Derivatives. You know that shadow banking system that is considered the main cause of the financial meltdown?
You know those not even understood financial vehicles which have caused billions in write downs?
Well, AIG wants to pay the people who create and trade these vehicles$450 million to retain them.
American International Group Inc., the insurer that nearly collapsed because of losses on credit- default swaps, offered about $450 million in retention pay to employees of the unit that sold the derivatives, according to two people familiar with the situation.
I put this up yesterday on DailyKos. It did not get much traction, but I think it is important to get people thinking about the issues raised. In short, the success of both the two-pronged bank bailout (TARP and the Fed’s largesse), and the stimulus bill, are going to depend on whether or not the U.S. economy is transformed. I don’t think there is much disagreement in the direction we need to shove the U.S. economy; BruceMcF has done a brilliant job of discussing some of the more important aspects of transportation.
by Zach Carter, Media Consortium MediaWire Bloggger
Since the U.S. is officially in a recession, and the Congressional Budget Office has predicted the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, just about everybody acknowledges that times are tough. Everybody, that is, except the National Republican Congressional Committee. Talking Points Memo's David Kurtz caught the Republican fundraising operation spouting some embarrassing doubletalk on their website earlier this week, including the proud declaration that "the U.S. economy is robust and job creation is strong."
In fact, job creation is non-existent. The U.S. economy is losing over half a million jobs every month and even optimistic Wall Street economists expect unemployment to keep rising for at least another year.
Yesterday I discussed the need, given our deflationary recession, to examine the reliability of economic indicators during past periods of deflation, specifically to the period from 1920 to 1950. Today I begin that examination with the 1920s.
II. The Roaring Twenties: monetary indicators
The Roaring Twenties was an era of productivity- and debt- fueled urban prosperity that contemporaries called "The New Era" in which supposedly all of humanity's economic problems had been solved. Little did people at the time know of the severe hardships that awaited them when the bubble burst. Monetarily the decade was begun with the bursting of World War 1's high inflation (much like Paul Volker was to burst 1970s' inflation 60 years later), that settled into disinflation (declining inflation) and finally into deflation.
Today I will examine the monetary component of Paul Kasriel's "infallible recession indicator" as applied to the 1920s.
Microsoft said Monday it had no plans to change its position on H-1Bs.
Last year, when Bill Gates appeared before Congress, BusinessWeek reported that Microsoft had received 959 visa petition approvals, roughly "one fifth as many as Infosys (Technologies, the top participant), while Intel got 369."
When it reported its quarterly earnings last week, Microsoft announced plans to fire about 5,000 employees. A spokesman said that some of the employees let go held H-1B visas but declined to get more specific.
Intel, which last week announced plans to close two plants in the U.S., similarly said that layoffs resulting from the economic slowdown would not factor into the company's H-1B plans.
I also have to include this line, which should be geek quote of the week:
This is war. Class war. Class warfare. Let's just call it what it is, for some reason the minute any person gets the title executive they somehow have entered some global boys club, thinking they can just rob the nation, their share holders and especially their employees blind...and it simply has to stop!
Since I've been questioning, listening to the Republicans again...bleaa, how much of President Obama's stimulus package would occur this year I thought it fair to link to an Angry Bear post which shows a different picture than the likes of Boehner would have you see.
One must love our Benedict Arnold corporations. In the Economic Stimulus package currently being crafted in Congress, the U.S. chamber of Commerce, G.E. and Catepiller are trying to strip out the Buy American provisions in the bill.
Ok, the U.S. is in trouble and we are going to use U.S. taxpayer funds to stimulate our economy....
therefore our U.S. corporations try to fight support of U.S. manufacturing, goods, raw materials and demand they do not have to buy materials and supplies from other American companies.
In Corporate Citizen - an Oxymoron?, are some policy recommendations to get our corporations and businesses in line with the United States national interest.
We only learn about this months later. And now they are almost back in the same position.
Britain was just three hours away from going bust last year after a secret run on the banks, one of Gordon Brown's Ministers has revealed.
City Minister Paul Myners disclosed that on Friday, October 10, the country was 'very close' to a complete banking collapse after 'major depositors' attempted to withdraw their money en masse.
The Mail on Sunday has been told that the Treasury was preparing for the banks to shut their doors to all customers, terminate electronic transfers and even block hole-in-the-wall cash withdrawals.
Only frantic behind-the-scenes efforts averted financial meltdown.
If the moves had failed, Mr Brown would have been forced to announce that the Government was nationalising the entire financial system and guaranteeing all deposits.
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