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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Francis Cianfrocca to discuss Europe’s potential political merger, the ten year anniversary of Enron’s collapse, and evidence the American private sector has been dying since the 1960’s.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Francis Cianfrocca to discuss Germany’s failed bond auction, calls for a more politically unified Europe, and the potential end of the Euro.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Francis Cianfrocca to discuss a new German push to politically unite Europe to save the Eurozone, Obama’s decision to kill 20,000 jobs, and we respond to a question from a listener.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Francis Cianfrocca to discuss a new push to politically unite Europe to save the Eurozone, how the restructuring of the American job market may permanently kill America’s middle class, and the disappearance of “Made in America.”

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Francis Cianfrocca to discuss Rick Perry’s resurgence after his debate stumble this week, the new leaders of Greece and Italy, and we pay tribute to Veteran’s Day.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

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It is not necessarily true that as goes the Euro, so goes the Dollar, but as goes the EU, so goes the US is as certain as the rising (or setting) sun. At least, if American fiscal policy continues to emulate that of the European spendthrifts.  The EU heads of state had marathon, round-the-clock meetings in Brussels last week, and inked a plan to finesse a Greek default (which is an eventual certainty) in a way that doesn’t immediately plunge the rest of Europe into a financial hell, and quite possibly drag America along with it.  Under the best of circumstances, the picture remains bleak.  Market analysts who focus on short-term stock market movements responded with sighs of relief.

The Germans, understandably, wanted those who have loaned Greece money (primarily, the European banks) to take a loss of about half of the value of their loans in order to ease the extremis in which Greece finds herself.  France, whose banks are holding a lot of Greece’s debt, preferred to rely more heavily on a pumped up bailout fund to ease the burden on Athens.  Given that the German taxpayer is certain to be the biggest funder of the proposed additional bailout, it is not hard to understand the rising tensions on the continent.

One can’t blame the banks for their reluctance to dance at this party.  Based on commitments the EU countries made, to keep their debt to no more than 60% of GDP and their deficits to no more than 3% over the prior year, Europe’s banks became major financiers of the new Euro countries.  But many of the European countries that were financially irresponsible prior to the advent of the Euro had no intention of changing their ways subsequent to exchanging their old currencies for the new Euro.  Greece flat out misrepresented its financial condition when it applied to become a member of the Euro Zone.

(more…)

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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Francis Cianfrocca to discuss the fallout from last week’s Eurozone deal, the impact of the debt crisis on Social Security and the weekend’s winter storm in the Northeast.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Francis Cianfrocca to discuss the stock market’s booming October, China’s rescue of the failing Eurozone and the failure economic models.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Francis Cianfrocca to discuss the plan for a plan to save the Euro Zone, the possibility that high unemployment is here to stay, and the impending death of America’s middle class.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Francis Cianfrocca to discuss Nobel-winning economist Robert Lucas, the continued financial mess in Europe and the potential end of the Euro, plus it’s launch day for Boeing’s 787.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Francis Cianfrocca to discuss how the upheaval in Libya and the Euro Bond debate will effect the markets. Then we’ll ask Francis when the next recession will hit, and oh yeah, Brad and his wife had a baby boy last week.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

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Obama faces worst-case 2012 scenario

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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Francis Cianfrocca to discuss German elections and the continued battle between the unions and Scott Walker in Wisconsin.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

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(more…)

From the New York Times:

And as officials frenetically tried to paper over differences among the Group of 20 members with a vaguely worded communiqué to be issued Friday, there was no way to avoid discussion of the fundamental differences of economic strategy. After five largely harmonious meetings in the past two years to deal with the most severe downturn since the Depression, major disputes broke out between Washington and China, Britain, Germany and Brazil.

Each rejected core elements of Mr. Obama’s strategy of stimulating growth before focusing on deficit reduction. Several major nations continued to accuse the Federal Reserve of deliberately devaluing the dollar last week in an effort to put the costs of America’s competitive troubles on trading partners, rather than taking politically tough measures to rein in spending at home.

The result was that Mr. Obama repeatedly found himself on the defensive.

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Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will not take up the Senate’s “doc fix” bill, which passed through the Senate on Friday.  A letter from Pelosi reaffirms her position and scolds Republicans for blocking the jobs portion of the bill:

“What is it that Republicans in the Senate and House don’t understand about the need for jobs in America? I see no reason to pass this inadequate bill until we see jobs legislation coming out of the Senate. House Democrats are saying to Republicans in the Senate: Show us the jobs!”

It’s humorous to hear Pelosi whine on this–if my memory is correct the Democrats control both Chambers and passed the $787 billion stimulus bill to create ” jobs, jobs, jobs.”  More than one year later, we now know that the “stimulus failed,” and a second $17 billion stimlus/jobs bill was passed–which somehow still is not enough.

So, we have more than $800 billion in stimulus spending “designed” to create jobs and now Pelosi has the audacity to blame the GOP after the two previous massive, generational-theft stimulus bills failed.  Are you kidding, Nan?

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The ink was barely dry on the $150 billion EU/IMF bailout of Greece when world stock markets tanked on two major fears. First, financial analysts are concerned that the bailout money won’t be enough to cover Greece’s borrowing needs from its out-of-control budget deficit. Second, there are fears that the EU/IMF deal will not be approved by the German parliament in a vote scheduled for Friday.

Additionally, there are new worries that the Greek debt contagion will spread to Spain and elsewhere in Europe. The looming specter of debt default and deflation is heavy in the air for investors worldwide.

Making market matters even riskier, German chancellor Angela Merkel faces key regional elections this Sunday in populous North Rhine-Westphalia, including the conservative areas of Cologne, Bonn, and Stuttgart. These cities hate government debt and overspending as much as the rest of Germany, if not more so.

The great postwar German leader Konrad Adenauer came from Cologne. He was a conservative Catholic who despised Nazism and Soviet communism. He also was an inflation fighter. To stop hyperinflation in the postwar period, Adenauer sponsored the new German mark and linked it to the dollar, which in those days was as good as gold.

Today, all of Germany still hates inflation.

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On Sunday morning, Instapundit drew attention to a startling photograph posted on the internet by the White House. In it stands President Obama in black tie, leaning against a wall, his arms folded, speaking not a word, and looking down on Vice-President Biden with hooded eyes.

When this shot is shown in high resolution, as one perceptive observer soon noted, “Obama looks like he has contempt for Biden” –which, he added, may be the case “given Joe ‘The Gaff Machine’ Biden’s performance this year.” I am, he concluded, once again reminded “of how this administration seems to have become oblivious to the images they project to the public.”

I wonder whether this last point is right.

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel won a resounding reelection in today’s balloting in Germany. That was mostly expected. What wasn’t expected was the absolute drubbing suffered by SPD, the labor/left party. Until this election, Merkel’s conservatives were in an uneasy, ‘grand coalition’ with the SPD. Those days are over. Now Merkel’s conservatives will form a government with the pro-free market (libertarian) FPD party. Hmmm…hints of things to come?:

Together with the FDP, Mrs Merkel is expected to push for a new era of deeper economic reforms and tax cuts for Europe’s biggest economy. Mrs Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the FDP benefited from dissatisfaction over spiralling national debt and stagnant income levels.

The CDU retained its position as Germany’s largest party with 33.5 per cent and the Free Democrats jumped to 15 per cent.

The result marked a humiliating blow for Germany’s venerable Social Democratic Party, which took just 22.5 per cent.

Predictions of a tight outcome were confounded by frustrated voters embracing Mrs Merkel’s case for a stronger hand to deal with Germany’s long-term financial problems.

Read the whole thing here, in a non-US newspaper.

Chancellor Merkel’s party support actually dropped slightly from the last election. However, the FDP, the pro-market, libertarianish party almost doubled their support. And, the labor/left collapsed. Totally.

More of that please.