Archive for the 'Economy' Category
IRELAND: FIVE MINISTERS QUIT IN TWO DAYS
January 20th, 2011Via: BBC: There has been uproar in the Irish parliament after five ministers quit the cabinet inside two days, with a sixth expected to join them. It was confirmed overnight that four had tendered their resignations, joining Foreign Minister Micheal Martin, who stood down on Tuesday. The enterprise minister is said to be also planning […]
What Is Plan B if China Dumps Its U.S. Debt? Try to Get Americans to Buy More
January 19th, 2011Your what hurts? Via: Reuters: When borrowing money it’s always good to have a Plan B in case a big creditor pulls the plug. That should be true whether the sum is a few thousand dollars or about a trillion, the size of the United States government’s debt to China. With Chinese President Hu Jintao […]
U.S. Biotech Company Has ‘Library’ of Genetically Engineered Organisms That Excrete a Variety of Hydrocarbon Fuels; Inputs Are CO2, Sunshine and Water
January 18th, 2011Here’s part of a comment from Globe and Mail reader, Laid Back: According to the article, the space required to supply current American consumption is an area the size of the state of Indiana. There are lots of areas in the American West with vast empty areas of desert and abundant sunlight (Texas, New Mexico, […]
ECB Allows Irish Central Bank to Counterfeit 51 Billion Euros
January 18th, 2011I didn’t know the Euro member states could do this. Via: Mish: Ireland central bank counterfeited 51 billion Euros out of thin air. The amount is not backed by government bonds. Nor was it a loan from the ECB or anyone else. The money is counterfeit in every sense of the word. Please consider the […]
Spain Cancels Bond Auction; Will Switch to Syndication
January 18th, 2011See, What’s a Syndicated Bond?: So Greece has started issuing occasional syndicated bonds, where it does just what companies do when they want to issue debt: it gets a small syndicate of banks together, and the banks underwrite the bond, promising to buy it if there aren’t enough bids in the market. Then they go […]
Flood Disasters in Sri Lanka and South Africa Driving Food Prices Higher
January 17th, 2011Sri Lanka: Via: AFP: Sri Lanka warned Monday that food prices could shoot up after devastating floods in the north and east of the country destroyed rice and vegetable crops. Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said vegetable prices had already been affected because of the impact on growing areas that were swamped by unusually heavy […]
Detroit May Close Half of Its Public Schools
January 17th, 2011Via: The Detroit News: Detroit Public Schools would close nearly half of its schools in the next two years, and increase high school class sizes to 62 by the following year, under a deficit-reduction plan filed with the state. The plan, part of a monthly update Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb gives the Department of […]
Rudolf Elmer, Former Julius Baer Banker, Hands 2,000 Private Banking Files to WikiLeaks
January 17th, 2011Via: Sydney Morning Herald: THE Swiss whistleblower Rudolf Elmer has provided WikiLeaks with two CDs containing information on more than 2000 bank clients suspected of tax evasion. The disks were handed over in London last night to the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange. They are said to contain secret bank details of clients, including politicians, multinationals, […]
Recovery: Housing Market Plunge Worse Than in Great Depression
January 17th, 2011Via: CBS News: Home prices fell for the 53rd straight month in November, taking the decline past that of the Great Depression for the first time in the prolonged housing slump, according to Zillow.com. Prices have fallen 26 percent since their peak in 2006, exceeding the 25.9 percent drop registered in the five years between […]
Lies, Damned Lies, and Medical Science
January 16th, 2011Please click through and read the whole thing. Via: The Atlantic: Much of what medical researchers conclude in their studies is misleading, exaggerated, or flat-out wrong. So why are doctors—to a striking extent—still drawing upon misinformation in their everyday practice? Dr. John Ioannidis has spent his career challenging his peers by exposing their bad science. […]
