Archive for the 'Economy' Category
The Union of Soviet Indian Republics Is Rolling Out a National ID Card
June 28th, 2009Tens of millions of people who who can’t read or write (see: literacy in India) will need an identity card to get their government food handouts. Yes, it has come to this. Via: New York Times: Policy makers see a national ID card as critical to improving the delivery of social services, subsidies and other […]
More Obama Lies: Signing Statement on $106B War Bill
June 28th, 2009Via: The Hill: President Obama signed the $106 billion war-spending bill into law Friday, but not without taking a page from his predecessor and ignoring a few elements in the legislation. Obama included a five-paragraph signing statement with the bill, including a final paragraph that outlined his objections to at least four areas of the […]
U.S. Confirms U-Turn in Afghan Counter-Narcotics Policy
June 28th, 2009My previous guess was that the USUK drug cartel was going to try to drive prices back up and then unload the tons of stuff that have been stockpiling. According to the information below, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Perhaps the new goal is to get as many acres as possible going with […]
Where’s the Gold?
June 27th, 2009Via: Huffington Post: The Comex is the name for the largest gold futures market in the world, traditionally centered in New York City. Although the market recently became part of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, it has retained its old nickname. Also, the depositories which hold the actual bars of gold used to settle the futures […]
FDIC Friday: Five More Banks Seized by Regulators
June 27th, 2009Via: Bloomberg: Five U.S. banks with total assets of about $1.04 billion were seized by regulators, pushing this year’s tally of failures to 45 as a recession drives up unemployment and home foreclosures. Community Bank of West Georgia, in Villa Rica, Georgia; Neighborhood Community Bank of Newnan, Georgia; Horizon Bank of Pine City, Minnesota; MetroPacific […]
Ben Bernanke on Ron Paul’s Proposed Leglslation to Audit the Federal Reserve
June 26th, 2009“My concern about that legislation is that if the GAO is auditing not only the operational aspects of our programs and the details of the programs, but is making judgments about our policy decisions, that would effectively be a takeover of monetary policy by the Congress, a repudiation of the independence of the Federal Reserve, […]
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 […]
Gerstner Says Short-Term Gains Should Be Taxed at 80%
June 26th, 2009The margin is the problem. Take margin out of the picture. End it all. Deleverage the trades. Make it so that you can only trade the amount of equities that you have in cash. Sheesh! What a concept. Now, I’m not so keen on the 80% tax part because this would eliminate the potential for […]
China Reiterates Call for New World Reserve Currency
June 26th, 2009Yeah, yeah. We understand. Get on with it already. Via: Bloomberg: China’s central bank renewed its call for a new global currency and said the International Monetary Fund should manage more of members’ foreign-exchange reserves, triggering a decline in the U.S. dollar. “To avoid the inherent deficiencies of using sovereign currencies for reserves, there’s a […]
Citigroup Ordered to Suspend Some Operations in Japan
June 26th, 2009Via: Bloomberg: Citigroup Inc. was ordered by Japan’s financial regulator to suspend marketing of banking services to individuals for a month, after failing to put in place adequate internal controls to prevent money laundering. The Financial Services Agency told Citibank Japan Ltd. to halt retail banking sales from July 15 to Aug. 14, except in […]
