Archive for the 'Economy' Category
AIG Bailout Just Another Government Boondoggle
November 4th, 2008Via: Washington Post: A number of financial experts now fear that the federal government’s $143 billion attempt to rescue troubled insurance giant American International Group may not work, and some argue that company shareholders and taxpayers would have been better served by a bankruptcy filing. The Treasury Department leapt to keep AIG from going bankrupt […]
The GM Genocide
November 4th, 2008Via: Daily Mail: Shankara, like millions of other Indian farmers, had been promised previously unheard of harvests and income if he switched from farming with traditional seeds to planting GM seeds instead. Beguiled by the promise of future riches, he borrowed money in order to buy the GM seeds. But when the harvests failed, he […]
Chinese Factories Closing by the Tens of Thousands
November 3rd, 2008This story uses the phrase, “Government statistics.” Not just any government’s statistics, but China’s government statistics! HA. Anyway, here’s some of the follow-on effects of Joe and Jane Six Pack not being able to use their house as an ATM anymore. Via: Los Angeles Times: Financially troubled plants are being abandoned by the boss, leaving […]
China Is Becoming the Biggest Producer of Pharmaceutical Ingredients in the World
November 3rd, 2008Via: New York Times: Concerns about Chinese drugs have become so intense that just three weeks ago, the Health and Human Services secretary, Michael O. Leavitt, announced that the F.D.A. would open an office in Beijing by the end of the year and offices in Shanghai and Guangzhou next year. The agency still plans to […]
Lehman Good-for-Retirement Notes Almost Worthless
November 3rd, 2008Via: Bloomberg: UBS AG, Switzerland’s largest bank, faces dozens of claims in the U.S. from clients who bought “100 percent principal protected notes” issued by Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. that are now almost worthless. Six attorneys hired to represent clients in the cases say UBS brokers touted the so-called structured notes as low-risk investments and […]
A Guide for Americans Seeking Affordable Medical Treatment Abroad
November 3rd, 2008Via: Los Angeles Times: When Andy Dijak injured his right knee playing tennis, he wasn’t surprised that he needed surgery. “It swelled up like a balloon,” said the 50-year-old West Lake resident. The real shocker was the price tag: $12,000 to $15,000 to repair tattered cartilage. Dijak, a creative director for an entertainment company, has […]
Students in U.K. Schools Grow Food Amid Credit Crisis
November 3rd, 2008Via: Bloomberg: Growing food is on the curriculum at Leaden Hall private school for girls in southwest England, and students can thank the credit crisis. “Pupils are growing potatoes, tomatoes, runner beans and courgettes,” said Diana Watkins, the head teacher of the school of 231 students, including 40 boarders, in the town of Salisbury. Planting […]
Ordo Ab Chao: Scandinavian Countries Consider Move to Euro
November 1st, 2008Via: Independent: The Danish and Swedish governments have begun preparing the ground for referendums on joining the euro, as part of a huge political reversal across Europe’s northern fringes in favour of the single currency. Although voters have overwhelming rejected the euro in the past, both countries are now pointing to the recent damage inflicted […]
In the Last Six Weeks, the Federal Reserve Has Doubled the Amount of Total Credit in the Banking System Since 1913
November 1st, 2008Via: Contrarian Profits – Richard Daughty: Almost a trillion dollars of new credit in 6 weeks! Gaaaahhhh! My hands now mysteriously clenched into Mogambo Fists Of Outrage (MFOO), I am forced to clutch a pencil between my teeth and try to laboriously calculate that if $1,803 billion in Federal Reserve credit is up $915 billion […]
Nevada Has Highest Percentage of ‘Under Water’ Households
November 1st, 2008Via: Wall Street Journal: Nevada leads the U.S. in the proportion of households whose mortgage debt exceeds the current estimated value of their homes, a condition known as being “under water,” according to a new study. First American CoreLogic, a real-estate data firm based in Santa Ana, Calif., estimated that 48% of owners of single-family […]
