Ginna Lewis

World economy: What went wrong

March 6, 2009 in Financial, Special Reports, UN News by admin | No comments

IN RECENT months many economists and policymakers, including such unlikely bedfellows as Paul Krugman, an economist and New York Times columnist, and Hank Paulson, a former American treasury secretary, have put “global imbalances”—the huge current-account surpluses run by countries like China, alongside America’s huge deficit—at the root of the financial crisis.

But the IMF disagrees. It argues, in new papers released on Friday March 6th, that the “main culprit” was deficient regulation of the financial system, together with a failure of market discipline.

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Tags: Financial crisis, International Monetary Fund, shadow banking system

America’s foreclosure plan: Can’t pay or won’t pay?

February 19, 2009 in Financial, Special Reports by admin | No comments

Barack Obama’s team wades into a debate over what is driving foreclosures

NO PART of the financial crisis has received so much attention, with so little to show for it, as the tidal wave of home foreclosures sweeping over America.

Government programmes have been ineffectual, and private efforts not much better.

Now it is Barack Obama’s turn. On Wednesday February 18th he pledged $75 billion to reduce the mortgage payments of homeowners at risk of default. Lenders who help people to refinance their mortgages will receive matching subsidies from the government. These could reduce a borrower’s monthly payments to as little as 31% of their income, and last for up to five years.

Firms that service mortgages held by investors will also receive fees for successful modifications. As a stick, Mr Obama reiterated his intention to alter the bankruptcy code so that courts can reduce mortgage principal. The details will depend on negotiations with Congress.

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Tags: Barack Obama, Business_Finance, Subprime lending

Japan Economy Shrinks at Fastest Pace in 35 Years

February 18, 2009 in Special Reports by admin | No comments

Japanese economy shrinks

TOKYO — Japan’s economy contracted in the fourth quarter at the fastest pace in 35 years as a collapse in global demand continues to drain the life from the world’s second-largest economy.

Japan’s gross domestic product, or the total value of the nation’s goods and services, dropped at an annual pace of 12.7 percent in the October-December period, the government said Monday.

That’s the steepest drop for Japan since the oil shock of 1974. It far outpaces declines of 3.8 percent in the U.S. and 1.2 percent in the euro zone.

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If You Voted For Me – Barack Obama

February 14, 2009 in Freely Speaking, Satire by admin | No comments

Full screen mode is next to volume control.

Did you?? If You Voted For Me – Barack Obama

Tags: Barack Obama, Politics

American car emissions: Stepping on the gas

January 27, 2009 in UN News by admin | No comments

Barack Obama revs up on the environment by letting states set car-emissions standards

CALIFORNIA is known for doing things its own way. This is certainly true of environmental policy. In 2005, Arnold Schwarzenegger, California’s governor, asked for yet another waiver from federal rules, so that California could impose higher standards on carbon-dioxide emission by cars. Two years later, the federal government said no. Environmentalists loudly complained at the Bush administration’s lack of respect for the environment. On Monday January 26th Barack Obama announced that he would reverse the decision as one of his first acts in office. The waiver has not been granted officially but almost certainly will be, after a review.

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Tags: Financial

Interviews

January 26, 2009 in Freely Speaking by filip | No comments

Hello, Interviews are constantly updated. We currently publish interviews made between 1983 to 1997

China and America: War of words

January 24, 2009 in UN News by admin | No comments

Economic tensions between America and China are rising — at exactly the wrong time

TECHNICALLY, he is not yet treasury secretary, but Tim Geithner has already made waves in financial markets. In a written response to questions from senators debating his confirmation, Mr Geithner accused China of “manipulating” its currency and promised that the Obama team would push “aggressively” for Beijing to change its policies. The sharp tone and use of the legally-loaded term “currency manipulation” ricocheted through financial markets as investors shuddered at the prospect of a Sino-American spat in the midst of a global slump.

Clearly this was not a slip of the tongue. Conceivably it was a bureaucratic snafu. The tough language came in a 102-page document answering numerous questions from senators—an odd place from which to lob a bombshell at Beijing. If so, it speaks poorly of a man who is already in trouble for failing to pay attention to his taxes. Most likely, therefore, Mr Geithner’s language suggests a change in Washington’s tactics towards China.

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NAFTA Superhighway Plan Still Possible

January 21, 2009 in Conspiracy Theories by admin | No comments

Opponents of the proposed NAFTA superhighway are warning that recent reports of its demise have been greatly exaggerated.

Last week, the Texas Department of Transportation, known as TxDOT, declared that the Lone Star segment of the $175 billion plan to link Canada, Mexico, and the United States via a single massive highway is dead and buried.

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Bank bail-outs: Back for more

January 16, 2009 in Financial by admin | No comments

Bank of America and Citigroup report awful results, prompting yet more government intervention

“I’VE had all the fun I can stand in investment banking at the moment,” said Kenneth Lewis, the boss of Bank of America (BoA), in late 2007. Investment banking had other ideas. BoA’s fourth-quarter results, a $1.8 billion loss announced on Friday January 16th, mark the first time since 1991 that the bank has dipped into the red. The losses were driven primarily by write-downs in its capital-markets divisions, although the credit risks in its loan books are also increasingly obvious.

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Tags: Banks, Crises, Financial