More Economic Issues

INVESTORS ASK SUPREME COURT TO HALT CHRYSLER SALE

Unemployment rises to 9.4%...

Hits 25-Year High...

Jobs Report Fuels Attacks on Obama...

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GE/NBC PUNISHED NEWSPAPER OVER COVERAGE OF 'SHAREHOLDER REVOLT'...

Oil prices spike above $70...

Securitization: The Biggest Rip-off Ever

By Mike Whitney

Is it possible to make hundreds of billions of dollars in profits on securities that are backed by nothing more than cyber-entries into a loan book? It's not only possible; it's been done. Continue

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Time to Break Up the Banks

By Peter Rothberg

This new video, which neatly breaks down the causes and effects of the economic crisis. Continue

Illiteracy in High Places

Forgetting What We Learned

By Paul Craig Roberts

The hubris is extraordinary. A bankrupt government that has to send its Treasury Secretary begging to China thinks it can spend limitless amounts in a futile effort to control the culture, mores, and political system of distant Afghanistan. Continue

U.S. jobless rate hits 9.4 percent: The BLS said the unemployment rate continued to rise, increasing to 9.4 percent from 8.9 percent. Steep job losses continued in manufacturing, while declines moderated in construction and several service-providing industries.

Canada Jobless Rate Hits 11-Year High, Led by Plants : A net 41,800 people lost their job during the month and the unemployment rate climbed more than expected to 8.4 percent, Statistics Canada said today in Ottawa.

Jobless Rate in Europe Rises Further: The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the 16 countries that use the euro currency rose to 9.2 percent in April, the highest rate since September 1999, from 8.9 percent in March, the Eurostat agency, the bloc’s statistics office, said Tuesday. In April 2008, the unemployment rate was 7.3 percent.

Ireland's unemployment rate hits 13-year high of 11.8 percent; welfare claims at record high: The report said the number of people claiming jobless benefits has nearly doubled over the past year to 397,000, an unprecedented high dating back to the foundation of the Irish state in 1922.

Housing Bubble Caused Great Depression, Too

Ingredients For Bull Run On Gold, Gold Stocks There

China Considers Buying $50B In IMF Bonds

German GDP To Fall 6%

Credit Card Rates Rise Despite Low Bank Rate

US Mtge Rates Surge To Highest Since December

What A State-Run GM Could Do

Uganda Oil Reserves Rival Saudi Arabia - US Expert

US Regulator Details Derivative Plans

Ex-Countrywide Chief Exec Charged With Fraud

House Seeks Bigger (ANY) Scrutiny Over Fed

Brown Resignation Rumor - Pound Plunges

British Airways Won't Rule Out End Of Pensions

Baby Boomers Last To Retire With Good Deals

Unemployment rises to 9.4%...

Highest Since July 1983...

Losses Slow...

Temp work helps mask joblessness...

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White House Set to Appoint a 'Pay Czar'...

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UPDATE: MANY STATES FACE WORSENING FISCAL CRISES...

Slimming down inmate meals...

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FAA Proposal Would Close 20 Weather Offices...

More economic issues

White House Set to Appoint a 'Pay Czar'...

UPDATE: MANY STATES FACE WORSENING FISCAL CRISES...

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FAA Proposal Would Close 20 Weather Offices...


OBAMA FACES TENSIONS WITH GERMAN GOVERNMENT...

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1 of every 6 dollars of Americans' income is government check or voucher...

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MICROSOFT to move jobs overseas if Obama tax plan goes through...

GOLDMAN sees new energy crunch; Oil at $85...

BARREL HITS NEW '09 HIGH...

Illiteracy in High Places

Forgetting What We Learned

By Paul Craig Roberts

The hubris is extraordinary. A bankrupt government that has to send its Treasury Secretary begging to China thinks it can spend limitless amounts in a futile effort to control the culture, mores, and political system of distant Afghanistan. Continue

U.S. Inflation to Approach Zimbabwe Level, Faber Says : The U.S. economy will enter “hyperinflation” approaching the levels in Zimbabwe because the Federal Reserve will be reluctant to raise interest rates, investor Marc Faber said.

Bankruptcy filings rise to 6,000 a day as job losses take toll: Consumer and commercial bankruptcy filings are on pace to reach a stunning 1.5 million this year, according to a report from Automated Access to Court Electronic Records.

Medical bills underlie 60 percent of U.S. bankrupts: study: More than 75 percent of these bankrupt families had health insurance but still were overwhelmed by their medical debts, the team at Harvard Law School, Harvard Medical School and Ohio University reported in the American Journal of Medicine.

War On Recession - Fail, Fail, Fail

Boom Times Are Back - Outside The US

Royal Canadian Mint Can Find Missing Gold

Latvian Debt Crisis Shakes Eastern Europe

EU Provides ¤19B To Tackle Unemployment

World's Airlines Face Grim Financial Future

FDIC Stall Sales Of Toxic Loans

Banks Should Pay For Own Bailouts

Bernanke Warns On Deficit

Barclays Pensions Scrapped

Indiana Tries To Block Fiat Buyout Of Chrysler

Those 'Greeen Shoots' Are Just Tumbleweed

Draft Emergency Action Program For California

Panzner - Holes In The China Recovery Story

Roberts - As The Dollar Falls Off The Cliff...

Fed's AIG Role May Be GAO First Target

Ron Paul's Audit The Fed Bill Neutered

Banks Run The Country

A Myth Concerning Gold Confiscation

3 Huge US Missteps In GM, Chrysler Bailouts

Geithner Says China Backs US Stimulus

Sens Grill GM, Chrysler Execs Re Dumped Dealers

KKR Plunges To $1.2 Billion Loss

Citi To Halt Executive Severance Payments

Bank Of England's Medicine Is Not Working

More economic issues

1 of every 6 dollars of Americans' income is government check or voucher...

Bernanke Warns Long-Term Budget Deficits Threaten Financial Stability...

'Why Ben Bernanke is right to be worried'...

Bond Market Blowout

By Mike Whitney

Last week's ructions in the bond market, leave little doubt that the financial crisis has entered a new and more lethal phase. Continue

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If You Are Stressed Now, Just Wait

Policymakers Have Created A Perfect Storm

By Paul Craig Roberts

The next shoe to drop will be the dollar’s loss of the reserve currency role. Then the US, an import-dependent country, will no longer be able to pay for its imports. Shortages will worsen price inflation and disrupt deliveries. Continue

Russia hopes to get behind the wheel: Mr Putin met in Moscow with Siegfried Wolf, co-chief executive of Canada’s Magna International, and German Gref, head of Sberbank, whose groups are due to take a controlling interest in GM’s spun-off European Opel division in a deal to be negotiated in the coming weeks.

Germany Blasts 'Powers of the Fed': "I view with great skepticism the powers of the Fed, for example, and also how, within Europe, the Bank of England has carved out its own small line," Ms. Merkel said in a speech in Berlin.

U.S. bankruptcy filings up 37% last month: U.S. consumer bankruptcy filings soared 37 percent in May compared with the same period last year, according to figures released Tuesday by the American Bankruptcy Institute.

California will run out of cash in 14 days: The state wallet is empty. The bank closed. Credit has dried up, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told lawmakers in a special Tuesday morning address at the Capitol.

State's unemployment fund short by billions: California is paying out so much for jobless benefits and collecting so little in payroll taxes that its unemployment insurance fund could be $17.8 billion in debt by the end of 2010

Draft Emergency Action Program For California

Panzner - Holes In The China Recovery Story

Roberts - As The Dollar Falls Off The Cliff...

Fed's AIG Role May Be GAO First Target

Ron Paul's Audit The Fed Bill Neutered

Banks Run The Country

A Myth Concerning Gold Confiscation

3 Huge US Missteps In GM, Chrysler Bailouts

Geithner Says China Backs US Stimulus

Sens Grill GM, Chrysler Execs Re Dumped Dealers

KKR Plunges To $1.2 Billion Loss

Citi To Halt Executive Severance Payments

Bank Of England's Medicine Is Not Working

UK Will Push Govt Spending 'To Soviet Levels'

Savvy Gulf Funds Question Global 'Rally'

Global Recession Makes World Less Safe

Bank Pays Staff To Take Five Years Off

Merkel Mauls Central Banks

Kroes Rips 'Obsolete' German Banking System

Where Is All US Exported Gold Coming From?

Asian Stocks Up For Fourth Day

Northwestern Mutual Makes First Gold Buy In 152 Yrs

Jim Willie CB - Quarterly $1 Trillion Monetization

Chinese Students Laugh At Geithner

California Will Run Out Of Cash In 14 Days

GM To Sell Hummer To Chinese

Toxic Assets A Bridge Too Far ­ Philly Fed Chief

China Backs US Dollar As Reserve Currency

Economic Recovery Is Wishful Thinking

Barclays Shares As Sheikh Sells Holdings

Geithner Assures China Its Dollar Assets Are Safe

Citigroup & GM Are Out In Revamp Of Dow Jones

Commodities And Oil Soar As Dollar Pounded

Sacrifices Needed To Save GM Says Obama

GM Bailout Only Delays The Inevitable Crash

Bad Design Driving Force Behind GM Malaise

GM - A Nostalgic Trip Down The Years

A History GM In Pictures

The 31 Yr Old In Charge Of Dismantling GM

Kidd - Boots On The Ground, County By County

Economic Crisis In Australia

Either Stocks Will Fall 37% Or Gold Will Rally 60%

US T Bonds In The Eye Of The Storm

Green Shoots? - Rail, Truck, Air Cargo Traffic Down

Did Bernanke And Paulson Commit Bank Fraud?

US Housing Bust, More Prime Mortgage Foreclosures

Palast - How Stevie The Rat Bankrupted GM

Michael Moore - Goodbye GM

GM Files For Bankruptcy

US Govt Takes 60% Of GM In Chapter 11 Bond Deal

Geithner To China - Deficit Will Be Tamed (Sure It Will)

Geithner Calls For New Ties With China

China's Manufacturing Expands In May

BoE Should Buy Toxic Assets Says IMF

UK Spending Higher Than In First World War

Tax Officials On Trail Of Hidden Wealth

South Korean Exports Dive 28%

Don't Write Off Deflation Danger Yet

The Big Collapse May Be Very Near

Chapman - Gold To Stand Against Big Devaluations

General Motors To File For Bankruptcy

Russian Oligarch Buys GM Europe

Why The Wheels Fell Off Germany's Economic Model

Pension Managers Lose $24B - Get $7M Bonuses

The Fed's Astonishing Runaway Theft Exposed - Vid

Peter Schiff - Weekly Summary - Vid

'Role-Play' Of Crisis At Norther Rock Years Ago

Ireland In Worst Loss Ever

US Bond Sell-Off Puts Pressure Elsewhere

US Economy Contracts 5.7%

Dollar No Longer Reserve Currency In Russia

Geithner Strikes Out In Beijing

Zoellick Warns Stimulus Just A 'Sugar High'

The Worst Is Yet To Come

'Unthinkable' U.S. Sales Tax Gets Fresh Look

More economic issues

Oil slides below $68 as investors eye inflation...

OPEC: OIL COULD REACH $90...

Geithner Says China Has Confidence in American Economy...

Says dollar assets safe...

Laughter from audience...

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Geithner faces sluggish market, rents out NY home...

States' Budget Woes May Get Worse...

Phoenix Bears Brunt of Hotel Market's Downturn...

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GM COLLAPSES INTO GOVERNMENT'S ARMS...

Latest in string of nationalized companies...



Hummer sold to Chinese...

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Germany Blasts 'Powers of the Fed'...

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Russian President may push 'new world currency'...

Economic Recovery is Wishful Thinking

By Dean Baker

The media has been touting whatever good economic news it can find. But the truth is economic recovery is nowhere in sight. Continue

The trillion dollar question: China or America?: Who is going to come out of the economic crisis stronger and with the whip hand - China or America,

U.S. manufacturing sector contracts for 16th straight month: - Economic activity in the U.S. manufacturing sector failed to grow in May for the 16th consecutive month but at a slower pace, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reported Monday.

Accounting error misplaces $2.3 billion in stimulus funds: If only there were a stimulus edition of Quicken. With billions of stimulus dollars flowing into the economy, some via historically unprecedented avenues, accounting mistakes were inevitable.

Where Is All US Exported Gold Coming From?

Asian Stocks Up For Fourth Day

Northwestern Mutual Makes First Gold Buy In 152 Yrs

Jim Willie CB - Quarterly $1 Trillion Monetization

Chinese Students Laugh At Geithner

California Will Run Out Of Cash In 14 Days

GM To Sell Hummer To Chinese

Toxic Assets A Bridge Too Far ­ Philly Fed Chief

China Backs US Dollar As Reserve Currency

Economic Recovery Is Wishful Thinking

Barclays Shares As Sheikh Sells Holdings

Geithner Assures China Its Dollar Assets Are Safe

Citigroup & GM Are Out In Revamp Of Dow Jones

Commodities And Oil Soar As Dollar Pounded

Sacrifices Needed To Save GM Says Obama

GM Bailout Only Delays The Inevitable Crash

Bad Design Driving Force Behind GM Malaise

GM - A Nostalgic Trip Down The Years

A History GM In Pictures

The 31 Yr Old In Charge Of Dismantling GM

Kidd - Boots On The Ground, County By County

Economic Crisis In Australia

Either Stocks Will Fall 37% Or Gold Will Rally 60%

US T Bonds In The Eye Of The Storm

Green Shoots? - Rail, Truck, Air Cargo Traffic Down

Did Bernanke And Paulson Commit Bank Fraud?

US Housing Bust, More Prime Mortgage Foreclosures

Palast - How Stevie The Rat Bankrupted GM

Michael Moore - Goodbye GM

GM Files For Bankruptcy

US Govt Takes 60% Of GM In Chapter 11 Bond Deal

Geithner To China - Deficit Will Be Tamed (Sure It Will)

Geithner Calls For New Ties With China

China's Manufacturing Expands In May

BoE Should Buy Toxic Assets Says IMF

UK Spending Higher Than In First World War

Tax Officials On Trail Of Hidden Wealth

South Korean Exports Dive 28%

Don't Write Off Deflation Danger Yet

The Big Collapse May Be Very Near

Chapman - Gold To Stand Against Big Devaluations

General Motors To File For Bankruptcy

Russian Oligarch Buys GM Europe

Why The Wheels Fell Off Germany's Economic Model

Pension Managers Lose $24B - Get $7M Bonuses

The Fed's Astonishing Runaway Theft Exposed - Vid

Peter Schiff - Weekly Summary - Vid

'Role-Play' Of Crisis At Norther Rock Years Ago

Ireland In Worst Loss Ever

US Bond Sell-Off Puts Pressure Elsewhere

US Economy Contracts 5.7%

Dollar No Longer Reserve Currency In Russia

Geithner Strikes Out In Beijing

Zoellick Warns Stimulus Just A 'Sugar High'

The Worst Is Yet To Come

'Unthinkable' U.S. Sales Tax Gets Fresh Look

More economic issues

FEDS MAY END UP OWNING CITIGROUP...

Michael Moore: Goodbye, GM...

Ralph Nader: 'For GM's voiceless owners -- the common shareholders -- it is a wipeout'...

Geithner tells China its dollar assets are safe...

World Bank President Calls Stimulus Measures 'Sugar High,' Says Unemployment Will Rise...

CHRYSLER bankruptcy judge pressured by White House to rule?

A new GM begins to emerge...

The 31-Year-Old in Charge of Dismantling...

ROMNEY TO OBAMA: Give GM Back To The People...

Goodbye, GM

By Michael Moore

As I sit here in GM's birthplace, Flint, Michigan, I am surrounded by friends and family who are filled with anxiety about what will happen to them and to the town. Forty percent of the homes and businesses in the city have been abandoned. Imagine what it would be like if you lived in a city where almost every other house is empty. What would be your state of mind? Continue

Anglo Irish Bank gets €4bn lifeline after Ireland's worst ever loss: The Irish government is injecting up to €4bn (£3.5bn) into the nationalised Anglo Irish Bank, which reported the worst loss in Irish history today and risked becoming a threat to the system.

Your Share of the US Debt: Your family’s share of the government debt is now over half a million dollars. A record $546,668, to be exact. That cheery Monday stat comes courtesy of a USA Today study, which claims that each American family’s share rose 12% in 2008. That’s $55,000 in new government debt last year for every US household – thousands more than the median household annual income. Here’s how it breaks down:

US Government takes 60% of GM in Chapter 11 bond deal: The United Auto Workers (UAW) union will take 17.5 per cent in shares and the governments of Canada and Ontario will lend $9.5 billion (£5.9 billion) and get 12 per cent equity and $1.7 billion debt in return. The US Government will provide an additional $30 billion in financing to get the giant through bankruptcy.

Crisis at the VA as Benefits Claims Backlog Nearly Tops One Million: - During the past four months, the Department of Veterans Affairs backlog of unfinished disability claims from grew by more than 100,000, adding to an already mountainous backlog that is now close to topping one million.

The 31 Yr Old In Charge Of Dismantling GM

Kidd - Boots On The Ground, County By County

Economic Crisis In Australia

Either Stocks Will Fall 37% Or Gold Will Rally 60%

US T Bonds In The Eye Of The Storm

Green Shoots? - Rail, Truck, Air Cargo Traffic Down

Did Bernanke And Paulson Commit Bank Fraud?

US Housing Bust, More Prime Mortgage Foreclosures

Palast - How Stevie The Rat Bankrupted GM

Michael Moore - Goodbye GM

GM Files For Bankruptcy

US Govt Takes 60% Of GM In Chapter 11 Bond Deal

Geithner To China - Deficit Will Be Tamed (Sure It Will)

Geithner Calls For New Ties With China

China's Manufacturing Expands In May

BoE Should Buy Toxic Assets Says IMF

UK Spending Higher Than In First World War

Tax Officials On Trail Of Hidden Wealth

South Korean Exports Dive 28%

Don't Write Off Deflation Danger Yet

The Big Collapse May Be Very Near

Chapman - Gold To Stand Against Big Devaluations

General Motors To File For Bankruptcy

Russian Oligarch Buys GM Europe

Why The Wheels Fell Off Germany's Economic Model

Pension Managers Lose $24B - Get $7M Bonuses

The Fed's Astonishing Runaway Theft Exposed - Vid

Peter Schiff - Weekly Summary - Vid

'Role-Play' Of Crisis At Norther Rock Years Ago

Ireland In Worst Loss Ever

US Bond Sell-Off Puts Pressure Elsewhere

US Economy Contracts 5.7%

Dollar No Longer Reserve Currency In Russia

Geithner Strikes Out In Beijing

Zoellick Warns Stimulus Just A 'Sugar High'

The Worst Is Yet To Come

'Unthinkable' U.S. Sales Tax Gets Fresh Look

More Dollar issues

Fed puzzled by yield curve steepening...
Geithner to Tell China No One More Concerned About Deficit Than Obama...


8 AM: BUST

World Bank President Calls Stimulus Measures 'Sugar High,' Says Unemployment Will Rise...

FDIC restricts interest rates at weak banks...



GM prepares for bankruptcy announcement...

...new GM begins to emerge...

ROMNEY TO OBAMA: Give GM Back To The People...

Ireland Set To Go Bust, Claims Economic Historian

By The Belfast Telegraph

His chosen prime candidate to go bust is "Ireland, followed by Italy and Belgium, and UK is not too far behind". Argentina is top of his list of shaky countries but "the argument that it can't happen in major western economies is nonsense". Continue

Chinese economists deem huge holding of US bonds "risky," : On the first day of U.S. treasury secretary Timothy Geithner's visit to China, the Beijing-based Global Times published a survey of 23 famous Chinese economists on Sunday, saying that the majority of them deemed the vast holding of U.S. bonds "risky."

Leap in U.S. debt hits taxpayers with 12% more red ink: Taxpayers are on the hook for an extra $55,000 a household to cover rising federal commitments made just in the past year for retirement benefits, the national debt and other government promises, a USA TODAY analysis shows.

Deep Cuts Threaten to Reshape California: . The cuts Mr. Schwarzenegger has proposed, if enacted by the Legislature, would turn California into a place that in some ways would be unrecognizable in modern America: poor children would have no health insurance, prisoners would be released by the thousands and state parks would be closed.

Hidden city under L.A. : A raid in Los Angeles County, California, has uncovered a hidden world beneath a busy freeway..

Ohio Food Stamp Participation Rates Soaring: Figures show than one in seven people in Cuyahoga County, Ohio's most populous county, received food stamps in February, an 8 percent increase from one year ago.

U.S. mortgage rate rise threatens housing recovery: A dizzying rise in U.S. mortgage rates this week has left homeowners worried about the government's ability to revive the housing market as a means to economic recovery.

Unemployment in U.S. Probably Surpassed 9% in May: Unemployment in the U.S. probably surpassed 9 percent in May for the first time in more than 25 years, underscoring forecasts that the economy will be slow to pull out of the worst recession in half a century, economists said before a report this week.

US Govt Takes 60% Of GM In Chapter 11 Bond Deal

Geithner To China - Deficit Will Be Tamed (Sure It Will)

Geithner Calls For New Ties With China

China's Manufacturing Expands In May

BoE Should Buy Toxic Assets Says IMF

UK Spending Higher Than In First World War

Tax Officials On Trail Of Hidden Wealth

South Korean Exports Dive 28%

Don't Write Off Deflation Danger Yet

The Big Collapse May Be Very Near

Chapman - Gold To Stand Against Big Devaluations

General Motors To File For Bankruptcy

Russian Oligarch Buys GM Europe

Why The Wheels Fell Off Germany's Economic Model

Pension Managers Lose $24B - Get $7M Bonuses

The Fed's Astonishing Runaway Theft Exposed - Vid

Peter Schiff - Weekly Summary - Vid

'Role-Play' Of Crisis At Norther Rock Years Ago

Ireland In Worst Loss Ever

US Bond Sell-Off Puts Pressure Elsewhere

US Economy Contracts 5.7%

Dollar No Longer Reserve Currency In Russia

Geithner Strikes Out In Beijing

Zoellick Warns Stimulus Just A 'Sugar High'

The Worst Is Yet To Come

'Unthinkable' U.S. Sales Tax Gets Fresh Look