Archive for the 'Collapse' Category
Fitch Cuts California Debt Rating to Two Notches Above Junk
July 7th, 2009Snowballing cluster. Via: Reuters: California suffered a new setback in its financial crisis on Monday when Fitch Ratings cut its rating on the state’s general obligation debt to just two notches above junk status. Fitch cut its rating on California’s long-term bonds to “BBB,” two notches above speculative grade, citing the state’s budget and revenue […]
Xinjiang Riot Death Toll Hits 156 as Unrest Spreads; Indiscriminate Arrests
July 7th, 2009These are Chinese government numbers. Via: Reuters: Chinese police have arrested more than 1,400 people following rioting in the capital of Muslim Xinjiang region which left 156 people dead and more than 800 injured, state media said on Tuesday. While there were some reports that the violence had spread elsewhere in the region, Xinjiang’s Communist […]
At Least 140 Dead in Chinese Riots
July 6th, 2009UPDATE: Internet Access Down in Region —End Update— Same video in case YouTube pulls it. Via: Reuters: At least 140 people have been killed in rioting in China’s northwestern region of Xinjiang, with the government blaming exiled separatists for the Muslim area’s worst case of unrest in years. Hundreds of rioters have been arrested, the […]
Fears for the World’s Poor Countries as the Rich Grab Land to Grow Food
July 5th, 2009A pants shitting, must read. Via: Guardian: The acquisition of farmland from the world’s poor by rich countries and international corporations is accelerating at an alarming rate, with an area half the size of Europe’s farmland targeted in the last six months, reports from UN officials and agriculture experts say. New reports from the UN […]
From “Green Shoots” to “Jobless Recovery”: Payrolls Fall More Than Forecast, Unemployment Rises
July 3rd, 2009Economic collapse by any other name is sill economic collapse. Via: Bloomberg: Employers in the U.S. cut 467,000 jobs in June, the unemployment rate rose and hourly earnings stagnated, offering little evidence the Obama administration’s stimulus package is shoring up the labor market. The payroll decline was more than forecast and followed a 322,000 drop […]
FDIC Thursday: Seven More Banks Fail
July 3rd, 2009I guess it’s FDIC Thursday this week because of the holiday weekend. Via: CNN: Regulators close six Illinois banks and one Texas bank setting the FDIC back a total of $314.3 million. Seven banks were shut down by authorities Thursday, pushing the tally of failed banks for 2009 to 52, more than doubling the failures […]
California: Financial Emergency; State Will Issue IOUs; Government Offices Will Reduce Employee Hours
July 2nd, 2009Via: AP: California’s controller will start paying many of the state’s bills with IOUs as soon as Thursday after lawmakers failed to close the state’s worsening budget deficit, adding a new measure of indignity to a state sinking deeper into dysfunction. Lawmakers’ failure to act on Tuesday, the end of the fiscal year, also widened […]
One in Four Mortgage Defaults Are “Strategic”: People Who Could Make Their Payments Are Choosing to Default Instead
June 30th, 2009Via: Economist: HOUSE prices in America have fallen so far that as many as one in five households have mortgage debt greater than the value of their homes. In a few states, borrowers are not liable for the shortfall between an unpaid loan and the resale value of the home it is secured upon. Even […]
Failed Entrepreneurs Flee Dubai, Fear Debtor Prison
June 29th, 2009Via: Telegraph: A British entrepreneur has fled the financial crash in Dubai leaving behind hundreds of thousands pounds in debts. Simon Ford, who founded a “gift experience” company that prospered in the United Arab Emirates’ boom years, said he had been forced to escape as he feared being sent to debtors’ prison under strict bankruptcy […]
At Least 19 States May Have to Shut Down Some Services
June 26th, 2009Via: CNN: At least 19 states still have to approve their fiscal 2010 budgets before next Tuesday. If they don’t, staffers might not be paid and services might shut down. One week and counting. An unprecedented number of states have only days left to pass their fiscal 2010 budgets. At least 19 states are still […]
