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

Obama Fundraising Trips Leave Taxpayers With Hefty Tab...Bondholders Push GM To Brink of Chapter 11... Anger over German role... POLL: Obama car involvement gets mixed grade... GOVERNMENT WILL OWN 'UP TO 69% OF GM'...TREASURY SELLOFF SPIKING INTEREST RATES...

Roubini: U.S. economy may dip again next year...California wants federal government to back its loans... Cities Face Bankruptcy Curbs...Faber: Inflation to 'Approach Zimbabwe Level'...OPEC SETS SIGHTS ON $80 OIL... ...prices hit six-month high near

Chevron, Shell and the True Cost of Oil

By Amy Goodman

The economy is a shambles, unemployment is soaring, the auto industry is collapsing. But profits are higher than ever at oil companies Chevron and Shell. Yet across the globe, from the Ecuadorian jungle, to the Niger Delta in Nigeria, to the courtrooms and streets of New York and San Ramon, Calif., people are fighting back against the world's oil giants. Continue

China warns Federal Reserve Over 'Printing Money'

By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

China has warned a top member of the US Federal Reserve that it is increasingly disturbed by the Fed's direct purchase of US Treasury bonds. Continue

Exploding Debt Threatens America

By John Taylor

Standard and Poor’s decision to downgrade its outlook for British sovereign debt from “stable” to “negative” should be a wake-up call for the US Congress and administration. Let us hope they wake up. Continue

China Is Now in Firm Control of U.S. Debt Market: It is hilarious listening to the propagandists try to “spin” the events in bond and currency markets to make it sound like the U.S. government is still operating from a position of strength.

GM bankruptcy 'inevitable': General Motors, the US car manufacturer, is facing bankruptcy after creditors rejected a proposal to swap $27bn in debt for 10 per cent of the company's stock.

Home prices fall at record pace in first quarter: The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller National Home Price index reported home prices tumbled by 19.1 percent in the first quarter compared to the first quarter last year, the largest drop in its 21-year history. Home prices have fallen 32.2 percent since peaking in the second quarter of 2006.