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Strategies & Market Trends : Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: mishedlo who wrote (17105)	11/29/2004 6:58:29 PM
From: RealMuLan	Respond to of 116555

Possible. Isn't Iran also a candidate?

To: mishedlo who wrote (17105)	11/29/2004 7:01:02 PM
From: RealMuLan	Respond to of 116555

China says speculation imperils yuan reforms REUTERS Posted online: Tuesday, November 30, 2004 at 0133 hours IST BEIJING, NOVEMBER 29: China’s central bank slammed speculators in the foreign exchange market on Monday, saying those pouring money into the yuan currency in search of profits could undermine efforts to make it more flexible. The warning came a day after Premier Wen Jiabao signalled there would be no rush to reform the currency, denting fervent market speculation the Chinese currency could be revalued within days. indianexpress.com

To: mishedlo who wrote (17105)	11/29/2004 7:05:34 PM
From: RealMuLan	Respond to of 116555

A better fix than privatizing Social Security By Edith U. Fierst WASHINGTON – The president's determination to partially privatize Social Security stems from ideological reasons. But in fact the projected Social Security deficit is small enough - 1.89 percent of payroll, under the Social Security trustees' intermediate assumptions (neither optimistic nor pessimistic) - that a major revision to the system is not necessary. The deficit can be remedied with a few discrete changes in the program, all of which are surprisingly easy to understand and accept. The first is to raise the earned income on which the Social Security payroll tax is assessed and benefits are paid. At present, the maximum is $87,900 a year, subject to annual indexing to wage growth. But it could be raised gradually over several years to 90 percent of covered earnings of individuals, from its current level of about 85 percent, and indexed thereafter. If that were done, the additional payroll tax paid by the 6 percent of those who earn more than $87,900 would reduce the long-range deficit by 0.61 percent of payroll. A second proposal is to keep the tax on estates worth $3.5 million and more and dedicate the proceeds to Social Security. At present, the tax applies to estates valued at a minimum of $1.5 million. In 2009 the exemption rises to $3.5 million and the following year the estate tax is scheduled to end. Dedicating the tax on estates worth $3.5 million and over, and retaining it, would reduce the long-range deficit by another 0.6 percent of payroll. A third change would be to bring all newly hired public employees under mandatory coverage of Social Security, thereby reducing the long-range deficit by about 0.22 percent of payroll. About 6.7 million state and local government employees are currently exempt - virtually the only workers not covered by America's retirement system. Instead these employees are covered by plans operated by their employers. For long-term employees, the benefits of state and local government plans are often greater than those paid by Social Security. But these plans, unlike Social Security, are not portable, so employees who change jobs or employers may lose their coverage. If they become disabled before acquiring substitute coverage, they may be without disability benefits. Furthermore, the dependents of public employees exempt from Social Security, even employees fully covered by state and local government plans, are unlikely to be protected by disability, spouse, or survivor benefits. If coverage were to be broadened to include newly hired public employees, the governments involved would need time and possibly financial help to phase in the new coverage. Delicate negotiations between these governments and public-employee unions might be required, but the example of how smoothly newly hired federal employees were brought under mandatory coverage and a revamped federal retirement system in 1984 would be a good model. The final change would be to adopt the more accurate formula for cost-of-living increases designed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and in use by many programs. Using that formula would reduce the long-range deficit by 0.3 percent of payroll. ... csmonitor.com

To: mishedlo who wrote (17105)	11/29/2004 9:55:19 PM
From: BubbaFred	Respond to of 116555

Why? Venezuela doesn't even come close to Iraq's oil reserve. Or, it could be currency play factor. But everybody, including China, wants stability in currency for now and in the next ten to twenty years and they don't want US dollar to collapse. Not ready yet. Have to wait until such time when the rest of the world's economy can sustain itself, without US consumers. That's right, it's the US versus the rest of the world, in terms of economic GDP's and buying power. I think we will see definite well defined shifts when US banks (like Citicorp) start to get swallowed by foreign banks (European, of course, which is more pallatable to Americans). Currently and in last 10 years, only the most lucratives (such as pharmaceuticals and energies) got bought out or merged with Europeans. And Daimler Chrysler is much more acceptable than a Toyota Chrysler.