The Itinerant Librarian: Signs the economy is bad: July 27, 2018 edition

Friday, July 27, 2018

Signs the economy is bad: July 27, 2018 edition

Welcome to another edition of "Signs the Economy is Bad" here at The Itinerant Librarian. This is the semi-regular (as in when I have time and/or feel like doing it) feature where I scour the Internet in search of the oh so subtle hints that the economy is bad. Sure, pundits may say things are getting better, but what do they know? And to show not all is bad, once in a while we look at how good the uber rich have it.

Another week, and another set of signs the economy is bad. This week, the big news is the Pendejo In Chief announced he is getting $12 billion dollars to "help farmers" minimize the impact of the tariffs he imposed and the Chinese retaliated on. Story via BBC. So for, starters, here is a bit of humor on that; actually, this is barely satire basically:

So let's see what else is going on in the bad economy:

News related to the Pendejo in Chief and the Party of Stupid:

Naturally, the ~~suckers~~ casualties are those supporters of the Pendejo In Chief and the Party of Stupid. Story via AlterNet. However, those folks are holding on firm to their man, so sympathy for those people is going to be scarce around here. They are getting what they voted for.
Well, the trade conflict with Mexico is speeding the process of toppling the U.S. as a top wheat supplier. The Mexicans like much of the world just figure they can get their wheat someplace else. Story via Reuters.
As for much of the rest of Latin America, they are seeking closer trade ties. Story via Al Jazeera. Again, don't get mad. Just work around the assholes trying to impede business and progress.
Like drinking Coca Cola? The price may be going up thanks to the Pendejo In Chief's tariffs on aluminum and steel according to Coca Cola. Story via UPI.
Like lobsters? You may want to consider eating something else if you live outside the U.S. since the Pendejo In Chief is also working to destroy the lobster industry. If you live in the U.S., lobster could get cheaper, at least until those fishermen start going out of business. Story via The Boston Globe. A hat tip to Juanita Jean's.
Some tariffs may be hurting the Chinese. Here is a story of a soybean importer declaring insolvency as a result. Story via UPI. However, the Chinese are patient overall, and let's be honest, they've been around the block a lot longer than the U.S. So odds may be in their favor long term.
And speaking of China, the tariff wars also mean China may cool down on investing in the U.S. Read why this is a big deal over at The Conversation.
Having a hard time keeping score in the tariff wars? Here is a handy guide to the disputes, via UPI.
On the positive, because you can often find a silver lining someplace if you look hard enough, the U.S. will have a 2.5 billion surplus of meat (and that is on top of the already existing surplus of dairy being turned into a surplus of cheese). Why? Well, thanks to the tariffs war, the U.S. is not able to export as much beef as before. Story via Vox. So, what's the positive? Maybe the prices on things like meat and cheese go down in U.S. grocery stores, and you might be able to finally afford buying steak instead of chuck once in a while.
At the end of the day, even the Pendejo In Chief gets at least a small sting out of this. Turns out that Mr. "America First" has his campaign flags made in China, and again, as a result of the tariffs war, those flags and banners are about to get more expensive. Story via The Guardian.
Fuck, the Pendejo In Chief is so hooked on China that even when he holds a celebration of American made products at the White House he still features spoons made in China for the snacks. Story via Inc.

Layoffs this week:

Mattel is laying off 2,200 workers. Story via UPI.
The New York Daily News is laying people off too. Story via Lexington Herald Leader.

In airline fuckery news, American Airlines offers some good news, but it depends on what you define as "good news." Story via Inc. I am still avoiding flights.
In other signs the economy is bad:

Walmart is trying yet another way to pay workers less, or rather have even less workers than they do now, by testing self-driving cars for grocery pick up service. Story via NPR.
Teen summer jobs are not what they used to be. Story via NPR.
The white middle class in the U.S. is sliding down in social and economic mobility. Story via AlterNet. Gee, I wonder why. It is so bad, even Connecticut, a state often seen as "America's country club" is having issues. Story via Center for Public Integrity.
In California, Facebook can no longer offer a subsidized cafeteria to their workers. Why? Because local government worries those workers will not eat lunch at local eateries, and it turns out those local eateries have a lobby, so they lobbied to get the city to make Facebook discontinue the service in the hopes of forcing those workers to eat in town. I think they need to learn to brown bag it . Story via The San Francisco Chronicle.
Did you know that, on average, LGBT students carry $16K more in debt than straight students? Story via The Advocate.
Millennials, whatever that is these days, are mostly delusional. 53% of them expect to be millionaires (this is where you laugh). However, they are a generation that saves less, earns less, and overall has more debt. Story via Big Think.
Thinking about becoming a trucker so you can get paid and see the open road? Not so far. Turns out they are overtired, overworked, and seriously underpaid. Story via The Conversation. By the way, more reason to give truckers plenty of space and distance on the highway.
Having a baby in the U.S. is costly, expensive, and confusing. Story via The Conversation. You may want to seriously consider being born someplace more civilized.
Now, there have been some small news that some parts of the economy are good. Don't believe the hype. The reality is that the bottom half of people are the ones actually making the economy stay alive, and they are mostly doing it with debt and credit. Story via Reuters.

So, who is doing well in the bad economy? The defense and war industries are:

BAE won a $78 million contract for F-35 software. Story via UPI.
And Raytheon got a $64.4 million contract for missiles. Story via UPI.
In the bad economy, sometimes you have to really hustle and get creative, like this guy who makes memes to help pay his student loans. Story via VICE.

Also big this week, a stupid story about some economist at Forbes making shit out of his ass about how libraries should be closed to save tax money. The pushback was so bad that Forbes was shamed, and they deleted the article and made a half ass not really an apology. However, you can read about the whole soap opera via Big Think here, and you can see a good sample reply here via Vox.