tagged w/ U.S. Budget
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Robert Pollin discusses the Congressional Progressive Caucus budget proposal.
Bio
Robert Pollin is Professor of Economics and founding Co-Director of the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His research centers on macroeconomics, conditions for low-wage workers in the U.S. and globally, the analysis of financial markets, and the economics of building a clean-energy economy in the U.S. Most recently, he co-authored the reports Job Opportunities for the Green Economy (June 2008) and Green Recovery(September 2008), exploring the broader economic benefits of large-scale investments in a clean-energy economy in the U.S. He has worked with the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Economic Commission on Africa on policies to promote to promote decent employment expansion and poverty reduction in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa. He has also worked with the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress and as a member of the Capital Formation Subcouncil of the U.S. Competiveness Policy Council.Robert Pollin discusses the Congressional Progressive Caucus budget proposal.
Bio... more
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President Barack Obama and congressional leaders reached a last-minute budget deal on Friday, narrowly averting a government shutdown. The deal would cut roughly $38 billion from a federal budget expected to exceed $3.7 trillion this year. We speak to Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University. "Many of us who supported President Obama just feel that he’s abandoned the field," Sachs says. "He’s left it to the right wing, which wants nothing more than taxes cut for the rich, whereas the American public is saying very clearly, in every opinion survey, one after another, if you want to close the deficit, go after taxes for the rich, raise them, cut military spending, cut the excess profits in the insurance industry and healthcare, do things that would really make a difference—don’t punish the poor." [includes rush transcript]President Barack Obama and congressional leaders reached a last-minute budget deal on... more
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Chart showing how this bear market compares with other bear markets.
Bottom line: it's worse...Chart showing how this bear market compares with other bear markets.
Bottom line:... more
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The federal budget deficit soared to $454.8 billion in 2008 as a housing collapse and efforts to combat the economic slowdown pushed the tide of government red ink to the highest level in history.
The Bush administration said Tuesday the deficit for the budget year that ended Sept. 30 was more than double the $161.5 billion recorded in 2007.
It surpassed the previous record of $413 billion set in 2004. Economists predicted a far worse number next year as the costs of the government's rescue of the financial system and the economic hard times hit the government's balance sheet.
Some analysts believe that next year's deficit could easily top $700 billion, giving the next president a formidable challenge.
The administration blamed this year's record deficit on a litany of economic woes. The prolonged housing slump sharply reduced economic growth and has sent the unemployment rate rising, developments that reduce tax revenues.
The federal budget deficit soared to $454.8 billion in 2008 as a housing collapse and... more
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* OCTOBER 8, 2008
Fed to Lend Directly to Companies for First Time Since Great Depression, Hints at a Rate Cut; Stocks Fall as Dow Hits 5-Year Low
The Federal Reserve said it will bypass ailing banks and lend directly to American corporations for the first time since the Great Depression, and it hinted strongly at further interest-rate cuts -- a cocktail of unconventional and conventional remedies for an economy whose prognosis is deteriorating rapidly.
The historic and potentially risky move of lending to nonfinancial corporations, the latest in a string of extraordinary steps taken by the Fed over the past month, carries the government deeper into the role of propping up private markets. Investors remain unconvinced any of it will work. * OCTOBER 8, 2008
Fed to Lend Directly to Companies for First Time Since Great... more
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"There are companies that have functioned in America for decades by borrowing money overnight. The cannot find money to borrow overnight."
Reid also warned that a member of the Democratic caucus had warned a major US firm was among those at the risk of foundering if a bailout bill was not passed soon.
"One of the individuals in the caucus today talked about a major insurance company, a major insurance company, one with a name that everyone knows that is on the verge of going bankrupt.
"That is what this is all about."
Reid did not identify the company, and it was not immediately clear which firm he was referencing." "There are companies that have functioned in America for decades by borrowing... more
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[YouTube Description: 6:52 mins.]
From: corbettreport
Added: October 01, 2008
Voters are rightly furious at the proposal to spend $700,000,000,000 that the government doesn't have to bail out Wall Street bankers who created the current economic crisis in the first place.
But why then aren't we concerned about the trillions of dollars the Federal Reserve is pumping into the system?
Or the trillions missing from the Pentagon?
Or the quadrillion dollar derivatives bubble.
For more news and economic analysis, visit:
http://www.corbettreport.com [YouTube Description: 6:52 mins.]
From: corbettreport
Added: October 01, 2008... more
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