• High Foreclosures And A Cold Housing Market Cause Many Woes That Aren't Being Discussed- It's bad enough that foreclosures are up 75% compared to last year, and the trend is still moving upward! The ramifications of the sub-prime meltdown as it affects the housing market - especially the rental market - are barely being discussed! Hundreds of thousands of Americans are losing their homes through foreclosure, which is a national tragedy in itself; however the effects to America's rental market are staggering and is causing even more financial problems among our poor and lower middle-class citizens.
  • Its the Economy Stupid- The Buddhists are right. Everything is one. And in politics the "one" is money. Understanding why things are the way they are and how we got here boils down to the manipulation of money. Understanding the current economic melt down is crucial to understanding power and politics in this country.
  • Housing-credit crisis exposing the rotten core of American Markets and Economy - The recent downturn in housing and the accompanying mortgage security crisis are merely the exposed tip of the deep irresponsibility at the center of our financial and political markets. The housing downturn is a superficial crisis that has exposed the fundamental financial imbalances produced by the incompentence and greed at the center of our economy.
  • Bush Is Still Attempting To Weaken Our Economy - Updated- Not that it will surprise anyone, but once again, President Bush is pushing to keep his "free trade" agreements in place even though support is cooling, even among Conservative Republicans. Now that we have experienced a terrible loss of our manufacturing capability, and approximately 40% of our food is imported, Congressional members on both sides of the isle are beginning to wake-up and see that "free trade" as defined by the Bush administration is destroying our economy rather than helping it. Does it benefit mega-corporations and the wealthy? You can bet your house on it, but the effects on national security and the impact on our economy for "the average American" has been no less than a complete disaster!
    Bush crusades for free trade as support cools
  • The Industrial Revolution Unplugged: An Interview With Author Gregory Clark- Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

    The topic below was originally posted in my blog the Intrepid Liberal Journal as well as the Independent Bloggers Alliance, The Peace Tree and Worldwide Sawdust.

  • Purgatory For Alan Greenspan- Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

  • Feds Bailing Out Greedy Speculators- Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., August 17, 2007 This rather large reduction in interest rates has driven the market up considerably today, after a week of heavy losses. Beneath all of this market instability are the homeowners, many of whom are holding on to the notion that their houses will maintain their bloated prices. Across from them is a diminishing group of buyers, determined not to buy at the top, so hold on for a long and wild ride.
  • The Plan to Protect Homeowners, Not Hedge Funds- (cross posted from Working Life and Daily Kos) The scam is going to get worse in the housing market. I mean the scam that will let the predators and hucksters, who lured people into bad deals, off the hook, either via Congressional bailouts or actions by the Federal Reserve. And the outcry has to build now so that we don’t let, once again (remember the savings and loan scam), the speculators skate, leaving hundreds of thousands of people to lose their homes. Here is one plan to consider to guarantee people do not lose their homes.
  • The End of the Beginning - The End of the Beginning By David Glenn Cox This is not the end this is not the beginning of the end but it is perhaps the end of the beginning. (Winston Churchill) As always Sir Winston nails it, CNBC was holding a contest this week to name the current stock market calamity, Mortgage meltdown? Like the lookouts on the Titanic, “Know any good iceberg jokes?” But it’s all designed to try and bring calm to the naysayers who are outnumbered four to one.
  • Adults say the DARNDEST things!- My first quote is from one of those critters we call "journalists" these days. In an article about the supposedly booming economy, the writer notes, near her lead:
    The best barometer of the country's economic fitness — gross domestic product — increased at a 3.4 percent annual rate in the second quarter, the Commerce Department reported Friday.
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    • Interest Rates on Student Loans Drop- Beginning July 1st, the first phase of largest college aid expansion in six decades kicks in, according to a release sent out from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office. This was part of the number of bills pushed through Congress in 2006 when the New Direction Congress rolled into town. In efforts to help middle class families live more affordable, the House passed, among other things, a minimum wage increase as well as the the expansion in college aid which includes an expansion of Pell Grants as well as this reduction in interest rates which will cut in half by 2011 and will begin with a drop from 6.8% to 6.0%. According to the release
    • My Last Day of Work- My Last Day of Work By David Glenn Cox How could this happen to me? My sector, my department, had always been the best in our employee evaluations. In every category we scored in the highest possible percentile; efficiency, timeliness, loyalty, patriotism, and yes, even in dogma, we were number one. So how could this happen? It must be a mistake, that’s it! A mistake, I’ll send them an Email, requesting an evaluation of pending efficiency and productivity improvement.
    • A Better Deal- Demos is hosting a great conference this week that will address some of the economic concerns that new workers are facing in this unpredictable, unstable, and darn near frighting economy. A Better Deal: Reclaiming Economic Security for a New Generation will be May 8-9th, 2008, at The Liaison Capitol Hill in Washington DC. While this is a schlep for many folks there are scholarships and stipends available for need based folks interested in this topic. It would be wonderful if I could attend but ... alas... I cannot. The good news is that Mike Connery at Future Majority will be live blogging the conference and I'm sure there will be helpful multimedia available after the fact.
    • Are We the Next Rome?- I have often thought to myself... "Rome, at its peak, only lasted for so many years... the U.S. won't be 'on top' forever." And it appears W Bush has taken us to, and now, over the precipice. The Federal Reserve, having demonstrated our entire unregulated financial system is based on nothing but thin air -- upon which the rich built fortunes on loans backed by loans that were backed by loans -- ‘saved’ the dominant, under-the-regulations paper giant Bear Sterns [International Herald Tribune], while the rest of us appear to be spiraling into something akin to our Great Depression, a fact that only a few seem to understand and our electronic media for the most part ignores. [Robert Reich]
    • Happy Tax Cuts for the Super Rich Day!- Ahhh tax day. The wonderful day where we all get to hear republicans justify tax breaks to the top 1% of the income bracket.
    • Crunch Time In America: An Interview With Economist Jared Bernstein- Jared Bernstein's Book
    • Failure of perception-

      It has been reported, and disputed here, that the drop in the value of the dollar will provide a stimilus for exports that will offset the decline in the domestic economy. The report above, reporting on the sharp downturns in american manufacturing, indicates that the "stimilus in exports" theory has failed.

      This flows from the fact that the weakness of the dollar reflects more concerns than just the imbalance in trade and declining value of the dollar. Dollar weakness also reflects a global lack of confidence in the role of US manufacturing and trade strength vis a vi the emerging manufacturing, technology, and consumption powerhouses of china and india.

    • BBC proves that the recession is actually a depression- OK let's review. Last Spring, Bush said their was no recession. This summer, 'a few bumps in the road' - this fall, "Stormy weather", now, well their might be a depression, but my tax break will fix it. My opinion of these changes reflect that there is indeed a serious recession and possible depression occurring, but our news media doesn't cover the issues.
    • The Myth of the Fiscally Responsible Republican-

          I think anyone who has ever had a political conversation about the essential nature of the Democrat and Republican parties has heard the idea of the “Fiscally Responsible Republican” and the “Tax-and-Spend Democrat.” These titles that are used on a daily basis by people like Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Rielly seemed to have seeped into the American public’s thinking so thoroughly that most democrats and republicans accept their roles and consider it a moot point to be ignored.

          I’d like to do some research into these little beat-it-into-your-head terms. To start our investigation, I suppose we should lay some ground rules down. What exactly constitutes fiscal responsibility? I think some things that everyone agrees on, for personal and governmental responsibility, are as follows:

    • The Economy can Bite Me- So apparently the economy is super awesome for new graduates according to ABC News.
      "The entire process was intimidating," Shawn Basak a soon to be Northwestern grad said. "It was nerve-wracking, given the state of the economy, which compounded the fear and pressure."
    • Watching the Dinosaurs Fall- Watching the Dinosaurs Fall By David Glenn Cox The motivation for this comes from an article written by Martin Wolf of the Financial Times and he told the truth, mainly. I won’t dispute a single fact or figure but in his article, “America’s economy risks mother of all meltdowns” he comes to us as a prognosticator, predicting the future of the things that will be.
    • Economy for Dummies- This is a cross post from the Daily Kos: In the Great Depression the banks held insurance companies that insured their loans. When this went bad millions of people lost their homes and their jobs. Sound familiar? It should. As I promised, I am now bring part III of F. William Engdahl's three part series about the economic history of the United States to you.
    • On A Way Forward, Or, Practical “Subprime Crisis” Solutions- We had a lively discussion last week regarding the causes and possible future of the “subprime crisis” that is on everyone’s lips these days. Having examined the sources of the problem, and noting the lack of holistic thinking about how things might be resolved, I’ve taken it upon myself to come forward with an idea that can actually get at the root causes of today’s difficulties…and do it in a way that offers a potential “win-win-win” outcome for homeowners, investors—and the taxpayer. Paying attention, Presidential candidates? Good—because time is short, and we need to get to work.
    • McCain on the loose, chasing the Goose- From the Left Bank of the Potomac at www.rayabernathy.com George W. Bush didn’t kill the Golden Goose, but he sure as hell turned its feathers gray. Now the old bird’s waddling up and down Wall Street with a Styrofoam cup, pleading, “Change? Change? Change?” Help’s on the way, but John McCain’s close behind, waving his bloody little hatchet.
    • I Think that I Shall Never See- I Think that I Shall Never See By David Glenn Cox I think that I shall never see a site as lovely as a tax rebate, for free A partisan platform based on greed by giving more to those who don't need To rescue the economy is not a mistake but throwing life jackets to those not in the lake?
    • On Bond Insurance, Or, The Ongoing Train Wreck You Barely Knew Existed- It’s time that you and I had a little talk, my dear reader, about a subject your Mom and Dad never really explained that well. It’s gotten to a point where it is affecting your daily life, and you probably don’t even know why. They didn’t cover it well in school, either, and if they had it likely would have just been one of those things you make jokes about later in the locker room. That’s right…it’s time we discussed bond insurance, collateralized debt obligations…and how all of this is hitting you right in the wallet—and some comments about what’s coming next. In other words, complicated economics, simply explained.
    • Edwards, Clinton, & Obama: On Economics & Workers- John Edwards' loyal, astute supporters are rightfully proud of his focus on economic inequities and the decline of the middle- and lower-classes in this country.  Therefore, these two important news revelations will certainly interest both Edwards and his supporters: