Archive for May, 2008
More Collateral Damage From the Housing Crisis pt 1
The fallout of the housing crisis is affecting many more people than just those who purchased a home on dicey terms (or who provided the loan, or now owns the debt). In several posts we will highlight how the current crash has been cause for concern in some unexpected places. Today’s New York Times has ...Read more.
Former IMF Head Condemns Finance Sector
Germany’s president and former IMF head Hoerst Koehler has added his voice to the rising condemnation of the financial sector’s role in the global economic downturn. Referring to finance markets as a “monster that has to be put back in the closet,” Koehler went on to criticize the “irresponsibility” of bankers who, despite the horrific ...Read more.
Big Time Capitalism's Coalition of the Wilting
Germany’s President (and former IMF head) Horst Koehler has added his voice to the rising chorus
Charles Tilly, 1929-2008
Professor Charles Tilly, a renowned social scientist, innovative theorist, and prolific author, passed away on April 29. In addition to the NY Times obituary, and a statement from the president of Columbia University, here’s a very perceptive personal remembrance from a former student and colleague — just one of many people who remember him fondly. ...Read more.
If You Liked Bear Stearns, You'll Love Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac
The New York Times reported today that the two mega government-sponsored mortgage lenders, who have single-handedly kept the US mortgage market from sinking through the quicksand altogether since private mortgage finance dried up in the wake of the subprime crisis (they account for no less than 80% of mortgages bought by investors in the first ...Read more.
Join the Call To Promote Open Economic Debate at Notre Dame
A group of students at Notre Dame are campaigning to broaden the ideological scope of the economics department there. According to their open letter At Notre Dame, economics is divided into two separate departments: “The Department of Economics and Econometrics, which is a neoclassical economics department committed to rigorous theoretical and quantitative analysis in teaching ...Read more.
Dockworkers of the World Unite!
In a potent reminder of what organized labor can do, thousands of dockworkers along all 29 West Coast ports took the day off in a coordinated action to protest the U.S. war in Iraq. “We are supporting the troops and telling politicians in Washington that it’s time to end the war in Iraq,” said union ...Read more.
CEOs of America Unite!
Kiwitobes has put together an interesting visual representation of overlapping membership on corporate boards among the largest U.S. corporations. This helps provide one explanation for the astronomical sums paid to CEOs and their lackeys (we get to talk like this on May Day). But as economist Arthur MacEwan explained in our magazine a few years ...Read more.
