Conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh on Friday exposed Rachel Maddow for lying about him on her MSNBC program. On Thursday, during a lengthy segment about Barack Obama's birth certificate, Maddow said (video follows with transcript and commentary): RACHEL MADDOW, HOST: I will say — I thought at the time when President Obama released the second form of the birth certificate that that would not put this thing to rest, that it wasn’t fact-based, and giving more facts wouldn’t help, but it did put it to rest. I was wrong. It put it to rest. On the president’s 50th birthday today, it is now just the dead-enders and the profiteers at this point who is plugging this thing. There is nobody who has any pull at all in conservative politics or Republican politics at all who has — seriously? Are you sure? Are you sure this is not from last — this is this week? This is from yesterday? OK. Play it. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Tomorrow is Obama’s birthday. Not that we’ve seen any proof of that. We haven’t seen any proof of that. They tell us August 4th is the birthday. But we haven’t seen any proof of it. Sorry. (END VIDEO CLIP) MADDOW: Sorry. Apparently, it’s not over. Problem is, the clip Maddow played was from last year. Here's what Limbaugh had to say about that Friday: LIMBAUGH: It's fun time now. Now, I've told Cookie, just so you people know this, that we have a moratorium on any audio sound bites from hosts at MSNBC, for a host of reasons, but every moratorium is lifted occasionally now and then, even if temporarily. Today is one of those days. Last night on the Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC, she talked about me and President Obama's birthday, and she played an audio clip of me. MADDOW: On the president's 50th birthday today, it is now just the dead-enders and the profiteers at this point still flogging this thing. There is nobody who has any pull at all in conservative politics or in Republican politics at all who has (pause) — seriously? Are you sure? Are you sure this is not from last — this is this week? This is from yesterday? Okay. Play it. (BEGIN AUDIO CLIP) LIMBAUGH: Tomorrow is Obama's birthday. Not that we’ve seen any proof of that. We haven’t seen any proof of that. They tell us August 4th is the birthday. But we haven't seen any proof of it. Sorry. MADDOW: Sorry. Apparently, it’s not over. Rush Limbaugh is still a birther? I mean, isn’t birtherism over now? (END AUDIO CLIP) LIMBAUGH: So she played a clip of me from a year ago that they said I said yesterday. And I think they've gotta be called on that. This is no different than these people making up all those phony quotes during the NFL, St. Louis Rams business. Plus taking it out of context. All of that has always been in the context of a joke. Here's the transcript from August 3, 2010: LIMBAUGH: Tomorrow is Obama's birthday. Not that we've seen any proof of that, but tomorrow is Obama's birthday, and they're trying to rally Obama's base by sending out fundraising letters — (interruption) what? What, Snerdley, what? We haven't seen any proof of that. They tell us August 4th is the birthday. We haven't seen any proof of it. Sorry. It is what it is. This is some really pathetic nonsense from Maddow and the folks at MSNBC. Is this really what passes for journalism at this disgrace of a so-called “news” network? In any profession, such negligence would be met with the harshest consequences. Why are media members today allowed to lie with total impunity? (H/T Right Scoop )
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Participatory show inspired by Great Depression dance-offs is eagerly anticipated highlight of festival fringe Many things have been asked of audiences to the Edinburgh festival fringe. Recent years have seen brave visitors having their feet gently washed by a stranger, being hectored by actors posing as Nazi camp guards, and “dating” young Belgian performers. This year’s fringe, however, which opens this weekend, sees the arrival of an eagerly anticipated show that is literally an endurance test: a four-hour competitive dance marathon . Its most important rule is: keep your feet moving. According to the creators of the piece, the audience’s sheer exhaustion is part of the point: “There is a natural fatigue that sets in after about three hours,” said Stephen O’Connell, one of the members of the Canadian artists’ collective Bluemouth Inc . “When people begin to dance in the show, you can almost sense the physiological shift that happens, they really go into their bodies. And when you are physically exhausted, you go through something; step over a threshold of experience.” On the opening night the audience was put through a registration process – including signing a waiver in the case of injury – and given a bib with a competitor’s number on it. Taken to the marathon venue, they were then allotted partners at random, a handful of whom were the company’s so-called “embedded dancers”. At first the performers blended in invisibly with the ordinary members of the public, but as the evening went on they would emerge from the crowd to perform wild breakdance turns, or to sing, or to recite poetry. Obliged to interact with strangers, the audience was at first a little uncertain: but as the dancing began they started to relax and, as feet became weary and inhibitions were shed, to feel an odd intimacy. At the same time, the event is competitive, with regular eliminations of participants and a gradual ratcheting-up of tension towards the final dance-off, though dancers eliminated early, were encouraged to keep on dancing non-competitively. The piece is in part inspired by the dance marathons that became popular in the US during the Depression, during which competitors would collapse from exhaustion, a phenomenon that formed the backdrop to Sydney Pollack’s film They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?. “The show is,” said Bluemouth’s Ciara Adams, “partly about the theory of natural selection: the survival of the fittest. In the dance marathons of the Depression, people would watch children utterly exhaust themselves: it was actually quite cruel.” One of the members of the audience at the opening performance was playwright David Greig, who says his recent work, including his fringe play The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart , has been influenced by seeing Dance Marathon in Ireland by chance a few years ago. “Dance Marathon as it were ploughs you up,” he said. “The fact that your body is always moving takes you away from a ‘head place’ and moves you into your body. You are placed with a partner, who is probably a stranger, and you have to talk to them. Slowly through the piece, the show begins to build a community in the room. Because you are a participant in the piece, it is as if you’ve been invited on to the stage in a play to be part of the crowd scenes, or to hold a spear. At the same time, the show is melancholy. It is an elimination game, after all: it is difficult not to think about death and loss.” Dance Marathon is, emphatically, not an intimidating or “difficult” theatrical experience, according to Greig. “Any granny could turn up and not find it avant-garde.” He believes that such participatory theatre, until recently largely the preserve of the experimental fringes, is becoming more and more mainstream. It is certainly a feature of a growing number of Edinburgh shows, including this year’s piece Audience , from the Belgian company Ontroerend Goed. That show will, according to producer Richard Jordan, literally turn a camera on to the audience to celebrate – and question – the power of crowds. “It is a portrait of a collective, a mass,” he said. It both celebrates the power of the live, singular event but also nods to a world of intense social networking in which “we have become much more aware of each other; we can know what each other is doing”. For Greig, the question is not how long the craze for participatory theatre will last, but the way in which it will develop, become more popular, and “how it will work when it reaches the stages of the National Theatre and the West End”. Dance Marathon is at the Traverse theatre, Edinburgh, as part of Edinburgh festival fringe until 14 August Other Edinburgh highlights The fringe continues until 29 August. Edinburgh international festival opens on 12 August. Edinburgh international book festival opens on 13 August. Julian Sands in a Celebration of Harold Pinter Sands is directed by John Malkovich, who took to the streets of Edinburgh on Thursday to do a spot of flyering. Pleasance Courtyard, until 21
Continue reading …Scarce put up New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s speech defending his nomination of Solahi Mohammed to NJ’s Superior Court earlier. And as much as I find to vehemently disagree with Chris Christie–and there are volumes of disagreement — there’s something refreshing in seeing a Republican reject typical xenophobic memes and speak on an intellectually honest level. The question on Sharia Law seemed to set Christie off, as he said exasperated : “Sharia Law has nothing to do with this at all, it’s crazy! The guy is an American citizen!” He concluded that the “Sharia Law business is just crap… and I’m tried of dealing with the crazies,” adding with disgust and frustration that “it’s just unnecessary to be accusing this guy of things just because of his religious background.” Lawrence O’Donnell thought so too, and awarded Christie with the first ever The Last Word standing ovation for refusing to capitulate to the ugliness that is the Republican Party’s unabashed islamophobia and rightfully characterize those practitioners as “crazies.” Unfortunately, there’s consequences to be paid for such honesty. Certainly, getting applauded by liberals on the derided liberal station MSNBC isn’t good for one’s conservative cred. Next thing you know, Christie’s mug will be up on Pammy Geller’s website as a islamo-fascist terrorist lover .
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enlarge Credit: USA Today/Gallup poll USA Today/Gallup poll on Debt Ceiling deal After the debt ceiling deal was done, all the buzz out of the beltway media was that Washington is broken . People being polled were saying that it’s a Washington problem . Not much from journalists who knew that the debt ceiling vote was never intended to be used as a political weapon against an incumbent President. Because doing that could help cause a financial meltdown . Something like what we’ve been seeing in the markets the last week or so. And not much reporting about the fact that Bush came into office with a huge surplus and destroyed it along with much of the world’s economy. Not much about the debt ceiling being raised countless times under all Republican presidents without a fight. Not much on the fact that this was a manufactured crisis completely by Republicans . This time though, that all changed since a Democrat was in the oval office. And the strategy the administration came up with was to abandon Democratic party core principles to win over the mythical Independent voters and make the tea party look like the radicals that they are and Obama as the only grown up in the room. Obama has succeeded in his tea party strategy since new polling from the NY Times says America can’t stand them even now, So it’s interesting to note that according to the internals of today’s New York Times poll, the Tea Party is rapidly shrinking before our very eyes, and is hemorraging supporters at a surprising rate: Do you consider yourself to be a supporter of the Tea Party movement, or not? Yes 18 No 73 The 18 percent who self-identify as Tea Party supporters is at its lowest point, tying the 18 percent who supported it way back in April of 2010, when it was first gaining steam as the Congressional races of last cycle began heating up. But how did it work out overall? The people have spoken and I agree with Kos on this: There’s no surprise. Obama expended a great deal of effort selling this piece of crap deal, and at least 58 percent of Democrats gave him the benefit of the doubt. But what strikes me most about those numbers is the data from independents. The Obama-can-do-no-wrong camp argues that Obama couldn’t focus on the supposedly narrow interest of the Democratic base because at 22 percent of the overall public, liberals can’t single-handedly reelect Obama. Therefore, he has to appeal to the all-important independents for electoral reasons. That is, actually, not an unreasonable point. Obama DOES have to keep independents happy in order to win reelection. Can’t argue with that. But you also can’t argue with this: if the goal was to impress and win over independents, then mission failed. Independents sure as heck aren’t impressed with the deal. Republicans obviously hate it. So the only ideological group to give majority support are those maligned liberals, but by just a sliver. And the cost? This deal split the left, demoralized some of its most engaged activists, and saddled us with austerity at a time when the country desperately needs stimulus and jobs. All because of unsupported beliefs that independents are supposedly concerned about the deficit. Or like “grownups in the room.” Or something . If Obama spent his time using the bully pulpit by calling this vote a distraction caused by Republicans who created a phony crisis to push their ideological agenda while he’d rather be trying to create jobs, I have no doubt how it would have worked out in the end. Especially since they knew Mitch, Cantor, Ryan and Boehner were all going to whip the vote for the debt ceiling to be raised in the end. Hey look, it’s jobs time: Here comes the pivot many of us have called for. But, with austerity going into high gear, what can actually be done? The Republican austerity agenda is continuing to hamper job growth, making Obama’s defeat in 2012 all the more likely. Today’s jobs numbers were better than expected, but as Matthew Yglesias points out , a fundamental problem remains — private sector jobs are growing slowly, but public sector jobs are being lost. Yet Republicans want to cut more government spending — curtailing consumer demand in a desperately weak economy. The press release from RNC Chairman Reince Priebus in response to today’s jobs report implicitly highlights the GOP’s interest in keeping the economy from growing.
Continue reading …Time’s Sullivan: ‘Did Austerity Politics Kill Compassionate Conservatism?’
August 5, 2011 No Comment
While the liberal media scoffed at George W. Bush's “compassionate conservatism” in 1999 and 2000 as gimmicky and insufficient compared to traditional big government social welfare spending binges, they're starting to miss it now. Just ask Time's Amy Sullivan : In the wake of the debt-ceiling debate, young voters might find it hard to believe that just ten years ago, “compassionate conservative” was a mantle worn with a straight face by many GOP leaders. In fact, you could argue that George W. Bush split the independent vote with Al Gore in 2000 because of his image as a compassionate conservative. Now, of course, in the era of the kick-ass-and-kill-programs Tea Party, few Republicans who value their careers would run as a touchy-feely politician. But is compassionate conservatism dead, or just mostly dead? Sullivan went on to explore that question by noting social conservative luminaries such as Marvin Olasky, Chuck Colson, and the Family Research Council attacking Republicans for their — real or imagined — devotion by to the godless and charity-denouncing philosophy of Ayn Rand. She concluded that: The days of Stephen Goldsmith and John DiIulio and even George W. Bush are over just as much as those of the Nelson Rockefeller Republicans. There are two dominant responses to tough economic times–redoubled altruism and redoubled libertarianism–and the Tea Party adamantly stands for the latter. That presumes a few things, namely that government spending taxpayer monies on social welfare is altruistic, a laughable assertion given how incredibly easy it is to spend other people's money to help the less fortunate, as opposed to giving away one's precious time and hard-earned money to aid someone who's less fortunate through a private secular or religious charitable enterprise. What's more, it falsely suggests Tea Party members are tight-fisted Randian objectivists who have no use for private charity, which is the furthest thing from the truth. Indeed, the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life released a study in February that found (emphasis mine): …Tea Party supporters tend to have conservative opinions not just about economic matters, but also about social issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage. In addition, they are much more likely than registered voters as a whole to say that their religion is the most important factor in determining their opinions on these social issues What seems incomprehensible to Sullivan is that Catholics and Christian evangelicals can be simultaneously devout and devoted to good works and politically conservative, with no conflict between the two. What's more, while Sullivan cited Olasky's concerns, she neglects the fact that the central thesis of his1994 book “The Tragedy of American Compassion” is that the poor are not helped out by impersonal transfers of money from a federal or state government so much as by personal interaction that local charitable outlets, such as churches and the like, thrive at. Most Tea Partiers, particularly the religious ones among them, would probably wholeheartedly agree with Olasky's central argument about the tragedy of big government's “compassion” on the poor. Indeed, I suspect there's ultimately much common ground on policy that folks like Olasky and Colson can find with constitutionally-conservative small-government Tea Party folks, even if their political rhetoric is often sharply different. But as we move forward into a reelection year that sees a spendthrift liberal Democratic president up for reelection, look for more articles like Sullivan's that seek to hype any and all points of contention between religious conservatives and Tea Partiers.
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A girl-on-girl lip lock, a movie in which a bulldog masturbates, and a marijuana-smoking middle school teacher are among the nominees for the 2011 Teen Choice Awards. Yes that’s right, an awards show specifically aimed at 13-19 year olds will be featuring inappropriate content more suited for the panel of adults that chose the nominees. This year, teens will vote for their favorites, ranging from artists with hits about S&M, to sex and drug-filled R-rated comedies, to favorite “break up” songs – one nominated song features the “f” word 16 times. Sunday August 7, 2011 marks the 13th annual Teen Choice Awards on Fox in which kids around the country will tune in to see how favorite movies, songs, actors and television series (for which they voted by phone or online) do against their competitors. In 2009, more than 83 million votes were cast online. The star-studded event is always a hit, attracting A-List actors like Reese Witherspoon, Ashton Kutcher, Justin Timberlake, Grammy-winning musicians like Rihanna, Britney Spears and Taylor Swift, and television stars like Steve Carell and Jennifer Love Hewitt. However, this year’s crop of nominees is particularly adult-themed, and that is likely because “adults” were on the secret panel that determines the nominees. Ten nominated movies are rated “R,” meaning children under age 17 are not permitted. How are these teens supposed to vote for movies like “Due Date” and “No Strings Attached” if they abide by movie theater policy? “Due Date,” an R-rated comedic tale about two unlikely friends who take an emergency road trip across the country has multiple scenes of marijuana-smoking and a scene in which the main character and his dog masturbate simultaneously. “No Strings Attached” is a raunchy romantic comedy in which two friends attempt to maintain a strictly “f**k buddies” relationship. “Black Swan” a psychological thriller about a terrorized ballerina is rated “R” for “strong sexual content, disturbing violent images, language and some drug use.” Sounds like a perfect teen movie. “Black Swan” is also nominated for a scene for “best liplock,” but the kissing is between two women. In a moment of frustration, Natalie Portman’s character “Nina” rebels against her mother and begins passionately kissing Mila Kunis’ character “Lily.” It should be surprising that children are expected to vote for an inappropriate and controversial scene in a movie that they are not supposed to see. “F**k You” by artist Cee Lo Green is nominated for “Choice Break-Up Song.” The song contains 16 “F” words and 6 “S” words. Though the lyrics were changed to “Forget you” for radio play, teens are fully aware of the song’s original lyrics. Rihanna is nominated for “Choice Female Artist” and though her immense success is notable, her 2010 album “Loud” contains two controversial songs, which should be a warning that the material is too mature for a teen audience. “S&M” is about just that – Sadomasochism, with lines like “whips and chains excite me.” The video for “Man Down” features the “Choice Female Artist” nominee killing a man in cold blood in a public place. But there is hope: in years past, the teens who actually vote for the winners typically pick the more appropriate-themed material, suited for them. In 2010, the heart-warming movie “The Blind Side” won for Choice Movie Drama, which tells the tale of an underprivileged kid from a bad neighborhood becoming a successful high school football player. “Toy Story 3” won “Choice Animated Film,” and Justin Beiber won “Choice Male Artist,” in 2010 as well. In 2009, “Choice TV Show, Comedy” went to “Hannah Montana” and Taylor Swift won “Choice Female Music Artist.” Let’s hope the true teen winners on Sunday are actually age-appropriate.
Continue reading …Rush Limbaugh: Debt Deal is ‘Slavery’ and Obama is Taking ‘White People’s Farms’
August 5, 2011 No CommentLimbaugh Compares Compromising With Democrats On Debt To Compromising On Slavery I don’t need to say anything more about that, do I? Limbaugh Says Obama’s Economic “Role Model” Is Robert Mugabe, Who “Took The White People’s Farms.” Here’s a little about Mugabe if you don’t know much about him via Wikipedia: Robert Gabriel Mugabe is the President of Zimbabwe . As one of the leaders of the liberation movement against white-minority rule, he was elected into power in 1980. He served as Prime Minister from 1980 to 1987, and as the first executive head of state since 1987. [1] — Since 2000, the Mugabe-led government embarked on a controversial fast-track land reform program intended to correct the inequitable land distribution created by colonial rule. [6] The period has been marked by the deterioration of the Zimbabwean economic situation. Mugabe’s policies have been condemned in some quarters at home and abroad, especially receiving harsh criticism from the British and American governments arguing they amount to an often violent land seizure. And now he plays the Willie Horton is a dictator card. (h/t Atrios )
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MSNBC anchor Thomas Roberts harangued Brian Brown of the National Organization for Marriage on today's “MSNBC Live”. “Why do you feel [gays] are less than you and don't deserve equal rights?” asked Roberts. [VIDEO BELOW THE FOLD] The openly gay daytime news anchor also touted a recent article in US News & World Report showing lower divorce rates in states recognizing same-sex marriages. The raw data Roberts provided do not appear to be in question; divorce rates in states recognizing same-sex marriage average at 41.2%, as opposed to 50.3% in states that do not. He also appears to be correct that the divorce rate in Massachusetts dropped 20.7% from 2003 to 2008. But as any social scientist would tell you, correlation doesn't imply causation. What Roberts conveniently ignored are the intervening variables that correlate both with same-sex marriage and with divorce rates. US News notes that states that have legalized same-sex marriage also tend to have more highly-educated populations. These populations tend to marry later, and late marriage also appears to be correlated with support for same-sex marriage: Of the 10 states with the highest median age for males at their first marriage, eight recognize or perform gay marriages, with median ages between 29.3 (Maryland) and 31.5 (D.C.). Iowa is the outlier here, with a median age of 26.9. Altogether, these statistics point to a relationship between older marriage age, low divorce rates, and liberal views on same-sex marriage. The important variable is thus not whether a state recognizes same-sex marriage, but other factors that act on both same-sex marriage and divorce. MSNBC viewers would have to either read the article Roberts referenced, or have some basic knowledge of research methods not to get taken in by what is either sloppy or biased reporting. A transcript follows MSNBC “MSNBC Live” 08/05/2011 11:46 a.m. EDT THOMAS ROBERTS: In an article in US News & World Report suggesting the correlation between legalizing same-sex marriage and lower divorce rates for states that recognize or perform gay marriages, the rate is 41.2%. But for states that don't, it's 50.3%. In Massachusetts where same-sex marriage was legalized in '04 the, the divorce rate went down almost 21%. What does that tell you? JOHN LEWIS: It tells us that this movement for marriage equality is truly about our common humanity, and the common instinct to love another human being and to want to have kin and family and to have your family recognized fully with a legal marriage, and I can say from a personal perspective as an example, my husband, Stewart and I, have been together for 24 years. And for many of those years, we didn't have any rights and recognition for our relationship. But in 2008, we were able to legally marry in California, surrounded by friends, family, all of our living parents who were then in their 80s, and it was just a tremendous time for us. And I think as Americans are seeing their friends and neighbors and ordinary folks just like Stewart and me getting married and having happy relationships, it's showing that it's good- it's good
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Emergency meeting of G7 ministers called after biggest share slump since 2008 banking crisis Britain’s stock market suffered another major selloff yesterday, ending its worst week since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008 with almost £150bn wiped off the value of the country’s top 100 companies. After a calamitous five days for stock markets on both sides of the Atlantic, the FTSE 100 closed 146 points lower at 5247 to record its third day of triple digit declines – a trading pattern last witnessed in the immediate aftermath of Lehman’s bankruptcy in September 2008. Better-than-feared American employment figures failed to calm the world’s panicky stock markets as the week of turmoil ended with fresh gyrations in share prices. A rally prompted by news that the world’s biggest economy generated an extra 117,000 jobs last month fizzled out within an hour after the German government ruled out providing extra money for Europe’s bailout fund and rumours swirled around Wall Street that the rating agency Standard & Poor’s was about to downgrade the US’s debt. But after European markets closed, Wall Street – which had suffered a 512-point fall on Thursday in one of its worse performances since the 2008 financial crisis – was helped higher by remarks from the Spanish government that prime minster José Lius Rodríguez Zapatero had agreed with his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy that greater co-ordination was needed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, in a volatile day, was 70 points higher at lunchtime in New York; tensions were also eased after Italian prime minster Silvio Berlusconi promised to accelerate austerity measures by a year and summoned a meeting of G7 finance ministers as soon as possible. His remarks followed rumours that the European Central Bank was prepared to reverse its hardline stance and begin buying Spanish and Italian government bonds in return for an acceleration in structural reforms. Dealers have been frustrated by the lack of urgency shown by the ECB in supporting Italy and Spain. During Thursday’s market mayhem they had bought only bonds issued by Ireland and Portugal. Amid fears of an escalation in the crisis, Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England, held a conference call with David Cameron and the chancellor, George Osborne – both on holiday – to discuss the impact of the financial crash on Britain’s banks and the struggling UK economy. Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, was preparing to discuss the situation with US president Barack Obama. The Bank is likely to cut its growth forecast for the UK when it publishes its latest quarterly inflation report on Wednesday. “They discussed the financial situation and the chancellor asked the governor for his judgment,” said a Treasury source. “They agreed to monitor the situation.” The Treasury source said the chancellor was keeping up the pressure on eurozone leaders to carry through the terms of the second bailout of Greece, which was intended to calm the markets when it was announced on 21 July but has failed to do so, with concerns widening to Italy and Spain. “What we are communicating to our European counterparts is you must deliver on what you have promised,” a Treasury source said. Stephen Hester, chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland, which reported a loss for the first half of the year, also called on European leaders to take action but stressed the need for calm despite the wild gyrations in share prices. “The best we can do is keep our heads down, be calm and purposeful,” he said. RBS’s finance director, Bruce van Saun, admitted the atmosphere “feels pretty bad”, but said: “I don’t think it’s as bad [as 2008]. I don’t think banks will topple as they did because they’ve got more capital and liquidity.” The US jobless rate went down from 9.2% to 9.1%. Analysts said that while the increase in non-farm payrolls was bigger than the 85,000 jump expected by Wall Street the figures were not good enough to make traders feel less gloomy about the possibility of a global double-dip recession. Glenn Uniacke, senior dealer at Moneycorp, said there had been relief that the US jobs figures had been better than expected. “With employment growth in the world’s top consumer market an indicator of the future strength of the global economy, today’s non-farm payroll figures gave the markets a modest upside surprise and President Obama some short-term reprieve following the blood-letting of the past week. “However, the data won’t stop the rot and is not sufficient to change the bearish outlook from traders, with a sustained figure of 200,000-plus needed for any major positive impact on the unemployment rate. The markets were seen swinging wildly straight after the data, unsure how to interpret the ray of light in a otherwise gloomy week.” A breakdown of the report from the labour department showed private sector payrolls up by 154,000, while government jobs fell 37,000. US factories hired an additional 24,000 people, while retail, education and retail showed strong increases. The separate household survey, used to calculate the 9.1% unemployment rate, showed employment falling 38,000, and unemployment falling 156,000, with 193,000 people leaving the workforce. Michael Derks, chief strategist at FxPro Such, said there was a “growing pool of discouraged workers”, that had left only 58.1% of Americans of working age in employment, the lowest level for 30 years. Analysts said attention was now switching to the Federal Reserve, America’s central bank, which has a policy meeting next week, to see if it was contemplating a third round of electronic money creation through quantitative easing. “Next week’s US data shouldn’t be too bad with retail sales set to rise healthily given the already released auto sales,” said James Knightley at ING. “As a result, the Fed is likely to be more cautious on the outlook, but steer clear of further QE [quantitative easing] for now. That said, recent activity has been poor and the downward GDP revisions show that the economy has more spare capacity than previously thought.” Market turmoil FTSE Stock markets Dow Jones Banking Bonds Gilts European debt crisis European banks Europe Global economy Economics Global recession Larry Elliott Jill Treanor guardian.co.uk
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Emergency meeting of G7 ministers called after biggest share slump since 2008 banking crisis Britain’s stock market suffered another major selloff yesterday, ending its worst week since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008 with almost £150bn wiped off the value of the country’s top 100 companies. After a calamitous five days for stock markets on both sides of the Atlantic, the FTSE 100 closed 146 points lower at 5247 to record its third day of triple digit declines – a trading pattern last witnessed in the immediate aftermath of Lehman’s bankruptcy in September 2008. Better-than-feared American employment figures failed to calm the world’s panicky stock markets as the week of turmoil ended with fresh gyrations in share prices. A rally prompted by news that the world’s biggest economy generated an extra 117,000 jobs last month fizzled out within an hour after the German government ruled out providing extra money for Europe’s bailout fund and rumours swirled around Wall Street that the rating agency Standard & Poor’s was about to downgrade the US’s debt. But after European markets closed, Wall Street – which had suffered a 512-point fall on Thursday in one of its worse performances since the 2008 financial crisis – was helped higher by remarks from the Spanish government that prime minster José Lius Rodríguez Zapatero had agreed with his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy that greater co-ordination was needed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, in a volatile day, was 70 points higher at lunchtime in New York; tensions were also eased after Italian prime minster Silvio Berlusconi promised to accelerate austerity measures by a year and summoned a meeting of G7 finance ministers as soon as possible. His remarks followed rumours that the European Central Bank was prepared to reverse its hardline stance and begin buying Spanish and Italian government bonds in return for an acceleration in structural reforms. Dealers have been frustrated by the lack of urgency shown by the ECB in supporting Italy and Spain. During Thursday’s market mayhem they had bought only bonds issued by Ireland and Portugal. Amid fears of an escalation in the crisis, Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England, held a conference call with David Cameron and the chancellor, George Osborne – both on holiday – to discuss the impact of the financial crash on Britain’s banks and the struggling UK economy. Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, was preparing to discuss the situation with US president Barack Obama. The Bank is likely to cut its growth forecast for the UK when it publishes its latest quarterly inflation report on Wednesday. “They discussed the financial situation and the chancellor asked the governor for his judgment,” said a Treasury source. “They agreed to monitor the situation.” The Treasury source said the chancellor was keeping up the pressure on eurozone leaders to carry through the terms of the second bailout of Greece, which was intended to calm the markets when it was announced on 21 July but has failed to do so, with concerns widening to Italy and Spain. “What we are communicating to our European counterparts is you must deliver on what you have promised,” a Treasury source said. Stephen Hester, chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland, which reported a loss for the first half of the year, also called on European leaders to take action but stressed the need for calm despite the wild gyrations in share prices. “The best we can do is keep our heads down, be calm and purposeful,” he said. RBS’s finance director, Bruce van Saun, admitted the atmosphere “feels pretty bad”, but said: “I don’t think it’s as bad [as 2008]. I don’t think banks will topple as they did because they’ve got more capital and liquidity.” The US jobless rate went down from 9.2% to 9.1%. Analysts said that while the increase in non-farm payrolls was bigger than the 85,000 jump expected by Wall Street the figures were not good enough to make traders feel less gloomy about the possibility of a global double-dip recession. Glenn Uniacke, senior dealer at Moneycorp, said there had been relief that the US jobs figures had been better than expected. “With employment growth in the world’s top consumer market an indicator of the future strength of the global economy, today’s non-farm payroll figures gave the markets a modest upside surprise and President Obama some short-term reprieve following the blood-letting of the past week. “However, the data won’t stop the rot and is not sufficient to change the bearish outlook from traders, with a sustained figure of 200,000-plus needed for any major positive impact on the unemployment rate. The markets were seen swinging wildly straight after the data, unsure how to interpret the ray of light in a otherwise gloomy week.” A breakdown of the report from the labour department showed private sector payrolls up by 154,000, while government jobs fell 37,000. US factories hired an additional 24,000 people, while retail, education and retail showed strong increases. The separate household survey, used to calculate the 9.1% unemployment rate, showed employment falling 38,000, and unemployment falling 156,000, with 193,000 people leaving the workforce. Michael Derks, chief strategist at FxPro Such, said there was a “growing pool of discouraged workers”, that had left only 58.1% of Americans of working age in employment, the lowest level for 30 years. Analysts said attention was now switching to the Federal Reserve, America’s central bank, which has a policy meeting next week, to see if it was contemplating a third round of electronic money creation through quantitative easing. “Next week’s US data shouldn’t be too bad with retail sales set to rise healthily given the already released auto sales,” said James Knightley at ING. “As a result, the Fed is likely to be more cautious on the outlook, but steer clear of further QE [quantitative easing] for now. That said, recent activity has been poor and the downward GDP revisions show that the economy has more spare capacity than previously thought.” Market turmoil FTSE Stock markets Dow Jones Banking Bonds Gilts European debt crisis European banks Europe Global economy Economics Global recession Larry Elliott Jill Treanor guardian.co.uk
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