Archive for the 'Economy' Category
One of the Fastest-Growing Businesses on the Internet: Spying on Internet Users
July 31st, 2010The piece provides an interactive graphic to explain what you can do to counter this advertiser surveillance stuff, but nowhere does the word AdBlockPlus appear. Woops. *chuckle* This will block most ads from loading in the first place. (Yes, AdBlockPlus blocks ads on Cryptogon.) I like Ghostery because it’s easy to use, but NoScript is […]
IMF Says U.S. Financial System May Need $76 Billion in Capital
July 30th, 2010Your what hurts? Via: Bloomberg: The U.S. financial system remains fragile and banks subjected to additional economic stress might need as much as $76 billion in capital, according to the results of International Monetary Fund stress tests. The findings, released today as part of a broader IMF report on the U.S. financial system, suggested that […]
UK Government to be Sued Over Congolese ‘Conflict Minerals’
July 30th, 2010In other news: Afghan Mineral Deposits Actually Worth $3 Trillion, Not $1 Trillion. Via: Guardian: Britain must answer in court claims that it is turning a blind eye to UK firms that trade in lucrative Congolese “conflict minerals”, a campaign group announced today. The group, Global Witness, said the firms continued to buy minerals from […]
After Losing Home to Foreclosure, “I Bought Myself an iPad”
July 30th, 2010Via: Bloomberg: The more he thought about the money he was losing, the more it stressed him out. Finally, Ronzio enlisted the help of a firm called You Walk Away and did exactly that from the remaining $319,000 on his condo mortgage. When the bank foreclosed, he says he felt a sense of relief. He […]
GE to Pay $23 Million to Settle Bribery Allegations
July 29th, 2010Mmm hmm. Via: AFP: US industrial titan General Electric has agreed to pay over 23 million dollars to settle allegations that it bribed Iraqi officials, a US financial watchdog said on Tuesday. GE had been accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission of being part of “a 3.6 million dollar kickback scheme with Iraqi government […]
Citigroup to Pay $75 Million to Settle SEC Subprime Case
July 29th, 2010Another one for your Pocket Lint file folder. Via: Bloomberg: Citigroup Inc., which got a $45 billion taxpayer bailout, will pay $75 million to settle U.S. regulatory claims that it understated investments linked to subprime mortgages as the housing crisis unfolded, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said.
Timing of Stock Sales by Moody’s CEO
July 29th, 2010Via: McClatchy: The chief executive of Moody’s Investors Service sold almost $3 million in company stock this year, and $7.1 million last year, both times right before his company’s stock price fell from its peak levels, a McClatchy analysis has found.
Afghanistan: U.S. Spends $20 Billion Per Year for Air Conditioning in Tents
July 29th, 2010This astonishing statistic is mentioned in the audio feature on the page linked below. Via: PRI: The term we were looking for is “Forward Operating Base” or FOB. The US has many FOBs in Iraq and Afghanistan. The large ones have many tents and other structures where personnel live and work. And all of them […]
Gulf of Hormuz: Japanese Tanker Damaged
July 28th, 2010Update: Cause Still Unknown Via: BBC: An investigation has been launched into the unexplained damage suffered by a Japanese oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz near Oman. The M Star was damaged on Wednesday while travelling from Qatar to Japan. Port officials in Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates say the ship was involved […]
Congressional Budget Office: “Growing Budget Deficits Will Cause Debt to Rise to Unsupportable Levels”
July 28th, 2010Via: Congressional Budget Office: Unless policymakers restrain the growth of spending, increase revenues significantly as a share of GDP, or adopt some combination of those two approaches, growing budget deficits will cause debt to rise to unsupportable levels. … Beyond those gradual consequences, a growing level of federal debt would also increase the probability of […]
