The Real Reason Germs Spread in the Winter
The Links Between Gut Microbes and the Brain
The Myth of Big, Bad Gluten
The Religious Right's Big Lie About the Founding of America
You're Not Irrational, You're Quantum Probabilistic
American Failure: The 401(K)
The 401(K) Crisis is Getting Worse
Inequality in Our Retirement Accounts
The Rage of the Bankers
Why Does Wall Street Want Higher Rates?
The Stock Market is Not the Economy
The Case Against Raising Interest Rates Before Wage Growth Picks Up
The Failed Reaganomics Experiment In Kansas Keeps Getting Worse
Red States Spent $2 Billion in 2015 to Screw the Poor
Showing posts with label bankers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bankers. Show all posts
Saturday, October 31, 2015
Thursday, January 24, 2013
The Untouchables: How Wall Street Escaped Prosecution
Watch The Untouchables on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.
Monday, October 8, 2012
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Unemployment Would Even Be Lower If...
...Republican governors hadn't slashed public employment over the past few years and Republicans in Congress didn't obstruct all the jobs bills put before them.
Suzy Khimm reports, "Overall, about 600,000 government jobs have been lost since the beginning of the recession."
And, as Mark Gongloff states, "Had Congress passed the American Jobs Act last year instead of letting it die, there might have been an extra 1.3 million to 1.9 million new jobs created this year, according to estimates by Macroeconomic Advisers and Moody's Analytics, respectively. If you simply divide those estimates up by quarters -- an unscientific approach, admittedly -- you could guesstimate that the AJA would have produced an extra 975,000 to 1.4 million jobs through the first three quarters of the year (i.e., through September). Let's call it a million, just for funsies. Assuming no change in the labor force, and just subtracting that million people from the 12 million unemployed in September, you get the unemployment rate down to 7.2 percent from 7.8 percent. On top of that, you could add the 575,000 government jobs that have been cut since Obama took office in January 2009. Had the federal government not shed workers and cut off aid to the states, it's theoretically possible -- arguably, would have been preferable -- that the government could have added jobs, or at least not cut any. That extra 575,000 workers -- again, assuming no change in the labor force -- gets unemployment down to 6.8 percent. We haven't seen 6.8 percent unemployment since November 2008."
Republicans got us into this mess. Rather than seeking justice against the perpetrators, Republicans turned the blame for all of America's problems onto the backs of teachers, firefighters, and all public workers. Nevermind the bankers and Wall Street, nothing to see there, move along.
Republicans have obstructed any attempt to get us out of this financier-induced mess. They've decided, instead, to use the public as pawns in their power struggle; allowing millions to remain unemployed in a lagging economy in the hopes of winning the election by blaming the President. It's a sick and cynical politics the Republicans are practicing.
Suzy Khimm reports, "Overall, about 600,000 government jobs have been lost since the beginning of the recession."
And, as Mark Gongloff states, "Had Congress passed the American Jobs Act last year instead of letting it die, there might have been an extra 1.3 million to 1.9 million new jobs created this year, according to estimates by Macroeconomic Advisers and Moody's Analytics, respectively. If you simply divide those estimates up by quarters -- an unscientific approach, admittedly -- you could guesstimate that the AJA would have produced an extra 975,000 to 1.4 million jobs through the first three quarters of the year (i.e., through September). Let's call it a million, just for funsies. Assuming no change in the labor force, and just subtracting that million people from the 12 million unemployed in September, you get the unemployment rate down to 7.2 percent from 7.8 percent. On top of that, you could add the 575,000 government jobs that have been cut since Obama took office in January 2009. Had the federal government not shed workers and cut off aid to the states, it's theoretically possible -- arguably, would have been preferable -- that the government could have added jobs, or at least not cut any. That extra 575,000 workers -- again, assuming no change in the labor force -- gets unemployment down to 6.8 percent. We haven't seen 6.8 percent unemployment since November 2008."
Republicans got us into this mess. Rather than seeking justice against the perpetrators, Republicans turned the blame for all of America's problems onto the backs of teachers, firefighters, and all public workers. Nevermind the bankers and Wall Street, nothing to see there, move along.
Republicans have obstructed any attempt to get us out of this financier-induced mess. They've decided, instead, to use the public as pawns in their power struggle; allowing millions to remain unemployed in a lagging economy in the hopes of winning the election by blaming the President. It's a sick and cynical politics the Republicans are practicing.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
NOT Fannie, Freddie, the CRA, Nor The Poor
Republicans have been somewhat successful in diffusing the idea that Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Community Reinvestment Act, and poor people were responsible for the housing bubble. Thus, Republicans are winning some elections, and our casino capitalism is still running amok.
Yet Ned Gramlich, of the Federal Reserve, found, "Banks have made many low- and moderate-income mortgages to fulfill their CRA obligations, they have found fault rates pleasantly low, and they generally charge low mortgage rates. Thirty years later, CRA has become very good business." Russel Kroszner, also of the Federal Reserve, states, "Contrary to the assertions of critics, the evidence does not support the view that the CRA contributed in any substantial way to the crisis in the subprime mortgage market."
For Further Reading:
Yet Ned Gramlich, of the Federal Reserve, found, "Banks have made many low- and moderate-income mortgages to fulfill their CRA obligations, they have found fault rates pleasantly low, and they generally charge low mortgage rates. Thirty years later, CRA has become very good business." Russel Kroszner, also of the Federal Reserve, states, "Contrary to the assertions of critics, the evidence does not support the view that the CRA contributed in any substantial way to the crisis in the subprime mortgage market."
As Paul Krugman explained, "The Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 was irrelevant to the subprime boom, which was overwhelmingly driven by loan originators not subject to the Act...During those same years [the middle years of the naughties], Fannie and Freddie were sidelined by Congressional pressure, and saw a drop in their share of securitization."
Neil Bhutta and Glenn B. Canner discovered, "The small share of subprime lending in 2005 and 2006 that can be linked to the CRA suggests it is very unlikely the CRA could have played a substantial role in the subprime crisis."
Kenneth Cooper notes, "In his new study on racial-ethnic lending patterns, Jourdain-Earl finds that Federal Reserve data show that 84 percent of mortgages purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac between 2004 and 2009 had been made to whites, with 8 percent going to Hispanics and 5 percent to African-Americans. For loans to comply with CRA, 68 percent went to whites, 15 percent to Hispanics and 12 percent to African-Americans—hardly enough volume from minorities to cause the housing crisis."
"Overall, loans originated for private-label securitization have defaulted at about six times the rate of Fannie and Freddie loans," informs David Min.
"Overall, loans originated for private-label securitization have defaulted at about six times the rate of Fannie and Freddie loans," informs David Min.
For Further Reading:
The definitive debunking of the "CRA, Fannie, Freddie, and the poor are at fault" claims can be read in Why Wallison Is Wrong About The Genesis Of The U.S Housing Crisis.
Ruinous Wall Street
"Plus, there's the fact that the entire industry continues to get preferential treatment from the government -- be it the $700 billion bailout in 2008 or the ongoing right to borrow massive amounts of essentially free money from the Federal Reserve, then turn around and loan it, risk free, to Uncle Sam at 1.5% or more per year, thus pocketing billions in easy money," reports Anthony Mirhaydari.
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Weekend Reading
Bush Ignored Seven Warnings About Attacks
Dear Mr. Dimon, Is Your Bank Getting Corporate Welfare?
The Hard Lessons Of Wisconsin
How Policy Has Contributed To The Great Economic Divide
'Nuns On The Bus' Visit Paul Ryan's Office
Public Sector Layoffs
Reagan's Gone. You're Old. Get Over It.
The Rent Is Too Damn High
Revenge Of The Urban Nerds
The Scam Wall Street Learned From The Mafia
Twilight Of The Elites
Wages Continue To Fall
Dear Mr. Dimon, Is Your Bank Getting Corporate Welfare?
The Hard Lessons Of Wisconsin
How Policy Has Contributed To The Great Economic Divide
'Nuns On The Bus' Visit Paul Ryan's Office
Public Sector Layoffs
Reagan's Gone. You're Old. Get Over It.
The Rent Is Too Damn High
Revenge Of The Urban Nerds
The Scam Wall Street Learned From The Mafia
Twilight Of The Elites
Wages Continue To Fall
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Weekend Reading
Climate Change & The End Of Australia
End Bonuses For Bankers
Greeks Being Unfairly Maligned
How The Republicans Became The Party Of The One Percent
How The GOP Became The Party Of The Rich
Income Inequality Is Not A Myth
19 Statistics About The Poor
Rapidly Falling Cost Of Solar Power
Romney's Dishonest Attack On Federal Employees
Shameless Republican Race To Cut Rich People's Taxes
Wall Street Isn't Winning - It's Cheating
Where Are Those Lazy Southern Europeans?
With Deaths Of Forests, Loss Of Key Climate Protector
You Bet It's A Bubble
End Bonuses For Bankers
Greeks Being Unfairly Maligned
How The Republicans Became The Party Of The One Percent
How The GOP Became The Party Of The Rich
Income Inequality Is Not A Myth
19 Statistics About The Poor
Rapidly Falling Cost Of Solar Power
Romney's Dishonest Attack On Federal Employees
Shameless Republican Race To Cut Rich People's Taxes
Wall Street Isn't Winning - It's Cheating
Where Are Those Lazy Southern Europeans?
With Deaths Of Forests, Loss Of Key Climate Protector
You Bet It's A Bubble
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Parasites
The credit system, which has its focal point in the allegedly national banks and the big money-lenders and usurers that surround them, is one enormous centralization and gives this class of parasites a fabulous power not only to decimate the industrial capitalists periodically but also to interfere in actual production in the most dangerous manner—and this crew know nothing of production and have nothing at all to do with it. ~ Karl Marx, Capital, vol. 3, chap. 33
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)