Showing posts with label Bus Econ 2007 The Great Recession. Show all posts

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Wendell Potter: Goldman Sach's Greg Smith Could Just Have Easily Been Telling the Truth About Health Insurers

Goldman Sach's Greg Smith Could Just Have Easily Been Telling the Truth About Health Insurers

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wendell-potter/goldman-sachs-greg-smith_b_1362755.html?ref=politics&ir=Politics

Wendell Potter 03/19/2012

Goldman Sachs , Health Insurance , Health Care Reform , Affordable Care Act ,Greg Smith , Greg Smith Goldman Sachs , High-Deductible-Health-Insurance , Politics News

As I was reading former Wall Street executive Greg Smith's bombshell of an Op-Ed in the New York Times last week, I mentally inserted the names of the big for-profit health insurers -- two of which I worked for -- in place of Goldman Sachs, where Smith worked until resigning on the day his column was published.

Smith wrote that he decided to leave Goldman-Sachs because it had veered so far from the company he had joined straight out of college that he could no longer say in good conscience "that I identify with what it stands for."

He put the blame squarely on Goldman's current CEO and president. It was during their watch, he wrote, that "the firm changed the very way it thought about leadership."

"Leadership used to be about ideas, setting an example and doing the right thing. Today, if you make enough money for the firm (and are not currently an ax murderer) you will be promoted into a position of influence." … http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wendell-potter/goldman-sachs-greg-smith_b_1362755.html?ref=politics&ir=Politics

Labels: 2007 2008 Subprime Mort Crisis qv Bus, Bus Econ 2007 The Great Recession, Bus Econ 2009 Econ Stimulus, Bus Econ Goldman Sachs, History 2009 Yr in Review, Journalists Taibbi Matt, Vampire Squid

http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2012/03/july-9-2009-matt-taibbi-rolling-stone.html

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Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/ or http://kevindayhoffart.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.com/ Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/ or http://www.westgov.net/ = www.kevindayhoff.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net Explore Carroll: www.explorecarroll.com The Tentacle: www.thetentacle.com

Kevin Dayhoff - Soundtrack: July 9, 2009 Matt Taibbi - Rolling Stone: The Great American Bubble Machine

Kevin Dayhoff - Soundtrack: July 9, 2009 Matt Taibbi - Rolling Stone: The Grea...: The Great American Bubble Machine http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-great-american-bubble-machine-20100405 From tech ...

July 9, 2009 Matt Taibbi - Rolling Stone: The Great American Bubble Machine

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-great-american-bubble-machine-20100405?print=true

“… Goldman Sachs is that it's everywhere. The world's most powerful investment bank is a great vampire squid…”

April 5, 2010 This article appeared in the July 9, 2009 issue of Rolling Stone. The issue is available in the online archive.

http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2012/03/july-9-2009-matt-taibbi-rolling-stone.html

20090709 Taibbi The Great American Bubble Machine

http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2012/03/july-9-2009-matt-taibbi-rolling-stone.html

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Thursday, July 28, 2011

Kevin Dayhoff The Tentacle: Celebrating Another ‘Recover Summer’

July 27, 2011

Celebrating Another ‘Recover Summer’

http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=4539

Kevin E. Dayhoff

The “Recover Summer” announced by Democrats a year ago never materialized and is now nothing but a distant memory for the more than 14 million Americans still looking for work since the “Great Recession” was declared over in June 2009.

Yeah, right – the recession ended in June 2009!... http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=4539

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Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Church Foreclosures Surge, Seen as 'Next Wave' in Crisis

Fox News| The Wall Street Journal January 25, 2011

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/01/25/churches-end-nigh/?intcmp=prn_baynote-js_Church_Foreclosures_Surge_Seen_as_Next_Wave_in_Crisis

ROSEVILLE, Calif.—Residential and commercial real-estate owners aren't the only ones losing their properties to foreclosure. The past few years have seen a rapid acceleration in the number of churches losing their sanctuaries because they can't pay the mortgage.

Just as homeowners borrowed too much or built too big during boom times, many churches did the same and now are struggling as their congregations shrink and collections fall owing to rising unemployment and a weak economy.

Since 2008, nearly 200 religious facilities have been foreclosed on by banks, up from eight during the previous two years and virtually none in the decade before that, according to real-estate services firm CoStar Group, Inc. Analysts and bankers say hundreds of additional churches face financial struggles so severe they could face foreclosure or bankruptcy in the near future.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/01/25/churches-end-nigh/?intcmp=prn_baynote-js_Church_Foreclosures_Surge_Seen_as_Next_Wave_in_Crisis

20110125 Fox WSJ Church Foreclosures Surge

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Wednesday, February 09, 2011

The Tentacle - Kevin Dayhoff: Veteran Foreclosures – A National Disgrace http://tinyurl.com/4cuxb78

February 9, 2011

Veteran Foreclosures – A National Disgrace http://tinyurl.com/4cuxb78

Kevin E. Dayhoff

The Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act (SSCRA) of 1940 was passed into law just prior to World War II to provide certain legal protections for members of the military in such matters as civil actions, foreclosures, and bankruptcy caused by lengthy absences from home while on duty.

Never heard of this law? Well, you are not alone. Apparently some of the nation’s largest financial institutions – that should know the law – have never heard of it, either.

Just last Thursday, The New York Times carried a front-page story involving an Iraq veteran who lost his home through foreclosure.

What is particularly upsetting about the story is that it is alleged that the servicemember had his home taken away from him in violation of a law intended to protect active military personnel from creditors, according to The Times. “(A)gents of Deutsche Bank foreclosed on his small Michigan house, forcing Sergeant Hurley’s wife, Brandie, and her two young children to move out and find shelter elsewhere…”

The Iraq and Afghanistan wars have seen our nation utilize a large number of reservists and National Guard men and women in uniform. The deployments have often caused financial hardships, especially when military personnel find themselves trying to make ends meet on military pay that is far less than what they make in their civilian lives.

The New York Times article notes: “Even though some of the nation’s military families have been sending their breadwinners into war zones for almost a decade, some of the nation’s biggest lenders are still fumbling one the basic elements of this law — its foreclosure protections.”

And last week USA Today carried an article by Gregg Zoroya, “20,000 military members, vets faced foreclosure in 2010,” which began with the chilling news that “…veterans, active-duty troops and reservists who took out special government-backed mortgages lost their homes last year — the highest number since 2003.”

According to various disturbing media reports, the “rate of foreclosure filings in 2010 among 163 Zip Codes located near military bases rose 32% over 2008, according to RealtyTrac, a foreclosure research firm. This compares with a 2010 increase in foreclosures filings nationally of 23% over 2008... http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=4219

The Tentacle - Kevin Dayhoff: Veteran Foreclosures – A National Disgrace http://tinyurl.com/4cuxb78

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Tuesday, December 14, 2010

WSJ: Economists Predict Growth in 2011 - By PHIL IZZO

DECEMBER 13, 2010

Economists Predict Growth in 2011

By PHIL IZZO http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703727804576011521781546808.html

Economists have grown more optimistic about the outlook for U.S. growth next year, predicting the expansion will accelerate as 2011 progresses, according to the latest Wall Street Journal forecasting survey.

Charts and Full Results

See forecasts for growth, unemployment, housing and more. Plus, views on the Fed, Europe and more. Survey conducted Dec. 3-8. (Or download all data as .xls)

Economists: Europe Needs to Take Further Action

Complete Coverage: Forecasting Survey

Journal Community

The 55 respondents, not all of whom answer every question, raised their growth projections for gross domestic product for nearly every period, including the current quarter. On average, the economists now predict GDP will grow 2.6% in the current quarter at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, up from the 2.4% growth they projected in last month's survey. The economy grew 2.5% in the third quarter.

The economists now see stronger expansion in the first half of 2011, with growth picking up speed as the year progresses. For the year, they expect GDP will rise 3%. Meanwhile, they have reduced the odds of a double-dip recession to 15%, the lowest average forecast of the year, from 22% in September survey.

The majority of the respondents also say that there is a better chance the economy in 2011 will outperform their forecasts than that it will underperform. Thirty-five economists said the risks to their forecasts are more to the upside; 14 said the risk was to the downside…. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703727804576011521781546808.html

20101213 sdosm WSJ Economists Predict Growth in 2011

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Friday, August 20, 2010

Dumping Bush Tax Cuts May Bring Depression

Ex-Bank of England Official: Dumping Bush Tax Cuts May Bring Depression

Wednesday, 18 Aug 2010 02:35 PM

Article Font Size

By: Dan Weil

http://www.moneynews.com/StreetTalk/Bank-of-England-Bush-Tax-Cuts-Depression-David-Blanchflower/2010/08/18/id/367832?s=al&promo_code=A8AB-1

Many economists are worried about the possibility of a double-dip recession, but former Bank of England official David Blanchflower thinks it could be much worse than that if the Bush tax cuts aren’t extended.

“If we don’t act fast, a plunge into Depression is a growing risk in . . . the U.S.,” he writes in a column on Bloomberg.

“The so-called Bush tax cuts, which are scheduled to expire at the end of the year, should be extended as soon as possible.”

President Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress want to keep the cuts only for those with income of less than $200,000, while Republicans want the reductions to continue for everyone.

The weak economy begs for the tax cuts, implemented in 2001 and 2003, to be continued, says Blanchflower, now an economics professor at Dartmouth College and the University of Stirling in Scotland... http://www.moneynews.com/StreetTalk/Bank-of-England-Bush-Tax-Cuts-Depression-David-Blanchflower/2010/08/18/id/367832?s=al&promo_code=A8AB-1

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Monday, August 16, 2010

New York Times: 2 Top Economists Differ Sharply on Risk of Deflation

August 5, 2010

By NELSON D. SCHWARTZ

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/06/business/economy/06deflation.html?src=un&feedurl=http://json8.nytimes.com/pages/business/economy/index.jsonp

When the latest unemployment figures are announced on Friday, all of Wall Street will be watching. But for Richard Berner of Morgan Stanley and Jan Hatzius of Goldman Sachs, the results will be more than just another marker in an avalanche of data.

Instead, the numbers will be a clue as to which of the two economists is right about where the American economy is headed. Their sharp disagreement over that question adds yet another twist to the fierce rivalry between the firms, Wall Street’s version of the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox… http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/06/business/economy/06deflation.html?src=un&feedurl=http://json8.nytimes.com/pages/business/economy/index.jsonp

20100805 NYT 2 Top Economists Differ Sharply on Risk of Deflation

http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2010/08/new-york-times-2-top-economists-differ.html

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Sunday, August 15, 2010

New York Times: Should We Brace for Deflation Now?

August 11, 2010

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2010/08/11/should-we-brace-for-deflation-now?th&emc=th

Stocks declined sharply the day after the Fed announced that it would buy government debt to shore up the faltering economy. Weak job reports, along with other indicators, have caused Fed policy makers to worry increasingly about the economy falling into a deflationary spiral of declining demand, prices and wages.

How likely is the prospect of deflation now? Americans haven't experienced sustained deflation since the 1930s. Is there's something about the U.S. economy that makes deflation less of a threat? What's the way out? http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2010/08/11/should-we-brace-for-deflation-now?th&emc=th

Enter the Discussion »

Tyler Cowen, economist, George Washington University
An Overblown Fear
Simon Johnson, economist, M.I.T.
Politics May Get in the Way
Mark Thoma, economist, University of Oregon
Putting Off Purchases
Heather Boushey, Center for American Progress
Deflation Isn't Likely
Brad DeLong, economist, U.C. Berkeley

Topics: Economy, Federal Reserve, deflation

New York Times: Should We Brace for Deflation Now?

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2010/08/11/should-we-brace-for-deflation-now?th&emc=th

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Thursday, August 12, 2010

Time to admit Obamanomics has failed

Examiner Editorial
August 8, 2010
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/Time-to-admit-Obamanomics-has-failed-1008050-100154469.html#ixzz0w4DCDIgp

It's no coincidence that Christina Romer, chairwoman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, announced her retirement the day before Friday's brutal unemployment report. With 131,000 more jobs lost in July, and downward revisions of 97,000 for the previous two months, it's easy to see why she would start looking for the exits.

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Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Gus G. Sentementes, The Baltimore Sun: Western Maryland hit harder by recession

Western Maryland hit harder by recession

Northrop Grumman, Kongsberg Automotive closures add to woe

www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-western-maryland-layoffs-20100808,0,6561796.story

baltimoresun.com

By Gus G. Sentementes, The Baltimore Sun

August 8, 2010 www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-western-maryland-layoffs-20100808,0,6561796.story

Two well-paying blue-collar employers in Washington County are shuttering their businesses, adding to the woes of this Western Maryland county that already has a jobless rate among the highest in the state.

The soaring unemployment rate is a painful step back for a county that has tried in recent years to diversify its economy and attract new, high-technology businesses to the area. Known as "Hub City," Hagerstown has been at the center of a regional economy for years, with its highway connections and rail lines offering trucking and distribution companies easy access.

But over the past three years, the weakening economy has bled the Hagerstown area of jobs, mainly related to construction and manufacturing. In 2006, Washington County's unemployment rate averaged about 4.4 percent. In June, it stood at more than 10 percent and has been as high as nearly 12 percent this year, while the state's hovers just above 7 percent.

And just this past week, the county was reeling from news that two employers — a Northrop Grumman airplane maintenance facility and auto parts maker Kongsberg Automotive — plan to close, putting more than 100 people out of work…. www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-western-maryland-layoffs-20100808,0,6561796.story

[20100808 Sun Sentementes Western Md hit harder by recession]

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Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://www.kevindayhoffart.com/

My http://www.explorecarroll.com/ columns appear in the copy of the Baltimore Sunday Sun that is distributed in Carroll County: https://subscribe.baltsun.com/Circulation/

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Thursday, July 08, 2010

Newsweek: Women Will Rule the World

Women Will Rule the World

Men were the main victims of the recession. The recovery will be female.

http://www.newsweek.com/2010/07/06/women-will-rule-the-world.html

Reuben Singh / Reuben Singh

Rajni Bector, 67, a food specialist and one of the first female entrepreneurs in Ludhiana, Punjab India.

When historians write about the great recession of 2007–08, they may very well have a new name for it: the Mancession. It’s a term already being bandied about in the popular media as business writers chronicle the sad tales of the main victims of the recession: men. They were disproportionately represented in the industries hit hardest during the downturn, including financial services, manufacturing, and construction, and their higher salaries often put them first in the line of fire. Men are the victims of two thirds of the 11 million jobs lost since the recession began in 2007; in August 2009, when U.S. male unemployment stood at 11 percent (versus 8.3 for women), it was the largest unemployment gender gap in the postwar era. Those numbers have improved, a bit—new unemployment figures show men at 9.9 percent and women at 7.8—but not enough to stop Larry Summers, the president’s top economic adviser, from speculating recently, that “when the economy recovers, five years from now, one in six men who are 25 to 54 will not be working.”

Robert Nickelsberg / Getty Images
Click to view a gallery of secure jobs for the next decade.

If they are lucky, they’ll have wives who can take care of them. American women are already the breadwinners or co-breadwinners in two thirds of American households; in the European Union, women filled 75 percent of the 8 million new jobs created since 2000... http://www.newsweek.com/2010/07/06/women-will-rule-the-world.html

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