Posts Tagged ‘recession’

“Agreeing with House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank that the current financial turmoil “was brought on by mortgage foreclosures,” Kentucky’s senior federal bankruptcy judge, Joe Lee of Lexington, also blames a greedy credit industry for selling Congress “a bill of goods” three years ago.” Crisis rooted in bankruptcy law | Lexington Herald-Leader

U.S. bank failures almost certain to rise in next year | CNN

This American Life has done two excellent shows to help ordinary folks like you and me understand the morass that is the U.S. economy.
A few months ago, in The Giant Pool of Money, Ira Glass and his crew explained the link between the housing crisis, the turmoil on Wall Street, subprime lending, and more. Follow [...]

“Dow suffers worst weekly performance since the week after 9/11 attacks, as investors remain fearful about the economy.” Stocks slump despite bank rescue | CNN Money

With all the campaign rhetoric flying around as Congress scrambles to rescue its biggest campaign contributors, it is easy to lose focus on the underlying problem: how did we reach a point where Wall Street fat cats determine the stability of our country and the economic prosperity of regular Americans?
When the stability of Wall Street [...]

Bailout bill fails; Dow plunges | CNN

If you were a Washington Mutual customer yesterday, you are a Chase customer today. JP Morgan Chase bought up most of WaMu’s accounts in the biggest bank failure in history. Expect the stock market to limbo to new, lower heights today.
What will happen if you are a WaMu customer? Here is what Chase has to [...]

Bankruptcy, Takeovers, and Bailouts - Oh My! | Queercents

Screencap of the New York Times’s excellent infographic. The real thing includes a ton of information when you mouse over the squares.

A Year of Heavy Losses | New York Times (via BoingBoing)

U.S. Foreclosures Double: 1 in Every 171 Households Affected | Consumerist

Apparently it is the reduced availability of credit. Think of it as the natural consequence of the overabundance of credit that tanked our economy in the first place. And it may last for a couple of years.
Consider this a good reason to move your finances to a cash model.
Experts: ‘Credit recession’ could last two years [...]

Prices up, home values down, employment dropping slowly and wages lagging: a consumer nightmare. Consumers being squeezed from two sides | MSNBC

Deregulation refers to the point at which the U.S. government threw up its hands and said “all right banks, power companies, airlines, etc., do whatever you want!” and the deregulated industries had a big party. Eminent jurist and economic theorist Richard Posner says that might have been a mistake: “a tighter ceiling should be placed [...]

In an odd sort of thank-you note, Bank of American will give two top Countrywide executives, CEO Angelo Mozilo (pictured) and President David Sambol, $19 million in stocks. Bank of America took over Countrywide, the company made famous by writing loans all but guaranteed to fail. Countrywide’s loose lending habits were a significant contribution to [...]