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"In 15 states, health-insurance premiums are the equivalent of at least 20 percent of median household income for people under 65, according to the report. The data comes from the government’s Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.
The proportion of U.S. gross domestic product devoted to health care doubled to 18 percent between 1980 and 2009, Schoen said. "
"Dec. 27 (Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserve may expand its purchases of U.S. Treasuries, or quantitative easing, beyond its $600 billion target, said Vincent Reinhart, who was the Fed’s chief monetary-policy strategist from 2001 until September 2007.
“They do all of QE2 because they don’t want to be seen as succumbing to outside pressure,” Reinhart, now a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “Street Smart” with Carol Massar. “I think there is a chance there will be QE3 and it is going to be because the unemployment rate is above 9 percent,” he said, referring to a third round of purchases."
- 3) Michigan Town Is Left Pleading for Bankruptcy (Hamtramck)
"HAMTRAMCK, Mich. — Leaders of this city met for more than seven hours on a Saturday not long ago, searching for something to cut from a budget that has already been cut, over and over.
This time they slashed money for boarding up abandoned houses — aside from circumstances like vagrants or obvious rats, said William J. Cooper, the city manager. They shrank money for trimming trees and cutting grass on hundreds of lots that have been left to the city. And Mr. Cooper is hoping that predictions of a ferocious snow season prove false; once state road money runs out, the city has set nothing aside to plow streets.
“We can make it until March 1 — maybe,” Mr. Cooper said of Hamtramck’s ability to pay its bills. Beyond that? The political leaders of this old working-class city almost surrounded by Detroit are pleading with the state to let them declare bankruptcy, a desperate move the state is not even willing to admit as an option under the current circumstances.
“The state is concerned that if they say yes to one, if that door is opened, they’ll have 30 more cities right behind us,” Mr. Cooper said, as flurries fell outside his City Hall window. "
"WASHINGTON - Richard Carlson turns 65 in January but already carries a symbol of that milestone - a Medicare card.
“It’s part of the ritual,” Carlson, a retired state insurance employee from Springfield, Ill., said about signing up for the government health care plan for seniors.
Carlson is among the 77 million baby boomers born between 1946 and 1964 who will become Medicare-eligible at the rate of one every eight seconds beginning in January. The implications of the population bulge are enormous - for government spending as well as for the care seniors will get.
Medicare is already sagging under the weight of cost increases above inflation that are driving it toward insolvency. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services expects 2.8 million 65-year-olds will enter the system next year. Their average costs will exceed $7,700 per person.
Medicare spending is projected to increase 5.8 percent a year - hitting $929 billion by 2020. When the last of the boomers turn 65, the Medicare population will have nearly doubled from 47 million now to 80 million in 2030, according to projections in the 2010 Medicare Trustees Fund report."
"Through a combination of procrastination and bad timing, many baby boomers are facing a personal finance disaster just as they're hoping to retire.
Starting in January, more than 10,000 baby boomers a day will turn 65, a pattern that will continue for the next 19 years.
The boomers, who in their youth revolutionized everything from music to race relations, are set to redefine retirement. But a generation that made its mark in the tumultuous 1960s now faces a crisis as it hits its own mid-60s.
"The situation is extremely serious because baby boomers have not saved very effectively for retirement and are still retiring too early," says Olivia Mitchell, director of the Boettner Center for Pensions and Retirement Research at the University of Pennsylvania.
There are several reasons to be concerned:"
"Dec. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Copper futures rose to a record as inventories declined in China, the world’s largest user, bolstering speculation that demand will outpace supply.
Stockpiles monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 5.8 percent last week, the biggest drop in almost three months. As of Sept. 30, global consumption exceeded output by 436,000 metric tons this year, the International Copper Study Group said last week. That compares with a deficit of 56,000 tons in the same period last year, the group said.
“Demand is pushing new highs while supply remains reasonably tight,” said Tim Parker, who manages $7.5 billion at T. Rowe Price Group Inc.’s New Era Fund in Baltimore. “There are only days of supply in inventories, and there’s so little new copper coming into the market.”"
"China cut its rare earths export quotas by 11 percent in the first round of permits for 2011, threatening to worsen a global shortage of the minerals needed for smartphones, hybrid cars and guided missiles.
The government allotted 14,446 metric tons of rare earth exports split among 31 companies, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement. That compares with the first round this year of 16,304 tons and the second round of 7,976 tons, according to previous ministry statements. The government usually issues two rounds of export quotas every year.
China, which accounts for more than 90 percent of world supplies, slashed export quotas by 72 percent in the second half of this year, sparking a surge in prices. Japan, the biggest user, has sought alternate supplies with companies including Hitachi Metals Ltd. and Toyota Motor Corp. seeking cooperative ventures at home and abroad to secure the minerals. "
"Japanese Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda renewed his warning to take “bold” action against the yen’s advance if needed, a sign of concern among policy makers about the currency’s climb slowing the recovery.
The yen’s recent appreciation has been “one-sided,” Noda told reporters in Tokyo today, adding that the government will take “bold action when moves are excessive.” Economy Minister Banri Kaieda said “abrupt yen moves must be avoided.” "
- Other news, headlines and opinion:
- Quinn floats plan to borrow $15 billion (Illinois)
- Illinois Default Insurance Cost Rises as Weak States Punished: Muni Credit
- French debt reaches 81.5 pct of GDP in Q3 end
- India 10-Year Bonds Advance Before Central Bank Purchases Debt
- Venezuela Loses Wiggle Room to Skirt $8B Debt
- Spanish Household Power Prices to Jump
- As Pakistan nears bankruptcy, patience of foreign lenders wears thin
- In Los Angeles, When It Rains, It Pours – Red Ink (LA Watchdog)
- Ireland Home Prices Likely To Decline For Several Years
- Ariz. Cities Aim To Protect State-Shared Revenue
- Where are the jobs? For many companies, overseas
- Bolivian Transport Workers On Indefinite Strike To Protest Fuel-Price Hike
- Despite gargantuan deficit, Texas officials to launch ambitious building plans
- Ex-Shell president sees $5 gas in 2012
- China missile may cause power shift
- U.S. house prices tumble in October ("Prices in six cities move to lowest levels since housing bust")
- Canada's Flaherty Plans Additional Stimulus Measures
- For-Profit College Share Slump Converges With Surging Student Life-Debtors
- Reserve Bank of India Allows Iran Trade in Currencies Besides Dollar, Euro
- Gallup poll lists underemployment at 19%
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