Archive for the 'Economy' Category
Mexico Senate OKs Bill to Legalize Drug Possesion
April 30th, 2009This isn’t a done deal yet, but it’s good news. Via: Reuters: Mexico’s Senate approved a bill on Tuesday decriminalizing possession of small amounts of narcotics for personal use, in order to free resources to fight violent drug cartels. The bill, proposed by conservative President Felipe Calderon, would make it legal to carry up to […]
U.S. Economy: GDP Shrinks in Worst Slump in 50 Years
April 30th, 2009Via: Bloomberg: The U.S. economy plunged again in the first quarter, making this the worst recession in at least half a century. Gross domestic product dropped at a 6.1 percent annual pace, weaker than forecast, after contracting at a 6.3 percent rate in the last three months of 2008, the Commerce Department said today in […]
California: Unemployment Situation Prompts Schwarzenegger to Issue Emergency Proclamation
April 28th, 2009Via: Los Angeles Times: Unemployment in California shot to 11.2% in March, the highest level since the state began keeping records. What’s more, the number of people out of work for almost a year rose by 9.4%, and has now doubled in the last 12 months. … The state has been scrambling to assist the […]
Why Harvard Is Bad for Wall Street
April 28th, 2009Five year old article. Via: Slate: The more Harvard grads on Wall Street, the worse the market does. Soifer counts the proportion of the class that goes into the six categories of jobs that “depend to a large extent on the stock market”: investment banking, investment management, sales and trading, venture capital, private equity, or […]
Europeans Urged to Postpone Travel to U.S. and Mexico
April 27th, 2009Via: AP: EU health officials urged Europeans on Monday to postpone nonessential travel to the United States and Mexico because of the swine flu virus, and Spanish health officials confirmed the first case outside North America. China, Russia and Taiwan said it would quarantine visitors showing symptoms of the virus amid a surging global concern […]
GM to Cut 21,000 U.S. Factory Jobs, Kill Pontiac, Try to Pay Government Debt with Stock… To Get More Bailouts
April 27th, 2009Via: AP: General Motors Corp. said it will cut 21,000 U.S. factory jobs by next year, phase out its storied Pontiac brand and ask the government to take company stock in exchange for half GM’s government debt as part of a major restructuring effort needed to get more government aid. The struggling automaker also said […]
March 24, 1976: President Ford Orders Swine-Flu Shots for All
April 27th, 2009Via: Wired: Ford was acting on the advice of medical experts, who believed they were dealing with a virus potentially as deadly as the one that caused the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic. The virus surfaced in February at Fort Dix, New Jersey, where 19-year-old Pvt. David Lewis told his drill instructor that he felt tired […]
Baxter International Wants to Make Swine Flu Vaccine
April 27th, 2009Most people have already forgotten about this, or never knew about it in the first place: Baxter International “Unintentionally” Sent Flu Samples to Companies that Contained H5N1 Avian Flu. And now back to our regularly scheduled programming. Via: Chicago Sun Times: Deerfield-based Baxter International Inc. has requested a sample of the swine flu virus so […]
Monsanto Sues Germany Over GM Ban
April 26th, 2009Via: Food Production Daily: Monsanto has filed a lawsuit against the German government after the EU member state banned planting of its genetically modified MON810 maize last week. MON810 maize is genetically engineered to produce Bacillus thuringiensis, which is toxic to the corn borer pest. Permitted in Europe since 1998 for animal feed, it is […]
GM Employee Stock Fund Dumps All Company Shares
April 26th, 2009Via: AP: The manager of General Motors’ employee stock fund has sold off all remaining shares of the troubled auto maker, which is closing plants and slashing costs in a bid to avoid bankruptcy. General Motors revealed in a regulatory filing late Friday that its employee stock-purchase plan has unloaded all shares of the company […]
