Carl Ginsburg

US Dept. of Agriculture reported that in 2006 35 million people in the US lived in “food insecure” households, including 13 million children… that’s more than 10% of the population. The outlook for 08 is worse with soaked fields and high fuel costs… This summer cities are distributing lunches to inner city kids who don’t get enough to eat even with parents working… Wall St.

No Independence Day celebration would be incomplete without a salute to the Oracle of Omaha, our own Warren Buffett… “Mr. Coca Cola”, whose holding company is sitting on $35 billion… Latest reports had Buffett exercising his patriotic duty by traveling in Europe “shopping for businesses”... It’s not just at Christie’s… records are being set at auctions world wide..

It’s here! The “slow-motion recession” now expected to last well into next year. First it was a slow down, then low growth, then to last through 08, then consumer confidence down… Coming up: current economic downturn to run into 2010. Three months in a row new unemployment claims hit 380,000, and that doesn’t include the “discouraged worker” who has stopped looking…

Any of you thinking of buying an $80 million Monet need to arrive early. Standing room only crowds at Christie’s in London… $80.4 million was the exact price fetched by a Monet... a record. Let the good times roll! That may not be fair. Millionairism is spreading more equally. (Huh?) Merrill Lynch estimates that there are a few more than 10 million millionaires in the world… about two-thirds live in N. America and Europe. But the biggest growth in the ranks of these financial leaders: Middle East, followed by Latin America. The long view...

Seventy percent – the amount of trading in key oil futures considered speculative, according to some industry experts… this info, before House Energy and Commerce Committee, as it weighs options to slow down speculation in crude… estimates at that oil prices could come down 50% in less than 30 days if Congress took action…

Those of you who might walk up NYC’s Sixth Avenue, or drive through West Los Angeles, or cruise the freeways of Dallas, hike the hills of SF, take in the views of Seattle, etc… you might be wondering how it is, given the continued construction of multi-million dollar condos, the posting of menus at high end restaurants, backlog of reservations at golf clubs and leasing of luxury cars, that: We ARE BROKE. This is a result, says Barack Obama, of “the most fiscally irresponsible administration in modern times.” Now [if we do nothing to change the dynamics of our economy – read, live basic tax structure in place] we will remain broke for awhile.

The inevitable: U.S. gasoline demand will show decline in 2008 for first time in 17 years… Sales of pick ups, minivans and SUVs, says one analyst, are “falling off a cliff.” These are the dynamics of a market economy... Fasten your seatbelts!

You asked for it, You got it! Toyota! So what do you get? According to a 65-page report by the National Labor Committee, "The Toyota You Don't Know," Toyota is engaged in serious human rights violations. The Toyota Motor Company is linked to human trafficking and sweatshop abuse and to Burmese dictators.. Toyota employs 10,000 low-wage temps.. is accused of unpaid overtime and serious overwork. The world’s No. 1 car maker is cited by the ILO for repression in denying freedom of association. And Toyota has helped to usher in lower wages and benefits across the U.S. auto industry. Anybody been to Detroit lately?

Good for Barack Obama! … not afraid to call the US economy what it is-- “winner-take-all”…But he has given a nod to lowering corporate taxes (in return for simplying the tax system)… What are Obama’s economics? Well check out NY Review of Books, June 16, and learn about Behaviorist Economics – it’s all about giving people incremental choices... ugh. Obama nods to corporations, McCain bows: he greenlights a lifting of ban on offshore gas and oil drilling off US coastlines...

The 3 ½ years from 2004 and mid-2007, reports NYTimes, was a period of “unprecedented wealth” on Wall Street…. Seven large banks and investment firms made a quarter of a trillion dollars… But as we know, profits took a hit in the mortgage mess.. those seven firms wrote down more than $100 billion recently…