Life the Universe and ....: More economic troubles.

Monday, December 22, 2008

HOLIDAY CHEER: Bank of Spain chief: World faces 'total' financial meltdown... IMF chief warns 2009 may be 'even darker'...

If the former chairman of Nasdaq is a crook

Who Can You Trust in America?

By Nicholas von Hoffman

Madoff's fall has planted the seeds of suspicion. We now doubt those we have done business with for years. The presumption of trust is gone. Continue

Capitalism Short Circuits Our Moral Hard-Wiring

By Gary Olson

Perhaps not since the 1930s have our citizens been more skeptical of received wisdom about our socioeconomic system. That is, the carefully manufactured narrative of market capitalist identity and its assumptions about human nature are now thrown into sharp relief. Continue

"It's Kristallnacht Two!" An Ethnic Cleansing in America : In terms of financial and psychological impact, Bernard Maddow’s $50 billion heist certainly ranks as a major ethnic cleansing here in America, a hugely traumatic event for American Jewry.

Calif. unemployment rate jumps to 8.4 percent: The jobless rate announced by the U.S. Department of Labor was up from 5.7 percent a year earlier, and 8.2 percent in October. Only Michigan and Rhode Island posted higher jobless rates than California.

Bush 'considering' auto bankruptcy: The Bush administration has said it is seriously considering allowing struggling major US vehicle manufacturers to go bankrupt despite their plea for government aid.

Federal spending soars 25% before bailout: The government's spending commitments exploded by 25 percent in 2008, putting taxpayers more than $1 trillion in the hole even before the astronomical costs of the economic bailout were taken into account, according to an annual report released Monday by the White House.

GM Opens Eighth China Plant, Won't Add Further Capacity Soon: GM expects to boost China sales about 9 percent next year as it adds new models and an economic stimulus plan helps revive overall demand. Auto sales in China have declined in three of the past four months because of the global economic slowdown.

Credit-Card Users Feel Pain as U.S. Banks Reap Gain: Credit-card companies, facing an increase in defaults and a decline in consumer spending, are raising some rates, adding fees and cutting credit lines as the Federal Reserve makes the most sweeping changes to the industry in 30 years.

World Financial Crisis