December 2010

2010 Census Data Dribbling In

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The first release of 2010 Census data shows the United States population increased 9.7% in a decade to 308.745,538. The House of Representatives districts are based on Census data and the political maps are changed as a result of the new numbers.

The most populous state was California (37,253,956); the least populous, Wyoming (563,626). The state that gained the most numerically since the 2000 Census was Texas (up 4,293,741 to 25,145,561) and the state that gained the most as a percentage of its 2000 Census count was Nevada (up 35.1% to 2,700,551).

Regionally, the South and the West picked up the bulk of the population increase, 14,318,924 and 8,747,621, respectively. But the Northeast and the Midwest also grew: 1,722,862 and 2,534,225.

Additionally, Puerto Rico's resident population was 3,725,789, a 2.2 percent decrease over the number counted a decade earlier.

While Nevada grew 35.1% in population, Michigan declined 0.6%. This is the slowest population percentage growth since 1940.

The press is already calculating out the redistricting of the House of Representatives. Bloomberg has Texas gaining 4 House seats with Ohio and New York both losing 2 seats in the House of Representatives. California remains unchanged.

18 states lost or gained congressional districts. Texas, as expected, gained the most seats, moving from 32 to 36 seats. Florida was the only other state to gain multiple seats, adding two and bringing it to 27 seats.

Audit Firm Ernst & Young to be Sued for Lehman Brothers Repo 105s

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Remember the hearings on Repo 105 debt hiding scams with Lehman Brothers? How Bill Black called the SEC criminally negligent for letting Lehman Brothers move $50 billion dollars in liabilities temporary off their books with an accounting trick, a Repo 105 transaction?

It seems New York Prosecutors are going to sue Ernst & Young over these accounting gimmicks used to temporarily make a firm look more solvent. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is going after the audit firm in civil court.

Prosecutors in New York are set to file civil fraud charges against accounting firm Ernst & Young LLC over the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, the Wall Street Journal said on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The suit, led by Andrew Cuomo, could come as early as this week and might seek to impose fines and other penalties, the paper said.

A spokeswoman for Ernst & Young said the company did not comment on speculation and repeated a previous statement made by the firm about its dealings with Lehman Brothers.

"Throughout our period as the auditor of Lehman, we firmly believe our work met all applicable professional standards, applying the rules that existed at the time," the statement said.

A Credit Rating Downgrade for France?

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Bloomberg is reporting Moody's will downgrade France:

France risks losing its top AAA grade as Europe’s debt crisis prompts a wave of downgrades that threatens to engulf the region’s highest-rated borrowers, with Belgium also facing a possible cut, analysts and investors said.

Ireland earlier was downgraded 5 credit rating levels to Baa1.

If You Can't Build an Economy, Steal One

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The United States International Trade Commission released a report on China's intellectual property rights infringement against U.S. firms. To no surprise, the report describes how China's refuses, isn't capable to either enforce U.S. intellectual property rights and in some cases, outright steals them.

Infringement of intellectual property rights (IPR) in China reduces market opportunities and undermines the profitability of U.S. firms when sales of their products and technologies are undercut by competition from illegal, lower-cost imitations.

To make matters worse, the Chinese courts are a hydra of rules and for small companies it is simply too expensive to try to do anything about the latest rip off.

China also enacted indigenous intellectual property policies, which is a glorified way of requiring advanced R&D be done locally in order to be recognized. Imagine (the good news for U.S. workers), if the United States required all advanced R&D to be done locally and by Americans to be considered valid. That's what China is doing.

“Indigenous innovation” policies, which promote the development, commercialization, and purchase of Chinese products and technologies, may also be disadvantaging U.S. and other foreign firms and creating new barriers to foreign direct investment (FDI) and exports to China.

Senseless Panic Book Review

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senseless panic
Bill Isaac, former chair of the FDIC during the Savings & Loan Crisis and bail out critic, has written a new book, Senseless Panic: How Washington Failed America. If you want to read a definitive forensic accounting of the 1980's Savings and Loan crisis, this is the one to get.

The book is loaded with details, from someone who personally was involved in the past financial crisis. In fact Isaac lead the charge to try to stop the TARP bail out. The book is loaded with real world details yet written in a short but sweet, cut to the chase style. Take this examination of Tim Geithner's phone logs as an example, where you too will raise an eyebrow:

SEC Charges Alternative Energy With Fraud

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The SEC has charge an Idaho company, Alternative Energy with fraud:

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged an Idaho company on Thursday with fraudulently raising money from investors across the country and Asia to build a $10 billion nuclear power plant.

The SEC also asked a court to freeze the assets of Alternate Energy Holdings Inc. and its two top executives.

Merry Christmas - To the Wealthy, Love Congress & Obama

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Now that the tax bill has passed, here come the additional Xmas gifts no one heard of.

Bloomberg outlines another gift to the rich, this time in the form of Roth IRAs.

The extension of current income-tax rates gives wealthy taxpayers the equivalent of an interest-free loan if they convert a regular Individual Retirement Account to a Roth by Dec. 31.

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