Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis |
- Congress Base Pay $174,000: House Working Days 155 (Adjourned): Senate Working Days 146 (and Counting): Bills Passed 57 vs. 40-year Average of 242
- Rich Pay All The Taxes (Yes, Including Payroll Taxes, Social Security, Medicare) Take II
- District Court Judge Rules NSA Phone Taps Likely Unconstitutional; 68 Page Ruling Cites "Orwellian Technology" and Unreasonable Searches
- Majority Hate Their Job but Only 25% Looking; How to Find Your Way to an Authentic Career
- Sharp Decline in France PMI; Private Sector Employment Drops 21st Time in 22 Months
| Posted: 16 Dec 2013 05:41 PM PST Inquiring minds may be asking "How much do our representatives make, and where do there spend their time?" Those are good questions, and here are some answers. While You're Working, Congress Isn't Please consider six factoids plucked from the Yahoo!Finance report While You're Working, Congress Isn't
Article author Rick Newman states "In 2013 members of Congress worked less, got paid a lot more and struggled to produce anything of significance. If America really is in decline, it starts on Capitol Hill." Indeed! Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com |
| Rich Pay All The Taxes (Yes, Including Payroll Taxes, Social Security, Medicare) Take II Posted: 16 Dec 2013 02:59 PM PST In response to Rich Don't Pay Most of the Taxes (They Pay All of Them); Reflections on the "Almost Rich" several people complained that I am ignoring payroll taxes such as Social Security and Medicare. They are wrong. Here is a repeat of the key facts, followed by an addendum. Buried inside a Congressional Budget Office report this week was this nugget: when it comes to individual income taxes, the top 40 percent of wage earners in America pay 106 percent of the taxes. The bottom 40 percent...pay negative 9 percent.Addendum: Several people stated the above statistics ignored payroll taxes (Social Security and Medicare). That claim is easy to prove wrong, from the very page I cited! Here it is, spelled out as noted above on PDF page 11 (report page 7) of Distribution of Household Income and Taxes. Source: Congressional Budget Office. Notes: Market income is composed of labor income, business income, capital gains, capital income (excluding capital gains), income received in retirement for past services, and other sources of income. Government transfers are cash payments and in-kind benefits from social insurance and other government assistance programs. Federal taxes include individual and corporate income taxes, social insurance (or payroll) taxes, and excise taxes. After-tax income is the sum of market income and government transfers, minus federal tax liabilities That should not have been too hard to find, but it was, because the subject keeps coming up. And while I am at, may as well discuss multiple disputes regarding "the top 40 percent of wage earners in America pay 106 percent of the taxes." Numerous people said that was impossible, even though the very next sentence explained how: The bottom 40 percent...pay negative 9 percent. It nets out to 100% if you do the actual math. Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com |
| Posted: 16 Dec 2013 12:21 PM PST In a rare victory for constitutional freedoms, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon, ruled NSA phone program likely unconstitutional. A federal judge ruled Monday that the National Security Agency program which collects information on nearly all telephone calls made to, from or within the United States is likely to be unconstitutional. Digging into the 68 Page Ruling Those wishing to read the entire 68 page ruling can do so at Legal Times. Unfortunately the PDF is in image form. Here are a image clips of sections not mentioned elsewhere by others. Click on any image for sharper view. Leon Blasts Government for "Wanting It Both Ways" - page 38  Plaintiffs Are Likely to Succeed on Merits of Their Fourth Amendment Claim page 42  "Collection and Analysis of Telephony Metadata Constitutes a Search" page 43  "Almost-Orwellian Technology" - page 49  "Significant Likelihood Searches are Unreasonable" - Page 56  On the same page Leon notes "As a general matter, warrantless searches are per se unreasonable under the fourth amendment". On page 61 Leon stated "The government does not cite a single instance in which analysis of the NSA's bulk metadata collection actually stopped an imminent attack." Government Barred from Bulk Data Collection You have to love the end! On page 67-68  Rare Victory This is a rare victory for common sense and the constitution. However, the ruling is subject to review from a higher court. Expect Obama to fight hard to maintain unreasonable searches. Thank Snowden We can thank patriot and true American hero Edward Snowden for this important victory. In contrast, House speaker John Boenner stands with President Obama in making a constitutional fool of himself. Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com |
| Majority Hate Their Job but Only 25% Looking; How to Find Your Way to an Authentic Career Posted: 16 Dec 2013 10:14 AM PST If you don't like your job, you are not alone. Forbes notes Unhappy Employees Outnumber Happy Ones By Two To One Worldwide. That statistic comes from a Gallup Study that reviewed 25 million responses in 189 different countries. Globally, the study found only 13% of workers feel engaged by their jobs. In the US, the survey shows that of the 100 million people who hold full-time jobs, only 30% are engaged and inspired at work while roughly 20 million (20%) employees are actively disengaged. In short, 30% are happy, 20% are miserable, and the rest are going through the motions, at best. Young and Unhappy? The Huffington Post says Young And Unhappy With Your Job? Just Keep Waiting. Maybe Forever. I assure you there is better advice than the conclusion of the Huffington Post article which ends with "So it may take more than just 30 years of waiting for today's young workers to end up in careers that make them as happy -- and as rich -- as their older colleagues." Twenty-Five Percent Looking A recent Rasmussen Reports survey shows 25% Are Looking for a New Job. Given the level of reported unhappiness, why isn't the number higher than 25%? Undoubtedly some feel trapped, others lack motivation, and many have no idea what they really want to do. Finding Your Way: Book Review For those motivated enough to do something, I suggest reading Finding Your Way to Your Authentic Career by Adam Taggart.  I just finished reading the book. It is easy to read and understand, and offers practical steps to follow for those in jobs they don't like. For those who don't know the name, Adam Taggart is president of Peak Prosperity which he co-founded with Chris Martenson. Although the steps are easy enough to follow, some of them are going to take a great deal of time, and more importantly, lots of motivation. Adam informs me that he did follow all of the steps. He switched from being an unfulfilled vice president at a Fortune 300 Silicon Valley tech giant to working as a business partner with Chris Martensen. His story is much like my own story of switching from computer programming to being an economic blogger and investment advisor for Sitka Pacific. I had an advantage over many. I knew what I wanted to do. I was extremely happy in the mainframe computer world for over 15 years. The next few years were going through the motions until 911 forced me to do something else. The steps Adam outlines to help you figure out what you want to do are time-consuming, as well as the most difficult part of the process. So don't think you will pick up the book and be off and on your way. You won't, especially if you need to follow all of the steps to figure out what it is you want to do. But those motivated enough to see the steps through are more likely than others to find a fulfilling career at the end of the process. Finding Your Way to Your Authentic Career is available in book form or on Kindle. It's good reading for anyone unhappy with their job and motivated enough to do something about it. The book also makes a good stocking-stuffer for parents/grandparents who want to help their kids/grandkids find purpose early on in their careers. Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com |
| Sharp Decline in France PMI; Private Sector Employment Drops 21st Time in 22 Months Posted: 16 Dec 2013 12:51 AM PST Those expecting an end of the recession in France got another jolt of reality this morning. The Markit Flash France PMI shows Sharper fall in output at French companies in December. Key PointsFrance Finance Minister Says Economy has 'Truly Emerged from Recession' Please recall that on December 10, France Finance Minister Says Economy has 'Truly Emerged from Recession' I discussed his beliefs the same day in French Industrial Output Drops Unexpectedly; France Finance Minister in Complete Denial; Expect the Unexpected The data I had on hand to dispute the Finance Minister's optimism was November Markit Data (released on December 4). Now we have "Flash" data for December representing 85% of the survey samples. Unless the last 15% is an amazing set of numbers, France's Finance Minister, Pierre Moscovici, is off his rocker. Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com |
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