AltWeeklies Wire
How Washington Could Shape the Future Coming Out of the Meltdownnew
Let's talk about reform, and your money, and what government should do now that there is a genuine, world-class financial crisis.
John McCain and Friendsnew
While it may seem like he really doesn't know much about the economy, McCain knows who his real friends are. And considering the Republicans are planning on giving away all this money to those failed Wall Street lenders -- and nothing directly to help the people who are in trouble -- we can pretty well guess who those friends are.
Pasadena Weekly |
Kevin Uhrich |
09-29-2008 |
Commentary
Thomas Frank on McCain, the Wall Street Mess, and Voter Fraudnew
"These Republicans have acted for years as though markets work fine unregulated," Frank says. "But what you get is incredible rip-offs."
Shepherd Express |
Roger Bybee |
09-26-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Reaganomics Meets the GOP-Bolshevik Statenew
The cratering economy has not only consigned free market voodoo economic theory to the dustbin of history, as Leon Trotsky would say, but has also transformed the GOP into the modern incarnation of the Bolsheviks.
L.A. Weekly |
Marc Cooper |
09-26-2008 |
Commentary
'The Other Side of the Coin' May (or May Not) Help You Understand the Meltdownnew
People need to educate themselves in economics. Still, I'm not sure anybody this week needs to read a whole book to figure out that the rules of the game have changed, and that the time has come to have some serious talks about profit caps.
Montreal Mirror |
Juliet Waters |
09-26-2008 |
Nonfiction
Joseph Stiglitz on the Economic Crisis, War and the Electionnew

"I think that you could argue it may in fact be the war that broke the camel's back," Stiglitz says.
Los Angeles CityBeat |
Ron Garmon |
09-26-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Crude: How Wall Street is Screwing Americanew

While it is clear that our economy is in deep trouble, there's one part of the puzzle that still lies in a place as murky as the water surrounding the refineries in the Gulf of Mexico: the Wall Street-Oil connection.
Long Island Press |
Jed Morey |
09-25-2008 |
Economy
Dude, Where's My Bailout?new
The newspaper biz could use some government help too. An open letter to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.
New Haven Advocate |
Andy Bromage |
09-25-2008 |
Economy
Obama's Mortgage Plan Has Already Been Tried and Defeated in Congressnew
Obama's proposed legislation would allow judges to adjust the mortgage terms of homeowners who are in bankruptcy, so they'd have a better chance of saving their homes from foreclosure. But such legislation was considered by the Senate in April, and defeated. Both Arkansas senators voted against it. Both say there's a good chance they'd do so again, even if the bill had Obama's backing, and even though they're both Democrats and supporting Obama for president.
Arkansas Times |
Doug Smith |
09-25-2008 |
Economy
Dean Baker: No Blank Check for Wall Streetnew
Done properly, Baker says, the $700 billion "bailout" of Wall Street and the big banks shouldn’t cost the taxpayers a dime. "My view," the progressive economist told the Indy following a speech in Raleigh, "is that [the bailout] is necessary, but if it's structured right, we're not giving the banks anything. We're keeping the banks functioning, and that's in the public interest."
Walking the Tricky Tightrope: How Can We Solve the Economic Crisis?

Forests are restored by fire, and so are markets. In a real market, I'd be inclined to say we should let it burn. What grows up to replace the old forest is always healthier. But thanks to greed and mismanagement, ours has clearly become a fake, faith-based market. So we're left to attempt to bring our economy in for a soft landing, hopefully enabling the kind of fresh start we need without endangering people's money.
The Inlander |
Ted S. McGregor Jr. |
09-24-2008 |
Commentary
Facing Foreclosure? Con Man Paul Noe II Has a Deal for Younew
A few months ago, Dustanto Lopez got a phone call from someone offering him a tempting, if screwy, deal with a company called United First, Inc. that would supposedly help postpone foreclosure proceedings. What Lopez didn't know was that the president, secretary, treasurer, and director of that recently registered Nevada shell company was a con man.
What Will Lehman Brothers' Bankruptcy Mean for Two Long-Stalled Bay Area Developments?new
In the wake of the collapse of its biggest backer, the investment bank Lehman Brothers, SunCal's spotlight at the center of the current crisis has some Alameda officials worried that yet another developer might have to walk away from the massive Alameda Point project.
East Bay Express |
Rin Kelly |
09-24-2008 |
Housing & Development
Face the Economic Tough Times by Cooking Up Some 1930s-Style Foodnew
In May, one of the nation's largest cooking sites, AllRecipes.com, reported that traffic to recipe pages using low-cost ingredients nearly doubled in the first three months of the year and that searches for low-cost foods increased as much 107 percent. In June, I wrote about the recession-led increase in sales of Spam luncheon globs. And all that was before the economic downturn had turned into an economic smackdown.
San Diego CityBeat |
D.A. Kolodenko |
09-24-2008 |
Food+Drink
Tags: food, recipes, cooking, eating, economic issues, Spam, Great Depression, AllRecipes.com, penny pinching
Comrade Bush Nationalizes the Banksnew

The panicky flight from free-market orthodoxy in the United States is bound to fuel a revival of government intervention and welfare-state policies in the rest of the world. In the United States itself, however, they are likely to hang the wrong culprit in the end.
The Georgia Straight |
Gwynne Dyer |
09-24-2008 |
Economy