OH WELL NOW!

Does this look like a chart to get all excited about?

The idea that markets re not manipulated is a joke. 

What do you call central banks pumping trillions of fiat money into the global system? Feel good or at least feel better money is what we call it.  A headline on a Market Watch story today--"Consumer spending jumps in August"--is all  part of the manipulation.

Food is another example. One wag recently wrote about what he called the sudden stop in rising food prices. It's a stop anyone who visits his or her local market daily will have difficulty finding on the shelves or at the meat counter.

More and more are coming to understand the manipulation, much of it perpetuated by MSM. The recent threat of Scotland secession is a classic example. The scaremongers even attacked one of Scotland's historic products and exports, whiskey, arguing it would suffer if the Yes crowd won.

Given all that, nearly 45 percent of voters there marked their ballots for secession. Much of the same scaremonger tactics punctuate the climate change debate. At some point, however, as usually happens, the manipulation becomes a problem for the master manipulators.

The recent downturn in pump prices for gasoline should come to mind. In one southeastern state, pump prices threatened to drop below three dollars a gallon. States in particular and the Feds rely heavily on gasoline taxes.

According to a Forbes 2013 article, http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2013/04/29/which-state-pays-most-in-gas-taxes/, here are the ten states that pay the most in state gas taxes:

1. New York 50.6
2. California 48.7
3. Hawaii 47.1
4. Connecticut 45.0
5. Illinois 39.1
6. Michigan 38.7
7. Indiana 38.0
8. North Carolina 37.8
9. Washington 37.5
10. Florida 35.5

Tack on another 18.4 percent for the Fed. Here's a later survey. from July of this year. We'll use only California.

3. California >Price per gallon: $4.09 >Number of refineries: 17 (3rd highest) >Tax per gallon: 49.8 cents (2nd highest)
High levels of oil production and refining activity have not led to low gas prices in California. Last year, California was the nation’s third largest producer of oil, behind only Texas and North Dakota. The state also has the third highest refining capacity in the nation. Despite these factors, a gallon of gas in California costs $4.09, versus $3.60 per gallon nationwide. One reason for the high prices is state and local taxes, which average nearly 50 cents per gallon, or more than in any other state except New York. Additionally, California refineries operate at near-capacity due to demand and the state’s strict environmental standards, the EIA notes. These factors make gasoline prices in California especially volatile

Read more: States With the Highest Gasoline Prices in Summer 2014: Hawaii, Alaska, California - 24/7 Wall St. http://247wallst.com/special-report/2014/07/22/states-with-the-highest-gas-prices-2/#ixzz3EjklWMga
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From what we read of late, whether owing to more fuel efficient vehicles or other causes, drivers are consuming less fuel these days. Eventually that will show up in state tax coffers.

Today's Financial Times, quoting a study from the 16th Geneva Report "commissioned by the International Centre for Monetary and Banking Studies and written by senior economists, including three former central bankers," claims interest rate will stay low for longer than  most expect. 

The reason: Time for "households, companies and governments to service their debts and avoid another crash." Calling current conditions "a 'poisonous combination' of record debt and lower growth,"  the report warns the global economy may be headed for another crisis.

Rest assured that local,state and federal governments worldwide has done little if anything to correct structural problems. China and Italy are just two cases in point. China's apparent postponement of financial reform should come to mind. And when it comes to Italy what can anyone say except: "Oh well Now!"
t. man hatter