China stealing jobs? Gas Prices rise? Obama in trouble?

Steve sire. From. -- Boston Globe that business. Pages welcome back Steve we're worrying yes. They were looking everywhere for you. I Tuesday. I would Pataki on an island enjoying the weather up there and it was a great time. Nice -- have a little get away it was great thank you for joining us today it's a lot of big stories out there there are gas prices. Flying up what did Barack Obama do to cause this. Have a strange prism on the world. That they that gas prices are going up a lot if you look just. Right now in Massachusetts. You know that's the kind of average prices reached 58 a month ago. It was 336 and to go further back it was indeed even in the lower res so you know we have this big spike that earlier in the show you mentioned there are. Supply issues that I think if we look at gas it's both the supply and demand issue. But on the supply side is a lot of problems going on is this. Big refinery in California that's had. Problems that it's unclear. What they're gonna be able to produce now what for the next. Six weeks -- so that's gonna have an impact. How much gas to get out there what what that's gonna do the price in the mid west. There was it is what. Pipeline leak that's caused big problems but. You know when you look at these individual problems that the that. Dollar impact the price impact is and we utilized the refinery -- West Coast prices. There were big spike in Illinois Michigan and Wisconsin related it is. Pipelines thing in and they all into the national average but. -- that would explain really why don't pay the prices in Massachusetts have gone up as much as they have and I think this is we're. Demand issue comes in in a lot of that has to do it. Perception not real -- -- and I don't think that is you know people running out to gas up their cars and trucks constantly now that they. Where they weren't doing that before a lot of that has to do with. The perceived. Ability of Europe's economy to improve. And then -- there's a lot of financial speculation around that that will be more demand because the economy there'll be better. And prices will rise and so. Hedge funds and other speculators jumped on dispute has been in effect the prices in real time. Are you going out of your way to make it sound like Barack Obama had nothing to do it however when he took office I just wanna remind you gas prices were about a dull 79. I didn't they'll say. Changes your whole vibe about it doesn't notable -- good news because we have invested heavily in batteries in this wonderful company. 8123. That has a plant here in Massachusetts right and is Macon batteries have and it changed the world and save the planet give us an update on them. Well yeah they're they're. Is swirling the ball here at the moment dead yet they are local couple people when it came to. Building a big plant the state of Michigan was so desperate for. As for new jobs that they gave them a lot of money to build -- -- -- there. Meanwhile the federal government gave them. I would turtle back in the -- exactly how much it was but it would it was let's just say it was a gazillion dollars it was. Many many many millions of dollars and support chooses gave them a little bit. They went out they date we're making batteries for electric cars that was their idea they have -- battery technology that can be applied to. Other things as well but the car was that the fact the idea and this is really gone nowhere for two reasons one they've had. Some individual problems and recalls with their actual product and see you know the electric car market isn't exactly booming visas so. You know those two things together have really put. The -- in this company it's just you know the burning money at this point and. They are 23 areas that received 250 million dollars in a federal grants under an Obama restoration initiative. Yes and then there's the Michigan -- a little bit of money from Massachusetts by the way it also went to the stock market went public. And then it sold another. Ground of stock click on. Raised a lot of -- on Wall Street that's basically going out the window to. So what's happening to the company it's being bought out. Well now there is -- an arrangement with eight Chinese conglomerate. In which it may invest as much as 450 million dollars and although it's actually. Taking place in trumped -- all that. Jimmy is it as a taxpayer don't you think that it would make sense when we give money to a company that's collateralized like it if they decide to. They're gonna sell out of the Chinese. Or with a -- at the factory we paid for some like that. That would be a -- so overall certainly I don't know. Exactly how you fix that but I hear you on that issue it -- as it relates -- anyone to forget think their problems are so serious that. And that's what this is gonna have any that there is any impact on where and I think that's. The end of this story is a 123 is in deep deep trouble people think it may need 400 billion dollars. Just to keep operating in the next eighteen months so. You'd sort of put this -- in context I think it's. It's a flyer on this. On this potential but in the end that I think the likely. And does is Abbas not any company we bankrolled go to China. Okay and this is one that was played out so it's kind of a sad story now if you you weren't good columns a few days ago. And secure our borders about the -- remember that didn't want to -- everywhere about that library a lot of columns you know I've plowed through a lot but I I did stand down and then Tuesday when you're going to be on. I wanted to talk to about it but now I can't remember what you write about. It was about Eric rose Ingraham the those -- the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston yeah he's very public. Supporting the idea of of federal stimulus plan when Federal Reserve's policy committee meets again in September. And there's another feature on him in the paper today. As as kind of an active. Fed board guy. If it's terrific. Player inside the Fed and for Boston yet is is that I think very thoughtful and it's a stimulus. A proponent in general I think if you look the last five years. That he has kind of in the Bernanke camp that. If you're if the economy is faltering the appropriate said responses -- stimulative and is out there. Very publicly this week saying. We have all the evidence that the economy is really kind of stumbling around in this is the right thing to do we should do it and again when this committee meets again in September. What's you're our sense of what the financial community feels about that in general. My you know my sense of stimulus is that there are times when it's appropriate. But he can't get a broken the -- of moving by by priming it because you have to fix the mechanics of it we still have these mechanical problems. That will make stimulus continue to be an effective. Well I think I I question the effectiveness or the degree of effectiveness of effectiveness anyway of the new stimulus plan. Mostly because that the Fed has. Played almost all the cards it has it has. Some standards. -- ways of affecting the economy when it's slow it down those which is basically drive short term interest rates very low. That's what they can really control -- open driven those rates down to practically zero and they went out and they tried to influence. Longer term rates. All kinds of things but particularly mortgages and if you do -- all the time for incredibly low mortgage rates the Fed action is in part of the reason that those opportunities exist. But at the end of the day after you've done all those. You know if what we're gonna do now you know how much what it would drive rates even lower end to the degree that. Our -- do that you pay people to -- it takes a long. Now what happens is. There is is you know these loans are bundled in the securities that are sold to investors over. Eventually end up in the pipeline. And that becomes a buyer of these things and as long -- The Fed -- -- fire there's a demand for it which keeps interest rates down because every time. Yeah I'm just great at -- practical upward bias to zero now though the rates though. I can they go below zero. They'll let but if this goes to my point exactly that you know. How many people are are looking at a mortgage and saying I'd like to do that but the rates -- -- I think only come down -- you know. I don't think interest rates for the reason that anybody is. Doing or not doing something at this point that rates are very appealing if you're choosing. Not the by house sort not to do an extension or or whatever it is that that is the issue. You know I think it's. If you're saying no you're saying no for some other reason -- Exactly I usually you know all the confidence about your job you're not sure the house's worth putting more money into because it's not worth the money paid for already. All those kinds of issues that are structurally in the economy. That may make you not one assists of the incentive doesn't work in other words. Well that's not directly. But you know if you look at these other previous stimulus plan and if you accept the idea have a positive impact on -- and in fact is although we talk about all the the way the economy is slowing down. Housing in general has been. There are slow but positive week hopefully that's -- -- -- in the big picture out there. And if -- -- it why did that happen I think these lower rates that the Fed affected is one of the reasons that. That we've gotten some startup and recovery. In housing across the board and this is. If this is Eric Rosen great part that if you're gonna go out and buy things to. Suppressed individuals. Interest rates that mortgages of the place to go to his support is continued recovery so it's. It's kind of a sideways impacted net result but I think it is one. -- good to hear your voice hope you have -- -- some -- tucked in next week. Cease fire from the Boston Globe brought you by the car guys car buying no. Is the car guys. That's his sponsor SP -- to a no nonsense life insurance company brought a Steve sire. And what else do you armies and while we want to do that now. -- and you fell for a second. That's a -- that I'll get a one sect on sect on sect who love handles that's what I wanna talk to about and fat. Because you don't need it on your body and you can't get rid of that you can get re.