing so in a convincing enough fashion.
The Fed currently targets its benchmark rate between 5.25%-5.5%
As such, FOMC members voted to keep language in the post-meeting statement that they wouldn’t be cutting rates until they “gained greater confidence” that inflation was on a steady path back to the central bank’s 2% annual target.
“Participants generally noted their uncertainty about the persistence of high inflation and expressed the view that recent data had not increased their confidence that inflation was moving sustainably down to 2 percent,” the minutes said.
In what apparently was a lengthy discussion about inflation at the meeting, officials said geopolitical turmoil and rising energy prices remain risks that could push inflation higher.
They also cited the potential that looser policy could add to price pressures.
On the downside, they cited a more balanced labor market, enhanced technology along with economic weakness in China and a deteriorating commercial real estate market.
They also discussed higher-than-expected inflation readings in January and February.
Chair Jerome Powell said it’s possible the two months’ readings were caused by seasonal issues, though he added it’s hard to tell at this point.
There were members at the meeting who disagreed.
“Some participants noted that the recent increases in inflation had been relatively broad based and therefore should not be discounted as merely statistical aberrations,” the minutes stated.
That part of the discussion was partly relevant considering the release came the same day that the Fed received more bad news on inflation.
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/10/fed-mee ... ation.html