Re: GLOBAL ECONOMY
Posted: 25 Nov 2008 09:14
Doobai will soon hit the sweet spot of recession cycle. Watch all the obscene display of wealth turn into images of abandoned ruins slowly consumed by the sands.
Consortium of Indian Defence Websites
https://forums.bharat-rakshak.com/
Spinster, Why the surprise. There is a small copyright logo at the bottom right. Who ever publishes it first get the rights.John Snow wrote:
Acharya Garu>> Fantastic work, the bar graph you created gives a picture perfect view of the state of Banks in USA. By the way looks like, your work has been appropriated by AP.![]()
Is there away you can claim rights to it?
Remind them it is not correct on their part not to acknowledge the source as "Acharya".
Aye, its a lot harder than picking up ones pet goat and moving onNeshant wrote:Land is that its taxable and immovable. You cannot pack up and run off with land. If you stop paying your taxes, you'll soon find out who really owns all land.Land...folks...land...land and more land. It should be a part of ones primary investment for all times. We spring forth from it and return to it...we can learn to live off it as well.
Well...if VP cannot "understand" the usualness of such cost cutting measures, may be he does not deserve to be one.Neshant wrote:Vice president at a company I know was given the axe after working there for years. The fund which had bought out the company perhaps felt they could do without him so they gave him the pink slip.
He got furious and refused to leave the premise! They called the cops and sent him packing.
K_Reddy wrote:What a scam they have pulled off for so many years. Printing dollars as they like, selling it to us to import what ever they want.
AIG CEO's salary is $1; no pay hike for top executives
26 Nov 2008, 0959 hrs IST, PTI
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Busi ... 758630.cms
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NEW YORK: Troubled insurance giant American International Group In (AIG), for which the US government doubled the rescue package to USD 150 billion earlier this month, on Tuesday said that its CEO would get a salary of only one dollar and there would be no pay hikes for its top executives through 2009.
Separately, leading German reinsurance company Munich Re said that it is interested in buying the life insurance business of AIG in Asia.
Announcing compensation restrictions that go beyond the government's directive as part of its bailout package, AIG said its CEO Edward M Liddy would be given an annual salary of just one dollar in 2008 and 2009.
There would also be no annual bonuses in 2009 and no salary increase through 2009 for AIG's top-seven-officer Leadership Group, AIG said.
Besides, AIG has decided against no salary hike through 2009 for the 50 next-highest executives, in addition to bonus, severance and retention award restrictions.
AIG, for which the US government on November 11 nearly doubled the bailout package to 150 billion dollars from 80 billion dollars previously, is planning to sell some of its assets, including life insurance business in the US, Europe, Latin America and Japan, to recover from a financial mess.
Announcing the pay restrictions for its executives, AIG also said that it is developing a funding structure to ensure that no tax payer dollar is used for annual bonus or future cash performance awards for AIG's "Senior Partners," or the top 60 management people.
Commenting on the move, AIG Chairman and CEO Liddy said, "AIG's senior executives recognize AIG's obligation to tax payers.
"We are extremely grateful for the assistance we have received, and we know we have an obligation to use hat assistance to help AIG recover, contribute to the economy and repay tax payers," Liddy said.
The initial compensation for Liddy, who joined AIG on September 18, will consist entirely of equity grants, showing his confidence in AIG and its team.
While he would not receive an annual bonus in 2008 and 2009, he might be eligible for a special bonus for extraordinary performance payable in 2010Liddy will also not be eligible for severance payments.
Besides, Paula Rosput Reynolds, Vice Chairman and Chief Restructuring Officer, who joined AIG in October, will receive no salary or bonus in 2008. In 2009 and beyond, other than her base salary, any other compensation she receives will be tied directly to the progress of the restructuring efforts.
The other five members of AIG's top-seven-officer Leadership Group will not receive annual bonuses for 2008 or salary increases through 2009.
AIG's Senior Partners will not earn long-term performance awards in 2008 and they will not receive salary hikes in 2009, and their 2008 and 2009 annual bonuses will be limited.
Besides the restriction against any severance payment for the CEO, there will be restrictions on severance payments to members of the top-60 management members.
One of my friends who runs an IT consulting company in US said this. Few years ago Saudis needed IT consulting services in KSA. They specifically demanded that all consultants must be goras and no Indians. In fact they were willing to pay more for gora consultants. My friend had no problems and supplied them at higher rate.geeth wrote:It is the typical Arab mentality.
Nice, these guys at the top never take any responsibilities.Citi went wrong in real estate: CEO Vikram Pandit
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Citi ... 759221.cms
26 Nov 2008, 1205 hrs IST, REUTERS
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NEW YORK: Citigroup Inc Chief Executive Vikram Pandit on Tuesday blamed prior management for diving too deeply into real estate, causing losses that led to this week's massive government bailout of the second-largest US bank by assets.
"What went wrong is we had tremendous concentration in the sense we put a lot of our money to work against US real estate," Pandit said in an interview on PBS' Charlie Rose show. "We got here by lending money, and putting money to work in the US real estate market, in a size that was probably larger than what we ought to have done on a diversification basis."
The government late Sunday rescued Citigroup by agreeing to shoulder most potential losses from a $306 billion portfolio of risky assets, and by injecting $20 billion of new capital, in its biggest effort to prevent a large US bank from failing.
Citigroup has lost $20.3 billion in the last year, and many expect further losses from credit cards and other areas tied to the global economic crisis to pile up.
Since closing on Friday at $3.77, Citigroup shares have risen 61%, and closed on Tuesday up 13 cents at $6.08 on Monday. They have nevertheless tumbled 79% this year, after closing last year at $29.44.
Pandit said in the interview that short-sellers, as well as investors worried about Citigroup's asset quality, were among those who drove the bank's shares down in recent sessions, and that it was important "that we got control of the situation."
"I can completely understand how people on Main Street, people who are not close to this industry, would be furious at what's happened," he said.
Some wealthy investors have begun or pledged to begin buying Citigroup shares.
A Mexican brokerage controlled by Carlos Slim, one of the world's wealthiest people, spent about $150 million to buy nearly 29 million Citigroup shares between Nov 19 and Nov 25.
Meanwhile, Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal last week said he plans to boost his stake in the bank to 5% from less than 4%.
The government reported Tuesday that the overall economy, as measured by the gross domestic product, shrank at an annual rate of 0.5 percent in the July-September quarter, reflecting the fact that consumer spending, which accounts for two-thirds of economic activity, fell at the fastest pace in 28 years.
A weak reading for October would indicate that the current quarter could be off to a rocky start. Nariman Behravesh, an economist at IHS Global Insight, said he was expecting GDP to shrink at a 4 percent rate in the current quarter, reflecting the battering consumers are taking from the worst financial crisis since the 1930s. He predicted that the economy would remain in recession through the first half of next year.
"We are in the early stages of one of the worst recessions in the postwar period, even factoring in a massive stimulus program," Behravesh.
The other reports due out Wednesday were also expected to show further October weakness with orders to factories for big-ticket durable goods plunging by 3 percent and sales of new homes falling by 3 percent, according to the Thomson Reuters survey.
Meltdown 101 Why Fed can easily offer money help
Graphic shows money spent by the federal government in efforts to contain the financial crisis;
http://www.southernledger.com/ap/201469 ... money_help
By Pete Santilli (AP)
Published: 2008-11-26 17:10:02
Location: WASHINGTON
The Bush administration had to strive mightily to win congressional approval of a $700 billion rescue package for the financial system. Now, with no muss and no fuss, the Federal Reserve has announced an even bigger program totaling $800 billion.
What gives Ben Bernanke and his colleagues such power _ and what are the consequences of the Fed's actions?
Here is a look at the Fed's powers and how they are being used to deal with the most serious financial crisis in more than seven decades.
Q: What did the Fed do this week?
A: In the latest in a series of bold moves, the central bank announced on Tuesday that it would purchase up to $600 billion in mortgages and mortgage-backed securities _ investments, in other words _ that are either owned or guaranteed by financial giants Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae, and the Federal Home Loan Banks.
The Fed said it would also create a new program to make up to $200 billion in loans to institutions where the collateral is various types of consumer loans ranging from credit card debt to auto loans and student loans.
Both moves were made in an effort to lower mortgage rates and other consumer loan rates and make those loans more available, in an effort to deal with a prolonged credit crisis that is threatening to pull the country into a severe recession.
Q: What's unusual about the Fed's actions?
A: The Fed normally is not in the business of buying mortgage-backed securities or making loans to boost the market for securities backed by such assets credit card debt and auto loans. In the current crisis, the central bank is using powers it last used extensively during the Great Depression.
Q: How did the Fed suddenly come up with $800 billion to fund these two programs, when the Bush administration had to engage in extensive negotiations with Congress to get legislation for a $700 billion program to help the nation's banks?
A: The short answer is that the Fed used the power it has to print money. It doesn't actually crank up printing presses, but it can create all the money it needs through a few computer key strokes.
Q: That's pretty impressive. How did it get that kind of power?
A: Congress gave the Federal Reserve that power when it created the Fed in 1913 as the nation's central bank, responsible for controlling the nation's money supply. The Fed's goal is to create enough money to keep the economy growing at a steady rate while guarding against creating so much money that it triggers inflation.
Q: How much extra money has it created during the current crisis?
A: Right before the credit crisis first struck with force in August 2007, the Fed's balance sheet stood at $850 billion. As of last week, that figure totaled $2.2 trillion _ nearly a threefold increase.
Q: What is the Fed doing with all of that money?
A: It is essentially pumping it into the financial system, mainly by making loans to banks, giving them added resources with the hope that they will turn around and make more loans to businesses and consumers.
Q: Isn't there a danger that creating all that extra money will fuel inflation?
A: Analysts say that the threat of inflation is not the biggest risk facing the country at the moment. They compare the current economy to a person who has just suffered a serious heart attack. The immediate need is to use a defibrillator to shock the person's heart back to life _ or, in the case of the economy, to supply massive amounts of money to get the credit markets working properly again.
Once that is done, the Fed can worry down the road about withdrawing all the extra money it has supplied to make sure that inflation doesn't become a problem.
Q: How difficult is it for a central bank to withdraw the extra money it injected into the economy before inflation gets out of hand?
A: Throughout history, there are plenty of examples of countries that let inflation get out of control. The last bout of high inflation in this country occurred in the 1970s and early 1980s when a series of oil price shocks sent the country into a period of stagflation _ stagnant growth together with persistently high inflation.
Analysts think that scenario is possible with the current downturn, but they note that the Fed has caught a break, in the form of a 60 percent drop in oil prices since crude hit a record at $147 per barrel in mid-July. The fall in oil prices, along with the severe economic slowdown, should dampen inflation pressures.
Heard this from 2 independent sources: that in some Gulf countries, they will bring in goras with low/no qualifications and give them managerial jobs, for no other reason than they are gora. In one case, a desi with a B.E., doing a core engineering job, was working for a Brit who was a truck driver- this was in Dubai or Qatar. Another person said the very same thing...this was in the context of a bank-type job. I dont know how wide-spread this is, but if it is, one has to really wonder about how such a mind-set can exist in the 21st century.shyam wrote:One of my friends who runs an IT consulting company in US said this. Few years ago Saudis needed IT consulting services in KSA. They specifically demanded that all consultants must be goras and no Indians. In fact they were willing to pay more for gora consultants. My friend had no problems and supplied them at higher rate.geeth wrote:It is the typical Arab mentality.
This is absolutely true and I had personal experience. It was my first consulting experience abroad from India when IT consulting was just starting to bubble in mid 90s. I was assigned to design and develop a temporary solution to a Qatar based Arab company that is investing in retail cloth store franchise of a British company in Moscow. It is not a complex system even for my low experience of that time. All it needed was inventory management, fix the sales prices using the cost prices (in USD and Pound) and data feeds to Teller machines of the store. The manager was also Indian at Qatar and we flew together to Moscow to implement this "temporary solution" so that the permanent solution from a Brit company will be implemented at a later date. Inspite of the Manager's peer reivew of the not working software from the Brit company he(Arab owner of the franchise) persisted by saying "they are Brits and they know everything. It got to be complicated". I competed my so called temporary solution and the store is functioning with its barcoding, teller machine software, sales data and reports. I left the place in three months and the Arab guy waited for an year to implement the Brit's sofware for almost an year. The manager insisted that he can get the whole thing from TCS in 10% of the price that he is paying to Brit company. He did not agree because Brits have to be great as compared to Indians. The most funny part is that I was almost forgetting the assignment and I am planning to move to US and here comes a call from that UK company with a job and they desperately wanted me to help them in understanding the system ( year passed and they are still using my temp solution). Being young and immature, I was extremely angry and felt so sad for being not getting the recognition that I deserved. The Qatar company's Indian manager was very philosophical and kept my spirits up. Due to the anger I did not accept the job of implementing the "would be great software from Brits" in the oher stores he is planning to start in Ukraine and other just seperated SU countries.SriKumar wrote: Heard this from 2 independent sources: that in some Gulf countries, they will bring in goras with low/no qualifications and give them managerial jobs, for no other reason than they are gora. In one case, a desi with a B.E., doing a core engineering job, was working for a Brit who was a truck driver- this was in Dubai or Qatar. Another person said the very same thing...this was in the context of a bank-type job. I dont know how wide-spread this is, but if it is, one has to really wonder about how such a mind-set can exist in the 21st century.
Arab country and their identity are created by British during colonial times and they are mentally colonized. They got their information about Indians and Hindus from British folks.Muppalla wrote: Inspite of the Manager's peer reivew of the not working software from the Brit company he(Arab owner of the franchise) persisted by saying "they are Brits and they know everything. It got to be complicated".
He did not agree because Brits have to be great as compared to Indians.
Nandu wrote:Three month T-Bills are at 0.1% yield today (up from 0.03% in the chart above in Acharya's post).
In either case, it is essentially equivalent to handing money over the U.S. government and then paying them for the privilege of holding on to it safely for you.
Apparently, Dubya said he was 'sorry' the economic crisis was happening.Battered by record foreclosures and falling tax revenue, cities are laying off workers, raising fees and closing libraries and recreation centers.
"Almost every city in the country is feeling the impact," says Chris Hoene, director of policy and research at the National League of Cities.
The house may be safe but with a bad credit report you cant get a good job or anything else that requires a credit check. I personally know a case of job denial based on credit report(It was a financial client).Nandu wrote:Even withe new laws consumers/borrowers have lots of advantages with housing. In most states, a first mortgage is non-recourse, i.e. the lender cannot demand anything more than the house itself in return for the loan not being paid. Also, in many states, your primary residence is exempt from being lost in a bankruptcy.
That's because we Indians have not kicked their arse in a long time. Arabs only respect those who disrespect them. What we need to do is set up a radioactive mushroom cloud in Riyadh. That'll get their attention.Neshant wrote:The vast pool of coolies leave them with the impression that people of the subcontinent are little more than slave labor. Whether bidis and pakis are aware of that is something i wonder.
Not that they could tell the difference but are most of the coolies there Indians, bidis or pakis? I'm talking specifically about construction and other menial labor from there on down.
Man, even that company will not be able to take on Honda.Singha wrote:Newsweek has a soln to the Big-3 automaker problem:
Merge all of them down into one company
One of the great things about this recession and stock market collapse is that it has hit the finances of missionaries and islamists very severly. The stock market was a great way these people could store money and raise money. That is gone now.Doobai will soon hit the sweet spot of recession cycle. Watch all the obscene display of wealth turn into images of abandoned ruins slowly consumed by the sands.
IIRC that was in March 2003. It did not go unnoticed. Many people noticed and adjusted their strategies accordingly.K_Reddy wrote: A few years ago they stopped posting M3 data! That was an earthquake that went unnoticed!
I speak American corporate big wigs and even they believe the whole system is a sham and totally manipulated. I hope they don’t succeed in fooling us again and we finally have a meaningful readjustment.
Obama was elected for a very simple reason - so that the American people could be fooled again into believing that real change is possible.There was a lot of hope that Obama will change things. Sadly I don’t see this happening. All I see is more bailouts and more make-believe prosperity.