I am a baby boomer, a post WWII son of 2nd generation immigrant parents. I'm a bit older than Paul Krugman, but I grew up in exactly the same America he talks about in "Conscience of a Liberal".
Postwar America was, above all, a middle-class society. The great boom in wages that began with WWII had lifted tens of millions of Americans - my parents among them - from urban slums and rural poverty to a life of home ownership and unprecedented comfort. The rich, on the other hand, had lost ground. They were few in number and, relative to the prosperous middle, not all that rich. The poor were more numerous than the rich, but they were still a relatively small minority. As a result, there was a striking sense of commonality: Most people in America lived recognizably similar and remarkably decent material lives.
The Fed's Term-Asset Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF) has experienced a drop in popularity from the previous month: Fed Requests for TALF Loans Drop 64% to $1.7 billion. What is amazing about this one month decrease is the spin related to the drop? Consumers not spending and hence using less credit. Hell no that would be too logical.
The reason for the drop: protections for American workers:
The Federal Reserve’s requests from borrowers for loans to buy asset-backed securities fell 64 percent from last month as investors balked at visa limits and possible political efforts to tax earnings.
Actually, snake oil may have some medicinal qualities to it but those who did peddle snake oil used shady and misleading sales tactics - interestingly very similar to AIG. The thought of snake oil salesman quickly came to mind after reading this NYT article: ‘No-Risk’ Insurance at F.D.I.C. . One would think that we would have learned by now that there is no such thing as "risk free" in our current market situation. So why is the Sheila Bair, Chairperson of the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) trying to sell us on the idea that any guarantees or insurance that FDIC is issuing that relates to the bailout plan are "risk free"?
The TARP Inspector General is opening an audit on AIG payouts.
American International Group Inc.’s payments to banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. after the insurer’s bailout are being probed by the chief watchdog of the U.S. financial rescue program.
Neil Barofsky, special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, has opened an audit into whether there were attempts made by New York-based AIG or the government to reduce the payments, according to an April 3 letter he wrote to Representative Elijah Cummings. The Maryland Democrat had requested the probe last month along with 26 other lawmakers.
An item on the CBS Evening News caught my attention. I wasn't able to find the story on the cbsnews.com site but here it is on CNN -- http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/03/31/bridge.microsoft/index.html under the title "Critics slam Microsoft bridge as waste of stimulus money".
I looked at FDIC’s 12/31/08 balance sheet. Note at the bottom of that link the estimate for total insured deposits: from Q3 to Q4 it increased only a smidge, to $4.8 trillion from $4.6 trillion.
Odd, no? Why such a small increase even though FDIC dialed up deposit insurance limits so significantly during Q4? FDIC Senior Banking Analyst Ross Waldrop told me during an interview last week that it’s because so-called “temporary” increases in deposit insurance are excluded. If included, these would boost total insured deposits from $4.8 trillion to $6.2 trillion.
FDIC’s total commitments would increase an additional $224 billion to $6.4 trillion if you include debt issued prior to the new year under FDIC’s “Temporary” Liquidity Guarantee Program.*
Sallie Mae said Monday that it will bring 2,000 jobs to the U.S. within the next 18 months as it shifts call center and other operations from overseas.
Sallie Mae even acknowledges that Americans need those jobs.
For all looking, they are in Reston, Virginia and these positions are call center, I.T. and I.T. support type jobs.
According to the Office of Thrift Supervision and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, an astounding number of mortgages that have been modified through various programs end up in default.
Consistent with last quarter’s findings, the report also showed that re-default rates on modified mortgages were both high and rising during the first three quarters of 2008, with loans modified in the third quarter showing the highest re-default rates. For example, the percentage of modified loans that were seriously delinquent (60 or more days past due) after eight months was 41 percent for loans modified in the first quarter and 46 percent for loans modified in the second quarter. The trend appeared to continue for loans modified during the third quarter.
So, you're in deep trouble, you want help, you modify your mortgage...oops, you're still screwed.
I'm old enough to clearly remember their lies. Their promise to us was that we would "think" while others would "sweat".
It sounded too good to be true, and like anything that sounds too good to be true, it was a lie.
The pro-globalization, pro-free trade crowd was very clear. If we lowered our trade barriers to cheap foreign imports, while we retrained our workforce, other nations would do the hard, manual work of producing goods while we would do the do the mental stuff of high-tech goods and services.
It was an appeal to our egos. They tried to manipulate us with false pride, and it worked to some extent.
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