Perspectives on the global economic meltdown (Jan 26 2010)

shravan · Post by **shravan** » 19 Feb 2010 23:43

Housing help for unemployed, underwater borrowers

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Under pressure to do more for troubled homeowners, President Obama is expected to announce on Friday a $1.5 billion program to help borrowers in the five states hit hardest by the housing crisis.

The initiative calls for pumping money into state housing agencies in California, Arizona, Nevada, Florida and Michigan to fund programs to prevent foreclosure for people who are unemployed or who owe more than their homes are worth.

amol.p · Post by **amol.p** » 20 Feb 2010 10:08

Frustrated Owner Bulldozes Home Ahead Of Foreclosure

"When I see I owe $160,000 on a home valued at $350,000, and someone decides they want to take it – no, I wasn't going to stand for that, so I took it down," Hoskins said.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.inf ... e24804.htm

amol.p · Post by **amol.p** » 20 Feb 2010 10:21

Slump in Tax Revenue Creates State of Siege

Since states can't run general funding deficits, closing gaps mean raising taxes, cutting services and resorting to one-time measures. No prizes for guessing which option politicians prefer. A big one is $246 billion of stimulus transfers from Washington. More than half of this pot will have been spent by the end of this year. And while states had estimated rainy-day funds of $36.5 billion in fiscal year 2009, it is likely they have since drawn them down significantly.

Between 2000 and 2008, state debts—distinct from other municipal debts—almost doubled to about $1 trillion, according to the Census Bureau...{ How come debt dounle in Boom period..????}.The bigger issue is retirement obligations.

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB2 ... DkyWj.html

UK-Jobless claimant count jumps to highest since 1997

The number of Britons claiming jobless benefit jumped unexpectedly in January and at its fastest rate in 6 months, raising fears that an improvement at the end of last year may have been little more than a blip.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE61G1SJ20100217

Hari Seldon · Post by **Hari Seldon** » 20 Feb 2010 14:41

Weekly roundup in TAE tweets:
http://twitter.com/AutomaticEarth

China's "ant tribe" poses policy challenge for Beijing (Young college graduate living in shanties, struggle for work), http://bit.ly/da9uxt

Huh, Hoovervilles in Cheena too and actually got reported about?? Wonder what the Beijingos will say about this....

Matt Taibbi writes on, Wall Street's Bailout Hustle, http://bit.ly/9TDtUq (Must read, clear, concise, the con artists at work)

O yes, 400% recommended read only.

How JP Morgan treats its clients: scandalously and in bad faith (Scandal in Mexico), http://bit.ly/c9qzPT, great stuff from Felix Salmon

Tie this in with moi post in the prev page odd re the scandalousy reputation the erstwhile blueblood I-banks have garnered since the last 18 months. Tie also JPM's stellar abuse of privilege and outright fraud in the Jefferson county, AL case from a yr ago. After all this, if anyone still does business with them, then they darn well deserve to lose their shorts only.

States may be forced to reduce benefits,raise taxes or slash services to address a $1 Trn funding shortfall in pensions,http://bit.ly/96c01k

Yup, that's right. That's a trillion dollah shortfall. 'Jai oh' onlee. Dunno how they'll get out of this hole. But first they ought to at least consider stopping digging even deeper.
Dollahoakbar.

Shock as British deficit equals that of Greece, 12.8% of GDP, http://bit.ly/ctsBQc

UK public sector posted a deficit of £4.3bn in Jan, a month with usually higher tax revenues. First Jan deficit since records began in 1993!

Hmmm. So not only is UKstan's past deficit among EU's highest, its well on track to beat past records in the coming year. Ain't that grand? Long live the Mervyn King!

Record number of Americans in danger of losing their homes as loans in foreclosure rose to a 4.58% of all mortgages, http://bit.ly/aym2ND

Wow. so at least some of 'em banks have decided to bite the bullet and recognise 'em losses, eh?

WP: 3,000 community banks -- 40% of the banking system -- have a high proportion of commercial real estate loans relative to their capital

Bye bye community banks.

US Trucking failures to accelerate this year, http://bit.ly/afPDIg ('08 saw 5,500 bankruptcies, '09 saw 2,220. Many just shut down)

Net sales at Walmart's 3,400 plus US stores fell 0.5% YoY to $71bn, while comparable store sales declined 2%. Customer traffic also fell!!!!

More sad news trickling outta the khanate. Dunno what to say, only. My sincere sympathies.

Hari Seldon · Post by **Hari Seldon** » 20 Feb 2010 14:47

TAE's Ilargi spouting strong words here (TIFWIW)

the spigots on the private sector are not just closed, they’re still tightening ever more. While at the same time, government debt keeps rising. There can be only one conclusion. The only thing that lets our economies continue to exude a semblance of normality is the dwindling rests of our own remaining wealth, and we are not only not adding any, we are spending what is left, and fast.

Our governments, eager to stay in power and remain wealthy, keep us thinking we’re doing just fine, borrow enormous amounts of money in world markets that is not used for any sort of recovery, but instead to pay for the debts of a small group of people who gained access to our full faith and credit by buying the representatives we elect.

And once the Federal Reserve starts raising interest rates, while simultaneously drawing down its purchases of Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities, we will come to understand that we have been living in a soapbubble of our own making, built at the expense of many trillions of dollars and that this bubble is about to pop. That is true in the US as it is in the UK, and all the attention presently squandered on Greece and Ireland is but a trick to make us look the other way for a little bit longer, until everything of value has been stripped from around us and we can wake up one day to find all support and stimulus measures vanished into thin air, a bad moon rising, and a cold wind blowing through the cracks of our unheated MacMansions, with no gas stations able to supply us with the fuel to get out and get away.

Whoa! Thats rather mad maxian, IMO. Can't get so bad now, can it. I sure hope not, for all our sakes. And c'mon, its not at all likely anyway. TIFWIW.

Hari Seldon · Post by **Hari Seldon** » 20 Feb 2010 14:55

This one's fittin and relevant here in this thread onlee.

Hari Seldon · Post by **Hari Seldon** » 20 Feb 2010 19:57

Okie. Kindly get your beer, popcorn and hankeys ready. (order extra, kal match ke liye bhi kaam ayega)

Been pointing out that public sector unions among other parasitic special interests feeding of the status quo (i.e taxpayer kitty) will not get up and leave when the music stops and the chairs start running out. They'll fight and it'll get ugly.

Well, its barely getting started out in haughty, moralistic eurostan.

Greek Customs Workers’ Strike Dents Exports, Cuts Fuel Supplies

Greek motorists lined up at gas stations as fuel stocks dwindled while a strike by customs workers over government austerity measures stretched into a fourth day, hurting imports and exports.

The Federation of Greek Customs Workers called a three-day strike on Feb. 16 and decided yesterday to extend the action by six days to protest government austerity measures aimed at trimming Europe’s biggest budget deficit.

Greece is once again “hostage to strikes by powerful labor union groups,” the National Federation of Greek Commerce said in an e-mailed statement. The strike is “catastrophic” for the country’s trade and industry as well as shipping, food and transport companies and the Greek consumer, said the Athens- based organization, which represents Greek commerce groups.

Exports have fallen 18 percent since the beginning of the customs strike as the shipping of goods via maritime, rail and air links is paralyzed, Christina Sakellaridi, president of the Panhellenic Union of Exporters, told private Skai radio today.

Greece’s taxi drivers also staged a 24-hour strike today, the second in as many weeks, to protest measures including an increase in fuel tax and the obligation to give customers receipts, part of the Greek government’s efforts to clamp down on tax evasion.

Essentially, Greek exports plunged 18% due to the customs strike.
One may ask, "well, at some point the public is gonna revolt against the strikers and dump the whole lot, no?"
No.
In Greece, the public sector ("l" extra) is a full third of GDP. Yup, munch on that a while. Besides, CPM ruled Bengal uninterrupted for 35 yrs sponsoring bandhs despite being in gubmint in the state, who says eurostani unions can't hold out at least 35 months? Eh?

Greek unions launch 1st assault on austerity plan
See, union wallahs aren't fools. The strikes are planned to do maximum damage. Godo going folks, you alone stand between reclaiming your gubmint and the global bankster cabal forcing austerity down your throat to preserve their wealth. I'm with you, o protestors. "Unionized Public workers of the world, unit! and strike!"

A civil servants' strike grounded flights and shut down public services across Greece on Wednesday, as labor unions mounted their first major challenge to austerity measures in the debt-plagued country.

Air traffic controllers, customs and tax officials, hospital doctors and schoolteachers walked off the job for 24 hours to protest sweeping government spending cuts that will freeze salaries and new hiring, cut bonuses and stipends and increase the average retirement age by two years.

"It's a war against workers and we will answer with war, with constant struggles until this policy is overturned," said Christos Katsiotis, a representative of a communist-party affliated labor union.

Bravo!
Wonder if the greek military is unionized, eh? If I were Turkey, I'd certainly be funneling hawala money into greek media campaigning for a unionized military only..... the cyprus problem could be solved in a jiffy permanently, eh?

But of course, we all knew that greece is like, what, the fringe or more sophistrycatedly, the 'periphery' of eurostan. no? The heart, the center, the core of eurostan - Germany and fwance, remain strong as ever. No?
No.
Sample this.
Sarkozy, Unions Clash on Taxes, Benefits as Pension Talks Start

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and eight government ministers met business and labor leaders to start talks on cutting retirement-system losses, with the sides clashing over taxes and benefit cuts.

The negotiations begin in April, after a report on the pension system’s finances is completed, with proposed laws coming after September. Union leaders said today they won’t accept an increase in the retirement age of 60, while Sarkozy said he won’t consider additional taxes.

“I reaffirmed that we won’t allow the right of retirement at 60 to be put into question, and we won’t accept an increase in working years,” Jean-Claude Mailly, secretary general of union Force Ouvriere, said as he left today’s meeting. “Pensions are a financial problem, a question of fiscal policy.”

Sarkozy said on Jan. 25 that he won’t increase social-security contributions because French taxes are already high.

Wah taj.

Meanwhile, contagion happens,. German unions smell sh1t. And promptly fire back.
German unions flex muscles as economy stutters

Germany's powerful trade unions are flexing their muscles, pressing for wage increases and job guarantees just as Europe's biggest economy struggles to emerge from its worst post-war recession.

Pilots at Lufthansa, Europe's biggest airline by sales, voted on Wednesday to stage next week what is being billed as one of the most severe strikes in Germany in recent years.

Meanwhile, about 300 easyJet airline cabin crew walked off the job on Thursday morning at Berlin's Schoenefeld airport, causing the cancellation of seven flights.

But it is in the public sector that Germany's unions are making themselves heard the most, with about 120,000 workers across the country stopping work in early February in what unions called "warning strikes."

The industrial action kept buses in their depots, flights grounded, kindergartens closed and rubbish uncollected across Germany, Europe's top economy.

"In the private sector, unions have seen that the crisis left deep wounds last year and have been more open to cooperation," said Gernot Nerb from the Ifo institute. "But in the public sector, the unions have more room to act."

"In the current situation the unions have to be honest what their demands will mean: higher taxes, more debts, higher kindergarten fees and the closure of libraries, theatres and swimming pools," Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said this month.

How much longer this can go on is uncertain, however, as Berlin seeks to balance its budget and as government stimulus programmes run out, and to prepare itself for the long term challenge of an ageing population.

Well, the times they are a changin' indeed.
All this unionized dramabazi is posturing. a negotiating tactic. There's not enough supply to satisfy demand, so something'll have to give. All this is positioning for a slightly bigger piece of that pie.

joshvajohn · Post by **joshvajohn** » 21 Feb 2010 00:39

Swiss may yield on bank secrecy for wider EU access
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6 ... arketsNews

Offshore centers seek to solve bank secrecy riddle
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61D2LQ20100214

When Swiss govt calls for all sorts of human rights issues from different countries and all sort transparency and accountability from around the world, why their banks cannot be transparent and accountable to a fair and proper globalization process. I mean if there are serious tax evaders from different countries including India have their money in their banks, why should they protect in the name of secrecy. Many of the Indian government officials and politicians including present central and state ministers have large amount of money (purely through bribe or through arms transactions or other businesses) in the bank account which has to be given to the government and if there are tax evaders then they should pay for their black money or at least invest in the industries or shares in Mumbai. This money could be used in order to invest in new green industries and jobs so that the effect of the recession can be reduced on the common people.

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 21 Feb 2010 01:36

http://www.slate.com/id/2245328/
Basically, It's Over
A parable about how one nation came to financial ruin.
By Charles Munger
Posted Friday, Feb. 19, 2010, at 1:51 PM ET
In the early 1700s, Europeans discovered in the Pacific Ocean a large, unpopulated island with a temperate climate, rich in all nature's bounty except coal, oil, and natural gas. Reflecting its lack of civilization, they named this island "Basicland."

The Europeans rapidly repopulated Basicland, creating a new nation. They installed a system of government like that of the early United States. There was much encouragement of trade, and no internal tariff or other impediment to such trade. Property rights were greatly respected and strongly enforced. The banking system was simple. It adapted to a national ethos that sought to provide a sound currency, efficient trade, and ample loans for credit-worthy businesses while strongly discouraging loans to the incompetent or for ordinary daily purchases.
Moreover, almost no debt was used to purchase or carry securities or other investments, including real estate and tangible personal property. The one exception was the widespread presence of secured, high-down-payment, fully amortizing, fixed-rate loans on sound houses, other real estate, vehicles, and appliances, to be used by industrious persons who lived within their means. Speculation in Basicland's security and commodity markets was always rigorously discouraged and remained small. There was no trading in options on securities or in derivatives other than "plain vanilla" commodity contracts cleared through responsible exchanges under laws that greatly limited use of financial leverage.

In its first 150 years, the government of Basicland spent no more than 7 percent of its gross domestic product in providing its citizens with essential services such as fire protection, water, sewage and garbage removal, some education, defense forces, courts, and immigration control. A strong family-oriented culture emphasizing duty to relatives, plus considerable private charity, provided the only social safety net.
The tax system was also simple. In the early years, governmental revenues came almost entirely from import duties, and taxes received matched government expenditures. There was never much debt outstanding in the form of government bonds.
As Adam Smith would have expected, GDP per person grew steadily. Indeed, in the modern area it grew in real terms at 3 percent per year, decade after decade, until Basicland led the world in GDP per person. As this happened, taxes on sales, income, property, and payrolls were introduced. Eventually total taxes, matched by total government expenditures, amounted to 35 percent of GDP. The revenue from increased taxes was spent on more government-run education and a substantial government-run social safety net, including medical care and pensions.
A regular increase in such tax-financed government spending, under systems hard to "game" by the unworthy, was considered a moral imperative—a sort of egality-promoting national dividend—so long as growth of such spending was kept well below the growth rate of the country's GDP per person.
Basicland also sought to avoid trouble through a policy that kept imports and exports in near balance, with each amounting to about 25 percent of GDP. Some citizens were initially nervous because 60 percent of imports consisted of absolutely essential coal and oil. But, as the years rolled by with no terrible consequences from this dependency, such worry melted away.
Basicland was exceptionally creditworthy, with no significant deficit ever allowed. And the present value of large "off-book" promises to provide future medical care and pensions appeared unlikely to cause problems, given Basicland's steady 3 percent growth in GDP per person and restraint in making unfunded promises. Basicland seemed to have a system that would long assure its felicity and long induce other nations to follow its example—thus improving the welfare of all humanity.
But even a country as cautious, sound, and generous as Basicland could come to ruin if it failed to address the dangers that can be caused by the ordinary accidents of life. These dangers were significant by 2012, when the extreme prosperity of Basicland had created a peculiar outcome: As their affluence and leisure time grew, Basicland's citizens more and more whiled away their time in the excitement of casino gambling. Most casino revenue now came from bets on security prices under a system used in the 1920s in the United States and called "the bucket shop system."
The winnings of the casinos eventually amounted to 25 percent of Basicland's GDP, while 22 percent of all employee earnings in Basicland were paid to persons employed by the casinos (many of whom were engineers needed elsewhere). So much time was spent at casinos that it amounted to an average of five hours per day for every citizen of Basicland, including newborn babies and the comatose elderly. Many of the gamblers were highly talented engineers attracted partly by casino poker but mostly by bets available in the bucket shop systems, with the bets now called "financial derivatives."

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 21 Feb 2010 03:04

10 Cities for Real Estate Steals
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/10-Cities ... eal-estate
Print
By Luke Mullins , On Thursday February 18, 2010, 5:31 pm EST
The real estate crisis has gutted house prices, tipped millions into foreclosure, and rattled the global economy to its core. But for many would-be home buyers, the historic boom and bust have been a blessing in disguise. During the first half of the previous decade, easy credit and speculative excitement worked to make houses increasingly expensive. By the fourth quarter of 2005, median home prices had reached 2.77 times median household incomes. That is sharply higher than the 1.92 average of the 15 years ending in 2003 and too expensive for many families. But the subsequent crash in home prices--values have fallen roughly 30 percent at the national level from their 2006 peaks--has helped restore affordability to this once inflated market. By the third quarter of 2009, the price-to-income ratio--a key measure of housing affordability--had fallen below its 15-year average, to 1.84 for the nation as a whole.

[Slide Show: 10 Cities for Real Estate Steals]

But not all markets have come back to earth with equal velocity. Home prices in many areas remain overvalued when compared with their longer-term averages, while others have become undervalued. To get a better sense where home buyers are most likely to find houses that are undervalued when compared with their longer-term averages, U.S. News turned to Moody's Economy.com. The economics firm provided average and quarterly price-to-income data for each of the nation's 384 distinct metropolitan statistical areas. By comparing the most recent figures with longer-term averages, we were able to compile a list of 10 cities for real estate steals. (It's important to note, however, that many experts believe home prices have yet to hit bottom. For that reason, real estate values in many of the flowing markets could decline further before rebounding.)

1. Memphis: Higher home values pushed the price-to-income ratio in Memphis to nearly 5 in the first quarter of 2006--sharply above its 2.13 average for the 15 years ending in 2003. But the subsequent 17.5 percent decline in home prices has restored affordability to the market. Through the third quarter of 2009, the price-to-income ratio in Memphis was just 1.17, which is significantly below its 15-year average. But while the Memphis market appears to be stabilizing, prices may not have reached bottom yet, according to Moody's Economy.com. A large number of mortgage delinquencies threaten to bring additional inventory to the market through foreclosure. That, in turn, may drag prices still lower.

2. Salinas, Calif.: As in many other markets in California, in the agricultural basin of Salinas, home prices have been hammered by the real estate bust. Home values jumped more than 70 percent from 2002 to 2006. But as the bubble deflated, real estate values plummeted some 65 percent from their peaks. This rapid decline has made houses more affordable to would-be buyers in the area. Through the third quarter of 2009, the price-to-income ratio in Salinas fell to 2.3, significantly below its average of 3.54 for the 15 years ending in 2003. While that's still above the national average of 1.84, it's a steep decline from Salinas's 2005 peak of 7.09. But despite this drop, homes in Salinas are expected to become even cheaper this year as foreclosures exert additional downward pressure on prices, according to Moody's Economy.com.

3. Medford, Ore.: The national housing bust has hit the outdoor wonderland of Medford, Ore., with a one-two punch. Because its timber industry is crucial to the local economy--wood-processing jobs represent at least a quarter of all manufacturing positions--the collapse of the new-home building market triggered higher unemployment in the area. Meanwhile, after moving significantly higher during the first half of the previous decade, home prices have dropped more than 23 percent in recent years. As a result, Medford's already affordable housing market has become even more so. Its price-to-income ratio stood at just 1.01 through the third quarter of 2009, well below its average of 1.46 for the 15 years ending in 2003. Moody's Economy.com expects home prices to hit bottom this year.

4. Washington: As the federal government scrambles to undo the damage of the nastiest recession in decades, home prices in the Washington area have grown increasingly affordable. (This metropolitan statistical area includes portions of Maryland and Virginia as well.) House prices jumped nearly 86 percent from 2002 to 2007 before taking a 31 percent dive. As a result, the price-to-income ratio of the Washington area fell to 1.12 through the third quarter of 2009. That is significantly less than the area's average price-to-income ratio of 1.69 for the 15 years ending in 2003. Still, Moody's Economy.com projects that home prices in the area will continue declining into 2011 before they begin to climb higher.

5. Mobile, Ala.: After increasing during the first half of the previous decade, home prices in Mobile, Ala., have dropped about 7 percent in recent years. At the same time, the area's price-to-income ratio has fallen to 1.52 through the third quarter of 2009. That is significantly less than its average price-to-income ratio of 2.18 for the 15 years ending in 2003. Home prices in Mobile are projected to bottom this year before rising modestly, as the local economy gets help from its competitive port and an abundance of government jobs, according to Moody's Economy.com.

6. Las Cruces, N.M.: The housing market in Las Cruces, N.M., has become increasingly undervalued in recent years when compared with historical averages. The area's price-to-income ratio has fallen from 3.03 in the first quarter of 2006 to 1.37 through the third quarter of 2009. Growing affordability is one reason for the increase in home sales in the area in the third quarter. And aided by government jobs and healthcare employment, Las Cruces's population is expected to grow twice as fast as the rest of the country's. That will help Las Cruces emerge as one of the most rapidly expanding areas in the country over the next half decade, according to Moody's Economy.com.

7. Fayetteville, N.C.: The housing market in the military town of Fayetteville, N.C., also successfully avoided wild price swings that devastated other parts of the country. Rather than surging, home prices remained largely flat for most of the previous decade. Today, house prices in Fayetteville remain undervalued when compared with longer-term averages. The area's price-to-income ratio dropped to 1.23 through the third quarter of 2009, which is notably lower than its average ratio of 1.52 for the 15 years ending in 2003. Moody's Economy.com expects home prices in Fayetteville to bottom out in 2010, before moving slightly higher in subsequent years.

8. Phoenix: After jumping more than 85 percent from 2002 to 2006, home prices in the Phoenix area have crashed by 52 percent in recent years. The plunge has helped restore affordability to this warm, sunny location. From the fourth quarter of 2005 to the third quarter of 2009, the price-to-income ratio was cut in half. It now stands at just 1.52, notably lower than its 1.74 average for the 15 years before 2003. Even though the market may be relatively affordable, those buying property in the area should not expect a quick turnaround. Home prices in the Phoenix area aren't expected to move markedly higher until 2012, according to Moody's Economy.com.

9. Fort Worth/Arlington, Texas: In recent years, home prices in the Fort Worth and Arlington, Texas, area have also grown increasingly undervalued when compared with longer-term averages. The area's price-to-income ratio fell from 3.95 in the fourth quarter of 2005 to 1.89 through the third quarter of 2009. Compared with an average price-to-income ratio of 2.02 for the 15 years before 2003, house prices in the Fort Worth/Arlington area are now relatively undervalued. And with a labor market that is projected to perform better than the national average, home prices in this region are expected to hit bottom in 2011 and begin moving higher, according to Moody's Economy.com.

10. Cincinnati: Home prices in Cincinnati have remained relatively affordable throughout the nation's recent boom-and-bust cycle. The area's price-to-income ratio actually increased from 2006 to the third quarter of 2009. Its most recent reading of 1.41 is slightly below the 1.46 average ratio of the 15 years before 2003. Although home price declines have moderated in recent months, Moody's Economy.com believes further drops may be in store as additional houses go into foreclosure. Home prices in Cincinnati are expected to bottom out this year before creeping higher.

Neshant · Post by **Neshant** » 21 Feb 2010 11:31

I mean if there are serious tax evaders from different countries including India have their money in their banks, why should they protect in the name of secrecy

if you got to ask why... you are way behind the curve.

Switzerland is a parasitic economy that lives off the ills of other nations. Corruption money is their main livelyhood. They are not going to give it up on some moral grounds. Hell they even hung onto Nazi gold for 50 years and it took a US court order to force them to return it to the victims. Even the current deal of taxing certain deposits and information exchange is exclusively for EU countries - not other countries like India.

Personally I don't understand why the parasites like UBS and other Swiss firms like Nestle are even being allowed to operate in India. They should be kicked out pronto.

Neshant · Post by **Neshant** » 21 Feb 2010 12:03

80% of greek soverign debt is held by non-Greek banks. This is the result of letting foreign banks run wild in your country. India better be careful to keep foreign banking & bullsh&tting industries at an arms length. Already Barclays & Society General was trying to sell garbage derivatives in the Indian market until the goverment shut it down.

In other news, nothing tears up a good union like money problems. Its all good when the money is straight but once money problems arise, the friendship turns sour. The European Union is a fake entity like Pakistan which is destined to fall apart.

--------------

Greek MPs lash out at Germany over debt crisis
Thu Feb 18, 2010 9:20am EST

ATHENS, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Greek opposition lawmakers said on Thursday that Germans should pay reparations for their World War Two occupation of Greece before criticising the country over its yawning fiscal deficits.

"How does Germany have the cheek to denounce us over our finances when it has still not paid compensation for Greece's war victims?" Margaritis Tzimas, of the main opposition New Democracy party, told parliament.

"There are still Greeks weeping for their lost brothers," the conservative lawmaker said during a debate on a bill to clean up the country's discredited statistical service.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's government has so far deflected appeals to promise aid to heavily indebted Greece, despite fears that failure to help Athens could threaten the euro.

Merkel's stance is backed by opinion polls showing that a vast majority of Germans oppose a bailout, and Germany's biggest selling daily Bild has lambasted Greece as a nation of lazy cheats who should be "thrown out of the euro on their ear".

But Greek lawmakers from three left-wing and conservative opposition parties said Germans had no right to claim the moral high ground.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE61H1IZ20100218

Neshant · Post by **Neshant** » 21 Feb 2010 12:08

get your money out of citigroup now.

unfortunately you'll be hurting Vikram Pandit but you gotta take precautions.

----

Citigroup Warns Customers It May Refuse To Allow Withdrawals

"Effective April 1, 2010, we reserve the right to require (7) days advance notice before permitting a withdrawal from all checking accounts. While we do not currently exercise this right and have not exercised it in the past, we are required by law to notify you of this change,"

http://www.businessinsider.com/citigrou ... als-2010-2

Hari Seldon · Post by **Hari Seldon** » 21 Feb 2010 15:17

Reader’s Digest Insolvent In UK After Pension Troubles

Seventy-two years after its first edition, the Reader’s Digest’s UK edition, which bills itself as “the world’s favourite magazine’, has filed for administration, after failing to win government backing for a pension fund rescue plan.

This was expected. The title’s U.S. parent Reader’s Digest Association (RDA) filed for Chapter 11 U.S. bankruptcy last year and recently told a U.S. court it had “a longstanding and significant unfunded liability within its UK pension scheme” that might lead to it filing for adminstration (for U.S. readers, that’s the term for placing insolvency businesses alternative hands, to maintain and reorganise operations).

Uh-oh. Used to read it a lot and like it hajaar in my younger days. Pity, this happened.

g.sarkar · Post by **g.sarkar** » 21 Feb 2010 22:53

Hari Seldon wrote:Reader’s Digest Insolvent In UK After Pension Troubles
Uh-oh. Used to read it a lot and like it hajaar in my younger days. Pity, this happened.

Me too, specially the condensed books. However, after leaving India I found out what RD was. It is basically a conservative publication, propagating US values. The Indian edition did not contain the more controversial pieces, as those views were not popular in the local market. Furthermore, I found out that the quality of the publication has fallen and can no longer compare to the standard that I was used to back in India.
Gautam

vera_k · Post by **vera_k** » 21 Feb 2010 23:52

No need to worry about RD yet. The US parent is exiting Chapter 11 soon.

Hari Seldon · Post by **Hari Seldon** » 22 Feb 2010 05:53

Sri Tom Friedman peddles his stuff. More like, pedals his stuff, actually, coz there's little that's original in the thinking or insights of so acclaimed a scribe only. More like bringing together and summarizing original insights of others.

The Fat Lady Has Sung

Welcome to the lean years.

Yes, sir, we’ve just had our 70 fat years in America, thanks to the Greatest Generation and the bounty of freedom and prosperity they built for us. And in these past 70 years, leadership — whether of the country, a university, a company, a state, a charity, or a township — has largely been about giving things away, building things from scratch, lowering taxes or making grants.

But now it feels as if we are entering a new era, “where the great task of government and of leadership is going to be about taking things away from people,” said the Johns Hopkins University foreign policy expert Michael Mandelbaum.

Indeed, to lead now is to trim, to fire or to downsize services, programs or personnel. We’ve gone from the age of government handouts to the age of citizen givebacks, from the age of companions fly free to the age of paying for each bag.

But you gotta admit, the man does have a flair for simple yet effective summarizing of rather nebulous or complex emerging phenomena.

Our parents truly were the Greatest Generation. We, alas, in too many ways, have been what the writer Kurt Andersen called “The Grasshopper Generation,” eating through the prosperity that was bequeathed us like hungry locusts.
{And how. Savings rates were effectively negative for 3 decades in which umrika went from becoming duniya's largest creditor to its largest debtor by far.}
Now we and our kids together need to be “The Regeneration” — the generation that renews, refreshes, re-energizes and rebuilds America for the 21st century.

Friedman understands that hope and optimism doses need to be intermittently injected into prose to retain and maintain audience interest. Witness the last sentence - where necessity is painted as virtue with such flawless finesse, even the chinese would be stumped only.

President Obama’s bad luck was that he showed up just as we moved from the fat years to the lean years.
{Ah, that explains the falling ratings only. Not any flaws in our original beliefs n expectations about Sri Obama, so no need for introspection}
His calling is to lead The Regeneration.
He clearly understands that in his head, but he has yet to give full voice to it.
{See, how Sri Friedman so clearly has a direct line to Sri Obama's head. Wonderous only.}
Actually, the thing that most baffles me about Mr. Obama is how a politician who speaks so well, and is trying to do so many worthy things, can’t come up with a clear, simple, repeatable narrative to explain his politics — when it is so obvious.
{Has it occurred to sri Friedman that if it were indeed that simple and clear and nice and obvious, it would've been done by now, eh?}

More pre-emptive excuses and apologizes for a possible, even likely Obama failure

Alas, though, instead of making nation-building in America his overarching narrative and then fitting health care, energy, educational reform, infrastructure, competitiveness and deficit reduction under that rubric, the president has pursued each separately. This made each initiative appear to be just some stand-alone liberal obsession to pay off a Democratic constituency — not an essential ingredient of a nation-building strategy — and, therefore, they have proved to be easily obstructed, picked off or delegitimized by opponents and lobbyists.

So “Obamism” feels at worst like a hodgepodge, at best like a to-do list — one that got way too dominated by health care instead of innovation and jobs — and not the least like a big, aspirational project
...
To be sure, taking over the presidency at the dawn of the lean years is no easy task
...
On top of that, the Republican Party has never been more irresponsible.

Just to be clear, IMO, its not gonan matter who the prez is or could have been. Simply don't matter no more.

All moi looks for is that streak of independent thinking (independent of the big finance/banking interests) that is willing to do what IG did in the 60s - nationalize the big banks that were getting too big and politically influential, nationalize the Fed and make it a state rather than a private institution, absolve debt by the ton, take back currency control from the Fed, and the like. Yeah, like that's gonna happen....

Hari Seldon · Post by **Hari Seldon** » 22 Feb 2010 06:06

WSJ cries hoarse about Yindian pharma patent regime that proffers little 'protection' to pharma 'innovations' from overseas.

Does India Want Drug Innovation or Not?

A string of recent court decisions degrading patent rights suggests the answer is 'no.'

Actually the correct answer would be 'not on your terms'. But too much nuance is hard for lobbyist's complex brains to comprehend perhaps....

India denied any patent protection for pharmaceutical products from 1970 until 2005, allowing its home-grown generic drug industry to copy foreign drug innovations with impunity.

All that was supposed to change when India passed the Patent Act of 2005, which brought it into compliance with the World Trade Organization's accord on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (Trips) and extended patent protection to pharmaceutical products. But the Act gave with one hand and took away with the other. The law denies patent protection to drugs made from "known substances," unless the new combinations are shown to have disease fighting efficacy that is different from the substances from which they're derived. This gives Indian patent officials broad discretionary authority to deny patents to novel and useful pharmaceutical inventions that were not obvious from prior inventions and public records, in clear violation of Trips. They have since used that discretion to refuse patent protection for drugs such as Glivec, a popular anticancer drug from Novartis, antiretroviral drug Viread and now Bayer's Nexavar.

{Jai Ho. Like someone said "Our babus aren't babies". Give 'em western imperial capitalists back in their own coin. }

Degrading patents has serious side effects.
Unauthorized generic copies aren't always as safe as branded products.
India already has to deal with a huge fake drug industry.
If foreign companies don't think their inventions will be protected, they are less incentivized to invest in research and development. Since new drugs cost roughly $1 billion each to develop and bring to market globally, easy and early copying can be devastating for companies, especially in large markets like India.

I have little to zero respect sympathy or goodwill for the rich world's pharma industry. They can cry rivers as much as they like. The old ways of doing biz are passing, period. Even in the khanate. And GOI's is responsible primarily to the people of yindia, not phoren banks or drug firms. Period.

I'm telling ya, the much vaunted 'Beijing consensus' is taking hold only. If PRC can first show something works - like doing whats in your interest, 'world opinion' be damned - precedent is set for scores of others to follow suit.

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 22 Feb 2010 06:17

Well this is true perspective of Wall Street, American society itiyadi.

Wall Street Takes Break for Tiger Woods Apology: Chart of Day

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 22 Feb 2010 06:28

Hari gaaru: If you start thinking about the Pharma industry, it will just raise the BP.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 22 Feb 2010 08:15

Frustrated Owner Bulldozes Home Ahead Of Foreclosure
Man Says Actions Intended To Send Message To Banks

POSTED: 10:42 am EST February 18, 2010

MOSCOW, Ohio --
Like many people, Terry Hoskins has had troubles with his bank. But his solution to foreclosure might be unique.

Hoskins said he's been in a struggle with RiverHills Bank over his Clermont County home for nearly a decade, a struggle that was coming to an end as the bank began foreclosure proceedings on his $350,000 home.

"When I see I owe $160,000 on a home valued at $350,000, and someone decides they want to take it – no, I wasn't going to stand for that, so I took it down," Hoskins said.

Hoskins said the Internal Revenue Service placed liens on his carpet store and commercial property on state Route 125 after his brother, a one-time business partner, sued him.

The bank claimed his home as collateral, Hoskins said, and went after both his residential and commercial properties.

"The average homeowner that can't afford an attorney or can fight as long as we have, they don't stand a chance," he said.

Hoskins said he'd gotten a $170,000 offer from someone to pay off the house, but the bank refused, saying they could get more from selling it in foreclosure.

Hoskins told News 5's Courtis Fuller that he issued the bank an ultimatum.

"I'll tear it down before I let you take it," Hoskins told them.

And that's exactly what Hoskins did.

Man Says Actions Intended To Send Message To Banks

The Moscow man used a bulldozer two weeks ago to level the home he'd built, and the sprawling country home is now rubble, buried under a coating of snow.

"As far as what the bank is going to get, I plan on giving them back what was on this hill exactly (as) it was," Hoskins said. "I brought it out of the ground and I plan on putting it back in the ground."

Hoskins' business in Amelia is scheduled to go up for auction on March 2, and he told Fuller he's considering leveling that building, too.

RiverHills Bank declined to comment on the situation, but Hoskins said his actions were intended to send a message.

"Well, to probably make banks think twice before they try to take someone's home, and if they are going to take it wrongly, the end result will be them tearing their house down like I did mine," Hoskins said.

Man Has No Regrets Over Bulldozing House

Hoskins said he's heard from people all over the country since his story first aired Thursday, and he said most have been supportive.

He said he sought legal counsel before tearing down his home and understands the possible consequences, but he has never doubted his decision once he made it.

"When I knew I was going to lose it, I decided to take it down," Hoskins said.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 22 Feb 2010 08:34

and as the years passed and the exurbs and mcmansions began to depopulate it became a vicious cycle as the financial burden of maintaining the services fell on fewer and fewer people. and the remnants were not economically strong.

the rich were the first to move to the city, followed by the middle classes , leaving the poor with tedious commutes in shared vans because none could afford to pay the gas bills alone.

little by little, yard by yard, mile by relentless mile, americas forests, deserts and prairies came forward to reclaim what was once theirs. banks, already struggling to balance margins gave up paying contractors to keep the yards and homes tended - nobody was buying them anyway. they were written off the balance sheets to avail of tax breaks and bailouts.

leafy cul de sacs that once tinkled with the sounds of little childrens voices and the
sound of bicycle tyres became deserted and unkempt...cracked road surfaces with grass pushing up, overgrown yards, roofs and windows fallen in, beavers and skunks gambolling in the backyard...

where people and law enforcement retreated, The Dark moved forward and sent its
sentinels and advance guard - white brothers, aryans, freemen, latino piranha gangs,
skinheads, triads all took to hydroponic farming and pharma research in basements of
abandoned homes. out of work Phds in biochemistry and organic chemistry from MIT
and Princeton found gainful employment innovating in these new temples of experimentation and learning. there was always a pipeline of willing renunciates and
people who were too far gone as lab volunteers, bypassing the old NIH guidelines.

in the halls of Hades, the four beasts neighed and pawed the red earth...and the
"pale horse" wandered in a daze, ribs showing through its transluscent skin but the
promise of endless feasting ahead...

the old machine tool shops and skill base of the great lakes industrial hubs turned
to new trades more in demand like souped up 4x4 vehicles with bulletproof features,
handguns, RPGs, machine guns, scopes, improvised explosives...

all across the country people drew close to their ethnic, religious and clan roots and
sought safety in numbers, heavy armaments and ruthless new rules meant to impose
order in a environment where the central govt's writ was weakening.

minorities and foreigners feeling acute discomfort retreated to fortified enclaves on
both coasts protected by federal govt troops and where its writ ran on a 24x7 basis
rather than fitfully. most sailed away on ships to their original homelands including millions of undocumented aliens from pakhtoonistan who felt safer in peshawar than
americana.

there, in the protected ghetto of Fremont for the indo-chinese remnants of the bay
area , on June10 2072 was born the man who was destined to be known as The Redemptor "The Redeemer of Man" to fulfill the ancient prophesies. as he grew into manhood, his mother showed him movies and writings those few that were left of what the world was once .... "the songs of distant earth" as it were.

in the mornings he would go out and play with his friends in the camp, in a field
protected by watchtowers and high walls at the boundary of the camp. sometimes
the friendly guards let him climb up and look outside, in exchange for extra rations
he stole from the warehouse to supplement his widowed mothers meager income.

the rusting hulks of burnt vehicular convoys ambused by freemen littered the lonely
expressways. in the shallower parts of the bay, a forlorn collection of abandoned
container ships had piled up at one end, floating off their moorings in oakland and
pushed by the wind over the years.

once a month, heavily guarded food convoys came from the central valley, watched over
by unmanned drones and gunships. there were always missing trucks and damaged
vehicles and bodies at the end of each run...

mexican warlords flush with drug money had extended their fief as far north as san luis obispo, with metropolitan LA holding out behind its laser defences and fed by sea link.
san diego had been adandoned after a long fight and its great military base of coronado island burnt and looted from end to end. anyone left behind in this nuova kingdom were taxed heavily and forced to grow opiate crops...vast farms lay abandoned....

in this precarious environment The Redeemer grew up. one grew up fast those days
or one didnt grow up at all.

when he was thirteen a particularly violent band of anarchists know as The Tide launched a sneak attack on the camps defences on christmas eve and burnt a quarter of it to the ground with its sleeping and confused people.

after burying his mother's charred body, The Redeemer packed his few belongings and
set out alone on foot towards the deserted woods of the former Marin county...to think...to heal...and to plot his revenge...

sugriva · Post by **sugriva** » 22 Feb 2010 11:08

Since new drugs cost roughly $1 billion each to develop and bring to market globally,

Well the reason drug development time takes $1 billion is because pharma companies refuse to use computer based simulations to determine whether a drug will work or not. This also prevents them from doing more permutations and combinations with respect to the ingredients. They are stuck with doing laboratory based experiments which are time consuming, tedious and expensive. The lab based researchers who will be the most to lose if things move to a computer based simulations are the biggest stumbling blocks. Indian companies should look to do computer based simulations for new original drugs and bring about a read reduction in drug discovery prices instead of merely copying the methods of the western firms and showing cost advantages because of labour arbitrages.

and as the years passed and the exurbs and mcmansion....

Singha-ji, wonderful writing...

Ameet · Post by **Ameet** » 22 Feb 2010 11:43

The new poor - millions of unemployed face years without jobs

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/21/busin ... ed.html?em

Hari Seldon · Post by **Hari Seldon** » 22 Feb 2010 12:09

singha saar, thats too much, nay three much onlee...

Neshant · Post by **Neshant** » 22 Feb 2010 13:47

Well the reason drug development time takes $1 billion is because pharma companies refuse to use computer based simulations to determine whether a drug will work or not. This also prevents them from doing more permutations and combinations with respect to the ingredients.

Exactly what are these computer based simulations that you speak of?

Are they a bunch of statistical manipulation of numbers - in which case trusting them becomes an issue. Or is there something more to it?

Hari Seldon · Post by **Hari Seldon** » 22 Feb 2010 14:16

^^I agree. There are quite severe limits to what simulations can do. Ask our thermo nook designers, for instance.

In any case, a new era in medicines san frontiers is upon us, IMHO. And FDA type big pharma lapdogs won't be helping a great deal in ushering it in. It'll come in ushered in by necessity, by practiality, by what works etc.

Meanwhile, our latest ZH release today...Japan to follow stellar US lead in fighting deflation!
Japan To Keep Pumping Cash And Monetizing Debt Until Deflation Goes Away

And with that Japan joins the competitive devaluation currency race, in which both the SNB and Federal Reserve have a substantial head start (the euro and the fat Brussels bureaucrats are in a ouzo daze, with no clue what the hell is going on). Speaking before lawmakers BOJ governor Masaaki Shirakawa, who recently said Japan was powerless to fight deflation on its own, has changed his tune, and today said that Japan will print the kitchen sink if it has to to beat "stubborn deflation." In a speech before the Lower House Budget Committee Shirakawa said that not only will Japan continue monetizing its debt (at least unlike Bernanke, he admits it), but that they will happily accelerate this action if it means killing the Yen and creating a glimmer of hope for inflation. Carry traders everywhere rejoice.

Read it all.

Hari Seldon · Post by **Hari Seldon** » 22 Feb 2010 14:22

An unrelated but interesting comment that's potentially an 'aha!' moment in the making....

Look at the number of high profile criminal prosecutions that have taken place as a result of our current financial difficulties. There have been exactly two - Bernie Madoff and Allen Stanford, both of whom made their living stealing from rich people. And how many high-profile prosecutions have taken place for crimes such as mortgage fraud and real estate fraud perpetrated against "ordinary" people? Zero. That's right. Zero. Not one!

True!

And IMO that's where Sri Obama starts looking very bad indeed. The repuglycans are a sideshow - Dems control both houses of congress and the oval office and a majority of seats on the supreme court....so what's their effin' excuse for not doing the obvious - prosecuting widespread fraud perpetuated with all the finesse of daylight highway robbery? !?!?

Hari Seldon · Post by **Hari Seldon** » 22 Feb 2010 15:21

An asia times columnist reviews the health of the BRICs.

On PRC:

In a world of higher funding cost differentials, the fortunes of the BRIC countries will diverge. China, although engaging in "stimulus", did so from the basis of a very sound fiscal position and with low foreign debt. It is thus in no immediate danger of government default. It is currently struggling with a real estate bubble that is in the process of bursting, and it has the problem of a banking system much of whose assets are bad. However, China's leadership has an unexpectedly good grasp of even the more complex areas of economics - as evidenced by its decision to raise reserve requirements in its banking system to cool its real estate bubble.

Re the bolded part - sure, they seem to understand ekhanomics very well indeed. Which is why they're unable to stop blowing Asia's biggest property bubble since Japan, circa 1989.

On India:

India on the other hand is largely a much larger version of Greece - highly corrupt and with a public sector devoted almost entirely to rent seeking. The Indian electorate's foolish decision last May to re-elect the Congress party, creators of this ghastly system, will reap its reward in the relatively short run. As India's consolidated fiscal deficit of 12% of gross domestic product and relatively low savings rate collapse the economy once again into a financial crisis similar to those that limited it to the "Hindu rate of growth" for 40 years from independence. Needless to say, the splendid Indian private sector, which had finally allowed 1.2 billion people to see the possibility of better living standards, will be the worst sufferers from this disaster.

Ouch, eh?
All the right buttons pushed, the right keywords and phrases brandished about. Eh?
Larger version of Greece, are we? Last I checked, we were printing our own currency, unlike Greece. And sure, even though Pak prints INR on the sly, they're *not* legal tender here. Besides, the external debt positions of the 2 countries is also a studfy in contrast. Anyway, pearls before swine only.... Sure we have issues, let's not deny that but to compare Dilli with Athens? I mean, really?

On Brazil and Russia

Russia and Brazil are less interesting. Russia will do fine while commodities prices are high, but the inevitable growth slowdown that increasing risk premiums will produce will destabilize Russia's economic position, probably producing another default like that of 1998.

Brazil, which a decade ago would have been a major sufferer from an increase in global spreads, has greatly improved its position. Its exceptionally sound monetary policy has kept real interest rates high, prevented excessive domestic consumption, government or private, and built the country's domestic savings base. At this point, Brazil could probably do with a change in government, to ensure that property rights are not eroded and public spending remains under control, so that the bonanza from high commodity prices is not wasted.

Chinmayanand · Post by **Chinmayanand** » 22 Feb 2010 17:50

^^^ That article seems to be written by a paki.

Dilbu · Post by **Dilbu** » 22 Feb 2010 18:08

And IMO that's where Sri Obama starts looking very bad indeed. The repuglycans are a sideshow - Dems control both houses of congress and the oval office and a majority of seats on the supreme court....so what's their effin' excuse for not doing the obvious - prosecuting widespread fraud perpetuated with all the finesse of daylight highway robbery? !?!?

Take a look at the list of major contributors to sri Sri Ombaba's campaign fund. Goldman Sachs would top I guess.

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 22 Feb 2010 19:17

Sugriva: That $1billion number is largely attributed to a report from Tufts Center for Study of Drug Development. Tufts, as you would have guessed it, receives "sponsors" from the pharma industry. Here is small article on it - Linky.

AnimeshP · Post by **AnimeshP** » 22 Feb 2010 20:04

durgesh wrote:^^^ That article seems to be written by a paki.

Well the author's credentials are here:

Martin Hutchinson covers emerging markets and economic policy from Washington, drawing on 25 years of experience as an international merchant banker. He ran derivatives platforms for two European banks, before serving as director of a Spanish venture capital company, advisor to the Korean conglomerate Sunkyong and chairman of a US modular building company. In Zagreb he established the Croatian debt capital markets and set up the corporate finance operations of Privredna Banka Zagreb. Since 2000 he has been a financial journalist, and is the author of "Great Conservatives, " a book on British political history. He has a first class Honours degree in Mathematics from Trinity College, Cambridge and a Harvard MBA.

source

Ameet · Post by **Ameet** » 23 Feb 2010 04:55

Goldman Sachs Says Greek Swaps Not ‘Inappropriate’

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid= ... OQBQ&pos=3

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. did “nothing inappropriate” when it arranged currency swaps for Greece that reduced the nation’s national debt by 2.37 billion euros ($3.2 billion), a top executive said

.........Goldman Sachs helped the Greek government hedge bonds sold in euros and yen in 2000, the firm said in a statement on its Web site today. The nation sought to cut its borrowings in foreign currencies after deciding to join the euro because a rising dollar or yen would inflate its debt level in euros, Goldman Sachs said.

The bank then arranged new cross-currency swaps and restructured its other swaps with Greece at a historical exchange rate in December 2000 and June 2001. The transactions reduced the country’s deficit by 0.14 percentage points and lowered its debt as a proportion of gross domestic product to 103.7 percent from 105.3 percent, according to Goldman Sachs.

...........“Any time you’ve got one-and-a-half percent of GDP that you’re disguising, that’s not trivial,”

Neshant · Post by **Neshant** » 23 Feb 2010 08:29

...........“Any time you’ve got one-and-a-half percent of GDP that you’re disguising, that’s not trivial,”

One of the many reasons India should keep this financing & high rolling at arms length is that you get these bogus increases in GDP which are based on doing no real work whatsoever.

Hari Seldon · Post by **Hari Seldon** » 23 Feb 2010 09:50

One of the many reasons India should keep this financing & high rolling at arms length is that you get these bogus increases in GDP which are based on doing no real work whatsoever.

It should have been long clear that gubmint of Yindia's not interested in playing the "yank and crank" the GDP figs game.

Good for us. Proof of our puddings are in the eating - in realities on the ground.

Besides, tom-tomming Yindia GDP growth in times of global distress only invites the baleful gaze of evil eyes. Our history is replete with such gazes leading to razes - from Somnath to Nalanda. O No. I'd rather we master the art of understatement only.

Jai Ho.

Neshant · Post by **Neshant** » 23 Feb 2010 10:19

Besides, tom-tomming Yindia GDP growth in times of global distress only invites the baleful gaze of evil eyes. Our history is replete with such gazes leading to razes

Twice in India's history, a vast hoard of gold was accumulated which would have made the country fabulously rich if only there was the means to defend it. Twice it was robbed from India - once by muslim carpet baggers and later on by british bandits.

It would have been strike three exchanging something valuable for printed paper fiat if not for Indian love of physical gold.

Scam artists are already hard at work trying to sell city slickers on the concept of holding paper that represents gold supposedly 'secure' in some vault in London or Switzerland (as if those countries built their economy on the basis of honesty).

This is perhaps the third time in history where India has built up a reasonable stash of gold - which fortunately is dispersed in the hands of the people rather than the government. Its best kept that way.

shyam · Post by **shyam** » 23 Feb 2010 12:54

Watch the video of Bill Meher and Elizabeth Warren at the bottom of the page.

Banks: Like fragile little girls

Hari Seldon · Post by **Hari Seldon** » 23 Feb 2010 16:01

Greenspan wins Dynamite Prize in Economics

Alan Greenspan has been judged the economist most responsible for causing the Global Financial Crisis. He and 2nd and 3rd place finishers Milton Friedman and Larry Summers have won the first–and hopefully last—Dynamite Prize in Economics.

In awarding the Prize, Edward Fullbrook, editor of the Real World Economics Review, noted that “They have been judged to be the three economists most responsible for the Global Financial Crisis. More figuratively, they are the three economists most responsible for blowing up the global economy.”

The prize was developed by the Real World Economics Review Blog in response to attempts by economists to evade responsibility for the crisis by calling it an unpredictable, Black Swan event.

In reality, the public perception that economic theories and policies helped cause the crisis is correct.

The prize winners were determined by a poll in which over 7,500 people voted—most of whom were economists themselves from the 11,000 subscribers to the real-world economics review . Each voter could vote for a maximum of three economists. In total 18,531 votes were cast.

Fullbrook cautioned that not all economics and economists were bad. “Only neoclassical economists caused the GFC. There are other approaches to economics that are more realistic—or at least less delusional—but these have been suppressed in universities and excluded from government policy making.”

“Some of these rebels also did what neoclassical economists falsely claimed was impossible: they foresaw the Global Financial Crisis and warned the public of its approach. In their honour, I now call for nominations for the inaugural Revere Award in Economics, named in honour of Paul Revere and his famous ride. It will be awarded to the 3 economists who saw the GFC coming, and whose work is most likely to prevent another GFC in the future.”

Hari Seldon · Post by **Hari Seldon** » 23 Feb 2010 16:10

Another black swan (not!) hovers on eurostan...

Greece not alone in exploiting EU accounting flaws

Fury over Greece using derivatives that masked its debt conveniently ignores the fact that euro zone countries and EU bookkeepers have approved other deals worth billions of euros for over 10 years.
...
Greece like other EU sovereigns, most notably Italy, was happy to take advantage of known loopholes in the European system of accounts 1995 (ESA 95), produced by Eurostat, which ensures the comparability of European countries' accounts.
...
Bankers noted, however, that Germany is no stranger to off-balance sheet vehicles. KfW, the German state-guaranteed development bank borrowed 50 billion euros last year, a sum that does not appear on the state's budget.

Meanwhile, the poor innocent bankers are having to unfairly bear the brunt of impotent public criticism onlee... enjoying one's bonus in peace must be made a fundamental, inalienable constitutional right onlee....

"Everyone did these (types of) trades. Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE), JP Morgan, Merrill, Goldman and others. They look unfortunate now -- but are we solely to blame?" said a senior fixed income banker.

"It's easy to simply blame the bankers... but really people should also be asking about the politicians who asked us to find solutions for their problems," said a senior fixed income banker.

"No one can act surprised. Eurostat's regulations are clear. If the political will to stop this had been there, it could have happened," he said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel led the bandwagon of politicians bashing bankers -- already suffering from a public image debacle ever since the credit crisis -- saying it would be "a disgrace" if they had been party to "falsifying Greek national statistics."

Honor among thieves only

Heck, I wouldn't mind it if the cheenis were doing this kinda corrupt sh1t but the high-minded, moralistic, ever-preachy, ever-peachy oiros...??? now, now, whuddathunkit, eh?