Initial Jobless Claims are down again this week putting in doubt the prognostication that we’re going into the double dip recession. That would be the recession that the Republicans have been working so hard to engineer before the election.
Jobless Claims are in fact down 15% from this time last year. This is of no comfort for those who have become permanently unemployed under the universal corporate policy of never hiring people who are unemployed. A permanent oblivion that workers can be cast into focuses the minds of the Neo-feudal serfs.
Gasoline prices continue fall putting cash in the hand of consumers, and retailers are hoping this will trigger a huge surge in back to school sales. There is a certain amount of pent up consumer demand, and the urge to buy stuff for the kids is usually a leading indicator of renewed consumer confidence.
The central banks of Great Britain, the EU and China have launched stimulus initiatives intended to boost their economic output, or at least hold deflation at bay. The ECB (Euro) effort is minimal, but it is movement in the right direction for a change. China is the only remaining super power, and will do what it needs to do to maintain its skyrocket trajectory. (rightwing predictions that it is just a bottle rocket have yet to be fulfilled)
More information is starting to emerge about Mitt Romney’s hiding of his money in offshore tax havens (where there is little if anything paid in taxes and no compliance with the tax system). It’s beginning to appear the Mittens maybe worth a lot more than the 350 million that he shows on paper.