"This is what poverty sometimes looks like in America: parents here in Appalachian hill country pulling their children out of literacy classes. Moms and dads fear that if kids learn to read, they are less likely to qualify for a monthly check for having an intellectual disability." Continue reading →
"The Bank of Japan will likely ease monetary policy next week, sources say, as looming risks such as the potential fallout from the U.S. fiscal cliff and weak Chinese growth continue to cloud the outlook for an economy already seen as in recession. The most likely option is for the central bank to expand its asset-buying and lending programme, currently at 91 trillion yen ($1.1 trillion), by another 5-10 trillion yen, at the meeting on Dec. 19-20. The central bank has been under intense pressure to become bolder in its efforts to beat deflation ahead of a lower house election on Dec. 16, which polls suggest the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) will win." Continue reading →
"'The [UK] Treasury opened the door to a more aggressive monetary policy on Wednesday, as aides to the chancellor welcomed the next Bank of England governor’s radical views on stimulus measure for flagging economies. In a speech on Monday, Mark Carney suggested setting targets for the overall size of the economy, or nominal gross domestic product, rather than inflation.' [...] Does it worry anyone besides me just a teensy bit that this guy hasn’t even figured out where the BoE coffee pot is, and his people are already lying for him? Far be it from me to distrust an ex-Goldman Sachs banker, but still…" Continue reading →
While some simply see Jim DeMint as one of the most right-wing members of the U.S. Senate and a Republican leader of the conservative movement, I believe DeMint could be leading the GOP and the movement on the path to redemption. American conservatism has taken a wrong turn. It is true we have elected plenty [...]
"Mad money printer Ben Bernanke, in addition to continuing his current $40 billion in mortgage-backed securities, is going to also purchase longer-term Treasury securities at the tune of $45 billon per month. This is very serious money printing, especially given that banks appear to be adding this money to the system rather than putting the funds in excess reserves. Prepare for strong 2013 price inflation." Continue reading →
"More government regulations are always a bad idea, however, it should be noted when banksters get special privileges around regs. Dodd-Frank calls for regulation of swaps. The Treasury just announced that its final determination is that foreign exchange swaps are exempted from the definition of 'swap' and are not to be regulated under Dodd-Frank. What's particularly noteworthy about this is that the Federal Reserve did a lot of its propping up of foreign banks during the financial crisis via foreign exchange swap lines." Continue reading →
"Every two months, more than a dozen bankers meet here on Sunday evenings to talk and dine on the 18th floor of a cylindrical building looking out on the Rhine. The dinner discussions on money and economics are more than academic. At the table are the chiefs of the world's biggest central banks, representing countries that annually produce more than $51 trillion of gross domestic product, three-quarters of the world's economic output. Their monetary strategy isn't found in standard textbooks. The central bankers are, in effect, conducting a high-stakes experiment." Continue reading →
"Bob Ryan, who served as a top housing adviser in the Obama administration, will leave for a senior mortgage-banking position at Wells Fargo next month. Ryan is currently a senior advisor to Shaun Donovan, the secretary for Housing and Urban Development. Ryan played a key role shepherding the $25 billion mortgage-foreclosure settlement between five of the nation’s largest lenders, including Wells Fargo, and 49 state attorneys general and federal regulators this past March. Wells faces a separate lawsuit over FHA-backed loans that was filed by federal prosecutors in October." Continue reading →
"Former senior U.S. Treasury official Tim Adams will succeed Charles Dallara as the head of the Institute of International Finance, a bank lobbying group that represents more than 470 of the world’s largest financial companies. Adams will take over the helm during a major rewrite of financial regulations across the globe and amid the continuing debt and banking crises in Europe. Adams served as Treasury undersecretary for international affairs in the administration of President George W. Bush." Continue reading →
"Researchers from the University of Amsterdam’s Institute for Information Law say that legislation enacted to allegedly protect the security of US citizens has in the process eroded privacy protections on a global scale. As more and more companies and individuals across the world begin relying on cloud computing to store information digitally on remote servers, the Dutch researchers warn that the Patriot Act and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) allow for those files to be fed into the US intelligence community, disregarding privacy safeguards in place for others around the globe." Continue reading →