Labor Force Participation

Source http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/CIVPART

This is more accurate than the unemployment rate, which can be manipulated by claiming that people whose unemployment checks have run out are no longer unemployed.  It's not looking good.

Global Metro Cities

Here is a list of the top 300 metro areas world-wide, ranked by growth.

1. Macau
2. Izmir, Turkey
3. Istanbul, Turkey
4. Bursa, Turkey
5. Dubai, UAE
6. Kunming, China
7. Hangzhou, China
8. Xiamen, China
9. Ankara, Turkey
10. Fuzhou, China

more

See also http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2015/01/21/where-does-your-city-rank-study-ranks-300-world-cities-for-economic-performance/

New Orders

Source: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-04-02/us-economy-slows-stall-speed

Source: http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/NEWORDER

Maybe its a blip, a glitch, random noise.  Let's check it again on May 1.  I've been wrong before based on this very metric.

Top 50 Cities for Global Finance

Source: http://www.longfinance.net/images/GFCI17_23March2015.pdf 

1.  New York 
2.  London 
3.  Hong Kong 
4.  Singapore 
5.  Tokyo 
6.  Zurich 
7.  Seoul 
8.  San Francisco 
9.  Chicago 
10.  Boston 
11.  Toronto 
12.  Washington DC 
13.  Geneva 
14.  Riyadh 
15.  Vancouver 
16.  Shanghai 
17.  Luxembourg 
18.  Montreal 
19.  Frankfurt 
20.  Doha 
21.  Sydney 
22.  Shenzhen 
23.  Dubai 
24.  Busan 
25.  Taipei 
26.  Abu Dhabi 
27.  Tel Aviv 
28.  Melbourne 
29.  Beijing 
30.  Munich 
31.  Osaka 
32.  Johannesburg 
33.  Calgary 
34.  British Virgin Islands 
35. Vienna 
36.  Stockholm 
37.  Paris Kuala 
38. Lumpur 
39.  Cayman Islands 
40.  Amsterdam 
41.  Bermuda 
42.  Casablanca 
43.  Sao Paulo 
44.  Istanbul 
45.  Gibraltar 
46.  Bahrain 
47.  Rio de Janeiro 
48.  Panama 
49. Almaty 
50. Bangkok

Russian superhighway halfway across the globe

See http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3009708/Plans-proposed-ambitious-12-400-mile-road-Russia-link-Britain-U-S.html

"Britain could be linked with America by road as part of an ambitious project to create the world's longest superhighway spanning half the circumference of the globe. Proposals have been put forward to build the mega route stretching about 12,400 miles from the western edge of Russia to the Bering Strait where the country nudges Alaska. Linking into existing road networks in Europe and Asia, for the first time it would allow travellers a proper highway to drive all way from the UK to the United States. A Trans-Siberian rail link as well as oil and gas pipes would run alongside the highway, and plans have been mooted already for a rail tunnel connecting the far flung Russian region of Chukotka - where football tycoon Roman Abramovich once served as governor - and Alaska. This new scheme is seen as a way of turning Russia into a global transportation hub, a bridge between Europe, Asia and North America, so revitalising the Russian economy and attracting new tourism. Vladimir Fortov, the Head of the Russian Academy of Science, recently put forward the uncosted plan dubbed the Trans-Eurasian Belt Development (TEPR) to President Vladimir Putin. 'The project is very ambitious and expensive, but it will solve many problems in the development of the vast region,' he said, according to The Siberian Times."

Best Airports in the World

Source: http://www.worldairportawards.com/main/2015_airportawards_announced.html

1    Singapore Changi Airport
2    Incheon International Airport
3    Munich Airport
4    Hong Kong International Airport
5    Tokyo International Airport (Haneda)
6    Zurich Airport
7    Central Japan International Airport (Nagoya)
8    London Heathrow Airport
9    Amsterdam Schiphol Airport
10  Beijing Capital International Airport

For the rest of the top 100 see: http://www.worldairportawards.com/Awards/world_airport_rating.html

Underground Tunnels of Chicago

There are six separate tunnel systems under Chicago.

 See http://www.wbez.org/series/curious-city/six-tunnels-hidden-under-chicago%E2%80%99s-loop-107791
http://www.chicagodetours.com/images/chicago-pedway-map-detours.pdf

Seven-year cycle predicts 2015 collapse

1966: Stock market collapse, Vietnam War, protests

1973:  Oil embargo (Oct), Yom Kippur war, Stocks collapse, recession

1980:  Inflation, Iran-Iraq war, Silver panic, Stocks crash, recession

1987:  Black Monday (Oct.), largest single-day crash ever

1994:  Bond collapse, DJIA bear market, war

2001:  Stock market crash, 911 (Sept.), recession

2008:  Stock market collapse 9/29 (Sept.), recession

2015:

In 1966, the Vietnam War was escalating and the US-USSR Space Race was also heating up. The economy and the stock market were in a bull phase and LBJ was president. He inherited a growing economy with low inflation, low unemployment and a stock market that was in a long-term uptrend. Hard to imagine but the national debt was relatively small. Additionally, in 1965 the GDP (4%) was higher than the unemployment rate (3.3%) the reverse of what we've seen in recent years. The FED kept interest rates low (1 to 2.5% range), in the post-WWII years. That fueled both economic and financial market growth through the 1950's and early '60s. Then as 1966 began the FED started tightening the credit reins by raising interest rates. Still, everything looked rosy as the year got underway the DJIA hit a new high. Then it pulled back briefly only to rack up another high in March. But thereafter the Dow collapsed some 22% by yearend.

http://english.pravda.ru/business/finance/20-03-2015/130081-seven_year_cycle_collapse-0/

See also Seven Year Cycle Theory

New Megacity in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is pushing ahead with plans to complete building work on a new megacity in the desert. The King Abdullah Economic City, or KAEC (pronounced 'cake'), will be slightly larger than Washington DC and home to approximately two million residents. Covering 70 square miles, the metropolis is costing £67 billion ($100 billion) and lies 100km from Jeddah, the commercial hub of the kingdom, near the Red Sea.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3004044/New-Saudi-Arabia-67-billion-megacity-size-Washington-DC.html

Top 40 Cities in the World

See: http://www.knightfrank.com/resources/wealthreport2015/wealthpdf/04-wealth-report-global-cities-infog-all.pdf

1. London
2. New York
3. Hong Kong
4. Singapore
5. Shanghai
6. Miami
7. Paris
8. Dubai
9. Beijing
10. Zurich
11. Tokyo
12. Toronto
13. Geneva
14. Sydney
15. Taipei
16. Frankfurt
17. Moscow
18. Madrid
19. San Francisco
20. Vienna
21. Milan
22. Los Angeles
23. Jakarta
24. Munich
25. Amsterdam
26. Mumbai
27. Dublin
28. Johannesburg
29. Istanbul
30. Kuala Lumpur
31. Sao Paolo
32. Mexico City 
33. Berlin
34. Washington DC
35. Boston
36. Cape Town
37. Auckland
38. Buenos Aires
39. Rio de Janeiro
40. Tel Aviv

Runner-Up Cities (number of UHNWI):

Osaka (1471)

Seoul (1356)

Hamburg (862)

Chicago (827)

Houston (805)

Dallas (582)

Riyadh (549)

Montreal (534)

Dusseldorf (531)

Oslo (485)

Stockholm (479)

Bangkok (466)

Melbourne (456)

Barcelona (438)

Shenzhen (409)

Brussels (351)

Guangzhou (327)

Santiago (315)
Edinburgh
Monaco

Quizas, Quizas, Quizas

The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins

Greek bailout rap

Don't call ISIS Islamic

Terrorists lack job opportunities

Top Megacities in 2015

There is wide discrepancy in the sources for population, so I made a chart.  There are 31 megacities in the world today if London is included and Shenzhen is excluded (part of Pearl River Delta)

	Most Populous Urban Areas in the World
Rank	City	Economist [1]	Worldbank [2]	Demographia [3]	CityPopulation .de [4]	Wikipedia [5]
1	Pearl River Delta		41.8			41.8
NA	Guangzhou-Foshan			20.6	34.3
NA	Guanghzou, China	9.6
NA	Foshan, China	6.7
NA	Dongguan, China	7.1		8.4
NA	Shenzhen, China	10.2		12.1	12.3
	Total Pearl River Delta	33.6	41.8	41.1	46.6	41.8
2	Tokyo, Japan	36.8	31.8	37.8	39.4	37.2
3	Jakarta, Indonesia	9.6	23.4	30.5	27.4	26.7
4	Seoul, South Korea	9.8	15.9	23.5	24.2	25.4
5	Delhi, India	21.9		25.0	25.7	22.8
6	Shanghai, China [6]	20.0	24.2	23.4	30.2	21.8
7	Manila, Philippines	11.9	16.5	24.1	22.8	21.2
8	Karachi, Pakistan	14.1		22.1	23.6	20.9
9	New York, US	18.4		20.6	21.9	20.7
10	Sao Paulo, Brazil	19.7		20.4	21.6	20.6
11	Mexico City, Mexico	20.1		20.1	22.4	20.0
12	Beijing, China	16.2	16.7	21.0	20.3	18.2
13	Mumbai, India	19.4		17.7	22.8	17.3
14	Osaka, Japan	19.5	12.2	17.4	17.8	17.2
15	Moscow, Russia	10.5		16.2	16.8	15.8
16	Cairo, Egypt	16.9		15.6	16.5	15.1
17	Los Angeles, US	12.2		15.1	17.4	15.1
18	Tehran, Iran	8.1		13.5	13.5	14.7
19	Kolkata, India	14.3		14.7	15.8	14.6
20	Bangkok, Thailand	8.2	9.6	15.0	15.1	14.5
21	Dhaka, Bangladesh	14.7		15.7	17.0	14.4
22	London, UK	9.7		10.2	14.1	9.6
23	Buenos Aires, Argentina	14.2		14.1	15.8	13.8
24	Istanbul, Turkey	12.7		13.3	14.2	12.9
25	Lagos, Nigeria	10.8		13.1	13.7	12.1
26	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	12.4		11.7	12.6	11.6
27	Paris, France	10.5		10.9	11.2	10.9
28	Tianjin, China	9.5	8.8	10.9	11.1	9.3
29	Nagoya, Japan	9.2		10.2	10.4	10.2
30	Kinshasa, Dem Rep Congo	9.4		11.6	10.3	9.4
31	Bangalore, India	8.3		9.8	10.1	9.0
NA	Bogota, Colombia	8.5		9.0	9.3	9.9
NA	Lima, Peru	9.0		10.8	9.9	9.4
NA	Chennai, India	8.5		9.7	9.8	9.2
NA	Chicago, IL	8.6		9.2	9.8	9.1
NA	Chengdu, China	6.2	8.3	10.4	9.0	8.4
NA	Lahore, Pakistan	7.5		10.1	9.8	8.0
NA	Chongqing, China	11.2	5.0	7.2	6.9	6.6
NA	Suzhou, Jiangsu, China	4.0		5.2		4.4

Notes:
[1] http://www.economist.com/node/21642053?fsrc=scn/fb/wl/bl/dc/dailychart
[2] http://www.worldbank.org/content/dam/Worldbank/Publications/Urban%20Development/EAP_Urban_Expansion_full_report_web.pdf
[3] http://demographia.com/db-worldua.pdf
[4] http://citypopulation.de/world/Agglomerations.html
[5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_urban_areas_by_population
[6] Does Shanghai include Suzhou? Yes in sources 2 and 4, no in the others.

Top Megacities in 2030

A megacity has 10 million or more inhabitants, and there will be 44 of them in 2030.  About 9% of the entire world's population will reside in one of these cities. Here is the list:

1. Tokyo, Japan 37.3m
2. Delhi, India 35.4m
3. Shanghai, China 30.6m
4. Beijing, China 27.5m
5. Mumbai, India 27.3m
6. Dhaka, Bangladesh 26.8m
7. Karachi, Pakistan 24.3m
8. Cairo, Egypt 24.1m
9. Mexico City, Mexico  23.7m
10. Sao Paulo, Brazil 23.4m
11. Lagos, Nigeria 23.4m
12. Osaka, Japan 20.1m
13. New York, US 19.8m
14. Kinshasha, Congo 19.4m
15. Kolkata, India 18.7m
16. Guangzhou, China 17.4m
17. Chongqing, China 17.3m
18. Buenos Aires, Argentina 16.9m
19. Istanbul, Turkey 16.6m
20. Manila, Philippines 16.4m
21. Tianjin, China 14.5m
22. Bangalore, India 14.5m
23. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil  14.1m
24. Jakarta, Indonesia 13.6m
25. Chennai, India 13.6m
26. Los Angeles, CA 13.2m
27. Lahore, Pakistan 12.7m
28. Shenzhen, China 12.6m
29. Hyderabad, India 12.5m
30. Moscow, Russia 12.2m
31. Lima, Peru 12.1m
32. Bogota, Colombia 11.9m
33. Paris, France 11.8m
34. Johannesburg, South Africa 11.5m
35. Bangkok, Thailand 11.4m
36. London, UK 11.4m
37. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania 10.3m
38. Ahmadabad, India 10.3m
39. Seoul, South Korea 10.0m
40. Luanda, Angola 10.0m
41. Chengdu, China 10.0m
42. Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam 10.0m
43. Tehran, Iran 10.0m
44. Chicago, IL 9.9m

Source: http://www.economist.com/node/21642053?fsrc=scn/fb/wl/bl/dc/dailychart
http://www.maximizingprogress.org/2015/02/urbanization-map-rise-of-megacity.html

Update: I don't think this is accurate.  Greater Los Angeles has more than 18 million people, and Seoul has over 23 million.

Where money comes from

Is this predicting a recession?

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-02-02/are-we-already-recession

Monckton on Climate Change