Archive for the 'Economy' Category
Cost of Protecting Japanese Government Debt Hits Record High
February 18th, 2009Via: Reuters: The cost of protecting Japanese government debt against default has risen sharply as political uncertainty and worries about the nation’s fiscal position grew after data this week highlighted the depth of recession in the world’s second-biggest economy. Five-year credit default swaps on Japanese sovereign debt climbed to a record 130 basis points on […]
Greenspan Backs Bank Nationalisation
February 18th, 2009This wizened little troll belongs in a striped jumpsuit and handcuffs. Via: Financial Times: The US government may have to nationalise some banks on a temporary basis to fix the financial system and restore the flow of credit, Alan Greenspan, the former Federal Reserve chairman, has told the Financial Times. In an interview, Mr Greenspan, […]
Stanford Depositors Swarm Banks
February 18th, 2009Via: Reuters: Hundreds of people lined up to withdraw money from banks in Antigua and Caracas affiliated with Texas billionaire Allen Stanford, a day after the tycoon was charged with an $8 billion fraud. The brash, 58-year-old financier’s whereabouts remained unclear on Wednesday, a day after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused him of […]
Germany Passes Law Allowing it to Nationalize Banks
February 18th, 2009Via: Reuters: The German cabinet approved a law on Wednesday letting it nationalise banks, setting aside a reluctance to seize private property in the latest government intervention worldwide to tackle the financial crisis. Germany said it was not planning to extend the role of the state through the bill, which it described as a last […]
The Invisible Hand of the Market: British Troops Seize £50 Million of Afghan Opium
February 18th, 2009What I think is happening here is that the USUK smack industrial complex has decided to drive up the street price of heroin. My theory will be confirmed if we hear that Obama’s escalation of the war in Afghanistan includes counter-narcotics operations. Why now? First of all, heroin is cheap. Too cheap: A gram of […]
The New Depression: “This is the mother of all postwar crises, which has barely started and remains out of control.”
February 18th, 2009This article starts off well enough, but it goes off the rails. The problem is not “unregulated capital.” There are volumes of regulations related to capital and we don’t need an additional Soviet Ministry of Money Rules. The problem is the composition of the capital in the first place. The problem is the arbitrary ability […]
Black Hole: GM to Seek Another $30 Billion in Aid, Will Cut 47,000 Jobs
February 18th, 2009Via: AP: General Motors Corp., presenting a dire outlook for the future, said Tuesday it may need $30 billion in total government financing to weather the economic downturn and would cut 47,000 jobs worldwide and shutter five more U.S. factories in a massive restructuring plan. The automaker is already surviving on $13.4 billion in federal […]
U.S. Accuses Texas Financial Firm of ‘Massive’ Fraud
February 17th, 2009Via: New York Times: Stopping what it called a “massive ongoing fraud,” the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday accused Robert Allen Stanford, the chief of the Stanford Financial Group, of fraud in the sale of about $8 billion of high-yielding certificates of deposit held in the firm’s bank in Antigua. Also named in the […]
U.S. Military Preparing for “Violent, Strategic Dislocation Inside the United States”; Possibly from “Economic Collapse”
February 17th, 2009Via: TruthDig: The specter of social unrest was raised at the U.S. Army War College in November in a monograph [click on Policypointers’ pdf link to see the report] titled “Known Unknowns: Unconventional ‘Strategic Shocks’ in Defense Strategy Development.” The military must be prepared, the document warned, for a “violent, strategic dislocation inside the United […]
Russian Industrial Output Falls 20%
February 17th, 2009Via: Financial Times: Russia’s industrial production plunged 20 per cent in January, a fall that could herald a much larger than expected drop in gross domestic product this year, economists fear. The decline was its largest month to month drop since records began seven years ago. “The horrendous industrial production data in January have left […]
