Thursday January 26 2017 Housing and Economic stories

TOP STORIES:

These are the Countries with the Biggest Debt Slaves, and Americans Are Only in 10th place - (www.wolfstreet.com) Americans have been on a borrowing binge. To buy their favorite cars and trucks, they’ve loaded up on $1.14 trillion in auto loans. Young and not so young Americans are mortgaging their future with student loans that now amount to $1.28 trillion. Credit card and other debts are at $1.12 trillion. And mortgage debt stands at $8.82 trillion. So, total household debt was $12.35 trillion, according to the New York Fed’s Household Debt and Credit Report for the third quarter 2016. That’s a massive amount of debt. Many consumers are struggling with it. Student loans are seeing enormous default rates, and repayment rates are far worse than previously disclosed. And “debt slaves” has become a term in the financial vernacular.

French Socialist Primary Winner Proposes Tax On Robots, Universal Income, Right Of Foreigners To Vote - (www.zerohedge.com) France24 reports Benoît Hamon and Manuel Valls take top spots in first round of left-wing primary in a field of seven candidates. Hamon's platform reads like it came from The Onion... Benoît Hamon is a 49-year-old former education minister. Here is his platform.

·         Universal basic income.

·         Tax on robots.

·         Progressive taxation of wealth.

·         Reduction of tax loopholes.

·         32-hour working week.

·         Legalization of marijuana.

·         National conference on “environmental democracy”.

USPS's Brief Postage "Deflation" Ends After a Mere 8 Months as Price of Forever Stamp Increases – (www.wate.com) Beginning Sunday, Jan. 22, the price of forever stamps will go up to 49-cents which is an increase from the current price of 47-cents... stamps only cost 47-cents for less than a year after a price drop in April 2016... USPS cites several reasons behind the price increase, including adjustments for gas in mail trucks, wages, maintenance costs for its buildings and other factors.'' Despite the change in price for forever stamps, the price of postcards, international letters and additional weight will all remain the same in 2017. A postcard costs 34-cents. An international letter cost $1.15 and additional weight cost 21-cents per ounce.

French far-right leader Le Pen calls on Europeans to 'wake up' - (www.reuters.com) French far-right leader Marine Le Pen urged European voters to follow the example of Americans and the British and "wake up" in 2017, at a meeting of right-wing leaders aiming to oust established parties in elections this year. Le Pen told several hundred supporters in the German city of Koblenz that Britons' vote last year to leave the European Union would set in train a "domino effect". A day after U.S. President Donald Trump took office, Le Pen said his inauguration speech included "accents in common" with the message on reclaiming national sovereignty proclaimed by the far-right leaders meeting in Koblenz.

U.K. Lawmakers Mull Steps to Halt Hard Brexit, Observer Reports - (www.bloomberg.com) A cross-party group of U.K. parliament members is seeking to stop Prime Minister Theresa May from carrying out a so-called hard Brexit on fears businesses will end up paying high tariffs on goods sold in the European Union, the Observer reported, without citing anyone. Lawmakers from the Labour, Liberal Democrats and Green parties, and even some in May’s own party, are in talks ahead of a Supreme Court verdict on Tuesday on whether parliament needs to vote to trigger Brexit, the newspaper said. If the court rules a vote is required, the MPs will seek legislation to block May’s proposed strategy for Brexit, the newspaper said.

OTHER STORIES:

EU Populists See Trump Victory as Beginning of End for Old Order - (www.bloomberg.com)
Asian media decry isolationist Trump, fear economic, diplomatic turmoil - (www.reuters.com)
Chinese media warns of 'dramatic changes' and 'fires being lit' as President takes office - (www.independent.co.uk)

Donald Trump and the New World Order - (www.spiegel.de)
Presidents Have Less Power Over the Economy Than You Might Think - (www.nytimes.com)
President Trump Issues Directives on Regulatory Freeze, Affordable Care Act - (www.wsj.com)
Europe’s nationalist leaders kick off year of election hopes - (www.washingtonpost.com)