If competition is existential to capitalism then why do capitalists invest so heavily in eliminating competition with M&A rather than expend effort and capital in competing in product markets?
Many M&A deals allow the acquirer to eliminate future competition and gain a larger market share. On the downside, a large premium is usually required to convince the target company’s shareholders to accept the offer. …
The economy’s underlying strength — and its ability to shake off the lingering effects of the Delta variant of the coronavirus — will come into focus Friday morning when the government reports on hiring and employment in October.
Economists polled by Bloomberg are looking for a gain of 450,000 jobs, a big improvement from the 194,000 added in September, the year’s weakest showing. More-robust hiring at restaurants, bars and other leisure and hospitality businesses may serve as a tailwind, along with continued robust activity in white-collar sectors like professional and business services. …
The Commerce Department reported last week that the economy grew by 0.5 percent in the third quarter, compared with 1.6 percent in the second quarter. Economists attributed the slowdown to the resurgent pandemic and supply chain holdups that have caused shortages of key components and have hampered manufacturers.
After the economy added more than one million jobs in July, employment growth has slowed sharply. Even though there are five million fewer jobs than there were before the pandemic, some employers are complaining of a shortage of workers, as many people remain on the sidelines of the job market. The labor force — the working-age population employed or looking for a job — actually contracted by 183,000 in September. …
In theory, the demand for workers should be drawing more people into the labor force, but the participation rate is nearly two percentage points below where it was before the pandemic. Early retirements have been a factor.
A federal supplement to unemployment benefits expired in early September, and experts are watching whether the end of that assistance — and a depletion of savings accumulated from other emergency programs — increases the availability of workers.
So far, those effects have been muted, as health concerns and child care challenges have continued to affect many families. At the same time, the labor shortage has given workers a measure of leverage they’ve not experienced in recent years, contributing to wage growth.
“For the last 25, maybe 30 years, labor has been on its back heels and losing its share of the economic pie,” said Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody’s Analytics. “But that dynamic is now shifting.”
For many companies, the increase in labor costs is a challenge in an uncertain business environment. And lingering supply-chain troubles have meant that shipping costs — which are passed onto consumers in the form of pricier goods — remain significantly above prepandemic levels.
Still, there are reasons to be optimistic. The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that it would begin winding down the large-scale bond purchases that have been underway since the pandemic struck, signaling that it considers the economy healthy enough to be weaned from the extra stimulus.
October Jobs Report Will Measure Resiliency of Economy From Delta Wave
Economists are looking for a gain of 450,000 jobs,
with a tailwind from robust hiring at restaurants,
bars and other leisure and hospitality businesses.
Some employers are complaining of a worker shortage.
Experts are watching whether the end of pandemic
benefits increases their availability.
The American economy added 531,000 jobs in October, the Labor Department said Friday, a sharp rebound from the prior month and a sign that employers are feeling more optimistic as the latest coronavirus surge eases. …
The unemployment rate declined to 4.6 percent, from 4.8 percent.
The October gain was an improvement from the 312,000 positions added in September — a number that was revised upward on Friday. …
a few choice comments about the Covid vaccines from social media…
Is it really an immunity suppressant that will require you to take the shots to replace your natural immunity forever.
I commented on the ability to create designer test kits and designer diseases last year. The LOT NO. will determine what your “designer” disease will be after injection. Since people have been living longer, they needed a new cash cow. Designer diseases passed through emergency response treatment for something else would allow them to usher in a new age of weirdo illnesses so big pharma and the medical community would become extremely prosperous. There is NO money in health. The military has NBC training test kits. 10 (TEN) different lot numbers, 10 different outcomes. I actually expected this to be part of the plan. It’s far from over though. Give it some time, and then we may begin to see a list of weirdo illnesses popping up. Big pharma will miraculously produce the specialized treatments designed to only “alleviate” the symptoms of these illnesses that they injected as C-19 vaccines. You won’t be cured because they want to make money off of you until you are dead. GOD is watching…
I’ve read that these shots are different then the ones that were first make when Trump was in office … after he left , the formula was changed .. killer shots , evil , all for depopulation .. ya know this whole mess just pisses me off … makes me angry and I’m praying for God to get them all n send them to their evil leader Satan ……… God Bless n Protect Us All world wide .. in Jesus Name , Amen
Ron (RC) Weakley (A.K.A., Darryl For A While At EV) says:
Thanks, because I would have never known since I never use social media unless this is social media. OTOH, I did have an uncle that figured out that moon landing hoax :<)
although you responded to my comment and i’m responding to yours, Ron, i don’t think Angry Bear quite meets the test as a social media site…generally the term is reserved for sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, although i know of a lot of blogs that would have to qualify as a social media type site by any criteria one could outline…for instance, Daily Kos is certainly a social media site for the young Wokefuls, while Naked Capitalism is the Daily Kos for the geriatric set..
Ron (RC) Weakley (A.K.A., Darryl For A While At EV) says:
I was on Facebook to friend Owen Paine, but it turned out that his daughter did it and he never used it. I never used it either, but I could not figure out how to close my account. Fortunately enough after several years of non-use a Facebook bot informed me that I had been deleted for non-use. I don’t think of myself as a useless Twit, certainly not intentionally so. I had joined LinkedIn long before I retired as I had been urged to do so by coworkers, but quickly turned everything off because of all those useless E-mails. Like Facebook, it was not easy to delete an account after starting one.
Angry Bear, Calculated Risk, and Econospeak over the last 10 years or so have been archived. NC was also chosen recently to be archived in the Library of Congress. I do not think they would choose us or others based upon social attributes? There is a bit to still be learned at AB. NC has forms of it also. Having countering discussions is difficult.
I do not see the Bear as a social media site either. We may meet for a beer or run into others who have heard of Angry bear as I did in the Denver REI (the older guy [younger than I] was excited to talk to me. He actually recognized the run-moniker). We had a numbers-related conversation on the economy. Others here are philosophical in their approach which I tend not to engage.
Ron (RC) Weakley (A.K.A., Darryl For A While At EV) says:
Progressives who had threatened to sink the measure agreed to support it after extracting a promise from moderates that they would ultimately back the social safety net and climate bill.
The House passed a $1 trillion bill on Friday night to rebuild the country’s aging public works system, fund new climate resilience initiatives and expand access to high-speed internet service, giving final approval to a central plank of President Biden’s economic agenda after a daylong drama that pitted moderate Democrats against progressives.
But an even larger social safety net and climate change bill was back on hold, with a half-dozen moderate-to-conservative Democrats withholding their votes until a nonpartisan analysis could tally its price tag. …
… It will provide $550 billion in new funds over 10 years to shore up roads, bridges and highways, improve internet access and modernize the nation’s power grid. The measure also includes the United States’ largest investment to prepare for climate change: $50 billion to help communities grapple with the devastating fires, floods, storms and droughts that scientists say have been worsened by global warming.
In a late-night vote that followed a day of near-death experiences for Mr. Biden’s agenda, the House passed the infrastructure measure on a 228-to-206 vote, with 13 Republicans bucking their party leadership and joining all but six Democrats in support. Its triumph was something of a vindication of Mr. Biden’s efforts to seek bipartisanship on a key issue that both parties have long viewed as a priority. …
(This $1T bill includes $550M ‘over 10 years to shore up roads, bridges and highways, improve internet access and modernize the nation’s power grid.
It is NOT the Build Back Better Act that still awaits passage.)
But ultimately, passage came not just because of Republican backing but because liberal Democrats decided to trust balking centrists to eventually come to their side. Passage had been stalled for months, while liberals withheld their support to force an agreement on the social policy bill. Progressive Democrats had revolted anew on Friday, with many insisting that they could not back the measure without a vote on the social welfare bill.
But moderates refused to support that legislation without an official cost estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office — which will most likely not arrive until mid-November — forcing Democrats to wrangle a late-night compromise that would allow action.
In the end, enough progressives accepted a written commitment, released after 10 p.m., from five centrist colleagues that they would back the social safety net and climate package in mid-November, as long as the numbers add up. …
Here’s a breakdown of the bill that Biden is expected to soon sign into law:
Roads and bridges
The bill would provide $110 billion to repair the nation’s aging highways, bridges and roads. According to the White House, 173,000 total miles of America’s highways and major roads and 45,000 bridges are in poor condition. And the almost $40 billion for bridges is the single largest dedicated bridge investment since the construction of the interstate highway system, according to President Joe Biden’s administration.
Public transit
The $39 billion for public transit in the legislation would expand transportation systems, improve accessibility for people with disabilities and provide dollars to state and local governments to buy zero-emission and low-emission buses. …
Passenger and freight bill
To reduce Amtrak’s maintenance backlog, which has worsened since Superstorm Sandy nine years ago, the bill would provide $66 billion to improve the rail service’s 457-mile-long Northeast Corridor as well as other routes. … it would be the largest federal investment in passenger rail service since Amtrak was founded 50 years ago.
Electric vehicles
The bill would spend $7.5 billion for electric vehicle charging stations, which the administration says are critical to accelerating the use of electric vehicles to curb climate change. It would also provide $5 billion for the purchase of electric school buses and hybrids, reducing reliance on school buses that run on diesel fuel.
Internet access
The legislation’s $65 billion for broadband access would aim to improve internet services for rural areas, low-income families and tribal communities. Most of the money would be made available through grants to states.
Modernizing the electric grid
To protect against the widespread power outages that have become more frequent in recent years, the bill would spend $65 billion to improve the reliability and resiliency of the nation’s power grid. It would also boost carbon capture technologies and more environmentally-friendly electricity sources like clean hydrogen.
Airports
The bill would spend $25 billion to improve runways, gates and taxiways at airports and to improve terminals. It would also improve aging infrastructure at air traffic control towers.
Water and wastewater
To improve the safety of the nation’s drinking water, the legislation would spend $55 billion on water and wastewater infrastructure. The bill would include $15 billion to replace lead pipes and $10 billion to address water contamination from polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS — chemicals that were used in the production of Teflon and have also been used in firefighting foam, water-repellent clothing and many other items.
Paying for it
The five-year spending package would be paid for by tapping $210 billion in unspent COVID-19 relief aid and $53 billion in unemployment insurance aid some states have halted, along with an array of other smaller pots of money, like petroleum reserve sales and spectrum auctions for 5G services.
The defectors who crossed partisan lines in Congress include 13 Republicans who
supported the bill and the six liberal Dem members of “The Squad,” who opposed it.
Eight Republicans who voted in favor of the infrastructure bill — Don Bacon of Nebraska, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Andrew Garbarino of New York, Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio, John Katko of New York, Tom Reed of New York, Christopher H. Smith of New Jersey and Fred Upton of Michigan — were part of a bipartisan group of lawmakers who helped negotiate the infrastructure bill this summer, consulting with centrists in the Senate.
Still, with improvements to highways, bridges, dams, public transit, rail, ports, airports, water quality and broadband coming to the districts, eight members of the group cast their votes in favor of the plan.
Mr. Garbarino, who represents part of Long Island, cited the benefits for New York — including $24.9 billion for highways, bridges and transit; $15 billion to replace lead service lines for drinking water; and $470 million for New York’s Kennedy, La Guardia, MacArthur and Republic airports — among his reasons for embracing the bill.
The vote “was about roads, bridges, and clean water,” he said. “It was about real people, and the tangible action Congress could take to better their lives by rebuilding and revitalizing our nation’s crumbling infrastructure.”
The Republicans who voted in favor of the bill faced backlash from some hard-right members of their party. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia posted their office phone numbers on Twitter and accused them of handing over their “voting cards to Nancy Pelosi to pass Joe Biden’s communist takeover of America.”
Republican Traditionalists on Infrastructure
A final group of five House Republicans joined members of the Problem Solvers Caucus in bucking their party to support the bill. This group — Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, Don Young of Alaska, Nicole Malliotakis of New York, David B. McKinley of West Virginia and Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey — can be roughly defined as embracing the party’s traditionalist view of funding infrastructure.
Mr. Young, 88, is the Republican Party’s longest-serving member, having represented Alaska for 25 terms. He endorsed the bill in September, arguing the party has always supported funding roads and bridges and emphasizing that past infrastructure votes were “darn near” unanimous.
“We need infrastructure in this country now,” Mr. Young said. “This is the last opportunity we have to make sure those potholes are filled, those airports run right, that bridges are safe and our economy can continue to grow.”
Others, much newer to Congress, said they shared Mr. Young’s view on the issue.
Ms. Malliotakis, who is in her first term representing Staten Island, released a statement explaining her vote that listed various projects the funding could support in her community, including “completing the High-Occupancy Vehicles lane on the Staten Island Expressway,” fortifying coastal neighborhoods and expanding “our sewer systems to deal with the next Superstorm Sandy or Hurricane Ida.”
“Simply put, it’s this type of investment that will not only save city residents’ time and money, but also their properties and lives,” she said.
GLASGOW — Moritz Tapp spent this past week — including his 21st birthday — at the COP26 climate conference, watching arcane negotiating sessions and doubting that the graying adults in business attire who have poured into this city are really going to save the planet.
So on Saturday, the German college student swapped his conference wear for a penguin costume, painted the word “Listen” on a piece of cardboard, and joined tens of thousands of protesters who descended on Glasgowin a burst of anger that laid bare a deep generational divide over a crisis that young activists like Tapp believe their elders are failing to contain. …
The United Nations conference here, where representatives from almost 200 countries are meeting over two weeks to hash out agreements aimed at curbing emissions, has been widely depicted as the last chance to stave off catastrophic global warming. In its first week, world leaders like President Biden deliveredlofty speeches, while diplomats made a series of pledges to cut methane emissions, coal usage and deforestation that scientists say have the potential to make a real impact if they are carried out.
But there has been an electric current of discontent among young activists who believe what is happening here amounts to little more than window dressing. They fear that the world’s top government officials and business leaders are coming up with convoluted solutions, like carbon offsets, that don’t fundamentally alter the dynamics fueling the crisis that younger generationsare going to inherit.
“They are actively creating loopholes and shaping frameworks to benefit themselves and to continue profiting from this destructive system,” Greta Thunberg, the 18-year-old Swedish activist who has led youth climate protests all over the world, said in a speech to young protesters on Friday, declaring that the conference already was a failure.
“This is now a global north greenwash festival,” she said, as the crowd cheered and clapped, “a two-week-long celebration of business as usual and blah blah blah.”
She spoke in Glasgow on what was supposed to be a day devoted to youth activism inside COP. But while Friday’s official programming highlighted the work of some young activists, to many young people, the conference here has reeked of exclusion. Entrance has been sharply limited because of concerns over COVID-19, meaning the voices of protesters are almost never heard inside the warren of tents and cavernous venues where the negotiations are playing out. …
With consumers already dealing with the fastest price increases in decades, another unwelcome uptick is on the horizon: a widely expected increase in winter heating bills.
After plunging during the pandemic as the global economy slowed, energy prices have roared upward. Natural gas, used to heat almost half of U.S. households, has almost doubled in price since this time last year. The price of crude oil — which deeply affects the 10 percent of households that rely on heating oil and propane during the winter — has soared by similarly eye-popping levels.
And those costs are being quickly passed through to consumers, who have become accustomed to cheaper energy prices in recent years and now find themselves with growing concerns about inflation this year. …
Last winter was warmer than average, which led to residential energy bills that were comparatively low. This season, heating costs could rise to levels not seen a decade, even if there isn’t a severe winter. Several factors — lower global fuel inventories, incentives for producers to let prices rise and a mismatch between supply and demand as economies emerge from the pandemic — may combine to push bills higher regardless. …
If competition is existential to capitalism then why do capitalists invest so heavily in eliminating competition with M&A rather than expend effort and capital in competing in product markets?
Many M&A deals allow the acquirer to eliminate future competition and gain a larger market share. On the downside, a large premium is usually required to convince the target company’s shareholders to accept the offer. …
Why Do Companies Merge With or Acquire Other Companies?
Here’s what to watch for in the October jobs report
This morning:
S&P Futures 4,683.50 +10.25 (+0.22%)
Dow Futures 36,046.00 +37.00 (+0.10%)
Nasdaq Futures 16,372.00 +41.25 (+0.25%)
The Market has been very bullish this week. Will it continue today?
NY Times headline:
October Jobs Report Will Measure Resiliency of Economy From Delta Wave
Economists are looking for a gain of 450,000 jobs,
with a tailwind from robust hiring at restaurants,
bars and other leisure and hospitality businesses.
Some employers are complaining of a worker shortage.
Experts are watching whether the end of pandemic
benefits increases their availability.
The US economy added 531,000 jobs in October
a few choice comments about the Covid vaccines from social media…
Thanks, because I would have never known since I never use social media unless this is social media. OTOH, I did have an uncle that figured out that moon landing hoax :<)
although you responded to my comment and i’m responding to yours, Ron, i don’t think Angry Bear quite meets the test as a social media site…generally the term is reserved for sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, although i know of a lot of blogs that would have to qualify as a social media type site by any criteria one could outline…for instance, Daily Kos is certainly a social media site for the young Wokefuls, while Naked Capitalism is the Daily Kos for the geriatric set..
Good, I was worried.
I was on Facebook to friend Owen Paine, but it turned out that his daughter did it and he never used it. I never used it either, but I could not figure out how to close my account. Fortunately enough after several years of non-use a Facebook bot informed me that I had been deleted for non-use. I don’t think of myself as a useless Twit, certainly not intentionally so. I had joined LinkedIn long before I retired as I had been urged to do so by coworkers, but quickly turned everything off because of all those useless E-mails. Like Facebook, it was not easy to delete an account after starting one.
Definitely I am not woke up yet.
rjs;
Angry Bear, Calculated Risk, and Econospeak over the last 10 years or so have been archived. NC was also chosen recently to be archived in the Library of Congress. I do not think they would choose us or others based upon social attributes? There is a bit to still be learned at AB. NC has forms of it also. Having countering discussions is difficult.
I do not see the Bear as a social media site either. We may meet for a beer or run into others who have heard of Angry bear as I did in the Denver REI (the older guy [younger than I] was excited to talk to me. He actually recognized the run-moniker). We had a numbers-related conversation on the economy. Others here are philosophical in their approach which I tend not to engage.
Cross Road Blues – Robert Johnson (1936)
Thanks for the moderation freeing poor Bob’s most famous song.
NP
House Passes $1 Trillion Infrastructure Bill
(This $1T bill includes $550M ‘over 10 years to shore up roads, bridges and highways, improve internet access and modernize the nation’s power grid.
It is NOT the Build Back Better Act that still awaits passage.)
Roads, transit, internet: What’s in the infrastructure bill
In Infrastructure Votes, 13 GOP Members Broke With Their Party
The defectors who crossed partisan lines in Congress include 13 Republicans who
supported the bill and the six liberal Dem members of “The Squad,” who opposed it.
‘Blah, blah, blah.’ Glasgow exposes a divide between old and young people on climate crisis
Winter Heating Bills Loom as the Next Inflation Threat
Before last winter’s heating season we had a high-efficiency
boiler installed, which cut our natural gas bills by about 1/3.
This year our monthly bill is up by 1/4, but we’re still ahead!
And way ahead of where we would be with the old boiler.