Ward on Words

Nice to know that Chicagoans are really helping out Morgan Stanley improve their bottom line this year. Here's the lead in a recent Bloomberg story : "Chicago drivers will pay a Morgan Stanley-led partnership at least $11.6 billion to park at city meters over the next 75 years, 10 times what Mayor Richard Daley got when he leased the system to investors in 2008." Privatizing the parking meters in Chicago's been great for Morgan Stanley. But what about for Chicago? Well - we signed over a lucrative franchise for BILLIONS less than it appears to be worth. Morgan Stanley and its partners seem poised to reap phenomenal profits from this deal. Again, from the Bloomberg story: "Morgan Stanley, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Allianz Capital Partners may earn a profit of $9.58 billion before interest, taxes and depreciation, according to documents for a $500 million private note sale by their Chicago Parking Meters LLC venture. That is equivalent to 80 cents...

Wall Street Journal has a fabulous story today about the success of one particular government entitlement program - the bailout of the banks. While unemployment remains high in America, while those on Social Security are likely to see cuts in their entitlement program in the near future, while our federal, state and local governments are seriously in debt, our financial sector gleams brightly as a vision of success. According to the WSJ story , the average monthly salary in 2009 in finance and insurance is nearly $12,000. A month. Up 23% from a year earlier. More than double the average in NYC. And that's just the wages paid to the new hires. Imagine the possibilities for growth in this sector!!! Especially when you can sell an instrument to one party and sell insurance (or take out insurance for yourself) that allows one to profit when the instrument you created blows up after you sell it off. (As long as you disclose the names of the people who purchase the insur...

I am slowly realizing that what we talk about when we talk about unemployment in this economy is largely fictional. A couple of months ago, we celebrated a decline in unemployment. We're no longer looking at 10% unemployment; the number is now hovering at 9.5%. But when you look closer, that decline is not the result of improved employment and expanding economy. It's the result of not counting people who've despaired of finding a job in this market. If you stop looking for a job, you're no longer considered "unemployed." That's a pathetic way to look at unemployment - that we're not going to count people who've given up hope of getting a job. Because for us to truly recognize the enormity of the problem, we need to fully count ALL the millions of people who are not employed, not just the ones who remain hopeful of getting a job once again someday. Here's a link to Mark Thoma's post on the August unemployment report. Two years ago, we...