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This kind of thing is only unexpected to those who are lying or not paying attention. The US economy has been in very bad shape for quite some time now and there does not appear to be efforts to acknowledge it, let alone do anything about it, on the part of the powers that be.
From https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jobs-report-today-february-2026-economy-layoffs-bls/
Blackstone Inc. is allowing investors to redeem a record 7.9% of shares from its flagship private credit fund, the latest sign of unease in an industry that’s faced a wave of withdrawals.From https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-02/blackstone-allows-investors-to-pull-record-7-9-from-bcred-fund
Some private creditors have been refusing withdrawals; that plus record levels of withdrawals does not suggest health. This sector is a possible source of whatever asset crash comes. So-called private credit is basically banking without banking regulations. We've known for a century now that banking without banking regulations predictably leads to the kinds of crashes that banking regulations were designed to forestall.
A stark contrast is emerging in public discourse as military operations escalate: the United States is funding extensive overseas strikes while millions of American citizens face food insecurity and economic hardship. The defense budget for 2026 exceeds $800 billion. Military aid and operations continue. Simultaneously, food bank lines grow longer, inflation strains household budgets, and debates over domestic social programs remain deadlocked. For many Americans, the contrast between "bombs abroad" and "empty tables at home" defines their view of the current administration.
It seems to me that, as with the still ongoing COVID pandemic that very few recognize as such, the looming asset collapse and economic recession we're living through in the US is not perceived because it's not talked about as such, and therefore might as well not be happening.
#US #USPol #USEconomy #AI #bubble #recession #COVID #COVIDPandemic
"If the economy just is predicated on kinda AI-related CAPEX and the high-end consumer, that makes for a relatively fragile economy."
– Libby Cantrill, PIMCO Managing Director commenting on Bloomberg Businessweek Daily
~~~
Absolutely true.
If you haven't been following this stuff for long, it might surprise you to know that "adding" 130,000 jobs in a month is a net loss. A jobs report like this would have been taken as a sign of a very poor economy even 15 years ago. The reason is that around 180,000 young people reach legal employment age each month in the US (Contra the admin's confabulations, this is how many US citizens reach employment age, and is not about immigration slowing). Adding 180,000 jobs would be treading water. Adding 130,000 is effectively 50,000 new people without jobs, a net loss by the spirit of this metric. There's also the reality that many of these estimates have been revised down by the BLS after more data came in.
Saying hiring is "picking up" and is "stronger than expected" is effectively saying "it could have been worse! 🤷 ". It's wild to see this positive spin on a very poor report.
It's extraordinarily fishy that the reported unemployment rate is not moving much in spite of these persistent and mounting job losses. I know why this is so please don't @ me a splanation. My point is that it, again, does not reflect the spirit of what this metric is meant to capture. It is wholly perverse now and should not be reported at all, let alone taken as a meaningful indicator.
The US economic numbers, when you push aside all the B.S., are recession-level. There's no "momentum" in the "labor market". There are not "green shoots" or "signs". The economic situation is bad.
Maine shaken by ICE raids as backlash threatens Republican Senate control https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/09/maine-ice-raids #Maine #UsEconomy #UsUnions #UsNews #Economics #Business #WorldNews
Economic blackout day planned in Minnesota to protest ICE surge https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/20/ice-immigrarion-minnesota-economic-protest #Minnesota #UsEconomy #MinnesotaIceShooting #UsUnions #IceUsImmigrationAndCustomsEnforcement #UsNews #Economics #Business #TrumpAdministration #DonaldTrump #UsPolitics #Minneapolis
He acted impetuously based on his own political interest and seemed to have no plan (never mind the fact that he can't do that, at least not in USA 1) — I can't believe it 😂🍟
/4🧵
#USA #US #USpol #trump #credit #CreditCards #economics #USeconomy
~"Trump, who is under pressure to address voter concerns over the cost of living... called for a 1-year cap on credit card interest rates at 10% starting on Jan 20. He did not provide details on how such a ban would be imposed & some industry experts said it would require congressional action."
/3🧵
#USA #US #USpol #trump #credit #CreditCards #economics #USeconomy
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JPMorgan Chase Reaches a Deal to Take Over the Apple Credit Card~
Of interest:
The largest bank in the #USA is buying over $20 billion of consumer debt AT A SIGNIFICANT DISCOUNT (a rarity).
"The discount in this deal reflects a high exposure to subprime borrowers and what has been a higher-than-industry-average delinquency rate..."
#US #finance #Apple #consumers #ConsumerDebt #debt #economics #USeconomy
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It looks likely that Google will be treated the way Microsoft was in their famous antitrust loss in the late 1990s, and not be broken up in any significant way. Google absolutely should be broken up, just like AT&T and Standard Oil (and countless other large US monopolists) were before it. Google's wealth and power derives from illegal behavior; this is not in question anymore. Why should they be permitted to keep what courts have decided they stole? 100 years of antitrust law and precedent says that it should not be permitted to keep the spoils of its illegal behavior.
It sounds to me like the hesitation to break up Google is largely ideological on the part of the judges and lawyers involved. The failure to break up Microsoft after its antitrust loss is arguably one of the main reasons the US economy is such a monopolized, consolidated mess today, and why so many things are "enshittifying". Breaking up Google and changing that pattern would obviously not cure all ills, but it'd almost surely make a number of things in the economy better for a whole lot of people.
In any case, one thing we can all do is look at Google as a bad actor, a law-breaking entity whose power is illegitimate.
https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/why-is-google-still-in-one-piece
#Google #Microsoft #antitrust #monopoly #USEconomy #neoliberalism
https://www.apolloacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/042625-ConsumerandFirms_v2.pdf (see page 4 for a summary of the timeline + expectation)
I don't believe the administration is being sincere when it decries international trade imbalances. There are some simple, obvious actions it could be taking right at home that would be wildly popular yet do not seem to merit mention.
The low-effort generative AI looking tariff rates is a tell. The fact bitcoin moved the same way as US stock indices has a bad smell about it too.
#TrumpRecession #TrumpCrash #crypto #cryptocurrency #bitcoin #USEconomy #USPol