Archive for the 'Economy' Category
SEC’s Top Enforcement Accountant Joins Private Firm
January 1st, 2009What did she put on her CV? “Ignored multiple warnings that Bernard Madoff was a swindler”??? “On my watch, the largest investment scam in the history of the world went undetected”??? Via: Reuters: The top enforcement accountant at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will leave the agency in January to become a managing director […]
U.S. Stocks Suffer Worst Year Since Great Depression
January 1st, 2009Yeah, well, not quite, “No one.” * snort * Via: Financial Times: The worst annual performance for Wall Street stocks since the Great Depression ended with a modest rally on the final day of trading as the Federal Reserve pushed ahead with its plan to buy mortgage-backed securities. The central bank’s plan to buy up […]
Car Market Total Collapse
December 31st, 2008Apologies, I wasn’t able to determine the source of this. Scott found the source: BBC: California’s Car Crisis: Scott also sent: Fly over UK’s biggest car park. Chilling. Must see.
The $775,000-a-Year GI
December 31st, 2008Via: CounterPunch: Kosiak estimates that by 2018, the total spending on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, along with related spending on veterans’ health care and other matters, could reach $1.7 trillion. The 88-page report, which includes 182 footnotes, provides an exhaustive look at the cost of Bush’s foreign adventures. It also provides a more […]
Kuwait Scraps Joint Venture with Dow Chemical
December 29th, 2008Via: AP: Kuwait’s government on Sunday scrapped a $17.4 billion joint venture with U.S. petrochemical giant Dow Chemical after criticism from lawmakers that could have led to a political crisis in this small oil-rich state. The Cabinet, in a statement carried by the state-owned Kuwait News Agency, said the venture, known as K-Dow Petrochemicals, was […]
Oregon Moving Ahead on Maniac Fascist, GPS Enabled Mileage Tax
December 29th, 2008Via: Democrat Herald: A year ago, the Oregon Department of Transportation announced it had demonstrated that a new way to pay for roads — via a mileage tax and satellite technology — could work. Now Gov. Ted Kulongoski says he’d like the legislature to take the next step. As part of a transportation-related bill he […]
WaMu’s Nonsense Loan Racket
December 29th, 2008Via: New York Times: As a supervisor at a Washington Mutual mortgage processing center, John D. Parsons was accustomed to seeing baby sitters claiming salaries worthy of college presidents, and schoolteachers with incomes rivaling stockbrokers’. He rarely questioned them. A real estate frenzy was under way and WaMu, as his bank was known, was all […]
As Economy Dips, Arrests for Shoplifting Soar
December 29th, 2008Via: New York Times: As the economy has weakened, shoplifting has increased, and retail security experts say the problem has grown worse this holiday season. Shoplifters are taking everything from compact discs and baby formula to gift cards and designer clothing. Police departments across the country say that shoplifting arrests are 10 percent to 20 […]
Pound and Euro Near Parity
December 29th, 2008Via: BBC: The pound has hit a new record low against the euro as the grim outlook for the UK economy continues to put downward pressure on the currency. Weak house price data and figures showing that homeowners are choosing to repay their mortgages rather than spending, pushed the currency lower. Low trading levels in […]
Rice: People Will Soon Thank Bush for What He’s Done
December 29th, 2008Bitch, please. Via: CNN: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that despite President Bush’s low approval ratings, people will soon “start to thank this president for what he’s done.” “So we can sit here and talk about the long record, but what I would say to you is that this president has faced tougher circumstances […]
