AltWeeklies Wire
How Deregulation Led to the Current Bank Collapsenew
In 2000, Sen. Phil Gramm attached a rider to an appropriations bill to deregulate derivatives trading and other complicated financial instruments like collateral debt obligations. This was the effective nail in the coffin for the FDR-era Glass-Steagall Act, which was created to prevent a repeat of the crash of 1929.
Charleston City Paper |
D.A. Smith |
10-09-2008 |
Economy
The Road Not Taken by Congress During the Economic Crisisnew
The so-called stock-injection plan would have given taxpayers ownership of preferred stock in the banks themselves. Not only would the banks have gotten an infusion of cash, but the taxpayers would've received something in exchange other than these "toxic" mortgage assets we've been hearing about.
San Diego CityBeat |
Editorial |
10-08-2008 |
Economy
If the U.S. Collapses ... Will Anyone Miss Us?
When I was 21, I prayed for the collapse of the U.S., the biggest force for evil in the world. Now that we're on the brink of economic apocalypse, this middle-aged white guy is scared.
Maui Time |
Ted Rall |
10-07-2008 |
Commentary
Guess Who the Economic Crisis is Hurting Most? (Hint: It Isn't the Fat Cats)new
The people feeling it hardest are ordinary workers -- Joe and Joann Doe on Main Street. Meanwhile, the fat cats from bellied-up and bailed-out businesses on Wall Street are walking away with tens of millions of dollars for doing such a good job blowing the economy to high heaven.
The 'Ownership Society,' Circa 2008new
In 1969, the top tax rate was 69 percent, and we sent a man to the moon. Now it's under half of that, and bridges are collapsing at the same time the economy is, but we've spent eight solid years funneling money to the privileged classes and Wall Street Masters of the Universe.
Baltimore City Paper |
Brian Morton |
10-07-2008 |
Commentary
If Wall Street Gets a Bailout, Will Infrastructure Get a Boost?new
There has never been a more stark contrast between two radically different prescriptions for economic recovery than the one that is playing out here in New York, in the state that is the home of the finance, insurance, and real estate economy -- which just blew up.
Investment Adviser: Bailout Plan Won't Helpnew
Vancouver-based Ian Gordon, a proponent of early 20th-century Russian economist Nikolai Kondratieff's wave theory of the cycles of capitalist systems, doesn't have much confidence that a bailout would make things much better.
The Georgia Straight |
Carlito Pablo |
10-03-2008 |
Economy
Thanks a Lot, Milton Friedmannew
The worst thing that can happen to an economist is for the politicians to come over to his side and actually implement his grand idea. This week, the men who did the task for Friedman in the United States, or at least some of them, had to sift through the rubble in a very public and self-conscious way and explain why it all turned out so badly.
Arkansas Times |
Ernest Dumas |
10-03-2008 |
Economy
Wall Street for Dummiesnew
The stock market sets the confidence level for the rest of the country. It rallies, we rally. It panics, we eat Ramen noodles. Now we discover our trusted financiers are just overly aggressive and obnoxious sales weasels.
Boston Phoenix |
Kara Baskin |
10-02-2008 |
Economy
Homeowners Are Being Unfairly Faulted for Wall Street's Greednew
Those nasty subprime borrowers, the financial class bellows, how could they have done this to us? While the catalyst for our present debacle may have been housing loans, they in no way were the cause.
East Bay Express |
Jay Youngdahl |
10-01-2008 |
Economy
Another American Institution Fails, and We Lose Faith in Ourselvesnew
Now that Wall Street has failed -- a victim of its own greed -- you can add it to the list of institutions in which we have lost our collective trust.
San Diego CityBeat |
Editorial |
10-01-2008 |
Commentary
Don't Let the Weasels in the Stock Market Doornew
I'm not really surprised when the managers of large corporations do something dishonest. But I'm surprised when they do dumb things against their own self-interest.
C-Ville Weekly |
Al Crabb |
10-01-2008 |
Economy
Workers Will be Forced to Pay for Wall Street's Failuresnew
The Masters of the Universe have been revealed as naive speculators who believed that property values could only go up. The journalists who preached the blessings of unregulated free markets have been unveiled as blind ideologues at best, and at worst paid propagandists. The response of American politicians at all levels has been pathetic.
The Georgia Straight |
Gwynne Dyer |
09-30-2008 |
Economy
Why Are We Bailing Out Bad Banks with Our Money?new
Here's the truth: Our economy is teetering on the point of collapse. Nobody is telling you the full truth about that -- not the media, not the candidates for president.
Metro Times |
Jack Lessenberry |
09-30-2008 |
Economy
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.
