Inquiring minds are listening to California Treasurer Bill Lockyer who testified at an informational hearing on budget reform on October 22, 2009. The highlight of his rant is about pension reform. "It’s impossible for this legislature to reform the pension system, and if we don’t, we ban ... Read more

Timothy R. Homan, writing for Bloomberg says GDP Probably Grew as Stimulus Took Hold The economy in the U.S. probably grew in the third quarter at the fastest pace in two years as government stimulus helped bring an end to the worst recession since the 1930s, economists said before reports this w ... Read more

In response to How Being The Slightest Bit Overqualified Can Cost You A Job I received several interesting Emails. Here is an Email from "PhD In Distress" about overqualified candidates fresh out of college with nowhere to go, competing for jobs that essentially do not exist. "PhD In Distress" ... Read more

Commercial real estate continues to show signs of extreme stress. Please consider Capmark Said Ready to File for Bankruptcy . Capmark Financial Group Inc., one of the nation's largest commercial-real-estate lenders, plans to file for bankruptcy as soon as this weekend, a person familiar with the ... Read more

Citigroup is in serious trouble. It's easy to tell by what they are doing. Inquiring minds note that Citi Abruptly Shutting Down Gas-Linked Credit Cards .Citi (C) is abruptly shutting down credit cards linked to gas station partners. The bank is offering few details: The bank said in a state ... Read more

Japan has gone through two lost decades, in and out of deflation, with nothing to show for it but increasing debt to GDP and a stock market still 70% below its peak. Now, Richard Koo of Nomura Research Institute Ltd. says U.S. Risks Japan-Like ‘Lost Decade’ on Stimulus Exit .U.S. officials c ... Read more

To say the job market is extremely difficult is quite an understatement. As unemployment rises, the pool of qualified and overqualified applicants for any listed job rises as well. Making things more difficult, is being even slightly overqualified can cost you the job. To see how and why being o ... Read more

MarketWatch is reporting Union Pacific blames rail-traffic slump for 26% profit dip Union Pacific Corp. reported a 26% decline in third-quarter profit Thursday, citing a persistent slump in rail demand, particularly from the auto industry, in the face of the global recession. The Omaha, Neb.-ba ... Read more

Weekly unemployment claims have probably peaked this cycle. However, initial claims still remain stubbornly high. Here is the Weekly Unemployment Claims Report for the week ending October 17, 2009. In the week ending Oct. 17, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 531,000 ... Read more

24 Senators and 63 House Representatives have completely lost their minds over pork bellies. Apparently the free market does not work, hog farmers are not making enough money, and the government owes farmers a profit no matter how much stuff they grow or raise. Please consider USDA Must Buy Pork ... Read more