FICRY

Production drove the boom. Now that it’s Bust will workers demand their fair share? Reporting from China, Caijin Online correspondent Andy Xie, claims that the financial sector overestimated its worth by more than 100%, and that in light of this realization, the global financial sector will shrink to half its size. This will cause a [...]

According to representatives at the National Association of Manufacturers, “…the recession in manufacturing is both longer and deeper than any downturn since the Great Depression.”  Manufacturing output has collapsed 12% this year, the fastest rate of shrinkage since 1946. Roughly 1 out of every 8 blue collar workers, a staggering  1.7 million Americans, have [...]

We’ve seen the FICRY used as an excuse for a lot of bad behavior, but this example might just take the cake. As reported in The New York Times this morning, deep in the Andes lies a smelting plant owned by New York billionaire Ira Rennert, which is slowly but surely killing all the people [...]

The government is pumping your tax-dollars into GM, they’re clearly interested in investing in the auto maker’s future, are you?
Michael Levine, reporting for the New York Times, argues that the White House laid too heavy a hand in planing the bankruptcy, disrupting the market’s assessment of the brand’s economic viability. He maintains that the bankruptcy [...]

(Reuters) – Global manufacturing showed signs of improvement on Monday, suggesting the world economy may be over the worst of the recession even as General Motors Corp filed for bankruptcy protection. U.S. manufacturing shrank at a slower-than-expected rate in May while in China, the world’s third-biggest economy, industrial activity expanded in the month and surveys [...]

Here is an interesting economic indicator; take a look at what appears to be hundreds of container ships docked and unused off the Singapore coast. If this isn’t a blaring example of putting the breaks on global trade, I don’t know what is. Since March 2009, 11.3 percent of the world’s shipping capacity has been [...]

AP – More than 90 percent of economists predict the recession will end this year, although the recovery is likely to be bumpy. That assessment came from leading forecasters in a survey by the National Association for Business Economics to be released Wednesday. It is generally in line with the outlook from Federal Reserve Chairman [...]

(Bloomberg) — Natural gas declined for a third day in New York on expectations of a prolonged slump in demand for the industrial fuel as the recession forces consumers to reduce spending on goods. Gas tumbled after analysts forecast the economy will expand at a slower pace and not return to the levels seen before [...]

(AP) From Atlanta, Ga., listen to Marian Chamberlain, 65, jobless, and no longer eligible for unemployment: “I will never be able to retire.” From Shakopee, Minn., listen to Bruce Paul, 56, a vintage car mechanic laid off in January and unemployed for the first time since Richard Nixon was president. Today he and his wife [...]

Royal Dutch Shell PLC  posted a 62% fall in net profit for the first quarter. The energy giant said net profit for the three month period was $3.49 billion, down from $9.08 billion in the year-earlier period. Group revenue fell 49% to $58.22 billion from $114.3 billion a year ago. Get the full story here