More economic issues

TERRIFYING 57% TAX LOOMS FOR BIGGEST EARNERS IN NYC

Calif tax officials: Legal pot would rake in $1.4B...

---

Obama Opposes House Plan That Would Force CHRYSLER, GM to Restore Dealers...

Foreclosures rise 15% in first half of 2009...

Will Iraq Be a Global Gas Pump?
The (Re)Making of a Petro-State

By Michael T. Klare

Has it all come to this? The wars and invasions, the death and destruction, the exile and torture, the resistance and collapse? In a world of shrinking energy reserves, is Iraq finally fated to become what it was going to be anyway, even before the chaos and catastrophe set in: a giant gas pump for an energy-starved planet? Will it all end not with a bang, but with a gusher? The latest oil news out of that country offers at least a hint of Iraq's fate. Continue

---

Can The Economy Recover?

By Paul Craig Roberts
There is no economy left to recover. The US manufacturing economy was lost to offshoring and free trade ideology. It was replaced by a mythical “New Economy.” Continue

---

How Bad Will the Economy Get?
Really, Really Bad

By Thomas Greco, Jr.

Historically, every financial and economic crisis has been used to further centralize power and concentrate wealth. This one is no different, and in fact the moves being promoted by the Obama administration and the central banks of the Western powers will take the whole world to the pinnacle of financial despotism -- unless enough people wake up and claim their own "money power.” Continue

California: the human toll of the economic crisis: At a time when more and more workers, hit hard by job losses and reduced work hours, are in need of assistance, state resources are decreasing.

Big broadcaster Sinclair in dire straits: Baltimore-based Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc., which is controlled by David Smith and his family and operates 58 television stations, said if it can't restructure its heavy debt load it will have to file for bankruptcy. The company, which has about $1.3 billion in debt, is trying to negotiate terms on notes of $500 million that are coming due in the next 18 months.

Madoff Taken To Ponzi's One-Time Prison

China's Forex Reserves Pass $2,000 Billion

China Plans Global Role For Renminbi

Call For A 90% Tax On Banker Bonuses

UK Unemployment Jumps By Record 281,000

France `Special Bond' - Doubts Over AAA Rating

Bank Of Japan Extends Corporate Support

Intel Falls To A Loss After Record EU Fine

Call For Fed Transparency Grows Louder

Coalition To Attack Plan For New Fed Powers

Geithner Promises To Defend Dollar

Goldman Sachs Smashes Through Crisis Wreckage

Goldman Egg Laying Goose Could Still Die

Goldman Bankers Line Up For $20b Payday!

Ousted GM CEO Ret Package Cut To $8.6 Million

Geithner - Recession Will End In Months (Letter To Santa)

Goldman Sachs Head To Best Profits Since 2007

Goldman Executives Dumped $700m Of Stock

Madoff Moving To North Carolina Jail

UK Cost Of Living Biggest Drop Since 1948

Britain Finds Itself In Debtors' Prison

BoE Double-Dip Recession Fears

12,000 UK Postal Workers To Strike

Banksters Raise Rates In Mortgage Rip-Off Sheme

US Jobless Rise Hits Migrants Home Countries

Iraq Offers Half Of Nabucco Pipeline Gas

China Widens Rio Spy Probe

McDonald's Euro Head Office To Switzerland

China And Markets Play Inflationary Chicken

Federal Deficit Tops $1 Trillion, $2 Trillion By Fall

CA Bankruptcy May Give US Big Trouble

Barky May Tax Rich To Pay For Healthcare

CA Poised To Shut Down Parks

Goldman Results May Signal Return Of Big Pay

Europe Digs Its Economic Grave

Pensions Experts Predict 'Horrific News' On Funds

UK Govt Has Lost £10.9b On RBS And Lloyds

£1,000 Loss Per Household For Bank Bailouts

Britons To Be Poorer In Coming Decades

Penniless And Bankrupt...California Issues IOUs

Major Banks Refuse California IOUs

Obama's 'Cures' May Kill Any 'Recovery'

UK Can't Afford Another Fiscal Rescue

Lloyds Braced For £13b Loss

Goldman Bankers Defy Gloom With Bonus Bonanza

53rd US Bank Failure This Year

Oil Drops Below $60

More economic issues

Obama sees jobless rate ticking up in months ahead...

SAYS SOME AUTO JOBS 'NOT COMING BACK'...

UK: House prices will stay in the doldrums for years, report predicts: Britain's housing market will stay in the doldrums until the middle of the next decade, and there is a 30% chance that prices will take until 2020 to return to their peak before the crash, a consultancy firm predicts.

Goldman Sachs bank profits soar: The bumper profits at Goldman Sachs come just nine months after $125bn was given to US banks

Goldman Sachs execs sold $700m of stock: report: Most of the sales, worth 431 million pounds or 500 million euros, occurred when the firm enjoyed the support of 10 billion dollars in US government capital injections, the London-based newspaper said.

Uncle Sam is $1 trillion in the hole: Federal budget deficit rises by $94.3 billion in June, pushing the total shortfall for the current fiscal year to $1.09 trillion.

US invites Gulf Arab investment: Speaking in the Saudi port city of Jeddah on Tuesday, Timothy Geithner invited greater Arab investment in the US economy, saying that previous blocks to such investment were now no longer an issue.

Obama's Stimulus Plan: Failing by Its Own Measure: When Barack Obama was still President-elect, two of his chief economic advisers — leading proponents of a stimulus bill — predicted that the passage of a large economic-aid package would boost the economy and keep the unemployment rate below 8%. It hasn't quite worked out that way. Last month, the jobless rate in the U.S. hit 9.5%, the highest level it has reached since 1983.

Geithner - Recession Will End In Months (Letter To Santa)

Goldman Sachs Head To Best Profits Since 2007

Goldman Executives Dumped $700m Of Stock

Madoff Moving To North Carolina Jail

UK Cost Of Living Biggest Drop Since 1948

Britain Finds Itself In Debtors' Prison

BoE Double-Dip Recession Fears

12,000 UK Postal Workers To Strike

Banksters Raise Rates In Mortgage Rip-Off Sheme

US Jobless Rise Hits Migrants Home Countries

Iraq Offers Half Of Nabucco Pipeline Gas

China Widens Rio Spy Probe

McDonald's Euro Head Office To Switzerland

China And Markets Play Inflationary Chicken

Federal Deficit Tops $1 Trillion, $2 Trillion By Fall

CA Bankruptcy May Give US Big Trouble

Barky May Tax Rich To Pay For Healthcare

CA Poised To Shut Down Parks

Goldman Results May Signal Return Of Big Pay

Europe Digs Its Economic Grave

Pensions Experts Predict 'Horrific News' On Funds

UK Govt Has Lost £10.9b On RBS And Lloyds

£1,000 Loss Per Household For Bank Bailouts

Britons To Be Poorer In Coming Decades

Penniless And Bankrupt...California Issues IOUs

Major Banks Refuse California IOUs

Obama's 'Cures' May Kill Any 'Recovery'

UK Can't Afford Another Fiscal Rescue

Lloyds Braced For £13b Loss

Goldman Bankers Defy Gloom With Bonus Bonanza

53rd US Bank Failure This Year

Oil Drops Below $60

More economic issues

Budget deficit tops $1 trillion for first time...

June budget gap $94.32 billion...

---

Feds mulling mortgage aid for unemployed...

---

ZUCKERMAN: The Economy Is Even Worse Than You Think...

GOLDMAN executives sold $700m of stock; Selling surge came amid bailout...

Congressman Mark Kirk: China to Buy $80 Billion Worth of Gold

Video

Congressman Mark Kirk explains in detail China's behind the scenes thinking about the dollar. Hint: They are going to buy two Forth Knox's worth of gold. Continue

---

Crystal Ball Gazing
The Future Is Deflation

By Mike Whitney

The US consumer, long considered an inexhaustible resource, is tapped out. Without job security and access to easy credit; consumer spending will slow, prices will fall, demand will flag and the economy will tank. There won't be a recovery. Continue

---

"We're The Counterfeiters Of The World"

By Ron Paul - Video

The dollar now is worth 4 cents in comparison to what it was worth in 1913 when the FED was established. Continue

Geithner to Reassure Gulf Allies on Dollar Assets: - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will seek to reassure Gulf Arab states this week that U.S. dollar assets they hold in large quantities remain a strong investment.

Federal Deficit Tops $1 Trillion, $2 Trillion By Fall

CA Bankruptcy May Give US Big Trouble

Barky May Tax Rich To Pay For Healthcare

CA Poised To Shut Down Parks

Goldman Results May Signal Return Of Big Pay

Europe Digs Its Economic Grave

Pensions Experts Predict 'Horrific News' On Funds

UK Govt Has Lost £10.9b On RBS And Lloyds

£1,000 Loss Per Household For Bank Bailouts

Britons To Be Poorer In Coming Decades

Penniless And Bankrupt...California Issues IOUs

Major Banks Refuse California IOUs

Obama's 'Cures' May Kill Any 'Recovery'

UK Can't Afford Another Fiscal Rescue

Lloyds Braced For £13b Loss

Goldman Bankers Defy Gloom With Bonus Bonanza

53rd US Bank Failure This Year

Oil Drops Below $60

More economic issues

This $17 Trillion Divorce Won’t Be a Pretty One: “China is beginning to cancel Congress’s credit card,” he told Fox News on June 10. It “doesn’t want to lend much more money to the United States and especially is worried about the Fed’s policy of printing money to buy new debt.”

Hundreds of Thousands of Workers Will Lose Unemployment Benefits Soon: Workers laid off early in the downturn are soon to be left without the basic sustenance of an unemployment check.

Mortgage defaults spread as even 'safe' borrowers falter: No longer is the real estate bust simply the result of exotic, subprime loans that doubled payments and blew up in homeowners' faces.

Credit Losses Rising Anywhere and Everywhere: The delinquency rate on U.S. mortgages surged to a record 9.12 percent in the first quarter of this year. Late payments rose in ALL categories, including prime fixed-rate loans, the absolute “cream of the crop” in the mortgage world.

AIG Seeks Clearance For More Bonuses: Officials at AIG, whose federal rescue package stands at $180 billion, have been reluctant to move forward without political cover from the government.

Jim Hightower: Big Bankers Mounting Sneak Attack on Consumers: . In June, for example, Bank of America abruptly raised its fee for a basic checking account by 50 percent. Citibank jacked up the interest rate on some of its cards to 29.99 percent. And JPMorgan Chase more than doubled the required minimum payment on its cards.

GM carmaker emerges from bankruptcy: GM has slashed its work force, closed 40 per cent of its dealerships and shed a number of brands.

Penniless And Bankrupt...California Issues IOUs

Major Banks Refuse California IOUs

Obama's 'Cures' May Kill Any 'Recovery'

UK Can't Afford Another Fiscal Rescue

Lloyds Braced For £13b Loss

Goldman Bankers Defy Gloom With Bonus Bonanza

53rd US Bank Failure This Year

Oil Drops Below $60

Bank Of England's Resolve Soon To Be Tested

SEC Open Door For TRADING IN IOUs!

G8 To Commit $20b For Food Security

Geithner Warns On Looser Euro Derivatives Regulation

Medvedev Pulls New World Currency Out Of Pocket

G8 Summit Could Be The Last

SEC Says CA IOUs Are 'Securities' Under US Law

China Attacks Dollar's Dominance

Swiss Government Threatens To Seize UBS Data

GM To Be Reborn After 40 Days In Bankruptcy

BoE Indicates An End To Quantitative Easing

25 Charged With $100m Mortgage Fraud

AIG Seeks OK For Another Round Of Bonuses!

Fed Warns Congress Again To Stay Away...

More economic issues

SECOND STIMULUS PACKAGE!

AIG Preparing to Pay New Round of Bonuses...

China passes USA auto market in first-half sales...

Growing trade partner in Latin America...

US slips, China soars in Fortune company rankings...

Health bill? Billions for parks, paths, farmers' markets...

Dems sweating small stuff...

---

Food Nanny: Feds to oversee school snack food...

---

Budget Cuts May Force Illinois To Free 10,000 Prisoners...

Are Our Markets Being Manipulated By "Rogues" Or Firms?

By Danny Schechter

There’s New Evidence to Suggest that Crime In The Financial Markets is Rife. Continue

---

The Great American Bubble Machine

By Matt Taibbi

All that money that you're losing, it's going somewhere, and in both a literal and a figurative sense, Goldman Sachs is where it's going: The bank is a huge, highly sophisticated engine for converting the useful, deployed wealth of society into the least useful, most wasteful and insoluble substance on Earth - pure profit for rich individuals. Continue

FBI: Mortgage fraud on the rise: Mortgage fraud is increasing throughout the U.S., as distressed homeowners look for answers to troubled mortgages and find little help from their banks, according to a new FBI report.

The Top 10 Mortgage Fraud States For 2008: Here's a look at the top 10 mortgage fraud states for 2008:

13 Real Estate Professionals Are Indicted on Mortgage Fraud Charges: The 13, employed in nearly every profession in the real estate industry — including lawyers, real estate agents, appraisers and bank workers — were accused of participating in 19 sham real estate transactions.

AIG Seeks OK For Another Round Of Bonuses!

Fed Warns Congress Again To Stay Away...

G8 Leaders Fear Double Dip Slump

IMF - World Is Pulling Out Of Recession (right)

Shipping Flashes Early Warning Signals Again

Not The Bullish G8 Leaders Wanted

BoE To Get UK Financial Super-Regulator Power

UK Energy Crunch As North Sea Oil, Gas Cash Dry Up

When Recovery Comes, It Won't Feel Like One

BoE To Pump Billions More Into Economy

Nearly 50,000 Empty Spots In Universities

Designed Suit Stockbroker Jumps After Sipping Champagne

Hedge Funds Law Will 'Strangle' City Of London

Six Charged In US With Boiler Room Fraud

Goldman Could Lose Millions From Code Theft

The Man Who Crashed The World

Proprietary Trading May Cause October Crash

Recession May Trigger Housing Crisis

$400B SIV Market Sold Off In Two Years

US Vows Crack Down On Oil Price Speculators

Oil Price Spike Coming?

Shares Fall On Tumbling Oil

Economists Dash Hopes Of UK Recession End

More economic issues

Swiss vow to block bank handing over data to USA...

Justice Dept. demands UBS comply in tax evasion case...

Dems Split on Stimulus as Job Losses Mount, Deficit Soars ...

PAPER: Billions in aid go to areas that backed Obama in '08...

---

Health bill? Billions for parks, paths, farmers' markets...

---

Food Nanny: Feds to oversee school snack food...

---

Budget Cuts May Force Illinois To Free 10,000 Prisoners...

Congress digs into spending bills...

White House hit in skirmishes...

The Man Who Crashed the World

By Michael Lewis

Almost a year after A.I.G.'s collapse, despite a tidal wave of outrage, there still has been no clear explanation of what toppled the insurance giant. The author decides to ask the people involved-the silent, shell-shocked traders of the A.I.G. Financial Products unit-and finds that the story may have a villain, whose reign of terror over 400 employees brought the company, the U.S. economy, and the global financial system to their knees. Continue

Australia: People's bank to break the Big Four: The so-called people's bank would be similar to New Zealand's successful Kiwibank, which was set up to break the dominance of the Australian-owned majors.

Big Banks Don't Want California's IOUs: A group of the biggest U.S. banks said they would stop accepting California's IOUs on Friday, adding pressure on the state to close its $26.3 billion annual budget gap.

Unemployment, Not the Stock Market, Distinguishes a Recession From a Depression: What are the most important and enduring characteristics of the Great Depression? And what should we monitor to determine how severe today’s situation really is?

Apartment Vacancy at 22-Year High in U.S., Says Reis : Job losses and falling wages are shrinking the pool of potential renters, defying forecasts that prospective homebuyers would rent rather that purchase as house prices decline.

True unemployment rate already at 20%: Not to scare you, but the situation is actually worse than it seems.

Goldman Could Lose Millions From Code Theft

The Man Who Crashed The World

Proprietary Trading May Cause October Crash

Recession May Trigger Housing Crisis

$400B SIV Market Sold Off In Two Years

US Vows Crack Down On Oil Price Speculators

Oil Price Spike Coming?

Shares Fall On Tumbling Oil

Economists Dash Hopes Of UK Recession End

Number Of London Homeless Leaps 15%

IBM To Shut Final Salary Pension Scheme

G8 Begins Amid Worsening World Recession Fear

Germany Considers Direct Lending

China's Dollar Delusion

EU Pushes For Cushion Banking Reform

G8 Risks Backtracking On Climate

Concerns Grow Over Gulf Banks

Govts 'Must Prevent Suicides During Recession'

Get The Cuffs - They're At It Again - Securitization

The Remedy - Nationalize The Money System

True US Unemployment Already 20%

CA Credit Rating Cut Close To Junk

Ex Goldman Employee Charged With Taking Secrets

British Airways Workers Vote Against Job Plans

Investment Banks, Like Roaches, Survive Nearly Anything

More economic issues

FBI: Mortgage fraud 'rampant' and growing...

Obama advisor: More Stimulus...

Wall St hits 10-week low...

Congress digs into spending bills...

US Lurching Towards 'Debt Explosion'
Long-term Interest Rates on Course to Double

By Philip Aldrick, Banking Editor

The US economy is lurching towards crisis with long-term interest rates on course to double, crippling the country’s ability to pay its debts and potentially plunging it into another recession, according to a study by the US’s own central bank. Continue

Calls grow to supplant dollar as global currency: The call to find an alternative to the U.S dollar as the global reserve currency is gaining momentum as France joined calls by China, India and Russia for a review of the world's currency practices.

US dollar focus of G8 summit: A sliding dollar would have massive repercussions for the world economy as it looks to emerge from one of the most savage recessions in generations, which has seen global trade collapse by up to 20 percent.

Delinquencies on U.S. Home-Equity Loans Reach Record: Late payments on home-equity loans rose to a record in the first quarter as 18 straight months of job losses and a slumping economy left more borrowers unable to pay their debts, the American Bankers Association reported.

Consumer loan delinquencies rise to record high: The number of people delinquent on their loans rose to a record high in the first quarter, according to the American Bankers Association.

California Hotel Foreclosures Double in Last Three Months: The number of California hotels in default or foreclosed on has jumped 125% in the last 60 days. The state now has 31 hotels that have been foreclosed on and 175 in default.

As California struggles, Fitch cuts debt rating: California suffered a new setback in its financial crisis on Monday when Fitch Ratings cut its rating on the state's general obligation debt to just two notches above junk status

Who Killed California's Economy?: . Unable to pay its bills, the state is issuing IOUs; its once strong credit rating has collapsed. The state that once boasted the seventh-largest gross domestic product in the world is looking less like a celebrated global innovator and more like a fiscal basket case along the lines of Argentina or Latvia.

Get The Cuffs - They're At It Again - Securitization

The Remedy - Nationalize The Money System

True US Unemployment Already 20%

CA Credit Rating Cut Close To Junk

Ex Goldman Employee Charged With Taking Secret

British Airways Worker Vote Against Job Plans

Investment Banks, Like Roaches, Survive Nearly Anything

Private Banks Must Restructure To Survive

Lowest-Paid Brits Pay More Tax Than Millionaires

BBC Cuts Program Budget Over £2B Pension Hole

Chinese Call For End To Dollar's Dominance

Calls Grow Within G8 To Expel Italy

G8 Should Focus On Fighting Protectionism

Don't Stop Spending, Brown Tells Europe

Currency Trading Tax To Help World's Poor

Euro House Price Slide Dims Recovery Hopes

PepsiCo Invests $1B In Russia

Gold Investors Add 43% To Bullion Holdings

Brown Warns G8 Of New Recession Dangers

US Lurching Towards 'Debt Explosion'

Unions And Firms Call For Peoples Bank

The Great 'Output Gap' Hides Threat Of Inflation

G8 Leaders Likely To Stand Firm On Stimulus

25% Of Graduate Job Possibilities Vanish

Banksters Love Cap And Trade

CA - A Day Of Reckoning

CA Heads Toward Depression

Goldman Sachs - Vampire Squid On Humanity's Face

India, Russia, China Question Dollar Dominance

The Unemployment Time Bomb Is Ticking

QE Sugar Rush For Broke Banks That Should Die

BoE Consider Expanding Qantitative Easing To £150B

We Are Losing The Opportunity To Rebuild Banking

UK Lines Up 'Doomsday' Cutbacks

City Financials To Hide Bonus Boom From Taxman

More economic issues

Germany's biggest bank admits spying on staff...

Income Surtax on Wealthy Taxpayers Likely in House 'Health-Care' Bill...

Obama Takes Bush’s Plutocratic-Socialism to the Next Level
By Chris Moore

As the federal government and the two-party regime running it have become ever more corrupt, the bubbles have become ever larger and more frequent. And it is these successively more frequent bubbles that have destroyed the American economy, bankrupted Americans, and simultaneously made these revolving-door federal government elite/plutocrat-socialists in both parties rich. Continue

---

Obamageddon is Coming!
4 minute video

Food riots, tax protests, strikes and high unemployment all will characterize our economic future according to Gerald Celente. Continue

---

Is There Life After Democracy?

By Arundhati Roy

What happens once democracy has been used up? When it has been hollowed out and emptied of meaning? What happens when each of its institutions has metastasised into something dangerous? What happens now that democracy and the Free Market have fused into a single predatory organism with a thin, constricted imagination that revolves almost entirely around the idea of maximising profit? Continue

---

The Crooks Get Cash While the Poor Get Screwed

By Chris Hedges

Tearyan Brown became a father when he was 16. He did what a lot of inner-city kids desperate to make money do. He sold drugs. He was arrested and sent to jail three years later for dealing marijuana and PCP on the streets of Trenton, N.J., mostly to white kids driving in from the suburbs. It was a job which saw him robbed at gunpoint and stabbed in the chest. But it made him about $1,400 a week. Continue

---

Happy Co-Dependence Day

By Cindy Sheehan

In our heart of hearts, do we really think that Obama is an agent of change for the people? Have we not been fooled, yet again? So, we lay all of our hopes and dreams for a better life on one person and allow the inevitable heartache of betrayal to wash over us and once again drown us in disappointment when that person turns out to be just another politician. Continue

Biden: `We misread how bad the economy was: Vice President Joe Biden said the Obama administration "misread how bad the economy was" but stands by its stimulus package and believes the plan will create more jobs as the pace of its spending picks up.

Day of Reckoning for California and Ultimately for All of America: Will our nation’s largest debtors meet their massive financial obligations? Or will many ultimately default?

Brown Warns G8 Of New Recession Dangers

US Lurching Towards 'Debt Explosion'

Unions And Firms Call For Peoples Bank

The Great 'Output Gap' Hides Threat Of Inflation

G8 Leaders Likely To Stand Firm On Stimulus

25% Of Graduate Job Possibilities Vanish

Banksters Love Cap And Trade

CA - A Day Of Reckoning

CA Heads Toward Depression

Goldman Sachs - Vampire Squid On Humanity's Face

India, Russia, China Question Dollar Dominance

The Unemployment Time Bomb Is Ticking

QE Sugar Rush For Broke Banks That Should Die

BoE Consider Expanding Qantitative Easing To £150B

We Are Losing The Opportunity To Rebuild Banking

UK Lines Up 'Doomsday' Cutbacks

City Financials To Hide Bonus Boom From Taxman

More economic issues

World stocks fall as oil drops to $64...

Futures lower...

COLD GREY SKIES GREET OBAMAS IN RUSSIA...

Obama's visit to bring over $1.5 billion in deals...

---

WIRE: California's Nightmare Will Kill Obamanomics...

USA lurching towards 'debt explosion'...

India Joins Russia, China in Questioning Dominance of U.S. Dollar...

Dollar discomfort thrust onstage for Italy summit...

---

Biden: 'We misread how bad the economy was'...

More economic issues

Much-needed tax refunds delayed from GA to CA....

TAX BILL APPEALS TAKE RISING TOLL ON GOVERNMENTS...

India Joins Russia, China in Questioning Dominance of U.S. Dollar...

Dollar discomfort thrust onstage for Italy summit...

Running On Empty

By Mike Whitney

Consumer spending is 70% of GDP, but consumers have suddenly stepped on the brakes. This is a real game-changer. Even if the credit markets are restored and the banks show a greater willingness to lend; there will be no return to the pre-crisis consumption-levels of the past. Those days are over. Continue

7 more banks fail as FDIC mulls rules for sales: Six Illinois banks and one bank in Texas were shuttered Thursday as government regulators proposed new rules for private equity firms seeking to take over failed banks.

Chamber of Commerce Launches $100 Million Campaign to Protect Wall Street's Power at Our Expense: The CoC is the world's most powerful lobbying machine and it's working to make sure our money gets funneled to corporate execs.

The New Homeowner Hallucination: : The next segment of the market to crash will be the mid- to high-end, where many smug homeowners are now telling themselves they'll just rent their houses for a year while they wait for the market to "come back." Needless to say, Mark thinks these folks are dreaming.

Woman Commits Suicide to Avoid Eviction: Newnam documented her life on Twitter as user rsangel04. Her last post on June 24 read, "Rich get richer, poor get poorer, families on the street, govt doesn't care. God bless the usa, but can He save it?"

In case you missed it
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man

How the U.S. Uses Globalization to Cheat Poor Countries Out of Trillions

By John Perkins

In his first book, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, John Perkins told the story of his work as a highly paid consultant hired to strong-arm leaders into creating policy favorable to the US government and corporations, what he calls the “corporatocracy.” John Perkins says he helped the US cheat poor countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars by lending them more money than they could possibly repay and then taking over their economies. Continue

---

Banks Own The US Government

By Dean Baker

Last month, when the US Congress failed to pass a bankruptcy reform measure that would have allowed home mortgages to be modified in bankruptcy, senator Dick Durbin succinctly commented: "The banks own the place." That seems pretty clear. Continue

GM and Ford suspend Russian plants: General Motors and Ford, the US car manufacturers, have suspended operations on their production lines in Russia.

Citi raises rates on millions of credit cards: report: Citigroup Inc has increased interest rates on up to 15 million U.S. credit card accounts just months before curbs on such rises come into effect, the Financial Times reported citing people close to the situation.

California budget crisis deepens: John Chiang, state controller, could now issue “IOU”-style notes by Thursday to the state's vendors, local agencies overseeing health programmes and recipients of state aid - including the elderly, the disabled and college students.

Hotel Loan Defaults Double as Recession Cuts Travel: As many as one in five U.S. hotel loans may default through 2010 as the recession means companies are spending less on travel and perks, according to University of California economist Kenneth Rosen.

Gannett Laying Off 1,000 as Ad Sales Slide: Gannett, which owns top-selling newspaper USA Today, is laying off more than 1,000 staff to try and combat persistent declines in revenue, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

Goldman Sachs The Fourth Branch of the U.S. Government: Best Financial Markets Analysis ArticleQuietly and almost unnoticed by most Americans, the US Federal Government introduced a fourth branch to its political structure in 2006.

Banksters Love Cap And Trade

CA - A Day Of Reckoning

CA Heads Toward Depression

Goldman Sachs - Vampire Squid On Humanity's Face

India, Russia, China Question Dollar Dominance

The Unemployment Time Bomb Is Ticking

QE Sugar Rush For Broke Banks That Should Die

BoE Consider Expanding Qantitative Easing To £150B

We Are Losing The Opportunity To Rebuild Banking

UK Lines Up 'Doomsday' Cutbacks

City Financials To Hide Bonus Boom From Taxman

European Commission Outlines Derivatives Reforms

India Plans Massive Liberalizatin Of Economy

Number Of Broke, Bankrupt Retirees Soars

Zombie Banks Will Need Much More Taxpayer Money

China Joins Carbon Tax Protest

Current Crash Called Severe 'Depression Era' Credit Bust

The Economic Strategy Of Imperial America

Inflationary Crack-Up Boom In G7 Economies!

The Keynesian System - The Economics Of Illusion

Sweden Cuts Deposit Rate To NEGATIVE .25%

SEC Investigator Raised Madoff Concerns Years Ago

Cap And Trade - Bad Medicine For A Sick Economy

More economic issues

DOWN ON THE 4TH OF JULY?


WHERE IS THE STIMULUS?

Jobless rate at 9.5%; 467K jobs cut in June...

26-year high...

---

'We're in the Middle of a Crash': Black Swan...

---

NY City Apartment Sales Down Over 50%...

---

Senate Dems say health bill covers 97%...

---

MORGAN STANLEY May Post Another Loss After Paying Back Bailout...

---

GM Plans 'Garage Sale' for Plants, Golf Course, Michigan Parking Lot...

More economic issues

IOU

Fuel tax could be replaced with by-the-mile road tax...

States work to stave off government shutdowns...

Feds could seize parks...

---

DEEP SUMMER SCHOOL CUTBACKS...

Bank Fees Rise as Lenders Try to Offset Losses...

Mortgage applications fall to 7-month low...

Private sector sheds another 473,000 jobs in June...

'Layoffs may be worsening'...

Banks Own The US Government

By Dean Baker

Last month, when the US Congress failed to pass a bankruptcy reform measure that would have allowed home mortgages to be modified in bankruptcy, senator Dick Durbin succinctly commented: "The banks own the place." That seems pretty clear. Continue

GM and Ford suspend Russian plants: General Motors and Ford, the US car manufacturers, have suspended operations on their production lines in Russia.

Citi raises rates on millions of credit cards: report: Citigroup Inc has increased interest rates on up to 15 million U.S. credit card accounts just months before curbs on such rises come into effect, the Financial Times reported citing people close to the situation.

California budget crisis deepens: John Chiang, state controller, could now issue “IOU”-style notes by Thursday to the state's vendors, local agencies overseeing health programmes and recipients of state aid - including the elderly, the disabled and college students.

Hotel Loan Defaults Double as Recession Cuts Travel: As many as one in five U.S. hotel loans may default through 2010 as the recession means companies are spending less on travel and perks, according to University of California economist Kenneth Rosen.

Gannett Laying Off 1,000 as Ad Sales Slide: Gannett, which owns top-selling newspaper USA Today, is laying off more than 1,000 staff to try and combat persistent declines in revenue, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

Goldman Sachs The Fourth Branch of the U.S. Government: Best Financial Markets Analysis ArticleQuietly and almost unnoticed by most Americans, the US Federal Government introduced a fourth branch to its political structure in 2006.

One In Five US Hotels May Default

Schiff - Cap & Trade Bill Giant Tax On Productivity - Vid

A Law To Tame Wild Bankers

Banking System Like South Sea Bubble

Lloyds Cuts Another 2,100 Jobs

Economy Shrinks At 1930s Rates

US Private Sector Drops Another 473,000 Jobs

Debt Is Capitalism's Dirty Little Secret

CA Passes BILLIONS In New Taxes!

Goldman Sachs The Fourth Branch of the U.S. Government

Bernanke Is A Total Failure Unsuited For Role As Fed Chairman

How The Fed Is Destroying America

Britain Faces New Recession

UK Economy Shrinking Fastest Rate In 50 Yrs

Where Did Madoff's Missing Billions Go?

Madoff - 'I Believe He Is Protecting Accomplices'

Quantitative Easing Fails To Unblock Banks

OECD Tells UK Cut Spending Or Face Hardship

World Oil Demand Forecast To Slump

Veon - Globalization Of World Banking & Regulatory System

US Housing Market Hasn't Hit Bottom

Madoff Gets 150 Years In Prison

Hidden Toxic Bank Assets Threaten Recovery

Financial Crisis - From Chaos To Complacency

Mandelson Rejects BoE Demand For More Power

China Banks An Accident In Waiting For Everyone

Russia Invites Shell Back To Sakhalin

General Motors Bad News Investor Webpage

California...Here We Come! - Buchanan

More economic issues

Consumer confidence suffers steep fall...

'Unexpected'...

Stocks Slump as Quarter Ends...

Deficit forces California to issue IOUs...

States brace for shutdowns...

True or False:
U.S. Economic Stats Lie

By Jack Hough

Surveyors collect the nation’s data and statisticians compile and report it. Politicians naturally want the numbers to show improvement. Not being able to change the facts, they focus on the handling of facts, pressuring statisticians to change their measurements. It’s not quite one grand conspiracy but decades of minor ones compiled. Today’s reports are so perverted, the theory holds, that the numbers have detached from common experience. Continue

Japan jobless at five-year high: The unemployment level, which was slightly worse than an average market forecast of 5.1 per cent, is close to a post-World War Two high of 5.5 per cent, which was last seen in April 2003.

The U.S. and the U.K. Will Both Default on Their Debt by the End of Summer 2009? : This evolution is likely to catch large numbers of economic and financial players on the wrong foot who decided to believe in today’s mainstream media operation of “euphorisation”.

Economy shrinks at fastest pace in 50 years: Britain's recession-battered economy shrank at its fastest pace in more than 50 years in the first quarter of 2009 in the worst global slowdown in decades, revised official data showed on Tuesday.

U.S. housing misery poised to enter new phase: Big risk factors that could spur more foreclosures include expectations of rising unemployment and the forecast resetting of interest rates on 2.8 million subprime and Alt-A mortgages in the next two years.

True or False: U.S. Economic Stats Lie: If Williams is right, unemployment is over 20%, gross domestic product is shrinking by 8% and consumer prices are jumping by nearly 7%. His forecasts border on apocalyptic.

CA Passes BILLIONS In New Taxes!

Goldman Sachs The Fourth Branch of the U.S. Government

Bernanke Is A Total Failure Unsuited For Role As Fed Chairman

How The Fed Is Destroying America

Britain Faces New Recession

UK Economy Shrinking Fastest Rate In 50 Yrs

Where Did Madoff's Missing Billions Go?

Madoff - 'I Believe He Is Protecting Accomplices'

Quantitative Easing Fails To Unblock Banks

OECD Tells UK Cut Spending Or Face Hardship

World Oil Demand Forecast To Slump

Veon - Globalization Of World Banking & Regulatory System

US Housing Market Hasn't Hit Bottom

Madoff Gets 150 Years In Prison

Hidden Toxic Bank Assets Threaten Recovery

Financial Crisis - From Chaos To Complacency

Mandelson Rejects BoE Demand For More Power

China Banks An Accident In Waiting For Everyone

Russia Invites Shell Back To Sakhalin

General Motors Bad News Investor Webpage

California...Here We Come! - Buchanan