Archive for the 'Economy' Category
Realtor to Residents Who Remain in Neighborhoods with Forclosed Properties: Protect Vacant Homes from Looters and Vandals
May 10th, 2007Via: Real Estate Journal: For those homeowners fearing that the “low-ballers” and banks trying to unload foreclosed homes will sap the value of their own properties, Kent suggested that residents could band together to watch out for a property. “They could try forming a little neighborhood watch where people watch over that house to make […]
Council on Foreign Relations on U.S. Dollar: “An Absurdity… Supported Only by Faith”
May 9th, 2007The End of National Currency is the most astonishing thing that I have read since Zbigniew Brzezinski’s appearance before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee earlier this year. Foreign Affairs is the most important and influential journal of International Relations in the world. It is the mechanism by which the Council on Foreign Relations disseminates the […]
Oil Company CEO to Alaska Republican: “I Own Your Ass”
May 8th, 2007Via: Reuters: The chief executive and part owner of Alaska’s largest oil-field services company and one of his vice presidents pleaded guilty on Monday to charges that they tried to bribe Alaska legislators to secure favorable state oil policies. VECO Corp. Chief Executive Bill Allen and Richard Smith, vice president for community affairs and government […]
The Ghost in Wall Street’s Shell
May 6th, 2007I’ve written several stories about how I’ve dabbled with this stuff. Here are a few colorful examples: Insider Crimes, Funny Money and Options Rackets The Magic Mystery Dot U.S. Dollar Index Breaches Significant Weekly Supports Now, here’s an interesting article that looks at the efforts of the people who play these games with billions of […]
In 2006 Dollars, U.S. Minimum Wage Peaked in 1968
May 5th, 2007Via: Oregon State: A federal minimum wage was first set in 1938. The graph shows nominal (blue diamonds) and real (red squares) minimum wage values. Nominal values range from $0.25/hr in 1938 to the current $5.15/hr. The graph adjusts these wages to 2006 dollars (red squares) to show the real value of the minimum wage. […]
Higher Education Conformity
May 3rd, 2007Via: Alternet: My theory is that employers prefer college grads because they see a college degree chiefly as mark of one’s ability to obey and conform. Whatever else you learn in college, you learn to sit still for long periods while appearing to be awake. And whatever else you do in a white collar job, […]
China: America’s Banker
May 3rd, 2007Via: CNN: China, Long recognized as the world’s factory, is earning a new distinction: America’s banker. As it continues to suck in foreign investment and crank out exports, the world’s fastest-growing economy is piling up foreign currency, mostly dollars, at an astonishing rate. In April, China’s central bank stunned economists with the disclosure that, in […]
Hedging Disaster
May 3rd, 2007Via: Boston Globe: As hedge fund and private-equity operators try ever harder in the face of more competition to produce exorbitant returns, they do ever-riskier and more conflict-laden deals. This trend increases the damage to the economy, the extremes of inequality, and the risks to the system. When Long Term Capital Management — a hedge […]
The War in Afghanistan is Simply a Big Money Heroin Racket
May 1st, 2007Via: Global Research: The United Nations has announced that opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has soared. There was a 59% increase in areas under opium cultivation in 2006. Production of opium is estimated to have increased by 49% in relation to 2005. The Western media in chorus blame the Taliban and the warlords. Western officials […]
TANKER CRASH COLLAPSES SECTION OF HIGHWAY NEAR SAN FRANCISCO-OAKLAND BAY BRIDGE
April 30th, 2007UPDATE: Schwarzenegger Delares State of Emergency Any guesses on the indirect costs of this one? Via: CBS News: A stretch of highway near the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge collapsed Sunday after a gasoline tanker crashed and burst into flames, a loss that officials said could leave freeways leading to one of the nation’s busiest spans […]
