Too Big To Succeed

Dutch SNS Bank Fails On Real Estate Losses: First “Too Big To Fail” Nationalization In Five Years

"The move, aimed 'at stabilizing the SNS Reaal group,' will cost taxpayers 3.7 billion euros ($5 billion), the Dutch Finance Ministry said in a statement today. SNS’s property- finance unit will be separated from the company. 'I scrutinized all alternative solutions involving market parties,' Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem said. 'Yesterday night I found myself compelled to conclude no acceptable total solution was offered. I therefore had to use the instrument of last resort, which is nationalization. Nationalization would safeguard financial stability and prevent serious damage to the economy. I want the private sector to contribute as much as possible.” Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDutch SNS Bank Fails On Real Estate Losses: First “Too Big To Fail” Nationalization In Five Years

New £150million F-35 combat jet is banned from flying in bad weather because it could explode

"The Telegraph has reported the revelations were disclosed in a leaked report from the Pentagon's operational test and evaluation office, which states that, until a device in the fuel tank is redesigned, test-flying within 25 miles of thunderstorms is 'not permitted'. Several other problems have been identified with the plane, including a fault in the design of the fuel tank which means it is unable to rapidly descend to low altitude. A handful of cracks were also discovered in the tested aircraft during examinations by the United States Air Force and the aircraft's manufacturer Lockheed Martin." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNew £150million F-35 combat jet is banned from flying in bad weather because it could explode

Secrets and Lies of the Bailout

"It was all a lie – one of the biggest and most elaborate falsehoods ever sold to the American people. We were told that the taxpayer was stepping in – only temporarily, mind you – to prop up the economy and save the world from financial catastrophe. What we actually ended up doing was the exact opposite: committing American taxpayers to permanent, blind support of an ungovernable, unregulatable, hyperconcentrated new financial system that exacerbates the greed and inequality that caused the crash, and forces Wall Street banks like Goldman Sachs and Citigroup to increase risk rather than reduce it." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSecrets and Lies of the Bailout

Wealth and Prosperity Do Exist … if You Know Where to Look

"The pursuit of prosperity for ourselves and our children is the underpinning of the American dream – the idea that being all that you can be is possible. But it seems things are changing… The 2012 Legatum Prosperity Index has just been made public. It reveals that America is no longer among the Top 10 countries for the first time ever. We are now 12th. The essential question is: What pulled America out of the top 10? Was it our health care system? An antiquated educational system? Eroding personal freedoms? No. It was the rather significant decline in 'entrepreneurship and opportunity.' Many U.S. citizens no longer believe that hard work pays off." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWealth and Prosperity Do Exist … if You Know Where to Look

Sheila Bair’s Bailout Blame Game

"During the summer of 2011 Sheila Bair stepped down as chairman of the FDIC and set herself to work on a tell-all book on the financial crisis. Bair’s book, Bull by the Horns: Fighting to Save Main Street from Wall Street and Wall Street from Itself, was released in late September. As part of the promotion of the book she had an interview with The Wall Street Journal during which, consistent with her public reputation, she confided that she 'hates bailouts.' However, a careful study of board minutes, supporting memos, and transcripts of FDIC board meetings during the crisis reveals a different reality." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSheila Bair’s Bailout Blame Game