Archive for June, 2009
Top Chinese Banker Guo Shuqing Calls for U.S. Government to Start Issuing Bonds in Yuan, Rather than Dollars
June 8th, 2009Via: Telegraph: The head of China’s second-largest bank has said the United States government should start issuing bonds in yuan, rather than dollars, in the latest indication of the increasing importance of the Chinese currency. Guo Shuqing, the chairman of state-controlled China Construction Bank (CCB), also said he is exploring the possibility of issuing loans […]
UK May be Next After Irish Downgrade
June 8th, 2009Via: Reuters: Britain and Austria could be the European countries whose sovereign credit ratings are most likely to be cut next after Standard & Poor’s lowered Ireland’s rating on Monday for the second time in only three months. Of those two, Britain is the only one with its sovereign credit rating on “negative” watch, suggesting […]
Bailout Confetti Bomb Resulting in Higher Mortgage Rates
June 8th, 2009In other words: More foreclosures are on the way. Via: AP: The Federal Reserve announced a $1.2 trillion plan three months ago designed to push down mortgage rates and breathe life into the housing market. But this and other big government spending programs are turning out to have the opposite effect. Rates for mortgages and […]
China to to Require Web Filtering Software on All PCs
June 8th, 2009The article doesn’t say this, explicitly, but PCs running this software will almost certainly be owned by the Chinese government. That is, when required, it would be as if a member of the Chinese state security services was sitting at the computer in question. They are a root user on the box. They would have […]
Cisco Replaces GM on The Dow Jones Industrial Average
June 8th, 2009Why not call it the Dow Jones Outsourced Industrial Average? Via: Mercury News: Cisco Systems today joins the elite circle of 30 blue-chip businesses that make up the Dow Jones industrial? average, a move that may make it easier for the San Jose company to attract investors — at least initially. Plus, in joining Intel […]
Obama Promises More than 600,000 Stimulus Jobs; “Including Hundreds of Maintenance Projects at Military Bases”
June 8th, 2009They’re going to give Summer Camp a whole new meaning. Via: AP: President Barack Obama promised Monday to deliver more than 600,000 jobs through his $787 billion stimulus plan this summer, with federal agencies pumping billions into public works projects, schools and summer youth programs. Obama is ramping up his stimulus program this week even […]
Global Military Spending Sets New Record
June 8th, 2009Via: BBC: Global military spending rose 4% in 2008 to a record $1,464bn (£914bn) – up 45% since 1999, according to the Stockholm-based peace institute Sipri. In contrast with civilian aerospace and airlines, the defence industry remains healthy. “The global financial crisis has yet to have an impact on major arms companies’ revenues, profits and […]
Spitzer: Green Shoots, Red Ink, Black Hole: Truly Terrifying Data About the Real State of the U.S. Economy
June 8th, 2009Via: Slate: I have an unfortunate sense that the “green shoots” in the economy that everyone is talking about are nothing but dandelions. Sure, forcing $1 trillion of taxpayer money—in direct capital, guarantees, and diminished cost of borrowing—into the banking sector has permitted the major banks to claim solvency for the moment. Yet we should […]
Key Figures in Global Battle Against Illegal Arms Trade Lost in Air France Crash
June 8th, 2009Via: Sunday Herald: Argentine campaigner Pablo Dreyfus and Swiss colleague Ronald Dreyer battled South American arms and drug trafficking. AMID THE media frenzy and speculation over the disappearance of Air France’s ill-fated Flight 447, the loss of two of the world’s most prominent figures in the war on the illegal arms trade and international drug […]
WHO Backs Anti-Diarrhoea Vaccine
June 8th, 2009Clean water? No. Vaccines? Yes. What’s that? The vaccine is too costly? Just sell more vaccine bonds. Via: BBC: The World Health Organization says a vaccine which can prevent a diarrhoea and vomiting virus should be given to all children as a routine vaccination. Rotavirus causes more than 500,000 diarrhoeal deaths and two million hospitalisations […]
