The Inquisitive Skink

Wilbur Ross, our new Secretary of Commerce, is similar to the President in his ability to flat-out lie. He recently wrote that the US has the lowest trade barriers in the world. We don't. You can refer to the World Bank for that data....I am sure he knows about the World Bank. At least I hope so. Canada, Israel, the European Union, Japan, Indonesia, Belarus, Malaysia, Paraguay, and more all have higher tarrif rates than the U.S. Also, if you split it down to economies, instead of countries, Hong Kong and Singapore are the two most open economies in the world. These two large provinces in China support a huge amount of U.S. economy as a result. Politicians play upon free trade myths to the detriment of our country and to our economy. Ross is correct that we havethe largest trade deficit in the world — $500bn annually. However he does not address what this really means. We have a large economy. A large trade deficit will occur in a large economy, folks. The fact is that trade d...

I don't know why so many in the media are too dense to understand why people are so pissed off and deciding to occupy Wall Street.  It is very simple. The banking industry has been playing craps with our money and a fixed roll of dice. Our own government provides documentation of the unfairness of our system.The CIA World Fact Book is a wonderful compendium of information. They publish an index that measures the degree of inequality in the distribution of family income in a country.  According to our government's own figures, the United States is more unequal a society than either Tunisia or Egypt. (When you read the chart, remember that the bigger the GINI index the more unequal a country's income distribution). Somehow, the news people "get" the frustrations of the people in the streets of Egypt but want to hold their heads in the sand about the frustration driving protests here.I avoid tv news now....it just makes me want to stick pins into voodoo doll...

There is finally a group forming in Bloomington, Indiana to become part of the BALLE Network. BALLE is The Business Alliance for Local Living Economies and works to promote local businesses. Local First Indiana had its first steering committee meeting in late July. Local First Indiana is a non-profit organization committed to supporting and promoting locally owned independent business by educating the public, facilitating collaboration, and engaging in outreach in order to create a more economically and environmentally sustainable local community, while preserving the unique local character." This is how Local First Indiana is defining local: 1. Is the business privately held (not publicly traded)? 2. Do the business owners, totaling greater than 50 percent of the business ownership, live in your local region? 3. Is the business registered in your state, with no corporate or national headquarters outside your region? 4. Can the business make independent decisions...

Indiana’s unemployment figures for January, released Friday, show Monroe County as having the second lowest jobless rate in the state. This comes as no surprise to those of us who work in social services. Many people are out there feeling like they are scraping their faces on the sidewalk pavement. I am hopeful that perhaps this shakedown in our economy will be what we need to reset our table correctly. One can only hope. It has been a tough week at work. Can't say much, other than that it can be tough working in the field of domestic violence. I don't know why I'm sitting here writing when my brain is fried and I started work at 5am this morning. Strange way to relax, huh? But before I sign off here are a few interesting tidbits to ponder. They do relate to my opening sentence, albeit from an odd angle. Tidbit 1 : While millions of families are losing their homes, jobs and health care, the military budget next year will top one trillion dollars — that’s $1,000...