- - - - 7/26/12

What we saw in the markets today was a groundless relief rally.
It centers on Spain and does not refer to Greece at all.
Greece is still a few days to at most a few weeks from euro exit.
At that point everything is a guess.

Tim Duy: Draghi finds the panic button. Maybe.

posted by Bill McBride at Calculated Risk - 8 hours ago

From Professor Tim Duy at EconomistView: Draghi Blinks. Maybe.. A few excerpts: It looks like Draghi finally found that panic button. This is crucial, as the ECB is the only institution that can bring su...

 

They have not done so as yet.

 

Finance must be policed – not shut down

 

Free markets didn’t cause the crisis, but a perversion of their core principles did, argues Jeremy Warner

26 Jul 2012

| 79 Comments

Sceptics abound as Mario Draghi's ECB bond 'bluff' electrifies global markets

 

The European Central Bank has opened the door to emergency support for the Spanish and Italian bond markets, setting off a blistering rally on bourses across the world.

26 Jul 2012

| 320 Comments

 

• 

  Draghi's eurozone rescue gamble may not bluff the markets for long

  26 Jul 2012: European Central Bank president's 'do what it takes' pledge sounds bold but is short on detail

• Euro is irreversible, declares European Central Bank president Mario Draghi

  26 Jul 2012: ECB will do 'whatever it takes' to preserve the currency

• Spain needs Mariano Rajoy to be decisive

  26 Jul 2012: Ignacio Escolar: The beleaguered prime minister needs to stop sitting things out and ask Europe for a bailout or attempt another alternative

• Santander sees profits halve after move into property

  26 Jul 2012: Eurozone's biggest bank plans to further reduce its mortgage lending in the UK
  

• Eurozone fears ease on hopes of ECB intervention

  25 Jul 2012: Financial markets bounce on indications that the European Central Bank will boost firepower of eurozone bailout fund

 

California Envisions Fix to Water Distribution

section A - page 14

By FELICITY BARRINGER and JENNIFER MEDINA

Not a good idea.  Raise the price of water to limit use.		The New York Times

There will be income for the state and a brake on growth.

 

http://agonist.org/matttbastard/20120726/texas_judge_rules_the_sky_belongs_to_everyone

 

David Morris
(Originally posted at On the Commons, republished under a Creative Commons license)
“Texas judge rules atmosphere, air is a public trust”, reads the headline in the Boston Globe. A tiny breakthrough but with big potential consequences.
And as we continue to suffer from one of the most extended heat waves in US history, as major crops have withered and fires raged in a dozen states, we need all the tiny breakthroughs we can get.
The “public trust” doctrine is a legal principle derived from English Common Law. Traditionally it has applied to water resources. The waters of the state are deemed a public resource owned by and available to all citizens equally for the purposes of navigation, fishing, recreation, and other uses. The owner cannot use that resource in a way that interferes with the public’s use and interest. The public trustee, usually the state, must act to maintain and enhance the trust’s resources for the benefit of future generations.
Back in 2001, Peter Barnes, a co-founder of Working Assets (now CREDO) and On the Commons as well as one of the most creative environmentalists around, proposed the atmosphere be treated as a public trust in his pathbreaking book, Who Owns the Sky: Our Common Assets and the Future of Capitalism (Island Press). [More after the jump]
In 2007, in a law review article University of Oregon Professor Mary Christina Wood elaborated on similar idea of a Nature’s Trust. “With every trust there is a core duty of protection,” she wrote. “The trustee must defend the trust against injury. Where it has been damaged, the trustee must restore the property in the trust.”
 

hope

• Amtrak Plans for Upgrades in Bid to Push Faster System

  section A - page 15

  By RON NIXON

ECB Signals Bond Purchases Markets Surge after Draghi Vows to Protect Euro

SPIEGEL ONLINE - July 26, 2012 It was the signal investors were waiting for. The European Central Bank "is ready to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro," its president, Mario Draghi said on Thursday. Markets leapt because the statement was a strong signal that the ECB will resume its program to buy the bonds of struggling euro nations. more...

'There's No More to Squeeze' Greeks Live in Dread of Troika Verdict

SPIEGEL ONLINE - July 26, 2012 Financial inspectors from the troika have arrived in Greece to draft their final report on whether the country has made enough progress with its austerity and reform efforts. But many Greeks have already lost hope and are counting on the worst -- an exit from the euro zone. By Daniel Steinvorth in Athens more...

Solving the Euro Crisis How Greece Could Save on Defense Spending

SPIEGEL ONLINE - July 26, 2012 Greece is struggling to achieve the deep cuts demanded by its international creditors. But the country's military budget still offers plenty of room for trimming. Athens, though, has refrained from tackling the primary problem: too many soldiers and too many military bases. By Georgios Christidis  in Athens more... [ Forum ]

Spiralling Borrowing Costs Euro Zone Weighing New Help for Spain

SPIEGEL ONLINE - July 26, 2012 Spanish borrowing costs have become a major concern for the euro zone. Now, however, help may be on the way. According to a German paper, euro-zone finance ministers may instruct the EFSF bailout fund to begin buying Spanish bonds on the secondary market to push down interest rates. more...

The World from Berlin 'Germans Should Be Afraid' of Economic Collapse

SPIEGEL ONLINE - July 25, 2012 Moody's cut to the outlook of Germany's top credit rating came as a serious blow to the country's confidence this week. German commentators on Wednesday don't seem particularly surprised by the change, but warn of worse things to come. more...

 

 

Grain Yields Crater In Mid-West Drought

How bad is the American Mid-West's drought? Expected corn yields have gone from being an expected second largest harvest ever to an expected six year low in just two weeks. Among the knock-on effects, over-and-above you and I paying more at the store for meat and grain products, there's a clear and present danger to world security.

The soaring prices in the United States - the world's largest exporter of corn, soybeans and wheat - has rattled food markets worldwide on fears that food inflation will be imported, food aid or supplies for hungry nations from China to Egypt will not be available, and food riots could occur as in the past.
...But some scientists warn that this year's U.S. drought, already deemed the worst since 1956, is tied to climate factors that could mean even worse effects in coming years.

Not good at all. Yet the math of denialism for dollars still holds sway.

Steve Hynd July 25, 2012 - 3:46pm

Steve Hynd's diary | printer friendly version |

 

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Don't Expect Any Relief in Grain Prices

Notice that most of the bread basket is under some type of drought warning right now.  Here's the report from the NOAA:

The Great Plains to Midwest:   Unrelenting heat and lack of rain continued the downward spiral of drought conditions.  D0 to D2 expanded across parts of the Plains from Texas to North Dakota, from Missouri to Minnesota, and in the southern Great Lakes.  Extreme drought (D3) was introduced in Nebraska, Missouri, and Wisconsin, and D3 expanded in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Indiana.  The city of Indianapolis, Indiana, implemented mandatory water restrictions for the first time ever with many trees dropping their leaves and going dormant months early.  Exceptional drought (D4) expanded in Arkansas and was introduced in western Kansas.