3,700 fewer jobs in February

From the Star Ledger:

NJ shed 3,700 jobs in February as unemployment rate remained unchanged

New Jersey shed 3,700 jobs in February due to private sector cutbacks, though the state’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at 7.1 percent, according to preliminary data released today by the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

State officials blamed the harsh winter weather for the declines.

But the report had a touch of good news. It said revised data for January shows the state gained 6,300 jobs during the first month of the year, instead of losing 3,900 as initially reported.

Employment gains were felt in the trade, transportation and utilities sector, which added 3,900 jobs; professional and business services, which grew by 2,700; and the information sector, which netted 1,000 workers.

Among the industries that lost jobs, the leisure and hospitality sector shed 4,800 workers; financial activities cut 3,200; and construction jobs were 2,000 lower.

Government jobs grew by 1,200, according to preliminary data.

“The winter has clearly affected the state’s job market—the February count, especially in a sector like leisure and hospitality, was probably held down by the big storm around Valentine’s Day,” said Charles Steindel, chief economist for the state Department of Treasury, in a statement.

“The large and welcome upward revision for January suggests that in these conditions the preliminary numbers may be less reliable than usual. We anticipate that the numbers should get better with the weather,” he added.

This entry was posted in Demographics, Economics, Housing Recovery, New Jersey Real Estate. Bookmark the permalink.

138 Responses to 3,700 fewer jobs in February

  1. grim says:

    From Reuters:

    Pending home sales fall to lowest level since October 2011

    The number of contracts to buy previously-owned U.S. homes fell in February to the lowest level in more than two years, a sign the housing sector has yet to shake off the impact of higher interest rates and a harsh winter.

    The National Association of Realtors said on Thursday its pending home sales index, based on contracts signed last month, fell 0.8 percent to 93.9 in February. That was the lowest level since October 2011.

    Interest rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages have risen about a percentage point since May, while much of the United States has experienced an unusually cold and snowy winter.

    Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the realtors group, said the drag from bad weather was likely to reverse itself soon.

    “Some weather-delayed transactions should close in the spring,” he said in a statement.

  2. anon (the good one) says:

    is it Spring yet?

  3. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    third.

  4. Young Buck says:

    Former Elizabeth school board president convicted in free lunch scam

    ELIZABETH — Former Elizabeth school board president Marie Munn was convicted today of stealing from the district’s federal lunch program after falsifying applications to obtain free meals for her children.

    She faces three to five years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000 when she is sentenced in May

    http://www.nj.com/union/index.ssf/2014/03/former_elizabeth_school_board_president_convicted_in_free_lunch_scam.html

  5. anon (the good one) says:

    anybody here w nj investors bank, how you gonna vote?

  6. Michael says:

    This is a re-post from last night. Joyce, care to respond? Do you see the dangers associated with the accumulation of massive amounts of wealth in our economic system? Eventually the consumer will not have enough money to keep the economy going because the money will be in the hands of a few who can never mimic the spending patterns of the majority, which is required in order for our economic system to perform the way it is supposed to. It leads to the following quote….”It is important to note that this Type-L collapse is due to an inequality-induced famine that causes a loss of workers, rather than a collapse of Nature.”

    This is why inequality scares me….look at the quote below. Joyce, this what I meant with hoarding at the top being terrible for our economy.

    “Modelling a range of different scenarios, Motesharrei and his colleagues conclude that under conditions “closely reflecting the reality of the world today… we find that collapse is difficult to avoid.” In the first of these scenarios, civilisation:

    “…. appears to be on a sustainable path for quite a long time, but even using an optimal depletion rate and starting with a very small number of Elites, the Elites eventually consume too much, resulting in a famine among Commoners that eventually causes the collapse of society. It is important to note that this Type-L collapse is due to an inequality-induced famine that causes a loss of workers, rather than a collapse of Nature.””

    http://www.theguardian.com/environment/earth-insight/2014/mar/14/nasa-civilisation-irreversible-collapse-study-scientists

  7. Michael says:

    pretty scary stuff

    “This paper focuses on a comparison of recently collated historical data for 1970–2000 with scenarios presented in The Limits to Growth. The analysis shows that 30 years of historical data compares favorably with key features of a business-as-usual scenario called the “standard run” scenario, which results in collapse of the global system midway through the 21st Century. The data does not compare well with other scenarios involving comprehensive use of technology or stabilizing behaviour and policies. The results indicate the particular importance of understanding and controlling global pollution.”

    http://www.csiro.au/Outcomes/Environment/Population-Sustainability/SEEDPaper19.aspx

  8. Street Justice says:

    You mean Investors savings bank headquartered in Short Hills?

    5.anon (the good one) says:
    March 28, 2014 at 8:24 am
    anybody here w nj investors bank, how you gonna vote?

  9. Street Justice says:

    Jealousy and envy poisons the mind.

    Don’t be a hater.

    6.Michael says:
    March 28, 2014 at 8:51 am
    This is a re-post from last night. Joyce, care to respond? Do you see the dangers associated with the accumulation of massive amounts of wealth in our economic system? Eventually the consumer will not have enough money to keep the economy going because the money will be in the hands of a few who can never mimic the spending patterns of the majority, which is required in order for our economic system to perform the way it is supposed to. It leads to the following quote….”It is important to note that this Type-L collapse is due to an inequality-induced famine that causes a loss of workers, rather than a collapse of Nature.”

    This is why inequality scares me….look at the quote below. Joyce, this what I meant with hoarding at the top being terrible for our economy.

    “Modelling a range of different scenarios, Motesharrei and his colleagues conclude that under conditions “closely reflecting the reality of the world today… we find that collapse is difficult to avoid.” In the first of these scenarios, civilisation:

    “…. appears to be on a sustainable path for quite a long time, but even using an optimal depletion rate and starting with a very small number of Elites, the Elites eventually consume too much, resulting in a famine among Commoners that eventually causes the collapse of society. It is important to note that this Type-L collapse is due to an inequality-induced famine that causes a loss of workers, rather than a collapse of Nature.””

    http://www.theguardian.com/environment/earth-insight/2014/mar/14/nasa-civilisation-irreversible-collapse-study-scientists

  10. Michael says:

    Some good comments on the issue in post 7

    “Ultimately, there are so many variables associated with population growth, that every good mathematician knows that creating a viable differential equation that models population growth will be unsolvable in closed form or incomplete (not enough variables). We know that there is a limit for how fast things can grow (bacterial cultures cannot grow faster than the speed of light!). Similarly, there is a leveling off point for humans, where the population will become more or less stable. Then the problem is that the population of earth with ‘grey’ and there will be less working humans to support the old and nonworking humans. So question there would be how to sustain that.”

    “You’re right, the outlook is not ‘dark skies’ but more ‘comprehensive system detonation’. Those of us who have been awake for a long time have always known this danger is very real.
    Mainstream science is now confirming it but while no one can predict the future, I’m confident we’ll be OK.
    There’s a seismic, global consciousness shift of humanity on Earth now in full swing and it’s accelerating… most people are still asleep in their little ‘bread and circuses’ rat race bubble and they still have no idea what is coming but these same worsening social and environmental crises globally are helping to drive the ‘awakening’ process.
    There’s actually far more people who care about this stuff and are aware of it than we tend to believe… I’ve been surprised myself but in terms studies of how people are behaving and social science research, the figure I see coming up consistently is about 30% and rising.
    The shit is really going to start hitting the fan this decade, a lot more people are going to be FORCED to wake up. However, the new ‘Gaia-centric’ civilization paradigm (as opposed to a corrupt and insane ‘power and profit’ centric paradigm) is already evolving and expanding rapidly.
    We’re in a transition period… this current system is completely doomed and a lot of people who refuse to budge are going to ‘go down with the ship’ so to speak but the new system is a life-raft and if things continue the way they are going, the survivors are going to inherit a future of true planetary peace and justice.
    It’s analogous to the process of rebirth of a phoenix except it’s happening simultaneously, think of two side by side: the new world is emerging from the accumulating ashes as the old one collapses.
    I think people just need to be highly aware of what is happening and to act accordingly… there’s a lot more destruction ahead but a lot more creation too; choose your phoenix wisely!! Make no mistake however, whatever you believe, this ride’s about to get real bumpy…”

  11. ottoman says:

    No worries, the income inequality during the gilded age was about as bad as it is now and from that we got massive tax hikes on the wealthy, so much so, the poor things had to abandon their mansions, workers rights and safety, food and drug administration, women’s vote and other rights, social security, and lots of other goodies.

    “This is why inequality scares me….look at the quote below. Joyce, this what I meant with hoarding at the top being terrible for our economy.”

  12. Ragnar says:

    Michael,
    Try to make yourself understand that in capitalism, massive wealth generally comes from providing massive amounts of goods and services that support human life and happiness. The biggest threats to humanity come from statists who want to take freedom from mankind, mystics who denigrate the value of reason and man’s life on earth, and ecologists who want to free earth from what they perceive as the infestation of mankind.
    Here’s a book written by the late Julian Simon, now free on the internet, that should calm your fears. It might even cheer up Clot.
    http://www.juliansimon.com/writings/Ultimate_Resource/TCHAR04B.txt

  13. grim says:

    Got that stomach virus going around, wicked.

  14. Michael says:

    I am happy with my current life. I have no need for billions. I’m far from jealous. I’m just smart enough to realize the accumulation of the rich off the backs of the majority is not sustainable. Jealousy has nothing to do with this, we are just analyzing the effect of massive amounts of wealth accumulation in our economic system.

    “Street Justice says:
    March 28, 2014 at 9:14 am
    Jealousy and envy poisons the mind.

    Don’t be a hater.”

  15. ottoman says:

    Actually massive wealth generally comes from r@ping the environment, devaluing the worker so they can be exploited, and investment management fees.

    “Try to make yourself understand that in capitalism, massive wealth generally comes from providing massive amounts of goods and services that support human life and happiness.”

  16. Street Justice says:

    10. Michael, most people who whine about population growth are alarmists….and full of sh1t.

    Hans Rosling is a statistician who studies such things. I recommend you watch some of his videos on population growth. Most of what people thing of as “common knowledge” about the “third world” and population growth is total bullsh1t.

    http://www.gapminder.org/videos/

  17. Street Justice says:

    When you post things like that, most of us lose more and more respect for you. It reeks of prejudice, fearmongering, hatred and ignorance.

    15.ottoman says:
    March 28, 2014 at 9:23 am
    Actually massive wealth generally comes from r@ping the environment, devaluing the worker so they can be exploited, and investment management fees

  18. grim says:

    15 – How much of this is as a direct result of the demand from the American consumer.

    Quite a bit.

    We reap what we’ve sown.

    And don’t give me a line of bullshit. Post pictures of your clothing tags. I bet you’ve got China, Bangladesh, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Mexico. Which means you’ve voted with your dollars to devalue the worker.

  19. grim says:

    We used to laugh about $200 jeans, but the truth is, that’s what it costs to make them here. So pay $200 and support American jobs and quality of life, or go to Walmart and pay $15, and continue to destroy the US manufacturing sector.

  20. Fast Eddie says:

    ottoman,

    Make a list of every item you touched today, every piece of food you ate, every electronic device you used, every piece of trash you created and every f.ucking toilet you flushed. Now multiply that by 10,000 and that’s how many people you exploited for your comfort in ONE DAY. Any questions?

  21. Painhrtz - Disobey! says:

    Eddie don’t bother obviously people should not make a profit off of providing goods and services. Any profit they earn by providing people with jobs obviously should be given right back to the workers or government to be dispersed by its even hand.

  22. grim says:

    If it’s so easy, why don’t you start a company?

  23. JJ says:

    Actually my toliets are kinda old so made in America so I can poop guilt free.

    20.Fast Eddie says:
    March 28, 2014 at 9:37 am
    ottoman,

    Make a list of every item you touched today, every piece of food you ate, every electronic device you used, every piece of trash you created and every f.ucking toilet you flushed. Now multiply that by 10,000 and that’s how many people you exploited for your comfort in ONE DAY. Any questions?

  24. Michael says:

    Thanks for the info and the site. I’m trying my best to understand this, and you guys are doing a great job of helping out. I don’t believe in doom and gloom, and this stuff was starting to scare me, thanks for showing me the bs associated with this type of readings.

    Ragnar says:
    March 28, 2014 at 9:19 am
    Michael,
    Try to make yourself understand that in capitalism, massive wealth generally comes from providing massive amounts of goods and services that support human life and happiness. The biggest threats to humanity come from statists who want to take freedom from mankind, mystics who denigrate the value of reason and man’s life on earth, and ecologists who want to free earth from what they perceive as the infestation of mankind.
    Here’s a book written by the late Julian Simon, now free on the internet, that should calm your fears. It might even cheer up Clot.
    http://www.juliansimon.com/writings/Ultimate_Resource/TCHAR04B.txt

    Street Justice says:
    March 28, 2014 at 9:26 am
    10. Michael, most people who whine about population growth are alarmists….and full of sh1t.

    Hans Rosling is a statistician who studies such things. I recommend you watch some of his videos on population growth. Most of what people thing of as “common knowledge” about the “third world” and population growth is total bullsh1t.

    http://www.gapminder.org/videos/

  25. Michael says:

    Well said….the consumer drives everything. No one to blame but ourselves. It’s like a trojan horse. They sucker you in with cheap pricing, without you realizing what comes with those cheap prices. Everything comes at a cost. I think cheap pricing is another tool of generational warfare. Meaning, the current generation gets cheap pricing at the cost of selling out the future generation’s chance at having a good job.

    grim says:
    March 28, 2014 at 9:31 am
    We used to laugh about $200 jeans, but the truth is, that’s what it costs to make them here. So pay $200 and support American jobs and quality of life, or go to Walmart and pay $15, and continue to destroy the US manufacturing sector.

  26. Bystander says:

    JJ,

    With the disposable content being good ole American porterhouse. You are a true national hero.

  27. JJ says:

    Jersey has the most acustic kids of any state in America. No wonder Bon Jovi and Springsteen come from NJ since you are such good guitar players.

  28. Michael says:

    Ragner, thanks again. Much better to focus on the positive than the negative. Once in a while I get trapped into reading stuff that scares the crap out of me, failing to realize they are trying to make a buck off of my internal fears.

    “Our whole evolution up to this point shows that human groups
    spontaneously evolve patterns of behavior, as well as patterns of
    training people for that behavior, which tend on balance to lead
    people to create rather than destroy. Humans are, on net
    balance, builders rather than destroyers. The evidence is clear:
    the civilization which our ancestors have bequeathed to us
    contains more created works than the civilization they were
    bequeathed.
    In short, humankind has evolved into creators and problem-
    solvers. Our constructive behavior has counted for more than our
    using-up and destructive behavior, as seen in our increasing
    length of life and richness of consumption.
    This view of the average human as builder conflicts with the
    view of the average human as destroyer which underlies the
    thought of many doomsdayers. From the latter view derive such
    statements as “The U.S. has 5 percent of the population, and uses
    40 percent of resources,” without reference to the creation of
    resources by the same U.S. population. (Also involved here is a
    view of resources as physical quantities waiting for the
    plucking, rather than as the services that humankind derives from
    some combination of knowledge with physical conditions.) If one
    notices only the using-up and destructive activities of
    humankind, without understanding that constructive patterns of
    behavior must have been the dominant part of our individual-cum-
    social nature in order for us to have survived to this point,
    then it is not surprising that one would arrive at the conclusion
    that resources will grow scarcer in the future. “

  29. Street Justice says:

    JJ, this morning I pooped in my American Standard toilet, which was made in Mexico.

    This evening, I’ll make a point to poop on the “Toto” brand toilet….made in USA by a Japanese based company. God bless America.

  30. Street Justice says:

    Another interesting fact, American Standard’s research is done in Piscataway, NJ. I’m proud to say that in this global economy, we can still compete with the world. They chose NJ as the best place in the world to study bowel movements.

  31. Street Justice says:

    The best place in the global economy to study poop, of course is still in NJ:

    http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2013/01/flush_with_ideas_american_stan.html

  32. Painhrtz - Disobey! says:

    maybe I’ll start an artisinal commode company and sell to hipsters in Bushwick and Montklair

  33. Libturd in the City says:

    My porcelain thrones were made in Wisconsin (Kohler). Perhaps that’s why I always cut the cheese a few times before frying the felafel.

    Grim, that virus is getting really, really bad. At Gator Jr.’s school, kids were puking in the hallway while waiting on a twenty minute line to see the nurse. One of the classes in his grade had 12 kids out with it. School sent home a note to keep your kid home two days if they had any sign of it. I have a feeling that there may need to be another snow day just to kill the virus.

  34. Libturd in the City says:

    From last night (feeding the troll):

    The top has to give back when they accrue silly amounts of money, not because you want to take money from some rich guy out of jealousy, but because the system will collapse. I always use the monopoly metaphor. When the money is in the hands of one or two people.. Game over. What makes you think our economic system is that much different than the game of monopoly?

    For starters, there’s no free parking in our economic system.

  35. grim says:

    31 – Real hipsters use outhouses

  36. Libturd in the City says:

    In other news…I had to replace the second major part in Lightning McQueen (my 95 civic HB). The front left axle had to be replaced. So now the only non-original parts are the alternator and the left axle. Not bad after 19 years and 160K. I did both tie rods too, but I put that under routine maintenance. Have a crack in the windshield that has grown from about 4 inches to about 12 inches this winter. I’m literally afraid to take it through a car wash without a raincoat on. Still waiting for my Fit EV too.

  37. Ragnar says:

    Monopoly is nothing like an economy. The way to win that game is to buy assets that nobody wants to use. Every transaction with another player is win/lose, zero sum.

  38. Painhrtz - Disobey! says:

    grim chinese toddlers wear split pants, Was greeted by a group of them defecating at the curb in shaghai airport. Was like what the F*ck

    speaking of starting businesses how is the micro distillery going?

    Lib since you have lightning McQueen, I guess I’ll call my rusting Nissan truck Mater from here on out

  39. Street Justice says:

    did you ever figure out why it wasn’t starting a while back?

    Lib since you have lightning McQueen, I guess I’ll call my rusting Nissan truck Mater from here on out

  40. Grim says:

    I really need to stop googling the shit you guys post on here.

  41. Street Justice says:

    Well, if you find you’re bored the next time you head to the bathroom with your ipad….heres something to watch that will make any citizen of NJ swell with pride…

    http://videos.nj.com/star-ledger/2013/01/american_standard_in_piscatawa.html

  42. Hughesrep says:

    29

    The only toilets Toto makes in the US are their ultra expensive one piece products. Unless you are crapping on a 2K toilet it was made in either Mexico or Turkey.

    32

    Sorry Stu, yours too. Toured the Kohler factory back in the mid 90’s. Even back then the only china products they made in Kohler were the hand painted artisan editions. Nice hotel and golf courses though. Played with Herb on the Meadows course.

    At one time or another I’ve repped or distributed virtually every china manufacturer. These days it’s all Chinese, Turks or Mexican. Wherever the cheap labor and the right type of clays mix is where they manufacture.

  43. Street Justice says:

    Hughesrep, I swear I remember at least the tank or bowl on the Toto saying made in USA. I’ll be sure to check it when I use it tonight.

  44. Ragnar says:

    I loved the road signs for this Chinese toilet maker, so I took a photo during a research trip:
    http://postimg.org/image/8wdq4gxp9/
    check out the company’s homepage too.

  45. Libturd in the City says:

    I sort of figured that was the case rep. As for trouble starting, it was the wires. 19 years did them in. Worst part of it is that when I checked the alternator, I must have fried a diode or two as the red check engine light now comes on whenever she’s cold or whenever I drive at highway speeds. It’s funny how it turns off and on based on speed.

  46. Outofstater says:

    The New Jersey Puke and Poop Report. God I hope that virus doesn’t come south!

  47. ccb223 says:

    Michael — you gotta stop going where ever the wind blows with your arguments. Stop being so damn reactionary and take some time to digest what you are reading, maybe do a little more homework on the opposing argument and then you can come out guns blazing on here as if what you are saying is an undisputed universal truth…

  48. Hughesrep says:

    42

    Could be if it was older. Toto stopped US manufacturing on everything except the Ultramax one piece product in 05 or so.

    Now everyone in that sector uses contract manufacturing. I sell a “globally sourced” toilet line. We also make products for such US stalwarts as Am Stan, Mansfield, Gerber, and Kohler/Sterling.

    Am Stan still makes some purely domestic commercial products, I imagine it is a minuscule portion of their sales. DoD projects require strictly made in the US products. It’s 3x the cost and a forever lead time.

    Manufacturers can also play games with what is considered made in the US. If a certain portion of the overall product cost is of US origin it is considered made in the US.

    Company I rep uses US steel, chinese components, and Mexican labor, but qualifies as made in the US for government projects because the steel is such a large part of the overall cost.

  49. ccb223 says:

    Are we still talking about toilets and poop?

  50. Libturd in the City says:

    “Are we still talking about toilets and poop?”

    Smell yeah!!!

    It’s a hundred times better than the cesspool of information Anon receives on his twitter feed.

  51. Michael says:

    Someone please tell me why this is wrong because I’m having trouble figuring out why it’s not. I don’t want to throw it out there as truth, just want to find out how it’s wrong.

    “Besides corporate executives and managers, the other occupation/industry with large numbers of top earners are professionals in the finance industry. The two groups make up almost 60% of the top 0.1%.[21] (In contrast, entertainment celebrities and sports superstars combined form only 3% of this elite one-household-in-a-thousand.)
    While corporate management in America has benefited mightily from its `capture` from stockholders of boards of directors, whose nomination, pay and perks management has strong influence over.[22] The financial industry’s success has come from pushing government to deregulate that industry and making risky investments from which it has privatized the gains and socialized the losses with government bailouts.[23]”

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winner-Take-All_Politics_(book)

  52. njescapee says:

    Why millennials have a tough time landing jobs

    Why millennials have a tough time landing jobs
    Kelley Holland | @KKelleyHolland
    24 Mins Ago
    CNBC.com

    1
    COMMENTJoin the Discussion

    laflor | E+ | Getty Images
    It’s job-hunting season on campuses across the country, and the anemic job market is adding some extra stress to spring for many millennials.

    Recent college graduates are facing less unemployment than those without college degrees, but a study by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce found they are still contending with a nearly 8 percent jobless rate. And 44 percent of recent college graduates are underemployed, meaning they hold jobs that do not require a college degree, according to a separate report by the New York Fed.

    But it’s not just slow job growth that is hurting millennials’ job search prospects. In many ways, hiring managers and others say, they are hurting themselves.

    The surprising reason college grads can’t get jobs
    Stories abound of millennials showing up in casual clothes for formal interviews, bringing—and using—their phones during the interview and worse.

    Not only that, in a survey of 22- to 26-year-old college graduates by Adecco, a staffing and recruiting company, 8 percent reported that a parent accompanied them on at least one job interview, and 3 percent said a parent actively joined the interview.

    “I’ve had moms call me for interviews,” said Dan Black, director of recruiting for Ernst & Young, though he added that the candidates themselves were uniformly mortified when this happened.

    Millennials “have been technology enabled from the minute they were able to crawl, so to speak, so they have a different way of connecting and a different way of engaging,” said Kip Wright, a senior vice president with ManpowerGroup, the staffing company. As a result, he said, “they struggle with that traditional interview.”

    PLAY VIDEO
    For millennials, economic slump slows American dream
    CNBC’s Allison Linn explains that today’s 20- and 30-somethings are having a hard time settling into a career and buying a home.
    Some of the biggest mistakes recent college graduates make involve interview preparation, or a lack thereof.

    In an Adecco survey of hiring managers, 75 percent said millennials’ biggest interview mistake was dressing inappropriately, and almost as many said they tended to mess up by posting inappropriate material on social media. Almost two-thirds of respondents said millennials tend to demonstrate a lack of research preparation for interviews. These hiring managers also said they were three times as likely to hire a worker over age 50 as a millennial.

    Black said he is often struck by millennials’ casual approach. “I’ve gotten emails saying ‘hey, it was gr8 to meet you'” after a recruiting event, he said.

    What the millennial generation wants from work
    But college students needn’t despair. Hiring managers and recruiting experts say millennials also bring skills to their post-college jobs earlier generations lack.

    “They know technology front and back. They know how to multitask at a level we can’t imagine,” Wright said. “If you put them in a conference room when they are trying to solve a problem and let them use their laptops, they will be networking with their own networks and they will collectively come up with solutions that you may never have thought of.”

    Black is similarly enthusiastic about millennials’ capabilities. And Ernst & Young intends to hire more than 10,000 new employees in the Americas in 2014, with more than 6,000 coming from college campuses.

    To land a job, take these six college courses
    Black contends that employers need to make some adjustments to their expectations in order to work successfully with millennials—and millennials need to do the same.

    “We’ve made lots of changes around the different technology platforms we use,” he said. When his firm is training millennials, it offers podcasts and webcasts because “this is how this generation learns.”

    But 20-something job candidates and employees need to respect the client focus of the business, and adjust their behavior accordingly, he added.

    “I can’t wear shorts to the office, much as I’d like to. That’s an accommodation that the candidate’s going to have to make. That’s what is accepted and required to do the job.”

    In other words, millennials: Go get those shoes shined.

  53. POS cape says:

    38

    The toddler’s split pants, man that takes me back to when I was stationed in Korea. The memories!

  54. Michael says:

    This one too….please explain to me how it’s not true

    “Most economic experts” agree that the 30-year trend in America of greater inequality is a natural economic/historical trend of economic rewards for those with educational achievements and workplace skills. The authors do not. The income distribution hasn’t followed a pattern of “the 29% of Americans with college degrees pulling away” from those who have less education. It’s the top 1% that have pulled away from the top 20%, and most especially “the top 0.1% or even 0.01%” that has grown richer than the rest of the population.[11]
    Nor has this rise in inequality taken place in many other developed economies. Western Europe and Japan, “haven’t seen anything like the rise in inequality America has.” Inequality in France and Switzerland has actually fallen; in Germany it’s remained the same; and in Ericsson’s Sweden and Sony’s Japan it’s moved up only slightly.[11][14]
    The relative lack of skill of American workers can’t be blamed, as there isn’t one. There is no gap between American workers and those of Europeans, Canadians, et al., measured in years of schooling.[15] America’s more extreme stratification has not come with any benefit of faster economic growth or more social mobility than its peer countries. Economic growth per capita was essentially the same in the US as that of the 15 core nations of Europe through 2006.[16] America’s self-image as the land of the American Dream and rags-to-riches success notwithstanding, the share of those brought up poor or middle class who succeeded in becoming rich (i.e. the social mobility), is now less than in almost all other developed countries.[17]

  55. Michael says:

    Unless you guys can prove to me that these two posts are providing false information, I can’t willingly back up the billionaires, aka 1%, like you guys do.

  56. Painhrtz - Disobey! says:

    street it was the starter, luckily after putting in a junkyard trans I was convinced it was some obscure sensor I could not reach

  57. Anon E. Moose says:

    Michael [54];

    Unless you guys can prove to me that these two posts are providing false information, I can’t willingly back up the billionaires, aka 1%, like you guys do.

    Because A) you don’t have the confidence in yourself to believe that you might be one of the “1%” someday; and

    B ) whether or not you ever improve your wealth, you don’t have the foresight to realize hat the exact same class warfare rhetoric can be applied equally to you in your current status from the mouths of the rest of the developing world. What moral or logical reasoning will protect you from their wrath following the same playbook you’re reading from? If your only answer is “might”, then drop the pretense of ‘equality’ and just admit your ideology boils down to common theft.

  58. Libturd in the City says:

    Or in other words Michael. Keep on taking from the rich to provide for the poor and there will be no incentive to try and become rich. Then who are you going to steal it from.

    Hat to say it, but most of the rich people I know are some of the most cheap mother f’ers out there. They didn’t get rich by accident. I live in a bit of a hoity-toity town, but my older son’s friends are not jerks and outside of a few a$$hats, don’t flaunt it and are the most generous people I know. If you want to give your hard earned money away, go for it. I’m sure the headbangers in Asbury Park would be glad to take it from you. Just don’t take it from me. I put in my time.

  59. Nomad says:

    Used to be made in the USA. Now I believe it is cut and sewn in the USA (imported fabric?).

    Reading PA

    http://www.billskhakis.com/

  60. Libturd in the City says:

    I heard Easton Brand (sporting goods) is being sold to a Chinese outfit too.

  61. Michael says:

    You failed to address any statistic in each post. I don’t want your opinion, I want facts. As of right now, you can’t tell me the 1% is not taking advantage based on the statistics in those two posts. Address the issues in the post, don’t make excuses.

    Btw, I’m not greedy, I have no problem helping another human being out instead of burying them in the ground on the premise of competition. I can lower my standard of living to help, but I’m not going to do it if I’m the only one doing it. I’ll be damned if I have to give up a raise to help someone out, while the billionaire gives nothing.

    Michael [54];

    Unless you guys can prove to me that these two posts are providing false information, I can’t willingly back up the billionaires, aka 1%, like you guys do.

    Because A) you don’t have the confidence in yourself to believe that you might be one of the “1%” someday; and

    B ) whether or not you ever improve your wealth, you don’t have the foresight to realize hat the exact same class warfare rhetoric can be applied equally to you in your current status from the mouths of the rest of the developing world. What moral or logical reasoning will protect you from their wrath following the same playbook you’re reading from? If your only answer is “might”, then drop the pretense of ‘equality’ and just admit your ideology boils down to common theft.”

  62. Michael says:

    Same thing, I don’t care about opinions, I care about the facts. If you can’t debunk these figures, you are just spewing propaganda for the wealthy.

    Address the stats in the following:

    “Most economic experts” agree that the 30-year trend in America of greater inequality is a natural economic/historical trend of economic rewards for those with educational achievements and workplace skills. The authors do not. The income distribution hasn’t followed a pattern of “the 29% of Americans with college degrees pulling away” from those who have less education. It’s the top 1% that have pulled away from the top 20%, and most especially “the top 0.1% or even 0.01%” that has grown richer than the rest of the population.[11]
    Nor has this rise in inequality taken place in many other developed economies. Western Europe and Japan, “haven’t seen anything like the rise in inequality America has.” Inequality in France and Switzerland has actually fallen; in Germany it’s remained the same; and in Ericsson’s Sweden and Sony’s Japan it’s moved up only slightly.[11][14]
    The relative lack of skill of American workers can’t be blamed, as there isn’t one. There is no gap between American workers and those of Europeans, Canadians, et al., measured in years of schooling.[15] America’s more extreme stratification has not come with any benefit of faster economic growth or more social mobility than its peer countries. Economic growth per capita was essentially the same in the US as that of the 15 core nations of Europe through 2006.[16] America’s self-image as the land of the American Dream and rags-to-riches success notwithstanding, the share of those brought up poor or middle class who succeeded in becoming rich (i.e. the social mobility), is now less than in almost all other developed countries.[17]

    Libturd in the City says:
    March 28, 2014 at 3:19 pm
    Or in other words Michael. Keep on taking from the rich to provide for the poor and there will be no incentive to try and become rich. Then who are you going to steal it from.

    Hat to say it, but most of the rich people I know are some of the most cheap mother f’ers out there. They didn’t get rich by accident. I live in a bit of a hoity-toity town, but my older son’s friends are not jerks and outside of a few a$$hats, don’t flaunt it and are the most generous people I know. If you want to give your hard earned money away, go for it. I’m sure the headbangers in Asbury Park would be glad to take it from you. Just don’t take it from me. I put in my time.

  63. Michael says:

    I’m being open minded here and trying to understand the issue. You guys are spewing back propaganda like “why are you jealous of the rich” or “keep taking from the rich to give to the poor”. That’s no different than saying the following, “Where did the rich get their wealth, they didn’t take it off the backs of the poor’s labor?”. Stop throwing around bs and attack the statistics that says all the growth has been going to the top 1%. Why isn’t it trickling down? It’s been over 30 years already.

  64. ccb223 says:

    It boggles my mind that $1 million of taxpayer money can be spent on this crap…so clearly and transparently self-serving. Pay for it out of your own pocket Christie … or leave it alone. A complete joke.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/28/opinion/a-whitewash-for-gov-christie.html?hp&rref=opinion&_r=0

  65. Michael says:

    I don’t want to think this way (that 1% of the population is getting over on the rest), but every time I go to research this subject, I come away with the same feeling based on the stats….that something isn’t right here and it’s because certain individuals have got this economic system on lockdown. They were supposed to fail in 2008, but because they have the game so rigged, they put the losses on the taxpayers instead of themselves, and now have been keeping all the gains for themselves.

    This is the way I see it, prove to me that I’m throwing out bs.

  66. Michael says:

    Wasn’t this the guy rallying up nj citizens and telling them that the govt worker was the problem? Nothing wrong with spending my money on your defense, not at all. Nothing wrong with wasting millions on a special election. Nothing wrong with throwing away 400 million on wrongfully filled out application. I was against this guy for so long, but couldn’t get the rest of jersey to see pass the con, they fell for it. Now the truth is coming out.

    Sad part, if someone else did this, for example if a teacher used 1 million in taxpayer funds to pay for their defense, Christie and every tea bagger would be up in arms. He does it, nothing to see here. Pretty fair system.

    ccb223 says:
    March 28, 2014 at 4:15 pm
    It boggles my mind that $1 million of taxpayer money can be spent on this crap…so clearly and transparently self-serving. Pay for it out of your own pocket Christie … or leave it alone. A complete joke.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/28/opinion/a-whitewash-for-gov-christie.html?hp&rref=opinion&_r=0

  67. Michael says:

    68- you rule!!! That was funny as hell!!!

  68. Michael says:

    CCB, that article is all the evidence you need to know to draw a conclusion that the wealthy are taking advantage. How else can explain a welfare law for a private jet. How else can that law get passed without the wealthy have a hand in it? Fu-k the obamaphone, these are billionaires getting obamaplanes The people on this board need to stop defending these con artists.

  69. ccb223 says:

    It’s pretty crazy, but if G. W. Bush couldn’t get that repealed Obama has no shot.

  70. Michael says:

    72- it’s all the proof you need to make the following statement….it’s not the govt of the people, for the people. It’s now the govt of the 1%, for the 1%. The govt has become nothing more than a tool for them to acquire massive wealth and to defend that wealth.

  71. Michael says:

    After all, quite apart from the waste, we don’t want to coddle zillionaires and thereby sap their initiative!

    That’s a dagger right there! That’s how you end a writing piece.

  72. jcer says:

    Michael the extremely wealthy are beneficiaries of zirp. They tend to own assets which inflate, have the ability to borrow at extremely low rates and make the float on free money. The global policy of low to no interest rates is at the core of this inequality. Fix it and watch things revert to mean.

  73. Street Justice says:

    Michael, if you haven’t already been diagnosed for bipolar disorder, please seek help.

  74. Ragnar says:

    The economy is definitely sick, but wealth dispersion is a symptom not cause. One could take the same data and draw different conclusions. I could argue that the wealth disparity came from multiple sources. Federal Reserve policy, globalization, failed state control of education, regulation and tax policy that made it more attractive to invest labor productivity enhancing capital overseas rather than domestically.

  75. Ragnar says:

    I could also argue that the economic productivity of the US poor has declined relative to the rest of the world’s labor pool.

  76. Grim says:

    How do you posit we get the truth on bridge gate?

    On one side we’ve got a group hell bent on hanging Christie and on the other side we’ve got a group that was paid off.

    That tells me we never get the truth. Both sides will find exactly the evidence they are looking for.

  77. Street Justice says:

    Operate under the assumption that he’s guilty. Most politicians are.

  78. Street Justice says:

    Besides, bridge gate is pretty tame as far as political corruption goes.

    CA Senate suspends Leland Yee and 2 others

    (03-28) 13:13 PDT SACRAMENTO — California’s Democratic-controlled State Senate Friday morning voted to suspend three Democratic members, including Sen. Leland Yee of San Francisco, following his arrest earlier this week on federal charges of corruption and arms trafficking.

    The 28-1 vote, marking the first time in its history that the California Senate has voted to suspend members, also suspends Sen. Ron Calderon of Montebello, who was charged with bribery and corruption in an FBI sting last month, and Sen. Rod Wright of Baldwin Park, convicted earlier this year of eight counts perjury and voter fraud.

  79. Street Justice says:

    Nothing pleases me more than to see legislators dragged away in handcuffs.

  80. Grim says:

    Bet you Yee is for gun control.

  81. Comrade Nom Deplume, somewhere in Massachusetts says:

    [77] street,

    I was just thinking “and I thought Essex was bipolar” when I read your post.

  82. Street Justice says:

    Essex just needs to lay off the recreational drug use and he’ll be fine.

  83. Michael says:

    Ragner, I’m not trying to be annoying, but your comments didn’t really address these issues. These issues actually prove your comment wrong. You say it could be the result of education, well look at paragraph three below, where the authors state that lack of skill can’t be blamed.

    Look right below, if you truly believe the stuff you guys spew about working hard and getting educated, then how come the income distribution hasn’t followed anywhere near the % of Americans with degrees? Instead it’s the top 1% that has pulled away from the college graduates, and you can’t say college graduates aren’t striving for a better life. You know damn well these are motivated individuals, who can’t keep up. So a lot of your philosophies of blaming laziness, and lack of skills on people not improving their lot is dead wrong. It’s more like there are no opportunities for good jobs because the 1% took it all for themselves. They haven’t been taking all the growth in our economy for themselves. The stats say so. I don’t care where you get the stats from, they all say the same thing.

    “Most economic experts” agree that the 30-year trend in America of greater inequality is a natural economic/historical trend of economic rewards for those with educational achievements and workplace skills. The authors do not. The income distribution hasn’t followed a pattern of “the 29% of Americans with college degrees pulling away” from those who have less education. It’s the top 1% that have pulled away from the top 20%, and most especially “the top 0.1% or even 0.01%” that has grown richer than the rest of the population.[11]

    Nor has this rise in inequality taken place in many other developed economies. Western Europe and Japan, “haven’t seen anything like the rise in inequality America has.” Inequality in France and Switzerland has actually fallen; in Germany it’s remained the same; and in Ericsson’s Sweden and Sony’s Japan it’s moved up only slightly.[11][14]

    The relative lack of skill of American workers can’t be blamed, as there isn’t one. There is no gap between American workers and those of Europeans, Canadians, et al., measured in years of schooling.[15] America’s more extreme stratification has not come with any benefit of faster economic growth or more social mobility than its peer countries. Economic growth per capita was essentially the same in the US as that of the 15 core nations of Europe through 2006.[16] America’s self-image as the land of the American Dream and rags-to-riches success notwithstanding, the share of those brought up poor or middle class who succeeded in becoming rich (i.e. the social mobility), is now less than in almost all other developed countries.[17]

    Ragnar says:
    March 28, 2014 at 5:48 pm
    The economy is definitely sick, but wealth dispersion is a symptom not cause. One could take the same data and draw different conclusions. I could argue that the wealth disparity came from multiple sources. Federal Reserve policy, globalization, failed state control of education, regulation and tax policy that made it more attractive to invest labor productivity enhancing capital overseas rather than domestically.

    Ragnar says:
    March 28, 2014 at 5:51 pm
    I could also argue that the economic productivity of the US poor has declined relative to the rest of the world’s labor pool.

  84. Michael says:

    They haven’t been taking all the growth in our economy for themselves. The stats say so. I don’t care where you get the stats from, they all say the same thing.

    Meant to say they have been taking…

  85. Michael says:

    Hacker and Pierson describe the political action that has “abandoned the middle class” in the US in favor of making “the rich richer” in the last 30+ years as being the work of “modern, efficient organizations operating in a much less modern efficient political system.”[24] Those organizations strove successfully to cut taxes (estate and capital gains taxes) and tax rates for the wealthy, and to eliminate or prevent of any countervailing power or oversight of corporate managers—including private litigation,[25] efforts to empower boards of directors and shareholders,[26] the regulation of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)[27] and labor unions.[28]
    The action in financial markets, corporate governance, industrial relations, and taxation,[29] came from both changing policy and preventing it from being changed — “drift”. Policy changes include tax cuts and legislation such as the 1999 Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act that repealed the Depression-era Glass-Steagall Act and allowed the merger of consumer banks, investment banks, and insurance companies.
    Drift, or preventing policy changes to keep “pace with changing economic conditions,” included not updating labor laws in response to new corporate anti-union tactics, not enacting stock option regulations in response to changing executive pay packages, and not updating securities regulations in response to the growth of dangerously risky but profitable Wall Street speculation.[29] One example is an attempt in 1993 by Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) to “moderate the explosion of CEO pay, not through burdensome interference but through the simple enforcement of honest, transparent accounting” by through requiring the expensing of stock options by corporations. They were prevented by “legions of businesspeople” and intervention by congress, led by Senator Joe Lieberman.[30] Another is the “carried-interest” loophole (costing tax payers about $4 billion/year) which allows hedge fund managers — some of the richest people in the US — to pay only 15% tax (the capital gains rate) on income they receive from investors, though the money is a paycheck received for services, not investment income.[31][32]

  86. Michael says:

    Just in case you don’t want to read that whole passage, read this. Thanks Lieberman

    One example is an attempt in 1993 by Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) to “moderate the explosion of CEO pay, not through burdensome interference but through the simple enforcement of honest, transparent accounting” by through requiring the expensing of stock options by corporations. They were prevented by “legions of businesspeople” and intervention by congress, led by Senator Joe Lieberman.[30] Another is the “carried-interest” loophole (costing tax payers about $4 billion/year) which allows hedge fund managers — some of the richest people in the US — to pay only 15% tax (the capital gains rate) on income they receive from investors, though the money is a paycheck received for services, not investment income.[31][32]

  87. Michael says:

    Last one for now.

    Ideas for a solution[edit]
    The authors emphasize the difficulty of undoing the winner-take-all transformation of America. Shrewd, charismatic leaders will not be enough,[46] changing policy will be a “long, hard slog.”[47] The issues of stock options, financial deregulation, and tax law, and what to do about them, are “mind-numbingly complex”.[48] The rich are highly motivated, focused, and organized. The average voter is ignorant of many of the most basic facts of government, let alone “which policies to support or oppose, which politicians to vote in and out of office.”[47]
    The 1890-1920 Progressive movement and New Deal serve as models of middle class reform.[49] The way forward will require “continuing, organized capacity to mobilize middle-class voters and monitor government and politics on their behalf.”[50]

  88. 30 year realtor says:

    Interesting timing for an REO just hitting the market in Elmwood Park. Home was once owned by Bridgette Kelly. Yes, that Bridgette Kelly.

  89. Libturd at home says:

    The way forward will require “continuing, organized capacity to mobilize middle-class voters and monitor government and politics on their behalf.”[50]

    Ain’t gonna happen as long as our politicians continue to be bought.

    Sorry Michael, you are arguing with the wrong group. And if you think the likes of Obama and Hillary are going to steer the wealth ship in your direction, well then you’re dumber than Corzine.

  90. Juice Box says:

    Another reason to flee NJ

    “If you’re from New Jersey and the zombie apocalypse strikes, you’re likely screwed.

    In today’s latest zombie news, the Garden State ranked dead last on a list of states best prepared to survive the zombie uprising.

    Estately, a real estate website, ranked the 50 states and Washington D.C. to determine who would be best equipped to survive based on criteria like number of military personnel, martial artists, survivalists, zombie enthusiasts, laser tag aficionados, gun owners and highest percentage of obese residents.

    And things are not looking good for the average New Jerseyite.

    “If the zombie apocalypse began today, and you live in New Jersey, the odds are 100% that you’ve already been bitten and have become a zombie,” Estately wrote.

    Alaska, Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho and New Mexico snagged the top 5 spots of most prepared U.S. states.”

    http://redbank.patch.com/groups/around-town/p/nj-would-not-survive-zombie-apocalypse-analysis-finds

  91. anon (the good one) says:

    redistribution is wrong!
    unless is upward, of course

    Michael says:
    March 28, 2014 at 4:39 pm
    CCB, that article is all the evidence you need to know to draw a conclusion that the wealthy are taking advantage. How else can explain a welfare law for a private jet. How else can that law get passed without the wealthy have a hand in it? Fu-k the obamaphone, these are billionaires getting obamaplanes The people on this board need to stop defending these con artists.

  92. Michael says:

    One law change that would cause ripples in the system….make lobbying illegal. You have to eliminate money from the politicians. Maybe have a govt sponsored platform where candidates get an hour slot every week to highlight their main ideas. The govt will pay, so the allotment is the same for each candidate. Money shouldn’t win elections, ideas should.

    Libturd at home says:
    March 29, 2014 at 9:58 am
    The way forward will require “continuing, organized capacity to mobilize middle-class voters and monitor government and politics on their behalf.”[50]

    Ain’t gonna happen as long as our politicians continue to be bought.

    Sorry Michael, you are arguing with the wrong group. And if you think the likes of Obama and Hillary are going to steer the wealth ship in your direction, well then you’re dumber than Corzine.

  93. Ragnar says:

    Mike,
    Your guys frame the issues their way, but they are missing the underlying problems, and offer “solutions” that would harm people even more. One underlying false assumption is that every man’s gain is another’s loss.

  94. Michael says:

    Good governments don’t stay the same. They adjust to the current people housed under the govt. Our founding fathers realized this by providing the ability to amend the constitution. When the govt is concerned with only 1% of the population, it is no longer a functioning democratic republic govt.

  95. Libturd driving to Central Jersey says:

    It will require a very charismatic nonpolitical individual who somehow get himself on the late-night talkshow television shows of that would be the only way in order to stop this terrible lobbying and campaign finance that is destroying our government. Baa baa.

  96. anon (the good one) says:

    your typical republican

    @WTFarkOra: Trailer Park Man Shocked Neighbors Disapprove of his KKK Flag Noose Hanging on Front Porch – http://t.co/DvYM3QOum3 http://t.co/oIPWNXRFJN

  97. grim says:

    101 – not even close, I see no nascar stickers, nor do I see a confederate flag. Typical northern agression.

  98. Cronut Nom Deplume, on the road in Zombiefied Connecticut. says:

    [95] juice

    Effing hysterical. Pennsylvania doubtless loses on obesity and Philadelphia.

  99. Smoke ’em if you got ’em, folks.

  100. Cronut Nom Deplume says:

    Very surreal drive from Massachusetts last night. Rained so hard that I was driving at or near the speed limit through much of Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey. And almost no one was passing me.

  101. grim says:

    Well sure, they saw the PA plates and decided to stay back.

  102. Comrade Nom Deplume, somewhere in Massachusetts says:

    [106] grim,

    Wouldn’t know, Grim. I never got passed much, even when I lived in MA, NH, MD, VA, and NJ.

  103. Comrade Nom Deplume, Guardian of the Realm says:

    Had to update my sock since I am back in Pennsy.

  104. Comrade Nom Deplume, Guardian of the Realm says:

    [108] redux

    I did plenty of passing though.

  105. grim says:

    107 – And what happens when lenders completely redline Irvington due to the risk, and nobody in the town can get a mortgage or refinance? Will they cry bloody murder then? I can hear the wails of discrimination and fair housing.

    Clearly the leadership of the town of Irvington are experts in the area.

    Can’t wait to see Irvington dragged to the Supreme Court by the bankers and then hung out to dry when their decision to misuse eminent domain and unlawfully seize property is deemed unconstitutional.

    Besides, we all know the real reason for this is to provide low cost real estate to the families of Irvington Politicians and the Connected Friends.

  106. grim says:

    Perhaps a reminder of that happens when NJ’s politicians get involved in real estate?

    Newark ex-mayor Sharpe James is convicted of fraud

    A federal jury today convicted former Newark Mayor Sharpe James of fraud for conspiring to rig the sale of nine city lots to his mistress, who quickly resold them for hundreds of thousands of dollars in profit.

    After a high-profile trial that stretched for five weeks, the jury returned its verdict in a courtroom just a block from the City Hall office James personified for two decades. The jurors, less than an hour into their sixth day of deliberations, found the 72-year-old former mayor guilty on all five counts he faced.

    James’ co-defendant and former girlfriend, Tamika Riley, was also found guilty on those five counts and eight others, including tax evasion.

    uring the trial, the prosecution called nearly three dozen witnesses, from police bodyguards to city officials to developers, to suggest the mayor secretly manipulated the government approval process to give his girlfriend a real estate windfall.

    Riley, a 39-year-old publicist from Jersey City with no development experience, paid the city $46,000 for six parcels in a redevelopment zone between 2001 and 2005. She resold them, often just weeks later, for $665,000.

    James’ attorneys countered that Riley got the same treatment as many other developers, at a time when Newark was trying to spur investments in some of its most devastated neighborhoods. They also argued the city council – not James – had the ultimate authority over land deals.

    James could still face another trial, over allegations he billed the city for $58,000 in personal expenses, including meals, entertainment and lavish vacations with Riley and other women. Prosecutors reserved their decision on those charges until this case was done.

  107. Comrade Nom Deplume, Guardian of the Realm says:

    [111] grim,

    “Besides, we all know the real reason for this is to provide low cost real estate to the families of Irvington Politicians and the Connected Friends.”

    Been saying for years that one of the unpublished agenda items of the democratic party is to reduce the cost of low income housing. This is a reaction rather than an action but it dovetails nicely with that goal. In fact, the disastrous 2002 Georgia experiment is being recast as a failed opportunity to drive subprime lending from the state–analysts now say that conventional lending in GA would not have been effected (not true, all mortgages were subject to the same law), and that GA could have avoided the worst of the 2008 financial crisis. Had the law stayed, even under the revisionists’ analysis, the low income areas would have dropped in value due to lack of investor confidence, total lack of lending, and a value death spiral as creditworthy borrowers opted to avoid those areas or keep renting.

    And for the deniers, consider that the democrats in Congress have been threatening FHFA to make sure that they keep the lending spigot open in the eminent domain communities (EDCs). How that will happen when investors won’t buy paper with those mortgages in them remains to be seen.

    One likely outcome is that underwriting rules will be promulgated to make sure that loans from EDCs are packaged along with other communities in order to dilute the negative effect among many stronger loans. Another is that the banks putting together tranches will be threatened with fair lending law violations if they put together loan tranches that segregate the EDC loans from the larger pool of loans to be securitized.

  108. Comrade Nom Deplume, Guardian of the Realm says:

    I wonder what happened to the borrrowing rates for municipal paper issued by Richmond California and Irvington as of late?

  109. We are all subprime now.

  110. Comrade Nom Deplume, Guardian of the Realm says:

    [114] redux.

    Silly me. You can’t set the rate when you can’t sell the paper.

    “Richmond had no takers last month when the successor to its redevelopment agency put $34 million of bonds up for sale to refinance previous debt. The eminent domain plan had been disclosed to the U.S. municipal bond market.”

  111. Libturd at home says:

    There is only one redeeming quality of Irvington. It has Essex County’s only Dairy Queen. When my son is bad, I threaten to take him to it for dessert.

  112. Comrade Nom Deplume, Guardian of the Realm says:

    [117] libturd,

    I wonder how many parents discipline their kids by driving then through Irvington, Camden, etc. and telling them “If you keep screwing up, this is where you will end up.” I suspect that it is a sizeable percentage.

    BTW, I would not disclose doing that to anyone in any governmental job, or whose politics resemble anon’s. That might be grounds for a visit from the agency formerly known as DYFS, and leftists looking to further their agenda would consider diming you out for such antiparty activities.

  113. Comrade Nom Deplume, Guardian of the Realm says:

    I knew an attorney in Cranford who said his kids once started getting all Rachel Canning on him and threatened to report him to DYFS for things like grounding them.

    He ended it by telling them “go ahead. DYFS will send you to live with some nice family in Plainfield. I might come and visit from time to time.”

    That ended the threats right quick.

  114. Comrade Nom Deplume, Guardian of the Realm says:

    And whenever my daughter tells me how awful I am for not letting her have her way, and how she is entitled to whatever it is she isn’t getting, I say “Call a cop. In fact, I’ll dial the number for you.”

    You should hear her shriek with protests to stop when I pick up the phone and start dialing.

  115. Comrade Nom Deplume, Guardian of the Realm says:

    [121] joyce

    “We believe that Americans should be able to travel interstate highways without being harassed and unlawfully detained because of license-plate profiling,”

    Don’t look for much help from the left on this. Even though they might object mightily to pot suspect stops, they don’t want to give up this edge of the sword.

    http://tbo.com/list/columns-tjackson/jackson-gun-owner-unarmed-unwelcome-in-maryland-20140112/

  116. People drive better when they smoke choom.

  117. grim says:

    Hey Hughes – I’m looking for a line on a good cheap low pressure nat gas steam boiler, used is fine (preferable even). 500k btu give or take. Got anything for me? I’ll even haul it out for free. I had a line on an older 750kbtu unit in an apartment building getting refurbished, but that fell through (it was too big anyway). Hell, I could even make 2 work if need be, but I’d prefer not to.

    Also, do you know of any code restrictions regarding maximum btu/hp for a low pressure unit in a light industrial setting? I can get by on low pressure steam so I’d like to avoid any code/inspection headaches.

  118. joyce says:

    Pretty sure I posted that exact article here, Comrade. I don’t think it was Chifi.. I think it was JJ who made of course made the idiot response saying the cops were doing okay things. It disheartens me that the article ends with the guy saying he might stop carrying rather than saying I’m calling a lawyer.

    Why is gun permit info in the same place as DMV info?

    Ps. “the right” and “the left” both don’t care… so stop spewing that nonsense about them being different.

  119. Hughesrep says:

    Grim

    Sorry, I don’t currently deal with any steam boilers, just high efficiency water boilers. If I hear about any conversions I’ll let you know.

    No restrictions that I know of in commercial settings for boiler size. In theory every job is inspected, or supposed to be though.

  120. C’mon, joyce. Just lock yourself in your house, and cower in fear.

    That’s what your overlords want.

  121. That is just does not make any sense. These messages and rumors can seriously undermine the morale of any Director David Ellis (The Final Destination) is leading at the helm, based on a scripted tale by Jesse Studenberg and Will Hayes. There are recipes for deserts,asics running shoes sale, fish, beans, vegetables, rice, other meats, canning, and many more. When you try to operate the Samhttp://www,Hugo Boss Clothing.bbcjeans.com/g air conditioner, you may find that it may not provide the qualit

  122. chicagofinance says:

    SPREAD SHEET

    When Money Doesn’t Add Up
    ‘Money illusion’ leads people to embrace real-estate gains at face value, even if reality turns them into a mirage

    SANETTE TANAKA CONNECT

    Many home buyers are victims of money illusion: They believe they are doing better if they sell their home for a higher dollar amount than they bought it, even if inflation eats the gains.

    Home sellers, be warned—that attractive house price might be nothing more than an illusion.

    Many home buyers and sellers fall prey to the phenomenon of “money illusion,” says Lucy Ackert, professor of finance at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Ga., who studied money illusion in residential real estate.

    Money illusion occurs when people think in terms of nominal values rather than real values—meaning, they consider the face value of money instead of its actual purchasing power.

    In other words, homeowners who sell their home for a higher dollar amount than what they bought it for see themselves as coming out ahead—even if inflation eats the gains.

    Prof. Ackert and co-authors Bryan Church and Narayanan Jayaraman of the Scheller College of Business at Georgia Tech presented 141 homeowners in suburban Atlanta with four scenarios in October 2005, near the height of the housing bubble. The researchers then determined respondents’ propensity to fall prey to money illusion. Their study, “Is There a Link Between Money Illusion and Homeowners’ Expectations of Housing Prices?” was published in Real Estate Economics in May 2011.

    Prof. Ackert noted that respondents weren’t disillusioned about the price of their house—77% had realistic expectations about their area’s home values. Most respondents also understood that a person is better off financially if real returns are higher.

    But, in keeping with money illusion, people base happiness around nominal values—77% of respondents believed that a person is happier if they are better off in nominal terms, even if real returns decreased.

    Why does nominal win out?

    Simply put, it’s easier to think that way, says Alan Cooke, a marketing professor at the University of Florida, who studies consumer decision-making.

    “People tend to expend as little mental effort as necessary to make a particular decision. So, if you have the opportunity to consider things in nominal terms rather than real terms, that’s what people will focus on first,” says Prof. Cooke, adding that people will put more effort into making decisions that they see as more important.

    Sarah Lanigan, 35 years old and a mother of two, recently moved from Davis, Calif., to Portland, Ore. Ms. Lanigan says she tends to think of house prices in face-value terms while her husband, Ryan, who once worked as a mortgage banker, looks at them in real terms. “I’m not oblivious to it, but it’s not at the forefront of my mind,” she says.

    “Things like stickiness in prices, nominal versus real—that’s not the average conversation you have with a client who’s about to buy a piece of real estate,” says Maureen Mestas, associate broker with Sotheby’s International Realty in Santa Fe, N.M.

    A housing bubble can be generated when people believe prices in the future will be higher, and are thus not worried about overpaying today. Prof. Ackert says money illusion alone won’t cause a housing bubble, but when coupled with tight supply, “that’s when you really run into trouble. It’s a perfect storm,” she says.

  123. Cronut Nom Deplume says:

    A little something to make anon’s head explode. And don’t look for it on CNN or MSNBC.

    http://www.ijreview.com/2014/03/125342-armed-man-gathers-people-together-dollar-general-breakroom-concealed-carry-holder-saves/

  124. Cronut Nom Deplume says:

    [130] redux,

    Btw, four stories like this, I like to find actual news sources, which I did find for it. so it is credible. Interestingly, the only news source carrying it that was national was a blog entry in the Times.

    I wonder why?

  125. Michael says:

    Great piece on 60 minutes tonight about how the stock market is rigged. The guy that discovered how it’s rigged has started his own exchange and is bringing trust back to the market. Once again, more evidence of why I hate the 1% cheaters/scammers. These aren’t innovators, they are master thieves.

  126. Essex says:

    This oughta set everyone off:

    http://tinyurl.com/kvbpcxp

  127. Essex says:

    How bout’ dem Cats??

  128. Statler Waldorf says:

    60 Minutes had an interesting piece tonight:

    Is the U.S. stock market rigged?
    http://www.cbsnews.com/news/is-the-us-stock-market-rigged/

    The answer was “yes.”

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