25% des plus grosses entreprises US ont plus rémunéré leurs PDG qu'elles n'ont payé d'impôts

C'est beau l’optimisation fiscale quand même...

Pendant ce temps, j'imagine que la PME se fait massacrer plein pot...

Some U.S. firms paid more to CEOs than taxes: study

Reuters, 31/08/2011 (traduire en Français  )

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Twenty-five of the 100 highest paid U.S. CEOs earned more last year than their companies paid in federal income tax, a pay study by a Washington think tank said on Wednesday.

At a time when lawmakers are facing tough choices in a quest to slash the national debt, the Institute for Policy Studies, a left-leaning group, said it also found many of the companies spent more on lobbying than they did on taxes.

S'ils ne sont pas foutus de faire payer les grosses entreprises, alors qu'ils arrêtent de taxer les petites aussi... De toutes façons, taxer les entreprises, c'est crétin. Il n'y a que des revenus et des patrimoines d'hommes...

Commotion : un Internet sans fil hors d'Internet

A suivre de près...

L'étape suivante de l'Internet ?

Commotion : un Internet sans fil hors d'Internet

Infos du net, Jean Sébastien Zanchi, 31/08/2011 (en Français  )

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Un réseau Internet sans fil, en dehors de tout contrôle du réseau actuel : c’est ce à quoi travaille les concepteurs de Commotion. Un projet qui ouvre de nombreuses possibilités.

Commotion est un logiciel permettant la création de réseaux sans fil haut débit entièrement autonomes. Ils fonctionnent par Wi-Fi et n’ont besoin d’aucune infrastructure déjà existante : ni câble, antenne relais ou satellite. Entièrement décentralisés, ils seront mobiles et leur trafic chiffré et anonyme, évitant ainsi toute surveillance.

Concrètement, le logiciel transforme un routeur Wi-Fi, un PC ou un smartphone en relais intelligent capable de connaitre en temps réel la nature du réseau environnant pour transmettre les données vers un autre relais, au plus près du but visé par l’expéditeur. Si besoin Commotion peut aussi se relier à Internet : il suffit qu’un seul des appareils possède une connexion pour que tous les autres en profitent.

Les jeunes espagnols émigrent en Amérique du Sud

Les Espagnols reviennent chercher l’eldorado

El País via Courrier International, Pablo Ximénez De Sandoval, 23/06/2011 (en Français  )

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Avec une croissance économique de 6 % par an et un manque de main-d’œuvre qualifiée, le continent latino-américain fait rêver les jeunes Espagnols. Ils sont nombreux à tenter l’aventure.

L’équation semble claire comme de l’eau de roche. Une génération d’Espagnols sans perspectives d’avenir fait traîner, d’année en année, ses études supérieures. Pendant ce temps, un continent affairé à poser les fondations de son développement manque de travailleurs qualifiés.

Il existe aujourd’hui un profil type de l’émigrant espagnol en Amérique latine : la trentaine, très qualifié, célibataire.

“De nombreuses entreprises espagnoles arrivent en disant qu’elles veulent avoir une base au Mexique pour faire le grand saut vers les États-Unis. Et puis elles se rendent compte que le Mexique est lui-même un marché gigantesque et en pleine croissance”, et elles renoncent à leur expansion chez l’Oncle Sam pour une stratégie de croissance sur place, explique le jeune Espagnol.

“Le monde du travail n’a rien à voir ici et en Espagne, poursuit Juan Arteaga. Tu travailles énormément, il y a moins de congés. Mais les efforts sont récompensés. Celui qui travaille bien progresse très vite. Je suis arrivé sans argent, sans réseau, et cinq ans plus tard je m’occupe de la com de Coca-Cola sur son deuxième marché mondial, et tout ça à 30 ans.”

Les chiffres sont clairs et on peut dire qu’il n’y a pas de fuite des Espagnols vers l’Amérique latine. Ce ne sont pas des bateaux chargés d’émigrants affamés avec une valise en carton qui partent, mais des universitaires en quête d’expérience. Il n’en reste pas moins que, dans les dix ans à venir, c’est tout un continent hispanophone qui est à construire. Au même moment, une génération entière de jeunes Espagnols diplômés est coincée dans une économie à l’agonie. Deux réalités qui, aujourd’hui, commencent à se rejoindre.

De l'art de refuser de taper sur la rente

Le gouverneur démocrate de gôche de l'Illinois a refusé de taper sur la rente et préféré remonter les impôts pour continuer de garantir les acquis "sociaux" de ses clientèles... Le résultat ne s'est pas fait attendre...

Illinois Loses Most Jobs in Nation Following Tax Hikes

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis, Mike Shedlock, 31/08/2011 (traduire en Français  )

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Thanks to Illinois governor Pat Quinn and the Illinois legislature Illinois Loses Most Jobs in the Nation

In a trend that continues to worsen, more Illinoisans found themselves unemployed in the month of July.

Illinois lost more jobs during the month of July than any other state in the nation, according to the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics report. After losing 7,200 jobs in June, Illinois lost an additional 24,900 non-farm payroll jobs in July. The report also said Illinois’s unemployment rate climbed to 9.5 percent. This marks the third consecutive month of increases in the unemployment rate.

Illinois started to create jobs as the national economy began to recover. But just when Illinois’s economy seemed to be turning around, lawmakers passed record tax increases in January of this year. Since then, Illinois’s employment numbers have done nothing but decline.



When it comes to putting people back to work, Illinois is going backwards. Since January, Illinois has dropped 89,000 people from its employment rolls.

A combination of high taxes, overspending and red tape do nothing but chase away job creators and leave too many citizens without jobs. Springfield needs to act now and reverse course.

Inquiring minds may also wish to check out the foreclosure pipeline in Illinois, 7th worst in the nation at 128 months (over 10 years).

I have little to add to this miserable report other than to emphasize Pat Quinn is the worst governor in the nation. He will not be re-elected. Unfortunately, taxpayers will suffer the consequences of his stupidity for the full length of his term.

Et dans la série de l'argent public bien dépensé par le commissariat au plan...

Obama Spent $535 Million on Solyndra Solar Energy Firm in 2010; Firm Went Bankrupt Today; Pricetag $486,363 Per Job Saved for 18 Months

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis, Mike Shedlock, 31/08/2011 (traduire en Français  )

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The federal government should get out of the business of picking technology and "green" winners. Government backing of alternate energy companies has been nothing short of disastrous.

A solar energy firm touted by the administration in 2010 as a as a "gleaming example of green technology" today announced bankruptcy. 1,100+ employees will be fired.

Please consider Solyndra Filing a Disaster for Obama

President Obama faces political catastrophe in the form of Solyndra -- a San Francisco Bay area solar company that he touted as a gleaming example of green technology. It has announced it will declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy. More than 1,100 people will lose their jobs.

During a visit to the Fremont facility in spring of 2010, the President said the factory "is just a testament to American ingenuity and dynamism and the fact that we continue to have the best universities in the world, the best technology in the world, and most importantly the best workers in the world. "

It's not his statements the administration will regret; it's the loan guarantees. The President was celebrating $535 million in federal promises from the Department of Energy to the solar startup. The administration didn't do its due diligence, says the Government Accountability Office. "There's a consequence if you don't follow a rigorous process that's transparent," Franklin Rusco of GAO told the website iWatch News.

Seen and Unseen

The "seen" math is simple enough. $535 million divided by 1,100 is roughly $486,363 per job saved, now job lost.

That is just the "seen" consequence. The "unseen" consequences are not directly calculable but by giving Solyndra money, other companies that the free market would have preferred have been harmed, perhaps permanently harmed.

Although Obama clearly rushed this pathetic company for a nice photo-op, this is not a simple case of the president failing to do his homework as the GAO implies. The government has no business promoting this kind of crap in the first place.

In this case, it is rather amazing how fast Solyndra wasted over half a billion US taxpayer dollars, so fast I suspect fraud.

In general, if companies cannot survive without government subsidies then they should not survive at all.

Solyndra could not survive even with massive government subsidies. The same happened to many ethanol companies as well. Speaking of which, taxpayers pay though the nose for ethanol subsidies and tariffs both at the pump and in the price of corn, in turn, the price of beef as well.

Pendant ce temps, ceux qui triment dans le privé et sont en proie à la concurrence, sentent revenir le vent du boulet, alors que rien n'a été fait pour restaurer la compétitivité et castrer la rente (de gôche mais aussi de droâte, surtout aux USA) :

Three in 10 Workers Worry Over Layoffs, Double the Level in August 2008

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis, Mike Shedlock, 31/08/2011 (traduire en Français  )

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If you are looking for the reason Consumer Confidence Plunged to 44.5, Lowest Since April 2009 the answer can be found in a recent Gallup poll regarding fear of being laid off.

Please consider In U.S., Worries About Job Cutbacks Return to Record Highs

American workers' concerns about various job-related cutbacks have returned to the record highs seen in 2009, after improving slightly in 2010. In terms of the most significant employment risk measured, 3 in 10 workers currently say they are worried they could soon be laid off, similar to the 31% seen in August 2009 but double the level recorded in August 2008 and for several years prior.



Separately, 30% of workers say they are worried their hours will soon be cut back, and 33% worry their wages will be reduced. An even larger number, 44%, worry their benefits will be reduced, making this the most prevalent job-related concern.

Les nuls   

Ils n'avaient qu'à faire fonctionnaires, banquiers, se faire subventionner par l'État ou gueuler plus fort que les autres    Z'ont vraiment rien compris au social clientélisme...

Les conditions de financement des banques européennes continuent de se dégrader

In The Meantime, European Liquidity Conditions Continue To Deteriorate With An Emphasis On SocGen And Barclays

ZeroHedge, 31/08/2011 (traduire en Français  )

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La falaise de Sénèque

Voila qui va dans le sens de Niall Ferguson qui explique que les empires ont tendance à s'effondrer bien plus vite qu'on ne pourrait le penser :

The Seneca Effect: why decline is faster than growth

The Oil Drum, Ugo Bardi, 31/08/2011 (traduire en Français  )

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Lucius Anneaus Seneca, Letters to Lucilius, n. 91 : It would be some consolation for the feebleness of pour selves and pour works if all things should perish as slowly as they come into being; but as it is, increases are of sluggish growth, but the way to ruin is rapid.

We seem to have such data, instead, for the Mayan civilization. Here is an image taken from Dunning et al (1998). The horizontal scale is very long: 10.000 years from the Pleistocene/holocene boundary.

In this case, pollution takes the shape of soil erosion that drains capital resources and generates population collapse. We should be careful with this interpretation, because some other authors believe that the Mayan collapse was caused by climate change. But the world model developed here seems to be compatible with the historical data.

Berlusconi continue de détricoter son plan de rigueur

C'est fou quand même... La parole de ces gusses ne vaut vraiment pas un kopeck   

Berlusconi Risks The Bond Vigilantes' Wrath, By Reneging On All Austerity Promises Ahead Of Refi-Heavy September

ZeroHedge, 31/08/2011 (traduire en Français  )

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As previously reported, Italy is stealthily undoing its entire €45.5 billion austerity plan proposed two short weeks ago, first cutting the provision for tax hikes for high earners, and now also scrapping the proposed pension changes as Ansa reports - the pension proposal, would have excluded time at university, mandatory military service, from calculations of the retirement age and pension level. That is now gone due to a vocal opposition against every single austerity line item. Unfortunately for Italy, which has been hoping nobody would notice: Bloomberg, which has released an analysis titled "Berlusconi’s Backpedaling May Push Italy Back Toward The Brink of Disaster." It is rather self-explanatory: as a reminder the ECB is only buying Italy bonds as part of its SMP monetization expansion due to promises that Italy would slash its deficit and implement austerity. Now that this is obviously not happening, the SNB is expected to balk at future purchases of Italian debt due to Germany complaining loudly that it is supposed to carry the burden of Italy's consistent lying. Already Italian bonds have resumed their climb wider, and explains the weaker than expected BTP auction of 3 and 10 year bonds conducted yesterday.

Encore un bailout pour la Grèce

Greek Bailout #3 Coming? Barroso Working On "New Greek Program"

ZeroHedge, 31/08/2011 (traduire en Français  )

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Well the second Greek bailout lasted all of... 5 weeks. Time for Bailout #3?

   EC PRESIDENT BARROSO SAYS WORKING ON NEW GREEK PROGRAM
   BARROSO SAYS EC REVIEWING WITH ECB AND IMF GREEK FIN. ASSIST

Mais même les grecs n'y croient plus...

Greece Itself Now Openly Ridicules Europe's Lies Of Greek "Stability"

ZeroHedge, 31/08/2011 (traduire en Français  )

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Compare these two statements: first from Reuters- "Greece's debt has run out of control and government policies are failing to restore finances, an independent parliamentary committee of experts wrote in a report released on Wednesday." And second, from Bloomberg: "Greece’s debt is on a “durable declining path” and new projections will show that the second rescue program reduces net  liabilities, European Union Economic and Monetary Commissioner Olli Rehn said." Sorry Europe: your credibility, whatever was left of it, just ran out. When the indirect object of your bail out effort (the direct one being naturally your central bank and your various local banking oligarchy of course) says in your face that you are full of excrement, it is time to put a fork in it.

Le prix de l'immobilier irlandais en chute libre

-54% depuis le pic pour les appartements à Dublin... -47% pour les maisons...

House prices continue to fall as property market tumbles

thejournal.ie, 29/08/2011 (traduire en Français  )

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The average sale price of property prices dropped by 0.8 per cent in July, its latest figures showed, putting the 12-month price drop at 12.5 per cent.

Apartment prices fell by 1.9 per cent over the course of the month, and how stand over 54 per cent off their peak. House prices in the capital are 47 per cent off their all-time high.

France et Allemagne insistent sur la taxe Tobin

Ca serait bien que ça passe quand même.

Mais à mon avis, les gens surestiment ce qu'une telle taxe va rapporter. Car l'instauration d'une telle taxe va tuer une grande partie de la base sur laquelle elle compte s'asseoir. Et c'est justement ça qui est bien.

Le véritable gain d'une telle taxe, en plus de quelques ronds, ça sera de tuer la spéculation ultra court termiste des day traders et du High Frequency Trading. Finies les mini bulles, les volumes bidons, la fausse liquidité et la volatilité. C'est surtout ça qu'on y gagnera...

Germany, France Repeat Tobin Tax Threat

Bloomberg via ZeroHedge, 31/08/2011 (traduire en Français  )

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France and Germany in September will propose a tax on financial transactions to raise money for development projects, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in Paris. “It’s normal to pay a tax when you buy a material good,” Sarkozy told ambassadors in Paris. “Why should financial transactions be the only transactions exempt?”

He said he wanted other European Union members to join the French-German proposal “so that we can get other countries to rally to it” at a G20 summit in Cannes, France in early November.

Le PIB Canadien en décroissance, l'Australie va suivre

Retournement de bulle immobilière ? Difficulté à exporter les ressources sur fond de ralentissement global (surtout pour le Canada) ? Problèmes conjoncturels ?

Canadian Economy Shrinks For First Time Since 2009; Recession Next?

ZeroHedge, 31/08/2011 (traduire en Français  )

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Don't look know but Canada just confirmed the first signal of a recession, after its GDP printed negative (on expectations of an unchanged number) for the first time since Q2 2009, due to a drop in exports and oil output, most of it blamed naturally on "transitory" factors.

if we assume that the U.S. economy will remain relatively soft, exports will remain relatively soft and be under pressure.

Harvey warns retailers to brace for a 'shocker'

The Australian, 30/08/2011 (traduire en Français  )

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"Retailers will have the hardest Christmas in their lives," said the boss of the country's biggest electrical and furniture chain .

"I see unemployment going up, small businesses going under, manufacturing under huge duress and tourism hit very badly. I don't think the outlook will improve."

He said Harvey Norman would crank up its online strategy in October, but he didn't expect it to return profits.

"Our sales in technology, computers and television have been hit badly because of price deflation," he said." Televisions were the biggest offender.

"Prices have dropped by so much we have to sell three times as many TVs to get the same revenue.

"The same goes for computers -- they are half their price of a year ago -- and we have to sell twice as much to stand still.

"Even whitegoods and washing machines are 10 per cent cheaper today.

La Chine consomme 38% de la production mondiale de cuivre

China and Copper

Financial Times via ZeroHedge, 31/08/2011 (traduire en Français  )

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China accounts for 38 percent of global copper demand, and as such has the power to almost single-handedly prop up the market even if companies in the west are holding back. Nonetheless, traders warned that Chinese buyers could rapidly step back from the market if they believed prices would fall further.

Glencore, the world’s largest commodities trader, said that so-called bonded warehouses stockpiles had seen a “significant drawdown”. It estimated that stocks have “at least halved” since the beginning of the year.

In a sign of China’s increased appetite for copper, the price of the red metal at the nearby hubs of South Korea and Singapore has in the past two weeks jumped relative to the benchmark London Metal Exchange’s price, brokers said.

QE3 imminent

Fed’s Evans backs more easing

MarketWatch, Greg Robb, 30/08/2011 (traduire en Français  )

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The Federal Reserve should take further easing steps because the economy is “moving sideways” and the labor market is in a recession-like state, said Charles Evans, the president of the Chicago Fed, on Tuesday.

“I think we need to do more,” Evans said in an interview with CNBC.

Evans is the first Fed official who publicly has supported additional easing. Evans is a voting member of the FOMC this year.

QE3 is Imminent According to Fed Minutes

Nasdaq, Kathy Lien, 30/08/2011 (traduire en Français  )

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The dollar resumed its slide against all of the major currencies following the release of the August FOMC minutes. The pessimistic tone of the minutes made it clear that policymakers are warming to the idea of more QE.

With inflation expected to fall over time, the economy vulnerable to adverse shocks, and an increased degree of uncertainty on economic growth, Fed officials have become more willing to increase stimulus.

La distribution de susucres à crédit n'a pas marché ? C'est parce qu'on n'a pas assez distribué de susucres à crédit

Obama, Lagarde, Bernanke pour une nouvelle relance

Le Figaro, Pierre Yves Dugua, 29/08/2011 (en Français  )

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La fragilité de la reprise mondiale nécessite d'agir vite, selon eux. Afin de coordonner leur action, le président américain s'est entretenu, séparément, avec la chancelière allemande et la directrice générale du FMI.

La mauvaise tournure de la conjoncture mondiale rend nécessaire un ajustement des politiques économiques. Tel est le consensus en train de naître à Washington et auquel Barack Obama veut associer Angela Merkel. Le président des États-Unis, qui proposera au Congrès début septembre un nouveau plan de relance de l'emploi, a téléphoné samedi à la chancelière allemande. «Les deux leaders sont d'accord sur l'importance d'une action concertée, y compris par le biais du G20, pour relever les défis économiques actuels, stimuler la croissance et l'emploi dans l'économie mondiale», explique le communiqué qui a suivi cet entretien surprise.

Les primo accédants anglais boycottent le parpaing

First-time property buyers caught between a mortgage deposit and a rental place

The Guardian, Mark King, 26/08/2011 (traduire en Français  )

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More than half the UK's regions are now 'blackspots' for mortgage wannabes. Mark King looks at the knock-on effects for the entire market

According to property website Rightmove, only 23% of people who intend to purchase a property in the next 12 months are first-time buyers, when 40% is considered normal for a healthy housing market. This drops to 17.6% in the south-west and Wales and is below 20% in five other regions across England and Wales: Scotland, the south-east, East Anglia, East Midlands, Yorkshire and Humberside.

The website said the three top reasons were difficulties in raising a deposit (exacerbated by steep rental price increases); concerns over financial security (one in five first-time buyers said they were worried about meeting mortgage payments); and over-priced property values – a worrying seven out of 10 prospective first-time buyers told Rightmove they feel property is over-priced in their area.

A lire la dernière phrase, donc, ce ne sont pas les primos qui se sont fait sortir du marché, ils se sortent tout seuls...

First-time buyers perform an essential function in the housing ladder by starting chains that help others to move.