“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 […]
Category Archives: Monetary Reform
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 […]
By STEPHEN LENDMANAfter retiring as the Federal Reserve’s second longest ever serving chairman, Alan Greenspan is now cashing in big late in life at age 81. He chaired the Fed’s Board of Governors from the time he was appointed in August, 1987 to when he stepped down January 31, 2006 amidst a hail of ill-deserved […]
By Robert P. Murphy Posted on 10/1/2007 [Subscribe or Tell Others] << Previous Story | Index | Next Story >> On September 18 the Fed cut its target for the fed funds rate by 50 basis points (0.5 percentage points), from 5.25% to 4.75%. The move surprised many analysts who had been expecting a more […]
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By Dennis Cauchon, USA TODAY The federal government recorded a $1.3 trillion loss last year — far more than the official $248 billion deficit — when corporate-style accounting standards are used, a USA TODAY analysis shows. The loss reflects a continued deterioration in the finances of Social Security and government retirement programs for civil servants […]
The Reserve Bank has “definitely overdone” interest rate rises this year and should slash the rates in line with Australia, economic forecasting group Berl says. Instead of being on “perpetual inflation alert”, rates should be lowered to encourage investment, productivity improvements or business expansion, Berl says. “The psychotic fear of inflation is clouding the need […]
Graeme Wearden and Ashley Seager Monday September 17, 2007 Guardian Unlimited Photograph: AP Britain faces the prospect of falling house prices and rising inflation within a few years, according to Alan Greenspan, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve.In a series of interviews to promote his memoirs, the respected US economist warned that the […]
The World Bank has not taken corruption seriously enough and has resisted the efforts of anti-graft investigators, an official inquiry has found. Paul Volcker, former head of the US Federal Reserve Bank, said his inquiry into the bank had revealed a “siege mentality” at the troubled institution. Read more
by Richard C. Cook Global Research, September 12, 2007 As the 2007 economic collapse picks up speed, it’s time to take a hard look at the performance of the U.S. national political leadership in meeting some of their most fundamental responsibilities. It’s time to face the fact of serious failure over the last quarter century. […]
By Graeme Hunt Adrian Orr says the fund is committed to ‘responsible investment’. Photo / Paul Estcourt It’s less than four years since the country’s most unusual Crown entity started investing with $2.4 billion of Government money. It received a further $7.7 billion from the state along the way and now has a fund worth […]
Fiona Walsh, business editor Friday September 7, 2007 Guardian Unlimited Shares in London, the rest of Europe and the United States went into sharp retreat this afternoon after shock US data showed the housing crisis and credit squeeze are starting to hit growth in the world’s biggest economy.The dollar also tumbled as the US government […]
by Doug Pibel The Citizens of Barnstead, New Hampshire, Used Local Law to Keep Corporate Giants Out of Their Water Gail Darrell, center, and other Barnstead, New Hampshire, residents pressed for a law to counter the “tyranny and usurpation” of the people’s right to govern themselves, especially with regard to water. Gordon Preston, left, and […]
Ben Bernanke’s comments are closely watched Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke has warned that the crisis in the US sub-prime lending market could cost up to $100bn.In a second day of testimony to Congress, Mr Bernanke said credit losses associated with sub-prime mortgage failures were “significant”. Wall Street is nervous about the exposure of […]
After drinking water out of the bailout fire hydrant, I think most people are scrambling to get an idea of what is happening. An issue placed on the back burner by many politicians is suddenly garnering massive media playtime. Amazingly, Americans in a large percentage are against any bailout talks or consideration. The nationwide MSNBC […]
by Michael Marx and Marjorie Kelly Citizen movements are proving that we can take on corporate power, and together build a future that works for all life. Illustration by Don Baker for YES! Magazine. Corporate power lies behind nearly every major problem we face—from stagnant wages and unaffordable health care to overconsumption and global warming. […]
By Paula Oliver The National Party heads into the opening of its annual conference tonight fending off claims that it has little in the way of policy to support its healthy poll ratings. The party’s 71st annual conference will stretch throughout the weekend but it is not expected to offer much in the way of fresh […]
By Gabriel KolkoContradictions now wrack the world’s financial system, and a growing consensus exists between those who endorse it and those who argue the status quo is both crisis-prone as well as immoral. If we are to believe the institutions and personalities who have been in the forefront of the defense of capitalism, we are […]
By Mark Felsenthal and Alister Bull JACKSON HOLE, Wyoming (Reuters) – The weak housing market could topple the country into a full-blown recession and the Federal Reserve should slash interest rates aggressively, one of the country’s most prominent economists warned on Saturday. “Lower interest rates now would help,” Martin Feldstein, president of the influential National […]
Polly Ross Hughes Express-News Austin BureauAUSTIN – The Texas Department of Transportation is pushing Congress to pass a federal law allowing the state to “buy back” parts of existing interstate highways and turn them into toll roads. The 24-page plan, outlined in a “Forward Momentum” report that escaped widespread attention when published in February, drew […]
By Alister BullJACKSON HOLE, Wyoming (Reuters) – In rare public criticism of Alan Greenspan, former U.S. Undersecretary for International Affairs John Taylor said on Saturday that ultra-low Federal Reserve interest rates had stoked the U.S. housing boom and subsequent bust. Greenspan, who retired as chairman of the Federal Reserve in January 2006, slashed rates to […]
By Edward B. Colby Saturday, September 1, 2007 – Updated: 08:38 AM ESTThink the subprime mortgage meltdown was frightful? Now consider the prospect of your home losing half its value. An esteemed economist suggested yesterday that “real home prices” in some parts of the country could drop by as much as 50 percent, posing yet […]
Posted by Dan Denning Leaderless, directionless, and clueless. That’s how we’d describe the state of the local and global market. The problem is the “known unknowns” (US$43 billion of them) and those pesky “unknown unknowns” (credit derivatives). More on that below.First, did you see the current account deficit widened to nearly AU$16 billion in the […]
Noam Chomsky interviewed by Dennis Ott April 02, 2007 Dennis Ott: In a recent interview you quoted Thorstein Veblen, who contrasted “substantial people” and “underlying population.”[1] At a shareholder’s meeting of Allianz AG, major shareholder Hans-Martin Buhlmannn expressed the view that there is only one limit to the increase of the dividend: “The inferiors must […]
by Stephen Lendman Large transnational corporations are clearly the dominant institution of our time. They’re preeminent throughout the world but especially in the Global North and its epicenter in the US. They control or greatly influence what we eat and drink, where we live, what we wear, how we get most of our essential services […]
by Richard C. Cook Global Research, July 23, 2007 U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr., has joined the chorus of those in high places who are warning of a major worldwide economic downturn. Paulson was quoted at length in a July 23, 2007, article in Fortune by Rik Kirkland entitled, “The Greatest Economic Boom […]
