Sept 18, 2011
TONY BLAIR ‘VISITED LIBYA TO LOBBY FOR JP MORGAN’
Mr. Blair was flown to Libya twice at Gaddafi’s expense on one of the former dictator’s private jets
www.telegraph.co.uk

Sept 18, 2011
VINCE CABLE WAGES WAR ON TOP PAY CULTURE
Business Secretary Vince Cable has pledged to crack down on Britain’s culture of excessive pay for senior executives amid government concerns of runaway salaries.
www.telegraph.co.uk

Sept 19, 2011
IDEOLOGICAL WAR LOOMS AS OBAMA TAKES ON THE RICH
~ to call time on a golden era for the very wealthiest Americans

US taxpayers earning more than $1 million pay an average of 24.4 per cent tax — less than their counterpart on the medium wage of $50,000.
www.independent.co.uk

Sept 19, 2011
ANALYSIS: JAPAN’S LOST DECADE STILL A RISK FOR THE U.S. ECONOMY
As the U.S. economy slouches toward another recession ~ the economy may already be several years into a Japan-style lost decade.

If so, the years ahead could be a very tough slog. U.S. households, unlike those in Japan, have higher debts and lower savings, while massive deficits have sapped political support for the type of robust government spending Japan relied upon.
www.reuters.com

Sept 19, 2011
BANKER-AUTHOR WARNS OVERSEERS TO KEEP “EXTREME MONEY” IN CHECK
The “extreme money” and “voodoo banking” that are dominating the global financial system are too smart, too fast, too greedy, too self-absorbed and far too dangerous for traditional legislation and regulation,

Deregulation let institutions issue debt at higher levels than in the past. The institutions used financial engineering — using technology and quantitative methods to solve investment problems — because it let them pump “more and more” debt into the economy.

Moreover, deregulation and financial engineering “created a class of people whose particular ethos is the cult of risk, and they came to dominate lives,
www.reuters.com

Sept 19, 2011
f12BN ‘BLACK HOLE’ IN PUBLIC FINANCES COULD MEAN AUSTERITY FOR YEARS TO COME
Britain could face many more years of austerity to balance the country’s books, City economists warned, after a potential black hole was found
in public finances
www.guardian.co.uk

Sept 20, 2011
US AND EUROPE RISK DOUBLE-DIP RECESSION, WARNS IMF
International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook says slow, bumpy recovery could be jeopardized by Europe’s debt crisis or over-hasty attempts to cut Americas budget deficit
www.guardian.co.uk

Sept, 2011
EQUALITY AND EFFICIENCY
One need look no further than the role inequality is thought to have played in creating the disaffection that underlies much of the recent unrest in the Middle East. ~ U.S. income inequality in recent decades
is strikingly similar to the increase that occurred in the 1920s. In both cases their was a boom in the financial sector, poor people borrowed
a lot, and a huge financial crisis ensued
www.imf.org

Sept 20, 2011
JUSTICE DEPART. CONFERENCE FEATURED $16 MUFFINS, REPORT SAYS
An internal Justice Department audit in 2007 ~ found that employees at a $60,000 reception were served platters of Swedish meatballs at a cost of $5 per meatball. So new cost guidelines were implemented

~ a follow-up report issued Tuesday discloses that a 2009 legal conference provided ~ $16 muffins.

~ also notes a $32 per person snack break consisting of Cracker Jack, popcorn and candy bars.
www.cnn.com

Sept 20, 2011
HMRC ADMITS CORPORATE TAX DEAL ERRORS
Dave Hartnett, HMRC’s head of tax, has conceded that Revenue officials did not follow correct procedures in two high-profile cases that could have left taxpayers millions of pounds out of pocket.

The errors are understood to relate to claims that Vodafone faced a
f6bn tax bill — a figure HMRC has described as “urban myth” — but paid only f1.25bn to settle ~ also suggestions US investment bank Goldman Sachs avoided f10.8m of tax payments last year.
www.guardian.co.uk

Sept 21, 2011
JPMORGAN, CITIGROUP SEEK DISMISSAL OF THORNBURG LAWSUIT
JPMorcan Chase & Co. (JPM), Citigroup (C) ~ asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit by defunct Thornburg Mortgage Inc., saying the complaint didn’t adequately show that fraud occurred.
www.bloomberg.com

Sept 21, 2011
MIDDLE CLASS INCOME FELL 7% BETWEEN 2000 and 2010
It’s official. The decade of the 21st century will go down in the history books as a step back for the American middle class.
www.chicagotribune.com

Sept 21, 2011
COST TO RAISE A CHILD NEARS $227K, NOT INCLUDING COLLEGE
Forget designer strollers and organic formula, just providing a child with the basics has become more than most parents can afford.
www.chicagotribune.com

Sept 21, 2011
IMF FEARS DANGERS OF C200BN BLACK HOLE
The global financial system is “back in the danger zone” and there is potentially a c200bn (f75bn) hole in the European banking system, according to the International Monetary Fund.

~ low rates are encouraging some financial firms to increase their leverage in pursuit of higher returns and ~ driving private investors
into the shadow banking system.
www.independent.co.uk

Sept 22, 2011
BILL GATES TOPS FORBES LIST OF RICHEST AMERICANS
Microsoft co-founder ~ $59 billion,

No. 2 on the list, Warren Buffett, ~ $39 billion,

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison ~ top three richest Americans ~ $33 billion,
$6 billion more than last year.

Three members of the Walton family, descendants of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. founder Sam Walton, are among the top 10 wealthiest Americans
www.sfgate.com

RICHEST 400 AMERICANS — $1.53 TRILLION

Sept 22, 2011
IMF CHIEF TELLS EUROPE: YOU MUST BAIL OUT BANKS AGAIN
www.guardian.co.uk

Sept 22, 2011
JAPANESE RETURN CASH RECOVERED AFTER TSUNAMI
In a testament to Japan;s cultural of honesty, finders have turned in
$78 million to authorities and some have waived their right to the money even when the rightful owners cannot be found.
www.latimes.com

Sept 22, 2011
FACEBOOK, AS TASTEMAKER
Facebook, the web’s biggest social network, ~ Now it wants to be
a force that shapes what you watch, hear, read and buy.
www.nytimes.com

Sept 22, 2011
ARE WE ENTERING AN AGE OF INHERITED WEALTH?
Forbes heralds the fact that “a record 70% of the Forbes listers are self made.”

Yet their announcement obscures the fact that half of the top 10 ~ have inherited all or some of the wealth,

The Walton family fortune towers over all others on the list.

~ if the Waltons were counted as a single family fortune — like many others on the list — they would have $87 billion, making them the richest family in America.
www.wsj.com

Sept 4, 2011
IMF: GLOBAL ECONOMY FACES A ‘THREATENING DOWNWARD SPIRAL’
The International Monetary Fund has called on the US and Europe to abandon fiscal austerity and switch to stimulus measures, warning that the global economy faces a “threatening downward spiral”.
www.telegraph.co.uk

Sept 4, 2011
A DECADE AFTER THE 9/11 ATTACKS, AMERICANS LIVE IN AN ERA OF ENDLESS WAR
When war is ‘normal’
www.washingtonpost.com

Sept 5, 2011
MARKETS SLUMP AMID FRESH DEBT FEARS
European markets slumped ~ over the continents debt crisis
www.independent.co.uk

Sept 5, 2011
BOARDROOM PAY PACKAGES SOAR TO AVERAGE OF f4.5M
Bosses at the helm of Britain’s top 100 companies saw their pay packages jump by an average of f1.3m to almost f4.5m last year,
the biggest leap in nine years,
www.guardian.co.uk

Sept 5, 2011 (AP)
SWISS BANKERS OPPOSE ANOTHER US TAX TREATY
Swiss banking officials lashed out Monday at the possibility of yet another tax treaty with the United States aimed at ~ Americans suspected of using Swiss banks to cheat on their taxes.
www.miamihearld.com

Sept 5, 2011
LONG-TERM UNEMPLOYED ARE ‘ TRYING TO TAKE ANY JOB
AT ANY WAGE’
www.suntimes.com

Oct 12, 2010
DEAR “MIDDLE CLASS” AMERICANS: MOST OF YOU ARE DEBT SERFS WITH ZERO ASSETS
In terms of financial wealth, the Great Middle Class owns a mere 6%
of total assets.

The bottom 40% (the “working class” and “the poor”) own less than 1%.

Debt-serfdom and zero assets does not equate to middle class.

~ the disconnect between the nation’s highly concentrated wealth and the Americans’ perception of wealth distribution reveals the power of propaganda.
www.businessinsider.com

Sept 5, 211
BUDGETS CUT, TEACHERS DIG DEEPER FOR SUPPLIES
Public school teachers paying for classroom supplies is not new. But today’s stumbling economy has deepened the need, as budget-crunched schools look to trim costs and more students show up without even basic supplies.
www.boston.com

Jun 22, 2011
PRIVATE SCHOOL TUITION: NOW MORE EXPENSIVE THAN HARVARD
~ the cost of a private school averages out to $21,696 per year.
And while that princely sum is roughly 44% of the annual income of the average American household, it’s just over half the tuition charged by the country’s most expensive private academy: New York’s Riverdale Country School.

Recently, Riverdale announced plans to increase tuition by 4% to $40,450 per year,

In New York, the medium cost of tuition for senior year at a private school is $35,475. ~ A year of kindergarten at the Blue School ~ costs
a whopping $29,830.
www.dailyfinance.com

Sept 5, 2011
ELITE SCHOOLS RETHINK SAVING SEAT FOR LITTLE SISTER
Here’s a back-to-school math problem: There are 62 kindergarten seats at the Trinity School this fall, and 756 children wanted them

~ 33 ~ qualified siblings of Trinity students – 11 ~ to children of alumni, who also get a leg up ~ one ~ to the child of a staff member ~ That leaves 17 spaces for families with no ties to Trinity, giving those without connections a 2.4 percent shot at the prize.

Never has getting into Harvard — acceptance rate: 6.2 percent — seemed so easy.
www.nytimes.com

Sept 6, 2011
MEMBERS OF DEBT PANEL HAVE TIES TO LOBBYISTS
Like many federal contractors, General Electric has a lot riding on the ~ new congressional supercommittee,”

GE is hardly alone: Nearly 100 registered lobbyists used to work for members of the committee,
www.washingtonpost.com

SEPT 6, 2011
HEBREW IMMERSION CHARTER SCHOOL IN NEW YORK
During the first grade music hour, students fidget at their desks. The music teacher, a young man with a guitar and a furrowed brow, calls the class to attention and begins a song — not just any song.

It’s the Hatikva, the Israeli national anthem.

The Hebrew Academy Charter School is the first publicly funded
Hebrew immersion school in New York City.
www.npr.theworld.org

Sept 7, 2011
MASS LAYOFFS IN ILLINOIS APPROACH 2,300 IN AUGUST REPORT SHOWS
Nearly 2,300 workers at eleven companies in Illinois will lose their jobs over the next several weeks,
www.suntimes.com

Sept 8, 2011
SLUM UK: HOUSING CRISIS THAT SHAMES THE NATION
Conditions now among the worst in Europe, ~ thousands forced to sleep rough as landlords cash in.
www.telegraph.co.uk

Sept 7, 2011
TONY HAYWARD IN LINE FOR MULTIMILLION WINDFALL AFTER IRAG OIL DEAL
Hayward, who quit BP 14 months ago following the Deepwater Horizon disaster,

The deal will deliver an estimated f176m windfall for Hayward and his fellow backers of Vallares, including Nat Rothschild.

Hayward said the deal would allow Vallares to exploit “one of the last great frontiers in the oil and gas industry”.
www.guardian.co.uk

Sept 8, 2011
JUDGE WIDENS ANTITRUST SUIT AGAINST PRIVATE EQUITY FIRMS
The four-year suit against 11 firms, including Blackstone Group and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, of a huge overarching conspiracy to rig the market for multibillion-dollar takeovers,
www.nytimes.com

Sept 9, 2011
OECD SLASHES GROWTH OUTLOOK FOR DEVELOPED ECONOMIES
Revealing a sharply downgraded international growth outlook for the second half of 2011.
www.independent.co.uk

Sept 10, 2011
OLIVE: SHOULD WE RAISE TAXES ON THE RICH?
Not since the Gilded Age plutocracy of a century ago has their been such a near-consensus ~ on the need to raise taxes on the rich.

Business CEOs now pay themselves 325 times the compensation of shop-floor and cubical workers. That was closer to 25-to-1 in the 1960s.

The gap between the rich and the poor has widened markedly in Canada, where the top 1 per cent of income earners accounts for almost 40 per cent of total national income.
www.thestar.com

Sept 10, 2011
THE GREAT RECESSION: LIFE IN “TENT CITY” IN LAKEWOOD
NEW JERSEY
About an hour south of Wall Street, where some bankers quietly gripe about how hard it is to live on a million dollars a year,
www.businessinsider.com

Sept 10, 2011
BERKSHIRE UNIT RICHLINE TO BUY ITALIAN JEWELER
Jewelry company Richline International, part of U.S. billionaire Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway

Richline is looking for other acquisitions on the Italian jewelry market
www.reuters.com

Sept 10, 2011
ON CAMPUS IT’S ONE BIG COMMERCIAL
~ what is happening on campuses today is without rival, in terms of commercializing everyday college life.

Companies from Microsoft on down are increasingly seeking out the big men and women on campus to influence their peers. ~ What companies want are students with inside knowledge of school traditions and campus hotspots. In short, they want students with the cred to make brands seem cool,
www.nytimes.com

Sept 9, 2011
AIPAC CONGRESSIONAL LOBBYING JUNKETS TO ISREAL ILLEGAL CHARGES IRS AND DOJ FILING
A complaint filed today with the IRS and Justice Department charges the American Israel Education Foundation (AIEF) is a “sham” charitable organization of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

AIEF recently paid expenses for more than 80 members of Congress to travel to Israel during recess, but did not disclose planned activities or educational curriculum.
www.marketwatch.com

Sept 11, 2011
9/11 LOST DECADE: THE AMERICAN DREAM, AND THE MISSING YEARS
In these 10 years America has lost much, in terms of lives, treasures and reputation, most of all, perhaps, it has lost its illusions.
www.independent.co.uk

Sept 11. 2011
MURDOCH MAKES NO RETREAT FROM SCANDALS WITH ATTACK ON AUSTRALIA GOVERNMENT
The phone hacking scandal in the U.K. hasn’t muzzled Rupert Murdoch in his native Australia, where his newspaper empire is doing more than any other to undermine Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

~ he controls about 70 percent of the newspapers. His newspapers helped elect every British government over three decades, and no
New York mayor has been re-elected without his backing since
Murdoch first bought the New York Post in 1976.
www.bloomberg.com

Sept 11, 2011
JPMORGAN CEO SAYS BANK RULES “ANTI-AMERICAN”
The United States should consider pulling out of the Basel group of global regulators, Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan Chase said

~ describing new international bank capital rules as “anti-American”.

The Basel lll capital rules are designed to increase the safety of the financial system by making banks build up risk-absorbent ~ capital to
at least 7 percent of risk-weighted assets.
www.reuters.com

Sept 11. 2011
CAPITAL GAINS TAX RATES BENEFITING WEALTHY
FEED GROWING GAP BETWEEN RICH AND POOR
www.washingtonpost.com

Sept 12, 2011
ECONOMISTS CUT GROWTH FORECAST FOR 2011 AND 2012
www.sacbee.com

Sept 13, 2011
U.S. POVERTY RATE REACHES 15.1 PERCENT
~ the poverty rate spiked to 15.1 percent in 2010,

About 46.2 million Americans lived in poverty last year, ~ an increase of 2.6 million over 2009 ~ the fourth consecutive annual increase

~ medium household income declined by 2.3 percent to $49,445 between 2009 and 2010. ~ less than ~ in 1997,
www.washingtonpost.com

Sept 13, 2011
SHARP RISE IN STUDENT LOAN DEFAULTS
~ the latest indication that rising college tuition costs, low graduation rates and poor job prospects are getting more and more students
over their heads in debt.
www.suntimes.com

Sept 13, 2011
MIAMI U. SHUTTERS ITS ACCELERATED MBA PROGRAM
After just six years of operation, one of the most highly regarded accelerated MBA programs in the U.S. is shutting its doors, the
victim of state budget cuts.
www.businessweek.com

Sept 13, 2011
US LOSING ITS COMPETITIVE EDGE DUE TO HIGH COSTS OF HIGHER EDUCATION: OECD
The lack of financial assistance to offset rising costs of US universities is a major reason

The US is losing its competitive edge over other countries when it comes to the percentage of the population with higher education degrees, and much of that has to do with the rising cost of a university education,

The US is one of the four countries highlighted that did not increase
its spending per student at all from 2000 to 2008.
www.csmonitor.com

Sept 13, 2011
CARMAKERS FLAUNT LUXURY IN ERA OF AUSTERITY
Crisis ? What crisis ?
www.reuters.com

Sept 14, 2011
CALIFORNIA POVERTY RATE RISES IN 2010 FOR FOURTH YEAR IN A ROW.
www.latimes.com

Sept 14, 2011
U.S. POVERTY TOTALS HIT A 50-YEAR HIGH
www.latimes.com

Sept 14, 2011
GOLDMAN SACHS BRINGS SMALL-BUSINESS HELP TO CHICAGO
Mayor Ralm Emanuel made his fortune in investment banking. He lobbied the company to add Chicago and delivered, with an assist from his longtime friend and adviser Penny Pritzker, who’s a member of the Goldman Sachs National Advisory Board for 10,000 Small Businesses.
www.suntimes.com

Sept 14, 2011
FERRARI PROVES RECESSION PROOF AS LUXURY SELLS OUT
Ferrari ~ predicted record sales as executives said ultra-luxury
remains recession-proof.
www.bloomberg.com

Sept 14, 2011 (AP)
ITALY GIVES FINAL APPROVAL TO AUSTERITY PLAN
~ a combination of higher taxes, pension reforms and slashed spending
www.miamihearld.com

Sept 15, 2011
MORTGAGE DEFAULT NOTICES IN ILLINOIS SURGE 25% IN AUGUST
www.chicagotribune.com

Sept 15, 2011
UC PLAN SEES TUITION RISING UP TO 16% ANNUALLY OVER NEXT FOUR YEARS
University of California students could face annual tuition increases of 8% to 16% over next four years.
www.latimes.com

Sept 15, 2011
SAT SCORES FALL NATION WIDE: A HARBINGER OF U.S. ECONOMIC DECLINE
Reading scores for the class of 2011 dropped three points from last year ~ the lowest average on record. ~ another data point ~ suggesting that America is falling behind much of the rest of the world in terms of educational attainment.

With a workforce whose education and skills are in decline, the U.S. will struggle to hold its lead in the industries that are key to our economic future.
www.dailyfinance.com

Sept 14, 2011 (AP)
SUMMARY BOX: SEC SAYS SOME DOCUMENTS LIKELY TOSSED
An SEC attorney has alleged that the agency illegally destroyed records related to thousands of preliminary probes, including investigations of Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo and convicted swindler Bernard Madoff.
www.miamihearld.com

Sept 14, 2011
SEC OFFICIALS ‘LAWYERING UP’
~ current and former Securities and Exchange Commission officials have been lawyering up, sometimes at their own expense.
www.washingtonpost.com

Sept 15, 2011
EUROZONE DEBT CRISIS ‘IN DANGEROUS NEW PHASE’ WARNS IMF CHIEF
~ the world’s major central banks agreed to provide unlimited dollars
to European banks to prevent a rerun of the Lehman Brothers collapse

The Bank of England joined the Bank of Japan, the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank
www.guardian.co.uk

Sept 15, 2011
EUROPE’S DEBT CRISIS PROMPTS CENTRAL BANKS TO PROVIDE DOLLAR LIQUIDITY
European and US stocks surge on news that the world banks will flood markets –

The Bank of England joined the US Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, the Swiss National Bank and the Bank of Japan ~ to announce that they would flood money markets with dollars over the coming months.
www.guardian.co.uk

Sept 16, 2011
EXCLUSIVE: U.S. TAX-EVASION PROBE TURNS TO ISRAELI BANKS
The U.S. pursuit of offshore tax evaders is widening to include Israel, where U.S. authorities are scrutinizing three of Israeli’s largest banks over suspicions their Swiss outposts helped American clients evade taxes,
www.reuters.com

Sept 16, 2011
NO RESPITE AS 430,000 JOIN US JOBLESS IN JUST ONE WEEK
A total of 428,000 people joined the jobless rolls last week, 11,000 more than the previous week and 10,000 more than economists had predicted.
www.independent.co.uk

Sept 16, 2011
SPAIN RAISES TAXES ON THE RICH
Spain today became the latest European country to hike taxes on the wealthy, with a new asset-based tax targeting the country’s richest people.
www.guardian.co.uk

Sept 17, 2011
EUROPE HITS BACK AFTER US DEBT JIBE
The European Central Bank defended the Eurozone’s handling of its public finances ~ after the US lectured Europe on its debt record.

Mr Geithner urged eurozone leaders to bolster a f440bn rescue fund for troubled member states,

Berlin instead demanded Washington drop its opposition to a global financial transactions tax — “emphatically” resisted by Mr Geithner,
www.telegraph.co.uk

Sept 18, 2011
OBAMA TO SEEK MINIMUM TAX RATE FOR MILLIONAIRES
President Obama ~ will call for a minimum tax rate for individuals making more than $1 million a year to insure that they pay at least the same percentage of their earnings as middle-class taxpayers.
www.boston.com

Sept 18, 2011
STEPS AWAY BUT WORLDS APART IN NEW YORK
For decades, the intersection of Park Avenue and 69th Street has remained one of the city’s most obvious and despairing emblems of disparity, ~ few spots so profoundly render the truths of New York’s economic extremism.
www.nytimes.com

Aug 2, 2010

DO THE RICH NEED THE REST OF AMERICA ?
As stocks boomed, the wealthy bounced back. And while the Main Street economy was wrecked by high unemployment and the real-estate crash, the wealthy-whose financial fates were more tied to capital markets than jobs and houses-picked themselves up, brushed themselves off and started buying luxury goods again.

~ the increasingly global elite do seem to be forming something of their own financial culture, unattached to any single nation or set of rules, and increasingly free to move their money and resources (and tax dollars)
www.wsj.com

Sept 17, 2011
ORDERS UP FOR LUXURY FLEETS
U.S. businesses owners that cater to wealthy customers ~ new orders are coming in and some of those orders are larger than ever.
www.upi.com

Sept 17, 2011
WHY PEOPLE COPY LOWER STATUS PEOPLE
Study authors Vickie G. Morwitz of New York University and Edith Shalev of the Israel Institute of Technology say people usually do not aspire to obtain lower socioeconomic status, but they discovered if a consumer observes a janitor using the latest technology gadget it may lead a person of higher status to question his own technological hipness.
wwwupi.com

Aug 20, 2011
ROMNEY TO QUADRUPLE LA JOLLA HOME SIZE
GOP presidential contender Mitt Romney, ~ working on plans to nearly quadruple the size of his $12 million oceanfront manse in La Jolla.
www.signonsandiego.com

Aug 21, 2011
WILL FUNNY MONEY ELECT THE NEXT PRESIDENT ?
As you read this, tens of millions of dollars, much of it from secret corporate sources is winding its byzantine way into campaign chests of politicians and major parties.

How did this happen?

In January 2010, a 5-4 majority of the Supreme Court decided, to paraphrase the words of Mitt Romney: Corporations are people too,
www.upi.com

Aug 21, 2011 (AP)
REPORT: SWISS FREEZE OVER $200M IN BRIBE MONEY
~ authorities in Switzerland have frozen 160 million Swiss francs ($203 million) in suspected bribes intended for foreign officials since 2008.

~ the funds were deposited in Swiss accounts by multinational companies for the purpose of bribing officials around the world to secure contracts.
www.boston.com

Aug 21, 2011
ICAP’S THREAT TO QUIT UK OVER EU TAX
One of the City’s richest and most successful financiers, Michael Spencer, warned yesterday that Icap, the world’s biggest interdealer broker, would move overseas if the EU forces through plans for a Tobin tax on financial transactions.
www.independent.co.uk

Aug 21, 2011
STUDENT DEBT WILL SOAR TO F200BN,OFFICIAL FIGURES SHOW
Coalition’s new system of tuition fees leave crippling legacy to future generations

The total of student debt at its peak — a quarter of Britain’s national debt,
www.independent.co.uk

Aug 21, 2011
BETWEEN HAVES, HAVE-NOTS, AN EVER GREATER GULF
Economic inequality has grown across Massachusetts,

~ the gap between the rich and poor, ~ is growing. ~ the inflation-adjusted median income of affluent families in Greater Boston has grown 54 percent since 1979, to $230,000 from $150,000 a year.

~ the inflation-adjusted medium income of the poorest families fell 24 percent, from $21,000 a year in 1979 to $16,000 — on par with some of the most impoverished parts of Appalachia.
www.boston.com

Aug 21, 2011
QE3 IS NOT A MAGIC BULLET FOR BEN BERNAKE
If QE is deemed to be necessary, some recalibration is called for. Thus far, it has operated as a welfare system for finance. The benefits have been enjoyed on Wall Street; the tab has been picked up on main street.
www.guardian.co.uk

Aug 21, 2011 (AP)
SOUTH DAKOTA SCHOOLS CUT COSTS WITH 4-DAY WEEK
www.forbes.com

Aug 22, 2011
UK HOUSEHOLD FINANCES ARE ‘ WORSE THAN DURING HEIGHT OF RECESSION ‘
Household budgets are deteriorating at a faster rate than during the height of the recession in early 2009,
www.telegraph.co.uk

Aug 22, 2011
WALL STREET ARISTOCRACY GOT $1.2 TRILLION FROM FED
By 2008, the housing markets collapse forced those companies to take ~ emergency loans from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

The loans dwarfed the $160 billion in public bailouts the top 10 got from the U.S. Treasury, yet until now the full amounts have remained a secret.

The largest borrower, Morgan Stanley (MS), got as much as $107.3 billion, while Citigroup took $99.5 billion and Bank of America $91.4 billion,

It wasn’t just American finance. Almost half of the Fed’s top 30 borrowers, ~ were European firms. They included ~ Royal Bank of Scotland Plc, which took $84.5 billion, the most of any non-U.S. lender, and Zurich-based UBS AG (UBSN), which got $77.2 billion. Germany’s Hypo Real Estate Holding AG borrowed $28.7 billion, an average of
$21 million for each of it’s 1,366 employees.
www.bloomberg.com

Aug 22, 2011
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF N.Y. IS SAID TO FACE PRESSURE ON BANK FORECLOSURE DEAL
Eric T. Schneiderman, the attorney general of New York, has come under increasing pressure from the Obama administration to drop his opposition to a wide-ranging state settlement with banks over dubious foreclosures practices,

Mr. Schneiderman and top prosecutors in some other states have objected to the proposed settlement with major banks, saying it would restrict their ability to investigate and prosecute wrongdoing in a variety of areas, including the bundling of loans in mortgage securities.

~ the secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and high-level Justice Department officials have been waging an intensifying campaign to try to persuade the attorney general to support the settlement,

Not surprising, the large banks, ~ are eager to reach a settlement,
www.cnbc.com

Aug 22, 2011
DELINQUENT LOANS ON RISE AGAIN, A GRIM SIGN FOR HOUSING
It’s an ominous sign for housing. The percentage of homeowners who have missed at least one mortgage payment has risen for the second straight quarter.
www.latimes.com

Aug 22, 201 (Reuters)
GOLDMAN CEO HIRES HIGH-PROFILE DEFENSE ATTORNEY
Goldman Sachs chief executive Lloyd Blankfein has hired Reid Weingarten, a high profile Washington defense attorney

The move to retain Weingarten comes as investigations of Goldman
and its role in the 2007-2009 financial crisis continue.
www.msnbc.msn.com

Aug 22, 2011
STATE COLLEGES, UNIVERSITIES MAY MAY NEED TO MAKE MORE BUDGET CUTS
California’s financial woes may force mid-year spending reductions ~ potentially triggering further increases in student fees and tuition.
www.latimes.com

Aug 23, 2011
CALIFORNIA CHARTER SCHOOL ASSOCIATION GETS $15-MILLION GRANT
The grant is the largest yet to the California charter schools group and the biggest of its kind from from the nonprofit set up by the founders of the Wal-Mart Corp.
www.latimes.com

Aug 23, 2011
EX-UBS CLIENT MUST GIVE TAX RECORDS TO GRAND JURY, U.S. COURT RULES
A former USB AG (UBSN) client can’t ~ avoid turning over his bank records to a U.S. grand jury, a federal appeals court court ruled in a victory for prosecutors in their crackdown on offshore tax evasion.

The client, must produce records sought by federal grand jury in San Diego, according to the U.S. Court of Appeals based in San Francisco.

UBS, the largest Swiss bank, was charged in 2009 with aiding tax evasion by U.S. clients, UBS avoided prosecution by paying $780 million, admitting it fostered tax evasion.
www.bloomberg.com

Aug 23, 2011
ANDY COULSON ‘PAID BY MURDOCH WHILE WORKING FOR PM’
The Electoral Commission is to be urged to hold an investigation into whether Rupert Murdoch’s newspaper empire was covertly funding the Conservative Party while David Cameron was leader of the opposition.
www.independent.co.uk

Aug 23, 2011 (Reuters)
CARLOS SLIM BOOSTS STAKES IN NEW YORK TIMES AND SAKS
Billionaire Carlos Slim Helu has increased his stakes in New York Times ~ and luxury retailer Saks
www.dailynews.com

Aug 23, 2011 (AP)
ECONOMISTS SEE NO RECESSION OR RECOVERY IN SIGHT
The Federal Reserve’s efforts to keep interest rates at record lows may not succeed in promoting growth or easing unemployment. But its low-rate policies will likely boost stock prices.

~ in June, the Fed ended a $600 billion Treasury bond-buying program that was designed to help keep rates low to spur spending and increase stock prices.
www.boston.com

Aug 23, 2011
GOLDMAN SACHS BRACED FOR LEGAL BATTLE, OVER FINANCIAL CRISIS
Goldman Sachs, ~ will face an array of legal claims focusing on its conduct during the financial crisis, one of Wall Street’s most feared lawyers warned last night.
www.guardian.co.uk

Aug 23, 2011
DOMINIQUE STRAUSS-KAHN: ‘MY NIGHTMARE IS OVER’
www.telegraph.co.uk

Aug 24, 2011
BROKE BRITONS PUT ECONOMIC RECOVERY AT RISK
~ survey shows half of those on middle-class incomes live hand-to-mouth
www.telegraph.co.uk

Aug 24, 2011
ONE IN FIVE GRADUATES EARN LESS THAN SOMEONE EDUCATED TO A-LEVEL STANDARD
One in five graduates has gained no financial benefits from going to university
www.telegraph.co.uk

Aug 24, 2011
FALL IN GERMAN BUSINESS CONFIDENCE STOKES RECESSION FEARS
German business confidence made its steepest drop this month since the aftermath of the Lehman Brothers collapse in late 2008, raising fresh doubts about the broader European economy as it grapples with a crippling debt crisis.

The German economy has been a pillar of strength since the debt crisis in the Eurozone first broke out in Greece at the end of 2009.
www.guardian.co.uk

Aug 24, 2011
RBS WORKERS ON f2,000 A DAY, EMAIL SAYS
The details included in the leaked email could prove embarrassing for RBS, which is 82 per cent owned by the British taxpayer since the Government bailed it out at the height of the financial crisis in 2008.

~ some contract staff are paid as much as f2,000 a day.
www.independent.co.uk

Aug 23, 2011
777 SCHOOL EMPLOYEES WILL BE LET GO, IN THE LARGEST LAYOFF UNDER BLOOMBERG
The layoffs are a direct consequence of budget cuts to schools, which have occurred in each of the last four years.
www.nytimes.com

Aug 24, 2011
FRANCE INTRODUCES NEW TAX ON HIGH INCOMES
The French government is to impose an extra tax of 3% on annual income above 500,000 euros ( f440,000; $721,000 ).
www.bbc.uk.co

Aug 24, 2011
LAX LAND OVERSIGHT COST CALIFORNIA MILLIONS
The State Lands Commission, made up of California’s lieutenant governor, controller, finance director and a staff of dozens, has failed to perform the basic duties of any landlord — renew expired leases, keeping rents at market level and evicting delinquent tenants –
www.latimes.com

Aug 25, 2011
‘ROCKEFELLER COUNTRY’ REAL-ESTATE VALUES IN MAINE MAKING THE RICH RICHER
The Rockefellers, the Morgans and the Astors, the most powerful Gilded Age families, knew how to pick real estate. The worth of the properties they once owned on Mount Desert Island in Maine has soared during the national real estate bust.

The gain in the value of real estate in Mount Desert, ~ outpaced even the 14 percent rise in Southhampton, the priciest of the villages on the eastern tip of New York’s Long Island where Hollywood starlets and Wall Street bankers spend their summers.
www.bloomberg.com

Aug 25, 2011
STRAUSS-KAHN THREATENS LEGAL ACTION AGAINST MAID
www.independent.co.uk

Aug 25, 2011
YOUNG AND JOBLESS
Last month, the share of young people who were employed was just 48.8 percent, the lowest July rate on record.
www.nytimes.com

Aug 24, 2011 (AP)
WITH CIA HELP, NYPD BUILT SECRET EFFORT TO MONITOR MOSQUES, DAILY LIFE OF MUSLIM NEIGBORHOODS
~ the NYPD has become one of the country’s most aggressive domestic intelligence agencies. ~ and it does so with unprecedented help from the CIA in a partnership that has blurred the bright line between foreign and domestic spying.

Neither the city council, which finances the department, nor the federal government, which contributes hundreds of millions of dollars each year is told exactly what is going on.

The story begins with one man.

David Cohen, arrived at the New York Police Department in January 2002, ~ A retired 35-year veteran of the CIA, Cohen became the police department’s first civilian intelligence chief.

Cohen envisioned a unit that would analyze intelligence, run undercover operations and cultivate a network of informants. ~ he wanted New York to have its own version of the CIA.

The department has gotten some of its officers deputized as federal marshals, allowing them to work out of state.

Cohen has also sent officers abroad, stationing them in 11 foreign cities.

By design, the NYPD was looking more and more like a domestic CIA.
www.washingtonpost.com

Aug 25, 2011
WHY ONE-FIFTH OF US REPRESENTATIVES WENT TO ISRAEL THIS SUMMER
Back in May, Congress lavished 29 standing ovations on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a resounding demonstration of solidarity just days after a very public clash between the Israeli leader and President Obama.

There’s been a follow-up act this month: a record delegation of 81
US representatives to Israel. The virtual airlift of more than a fifth
of the house, funded by affiliates of America’s powerful Israeli lobby,

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R) Virginia and House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D) of Maryland have led two separate waves of representatives, largely split along party lines.

The number of visiting lawmakers is at least double that of similar contingents in the 1990s. Over the years, Israel has become an increasingly frequent stop on the campaign trail for presidential candidates and politicians with hopes of gaining nationwide prominence.
www.csmonitor.com

Aug 25, 2011
JPMORGAN TO PAY $88 MILLION FOR VIOLATING US SANCTIONS
Among the sanctions broken by JPMorgan are weapons of mass destruction proliferation rules as well as sanctions against Cuba, Iran, Sudan and the former Liberian regime of Charles Taylor.

Adam Szubin, Director of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, told CNBC that some of JPMorgan’s activity involved “gross negligence or real recklessness.” Szubin said he was “surprised” to see a pattern of violations at a top-tier US financial institution such as JPMorgan.
www.cnbc.com

Aug 25, 2011
WHERE AMERICA’S CHILDREN ARE GOING HUNGRY
Hunger is not discriminatory, and it’s everywhere. ~ children are struggling with hunger in every county and congressional district in America.

There are 19 counties in the United States with more than 100,000
food insecure children each — three of them are in New York City:
www.dailyfinance.com

Aug 26, 2011
TIFFANY’S SALES SHINE
Tiffany, the US jeweler, reported robust second quarter sales on Friday ~ as customers shrugged off economic concerns and continued to purchase luxury items.
www.ft.com

Aug 18, 2011
BIRTHDAYS ARE STILL BIG IN BUYOUT LAND
Last Saturday night, the financier Leon Black celebrated his 60th with a blowout at his oceanfront estate in Southampton, on Long Island. After a buffet dinner featuring a seared foie gras station, some 200 guests took in a show by Elton John. The pop music legend, ~ was paid at least $1 million for the hour-and-a-half performance.

Revelers included Michael R. Milken, the junk-bond pioneer and Mr. Black’s boss at Drexel Burnham Lambert in the 1980s; Julian H. Robertson Jr., the hedge fund investor; Lloyd C. Blankfein, the chief executive of Goldman Sachs; Mr. Schwarzman, head of the Blackstone Group.

Rounding out the list were politicians including Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York,
www.nytimes.com

Aug 26, 2011
ECONOMIC RELAPSE THREATENS LASTING DAMAGE
Even if he U.S. economy avoids sliding back into recession, the continuing weakness is beginning to inflict long-term damage on many families and businesses

As the weak economy lingers, the tab to taxpayers will keep growing

Economists worry about the possibility that the growing disparity between the rich and everybody else will widen,

The gap in income has widened 26% over the last decade and figures to grow even more if the economy stagnates or slips into recession.
www.latimes.com

Aug 26, 2011
BILLIONAIRE PARTIES ARE STILL RAGING
Despite the epic, worldwide financial hangover, billionaires are still spending lavishly.
www.money.cnn.com

Aug 26, 2011
REVISED US GROWTH RATE: JUST 1% IN THE SECOND QUARTER
The economy grew at a rate of !% in the second quarter, slower than first reported. The sluggish growth rate leaves the US at risk of tipping back into recession.
www.csmonitor.com

Aug 27, 2011
BRITAIN’S MANUFACTURING SECTOR SHIFTS INTO REVERSE
~ growth between April and June was confirmed at just 0.2 per cent,

Overall, the growth rate is down from 0.5 per cent growth in the first quarter of the year.
www.independent.co.uk

Aug 27, CHRISTINE LAGARDE: EU BANKS MUST RAISE MORE CASH
Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has called for European banks to be forced to raise more cash as the world enters a “dangerous new phase” which could end in recession.

Ms. Lagarde, said the recapitalisation should first be financed through private channels, but could also be sourced from a Europe-wide bail-out fund.
www.telegraph.co.uk

Aug 27, 2011
GEORGE OSBORNE WARNS TAX CHEATS: ‘I WILL FIND YOU AND YOUR MONEY’
“Tax evasion is morally repugnant,” he writes. “It’s stealing from law-abiding people, who face higher taxes to make good the lost revenues.”
www.guardian.co.uk

Aug 27, 2011
THE RESCUE THAT MISSED MAIN STREET
~ we have been told repeatedly by government officials that funneling hundreds of billions of dollars to large and teetering banks during the credit crisis was necessary to save the financial system, and beneficial to Main Street.

~ the Fed had provided a stunning $1.2 trillion to large global financial institutions at the peak of its lending crisis in December 2008.

~ the details from 2008 confirm that institutions, not citizens, were aided most by the bailouts.

If these rescues were intended to benefit everyday Americans, as Mr. Paulson contended, they failed, Main Street is in a world of hurt, facing high unemployment, rampant foreclosures and ravaged retirement accounts.

Given the degree to which financial regulators are captured by the companies they oversee. ~ the battle could not be more important;
www.nytimes.com

Aug 28, 2011
GOLDMAN SACKS TARGETED AS “JAWS’ JOINS BATTLE OVER BANKING CRASH
“Jaws”, the perfect nickname for a lawyer entangled in a lawsuit filed against a massive investment bank that has been dubbed a “vampire squid”

The firm agreed last year to a $550m (f336m) settlement in a suit alleging that it misled investors in one sub-prime mortgage investment ~ Goldman has also revealed recently that it could pay out as much as $3.4bn because of other legal cases.

~ the banks bottom line has recovered and it has resumed paying out handsome bonuses worth billions of dollars

~ the bank is as powerful and influential as ever. “They have close allies throughout the administration and in Congress”
www.guardian.co.uk

Aug 28, 2011
AN ARTIST’S INCENDIARY PAINTING IS HIS BANK ACCOUNT
Alex Schaefer’s depiction of a Chase branch going up in flames ~ was a metaphor for the havoc banking practices have caused the economy.
www.latimes.com

Aug 28, 2011
SORRY, RICHARD BRANSON — WE DIDN’T CARE ABOUT YOUR BLAZE
www.guardian.co.uk

Aug 28, 2011
PROCTER GAMBLE CEO’s PAY JUMPS 23 PERCENT TO $16M
www.suntimes.com

Aug 26, 2011
SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT GIVES UP $800K IN PAY
Fresno County School Superintendent Larry Powell ~ is foregoing $800,000 in compensation over the next three years ~ will run 325 schools and 35 school districts with 195,000 students, all for less
than a starting California teacher earns.
www.sacbee.com

Aug 28, 2011
HURRICANE IRENE’S WRATH: $7 BILLION IN DAMAGE
www.abcnews.com

Jun 3, 2011
BILLIONAIRE TEARS DOWN $43.5M HAMPTONS HOUSE BECAUSE HE DIDN’T HAVE ‘ENOUGH OCEAN VIEWS’
Mr. Tepper was allegedly irked that he couldn’t see the ocean from every room ~ so he decided to build another one from the grown up,

Mr. Tepper ~ became the highest earning hedge fund manager in 2009, earning $7 billion for his company and more than half of that for himself,
www.dailymail.co.uk

Aug 29, 2011
CONSUMER SPENDING IN U.S. CLIMBS MORE THAN FORECAST ON PURCHASE OF AUTOS
Consumer spending climbed more than forecast in July as Americans dipped into savings to buy cars and cool their home,
www.bloomberg.com

Aug 29, 2011
FERRARIS ACCELERATE AT RECORD $167 MILLION AUCTIONS AS OTHER PRICES STALLS
The classic-car market is dividing between the best models, whose prices are racing to records, and the others that are faltering
www.bloomberg.com

Aug 29, 2011
PETRA ECCLESTON, FORMULA ONE HEIRESS, WEDS IN LAVISH, 5 MILLION DOLLAR WEDDING
Eccleston ~ purchased Candy Spelling’s 57,000-square-foot Hollywood mansion, ~ in an all-cash deal for $85 million,

Eccleston already owns one of Great Britain’s most expensive homes, a georgian mansion in Chelsea, valued at an estimated $90 million
www.abcnews.com

Aug 29, 2011
FEMA ALMOST OUT OF DISASTER FUNDS
The Federal Disaster Relief Fund, ~ is nearly depleted.

~ With less than $1 billion on hand, the agency is only authorized to pay for emergency repairs. That means that long-term projects, like rebuilding roads, schools and other damaged structures in the tornado-ravaged southeastern states and Joplin, Mo. will have to wait.
www.money.cnn.com

Aug 29, 2011
WARREN BUFFETT, HYPOCRITE
Billionaire Warren Buffett says folks like him should pay more taxes — but ~his firm, Berkshire Hathaway, hasn’t paid what its already owed for years.

~ the company openly admits that it owes back taxes since as long ago as 2002,

It also cites outstanding tax issues for 2005 through 2009,
www.nypost.com

Aug 30, 2011
ZELL TO LIMIT U.S. REAL ESTATE INVESTING AS HE EXPANDS IN COLUMBIA, INDIA
Billionaire Sam Zell said he is entering the real estate markets in Columbia and India ~ as he continues to favor international investments over U.S. property deals.
www.bloomberg.com

Aug 30, 2011
BOSSES’ PAY RISES FASTER AS THE WAGE GAP WIDENS
Executive pay is set to continue rising more quickly than the salaries earned by the majority of workers over the next 12 months,
www.independent.co.uk

Aug 30, 2011
STUDY: RECESSION CAN HIT CHILDREN HARD
Researchers at the University of Chicago say a recession can have long-lasting effects on children of people who are unemployed.
www.upi.com

Aug 30, 2011
BUSINESS AND CONSUMER OPTIMISM SLIPS IN EUROPE
Business and consumer optimism in the 17 countries that use the euro fell in August, reinforcing fears that the region’s economy will slow in the months ahead
www.guardian.co.uk

Aug 30, 2011
U.S. CONSUMER CONFIDENCE FALLS TO TWO-YEAR LOW
Confidence among U.S. consumers plunged to the lowest level in more than two years as American’s outlook for employment and incomes soured.
www.bloomberg.com

Aug 30, 2011
FEMA DISASTER RELIEF FUND COULD FACE $5 BILLION SHORTFALL
If Congress does nor approve emergency funding, the disaster aid shortfall could approach $5 billion for the upcoming budget year, and thats’s before accounting for Irene,

In response, the agency has adopted an “immediate needs” funding model, meaning that victims of Irene and previous storms will receive aid,

But long-term projects such as school and road repairs that are not approved and stem from the spring tornadoes and past storms, ~
will not receive money for now.

Since spring, FEMA has warned that the fund is to low. Its balance now is less than $800 million.
www.palmbeachpost.com

Aug 31, 2011
SOME U.S. FIRMS PAID MORE TO CEOS THAN TAXES: STUDY
Twenty-five of the 100 highest paid U.S. CEOs earned more last year than their companies paid in federal income tax,

It also found many of the same companies spent more on lobbying than they did on taxes.
www.msnbc.msn.com

Aug 31, 2011
DAVID PROSSER: THE DISPROPORTIONATE DAMAGE BANKS CAN DO
~ the banking sector accounts for only 5 per cent of the U.K. economy, but has been responsible for more than a third of the decline
www.independent.co.uk

Aug 31, 2011
HOMELESS COULD SPREAD TO MIDDLE CLASS CRISIS STUDY WARNS
The economic downturn and the government’s deep cuts to welfare will drive up homelessness in the next few years, raising the specter of middle class people living on the streets, a major study warns.
www.guardian.co.uk

Aug 31, 2011
U.S. TEEN UNEMPLOYMENT AT UNPRECEDENTED LEVELS
Unemployment in the U.S. has been stubbornly high ~ But joblessness among ~ teenagers – are at levels that are both staggering and unprecedented,
www.ibtimes.com

Aug 31, 2011
IN PRIVATE SCHOOL WORLD, A RUSH TO BE ‘INTERNATIONAL’
International is all the rage in private, profit-making schools in New York these days,

Now Claremont Preparatory School is going global. ~ renaming itself Leman Manhattan Preparatory School.
www.nytimes.com

Aug 31, 2011
THE NUMBER OF DAYS OF INCOME IT TAKES TO PAY FOR YOUR CHILDS DEGREE SOARS, STUDY FINDS
While a poor family has to spend 1,268 days of income to pay for a child’s university degree, a rich family only has to kick in 137 days of income,

Skyrocketing tuition and stagnating incomes for all but the very rich have dramatically increased university costs in the past decade, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives said in a study,

~ diverting the $1.6 billion in corporate tax cuts introduced by the Ontario government in 2009 could more than have covered the $1.5 billion hike in tuition fees in the last decade ,
www.thestar.com

Aug 31, 2011
HOW BILLIONAIRES COULD SAVE THE COUNTRY
I’m not saying Mike Bloomberg, or Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, or others rumored to be weighing such steps are “the answer”

But as Tom Friedman and Michael Mandelbaum argue in their essential new book, “That used to be us,” ~ the right independent candidacy could provide ~ an unrivaled opportunity.
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions

Aug 30, 2011
NEVADA SAYS BANK BROKE MORTGAGE SETTLEMENT
The attorney general of Nevada is accusing Bank of America of repeatedly violating a broad loan modification agreement it struct with state officials in October 2008 and is seeking to rip up the deal so that it can proceed with a suit against the bank over allegations of deceptive lending, marketing and loan servicing practices.

The breadth of the new Nevada complaint indicates that Bank of America’s problems extend throughout its mortgage operations,
www.nytimes.com

Sept 1, 2011
QUARTER OF GRADUATES WITHOUT FULL-TIME JOBS AFTER THREE YEARS
More than a quarter of graduates are still without full-time jobs more than three years after leaving university, official figures show.
www.telegraph.co.uk

Sept 1, 2011
HERMES CANNOT MEET DEMAND FOR LUXURY AS PROFITS LEAP TO f257M
French fashion house hires 400 new employees to meet demand for f500 headscarves and birkin bags at up to f150,000

Hermes, the luxury Parisian fashion house, says it cannot produce enough f500 silk scarfs and f6,000 handbags to meet souring demand.
www.guardian.co.uk

Sept 1, 2011
TOBACCO FIRM DEMANDS UNIVERSITY’S RESEARCH ON CHIDREN AND SMOKING
Philip Morris International, which makes Marlboro cigarettes, wants the university’s centre for tobacco control research to hand over its data on thousands of children who are smokers. The detail reveals their attitudes to smoking and reactions to packaging and advertising.
www.guardian.co.uk

Sept 1, 2011 (AP)
COURT CASE REVEALS DETAILS OF SECRET FLIGHTS
The secret airlift of terrorism suspects and American intelligence officials to CIA-operated overseas prisons via luxury jets was mounted by a hidden network of U.S. companies and coordinated by a prominent defense contractor, newly disclosed documents show.

–The private business jets shuttled among as many as 10 landings over a single mission, costing the government as much as $300,000 per flight.
www.usatoday.com

Sept 1, 2011
CENTRAL BANK FLIGHT TO FEDERAL RESERVE SAFETY TOPS LEHMAN CRISIS
A key warning signal of global financial stress has shot above the extreme levels seen at the height of the Lehman crisis in 2008.

Central banks and official bodies have parked record sums of dollars at the US Federal Reserve for safe-keeping,
www.telegraph.co.uk

July 21, 2011
THE FED AUDIT
The first top-to-bottom audit of the Federal Reserve uncovered ~
$16 trillion in secret loans to bail out American and foreign banks
and businesses during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

~ the Fed provided conflict of interest waivers to employees and private contractors

~ the CEO of JPMorgan Chase served on the New York Fed’s board of directors at the same time that his bank received more than $390 billion in financial assistance from the Fed.
www.sanders.senate.gov

Sept 1, 2011
WHITE HOUSE FORECASTS HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT
THROUGH 2012
www.latimes.com

Sept 1, 2011
PRIVATE RAIL CAR OWNERS ENJOY YACHTS ON TRACKS
At a time when the Obama administration and Amtrak are pushing to build a high-speed rail network ~ rail car owners are paying big money ~ to the charms of passenger rail’s pre-World War ll heyday.
www.washintonpost.com

Sept 2, 2011
RUPERT MURDOCH’S COMPENSATION SWELLS TO $33.3 MILLION IN 2011
News Corp. Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch continues to be one of the most richly compensated executives in America — collecting $33.3 million for fiscal year 2011.

~ 46% over 2010 because of a $12.5 million bonus.

James Murdoch ~ was paid $17.9 million.

James Murdoch’s compensation soured 74% over 2010 when he received $10.3 million
www.latimes.com

Sept 2, 2011
GOLDMAN’S MEMO ON HOW TO CASH IN ON EURO CRISIS
Goldman Sachs showered its hedge fund client’s with ideas on how to profit from financial chaos in the eurozone,
www.independent.co.uk

Sept 2, 2011
BANKS ‘STILL EXPECT TAXPAYER TO PAY FOR THEIR FAILURE’
A key Bank of England policymaker has contradicted the public statements of senior bankers by revealing that some privately expect the taxpayer to pick up the tab in the event of another financial crisis,
www.telegraph.co..uk

Sept 2, 2011 (New York Times)
BLOOMBERG HID RESIGNED DEPUTY’S ARREST
When Mayor Michael Bloomberg described the resignation of a deputy mayor a few week ago, he left out a crucial detail — the aide had just been arrested as a result of a domestic violence complaint.

Stephen Goldsmith, who had overseen the city’s police, fire, and transportation departments, was arrested July 30,
www.bostonglobe.com

Sept 2, 2011
US AUTHORITIES TO SUE BIG BANKS OVER SUB-PRIME CRISIS
The agency overseeing the remains of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac seeks billions in compensation from banks including Bank of America, JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs
www.guardian.co.uk

Sept 2, 2011
WHAT DOES ‘ECONOMIC GROWTH’ MEAN FOR AMERICANS?
Suppose we placed a carefully selected sample of men on a hot stove and another sample of men on dry ice. Could we reasonably conclude that, on average, they were comfortable?

~ from 1976 to 2007 ~ the average annual income of all families in the United States grew at an average annual growth rate of 1.2 percent. But the ~ top 1 percent ~ average real income grew by 4.4 percent a year. They captured 58 percent of the growth in total income over the period.

By contrast, for the bottom 99 percent of Americans, average family income over the same period grew by only 0.6 percent a year.

~ inequality was even greater in the period 2002-7, in which the top 1 percent of highest income recipients garnered 65 percent of the growth in total income for the period.
www.economix.nytimes.com

Sept 2, 2011
RUPERT MURDOCH RECEIVES $12.5M BONUS
Rupert Murdoch, the chairman and chief executive of News Corporation, received a $12.5m (f7.7m) cash bonus ~ while his total renumeration rose 47% to $33m,

His son James Murdoch –Was awarded a $6m cash bonus as part of an $18m pay package — a 74% rise on his 2010 take-home pay.

But in a statement Friday Night, James Murdoch said he would not be taking the bonus in “light of the current controversy” over phone hacking at the News of the World.
www.guardian.co.uk

Sept 3, 2011
CALIFORNIA EMPLOYMENT AT RECORD LOW
The percentage of working-age Californians with jobs has fallen to a record low, and unemployment may not return to pre-recession levels until the second half of the decade,
www.bloomberg.com

Sept 4, 2011
DOMINIQUE STRAUSS-KAHN ARRIVES BACK IN FRANCE
The former head of the International Monetary Fund was given star treatment ~ flanked by his wife, the former television presenter and heiress Anne Sinclair,
www.guardian.co.uk

May 24, 2011
EX-IMF CHIEF DOMINIQUE STRAUSS-KAHN’S SEVERANCE PAYMENT TO BE PAID BY US TAXPAYERS: REPORT
The former head of the International Monetary Fund ~ will receive a $250,000 severance payment — paid, in part, courtesy of the American taxpayer –

The one-time severance, along with a much smaller annual pension, was part of the contract.
www.nypost.com

.

STOP CODDLING THE RICH

Aug 15, 2011
THE REAL REASON WARREN BUFFET’S TAXES ARE SO LOW
Mr. Buffett is not sharing the real reason that he doesn’t pay much in the way of income tax relative to his great fortune. The reason is hidden in plain sight. ~ Berkshire Hathaway does not in fact pay dividends.
www.abcnews.com

Oct 21, 2009
PUBLIC MUST LEARN TO ‘TOLERATE THE INEQUALITY’
OF BONUSES, SAYS GOLDMAN SACHS VICE-PRESIDENT
Bankers’ souring pay is an investment in the economy, Lord Griffiths tells public meeting on City morality.

One of the City’s leading figures has suggested that inequality created by bankers’ huge salaries is a price worth paying for greater prosperity.
www.guardian.co.uk

Aug 16, 2011
SAKS, WAL-MART SHOW WIDENING U.S. CONSUMER SPLIT
At luxury department store chain Saks Inc. (SKS.N), customers were buying more designer suits at full price. At Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT.N), more customers were shopping with food stamps.
www.reuters.com

Aug 16, 2011
AFRICA FAMINE: SOARING FOOD PRICES INTENSIFYING CRISIS, REPORT WARNS
World Bank says shortages and near historic prices for staple crops have contributed to the crisis in the Horn of Africa.
www.guardian.co.uk

Aug 16, 2011
GM CORN BEING DEVELOPED FOR FUEL INSTEAD OF FOOD
~ may worsen global food crisis, while farmers express cross-contamination fears.
www.guardian.co.uk

Aug 16, 2011
PHONE HACKING: NEWS OF THE WORLD REPORTER’S LETTER REVEALS COVER-UP
Rupert Murdoch, James Murdock and former editor Andy Coulson all face embarrassing new allegations of dishonesty and cover-up after, publication of an explosive letter written by News of The World disgraced Royal correspondent, Clive Goodman.
www.guardian.co.uk

Aug 16, 2011 (McClatchyNews)
TRUE COST OF AFGHAN, IRAG WARS IS ANYONE’S GUESS
According to Defense Department figures, by the end of April the wars in Irag and Afghanistan ~ had cost an average of $9.7 billion a month, with roughly two-thirds going to Afghanistan.

In Afghanistan, ~ the U.S. military spent $1.5 billion to purchase 329.8 million gallons of fuel for vehicles, aircraft and generators from October 2010 to May 2011. ~ it doesn’t include the cost of getting the fuel to combat zones ~ which can hike the cost to hundreds of dollars a gallon.

The Pentagon’s base budget has grown every year for the last 14 years, marking the longest sustained growth period in U.S. history,
www.miamihearld.com

Aug 16, 2011
NAVADA TOPS THE NATION IN UNEMPLOYED PARENTS IN NATIONAL CHILD WELFARE SURVEY
13 percent of all Silver State babies, toddlers and teenagers have been kicked out of their homes because of an unpaid mortgage,

~ child poverty increased in 38 states from 2000 to 2009. As a result, 14.7 million children, 20 percent, were poor in 2009. ~ a 2.5 million increase from 2000,

~ low-income children will likely suffer academically, economically and socially long after their parents have recovered.
www.washingtonpost.com

Aug 14, 2011
HOUSE OF CARDS
In a staggering 92 percent of the claims brought by creditors asserting the right to foreclose against bankrupt families in New York City and the close-in suburbs, banks and mortgage servicers couldn’t prove they had the right to kick the families out on the street,

But that didn’t stop the banks from trying.

~ the bank or mortgage servicer filing the claim failed to prove it has any right at all to make a claim it was owed the debt or that it could seize the home in question.

The Post looked at Chapter 13 filings because the banks or mortgage servicers file proofs of claim for the debt and must, under penalty of perjury, include accurate information about the mortgage, note and fees. In New York, filing public records with ” intent to deceive ” is a felony.
www.nypost.com

Aug 16, 2011
SCANDALS TARNISH CITIBANK’S IMAGE IN INDONESIA
Citibank, Indonesia’s biggest foreign bank, said its internal investigation found no evidence of physical violence.
www.washingtonpost.com

Ag 16, 2011
PRIVATIZATION OF PRISON COMES WITH AN UNEXPECTED
$25 MILLION IN EXPENSE
The state of Florida will soon privatize 30 prisons to save money, but before that, taxpayers will be on the hook for a payout of up to $25 million.

The hidden expense was never discussed in public last spring when the Legislature pushed ahead with the most ambitious privatization venture in the history of state government.
www.miamihearld.com

Aug 16, 2011
ELISABETH MURDOCH MAKES $214 MILLION ON SHINE SALE
The purchase of Shine by News Corp. quickly became controversial, triggering shareholder lawsuits. In one, a New York bank ~ alleged that Rupert Murdock operates News Corp. as a ” family candy store ” to pursue pet projects and reward his children and other family members.
www.latimes.com

Aug 16, 2011
ALLSTATE SUES GOLDMAN SACHS OVER TOXIC INVESTMENTS
Allstate is suing Goldman Sachs Inc., saying more than $122 million in mortgage-backed securities the insurance company bought beginning in 2006 were fraudulent.
www.suntimes.com

Aug 17, 2011
BANKS TRUSTED TO REGULATE THEIR OWN INVESTMENTS IN ARMS INDUSTRY
British banks will be left to regulate their own investments in the arms industry ~ which has allowed major financial institutions — including the state-owned bank Royal Bank of Scotland — to give financial aid to companies that manufacture cluster bombs.
www.independent.co.uk

Aug 17, 2011
PART-TIME BRITAIN HITS RECORD HIGH AS UNEMPLOYMENT SOARS
Britain’s economic recovery hopes were dashed today ~ unemployment rose ~ to 2.49m and the number of people working part-time because they could not find full-time jobs surged to a new record high.
www.telegraph.co.uk

Aug 17, 2011
SOARING ENERGY BILLS HIT HOME
Rising energy costs will hit home for millions of households tomorrow when Britain’s biggest energy supplier hikes tariffs.

~ its gas and electricity tariffs will rise by an average of 18% and 16% respectively, with customers in some areas seeing increases of up
to 24%.
www.independent.co.uk

Aug 18, 2011
THE DEBT CRISIS: LIVE
~ eurozone and US come under increasing pressure to deal with high levels of debt and stave off another recession,

Central banks are likely to remain net purchasers of gold. Purchases of 69.4 tonnes during Q2 2011
www.telegraph.co.uk

Aug 18, 2011
GOLD HITS NEW HIGH OF $1,816/OZ
www.telegraph.co.uk

Aug 14, 2011
QUANTITATIVE EASING ‘ IS GOOD FOR THE RICH, BAD FOR THE POOR ‘
As the Bank of England prepares to vote on quantitative easing, a report argues the extra cash ‘ exacerbates already extreme income inequality ‘

Real wages and salaries have fallen by f4bn. Profits are up by f11bn.

Adam Posen, the US economist on the Bank’s monetary policy committee, has repeatedly voted for a new round of QE, urging his colleagues to agree to spend another f50bn.
www.guardian.co.uk

Aug 18, 2011
CRISIS DEEPENS FOR UK’S YOUNG
One person in five 16-24 age group is unemployed as record numbers miss out on university places
www.independent.co.uk

Aug 16, 2011
THE CRISIS FACING BRITAIN’S EDUCATION SYSTEM
The gulf between schools educating the well-off and the disadvantaged has never been bigger. And things are only likely to get worse in coming years
www.guardian.co.uk

Aug 18, 2011
CASH-STRAPPED UC HANDS OUT MILLIONS IN RAISES
The University of California will spend $140 million raised from increased student tuition, general fund money ~ to give merit raises to thousands of faulty members and nonunion employees earning up to $200,000.
www.sfgate.com

Aug 18, 2011
HAVE B-SCHOOLS BECOME DEBTORS PRISONS?
MBA grads are shouldering record levels of debt as tuition rates head skyward,
www.fortune.cnn.com

Aug 18, 2011
REPORTS: BANK OF AMERICA TO AX MORE THAN 10,000 JOBS, CUTS OF 3,500 PLANNED FOR THIS QUARTER
www.washingtonpost.com

Aug 18, 2011
FORMER GOLDMAN SACHS EXECUTIVE WHO CHANGED NAME IS NOW TRYING TO EASE BANK REGULATION
A former Goldman Sachs executive, who changed his name after leaving the company, now works for a senior US Congressman who is attempting to ease regulations on banks like his former employer,
www.telegraph.com

Feb 19, 2010
GREECE HIRES GOLDMAN BANKER AS DEBT CHIEF
www.businessweek.com

Aug 19, 2011 (Reuters)
CRITICS SAY NEW U.S. TAX LAW A ‘ NEUTRON BOMB ‘
A U.S. law meant to snuff out billions of dollars in offshore tax evasion has drawn the criticism of the world’s banks and business people, who dismiss it as imperialist and the neutron bomb of the global financial system,

~ in a crackdown on wealthy Americans evading tax, it gives global financial institutions and investment critics a choice: either collect and turn over date on U.S. clients with accounts of at least $50,000 or withhold 30 percent of the interest,
www.chicagotribune.com

Aug 19, 2011
US TROOPS MAY STAY IN AFGHANISTAN UNTIL 2024
America and Afghanistan are close to signing a pact which would allow thousands of United States troops to remain in the country until at least 2024.

The agreement would allow not only military trainers to stay to build up the Afghan army and police, but also American special forces soldiers and air power to remain.
www.telegraph.co.uk

Aug 19, 2011
POT PLANTS IN FIRING LINE AS GOLDMAN SACHS CUTS COSTS
Goldman’s troops are up in arms over the target of the investment bank’s latest round of cuts — the humble pot plant.
www.telegraph.co.uk

Aug 1, 2011
HSBC TO CUT 30,000 JOBS IN ASIA PUSH AS PROFIT JUMP
HSBC plans to cut up to 30,000 jobs – one in ten – by the end of 2013 ~ will see it expand in Asia at the expense of other less profitable regions.

Announcing better than expected first-half pre-tax profits of $11.5bn (f7bn), ~ HSBC said it had already cut 5,000 jobs and would be making a further 25,000
www.telegraph.co.uk

Aug 1, 2011
HSBC SAYS BANKING REFORM COULD COST UK JOBS
HSBC on monday warned the coalition government that radical reform of the banking industry could put more UK jobs at risk
www.guardian.co.uk

Aug 1, 2011
US MANUFACTURING SLOWDOWN CASTS GRIM SHADOW ON GLOBAL ECONOMY
~ the worst showing since September 2009.
www.telegraph.co.uk

Aug 1, 2011
MANUFACTURING WEAKENS FROM CHINA TO U.K.
Manufacturing indexes, from Asia to the U.S. to Europe fell in in July as demand weakened and the global recovery from recession lost momentum.

U.K., Russian and Australian manufacturing shrank last month, while the pace of factory growth slowed in Europe and China,
www.bloomberg.com

Aug 1, 2011
IRELAND IN CRISIS: ONE IN FOUR HAVE A PART-TIME JOB ONLY
The Irish domestic economy shows no sign of growth; Some 300,000 people have seen their income drop by 50% and 25% have a part-time job only:
www.guardian.co.uk

Feb 19, 2011
GREECE HIRES GOLDMAN BANKER AS DEBT CHIEF
www.businessweek.com

Aug 1, 2011
GREECE BEGINS C50bn PRIVATISATION DRIVE
The starting gun for one of the biggest fire-sales in western history
was fired as Greek officials began ~ the country’s ambitious privatisation drive.

For Sale and For Rent signs on everything from former Olympic venues to island locales, casinos, marinas and airports ~
www.guardian.co.uk

Aug 1, 2011
JOE BIDEN CHARGING US SECRET SERVICE THOUSANDS TO RENT COTTAGE TO PROTECT HIM
The US Secret Service is paying Vice President Joe Biden $2,200 (f1,300) a month to rent a cottage next to his Delaware home in order to protect him and his family.

Records show Mr. Biden has collected more than $13,000 since April on the cottage in Greenville, a wealthy Wilmington suburb,

Last year, Mr. Biden ~ reported earnings of $379,178 including $11,000 in income from the cottage.
www.telegraph.co.uk

Aug 1, 2011
ITALY IN EYE OF THE STORM AS CASH RUNS LOW
Fears of a double-dip downturn on both sides of the Atlantic have set off fresh mayhem in Southern European bond markets, dashing hopes that Europe’s summit deal in late July would contain the escalating crisis.

While Italy has low private debt and avoided much of the credit bubble, it suffers from economic stagnation and a steady loss of competitiveness. Monetary tightening by the European Central Bank
has compounded the problem, triggering a collapse of all key measures of the Italian money supply.
www.telegraph.co.uk

Aug 2, 2011
IMF WARNS HOUSEHOLDS FACE LOSING f1,500 A YEAR FOR
FIVE YEARS
British households will lose f1,500 a year for the next five years as a consequence of the Government’s austerity drive, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned yesterday.
www.independent.co.uk

Aug 2, 2011
BARCLAYS PROFITS DROP AFTER PPI SCANDAL PAYOUT
Banking giant Barclays saw a 33% drop in profits to f2.6 billion in the first half of this year as the payment protection scandal took its toll.

But stripping out the PPI provision, Barclays would have seen profits increase to f3.7 billion
www.independent.co.uk

Aug 2, 2011
EUROZONE CRISIS REIGNITES AS INVESTORS LOSE FAITH IN RESCUE PACKAGE
Bob Diamond, the American who runs Barclays, endorsed the Chancellor’s austerity measures and indicated that the policy was necessary to ensure that Britain retained its AAA debt rating.
www.guardian.co.uk

Aug 1, 2011 (UPI)
UNION DEMISE INCREASES WAGE INEQUALITY
Study author Bruce Western, a professor of sociology at Harvard University in Boston says from 1973 to 2007, wage inequality in the private sector increased by more than 40 percent among men, and by 50 percent among women.

Part of the reason for this gender discrepancy is that men have experienced a much larger decline in private sector union membership — from 34 percent in 1973 to 8 percent in 2007 — than women, who went from 16 percent to 6 percent during the same period.
www.upi.com

Aug 2, 2011
U.S. INDICTS EX-UBS BANKER FOR TAX EVASION SERVICES
The indictment, ~ represents the newest wave of pressure by American officials on Swiss bankers and banks that enabled wealthy Americans
to evade billions of dollars in taxes through hidden, or undeclared, offshore accounts.
www.reuters.com

Aug 3, 2011
FAA LEFT HANGING AS CONGRESS LEAVES FOR AUGUST RECESS
~ lawmakers left Washington for their summer recess. But they left tens of thousands of workers without a paycheck
www.cbsnews.com

Aug 3, 2011
HUGE CUTS IMPERIL RECOVERY, ECONOMISTS SAY
The massive federal spending cuts that will follow the deficit reduction deal could further weaken a national economy that has been rapidly losing momentum,

~ several economists said the nation’s current economic situation bears more likeness to a period leading to the recession of 1937-38, which came on the heels of the Great Depression.

In both cases, lawmakers and policy makers, concerned about government deficits, took steps to curb federal spending when the economy was still weak.
www.boston.com

Aug 3, 2011
HOUSEHOLDS BUDGETS HIT BY FROZEN PAY AND RISING FOOD PRICES
www.guardian.co.uk

Aug 3, 2011
THE RECESSION NEVER TRULY ENDED
How can we have a double dip when we never climbed out in the first place?
www.fortune.cnn.com

Jun 18, 2011
(NOT) SPREADING THE WEALTH
Inequality in the U.S. has grown steadily since the 1970s ~ the wealthiest 10 percent earned almost the same as the rest of the country combined.

Income Level — Number of People — Average Income — 1970-2008
——————————————————————————- Change
Top 0.1% ——— 152,000 —————– $5.6 million ———- +385%
Top 0.1-0.5% —– 610,000 —————–$878,139 ————- +141%
Top 0.5-1% ——– 762,000 —————- $443,102 ————–+90%
Top 1-5% ———– 6.0 million ————–$211,476 ————–+59%
Top 5-10% ——— 7.5 million ————–$127,184 ————–+38%
Bottom 90% ——-137.2 million ———— $31,244 —————- -1%
www.washingtonpost.com

Aug 3, 2011
EVEN MARKED UP, LUXURY GOODS FLY OFF SHELVES
Even with the economy in a funk and many Americans pulling back on spending, the rich are again buyng designer clothing, luxury cars and about anything that catches their fancy.
www.nytimes.com

Aug 4, 2011 (Reuters)
INSIGHT: CEOs WARNED: MIND THE PAY GAP
Not surprisingly, the gap between the top and bottom on pay is biggest in the United States, where average CEO renumeration is 142 times that of the employees, ~ British CEOs pull in 69 times more than their workforces while egalitarian Sweden has an average of only 34 times.

If current levels continue, by 2030 wage disparity will reach levels of inequality not seen since Victorian times,
www.chicagotribune.com

Aug 4, 2011
BANKERS AND KRAFT: THE LONG, SORDID LOVE AFFAIR
Action ( in either direction ) is the sustenance of the M&A banker –
and it comes with a rotating rationale for building companies and then breaking them apart.

Kraft said it plans to split the company into two parts — one-third North American Grocery and two-thirds Global Snacks.

Kraft CEO Irene Rosenfeld said in 2010: “I kind of like the combination of some very strong cash generating businesses from the fast-growing (and) some very nice growth businesses.”

Rosenfeld now thinks that they should separate the slow-growing cash-flow-generating grocery businesses from the fast-growing, money-hungry snack businesses. Push the debt onto the grocery folks, and you’ve suddenly got a hot snack seller growth story!

This isn’t about the market, the story, or even the shareholders. Its just a bunch of bankers and executives doing their thing.
www.fortune.cnn.com

Aug 4, 2011
MAROVITZ, HUSBAND OF CHRISTIE HEFNER, SETTLES INSIDER LAWSUIT
Former State Sen. Bill Marovitz was sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for alleged insider trading Wednesday.

Marovitz, who is married to former Playboy CEO Christie Hefner, is accused of using insider knowledge from his wife to sell his shares of Playboy stock just before the company issued reports of bad performance.
www.suntimes.com

Aug 4, 2011
IMF CHIEF INVESTIGATED IN $400 MILLION DEAL IN FAVOR OF TYCOON
A French court on Thursday ordered an investigation into new IMF chief Christine Lagarde’s role in a much-criticized $400 million arbitration deal in favor of a controversial tycoon.
www.thestar.com

Aug 4, 2011
GREEK SHIPYARDS KEPT AFLOAT BY LUXURY YACHTS FOR THE SUPER-RICH
Toys for the wealthy now the main source of work at yards which once employed thousands building ferries and cargo ships.
www.guardian.co.uk

Aug 4, 2011
TEACHING JOBS DISAPPEAR
Friday’s jobs report could kick off the the worst quarter for state and local government jobs on record. And teachers are at the center of the bullseye.
www.money.cnn.com

Aug 5, 2011
LENGTH OF UNEMPLOYMENT CONTINUES TO BREAK RECORDS
The average worker who is unemployed has been searching for a job for 40.4 weeks,

That is the longest average unemployment duration on record.
www.nytimes.com

Aug 5, 2011
DAVID CAMERON AND GEORGE OSBORNE ‘CONSIDER’ 45p TAX RATE
David Cameron and George Osborne are considering emergency plans to slash the top rate of income tax from 50p to 45p
www.telegraph.co.uk

Aug 5, 2011
STATE OFFERS AMNESTY FOR SOME TAX CHEATERS
Starting this week, the state Franchise Tax Board is offering ~ limited amnesty ~ to those who ~ underreported their income, either through offshore tax shelters or so-called “abusive” tax transactions designed
to hide income.

About 47,000 letters went out to California taxpayers, ~ who were identified by data from California, other states and the IRS.
www.sacbee.com

Aug 5, 2011 (UPI)
IRS: 1,470 MILLIONAIRES PAID NO INCOME TAX
The Internal Revenue Service says 1,470 of 235,000 U.S. millionaires paid no income tax in 2009.

The IRS said millionaires comprised less than 1 percent of the 140 million tax returns filed in 2009 and that 8,274 U.S. citizens claimed incomes of $10 million or more.
www.upi.com

Aug 5, 2011
GREECE’S HEALTHCARE SYSTEM IS ON THE BRINK OF CATASTROPHE
Patients who cannot afford treatment and hospitals without critical supplies are among the victims of the financial meltdown.
www.guardian.co.uk

Aug 5, 2011
US UNEMPLOYMENT FEARS HIT ORDINARY AMERICANS
The number of people out of work for six months or more hit 6.4 million in June. Put another way, thats 44% of all 14 million unemployed Americans.

This is the most since 1948, when data was first recorded.

~ many economists now worry that fundamental restructuring of
the US economy may be needed.

But that would require political action of a sort that seems to be
beyond the powers of the president and the congress.
www.bbc.co.uk

Aug 6, 2011
EUROPE CRIES OUT FOR LEADERSHIP AS GLOBAL SHARE
SELL-OFF CONTINUES
The Foreign Secretary, William Hague — who is the most senior member of the Government left in Britain because David Cameron, George Osborne and Nick Clegg are on holiday — urged Spanish and Italian politicians quickly to set out their own plans for public-sector cuts.
www.independent.co.uk

Aug 6, 2011
UNITED STATES LOSSES AAA CREDIT RATING FROM S&P
Credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s ~ downgraded the United States’ credit rating for the first time in the history of the ratings.

In its statement, S&P said that it had changed its view “of the difficulties of bridging the gulf between the political parties: over a credible reduction plan.
www.independent.co.uk

Aug 6, 2011
E.ON FUELS CONSUMER OUTRAGE WITH HIGHER BILLS
E.ON became the forth of the “big six” energy giants to put up its prices ~ adding to consumer outrage over spiraling household bills ~ raising its gas prices by 18.1 percent, electricity by 11.4 percent,
www.independent.co.uk

Aug 6, 2011
CONSUMER BORROWING ROSE IN JUNE BY MOST IN FOUR YEARS
Unemployment hovering around 9 percent ~ elevated gasoline and food costs may be straining budgets, prompting consumers to turn to their credit cards to to purchase necessities.
www.boston.com

Aug 5, 2011
DOUBLE DIP, OR JUST ONE BIG ECONOMIC DIVE?
Financial crisis are not about the business cycle falling out of whack. They’re about debt. Lots of it. ~ the period after a financial crisis is marked by consumers trying to dig out from under a mountain of borrowed money. ~ But first you must correctly diagnose the problem.

~ call this period the ” Great Contraction ” in order to distinguish it from more normal recessions. ~ When we talk about double-dip recessions, that implies, ~ that the recession ended in summer of 2009, ~ The Great Contraction, conversely, suggests we have been, and remain, mired in an ongoing financial crisis.
www.washingtonpost.com

THE GREAT CONSTRICTION

Aug 4, 2011
CALIFORNIA AMNESTY PROGRAM FOR TAX DODGERS
The California Franchise Tax Board launched an amnesty program for tax dodgers this week, its third amnesty offer since 2004.

This years program is only open to people who used abusive tax shelters or offshore financial arrangements to hide or underreport income.

It is not open to people who owe penalties on unpaid taxes as a result of negligence, financial hardship or other reasons.
www.sfgate.com

Aug 7,2011
WE FACE RECESSION WITHOUT SHOCK ABSORBERS AS
BERLIN LOSES PATIENCE WITH THE EUROZONE
The great reprieve is exhausted. The world has used up three years’ grace gained by extreme stimulus after the debt bubble burst in 2008.

Interest rates are at already near zero ~ Fiscal deficits are stretched to the limits of safety.

China has already pushed credit to 200pc of GDP. It cannot repeat the trick.

The Anglo-Saxons can print more money, but the gains in asset prices for the rich are offset by losses from fuel and food inflation for the poor. This is a destructive tradeoff.

Yet the bank for International Settlements is surely right that we are pushing ever closer to the limits of a model that relies on artificial stimulus to keep stealing extra prosperity from the future. There is ever less to steal.
www.telegraph.co.uk

Aug 6, 2011
WALL STREETS TAX ON MAIN STREET
Wall Street banks have peddled to municipalities all sorts of financial products, some of which have turned out to be costly mistakes. ~ poorly structured financial transaction involving bonds and derivatives known as interest rate swaps represents ” Wall Street’s multibillion-dollar hidden tax on MainStreet.

~ a type of complex financing that big banks have pushed on state and local authorities

These deals are lucrative for the banks, ~ excessive fees charged by banks had cost issuers, and therefore taxpayers, $20 billion over the last five years.

Banks offering such deals can act as both adviser and counterparty to borrowers, putting the banks in direct conflict with their customers.
www.nytimes.com

Aug 8, 2011 (Reuters)
ANALYSIS: BEYOND DEBT WOES, A WIDER CRISIS OF GLOBALIZATION?
The crisis at the heart of the international financial and political system go beyond the debt woes currently gripping the Western world and to the heart of the way the global economy has been run for over two decades.

~ nation states look to have lost control of globalization.

The financial system, the internet and even the supply chains for natural resources have quietly slipped beyond effective forms of state control.

International companies and rich individuals move money — and even entire manufacturing operations — from jurisdiction to jurisdiction to seek low wages, avoid tax, regulation and sometimes even detection. ~ that helped fuel a growing wealth gap
www.cnbc.com

Aug 8, 2011
AS U.S. STUMBLES, COMPANIES INVEST IN CONSUMER GROWTH OVERSEAS
Many major U.S. companies are making big plans to expand overseas even as some of them announce new layoffs at home, and there’s a chilling reason why: They’re beginning to give up on the American consumer as a source of future growth.
www.latimes.com

Aug 8, 2011
PUBLIC-SCHOOL LOSSES: PRIVATE SCHOOLS’ GAIN
For the first time ~ the number of workers in American public schools has fallen two school years in a row. ~ the state of New York, which lost about 10,000 public education employees in the past two years, will lose another 12,000 or so in the coming school year,

Cuts in faculty mean bigger class sizes, fewer course offerings, and less individual attention for students. ~ But the loss of public school teachers may prove to be a boon for the private sector. While the number of public school workers dropped ~ the number of private education service workers has grown proportionately –
www.csmonitor.com

Aug 9, 2011
CHASE TO ADD 400 JOBS, FOUR BRANCHES IN CHICAGO
BY YEAR’S END
Chase will create 400 new jobs by opening four new branch banks in Chicago by the end of next year, bringing to 4,000 the number of private-sector jobs created since Ralm Emanuel took office.

Chase is the banking giant that once employed White House chief of staff William Daley, ~ as its Midwest chairman.

~ William Daley replaced Emanuel at the White House,
www.suntimes.com

Aug 9, 2011
JPMORGAN CHASE SUED BY ELLIS INSTITUTE OVER MONEY TRANSFERS BY PRESIDENT
The chairman of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce illegally transferred $2.5 million ~ said in a lawsuit claiming JPMorgan Chase
& Co. (JPM) let it happen.

Jeffery Bernstein, the former president of Albert Ellis board of trustees, ~ transferred more than $2.5 million in institute funds into personal bank accounts he owns or controls, lawyers ~ said in the lawsuit.
www.bloomberg.com

Aug 9, 2011
GOLDMAN SACHS SUED OVER BUSTED CREDIT UNIONS
Federal regulators filed a lawsuit against Goldman Sachs (GS) Tuesday seeking more than $490 million in damages

~ a slap on the wrist for Wall Street’s most powerful investment bank –

~ Goldman Sachs paid out a total of $3.2 billion in bonuses, salary and benefits in the second quarter, and it was a pretty miserable quarter for the bank by its own lofty standards.
www.moneywatch.bnet.com

Aug 9, 2011
NO CLEAR WAY FOWARD IN LIGHT OF S&P DOWNGRADE
Obama has proposed extending a payroll tax cut and extending unemployment insurance. He has also sought to increase tax revenue, but House Majority Leader Eric Cantor told fellow Republicans to resist pressure to increase taxes as a way to get the deficit under control.
www.cbsatlanta.com

Aug 10, 2011
CALIFORNIA TAX REVENUE PLUMMETS IN JULY, RAISING FEAR OF TRIGGER CUTS
If revenue remains low, drastic education cuts will kick in
www.latimes.com

Aug 10, 2011
SWISS NEAR TAX DEAL WITH GERMANY, BRITAIN
Switzerland is close to signing sweeping tax treaties with Germany and Britain ~ that assets belonging to citizens of those countries held in Swiss banks would no longer escape tax.

This week, it emerged that at least six more unidentified banks in Switzerland and one in Liechtenstein were being investigated by prosecutors about whether they helped Americans evade taxes,
www.boston.com

Aug 10, 2011
SEC: BROKERAGE RIPPED OFF WISCONSIN SCHOOLS
Securities & Exchange Commission today filed suit against St. Louis-based brokerage Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. (SN), alleging that it defrauded five Wisconsin school districts out of around $200 million, also charged was Stifel Nicolaus executive David Noack
www.fortune.cnn.com

Aug 10, 2011
BIG BANKS SHRINKING AS SBA LENDERS
The Small Business Administration’s guaranteed business loan program is back. ~ But there’s something noteworthy about who is doing that lending. While banks as a whole loaned more government-backed money than ever, the biggest banks loaned less.

~ in 2010 the 25 biggest banks held 32 percent more in deposits than those banks did in 2006 — but approved 30 percent less in S.B.A. loans.
www.nytimes.com

Aug 10, 2011
BANK WARNING AS GROWTH FORECAST CUT
The UK’s economy will not grow as quickly as previously expected and faces serious threats from the debt storms lashing the Eurozone, the Bank of England warned today.

It is the second time the bank has downgraded the UK’s growth forecast this year.
www.independent.co.uk

Aug 9, 2011
HOUSE MEMBERS TRAVEL TO ISRAEL, COURTESY OF AIPAC LOBBY, NOT TAXPAYERS
A record 81 House members, about a fifth of the chamber, are spending a week in Israel this month, courtesy of a foundation set up by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel lobby.

It’s apparently the largest number of lawmakers in the 20 years or so that these trips have been undertaken.

The first GOP group’s senior member is House Majority Leader
Eric Cantor (Va.). The second group’s senior traveler is House Whip Kevin McCarty (Calif.), who’s fresh off a fine tour of Europe last month to promote the legacy of former president Ronald Reagan.
www.washingtonpost.com

Aug 10, 2011
NEWS CORP’S ‘ INDEPENDENT ‘ DIRECTORS HAVE STRONG LINKS TO RUPERT MURDOCH
One is a former Goldman Sachs president who helped News Corp broker big deals. Another is godfather to one of Murdoch’s grandchildren. Another ran Murdoch’s Australian subsidiary.
www.guardian.co.uk

Aug 10, 2011 (McClatchy Newspapers)
6 REPUBLICANS WHO HAVE VOWED NO TAX HIKES NAMED TO DEBT PANEL
Republican leaders ~ appointed six conservative lawmakers Wednesday to the so-called “super committee” thats charged with finding ways to trim the federal deficit by more than $1 trillion by years end.
www.miamiherald.com

Aug 11, 2011
NO NEW TAXES TO PLUG CITY BUDGET DEFICIT, EMANUEL SAYS
Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday reaffirmed his promise to erase a $635.7 million shortfall without raising taxes –
www.suntimes.com

Aug 11, 2011
MORGAN KELLY WARNS OF NEW MIDDLE-CLASS DEBT DEFAULT
~ economist Morgan Kelly, best known for his trenchant analysis of Ireland’s financial crisis, says there’s another middle-class nightmare on the horizon.

Professor Morgan Kelly said there is about c11bn (f9.6bn) tied up in domestic loans that were handed out to lawyers, doctors and estate agents for homes they can no longer afford — loans the banks are not counting as problematic.
www.guardian.co.uk

Aug 11, 2011
PORTUGAL ATTEMPTS TO SEDUCE ASSET BUYERS AT
‘ WORST OF TIMES ‘: EURO CREDIT
Portugal may have to brave the most turbulent stock markets in three years as it seeks buyers for state-owned assets to meet the terms of its bailout package.
www.bloomberg.com

Aug 11, 2011
MOST AMERICANS CAN’T AFFORD A $1,000 EMERGENCY EXPENSE
A majority, or 64%, of Americans don’t have enough cash on hand to handle a $1,000 emergency expense.
www.money.cnn.com

Sept 16, 2010
USA’S POVERTY RATE REACHES HIGHEST LEVEL IN 51 YEARS
A total 43.6 million people lived in poverty last year, up from 39.8 million in 2008 — the third consecutive increase.
www.usatoday.com

Aug 12, 2011
BILLIONAIRE WIESE TARGETS NIGERIA AS WAL-MART SEIZES FOOTHOLD IN AFRICA
~ betting economies in Africa will expand faster than the U.S. and Europe.
www.bloomberg.com

Aug 12, 2011 (Reuters)
CONSUMER SENTIMENT SLUMPS AS RETAIL SALES JUMP
Consumer sentiment worsened sharply in early August, falling to the lowest index level since 1980, even though retail sales posted the biggest gains in three months in July.
www.ibtimes.com

Aug 12, 2011
HEEBNER BETS ON JPMORGAN CHASE, TIFFANY,
WHILE SELLING ALL SHARES IN APPLE
Kenneth Heebner ~ added financial and consumer discretionary shares ~ and sold all shares of Apple.
www.bloomberg.com

Aug 12, 2011 (AP)
FBI: MORTGAGE FRAUD STILL PREVELENT, HARD TO CATCH
www.dailyfinance.com

Aug 12, 2011
INDONESIA CBANK TEMPORARILY STOPS FOREIGN BANKS FROM BUYING LOCAL LENDERS
Indonesia’s central bank will not allow foreign banks to buy local banks until it issues a new regulation on bank ownership.
www.reuters.com

Aug 10, 2011
THE RICH ARE DIFFERENT — AND NOT IN A GOOD WAY,
STUDIES SUGGEST
Their life experience makes them less empathetic, less altruistic, and generally more selfish.

~ taxes, debt ceilings and defaults that are now roiling the stock market is partly rooted in an upper class “ideology of self-interest.”

“We have now done 12 separate studies measuring empathy in every way imaginable, social behavior in every way, and some work on compassion and its the same story,”

~ the rich gloss over the ways family connections, money and education helped, they come to denigrate the role of government and vigorously oppose taxes to fund it.
www.msnbc.msn.com

Aug 12, 2011
IN MANHATTAN, PRESCHOOL INTERVIEWS INDUCE ANXIETY
~ in America: some Manhattanites spend $20,000 to $40,000 a year sending their children to preschool
www.npr.org

Jun 22, 2011
PRIVATE SCHOOL TUITION: NOW MORE EXPENSIVE THAN HARVARD
Right now, the cost of a private school education education averages out to $21,695 per year. ~ roughly 44% of the annual income of the average American household, it’s just over half the tuition charged by the country’s most expensive private academy: New York’s Riverdale Country School.

Recently, Riverdale announced plans to increase tuition by 4%, to $40,450 per year,

Riverdale’s price tag exceeds the basic tuition at seven of the eight
Ivy League colleges and universities.

Riverdale may lead the pack in the tuition game, but its only slightly ahead of of the competition. ~ In New York, the medium cost of tuition for senior year at a private school is $35,475. ~ A year of kindergarten at the Blue School ~ $29,820.
www.dailyfinance.com

Aug 12, 2011
PRESCHOOL: THE BEST JOB TRAINING PROGRAM
They involve things like being able to pay attention and focus, being curious and open to new experiences, and being able to control your temper and not get frustrated.

~ you don’t get them in high school, or in middle school, or even in elementary school. You get them in preschool.
www.npr.org

Aug 12, 2011
GROWTH FORECAST FOR U.S. REDUCED THROUGH 2013
Global financial strains, government fiscal austerity and a like of jobs will hurt U.S. growth over the next couple of years.
www.bloomberg.com

Aug 13, 2011
WALL STREET GYRATIONS JOLT LUXURY RETAIL
~ luxury shopping is a major portion of consumer spending.
www.upi.com

Aug 13, 2011 (McClatchynews)
WORLD BANK CHIEF WARNS ECONOMY IN ‘ MORE DANGEROUS ‘ PHASE
The global economy was entering a “new and more dangerous” phase because of the debt crisis in Europe, World Bank chief Robert Zoellick warned Saturday.
www.sacbee.com

Aug 14, 2011
THREATS ON MANY FRONTS FOR EUROPEAN ECONOMY
Another recession is already underway in Greece and Portugal, while economic growth in countries like Britain, Italy and Spain has been very slow since last year. ~ now Germany, which has been remarkably strong, ~ seems to be decelerating.

Despite the risk of another recession, the British government has vowed to stick with its austerity program of reducing spending by f80 billion, or $130 billion, which is expected to cost 300,000 public-sector jobs.
www.nytimes.com

Aug 14, 2011
QUANTITATIVE EASING ‘ IS GOOD FOR THE RICH,
BAD FOR POOR ‘
As the bank of England prepares to vote on quantitative easing, a report argues the extra cash ‘exacerbates already extreme income inequality’

Real wages and salaries have fallen by f4bn. Profits are up by f11bn.
www.guardian.co.uk

Aug 14, 2011 (AP)
AP ENTERPRISE: RECORDS SHOW NY GOV. FLEW HOME
ON STATE PLANE; SPOKESMAN SAYS ITS PERMISSIBLE
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo used state aircraft for more than a dozen flights to or from his home following statewide tours in which he called for belt-tightening and budget cuts for schools and other services,
www.washingtonpost.com

July 25, 2011 (AP)
FBI MAY HAVE TO WAIT ON MURDOCH INQUIRY
Most of the records and witnesses to prove or disprove the allegations are in the hands of British investigators.
www.bostonglobe.com

July 25, 2011
NEWS INTERNATIONAL STAFF TOLD TO STOP DELETING EMAILS
Staff across all of Rupert Murdoch’s News International newspapers have been warned not to delete or destroy documents relating to any of the phone-hacking investigations
www.independent.co.uk

July 25, 2011
IMF CALLS FOR SWIFT U.S. ACTION ON DEBT
The International Monetary Fund warned on Monday the United States must raise the debt ceiling quickly and get its debts under control for the sake of the global economy.
www.chicagotribune.com

July 25, 2011
U.S. TRUCKING FUNDS REACH TALIBAN. MILITARY-LED INVESTIGATION CONCLUDES
U.S. taxpayer money has been indirectly funneled to the Taliban under a $2.16 billion transportation contract

Yet U.S. and Afghan efforts to address the problem have been slow and ineffective, and all eight of the trucking firms ~ remain on U.S. payroll.
www.washingtonpost.com

July 25, 2011
MARKOVITZ FINED $20,000 FOR WIFES FREE OVERSEAS TRIPS
Brooklyn’S Borough President, Marty Murkovitz, took trips to Turkey and the Netherlands on official city business several years ago, he excepted free travel expenses for his wife, ~ the city’s Conflicts of Interests Board ~ fined him $20,000, ~ the findings ~ released on Monday.

~ two trips to Turkey, one in 2007 ~ another in 2009 , and a trip to the Netherlands in 2009.

This is the second ethics fine Mr. Markowitz has ~ this year. In February, the board docked him $2,000 for using his chief of staff
as his lawyer at a 2009 real estate closing.
www.nytimes.com

July 25, 2011
TO REACH SIMPLE LIFE OF SUMMER CAMP, LINING UP FOR PRIVATE JETS
~ even as the economy limps along, more of the nation’s wealthier families are cutting out the car ride and chartering planes to fly to summer camps.
www.nytimes.com

July 25, 2011
CHARTERS GET $55 MILLION FOR UPKEEP, OTHER SCHOOLS GET ZERO
Traditional schools in Florida will get no money from the state this year

All of the state cash budgeted for school construction and maintenance is going to the independent, tax-financed charters
www.sun-sentinel.com

July 25, 2011
WEALTH GAP WIDENS BETWEEN WHITES, MINORITIES, REPORT SAYS
The wealth gap between whites and minorities has risen to a historic high

Between 2005 and 2009 the share of wealth owned by the wealthiest
10 percent of all households rose to 56 percent from 49 percent.
www.washingtonpost.com

July 26, 2011
OSBURNE MET NEWS INTERNATIONAL CHIEFS 16 TIMES SINCE ELECTION
Chancellor’s meetings — Including five with Rebecca Brooks — show full extent of governments links to News International

The chancellor ~ met James Murdoch on four occasions, and Rupert Murdoch twice,

- Michael Gove, the former Times journalist who is now education secretary, met Rupert Murdoch six times after the election
www.guardian.co.uk

July 26, 2011
CHILDREN ‘ SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO LEAVE SCHOOL AT 14 ‘, CLAIMS FORMER CBI CHIEF
Children should be allowed to leave school at 14 and start work to
boost Britain’s economy,
www.telegraph.co.uk

July 26, 2011
IMF DEMANDS END TO PARTISAN BICKERING OVER DEBT CEILING AS AMERICA’S DEADLINE DAY LOOMS
Republicans are opposed to any new taxes, insisting the country’s books must be balanced by slashing spending. Democrats argue that Federal taxes are currently at their lowest, as a proportion of GNP,
in history, and would like any cuts to be accompanied by revenue increases.
www.independent.co.uk

July 26, 2011 (Reuters)
DOWNGRADE SEEN ADDING $100 BILLION TO U.S. FUNDING COSTS
A downgrade of the United States’ AAA credit rating is a bigger risk
than a default

That would make it more costly for consumers and business to borrow money and could land the economy back in recession.

A default on the country’s obligations would be even more disruptive, ~ but was less likely.
www.money.msn.com

July 26, 2011
ELIZABETH WARREN TO STEP DOWN FROM CONSUMER AGENCY MONDAY
Raj Date, ~ will become a special advisor to Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner and run the bureau’s daily operations until a director is confirmed.

Date ~ has more than a decade of experience in the financial services industry, including ~ managing director at Deutsche Bank.
www.latimes.com

July 26, 2011
WEALTH GAP WIDENS DURING RECESSION
The median wealth of white U.S. households in 2009, was $113,149, compared with $6,325 for Hispanics and $5,677 for blacks, ~ those ratios; roughly 20 to 1 for blacks and 18 to 1 for Hispanics, far exceed the low mark of 7 to 1 for both groups reached in 1995,
www.miamiherald.com

July 27, 2011
MURDOCHS WERE GIVEN SECRET DEFENCE BRIEFINGS
The extraordinary access that Cabinet ministers granted Rupert Murdoch and his children was revealed for the first time yesterday, with more than two dozen meetings between the family and senior members of the Government in the 15 months since David Cameron entered Downing Street.

On two occasions, James Murdoch and former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks were given confidential defence briefings on Afghanistan and Britain’s strategic defence review by the Defence Secretary, Liam Fox.
www.independent.co.uk

July 27, 2011
HEDGE FUNDS WADE IN TO US DEBT DEBATE
Hedge fund billionaire Dan Loeb has joined the ranks of Angry Americans ~ on the country’s $14.3 trillion (f8 trillion) debt ceiling.

In a letter to his investors, he wrote: ” it is increasingly difficult to avoid the conclusion that while Washington burns, President Obama is fiddling away by insisting that the only solution to the nation’s problems — whether unemployment, the debt ceiling or deficit reductions — lies in the redistribution of wealth. ”

Last month Stanley Druckenmiller – the American hedge fund manager who helped George Soros ” break the Bank of England in 1992 – surprised the markets by declaring that a technical default was no big thing.

Mr Druckenmiller said if in the worst case scenario that the markets really did implode in a technical default situation than President Obama and the Congress would come to a solution.
www.telegraph.co.uk

JuLy 27, 2011
WHY GEORGE SOROS SHOULD BE REGULATED, EVEN NOW
FORTUNE — Poor George Soros, Regulations have forced the ~ hedge fund manager to return money to investors, shutter his hedge fund, and turn his ~ investment operation into a mere “family office.”

Despite the family’s massive wealth–Soros and his kin are worth a reported $25 billion–this proved too burdensome a prospect, so they’re kicking out long-time investors in order to remain exempt from the new regulations.

Soros joins two other downtrodden billionaires who recently threw in the towel instead of grappling with a bit of new paperwork Stanley Druckenmiller and Carl Icahn.
www.fortune.cnn.com

July 28, 2011
TOP WALL STREET CEOs WARN OBAMA, CONGRESS ON DEBT CEILING
The executives, including Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Jamie Diamond of JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Brian Moynihan of Bank of America Corp., ~ strongly urged the White House and congressional leaders to strike a deal.

” Our economy recovery remains very fragile, ” they wrote ~ ” A default on our nations obligations, ~ would be a tremendous blow to business and investor confidence — raising interest rates for everyone who borrows, undermining the value of the dollar, and roiling stock and bond markets — therefore, dramatically worsening our nation’s already difficult economic circumstances. ‘
www.latimes.com

July 28, 2011 (Reuters)
SPECIAL REPORT: GOLDMAN’S NEW MONEY MACHINE: WAREHOUSES
In a rundown patch of detroit, ~ stands an unremarkable warehouse that investment bank Goldman Sachs has transformed into a money-making machine.

A string of warehouses in Detroit, most of them operated by Goldman, has stockpiled more than a million tonnes of the industrial metal aluminum, about a quarter of global reported inventories.

Simply storing all that metal generates tens of millions of dollars in rent ~ for Goldman every year.

~ only a trickle of the aluminum is leaving the depots, creating a supply pinch for manufacturers

The resulting spike in prices has sparked a clash
www.msnbc.msn.com

July 28, 2011 (Reuters)
MICROSOFT USE OF LOW-TAX HAVENS DRIVES DOWN TAX BILL
If you want to know why tax from surging corporate profits isn’t making much of a dent in the United States crippling budget deficit ~ Microsoft Corp’s recent results provides some clues.

~ record sales of nearly $17.4 billion, a 30 percent increase in after tax profit, and a 35 percent gain in earnings per share.

Microsoft reported only $445 million in taxes in the U.S. and other foreign countries, just 7 percent of its $6.32 billion in pre-tax profit.

Some Congressional leaders are calling for a ” repatriation holiday ” that would allow corporations to bring back money held offshore at a lower rate of 5.25 percent,

Nearly $1.2 trillion of accumulated U.S. corporate profits, are now held in overseas subsidiaries.
www.postcronicle.com

July 28, 2011
COSTS OF BRITISH MILITARY OPERATIONS IN AFGHANISTAN ESTIMATED AT f18bn
www.guardian.co.uk

July 28, 2011
PUBLIC SECTOR PENSIONS: UNIONS ANGRY OVER f1bn BILL
2.5 million nurses, teachers and civil servants face pension contribution increases totaling more than f1bn next year if proposed changes are implemented.
www.guardian.co.uk

July 28, 2011
U.S. ACCUSES IRAN OF ‘ SECRET DEAL ‘ WITH AL QAEDA
David S. Cohen, Treasury’s point man for terrorism and financial intelligence, said Iran entered a ” secret deal with al Qaeda allowing it to funnel funds and operatives through its territory. ” He didn’t provide any details of that agreement,
www.sfgate.com

July 29, 2011
US ECONOMY GROWTH SLOWS DOWN SHARPLY IN 2011
~ the US economy grown to a virtual halt in the first half of the year, with consumer spending at its weakest level in two years.

The world’s largest economy grew by just 0.4% between January and June — half the pace of growth in austerity Britain.
www.guardian.co.uk

July 29, 2011 (Reuters)
DATA SHOWS DEEPER RECESSION, SHARPER SLOWDOWN
The ” Great Recession ” was even greater than previously thought,
and the U.S. has skated uncomfortably close to a new one this year.

New data on Friday showed the 2007-2009 U.S. recession was much more severe than prior measures had found, with economic output declining a cumulative of 5.1 percent instead of 4.1 percent.
www.ibtimes.com

July 29, 2011
APPLE IS NOW MORE CASH-RICH THAN THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT, FIGURES FROM THE US TREASURY DEPARTMENT SHOW
The US currently has a total operating cash balance of $73.7bn (f45.3bn), compared with Apple’s $76.4bn of cash reserves,
www.telegraph.co.uk

July 28, 2011 (Reuters)
MICROSOFT USE OF LOW-TAX HAVENS DRIVES DOWN TAX BILL
Obama and the Treasury Department oppose a “repatriation holiday” while Microsoft, along with other multinationals, including Apple, ~ backs the repatriation idea

~ that would allow corporations to bring back money held offshore at a lower rate of 5.25 percent
www.msnbc.msn.com

July 30, 2011
RALM EMANUEL PROMISES NO TAX HIKES OR POLICE CUTS IN FACE OF BUDGET CRISES
Mayor Ralm Emanuel ~ to make tough choices Chicago has avoided for a decade — without raising taxes, cutting police
www.suntimes.com

July 30, 2011 (Reuters)
BILLIONAIRE WILBUR ROSS DOWNPLAYS DOWNGRADE THREAT
A downgrade of Sovereign would not necessarily have a big impact on financial markets, billionaire investor Wilbur Ross said.
www.ibtimes.com

July 30, 2011
CHINA LOSES PATIENCE WITH US LEADERS WHO ‘ KIDNAPPED ‘ WORLD FINANCE
www.independent.co.uk

July 30, 2011
CHEVRON HEADED FOR A YEAR OF RECORD PROFITS
~ made $13.94 billion in profit for the first half of this year ~ easily topping its previous record of $11.14 billion in the first half of 2008.
www.sfgate.com

July 30, 2011
UK HOUSEHOLDS SQUEEZED HARDER THAN US OR EUROPE
Households are now forecast to suffer a second successive year of sliding real disposable incomes, after enduring the biggest fall in spending power in 34 years.
www.telegraph.co.uk

July 30, 2011
CITY JOB CUTS TO COST THE GOVERNMENT f1.3BN IN LOST TAX REVENUES
Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs and UBS are already preparing to cut hundreds of London-based employees

~ as many as 16,000 jobs could be cut by investment banks ~ by the end of the year
www.telegraph.co.uk

July 31, 2011
HSBC SET TO ‘CONFIRM 10,000 JOB LOSSES’
HSBC will confirm 10,000 job losses as it announces its interim results tomorrow,

HSBC is anticipated to report pre-tax profits of 10.9 billion US dollars (f6.7 billion) for the period, down from 11.1 billion US dollars (f7 billion).
www.independent.co.uk

July 28, 2011
DYNASTY TRUSTS LET U.S. WEALTHY DUCK ESTATE, GIFT TAXES FOREVER
A dynasty trust is used to pass money on to multiple generations of descendants while paying as little tax as possible. The trusts have
no expiration date and and there are no required minimum distributions, meaning their assets may grow for an unlimited number of future generations.
www.bloomberg.com

July 18, 2011
OBAMA TO MEET WITH GATES, BUFFETT TODAY TO DISCUSS PHILANTHROPY
President Barack Obama will meet with Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s Warren Buffett and Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates today to discuss how private philanthropy can be channeled toward national challenges.
www.washingtonpost.com

July 18, 2011
GOLDMAN SAYS RECESSION RISK RISING
A recession is “clearly a possibility,” the bank that until recently was America’s biggest booster said in cutting its economic growth forecasts yet again.

~ lots of people have no money and even more lack confidence they will be employed a year from now. ~ One day economists may decide to open their eyes to these obvious truths ~ Even with the economy at stall speed and Europe on the verge of collapse, wishful thinking carries the day.
www.fortune.cnn.com

July 18, 2011
NEWS CORP FACES GLOBAL INVESTIGATION INTO BRIBERY
With pressure mounting in the US for the launch of a full-blooded inquiry into News Corporation under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the daunting consequences of such a move are becoming evident ~ possible bribery activities on the part of the company’s subsidiaries in America, Australia, Europe, India and China was now almost inevitable.

~ The law was introduced in the 1970s to penalise US-based companies from profiting from the spoils of bribery and corruption in other countries.
www.guardian.co.uk

July 19, 2011
CITY BONUSES TOTALLED f14bn LAST YEAR
Overall, f35bn was paid out in bonuses to staff across the whole economy,

~ the average of f12,500 annual bonus paid to finance staff in the year to april is likely to disguise huge disparities in the amounts paid to senior investment bankers

Barclays revealed this year that its new chief executive Bob Diamond got a bonus of f6.5m for 2010 on top of his f250,000 annual salary.

Public sector employees, who make up 22% of the work force, accounted for 1.5% of the f35bn bonus payments
www.guardian.co.uk

July 19, 2011
UNION WINS ROUND OVER QUINN IN BATTLE OVER RAISES
The state’s largest employee union won the first round with Gov. Pat Quinn over his decision to block pay raises ~ after an arbitrator ruled today that the administration is violating its contract

Quinn’s office said it planned to appeal the decision in court.
www.chicagotribune.com

July 19, 2011
S.F. COURTS WARN OF BUDGET DISASTER, HUGE DELAYS
Two hundred Superior Court employees, more than 40 percent of the staff, are about to be notified that they will be laid off Sept. 30 because of devastating losses of state funding.

Effects of the newly approved, bare-bones state budget are already being felt in programs ranging from child care to university tuition and access. ~ California’s judicial system, the largest in the nation, ~ will be hit hard

~ the court plans to close 25 of its 63 courtrooms on Oct. 3,

“The public’s access to justice and even basic civil rights (is) at risk,”
www.sfgate.com

July 20, 2011
HIGH CANCELLATIONS DEPRESS HOME SALES
Sales of previously owned homes hit a seven-month low in June as demand for condominiums fell and contract cancellations surged.
www.reuters.com

July 20, 2011
SCHOOL DEAN BUYS $1.8m GOLD COAST CONDOMINIUM
Sunil Kumar, the dean of the University of Chicago Booth school of business, paid $1.85 million on May 17 for a ~ 3,450 square-foot-condo unit in a Gold Coast high rise.
www.chicagotribune.com

July 20, 2011
“HOUSE LOCK” PLAYS LITTLE ROLE IN JOBLESS RATE: FED
Home-owner reluctance to sell their dwellings to relocate for a new job has played little part in boosting the U.S. unemployment rate,
research from the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank showed on Wednesday.
www.reuters.com

July 20, 2011
GOLDMAN DOUBLES PROFIT, PLANS LAYOFFS
Goldman Sachs Group more than doubled its profits last quarter, to $1.05 billion,

Goldman ~ said it would eliminate as many as 1,000 jobs
www.boston.com

July 20, 2011
STATES NEGOTIATING IMMUNITY FOR BANKS OVER FORECLOSURES
State attorneys general are negotiating to give major banks wide immunity over irregularities in handling foreclosures even as evidence has emerged that banks are continuing to file questionable documents.
www.reuters.com

July 21, 2011
EMANUEL TO SEND HIS KIDS TO PRIVATE SCHOOL THIS FALL
Mayor Rahm Emanuel has decided to send his three children to the University of Chicago Lab Schools rather than put them in the financially strapped Chicago Public Schools

The University of Chicago Lab School is an elite, diverse and costly school that has long educated the children of Chicago’s rich, famous and clout heavy. Annul tuition at the Hyde Park school ranges from $21,876 for grades 1-4 to $23,676 for grades 5-8 and $24,870
for high school students.
www.suntimes.com

July 21, 2011
POLICE FORCES TO CUT 34,000 OFFICERS AND STAFF
Police forces in England and Wales plan to cut 34,000 officers and staff over the next four years
www.guardian.co.uk

July 21, 2011
CISCO’S 6,500 JOB CUTS COULD HURT PUSH FOR OFFSHORE TAX HOLIDAY
Cisco System Inc (CSCO)’s plan to eliminate about 6,500 jobs worldwide is complicating the corporate lobbying campaign for a tax holiday that would allow multinational companies to return $1 trillion in offshore profits to the U.S. at a low tax rate.

One of the biggest questions in the repatriation debate is whether companies will use the money they return to the U.S. to create jobs.

~ a tax holiday in 2004 didn’t create jobs as advertised. Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPO), for instance, returned $14.5 billion to the U.S. and reduced its workforce by 14,500 employees in a year.
www.bloomberg.com

July 21, 2011
WHAT DID PM TELL MURDOCH ABOUT THE BSkyB TAKEOVER?
David Cameron admitted that he may have discussed the bid by the News Corp for full control of BSkyB during his 27 meetings with Murdoch executives since last year’s election.
www.independent.co.uk

July 21, 2011
BOB DIAMOND ‘LANDS DAVID CAMERON’S PLANE’
Bob Diamond, the controversial chief executive of Barclays Bank, is at the centre of a security storm after it was claimed he had been allowed to land the prime minister’s plane despite not having a pilots licence.

The millionaire was said to have taken control of the chartered Virgin Atlantic flight as it returned to London from David Cameron’s tour of Africa.
www.telegraph.co.uk

July 21, 2011
PRINCE ANDREW TO STAND DOWN AS UK TRADE ENVOY
The prince has been criticized over his friendship with controversial figures, including convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein, an American financier.
www.bbc.co.uk

July 21, 2011
GEITHNER GAVE FED OFFICIAL WAIVER ON AIG HOLDINGS
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, while head of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, granted a waiver that allowed his eventual successor William Dudley to hold on to investments in firms getting emergency help.

Dudley, a former partner at Goldman Sachs who at the time ran the
New York Fed’s powerful markets desk, was allowed to maintain his financial stake in insurance giant AIG, whose bailout helped prop up investment firms like Goldman Sachs.
www.reuters.com

July 21, 2011 (Reuters)
U.S. INDICTS THREE CREDIT SUISSE BANKERS
U.S. authorities indicted three Credit Suisse AG private bankers, ~ toughening their stance against the bank for allegedly helping wealthy Americans to evade taxes.
www.chicagotribune.com

July 22, 2011
THE HIGH COST OF AMERICA’S GAMBLING ADDICTION
When it comes to severity, America’s gambling addiction isn’t to far behind the nation’s drug problem, and its growing. In 2007, Americans lost more than $92 billion gambling, about nine times what they lost in 1982, and almost 10 times more than what moviegoers in the U.S. spent on tickets that same year,, says Sam Skolnic, author of the newly released book High Stakes: The Rising Cost of America’s Gambling Addiction,

~ touted as good for the economy can be bad for society, and gambling addiction carries a huge price tag.
www.dailyfinance.com

July 22, 2011 (Bloomberg)
MORE USING CREDIT TO PAY FOR BASICS
US consumers are increasingly using credit cards to pay for basic necessities as income gains fail to keep pace with rising food and fuel prices.
www.boston.com

July 22, 2011
FLA. PICKS UP TAB FOR DIGNITARIES
When Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana visited Jacksonville to campaign for Rick Scott last fall, state law enforcement agents provided extra security — and Florida taxpayers picked up the tab.

The single most expensive dignitary visit was by Jindal’s wife, Supriya, last April.The four-day trip cost $4,420. Jindal’s office declined to respond to requests for the purpose of the trip.

The state does not provide details on the purpose of any of the trips.

A frequent Florida visitor was former Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina, who made five trips to Florida, all of them personal, at a cost of $9,200.
www.miamiherald.com

July 22, 2011
GENERAL ELECTRIC PROFITS JUMP 22PC AS IT ANNOUNCES $200BN ORDERS BACKLOG
The quarter also saw markets outside the US generate 59pc of total sales, up from 53pc for the whole of last year.

That may prove politically difficult for Mr. Immelt who heads president Barack Obama’s Council on Jobs, but was welcomed by Wall Street.
www.telegraph.co.uk

July 23, 2011 (AP)
A BOOM IN CORPORATE PROFITS, A BUST IN JOBS, WAGES
Wages and salaries accounted for just 1 percent of economic growth
in the last 18 months

Corporate profits, by contrast, accounted for an unprecedented
88 percent of economic growth
www.denverpost.com

July 23, 2011
U.S. WASTES $34 BILLION IN AFHAN AND IRAN CONTRACTING
The United States has wasted some $34 billion on service contracts with the private sector in the wars in Irag and Afghanistan,
www.reuters.com

July 23, 2011
THE BANKS STILL WANT A WAIVER
~ to what extent would such a settlement protect banks from future liability? Will the attorneys general strike a deal that effectively prevents them from bringing new, unrelated lawsuits against the banks?

~ it would be unprecedented to grant a broad release from liability to the banks ~ from claims that have not been investigated.
www.nytimes.com

July 23, 2011
THE HAMPTONS: WHERE HIGH SOCIETY RULES THE WAVES
The pristine sands of the hamptons are regarded as private property by the Manhattan elite.

~ away from the ocean swell and off the beach, one finds a highly-statified society where people are dedicated to enforcing their freedom by regulating others.
www.independent.co.uk

July 24, 2011
CREDIT SUISSE UNLIKELY TO GET HELP OVER U.S. TAX PROBE
Switzerland’s parliament would not vote for a second tax treaty to settle U.S. charges Credit Suisse bankers helped wealthy Americans evade taxes.
www.reuters.com

July 24, 2011
GEORGE OSBURNE WILL STICK TO AUSTERITY PROGRAMME DESPITE HALTING OUTPUT
George Osburne will stick to the governments tough program of spending cuts even if ~ shrinking output ~ has left the economy on the brink of a double-dip recession.
www guardian.co.uk

July 2, 2011
BANKRUPTCY THREAT TO JEFFERSON COUNTY, ALABAMA
Amid concerns that many states and local councils could opt for bankruptcy in the face of budgetary pressures, officials are poised to trigger the biggest public sector insolvency in U.S. history,
www.guardian.co.uk

July 11, 2011
DAVID CAMERON PROMISES TO ‘END STATES MONOPOLY’ OVER PUBLIC SERVICES
Prime minister unveils white paper that promises to allow private providers to deliver more public services

Under the changes, every public service except for national security, frontline policing and the judiciary will be opened up to providers from the private and voluntary sector.

A “general right to choose” in areas such as education, health, social care and housing would be enshrined in law, with new powers for the ombudsman to act as an “enforcer of choice in public services”,

The white paper was published on the same day that private care home provider Southern Cross announced it was closing down.
www.guardian.co.uk

July 11, 2011
RISE IN CONSUMER CREDIT SHOWS A SPLIT ECONOMY
Credit cards and banks are courting wealthy customers with new products and low interest rates; others are borrowing because they have to.

High unemployment puts downward pressure on wages, and with food and gas prices rising, more Amercans may have to count on plastic to get by.
www.npr.org

July 11, 2011
ISRAEL PASSES LAW BANNING CITIZENS FROM CALLING FOR BOYCOTTS
The Israeli parliament tonight passed a law in effect banning citizens from calling for academic, consumer or cultural boycotts of Israel

Under the terms of the new law, an individual or organization proposing a boycott may be sued for compensation by any individual or institution claiming that it could be damaged by such a call. Evidence of actual damage will not be required.
www.guardian.co.uk

July 12, 2011
NEWS OF THE WORLD: ONLY 170 PHONE HACKING VITIMS OF POSSIBLE 4,000 HAVE BEEN CONTACTED BY POLICE
In addiction to almost 4,000 mobile phone numbers that were found, ~ 5,000 landline numbers were also discovered.
www.telegraph.co.uk

July 12, 2011
FORMER BRITISH PM SAYS MURDOCH’S PAPERS HIRED ‘KNOWN CRIMINALS’
www.washingtonpost.com

July 12, 2011
IT PAYS TO BE MURDOCH: (Deleted; see News Corp | 7/13/11)

July 12, 2011
CALIFORNIA STATE HIKES TUITION BY ANOTHER 12%
California State University said Tuesday that it will raise tuition at its 23 campuses by another 12% this fall, thanks to a deeper-than expected $650 million cut in state funding.

The hike is in addiction to a 10% tuition increase that the university system approved last November for the upcoming school year.
www.money.cnn.com

July 12, 2011
ANOTHER JOLT OF BAD NEWS ON JOBS
Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS, ~ there are nearly five workers (4.7) out there for every open position.

Even if all job vacancies were filled overnight, almost 11 million workers would still be left unemployed.
www.reuters.com

July 13, 2011
BRITONS RELY ON CREDIT CARDS 21 DAYS AFTER PAYDAY
A quarter of Britons use credit cards to tide them over until the next payday,
www.telegraph.uk.com

July 13, 2011
NEWS CORP | RUPERT MURDOCH
Please be advised that that David Cay Johnston column published on Tuesday stating that Rupert Murdoch’s U.S.-based News Corp made money on income taxes is wrong and has been withdrawn. News Corp’s filings show the company changed reporting conventions in its 2007 annual report when it reversed the way it showed positive and negative numbers. A new column ~ explaining error will be issued shortly.
www.reuters.com

July 13, 2011
WHY PROSECUTORS DON’T GO AFTER WALL STREET
~ the financial meltdown of 2008, hasn’t generated a single prosecution of high-level Wall Street players –

That’s a result of new guidelines issued by the Justice Department in 2008, which allowed prosecutors to take a ” softer approach ” to corporate crimes. The guidelines — known as deferred prosecution agreements — have permitted financial companies to avoid indictments if they agree to investigate and report their own crimes.
www.npr.org

July 14, 2011
HOW I MISREAD NEWS CORP’S TAXES
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp did not get a $4.8 billion tax refund for the past four years, ~ instead, it paid that much in cash for corporate income taxes for the years 2007 through 2010 while earning pre-tax profits of $10.4 billion.

On an accounting basis, which measures taxes incurred ~ News Corp had a tax rate of under 20 percent
www.reuters.com

July 14, 2011
BANK DELAYS MAY PUSH 1 MILLION U.S. FORECLOSURE FILINGS TO 2012
Lender delays in processing home-loan defaults will push as many as 1 million U.S. foreclosure filings from this year to 2012 or beyond,

Total filings for the year ~ about 2 million at current pace, compared with 2.9 million in all of 2010,
www.bloomberg.com

July 14, 2011
JERRY SEINFELD SELLING COLORADO MANSION FOR $18 MILLION
While the comedian lives ~ in New York city, he owns several vacation properties, including this one
www.money.cnn.com

July 14, 2011
UK NEEDS RICH TO GET RICHER, OBR FINDS
Although growing levels of income inequality have been identified by economists as one of the causes of the recent crisis, ~ the Government is more dependent than ever on the rich for tax revenues.

In the eight years between 2000 and 2008, ~ the top 5pc of earners increased their share of wage pool from 23.3pc to 26.4pc — generating an extra f7.2bn in tax. The top 5pc earn above f60,000 while the bottom 50pc are on less than f18,500.
www.telegraph.co.uk

July 14, 2011
UC BOARD APPROVES SECOND TUITION INCREASE FOR THIS FALL
The 9.6% increases will come on top of a previously approved 8.8% boost that is also scheduled to go into effect this fall.
www.latimes.com

July 14, 2011
MINNESOTA GOVERNOR, GOP REACH DEAL TO END SHUTDOWN
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton and top Republicans struck a deal Thursday to end a budget impasse that prompted the state government to shut down, with the Democratic governor giving up on raising taxes.
www.sfgate.com

July 15, 2011
U.S. PROBES CREDIT SUISSE FOR AIDING TAX EVASION
Swiss bank Credit Suisse is being probed by U.S. Department of Justice as part of a broader investigation into banks suspected of helping Americans evade taxes.

In a major blow to banking secrecy that helped Switzerland build up a multi-trillion-dollar offshore banking industry, Credit Suisse’s local rival UBS paid a $780 million fine in 2009 and agreed to hand over information about nearly 5,000 secret accounts held by U.S. citizens to settle charges it aided tax evasion.
www.reuters.com

July 15, 2011
PHONE HACKING: MET POLICE PUT PRESSURE ON GUARDIAN OVER COVERAGE
Scotland Yard’s most senior officers tried to convince the Guardian during two private meetings that its coverage of phone hacking was exaggerated and incorrect without revealing that they had hired Neil Wallis, the former deputy editor of the News of the World as an advisor.

During the meetings in December 2009 and February 2010, ~ the yard’s senior officers said articles ~ about phone hacking were incorrect, inaccurate and wrongly implied the force was “party to a conspiracy’.
www.guardia.co.uk

July 15, 2011
ENERGY PRICE RISES PUT A FIFTH OF HOUSEHOLDS IN FUEL POVERTY
A million extra households have been pushed into fuel poverty,

In 2009 gas costs rose 14 per cent and electricity by 5 per cent, but just days ago British Gas, which last year had record profits of f742m, announced its prices are to rise this summer by 18 per cent ~ for gas and 16 per cent for electricity.
www.independent.co.uk

June 20, 2011
CANADA HOUSEHOLD DEBT RISES TO NEW HIGH
Canadian household debt hit a fresh high as consumers continued to borrow at a faster rate than their wages grew –
www.wsj.com

April 2, 2011
NATION’S DEBT PROBLEMS ARE HITTING HOME
Over the last 30 years, U.S. debt ~ has risen at a rate much greater than that of the average American income.

Before the current recession, U.S. debt had grown by 50 percent.
www.philly.com

July 15, 2011
AARON SPELLING’S MANSION SOLD TO 22-YEAR-OLD BRITISH SOCIALITE
Petra Ecclestone, a 22 year old British socialite and heiress, purchased the enormous Holmby Hills mansion of Candy Spelling, widow of the late TV producer, Aaron Spelling

A trust is set up for her, supposedly in Switzerland and valued at 2.4 billion british pounds.

~ she is already the owner of a $90 million dollar Georgian mansion in Chelsea, England.
www.sfgate.com

July 16, 2011
REVEALED: CAMERON’S 26 MEETINGS IN 15 MONTHS WITH MURDOCH CHIEFS
The scale of private links between David Cameron and News International was exposed for the first time last night, with the Prime Minister shown to have met Rupert Murdoch’s executives on no fewer than 26 occasions in just over a year since he entered Downing Street.

The document reveals that since May 2011 Mr. Cameron had 15 private meetings with News International executives and editors.
www.independent.co.uk

July 16, 2011
OBAMA ELIMINATES WARREN AS CONSUMER HEAD
President Barach Obama has chosen a candidate other than Elizabeth Warren as director of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, according to a person briefed on the matter.

Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard professor, was appointed last fall by Obama to set up the consumer bureau until a director was named. Warren previously was head of of the congressional watchdog panel overseeing the bank bailout.
www.bloomberg.com

July 16, 2011
PHONE-HACKING SCANDAL: ROYAL FAMILY’S LAWYERS’ ROLE OVER EMAILS IS QUESTIONED
The lawyers for senior members of the Royal family face an official inquiry into their role in an alleged cover-up of the News of the World phone hacking scandal.
www.telegraph.co.uk

July 17, 2011
MILIBAND CALLS FOR CUTS TO MURDOCH EMPIRE
Ed Miliband called today for an overhaul of media ownership rules as he warned that Rupert Murdoch’s influence on British politics was “Dangerous”.

The News Corp empire has been diminished with the closure of the News of the World over the phone hacking scandal, but it still owns
The Sun, The Times, The Sunday Times and 39% of BSkyB.
ww.independent.co.uk

July 5, 2011
PRESSURE ON MURDOCH OVER NEW HACKING ALLEGATION
The escalation of the scandal comes at a key moment in parent company News Corp’s planned multi-billion-dollar takeover of BSkyB, due to be approved by the government after a final consultation this week.

Cameron, who is close to Brooks and the Murdoch family, has been at pains to keep the hacking scandal separate from a government decision to approve News Corp’s planned multi-billion-dollar takeover of satellite broadcaster BSkyB.
www.reuters.com

July 5, 2011
GOLDMAN SACHS FLEXES ITS LOBBYING MUSCLE
Going public is a departure from Goldman’s usual, under-the-radar style. Befitting a firm that abhors the spotlight, Goldman has developed a stealthy Washington lobbying operation led by a little-known but well-connected former congressional staffer.

Operating from offices a stone’s throw from the U.S. Capitol, Michael Paese, 43, leads a Washington team that spent $4.6 million lobbing the federal government last year, more than any other company in the securities industry,

Goldman often sends top officials to Washington to meet privately with lawmakers and regulators. ~ its executives have held 55 separate meetings with staff at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission alone since last summer as the agency works to craft new regulations covering the complex financial derivatives that are Goldman’s lifeblood.
www.latimes.com

July 5, 2011
TABLOID’S ROLE IN MISSING TEEN CASE SPARKS OUTRAGE
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. and the executive who oversees its British newspapers are under increasing fire this week after a new and vile twist in the phone hacking scandal that has engulfed one of its tabloid newspapers.

Police officials have been accused of cutting short an earlier investigation because of cozy ties they have had with News of the World and other influential Murdoch papers.

In 2009, after paying a million-pound settlement to keep details of a similar hacking incident quite, the company blamed a few bad apples,

It took a series of lawsuits by celebrities and politicians to breath fresh life into the scandal.
www.npr.org

August, 2011
THE TROUBLE WITH ANDREW
Buckingham Palace still has a major P.R. problem: how to handle Prince Andrew. Britain’s trade ambassador and forth in line to the throne.

~ an interview with with a young woman named Virginia Roberts, who claimed that the billionaire American money manager Jeffrey Epstein had trained her as an under-age prostitute and flown her to London in 2001, when she was just 17 years old, for the express purpose of spending time with prince Andrew, ~ the newspaper had evidence to support her story — flight logs from Epstein’s Bowing 727 and Gulfstream jet, and a photo showing Prince Andrew with his arm around Virginia’s bare midriff.

~ another damaging photo had surfaced ~ showing the 51-year-old Duke of York, fourth in line of succession to the throne, strolling in New York’s Central Park with Epstein, 58, a registered sex offender.
www.vanityfair.com

July 6, 2011
CHRIS BRYANT COMPARES RUPERT MURDOCH TO SILVIO BERLUSCONI
Labour MP Chris Bryant says no other country would allow a man like Rupert Murdoch to own such a large tranche of the media.
www.telegrapg.co.uk

July 6, 2011
LEHMAN BORROWED $18B FROM SECRET FED PROGRAM
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (LEHMO)’s brokerage borrowed as much as $18 billion in four separate loans from a previously secret program of the U.S. Federal Reserve in June 2008, three months before its parent filed the biggest bankruptcy in U.S. history.

The day before Lehman filed for bankruptcy, almost all of its $41 billion cash pool was tied up at bank lenders including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp.,

Separately, the U.K. bank’s Barclays Capital Inc. had peak loans ~ of $21.4 billion,

Goldman Sachs & Co., a unit of the most profitable bank in Wall Street history, took $15 billion on Dec. 9, 2008, the biggest single loan from a lending program whose details have been secret until today.
www.bllomberg.com

July 6, 2011
SCOTT: FLORIDA’S $100 MILLION GOVERNOR
Gov. Rick Scott’s net worth dropped by $115 million in 2010, but his income soared nearly 40 percent

The hospital executive-turned-investor earned $11.5 million from investment income, interest and consulting fees,

That’s more than the $8.3 million he reported in 2009 and the $3.7 million he earned in 2008.

Scott, 58, reported a net worth of more than $218 million in June 2010, but he spent a record-breaking $62.3 million of his own cash on the gubernatorial race, ~ (He spent an additional $12.8 million from an account held by his wife, Ann)
www.miamihearld.com

July 7, 2011
INVESTMENT BANKERS IN LINE FOR BONUS BONANZA
~ the City of London’s investment banks are preparing for a bonus boom after raking in huge increases in fees.

~ investment banks levied a total of $48.9bn (f30.5bn) in fees in the first half of this year, ~ a 23 per cent rise on the same period last year and was the best opening half since 2007,

JP Morgan was the biggest fees “whale”, raking in $3.4bn, nearly 7 per cent ~ Morgan Stanley was the biggest climber – its $2.7bn fees total was a stunning 48.9 per cent rise on last year. Six of the top ten earners were American banks.
www.independen.co.uk

July 7, 2011
JPMORGAN TO PAY $228M TO SETTLE BID-RIG CASE
JPMorgan & Chase (JPM) agreed to pay $228 million to settle federal charges that the bank conspired to rig the bidding on investment contracts sold to state and local governments to boost profits at taxpayers expense.

The settlement marks the second that JPMorgan has reached arising from its municipal derivatives business, ~ In November 2009, the bank agreed to a $722 million accord with the SEC to end an investigation ~ where its bankers made undisclosed payments to friends of county commissioners to win business.
www.bloomberg.com

July 7, 2011
GOLDMAN SACHS SUED FOR ALLEGED FRAUD BY LIBERTY MUTUAL, PEERLESS INSURANCE
www.bllomberg.com

July 7, 2011
OBAMA CALLS DEBT TALKS ‘CONSTRUCTIVE,’ INVITES PARTIES TO RECONVENE SUNDAY
As part of his pitch, Obama is proposing significant reductions in Medicare spending and for the first time is offering to tackle the rising cost of social security, ~ The move marks a major shift for the White House
www.washingtonpost.com

July 7, 2011
DEMS POUNCE ON HATCH SPEECH ABOUT POOR AND TAXES
Democrats seized Thursday on remarks by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) in which he appeared to suggest the poor should have a greater responsibility to contribute to government coffers.

Hatch, during a speech Wednesday on the Senate floor, seemed to say that the poor — or, at least, a greater share of middle class — could do more to address the deficit.

” When you talk about ‘shared’ — think about this — it’s pretty irrefutable that the bottom 51 percent of all wage earners, of all households, do not pay income taxes. The top 1 percent — the so-called ‘wealthy’ — pay 38 percent of all income taxes, the top 10 percent are paying 70 percent of all income taxes. The top 50 percent pay something like 98 percent of all income taxes. Fifty-one percent don’t pay anything.”
www.thehill.com

July 7, 2011
CLINTON FORUM HEARS JOBLESS WOES COULD LAST UNTIL 2023 UNLESS STRONGER GROWTH
If the economy stays on its present course there won’t be enough jobs to employ new workers and people out of work until the year 2023, said economist Laura Tyson, who served in the Bill Clinton administration and is now a professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

Manufacturing jobs are down about 25 percent compared to 2005 and entrepreneurship is down 23 percent, said Tyson.

Small business has been hampered by the inability to get loans, she said, while Clinton noted that that banks have about $2 trillion in cash they could deploy and still satisfy conservative reserve requirements.
www.chicagotribune.com

July 7, 2011
CEOs REAP HUGE PAYOUTS IN 2011, CORPORATE FILINGS SHOW
Wall Street’s 2 1/2-year bull market is fueling mega-paydays across a wide swath of corporate America, ~ highlighting the growing divide between executive suites and rank-and-file employees.
www.usatoday.com

July 7, 2011
TAXES, SOCIAL SECURITY ON TABLE IN $4 TRILLION DEBT DEAL
www.statesman.com

July 8, 2011
SHOCK US JOB FIGURES THREATEN RECOVERY HOPES
US employers hire the fewest workers in nearly two years.
www.guardian.com

July 8, 2011
THE COST OF AUSTERITY
Cuts by state and local governments have cost the economy about a million jobs over the past two years.
www.nytimes.com

July 6, 2011
CAN MURDOCH’S WALL STREET JOURNAL CHIEF SURVIVE HACKING SCANDAL?
Les Hinton, CEO of the Dow Jones Company, publisher the Wall Street Journal, once again finds himself hounded by the growing phone hacking scandal that’s now consuming Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.

One key News Corp figure now under immense pressure is Rebekah Brooks, who edited News of The World when the murdered schoolgirl’s voicemail was hacked. (Brooks denies having any knowledge of the hack.) Hinton is also under renewed scrutiny because the longtime Murdoch confident was executive chairman of Murdoch’s newspapers in Britain at the time when the alleged rampant hacking attacks took place.

Hinton oversaw the initial News Corp. investigation onto the allegations and found no evidence of widespread wrongdoing within the company. Its’s an investigation that, in light of recent developments, now looks to have been incompetent at best, and a fraud at worst.
www.mediamatters.org

July 8, 2011
PHONE HACKING: POLICE PROBE SUSPECTED DELETION OF EMAILS BY NI EXECUTIVE
Police are investigating evidence that a News International executive may have deleted millions of emails from an internal archive.

The archive is believed to have reached back to January 2005 revealing daily contact between News of The World editors, reporters and outsiders, including private investigators.

The allegation directly contradicts repeated claims from News International that it is co-operating fully with police
www.guardian.co.uk

July 8, 2011
BILLIONAIRE DEALER ACCUSED OF FRAUD OVER MISSING ART
The billionaire Franco-American art dealer, Guy Wildenstein, has been formally accused of fraud after 30 valuable paintings and sculptures that had been missing for decades were discovered in the strong room of his family’s institute in Paris.

Mr. Wildenstein, 65, a leading financial backer and friend of President Nicolas Sarkozy, blamed the presence of the works, ~ on “an oversight” by his late father.

The case is part of a cat’s cradle of interconnected lawsuits, on both sides of the Atlantic, which threatens one of the wealthiest and most powerful art-dealing families in the world.
www.independent.co.uk

July 8, 2011
MILLION-POUND BASH FOR RISING STAR OF THE SUPER-RICH
Nat Rothschild throws three-day bash for 40th birthday at glitzy resort in Montenegro

They came on the sleekest of yachts bought with the proceeds from the grittiest of industries. Mining and commodity magnates descended this weekend on an unlikely new billionaires’ playground in Montenegro, one of Europe’s poorest countries, to celebrate the 40th birthday of of the rising star of their firmament, Nat Rothschild.

~ it is part of an attempt to establish an Adriatic St Tropez at Porto Montenegro, a new marina in a former Yogoslav naval base backed by money from Rothschild and other billionaire investors.
www.guardian.co.uk

July 8, 2011
TYSON SEES START OF A ‘LOST DECADE’ FOR AMERICANS
www.bloomberg.com

July 9, 2011
DISMAL JOBS REPORT RAISES DOUBTS ABOUT ECONOMIC RECOVERY
U.S added almost no new jobs in June, ~ That pushed the nation’s jobless rate higher for the third straight month — to 9.2% — and left the number of idled workers at 14 million, almost half of them jobless for six months or more.
www.latimes.com

July 9, 2011
TAXPAYER BACKSTOP FOR EUROPEAN BANKS
European governments are set to provide a taxpayer backstop to banks that fail the results of tougher stress tests to be announced on july 15.

The move will come as a shock to taxpayers after G20 policymakers promised that in the aftermath of the financial crisis they would never again have to bail out banks.
www.telegraph.co.uk

July 9, 2011
HOW DRACULA HEDGE FUNDS ARE SUCKING US DRY
What notion of economics or ethics justifies the fact that it would take an average family more than 35,000 years to earn as much as the top hedge fund managers earn in one year?

Hedge Fund Managers (2010) ——————————Number of years it
——————————————————————— would take for the
———————————————————————-average American
———————————————————————-family to earn as
The Top Ten ———— Average yearly income ——-much
Hege Fund Managers —— $1,753,000,000 ————35,217 years

Medium Family Income ————- $49,777 ——————– 1 year

www.investorvillage.com

July 9, 2011
CRUSADE TO FIX TAX CODE GAINS STEAM
While the income tax rate on America’s highest earners is 35 percent, many of those earners ~ pay quite a bit less. ~ money known as capital gains, which is taxed at 15 percent.

If capital gains were taxed at the same rate as regular income, ~ the government could bring in tens of billions of dollars more each year.
www.npr.org

July 10, 2011
BOEHNER SAYS DEBT TALKS SCALED BACK OVER TAX RIFT
Democrats want to shield popular domestic programs from huge cuts and say that any deal must include increases in tax revenue. Many Republicans have said they would not support a package that includes any tax increases.
www.reuters.com

July 10, 2011
MIDDLE CLASSES ARE BRITAIN’S NEW HOMELESS: STATE SAFETY NETS ARE GONE
Britain faces an “unprecedented and escalating” housing crisis, ~ with middle-class families at greater risk of homelessness than at any point in the past century.
www.independent.co.uk

July 8 , 2011
SALES OF $20-MILLION-PLUS L.A. HOMES RISING
A diamond-encrusted lining is emerging in Southern California’s
real estate market.
www.latimes.com

July 8, 2011
THE BEST SCHOOLS MONEY CAN BUY
As of June 15, more than 1,200 families had applied for early admission to Avenues: The World School, a for profit private school ~ that will not open its doors until September 2012, ~ for the 1,320 spots available from nursery through ninth grade.

~ tuition at Avenues will cost about the same as Horace Mann’s or Collegiate’s in 2012 — almost $40,000 annually –

The school will be part of a network of 20 campuses around the world with roughly the same curriculum.

“Schools need to do a better job preparing children for international lives,”
www.nytimes.com

July 8, 2011
TEEN UNEMPLOYMENT HITS 24.5%
~ Employment Policies Institute (EPI), a free market leaning think tank in Washington, D.C., says ~ high unemployment among teens bodes ill for their futures as adult workers.
www.forbes.com

Jun 28, 2011
BIGGEST TAX AVOIDERS WOULD WIN ON TAX BREAK
~ by asking Congress to waive most federal taxes due ~ the tax holiday, ~ the second since 2004.

Cisco has accumulated $31.6 billion in overseas earnings on which it has paid no U.S. income taxes yet, ~ part of more than $1 trillion in U.S. companies offshore profits.

As governments worldwide grapple with budget deficits — $1.4 trillion in the U.S. and 597 billion euros for the European Union — such income-shifting by multinationals cost the U.S. Treasury about $90 billion in revenue in 2008 alone,
www.bloomberg.com

Jun 28, 2011
TAX RATES AND JOB CREATION IN ONE GRAPH
Lower taxes on the rich don’t lead to job growth.
www.washingtonpost.com

Jun 28, 2011
GRADUATE GLOOM AS 83 APPLY FOR EVERY JOB VACANCY
The number of graduates applying for each job has doubled since 2009,
as three successive years of university leavers struggle with an over-saturated market.
www.independent.co.uk

Jun 28, 2011
BIGGEST BANKS THREATEN ‘FUTURE OF CAPITALISM,’
FED OFFICIAL SAYS
Referring to the TBTF group by the official regulatory designation of “systemically important financial institutions,” or SIFIs,

“So long as the concept of a SIFI exists, and there are institutions so powerful and considered so important that they require special support and different rules, the future of capitalism is at risk and our market economy is in peril,”
www.latimes.com

Jun 29, 2011
BANK OF AMERICA $8.5 BILLION SETTLEMENT
In the biggest reckoning of the 2008 financial crisis, Bank of America said Wednesday it will pay $8.5 billion to investors burned by fraudulent mortgage securities,
www.money.cnn.com

Jun 29, 2011
GREECE APPROVES AUSTERITY BILL, SETTING IN MOTION BRUTAL BUDGET CUTS
~ the controversial bill, which authorizes $40 billion in brutal budget cuts and tax hikes over the next several years for a nation already reeling from previous belt-tighting measures.
www.latimes.com

Jun 29, 2011
WALTON FAMILY FOUNDATION GAVE NEARLY $12 MILLION TO SOUTHLAND SCHOOLS LAST YEAR
No L.A. Unified schools were given funds.

The Walton Family Foundation gave donations to more than 30
Los Angeles-area charter schools,
www.latimes.com

Jun 29, 2011 (Reuters)
U.S. COST OF WAR AT LEAST $3.7 TRILLION
The final bill will run at least $3.7 trillion and could reach as high as $4.4 trillion, according to the research project “Costs of war” by Brown University’s Watson Institute for International Studies.

In the 10 years since U.S. troops went into Afghanistan ~ spending on the conflicts totaled $2.3 trillion to $2.7 trillion.

Specific war spending over the past 10 years, when expressed in 2011 dollars, comes to $1.3 trillion, the “Costs of War” project found. When it comes to accounting ~ that $1.3 trillion is merely a good start.
www.reuters.com

“I DON’T THINK THAT HUNDRED-BILLION-DOLLAR PRICE TAG SHOULD BE THE DETERMINING ONE”

Jun 29, 2011
IN U.S. MONETARY POLICY, A BOON TO BANKS
The most pronounced development in banking today is that executives have become bolder as their business has gotten worse.

The Federal government, in ways explicit and implicit, profoundly subsidizes and shelters the banking industry.

When the Federal Reserve lowers interest rates to help buoy the economy during a slowdown, banks are the first beneficiaries. As the Fed lowers short-term rates, banks borrow cheaply and lend out for a lot more,

So when taxpayers hear a bank chief, like Jamie Dimon, complaining, its worth keeping in mind that his 10-figure paycheck is largely coming courtesy of us.
www.dealbook.nytimes.com

Jun 30, 2011
SEC LAX IN MONITORING FIRM’S COMPLIANCE, INSPECTOR GENERAL REPORT SAYS
The Securities and Exchange Commission doesn’t just enforce the rules that govern Wall Street. When asked, it often grants individual companies exemption from the rules.

It routinely gives companies a green light to disregard specific requirements.
www.washingtonpost.com

Jun 30, 2011
LLOYDS BANKING GROUP IN U.K. TO CUT 15,000 MORE JOBS
Lloyds Banking Group, the largest retail bank in the U.K. plans to cut 15,000 more jobs and save 1.5 billion pounds ($2.4 billion) a year by 2014 as it works to full private ownership.

Taxpayers own 41% of the bailed-out group,
www.usatoday.com

Jun 30, 2011
BofA, GOLDMAN AMONG BANKS CUTTING JOBS
www.bloomberg.com

Jun 30, 2011
AS BATTLE RAGES OUTSIDE, GREEK MPs USHER IN AN AGE OF BRUTAL AUSTERITY
the Greek Prime Minister urged his party to avert the “country’s collapse” and swallow a package of measures described by several economists as an economic ” suicide pill “.

Gripped by its worst recession since the dictatorship in the 1970′s, Greeks now face bleak years of spending cuts and tax hikes while national asset are sold off ~ Youth unemployment is running 35 per cent and climbing. There is little prospect of Greece finding the growth it needs to reverse the crisis.
www.independent.co.uk

Jun 30, 2011
THE WAGELESS, PROFITABLE RECOVERY
Economists at Northwestern University have found that the current economic recovery in the United States has been unusually skewered in favor of corporate profits and against increased wages for workers.

“corporate profits captured 88 percent of the growth in real national income while aggregate wages and salaries accounted for only 1 percent”
www.economix.nytimes.com

Jun 30, 2011
AS TEXAS COLLEGES TAKE BUDGET HIT, STUDENTS TO PAY PRICE
Some students at Texas public universities will pay bigger tuitions bills, take out more loans and sit in larger classes this fall — the result of recent state budget cuts.
www.dallasnews.com

Jun 30, 2011
EXTREME TUITION HIKES AHEAD
Already staggering reductions in funding are leading colleges in some states to boost tuition as much as 22%.
www.money.cnn.com

July 1, 2011
GOLDMAN’S CENTRAL BANK CONNECTIONS DEEPEN
The revolving door between Goldman Sachs Group and central banks is spinning again.

~ governments seeking top officials are again turning to Goldman Sachs for top decision-makers 12 months after it settled U.S. fraud claims and almost four years since the start of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

Goldman Sachs has been a breeding ground for central bankers.

Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney and Fed Bank of New York President William Dudley both previously worked for Goldman Sachs. Former U.S. Treasury secretaries Robert Rubin and Henry Paulson ran the bank before entering government, helping to earn the company the nickname ” Government Sachs. ”
www.bloomberg.com

July 1, 2011
‘MEGALOMANIA, INSANITY” FUELED BUBBLE: MUNGER
Charles Munger, the vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A), said

“The bubble in America was caused by some combination of megalomania, insanity and evil in, I would say, investment banking, mortgage banking,”
www.bloomberg.com

July 2, 2011
SELL, SELL, SELL: EVERYTHING MUST GO IN GREAT FIRE SALE
Europe’s most indebted indebted countries — and Britain — have put prized assets up for grabs to bolster their creditworthiness.

Greece
The government’s stakes in the ports of Piraeus and Thessaloniki, 39 airports, ~ a national post office, two water companies, a nickel miner and smelter, hundreds of miles of roads, ~ electricity and gas monopolies and thousands of hectares of land, including coastal stretches,

Ireland
The national airline, ports, power stations

Spain
The worlds biggest annual lottery payout,

Portugal
the utility company ~ and power grid operator

49% of water utilities
www.guardian.co.uk

July 2, 2011
DOMINIQUE STRAUSS-KAHN DINES OUT AS RAPE CLAIM BAIL CONDITIONS LIFTED
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former head of the International Monetary Fund, celebrated ~ by enjoying a $600 meal with his wife at one of
New York’s smartest restaurants.
www.telegraph.co.uk

July 2, 2011
WE KNEW THEY GOT RAISES. BUT THIS?
The final figures show that that the medium pay for the top executives at 200 big companies last year was $10.8 million. ~ a 23 percent gain from 2009.

Philippe P. Dauman, ~ chief executive of Viacom, ~ made $84.5 million last year,

Leslie Moonves, ~ CBS Corporation, ~ reaped $56.9 million.
Michael White of DirecTV was paid $32.9 million,
www.nytimes.com

July 3, 2011
THE GILDED GENERATION: WHAT IT IS LIKE TO GROW UP
AS PART OF RUSSIA’S NEW POWER ELITE?
Russia now has more billionaires than anywhere else on earth
www.independent.co.uk

July 3, 2011
EURO ZONE WARNS GREEKS ON SOVEREIGNTY
AND PRIVATIZATION
~ the nation must expect significant losses of sovereignty and jobs.
www.reuters.com

July 3, 2011
BMW LAYOFFS EXEMPLIFY THE EVISCERATION OF THE MIDDLE CLASS
Every working American should be dismayed by — and afraid of — what BMW is doing.

By all accounts, BMW’s parts distribution warehouse in Ontario was
one of the family jewels of the company’s system.

As of Aug. 31, the plant will be outsourced ~ and all but three of its 71 employees will be laid off.

The union contract will be terminated. Some of the employees might be offered jobs with the new operator, but there are no guarantees.
www.latimes.com

July 4, 2011
S&P WARNING ADDS DEFAULT THREAT TO GREECE’S BAILOUT
Greece was already facing an uphill struggle ~ of selling off state owned assets and reform its tax system to meet European Union and IMF conditions for bailing it out.

Eurogroup Chairman Jean-Claude Juncker said Greece will lose sovereignty and jobs to meet those criteria,
www.reuters.com

July 4, 2011
CONSTRUCTION JOBS CUT AT FASTEST PACE FOR FIVE MONTHS
The dip was primarily due to a slowdown in new business growth
and continued weakness in house building.
www.telegraph.co.uk

July 4, 2011
LONDON HAS $34b OF LUXURY-HOMES IN PIPELINE
London has a pipeline of luxury-home development valued at about
21 billion pounds ($34 billion)

~ aiming to sell for more than 1,000 pounds a square foot,
www.bloomberg.com