News of the Day: Black Friday Starting Before Thanksgiving Ends

If you are one who desires to simplify your life and lead a life less driven by consumerism, avoid television the week of Thanksgiving! I have been amazed at how obsessed the news media is concerning “black Friday.” It is so bad that Thanksgiving has become nothing more than an unavoidable bump in the road … Continue reading News of the Day: Black Friday Starting Before Thanksgiving Ends →

The Debt Crisis Debate – A Call for Courage [Opinion]

The debt ceiling crisis continues to confound the USA's politicians. News shows are in a 24-hour spin cycle as the two parties in Washington play a deadly game of chicken with each other. What is certain (to me) is that whether it is within the next week or the next year, American will face … Continue reading The Debt Crisis Debate – A Call for Courage [Opinion] →

US Economy: Safe Landing or Crash Landing?

I'm starting to think we will know the politicians in Washington are getting close to real budget/debt solutions when everyone is unhappy. Is it possible the only "winning" solution is a lose-lose scenario where we raise taxes (a lot) and cut spending (a lot)? Yes, I know, that will probably destroy the economy, but are … Continue reading US Economy: Safe Landing or Crash Landing? →

2010: "The Year of Severe Economic Contraction"

by Mike Whitney | December 15, 2009 | Global Research Upbeat reports in the financial media, belie the effects of the ongoing credit contraction. Massive injections of central bank liquidity have prevented the collapse of financial markets, but have done little to ease the deleveraging of households or stimulate activity the broader economy. The crisis … Continue reading 2010: "The Year of Severe Economic Contraction" →

Frontline: The Warning

Robert Rubin, Alan Greenspan, Lawrence Summers "We didn't truly know the dangers of the market, because it was a dark market," says Brooksley Born, the head of an obscure federal regulatory agency -- the Commodity Futures Trading Commission [CFTC] -- who not only warned of the potential for economic meltdown in the late 1990s, but … Continue reading Frontline: The Warning →

General Motors Files for Bankruptcy Protection

By U.S. News & World Report With time running out on its June 1st restructuring deadline, GM expected to file for bankruptcy today. ABC World News reported last night it is a "foregone conclusion" that GM "will file for bankruptcy" Monday, "all in an effort to survive." One "estimate of best case scenarios predicts that … Continue reading General Motors Files for Bankruptcy Protection →

Million, billion, trillion. What’s the difference?

Photo: MashGet, Flickr What’s a trillion dollars? In the past couple of months we’ve heard the number tossed around like we are shopping for used cars. “This ‘02 Windstar is $850 billion, but this ‘06 Fusion is $1.1 trillion.” Here’s some examples from some recent news stories: The federal budget deficit will hit an unparalleled … Continue reading Million, billion, trillion. What’s the difference? →

Chuckle for the Day

I enjoyed this, thought you might too. 🙂 Not sure of the source. Notice: Due to recent budget cuts and the cost of electricity, gas and oil, as well as current market conditions and the continued decline of the U.S. economy, The Light at the End of the Tunnel has been … Continue reading Chuckle for the Day →

Cliff Notes for the Financial Meltdown

Do you find yourself completely intrigued by the historic economic meltdown confronting the USA and the world? Do you find yourself completely lost in a sea of economic jargon, and as a result, struggling to understand how this could happen? After all, how many of us can understand terms like “credit default swaps” or even … Continue reading Cliff Notes for the Financial Meltdown →

History in the Making

Last week, for the first time, the media started making vast comparisons between September 2008 and October 1929. The words “historic” and “depression” were clearly a part of the conversation. Money and Markets does a good job of summarizing the historic week: If you didn't have a chance to keep up with how things played … Continue reading History in the Making →