tagged w/ Global Financial Crisis
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Now that President Obama is almost celebrating his bipartisan willingness to renew the tax cuts for the super-rich enacted under George Bush ten years ago, it is time for Democrats to ask themselves how strongly they are willing to oppose an administration that looks like Bush-Cheney III. Is this what they expected by Obama’s promise to rise above partisan politics – by ruling on behalf of Wall Street, now that it is the major campaign backer of both parties?
It is a reflection of how one-sided today’s class war has become that Warren Buffet has quipped that “his” side is winning without a real fight being waged. No gauntlet has been thrown down over the trial balloon that the president and his advisor David Axelrod have sent up over the past two weeks to extend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest 2 per cent for “just” two more years. For all practical purposes the euphemism “two years” means forever – at least, long enough to let the super-rich siphon off enough more money to bankroll enough more Republicans to be elected to make the tax cuts permanent.
Obama seems to be campaigning for his own defeat! Thanks largely to the $13 trillion Wall Street bailout – while keeping the debt overhead in place for America’s “bottom 98 per cent” – this happy 2 per cent of the population now receives an estimated three quarters (~75 per cent) of the returns to wealth (interest, dividends, rent and capital gains). This is nearly double what it received a generation ago. The rest of the population is being squeezed, and foreclosures are rising.
Baudelaire quipped that the devil wins at the point where he manages convince the world that he doesn’t exist. Today’s financial elites will win the class war at the point where voters believe it doesn’t exist – and believe that Obama is trying to help them rather than shepherd them into debt peonage as the economy settles into debt deflation.
We are dealing with shameless demagogy. The financial End Time has arrived, but Obama’s happy-talk pretends that “two years” will get us through the current debt-induced depression. The Republican plan is to make more Congressional and Senate gains in 2012 as Obama’s former supporters “vote with their backsides” and stay home, as they did earlier this month. So “two years” means forever in politician-talk. Why vote for a politician who promises “change” but is merely an exclamation mark for the Bush-Cheney policies from Afghanistan and Iraq to Wall Street’s Democratic Leadership Council on the party’s right wing? One of its leaders, after all, was Obama’s Senate mentor, Joe Lieberman.
READ MORE: http://globalpoliticalawakening.blogspot.com/2010/11/obamas-coming-sell-out-to-super-rich.htmlNow that President Obama is almost celebrating his bipartisan willingness to renew the... more
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Although it received very little coverage in the mainstream media, Barack Obama made some comments about globalism during his speech in Mumbai, India that were very eye-opening. As he was discussing the new realities of world trade in 2010, Obama warned against “those who see globalization as a threat” and he spoke of the “integrated world” in which we all now live. But is merging the entire globe into a one world economy, a one world financial system and a one world labor market really the best thing for the American people?
For the past two decades, all U.S. presidents have been heralding the benefits of merging the American economy with the rest of the globe. George Bush Sr., Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama have all steadfastly supported the emerging one world economy. These presidents have each used different terms to describe this process such as “globalism”, “globalization”, “an integrated world”, “the global economy” and even “a New World Order”, but they have all meant the same thing. All of these presidents have sought to integrate the United States even more deeply into the developing one world economic system.
Barack Obama showed very clearly how he feels about globalism when he made the following statement during his speech in Mumbai….
“This will keep America on its toes. America is going to have to compete. There is going to be a tug-of-war within the US between those who see globalization as a threat and those who accept we live in a open integrated world, which has challenges and opportunities.”
This is something that Barack Obama has obviously thought quite a bit about. In fact, during the same speech he warned that those supporting globalization will need to “guard against” those who would seek to put up barriers to the full integration of the economies of the world….
READ MORE: http://globalpoliticalawakening.blogspot.com/2010/11/barack-obama-we-must-embrace-globalism.htmlAlthough it received very little coverage in the mainstream media, Barack Obama made... more
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DUBLIN – Ireland's financial troubles loomed large Wednesday as investors — betting that the country soon could join Greece in seeking a bailout from the European Union — drove the interest rate on the country's 10-year borrowing to a new high.
The yield, or interest rate, on 10-year bonds rose above 8 percent for the first time since the launch of the euro, the European Union's common currency, 11 years ago.
Bond traders increasingly believe that Ireland soon will be forced to tap Europe's emergency fund for euro-zone nations facing a threat of bankruptcy. The 16 nations of the euro zone created that euro750 billion backstop in May as the EU and International Monetary Fund provided an emergency euro110 billion loan to Greece.
READ MORE: http://globalpoliticalawakening.blogspot.com/2010/11/irelands-crisis-flares-as-investors.htmlDUBLIN – Ireland's financial troubles loomed large Wednesday as investors... more
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Editor's Note: China wants the G20 to have the authority to "monitor" the Fed. Since the Fed has battled an audit by our own Congress it's doubtful it will happen, but it will be interesting to see if they concede any ground to accommodate global monetary cooperation.
China's state media has issued a new broadside at the US Federal Reserve's move to prime the US economy, suggesting the Group of 20 should monitor policy shifts by the US central bank.
The Xinhua news agency said in a commentary the Fed was "risking the global recovery by following its own track for economic revival" by spending an extra $US600 billion ($A593.65 billion) buying Treasury bonds to stimulate the US economy.
The comments were published just days ahead of two key summits this week - the G20 meeting in Seoul and the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum in Yokohama, Japan - that are expected to focus on rebalancing global trade.
READ MORE: http://globalpoliticalawakening.blogspot.com/2010/11/china-says-g20-should-monitor-us-fed.htmlEditor's Note: China wants the G20 to have the authority to "monitor"... more
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Following rumors of a “bank holiday” that could limit or prevent altogether cash withdrawals later this week, Twitter and other Internet forums were raging yesterday about numerous ATMs across the country that crashed in the early hours of Sunday morning, preventing customers from performing basic transactions.
It’s unknown whether the crashes were partly a result of a surge of people trying to withdraw their money in preparation for any feared bank shutdown, or if mere technical glitches were to blame. The fact that the problem affected numerous different banks in different parts of the U.S. would seem to indicate the former.
The Orange County Register reported that the problems were “part of a national outage” which prevented people from performing simple transactions such as cashing checks and withdrawing money.
READ MORE: http://globalpoliticalawakening.blogspot.com/2010/11/atms-crash-across-country-after-bank.htmlFollowing rumors of a “bank holiday” that could limit or prevent... more
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SEOUL, South Korea — Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker says the U.S. central bank's plan to buy hundreds of billions of dollars in government bonds probably won't do much to boost the economic recovery.
The Fed announced Wednesday that it would purchase $600 billion in Treasurys, aiming to lower long-term interest rates in an effort to spur spending and ultimately lower the U.S. unemployment rate, currently at 9.6 percent. The move comes on the heels of previous purchases of $1.7 trillion in mortgage and Treasury bonds.
Volcker told a business audience in Seoul that the Fed's bond plan is obviously an attempt to spur the U.S. economy but "is not the kind of action that's likely to change the general picture that I've described as slow and labored recovery over a period of time."
Read More: http://globalpoliticalawakening.blogspot.com/2010/11/volcker-calls-fed-plan-illusion-wont.htmlSEOUL, South Korea — Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker says the U.S.... more
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With the world on the verge of a currency war as the Federal Reserve follows through on its dollar-killing quantitative easing program, rumors are once again swirling of a “bank holiday,” during which US citizens will be prevented from withdrawing money or at least limited in the amount of the withdrawal they can make.
The bank holiday is rumored to be set for next week, with Tuesday November 11 pinpointed as the likeliest date.
According to radio host Steve Quayle, a pastor was told by one of the managers of a prominent east coast bank that banks would close for an undetermined amount of time, and that when they reopened, “all withdrawals by checks would be limited to $500 per week – no matter what the balance in the account is.”
Read More: http://globalpoliticalawakening.blogspot.com/2010/11/bank-holiday-rumors-swirl-amidst.htmlWith the world on the verge of a currency war as the Federal Reserve follows through... more
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Problem, Reaction, Solution: “Crisis is an Opportunity”
In May of 2010, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Managing Director of the IMF, stated that, “crisis is an opportunity,” and called for “a new global currency issued by a global central bank, with robust governance and institutional features,” and that the “global central bank could also serve as a lender of last resort.” However, he stated, “I fear we are still very far from that level of global collaboration.”[1] Well, perhaps not so far as it might seem.Problem, Reaction, Solution: “Crisis is an Opportunity”
In May of 2010,... more
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An eerie calm has descended upon world financial markets as they await perhaps the two most important financial events of the year this week. On Tuesday, investors will be eagerly awaiting the results of one of the most anticipated midterm elections in U.S. history. On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve is expected to end months of speculation by formally announcing the details of a new round of quantitative easing. If either the election or the meeting of the Federal Reserve open market committee delivers a highly unexpected result, it could have a dramatic impact on world financial markets. In fact, many are looking at this week as a potential turning point for the U.S. economy. The decisions that are made or not made this week could set us down a road from which the U.S. economy may never recover.An eerie calm has descended upon world financial markets as they await perhaps the two... more
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Financial institutions on Wall Street are preparing to pay a record 144 billion dollars in compensation and benefits, according to a study published in the Wall Street Journal. The payout, covering bonuses, premiums and stock options for the firm's executives and employees, is a four-percent raise over the previous record 139 billion dollars that was handed over in 2009.Financial institutions on Wall Street are preparing to pay a record 144 billion... more
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Tens of thousands protested against austerity cuts in Spain and Denmark last week as Germany's powerful unions warned of mass action and Hungary became the latest debt-ridden nation to slash spending.Tens of thousands protested against austerity cuts in Spain and Denmark last week as... more
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Several thousand demonstrators marched through the New York financial district this past week in a protest led by labor unions. They said Wall Street's biggest banks must account for record profits while average Americans still suffer financially.Several thousand demonstrators marched through the New York financial district this... more
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The UN is warning the global economic meltdown should prompt a major regulatory overhaul and the advent of a new global currency to replace the US dollar as the world standard. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, or UNCTAD, says the dollar’s preeminence worsens existing imbalances and further burdens debt-ridden countries. UNCTAD Director Heiner Flassbeck said the world’s leading economies have failed to introduce regulation that could take on the financial instruments that caused the meltdown.
CLICK LINK FOR FULL ARTICLE.....The UN is warning the global economic meltdown should prompt a major regulatory... more
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Yes, I know it sounds ridiculous.Just because a bunch of people use certain words to express themselves in fora(forums) doesn't mean that they're in some way foretelling the future,but...,but fact is that Cliff High was able to predict a number of specific and major events.Well, you'll be the judge of it! No wait, let time be the judge of it!Yes, I know it sounds ridiculous.Just because a bunch of people use certain words to... more
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From the article...>Despite signs of improvement in global markets, further coordinated actions are needed by governments and banks to ensure that a world economic recovery can take hold, a senior International Monetary Fund official said Tuesday.
"The unprecedented policy response, both in the financial and macroeconomic domains, is gradually beginning to restore market confidence," said Jose Vinals, director of the fund's monetary and capital markets department.
"But continued decisive and effective action is needed to preserve and strengthen these first signs of improvement and to help provide a more stable and resilient platform for sustained global growth," Vinals said in a briefing to discuss the IMF's latest Global Financial Stability Report.
The report indicated a significant deepening and spreading of the crisis beyond the mortgage-related assets in the U.S. responsible for sparking the turmoil. The IMF now projects that worldwide financial losses could top $4 trillion through next year, with the estimated damage from U.S. assets alone increased to $2.7 trillion from a previous forecast of $2.2 trillion in January.
Reflecting the widening scope of the crisis, loan losses and write-downs in assets originated outside the U.S. were also factored in for the first time. Losses from European assets are expected to reach $1.2 trillion through 2010, with estimates of $149 billion for Japanese assets and $340 billion for emerging markets.
Still, IMF officials sounded the most optimistic note yet about the crisis, saying recent improvements in some markets point to the possibility that write-downs could come in below those levels.
"Circumstances in some of the markets were worse than they are now" when the $4.1 trillion loss estimate was calculated at the end of March, Jan Brockmeijer, deputy director of the monetary and capital markets department, told Dow Jones Newswires after the briefing.
That figure is "slightly higher" than current mark-to-market write-downs would suggest, he said, adding that it would be too difficult to give a precise revision due to market fluctuations.
The market improvements have been "across the board" but not significant enough to alter the overall outlook, said Brockmeijer. Some of the biggest improvement has come from emerging-market spreads, which he said is in part due to the recent announcement of plans to triple the IMF's resources, and to countries like Mexico, Poland and Colombia lining up for the new flexible credit line to backstop sound economies.
"Certain emerging-market spreads have come in quite considerably since these liquidity facilities have been announced," said Brockmeijer.
Despite some positive signs, the IMF stressed the need for banks to raise a significant amount of additional capital, estimating that U.S. and European firms would need $875 billion more equity just to return to pre-crisis levels. U.S. banks are nearly halfway there, but European institutions have raised just a third of the capital that may be needed to restore market confidence, the report said.
"The key takeaway is that higher write-downs, together with market demands for both lower leverage and more stringent capital ratios will require financial institutions to hold more capital - whether raised in markets or provided by governments," said Vinals.
When asked about reports that the U.S. may convert some of the preferred shares it owns in banks into common equity - which would cover most of the need for capital among local banks - Vinals said it is a possibility, but that it is up to the government to decide.
Temporary nationalization may also be necessary for a "limited subset of cases" around the world, just long enough to stabilize the situation, said Vinals. But he also welcomed the Obama administration's public-private investment program to provide incentives for the private sector to buy up toxic assets.
"This is something which is useful in order to make private capital come back into tFrom the article...>Despite signs of improvement in global markets, further... more
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Yahoo Inc is preparing to lay off several hundred workers in the first round of cuts since Carol Bartz became chief executive in January, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.
The layoffs could be announced next Tuesday, when Yahoo reports its first-quarter financial results, the newspaper cited sources as saying.
Yahoo's last round of layoffs was in December, under former CEO and co-founder Jerry Yang. The company, which is the No. 2 U.S. Internet search provider, finished 2008 with roughly 13,600 employees, down by more than 1,600 employees from the third quarter of 2008.
A Yahoo spokeswoman declined to comment on the reports of further layoffs.
The cuts would come almost two months after Bartz implemented a broad internal management reorganization and as Yahoo explores partnerships to help revive its growth.
Yahoo and Microsoft Corp met recently to discuss a deal involving the company's search business, according to a source familiar with the matter who wished to remain anonymous.
The search company has projected that sales in the first quarter could be down as much as 16 percent at $1.53 billion.
Shares of Yahoo were up 3 cents at $14.10 in after hours trade.Yahoo Inc is preparing to lay off several hundred workers in the first round of cuts... more
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Kepano
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added this
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2 years ago
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Hawaii ranks 2nd among states in attracting 2009 federal earmark projects, averaging $234.96 per resident in “pork-barrel spending.”
The annual list put out by Citizens Against Government Waste highlights projects added to federal budget spending without congressional debate.
Alaska again topped the states in 2009 earmarks with $221.2 million in earmarks for a population of 686,293, or per-capita pork spending of $322.34.
Hawaii has earmarked $302 million for approximately 133 projects.
The nonprofit, nonpartisan Citizens Against Government Waste’s 2009 Congressional Pig Book lists 10,160 projects nationwide at a cost of $19.6 billion for fiscal 2009.Hawaii ranks 2nd among states in attracting 2009 federal earmark projects, averaging... more
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Kepano
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added this
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2 years ago
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Pepe Escobar: And how the US is shifting the crisis into the rest of the world.
The US Treasury will borrow no less than one trillion dollars from the developing world in 2009. It will need even more in 2010. Pepe Escobar argues the US is indeed in a privileged position: not only it unleashes a global financial crisis, it then sucks up money from all over the world, based on the fact that the US in fact remains the "manager" of choice of global capitalism. As if this was not hardship enough for the developing world, it now also has to cope with the resurgence of the discredited World Bank and IMF. A certain Tim Geithner has been through this before - during the Asian financial crisis in 1997/1998 - and then he got it all wrong.
.Pepe Escobar: And how the US is shifting the crisis into the rest of the world.
The... more
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By the wide stretch of the American River in Sacramento, history is repeating itself. Here, during the Great Depression of the 1930s, men and women who had lost everything and despaired of finding work built rough shelters and huddled around fires.
Now the spiral of job losses and house repossessions has left another wave of Americans homeless, and a new tent city is growing rapidly on lumpy, derelict land between the river and the railway tracks here in the capital of California.
There are more than 300 people living in scattered encampments stretching a couple of miles along the river bank. As many as 50 more arrive each week. Unemployment in Sacramento reached 10.4 per cent in January and California is suffering some of the worst repossession rates in the country, with as many as 500 people losing their homes every day last year.
Charity workers in the city can no longer cope with the number of people coming to them for help. The shelters are full, with one home that caters for women and children turning away 200 people a night.By the wide stretch of the American River in Sacramento, history is repeating itself.... more
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This isn't my video, I just want to share this. Please share this with others! The people of America must stand up and take hold of our own destinies.This isn't my video, I just want to share this. Please share this with others!... more
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