Clipmarks | rmowery's 'economy' clips

FDIC may borrow money from Treasury

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 11:26:16 GMT

clipped by: rmowery
clipper's remarks: Anyone else think this could be a bad idea?

I am left wondering who will purchase the "assets of the failed bank", if all these banks are failing or expected to fail.

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

FDIC may borrow money from Treasury: report

(Reuters) - Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) might have to borrow money from the Treasury Department to see it through an expected wave of bank failures, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The borrowing could be needed to cover short-term cash-flow pressures caused by reimbursing depositors immediately after the failure of a bank, the paper said.

The borrowed money would be repaid once the assets of that failed bank are sold.

"I would not rule out the possibility that at some point we may need to tap into (short-term) lines of credit with the Treasury for working capital, not to cover our losses," Chairman Sheila Bair said in an interview with the paper.

Tags: fdic, banking, us, treasury, bank failure, economy

Bush blames India's Middle Class for food proce hike

Mon, 05 May 2008 02:44:48 GMT

clipped by: rmowery
clipper's remarks: Neither Bush nor his administration can do anymore then point blames some place else for the problems the bushites have created.

Next he will be blaming little green men from mars.

Clip Source: www.dawn.com

Bush blames India’s middle class for food price hike

“There are 350 million people in India who are classified as middle class. That’s bigger than America. Their middle class is larger than our entire population,” observed Mr Bush. ‘‘And when you start getting wealth, you start demanding better nutrition and better food. And so demand is high, and that causes the price to go up.”

The remarks, made in a speech on economy and trade, earned him an immediate rebuke from India where a spokesman for the ruling Congress party said Mr Bush’s analysis was “completely erroneous” as India is not a food importer but a food exporter.

Mr Bush, however, is not the first US leader to blame India. Earlier this week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also expressed similar views. She said that improving incomes and prosperity in India and China were responsible for the rising food prices.

Tags: bush, rice, cheney, president, us, food, india

Bush Blames Congress for Not Passing Foreclosure, Gas Bills

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:54:26 GMT

clipped by: rmowery
clipper's remarks: What he should be doing is pushing alternative energy and pushing $$ out for implementation of alternative energies, etc.

NOT drilling for oil or ore refineries - of course he and his buddies don';t make anything if it is not oil!

Clip Source: abcnews.go.com

Bush Blames Congress for Not Passing Foreclosure, Gas Bills

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush said Tuesday that Congress is blocking his proposals to deal with high gas prices and dragging its feet on other issues to address the nation's sagging economy. He said he was open to any idea in terms of energy, including a proposal backed by John McCain and Hillary Clinton to suspend gas and diesel taxes this summer.

But, he said, he favored longer-term fixes, such as encouraging new oil production in the United States and the building of new refineries.

"It's a tough time for our economy," Bush said at a Rose Garden news conference. "Across our country, many Americans are understandably anxious about issues affecting their pocketbook, from gas and food prices to mortgage and tuition bills. They're looking to their elected leaders in Congress for action.

Tags: bush, economy, oil, alternative energy

Credit Crisis Adds Millions to D.C.'s Interest Payments

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 11:09:33 GMT

clipped by: rmowery

Clip Source: www.washingtonpost.com

Credit Crisis Adds Millions to D.C.'s Interest Payments

Just as subprime mortgage borrowers were teased into taking out loans they later could not afford when the interest rates spiked, scores of municipalities, schools, hospitals and even museums are now facing soaring interest payments on unconventional bonds that proved too good to be true.

The District has begun paying an extra $1.2 million every month because its interest payments have doubled, and in some cases even tripled, on $601 million of these bonds. That represents nearly one-seventh of the city's total debt and includes $24 million for the Washington Nationals' new stadium, the District's treasurer said. City officials were convinced by investment banks that these types of loans would be safe and cheaper than traditional borrowing.

Tags: credit, mortgage, bonds, auction-rate, securities, credit crisis, economy

States may free inmates to save millions $$$

Sun, 06 Apr 2008 03:37:48 GMT

clipped by: rmowery

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

States may free inmates to save millions

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Lawmakers from California to Kentucky are trying to save money with a drastic and potentially dangerous budget-cutting proposal: releasing tens of thousands of convicts from prison, including drug addicts, thieves and even violent criminals.

Officials acknowledge that the idea carries risks, but they say they have no choice because of huge budget gaps brought on by the slumping economy.

"If we don't find a way to better manage the population at the state prison, we will be forced to spend money to expand the state's prison system — money we don't have," said Jeff Neal, a spokesman for Rhode Island Gov. Don Carcieri.

At least eight states are considering freeing inmates or sending some convicts to rehabilitation programs instead of prison, according to an Associated Press analysis of legislative proposals. If adopted, the early release programs could save an estimated $450 million in California and Kentucky alone.

Tags: prisons, us, economy, savings

USA 2008: The Great Depression

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 01:14:35 GMT

clipped by: rmowery

Clip Source: www.independent.co.uk

USA 2008: The Great Depression

Food stamps are the symbol of poverty in the US. In the era of the credit crunch, a record 28 million Americans are now relying on them to survive – a sure sign the world's richest country faces economic crisis

By David Usborne in New York
Tuesday, 1 April 2008

We knew things were bad on Wall Street, but on Main Street it may be worse. Startling official statistics show that as a new economic recession stalks the United States, a record number of Americans will shortly be depending on food stamps just to feed themselves and their families.

Dismal projections by the Congressional Budget Office in Washington suggest that in the fiscal year starting in October, 28 million people in the US will be using government food stamps to buy essential groceries, the highest level since the food assistance programme was introduced in the 1960s.

Tags: depression, food stamps, welfare, aide, recession, economy, bush, cheney

Metal pipes worth more than some US homes

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 01:12:19 GMT

clipped by: rmowery

Clip Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Metal pipes worth more than some US homes

Copper pipes and wiring found in many of America's repossessed homes are now more valuable than the properties themselves.

Across the country thieves are stripping empty houses of the copper, aluminium, and brass in their plumbing and heating systems to take advantage of the crashing property market and the soaring price of scrap metal, much of which is sold to China and India.

The trend has accelerated as the glut of unwanted properties clog the market, dragging down house prices.

"Houses are getting stripped pretty quickly once they go through the foreclosure process," said Tony Brancatelli, a city councillor in Cleveland, Ohio, which has been particularly hard hit.

Tags: copper pipes, homes, metal, foreclosure, economy

'Bush Caused the Financial Market Meltdown'

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 01:07:38 GMT

clipped by: rmowery

Clip Source: english.ohmynews.com

'Bush Caused the Financial Market Meltdown'

In mid-March, while the Bush-Cheney Administration continued to ignore the worsening financial crisis, the Federal Reserve (Fed) finally took action by rescuing Bears Sterns, a large investment bank. Wall Street's fear of a financial market meltdown, however, continued to spread, compelling the desperate Fed chairman, Ben Bernanke, to quickly lower the Fed funds' rate to 2.25 percent. This is the rate that member banks charge one another.

Tags: bush, cheney, economics, finance, economy

From $70K to food bank, one family's struggle

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 21:48:16 GMT

clipped by: rmowery

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

From $70K to food bank, one family's struggle

ALTADENA, California (CNN) -- When she was laid off in February, Patricia Guerrero was making $70,000 a year. Weeks later, with bills piling up and in need of food for her family, this middle-class mother did something she never thought she would do: She went to a food bank.

It was Good Friday, and a woman helping her offered to pay her utility bill.

"It brought tears to my eyes, and I sat there and I cried. I was like, 'This is really where I'm at?' " she told CNN. "I go 'no way;' [but] this is true. This is reality. This is the stuff you see on TV. It was hard. It was very hard."

Guerrero is estranged from her husband and raising her two young children. She's already burned through her savings to help make ends meet, and is drawing unemployment checks. She has had to take extreme measures to pay for her interest-only mortgage of $2,500 a month. In fact, her mother moved in with her to help pay the bills.

Tags: economy, struggle, foodbank, food stamps

Millions of Jobs of a Different Collar

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 20:54:10 GMT

clipped by: rmowery

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Millions of Jobs of a Different Collar

EVERYONE knows what blue-collar and white-collar jobs are, but now a job of another hue — green — has entered the lexicon.

Presidential candidates talk about the promise of “green collar” jobs — an economy with millions of workers installing solar panels, weatherizing homes, brewing biofuels, building hybrid cars and erecting giant wind turbines. Labor unions view these new jobs as replacements for positions lost to overseas manufacturing and outsourcing. Urban groups view training in green jobs as a route out of poverty. And environmentalists say they are crucial to combating climate change.

Tags: green collar jobs, green, environment, alternative energy

Equity Loans as Next Round in Credit Crisis

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 20:45:44 GMT

clipped by: rmowery

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Equity Loans as Next Round in Credit Crisis

Little by little, millions of Americans surrendered equity in their homes in recent years. Lulled by good times, they borrowed — sometimes heavily — against the roofs over their heads.

Now the bill is coming due. As the housing market spirals downward, home equity loans, which turn home sweet home into cash sweet cash, are becoming the next flash point in the mortgage crisis.

Americans owe a staggering $1.1 trillion on home equity loans — and banks are increasingly worried they may not get some of that money back.

To get it, many lenders are taking the extraordinary step of preventing some people from selling their homes or refinancing their mortgages unless they pay off all or part of their home equity loans first. In the past, when home prices were not falling, lenders did not resort to these measures.

Tags: loans, economy, home equity

Russia bombers get NATO escort near Alaska: reports

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 21:29:20 GMT

clipped by: rmowery

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

Russia bombers get NATO escort near Alaska: reports

MOSCOW (Reuters) - NATO forces sent jets to escort two Russian long-range air force bombers patrolling neutral skies near Alaska on Wednesday, Russian news agencies quoted the defense ministry as saying.

Russia's military has resumed its Cold War practice of flying regular patrols far beyond its borders, and in the last year has also sent turbo-prop Tu-95s over U.S. naval aircraft carriers and the Pacific island of Guam.

Accompanied by two Il-78 refueling tankers, the two Tu-95 "Bear" bombers flew for 15 hours over the Arctic and Pacific oceans, Interfax news agency quoted Russian Air Force spokesman Alexander Drobyshevsky as saying.

"In the course of the air patrol, long-range aviation aircraft were escorted by NATO jets in the region of Alaska," said Drobyshevsky.

Originally designed to drop nuclear bombs, the Tu-95, Russia's equivalent of the U.S. air force's B-52, is a Cold War icon refitted for surveillance and maritime patrols.

Tags: russia, bombers, alaska, nato, economy

Food prices rising across the world

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 09:02:35 GMT

clipped by: rmowery

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

Food prices rising across the world

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AP) -- If you're seeing your grocery bill go up, you're not alone.

From subsistence farmers eating rice in Ecuador to gourmets feasting on escargot in France, consumers worldwide face rising food prices in what analysts call a perfect storm of conditions. Freak weather is a factor. But so are dramatic changes in the global economy, including higher oil prices, lower food reserves and growing consumer demand in China and India.

The world's poorest nations still harbor the greatest hunger risk. Clashes over bread in Egypt killed at least two people last week, and similar food riots broke out in Burkina Faso and Cameroon this month.

But food protests now crop up even in Italy. And while the price of spaghetti has doubled in Haiti, the cost of miso is packing a hit in Japan.

Tags: food, world, economy, hungry, food prices

$5,40/Gallon --Gasoline Sticker Shock Shocks Tourists Along Highway One

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 06:25:18 GMT

clipped by: rmowery

Clip Source: www.nbc11.com

Gasoline Sticker Shock Shocks Tourists Along Highway One

If you think you're paying a hefty price at the pump, wait until you see what we found at a gas station just south of the Bay Area.

NBC11's Bob Redell traveled to the city of Gorda where a gas station is charging $5.40 for a gallon of full service premium. It just might be the most expensive gas in the country, Redell reported.

Gorda is in Monterey County along Highway 1 and the closest gas station is 40 miles away.

Tourists couldn't believe what they were seeing, NBC11 reported.

Many said they would never pay that much for a gallon of gas. Others said they had no choice.

Tags: fuel, gas, california, economy

Wall Street may cut 20,000 jobs over 2 years: report

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 10:00:18 GMT

clipped by: rmowery

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Wall Street may cut 20,000 jobs over 2 years: report

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City risks losing more than 20,000 jobs in the high-paying financial sector over the next two years as the crisis in mortgage markets drives down Wall Street's profits, according to a report issued on Monday.

The city's Independent Budget Office, in its report, estimated that Wall Street's profits for 2007 will sink by more than 80 percent to the lowest level since 1994.

Profits for 2007 are expected to total just $3.2 billion, down from $20.9 billion in 2006, the report said.

Banks and brokerages account for almost 35 percent of all salaries and wages in New York City. Fallout from investments in the risky subprime mortgage market has forced Wall Street banks to write-down more than $150 billion -- and more red ink is expected.

Tags: wall street, nyc, us, stock market, economy, job loss