Archive for the 'Economy' Category
Fed Reports Record Fall in Household Net Worth
March 12th, 2009Whack. Via: AP: The net worth of American households fell by the largest amount in more than a half-century of record keeping during the fourth quarter of last year. The Federal Reserve said Thursday that household net worth dropped by a record 9 percent from the level in the third quarter. The decline was the […]
California Hemorrhages Jobs
March 12th, 2009I have a sort of “Leader Board of Doom” that I watch closely. This is the order: Britain U.S. Treasuries Japan China California Mexico Many people don’t realize that California has the potential bring the whole show down. And no, the U.S. can’t just jettison it to sea, like some malodorous trash barge. All there […]
U.S. House to Explore Financial Crisis Prosecutions
March 12th, 2009No, it’s not comedy hour here on Cryptogon… Somewhere, however, Hank Paulson is laughing his ass off. Via: Reuters: The U.S. House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing next week to ask key justice officials and regulators what they need to prosecute wrongdoers in the financial crisis, the chairman of the committee said on […]
Chicago Area Foreclosures Skyrocket 72 Percent
March 12th, 2009Via: CBS2Chicago: New measures by the federal government to help struggling homeowners start soon, but not fast enough for a growing number of families in the Chicago area. New figures indicate that 290,000 properties around the country were hit with foreclosure notices in February, up 6 percent from January and 30 percent from the same […]
Foreclosures Up 30 Percent in February
March 12th, 2009The crescendo is nowhere in sight because the layoffs are still accelerating. Via: Reuters: Despite halts on new foreclosures by several major lenders, the number of households threatened with losing their homes rose 30 percent in February from last year’s levels, RealtyTrac reported Thursday. Nationwide, nearly 291,000 homes received at least one foreclosure-related notice last […]
‘Very Real Probability’ that Britain Will be Bankrupted
March 12th, 2009Via: Telegraph: House prices may fall by a further 55 percent and there is a “very real probability” that Britain will be bankrupted, a leading investment bank has warned in a private note to clients. People who bought buy-to-let flats are expected to “begin panic selling” and the average home value could drop below £100,000. […]
China’s Trade Surplus Shrinks as Exports Plunge
March 11th, 2009Via: The Age: China’s exports tumbled in February as the world’s third-largest economy felt the full force of the global financial crisis, but capital spending accelerated with the help of the government’s massive stimulus package. With the world experiencing its deepest recession in decades, pessimists said the slump in exports was unlikely to end soon. […]
Indiana: Thousands of Families Line Up at Mall to Get Food Handouts
March 11th, 2009Via: MSNBC: In this job-starved city where President Barack Obama last month made a public appeal for his economic stimulus plan, hundreds of volunteers — and an agency that specializes in handing out food — worked together Tuesday to feed 5,200 hungry families. Roughly 300 local volunteers worked with Feed the Children to distribute more […]
California Raw Almonds Must be Treated, Judge Rules
March 10th, 2009Mmm hmm. Oh, just wait for HR 875. Your clone burger with genetically engineered freedom fries and synthetic pHood perfumes—to hide the rancid smells—will be A-OK. But raw, whole foods that haven’t been saturated in carcinogens, cooked or irradiated… to render them “safe”… This is enemy combatant stuff. Via: McClatchy: A federal judge Monday upheld […]
Treasury Official Who Let AIG Cook Books Is Allowed to Retire
March 10th, 2009Via: ABC News: The man at the center of a fraud scandal at the Treasury Department has been allowed to quietly quit and retire from his job as a government regulator, despite allegations that he allowed a bank to falsify financial records and amidst outcries from investigators who say the case shows how cozy government […]
