Found on MetaFilter:

The Skyscraper Index.

V, Double dip (W) or L recession? Things look bad for the EURO if the skyscraper index is right. We have heard recently about problems in the Eurozone. Is the worst over or is the worst still to come? The skyscraper index indicates: Trouble ahead.

The Skyscraper Index is a concept put forward in January 1999 by Andrew Lawrence, research director at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, which showed that the world’s tallest buildings have risen on the eve of economic downturns. Business cycles and skyscraper construction correlate in such a way that investment in skyscrapers peaks when cyclical growth is exhausted and the economy is ready for recession. Lawrence used skyscraper projects as a predictor of economic crisis, not boom.

* The first notable example was the Panic of 1907. Two record-breaking skyscrapers, the Singer Building and Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower, were launched in New York before the panic and completed in 1908 and 1909, respectively. Met Life remained the world’s tallest building until 1913.

* Another string of supertall towers – 40 Wall Street, Chrysler Building, Empire State Building – was launched shortly before to the Wall Street Crash of 1929.

* The next record holders, World Trade Center towers and Sears Tower, opened up in 1973, during the 1973–1974 stock market crash and the 1973 oil crisis.

* The last example available to Lawrence, Petronas Twin Towers, opened up in the wake of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis and held the world height record for five years.

Picture to visualize this.

Since then:

The Dubai Tower, the world largest building, opened 2010, during the major Dubai financial crisis.

The European Central Bank Tower will be finished in 2014. If the skyscraper index is a good indicator then the Euro zone should have it biggest problems around 2014.

Oakland, California sits right across the Bay from San Francisco. The city has one of the highest unemployment rates in the state at an official 16.3% and, by some accounts, sits at No. 3 in the entire country in terms of crime. The murder rate per capita is 3.5 times the national average.

So it’s no surprise that some long-time residents are leaving. Spotted on Facebook:

Dear City of Oakland,

You probably haven’t even noticed I’ve left so I thought I’d write you this note. Even though I am glad to have moved on I also miss you, (my friend said this would happen). Life with you was not always bad though remembering the bad makes it easier to move on. I feel like I really tried to make it work but you are so stuck in your ways. To be honest, if you didn’t have so many guns I might have stuck around. But the guns, well, those scare me. And when you broke in my house while I was sleeping and stole my laptop with all my photos on it, well, that was messed up. I never really forgave you for that, even though I sort of understand why stuff like that happens sometimes. In the beginning I thought I could change you, silly, I know. But then I realized I just didn’t feel like working that hard, so I guess this is partially my fault.

I think you knew I would leave someday, didn’t you. You saw white flight written all over my face when I moved in, even as I was signing a 30 year mortgage. I wish things were different, but truth is I had to do what’s best for me. So I guess you were right cause now I’ve moved on.

Things are different here, or maybe I should say they are more the same, which I guess I was looking for in a way, but didn’t want to admit. Believe me I’m not proud about this, I just want to be honest.

Well, I just needed to let you know you will always have a special place in my heart. Please look out for my friends across the street, the ones from Yemen, and all of their 7 children. I don’t think I’ll meet anyone like them here. And watch out for all the rest of your kids too, I wish I could have done more for them. I really hope I will someday, you know, once some time has passed and we can be friends again.

Ok , well, that’s all I needed to say, I wish you all the best, really.

Be safe.

Love, Janis

Your financial worries are over. In the money-saving DIY category: How to fix shattered eyeshadow. From the EnKore Makeup YouTube channel.

When you buy gas at the pump, ever wonder where the money goes? Oxfam America clues us in with their Follow the Money video:

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words, and sometimes a picture of words is worth even more. Signs of the times…

Click on an image to see it full size.

More photos here.

Some folks’ investment strategies involve stocks and bonds, some include real estate, and others’ may go so far as to purchase gold and other precious metals.

And then there are the people whose financial planning consists entirely of clipping coupons.

Individuals fitting either profile will be able to make use of Mr. Cheap Stuff, an online clearinghouse for free offers, deep discounts, and coupons, coupons, coupons!

Why not avail yourself of a free Kashi GOLEAN! sample? Or how about this Krispy Kreme Valentine’s Day Special? Or check out this Yoplait Yo-Plus Yogurt sample (for yo mama, maybe).

(Disclaimer: Should you make use of any of these, you are going to be placed on every direct-mail marketing list known to mankind, so that you’re going to need a pair of pliers to remove the wads of company come-ons from your mailbox each day.)

(Anti-disclaimer: Times are really, really rough, and every little bit helps, regardless of the inconvenience.)

More sites in this vein:

• Totally Free Stuff
• Free Stuff Times
• FreeStuff.com
• ThunderFap.com
• Craigslist free stuff

Check ‘em out.

Today on the podcast: be afraid! Fear turns out be a very good thing for certain businesses. When the Weather Service warns of a hurricane, there’s a run on plywood and water. A crime spree sends people to the gun store. And when North Korea or Iran starts making nuclear noise, the orders pour in to a website in North Carolina. Our story today, from WFAE‘s Julie Rose, is one of those awesome news reports that takes you on a journey as the perspective changes. You go from disgust, to understanding, to a slightly different form of disgust, all in under three and a half minutes. Duck and cover, class.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 5:48 — 4.1MB)

Do you have a piece you think should be considered for the EconomyBeat Podcast? Put it on PRX, and add the tag ‘ebpodcast’.

To be sure, there is a lot of support — mostly from conservatives — for yesterday’s Supreme Court decision allowing corporations to spend as much as they want in supporting or opposing political candidates.

But the ruling has also set off a fury of apocalyptic posting by progressives and other observers who see it as the last step in paving the way for absolute rule by the rich.

Hysteria or harsh new reality? You decide….

Americablog

I’ve always wondered if I would have recognized the end of the Roman Republic if I had been alive at that time.

Today I saw rhe end of the American Republic. We are now just a plutocracy. What will it be like to live in a purely Feudalistic Corporate society?
————————————————————————————————————————
Pretty cool! I get to watch and be part of the end of democracy and an empire. Now, the corporations can simply buy their puppets into every seat in congress—don’t even have to pretend to be doing anything other than filling the seats with “yes-men”, who are going to go to DC and finally, completely handover all our money to mega-corporations. Imagine the ramifications of this: Say Wall Street wants a constitutional amendment making it illegal to tax banks or wages over $100,000 per-year—they’ll just buy 100 Liebermans and 530+ Republicans in the House and…just like that, CEOs get to write and pass laws. Great day for democracy, no?
————————————————————————————————————————
Corporations want to be able to pollute freely, to mislead consumers, to include whatever ingredients in our food that they like, to keep all information on their activities and operations secret from consumers. When they have packed the congress and the executive branches – soon – whatever regulations which remain after Bush will be gone. Probably with doublespeak to make people think things are more transparent and consumer-friendly. Unless the actual people at the corporations have a change of thinking, things will get really bad.

Continue Reading

I don’t pretend to understand what all the numbers on this US. National Debt Clock mean, but I will give you one impression I have: They don’t look good. Especially when you click on the snapshot below and see the numbers actually moving in one direction: up.

For some perspective, however, look at the following chart,from ZFacts.com. It shows the debt as a percentage of GDP, from about a year ago. Still not good, but only about 2/3 of what it was immediately after WW II.

On the other hand, a lot of the money from those years went toward defeating the Nazis and Imperial Japan. This time, the enemy — who and what it was is still being debated — seemed to come from within.

Maybe when the crisis is officially over, we’ll have a V-G Day. Victory Over Greed.

Click on an image to see it full size.

More photos here.