313: JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon thinks wealth inequality is a problem.

The growing wealth gap separating the rich from the rest of the U.S. is an issue that needs to be resolved, J.P. Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, (born March 13, 1956) said in a “60 Minutes” interview that aired Sunday night on CBS.

“I think it’s a huge problem,” Dimon said. “I think the wealthy have been getting wealthier too much in many ways, so middle class incomes have been kind of flat for maybe 15 years or so, and that’s not particularly good in America.”

Dimon added that people at the lower end of the spectrum have “particularly been left behind,” noting: “We haven’t done a good job growing our economy. That would’ve fixed a lot of that problem.”

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/11/jpmorgan-chase-ceo-jamie-dimon-wealth-inequality-is-a-huge-problem.html.

 

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311: Qasem Soleimani : The March to War

Qasem Soleimani (Persian: قاسم سلیمانی‎, pronounced [ɢɒːseme solejmɒːniː]; 11 March 1957 – 3 January 2020), also spelled Qassem Suleimani or Qassim Soleimani, was an Iranian major general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and, from 1998 until his death, commander of its Quds Force, a division primarily responsible for extraterritorial military and clandestine operations.

Soleimani was killed on 3 January 2020 around 1 am local time (22:00 UTC on 2 January),^[99] after missiles shot from American drones targeted his convoy near Baghdad International Airport.^[1

314: Sorkin on Jamie Dimon running for President in 2020

Andrew Ross Sorkin, NY Times:

On Wall Street, there’s been a running parlor game about whether Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase’s chief executive, would try to run for president in 2020. His annual letters, filled with commentary on U.S. policy, have only increased the chatter, and this year’s letter, released Thursday, is no different. It touches on everything from trade to immigration. While Mr. Dimon, who once called himself “barely a Democrat,” says he plans to stay at the bank for the next five years, the question among political prognosticators is whether Mr. Dimon’s policy views could ever find a home among voters in this politically polarized environment.

Mr. Dimon’s sensible letter was seemingly supportive of some of President Trump’s policies, while taking the opposing side on others. Mr. Dimon particularly applauded the corporate tax cut and deregulation efforts. On China trade, Mr. Dimon writes: “It is not unreasonable for the United States to press ahead for more equivalency,” and that “one of the administration’s best arguments is that negotiation alone has not worked.” However, he said he would like to see more cooperation with U.S. allies on talks with China and added that the U.S. should “revisit the Trans-Pacific Partnership.”

On immigration, he called for tougher border control, writing, “American citizens have the right to complain that we have not successfully protected our borders since the last immigration reform in 1986.” He also said, “People immigrating to this country should be taught American history, our language and our principles.” At the same time, he also advocated for “a path to legal status and citizenship” for “Dreamers” and improving “merit-based immigration” programs so that immigrants educated here can stay.

For more of Andrew Ross Sorkin’s article:

314: Steven Hawking dies on Albert Eintein’s Birthday.

Stephen William Hawking CH CBE FRS FRSA (8 January 1942 – 14 March 2018) was an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, author and Director of Research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology within the University of Cambridge.^[14][15] His scientific works included a collaboration with Roger Penrose on gravitational singularity theorems in the framework of general relativity and the theoretical prediction that black holes emit radiation, often called Hawking radiation. Hawking was the first to set out a theory of cosmology explained by a union of the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics. He was a vigorous supporter of the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics.^[1

313: Jesuit Pope Francis and CIA Chief Mike Pompeo

On March 13, 2108, The Director of CIA Mike Pompeo became The Secretary of State for The Unite States of America.

On March 13, 2013, Pope Francis became the first Jesuit to be named Pope of The Vatican.

Taurus: Mark Zuckerberg’s call for a New World Order

Zuckerberg said that we should explore ideas such as universal basic income — the idea that everyone should receive a base salary — and explore ways to provide health care and childcare in ways that aren’t tied to an employer.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/05/25/mark-zuckerberg-tells-harvard-grads-that-automation-will-take-jobs-and-its-up-to-millennials-to-create-more/?tid=sm_fb&utm_term=.b7a9838d5360

Mark Zuckerberg tells Harvard grads that automation will take jobs, and it’s up to millennials to create more

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Zuckerberg calls on his generation to build a ‘new social contract.’

In his commencement speech at Harvard on May 25, Mark Zuckerberg told graduates that wealth inequality in the United States “hurts everyone.” (Reuters)

Mark Zuckerberg finally has his Harvard degree. The Facebook CEO and famous college dropout left the Ivy League university 12 years ago to found the social network, but he returned Thursday to pick up a honorary doctor of laws degree and drop some wisdom on the class of 2017.

Zuckerberg called on his alma mater’s newest graduates to tackle major, ambitious “great works” projects that bring together masses of people for the general benefit of society. He noted that many technologies — including some being developed at Facebook — are changing the world and also presenting new challenges.

“You’re graduating at a time when this is especially important,” Zuckerberg said in the speech. “When our parents graduated, a sense of purpose reliably came from your job, your church, your community. But today, technology and automation are eliminating many jobs. Membership in a lot of communities has been declining. A lot people are feeling disconnected and depressed, and are trying to fill a void in their lives.”

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The Facebook executive said that it’s time for this generation to define a “social contract” in the vein of the New Deal or the Great Society. In his remarks, Zuckerberg said that we should explore ideas such as universal basic income — the idea that everyone should receive a base salary — and explore ways to provide health care and childcare in ways that aren’t tied to an employer.

He also acknowledged that this won’t be cheap. “And yes, giving everyone the freedom to pursue purpose isn’t free,” he said. “People like me should pay for it. Many of you will do well and you should too.”

Zuckerberg, 33, is the youngest person to deliver a Harvard commencement speech, according to Facebook — a fact that he wanted to highlight to the crowd. “We walked this yard less than a decade apart, we studied the same ideas and slept through the same lectures,” he said. “We may have taken different roads to get here — especially if you came all the way from the quad — but today I want to share what I’ve learned about our generation and the world we’re building together.”

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Some of Zuckerberg’s remarks echo the manifesto he published earlier this year, outlining how he saw Facebook’s mission as establishing a social infrastructure for the world. But the central theme of Zuckerberg’s address was to call on young people to create a world where “everyone has a sense of purpose” by looking beyond their own needs.

“I’m not here to give you the standard commencement about finding your purpose,” he said. “We’re millennials. We’ll try to do that instinctively. Instead, I’m here to tell you finding your purpose isn’t enough.”

Noting that society will likely see “tens of millions of jobs replaced by automation like self-driving cars and trucks” in the coming years, Zuckerberg called for young people to work on large public works projects to make new jobs. Though he didn’t specify what sorts of projects those should be, or what hand companies such as Facebook could play in them, he did cite some past examples.

Zuckerberg noted that previous generations have their own defining works — the Hoover Dam, the space program, the fight against polio — that pulled them together and imbued America with civic pride. Citing global problems including climate change and pandemics, Zuckerberg said that millennials, himself included, understand themselves as global citizens rather than belonging to any nation-state.

“To keep our society moving forward, we have a generational challenge — to not only create new jobs, but create a renewed sense of purpose,” he said. “So what are we waiting for? It’s time for our generation-defining great works.”

313: Jamie Dimon Warns ‘Something Is Wrong’ With the U.S.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon has two big pronouncements as the Trump administration starts reshaping the government: “The United States of America is truly an exceptional country,” and “it is clear that something is wrong.”

Since the turn of the century, the U.S. has dumped trillions of dollars into wars, piled huge debt onto students, forced legions of foreigners to leave after getting advanced degrees, driven millions of Americans out of the workplace with felonies for sometimes minor offenses and hobbled the housing market with hastily crafted layers of rules.

Read more on visas: Dimon alarmed that foreigners can’t stay

Dimon, who sits on Donald Trump’s business forum aimed at boosting job growth, is renowned for his optimism and has been voicing support this year for parts of the president’s business agenda. In February, Dimon predicted the U.S. would have a bright economic future if the new administration carries out plans to overhaul taxes, rein in rules and boost infrastructure investment. In an interview last month, he credited Trump with boosting consumer and business confidence in growth, and reawakening “animal spirits.”

More at Bloomberg

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-04/dimon-still-optimistic-warns-something-is-wrong-with-u-s

310: Violet Brown, The Oldest Living Person on The Planet

Violet Brown (née Mosse; born 10 March 1900)^[2] is a Jamaican supercentenarian who, at the age of 117 years, 37 days, is the oldest verified living person in the world since the death of Emma Morano on 15 April 2017.^[3][4] She is also the first verified supercentenarian from Jamaica and the oldest verified Jamaican person ever. Her date of birth has been variously reported as 4 March 1900,^[5] 10 March 1900, and 15 March 1900;^[1][6] it was officially recognised as 10 March 1900 by the Gerontology Research Group in 2014.^[2] Brown was born when Jamaica was a part of the British Empire and is the last living former subject of Queen Victoria.^[7] She is, together with Nabi Tajima of Japan, one of the last two living people born in the 19th century.

313: Jamie Dimon: Trump has awaken America’s “Animal Spirits”

President Trump’s economic agenda has “woken up the animal spirits” in the U.S., according to J.P. Morgan Chase & Co chairman and chief executive officer Jamie Dimon.

During an interview with Bloomberg TV, Dimon said Trump’s pro-growth agenda has reinvigorated business owners and consumers alike.

“[It] will be good for growth, good for jobs, good for Americans,” Dimon said.

“Animal spirits” is a term coined by famed economist John Maynard Keynes to describe emotions and instincts that help bolster consumer confidence.

On “Your World” today, market watcher Larry Glazer said those “animal spirits” are absolutely necessary if we’re going to get the economy booming again after the “slow-growth Obama years.”

He said that a number of consumer sentiment and confidence indexes show that Americans are feeling better about the economy, and much of that can be attributed to President Trump.

“When you at the Election Day moving forward, there’s no doubt sentiment has changed,” Glazer said. “Businesses feel more optimistic about the future. And that’s what you need for companies to commit capital.”

5.02.17-??- 1987 Black Monday Stock Market Crash Repeat and Saturn’s Return

1987 Black Monday Stock Market Crash and Saturn’s Return

Saturn entered Sagittarius on December 23rd 2014 and will remain in that sign until June 14, 2015 when it will retrograde back into Scorpio until September 17, 2015 when it will move back into Sagittarius until it leaves on December 19, 2017.  Saturn was last in Sagittarius between November 1985 and February 1988.

Sagittarius is the sign of air travel, foreign cultures, religion, the sharing of ideas through publishing and media.  Sagittarius seeks to know the meaning of life and tends to be overly optimistic, breaking free of the boundaries that Saturn typically seeks to impose.  Many significant events reveal the effect of Saturn through Sagittarius:

• The Single European Act was signed, formalizing (Saturn) the principles that later became the European Union, bringing the nations of Europe together (Sagittarius) under one umbrella. This was the first major revision of the Treaty of Rome which was signed during Saturn’s previous trip through Sagittarius.
• Mikhail Gorbachev began Perestroika to restructure (Saturn) the Soviet Union’s economic and political policies (Sagittarius).
• Ronald Reagan challenges Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin wall.
• The stock market saw one of its biggest crashes in history (Black Monday) as the Dow dropped over 22%, correcting (Saturn) in an overinflated (Sagittarius) market.  (The famous big crash in 1929 also occurred with Saturn in Sagittarius).
• Ronald Reagan’s seemingly endless popularity (Sagittarius) was challenged when he was charged in the Iran Contra affair.
• The Jim Bakker scandal erupted when the sanctimonious (Sagittarius) television minister was investigated (and later convicted) for fraud, rape and embezzling.

Here are some things we can expect during Saturn’s journey through Sagittarius over the next few years:

• With advent of Brexit, we are now beginning to see the collapse of the EU.
• Areas in which we tend to be overly optimistic (Sagittarius) will be challenged by Saturn.  Because the stock market is based on confidence, this will lead to a rocky ride as waves of fear and optimism alternate to create a churning in the markets.
• Saturn will form a challenging square to Neptune that will continue through much of the cycle, beginning in January of 2015. I will be covering this in another article, but the pressure between Neptune’s desire to transcend the mundane details of life and Saturn’s pressure to adhere to certain rules will make it more necessary than ever to be realistic and practical during this period.
• On a personal level our belief systems (Sagittarius) will be challenged by Saturn, and this will likely extend into the areas of organized religion which will likely suffer as long-held beliefs are questioned and discarded.
• Issues surrounding immigration will erupt and require new rules and regulations.
• Additional disclosure (Saturn) and the revelation of long-held secrets of extra-terrestrial activity (Sagittarius) is possible.
• We will likely see the closure of colleges and universities (Sagittarius) as Saturn puts the squeeze on financial support.
• The media is always affected when Saturn is in Sagittarius and issues of net neutrality are likely to rise to the top of media concerns.
• The Bill Cosby scandal erupted when the sanctimonious (Sagittarius) television personality and “perfect dad”  has been prosecuted for fraud rape.

In our personal lives we can use the passage of Saturn through Sagittarius to create rituals and systems (Saturn) that work for us – daily routines and patterns that assist us in creating expansion and adventure (Sagittarius) in ways that support our lives in a practical (Saturn) way.  This is a time to be practical in our financial planning and a time to work hard (Saturn) to achieve our dreams (Sagittarius).