Not sure where to have posted this, if it's in the wrong area, my apologies. A while back there was some fantastic (not in a good way) maps of the recession. Darkened areas highlighting plant closures and job losses and what have you. By any chance, who did those articles and where were those maps originally seen from? If they were made by the author, can I borrow them? I am also planning on linking to such articles that originally had them. Thank you very much.
Laurence Fink, CEO of BlackRock appears to have guided his company through the minefields of the 2007-2008 financial collapse and emerged a well-positioned entity.
It's pretty rare for me to pay much attention to Mr. Corporatist Larry Summers. But in a Financial Times interview, at least one hears some realistic acknowledgment on what is going on with the economy:
“I don’t think the worst is over ... It’s very likely that more jobs will be lost. It would not be surprising if GDP has not yet reached its low. What does appear to be true is that the sense of panic in the markets and freefall in the economy has subsided and one does not have the sense of a situation as out of control as a few months ago.
The Washington Post is reporting the Obama administration might throw some $$$ to small businesses. These are the job engines as well as small business owners, when they go belly up, there is no social safety net at all.
The Obama administration is developing an initiative to take money from the $700 billion rescue program for the banking system and make it available to millions of small businesses, which officials say are essential to any economic recovery because they employ so many people, according to sources familiar with the plan.
While the Senate kills any hope of any real health care reform, it looks like the House is gonna stick it to the rich. This happens to have been the original campaign promise.
House Democrats agreed yesterday to raise taxes on the wealthy to pay for a sweeping expansion of the nation's health-care system, proposing a surtax on the highest earners that could send the top federal tax rate toward 45 percent.
Beginning in 2011, the plan would target all income over $350,000 a year for families and $280,000 a year for individuals, Democratic sources said. The surtax would start at 1 percent, rise to around 1.5 percent for families earning more than $500,000, then step up again, to around 3 percent, for families earning more than $1 million, Democrats said.
(AP) -- The Treasury Department is selling its financial stakes in bailed-out banks for one-third less than they're worth, potentially shorting taxpayers up to $2.7 billion, a bipartisan congressional watchdog says.
The estimated shortfall concerns warrants, financial instruments that allow Treasury to buy shares of the firms at a set price in 10 years. If the stock prices of the banks go up, as they are expected to do, taxpayers could reap a healthy profit.
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Below is my wish list for lines of inquiry for the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission that was created in May 2009. What lines of inquiry would you like to see from this "independent" commission? We must understand the extent of the problems that precipitated this crisis in order to make policy decisions that will prevent this from happening again. BTW, as of July 10, 2009, the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission has not been formed.
The Act that created the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission enumerated various issues that the Commission should and has the authority to address:
(1) to examine the causes of the current financial and economic crisis in the United States, specifically the role of--
(A) fraud and abuse in the financial sector, including fraud and abuse towards consumers in the mortgage sector;
It's Friday Night! Party Time! Time to relax, put your feet up on the couch, lay back, and watch some detailed videos on economic policy!
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