Archive for February, 2009
Job Creation Proposal from 1973
From Bob Feldman: Perlo’s 1973 Alternative Jobs Creation Proposal Revisited Most hip anti-war people in the United States (and most long-time readers of Dollars & Sense) probably realize by now that the U.S. government’s recently passed “economic stimulus” legislation won’t really create enough high-wage jobs for U.S. workers to really restore economic prosperity for most ...Read more.
Rich Americans Suing UBS
From yesterday’s Times—interesting ongoing case about the Swiss bank UBS, the world’s largest private bank, which agreed to pay $780 million “to settle accusations that it used undisclosed offshore private banking services to help wealthy Americans evade taxes.” The Justice Department is trying to force UBS to disclose 52,000 of its U.S. clients’ names, which ...Read more.
Eastern Europe's Economies Tanking
From RGE Monitor, Nouriel Roubini’s outfit. Who knew that the Baltic countries have been running current account deficits much larger (relative to GDP) than the United States? Eastern European Tinderbox: How Explosive Could It Get? The Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region is the sick man of emerging markets. While the global crisis means few, ...Read more.
Economic Ignorance (Michael Yates)
A great post from Michael Yates’ blog. Michael Steele is a Nitwit and Wolf Blitzer is a Jackass Economic ignorance is widespread in the United States. People think they know something about the subject, but few do. My mother is convinced that China is the cause of all our economic problems. When I challenge her, ...Read more.
CEOs Not Worried About Pay Caps
As they say, it’s good to be a Bankster. From the WSJ President Barack Obama’s crackdown on Wall Street pay contains loopholes, and may have limited impact in restraining compensation, according to some executive-pay consultants and management attorneys. Some compensation professionals already are pointing out potential holes in the rules, including tactics such as changing ...Read more.
Diamonds No Longer De Beers Best Friend
Diamond behemoth De Beers has announced that it is shutting down all its mines, something that hasn’t happened since the Great Depression. From the Telegraph: Debswana, a joint venture between De Beers, the company founded by Cecil Rhodes, and the government of Botswana, produces a fifth of all the world’s diamonds – around half of ...Read more.
Detroit Houses Going For $7,500
Actually, $7,500 is the median price of a home sold in Detroit in December, so many went for even less. From the Chicago Tribune DETROIT — It may be tough to get financing for a new car these days, but in Detroit you can buy a house with a credit card. The median price of ...Read more.
UAW Reaches Deal With Ford
From the wires. Ford hasn’t received bailout money, but pressed the union for concessions because they didn’t want to be disadvantaged if the union made concessions with Chrysler and GM. The deal still needs to be ratified by the union. DETROIT – The United Auto Workers and Ford Motor Co. said Monday they agreed to ...Read more.
AMEX Takes Bailout, Boots Customers
Like other credit card companies that have received bailout billions, AMEX is hiking fees, penalties, and interest rates. Now the company, which received over $3 billion in TARP money, is taking the added step of offering $300 vouchers if customers cancel their accounts. Most financial analysts caution that it is a bad deal for cardholders. ...Read more.
Lines Swell At Food Banks
Another sobering sign of the times from the Times. Highlights both the lack of a safety net in the United States as well as the shame associated with falling on hard times, even during the greatest global economic crisis in a generation: Newly Poor Swell Lines at Food Banks MORRISTOWN, N.J.-Once a crutch for the ...Read more.
