WASHINGTON – The chances of the United States avoiding a recession appear to be growing dimmer by the day, and any contraction in the economy will likely last longer and be more severe than other downturns in the past 20 years. Recent reports have shown the US housing market slump and rising defaults in the […]
Category Archives: Globalisation
A trillion here…a trillion there…pretty soon you’re talking real money. U.S. stocks are down about 10% so far this year…that’s about $1.5 trillion lost. U.S. housing stock is said to be down about $2 trillion. And losses from subprime, credit cards, home equity lines, rogue traders…and hanky panky…probably add up to another trillion or so. […]
One of the world’s leading financial experts has warned that a “perfect storm” could be about to hit Western economies. There is rising concern that the U.S. economy will slip into recession next year dragging many Western economies – including Britain – down with it as the global credit crisis worsens. The Washington-based International Monetary […]
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. What We Must Do Today “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” are, or should be, the fruits of democracy. […]
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Sales of US homes and apartments tumbled a hefty eight percent in September extending one of the nation’s worst housing slumps in decades, an industry group said Wednesday. The National Association of Realtors said in a monthly snapshot that sales of existing homes and apartments fell to a seasonally adjusted rate of […]
“Allow me to point out the irony of this situation,” Guido Mantega, the Brazilian finance minister, told reporters at a recent global pow-wow. “Countries that were references of good governance, of standards and codes for the financial systems” were now the same countries where financial problems were threatening to wreck global prosperity. Whoever could he […]
More intimidation and stifling of dissent. A 72-year-old socialist worker who has been protesting against the “anti-terror” raids had his own home searched by police yesterday over an alleged kidnapping. Jimmy O’Dea, a veteran trade unionist who has prostate cancer, said he had no idea why eight carloads of police arrived in the afternoon at […]
Could this be the beginning of the end of Dollar Hegemony? The Central Bank of Iran says the process of converting the country’s dollar reserves to other foreign currencies has been completed. The process of diversifying Iran’s foreign exchange reserves by converting reserves held in dollars to other currencies is almost complete, Fars news agency […]
The world is burning, more storms in New Zeland with never before seen Tornados. Flooding is on the increase world wide due to increased storms, Billions of damage, coastal areas drowning, ecorefugee numbers rising but John Key says it is better to follow than to lead. Well, I guess now we know were National stands. They still […]
Last week was a tough one for the markets. Oil rose over US$88 and the Dow got clobbered. It fell 366 points on Friday. The euro rose to almost US$1.43. The Boston Globe gives us a quick update on the housing picture: “‘You can see that it’s a crisis,’ said John L. O’Brien, registrar of […]
Stock markets around the world were braced for fresh falls today despite attempts by the G7 leading industrial nations and the International Monetary Fund to boost confidence after Friday’s plunge in share prices on Wall Street.The IMF’s key policy-making committee said at the weekend that the recent turmoil in financial markets would lead to slower […]
The housing market appears to be screeching to a halt and inflation is under 2 per cent, but the Reserve Bank will talk tough this week and raise rates twice next year, Westpac Bank economists say. However, they predict that the Reserve Bank will hold official interest rates at 8.25 per cent on Thursday. All […]
The Security Intelligence Service has issued a rare public statement to dispel speculation it was involved in this week’s police operation that culminated in the arrest of 17 alleged activists. Yesterday, Prime Minister Helen Clark, who is the minister responsible for the service, refused to comment on National Party claims that the service had briefed […]
Phew! That was close. For a moment there, it looked like the collapse of the subprime mortgage market was going to wipe billions off financial earnings for years to come. The bad debts were stacked up like poisoned berries gathered by a poison-crazed squirrel during the housing bubble of 2003-2006. Going bad – fast – […]
The U.S. dollar is weak, at $1.42 to the Euro; oil prices are rising, at $86 a barrel; the gold price is rising, at $756 an ounce. These are all signs that the risk of global inflation, the scourge of the 1970s, is rising again. In The Daily Telegraph for Monday, October 15th, Ambrose Evans […]
Japan and China led a record withdrawl of foreign funds from the United States in August, heightening fears of a fresh slide in the dollar and a spike in US bond yields. The US requires $70bn a month in capital inflows to cover its current account deficit Data from the US Treasury showed outflows of […]
A must watch video
And what does America get out of this deal? And what do they mean when they say;”There are bound to be some human rights concerns but the public good comes first.” Our human rights are the public good. Ask the people arrested under the anti-terror law this week how they feel about the infringement on their […]
The Bank of New Zealand is forecasting a soft landing for the economy based on easing housing figures, but says there are no guarantees. “These are extraordinarily uncertain times. The domestic economy is being boosted by the stimulatory impact of easing fiscal policy and massive income growth accruing to the dairy sector, while being battered […]
The New Zealand dollar slid 1c against the greenback yesterday as investors again fled risky investments and sent US share prices down sharply. The kiwi closed US1c below Monday’s US76.23c close. ANZ bank said yesterday that despite US dollar weakness, the kiwi was sold off as some risk aversion returned. Credit concerns were reignited in […]
While I greatly applaud wind energy (coming from the flat windy low-lands of Holland) in local sustainable wind farms that accommodate small communities and don’t affect the environment to the point of destruction, I fail to see why these monstrosities have to do with a sustainable society. They don’t replace dirtier forms of energy, they […]
Geneva Finance has stopped repaying investors, owed more than $112 million, as it struggles to remain afloat. The Auckland-based company plans to ask its 4500 investors to agree to a repayment moratorium of 612 months, as it tries to stabilise its position. International credit rating agency Standard and Poor’s immediately dropped its long-term rating of […]
Let’s see…the Dow rose 77 points on Friday. Oil hit a new record – at above US$85 a barrel. But we always try to look beyond to news to figure out what is going on. Despite the problems in housing, most Americans are feeling pretty fat and sassy. Living standards – at least, by the […]
It is said that a banker is osmeone who gives you an umbrella when the sun shines, but wants it back when it starts to rain.(travellerev) Poor Mervyn King. The man is the head of the Bank of England. He was just trying to do the right thing. When the credit crisis began this summer […]
This from quote Martin Hutchinson on the lively Prudent Bear site: “Once upon a time, governments didn’t do rescues. The great Robert Banks Jenkinson, Lord Liverpool in a prime ministerial speech to the House of Lords during the 1825 speculative bubble, said: ‘I wish it however to be clearly understood, that those who now engage in […]
The credit addicts on CNBC have got to be flying as high as they’ve ever flown before. The minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last meeting were made public yesterday and Wall Street revelled in the implied monetary largesse like a pig in first-class gravy. The Fed didn’t promise more rate cuts. But it did say […]
Ron Paul, little known republican presidential candidate, in a televised debate. He explains how the privately owned Federal reserve uses inflation as a way to destroy the middle classes. John Key, in banking circles dubbed the “smiling assassin”, has been an advisor for exactly that federal reserve. His job? Telling the federal bank and its […]
Home-owners have been hit by a triple whammy as latest figures reveal a dramatic slowdown in the market. According to latest figures, prices are rising only fractionally, homes are taking longer to sell, and sales have plummeted to a six-year low. The Real Estate Institute, which released the statistics, remained upbeat, saying the slide in […]
James Petras is Binghamton University, New York Professor Emeritus of Sociology, whose credentials and achievements are long and impressive. He’s a noted academic figure on the left, a well-respected Latin American expert, and a longtime chronicler of the region’s popular struggles as well as being an advisor to the landless workers (MST) in Brazil and […]
At what point does Canada become a toy country? In August, the last of the major Canadian steel makers was sold to United States Steel Corporation for $1.1 billion. Earlier, Dofasco was sold to a European company which has since been swallowed up by Mittal Steel Co. of India. This latest foreign takeover is just […]
