Archive for the 'Economy' Category
The Economy? Words Fail Me.
July 6th, 2008Try to watch the video. It appeared to me that Assistant Treasury secretary for economic policy, Phillip Swagel, needed to change his union suit after this press conference. Via: Washington Post: Think you’re worried about the economy? Phillip Swagel is a wreck. The assistant Treasury secretary for economic policy, Swagel came out for his monthly […]
Leaked World Bank Report: Biofuel Caused Food Crisis
July 4th, 2008Via: Guardian: Biofuels have forced global food prices up by 75% – far more than previously estimated – according to a confidential World Bank report obtained by the Guardian. The damning unpublished assessment is based on the most detailed analysis of the crisis so far, carried out by an internationally-respected economist at global financial body. […]
Mexico City Looks for Food Crisis Solution in Families’ Backyards and Roof Terraces
July 3rd, 2008Via: Financial Times: Mexico City, one of the world’s most populous and polluted metropolitan areas, is working on its own solution to the rapidly rising cost of food: grow your own. Led by Marcelo Ebrard, the city’s leftwing mayor, the local governmenthas decided to expand a “backyard agriculture programme” launched last year to encourage the […]
Ron Paul: “Fast-Approaching Events… Will Affect All of Us”
July 3rd, 2008Via: Campaign for Liberty: I have, for the past 35 years, expressed my grave concern for the future of America. The course we have taken over the past century has threatened our liberties, security and prosperity. In spite of these long-held concerns, I have days—growing more frequent all the time—when I’m convinced the time is […]
Buffett: It’s Stagflation
July 3rd, 2008Via: Bloomberg: Billionaire investor Warren Buffett says he’s concerned about “stagflation,” or slowing in the U.S. economy while inflation accelerates. “We’re right in the middle of it right now,” said Buffett, chairman of Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc., in an interview on Bloomberg Television today. “I think the ‘flation’ part will heat up and I […]
“The Foreclosure Chart for Los Angeles Is Unfortunately Starting to Look Like a Ski Jump”
July 3rd, 2008Via: Bloomberg: New foreclosures almost quadrupled in Los Angeles and doubled in Miami in the second quarter, with as much as $5 billion worth of loans going bad in L.A. alone, the online real estate data company PropertyShark.com reported. The number of homes scheduled for auction in Los Angeles rose 14,505 compared with 3,797 in […]
Big Trouble for Big Three Automakers
July 2nd, 2008WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. The article states, “Shares of General Motors are trading at prices last seen in the 1950s, their value cut in half in just eight weeks.” Actually, it’s much worse than that. GM is trading at $10.65 right now. Let’s take the […]
Mortgage Ruling Could Shock U.S. Banking Industry
July 2nd, 2008Via: Reuters: A lawsuit filed by a Wisconsin couple against their mortgage lender could have major implications for banks should a U.S. appeals court agree that borrowers can cancel their loans en masse when their lenders violate a federal lending disclosure law. The case began like hundreds of others filed since the U.S. housing boom […]
Starbucks to Close 600 U.S. Stores
July 2nd, 2008Via: AP: For a decade it appeared there was no such thing as too many Starbucks for U.S. coffee drinkers, whose willingness to buy its $4 lattes and dark drip brews rationalized a second green-and-white mermaid awning just down the street — and sometimes even a third. But in a sign that those days are […]
Vacant Homes Spread Blight in Suburb and City Alike
July 2nd, 2008Via: Christian Science Monitor: In Mesa, Ariz., officials are trying to decide what to do about boarded-up McMansions that become party pads, trashed in raucous “raves” where invitations come by text message. In Atlanta, thieving from abandoned properties is so bad that police caught one man building a new house entirely of pilfered materials from […]
