All Entries in the "US Economic Recession" Category
Administration Unveils Bank Capital Proposal
The Obama administration on Thursday proposed stronger international standards for the capital reserves that banks are required to hold. The goal is to avoid a repeat of last year’s severe financial crisis.
The administration released a 14-page outline that would require higher capital cushions for firms deemed to be so large and interconnected they pose a [...]
Central Bankers To Mull Crisis Lessons At Retreat
Two years after the start of the worst global financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s, policy-makers from around the world gather this week to think about how to prevent it from happening again.
The Kansas City Federal Reserve’s yearly conference at a mountain retreat in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, will draw central bankers and [...]
Bernanke Says US Economy On Cusp Of Recovery
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke declared Friday that the U.S. economy is on the verge of a long-awaited recovery after enduring a brutal recession and the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.
Economic activity in both the U.S. and around the world appears to be “leveling out,” and “the prospects for a return to growth [...]
Bernanke Says Fed Can Take on Supercop Role
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke ran into skepticism Tuesday from U.S. lawmakers wary of expanding the Fed’s duties to police big financial companies. They argued that the Fed failed to spot problems that led to the financial crisis in the first place.
“The Fed has made some big mistakes,” said the House panel’s highest-ranking Republican, [...]
US Financial Market Bailout Tab Hits $4.7 Trillion
The federal government has devoted $4.7 trillion to help the financial sector through its crisis, a level of assistance equal to about one-third of the overall U.S. economy, a watchdog report said Monday.
Under the worst of circumstances, the report said, the government’s maximum exposure could total nearly $24 trillion, or $80,000 for every American.
The figures [...]
Biden: “We Misread How Bad The Economy Was”
The Obama administration “misread” the depth of the economic troubles it inherited and still expects more new jobs in the long term as the spending pace from the $787 billion stimulus plan quickens, Vice President Joe Biden said.
Republican congressional leaders expressed disappointment about the impact of stimulus spending. “I’m very skeptical that the spending binge [...]
10 Big Banks Get OK To Repay $68B In Bailout Money
Ten of the nation’s largest banks were given the green light Tuesday to repay $68 billion in government bailout money, freeing them from restrictions on executive compensation that they say are making it hard to keep their top-performing executives.
The Treasury Department said the banks had been approved to repay the money they received from [...]
California Nears Financial “Meltdown,” Schwarzenegger Threatens To Shut Down Government
California’s government is 50 days away from a financial “meltdown” if Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers fail to close the $24.3 billion budget gap. But Schwarzenegger would rather see the government screech to halt than agree to a high-interest loan.
Controller John Chiang warned of the coming crisis Wednesday:
Underscoring the severity of California’s cash crisis, Controller [...]
Fact Checking Obama’s 100 Days Presser
“That wasn’t me,” President Barack Obama said on his 100th day in office, disclaiming responsibility for the huge budget deficit waiting for him on Day One.
It actually was partly him — and the other Democrats controlling Congress the previous two years — who shaped the latest in a string of precipitously out-of-balance budgets.
And as a [...]
Senators Call For Freeze On Credit Card Interest Rates
Last year, the Federal Reserve announced new rules for credit card issuers that would rein in controversial practices like arbitrary rate increases on existing balances. Consumer advocates welcomed the news, but the regulations wouldn’t take effect until mid-2010. So members of the House and Senate introduced legislation that would essentially move up the start date [...]
Senate Wants $5M To Study Financial Crisis
The Senate has agreed to spend $5 million to investigate the cause of the economic crisis as it moves toward passing a $245 million bill that would substantially increase the number of FBI agents and prosecutors working mortgage fraud.
The legislation is aimed at showing voters that lawmakers are serious about getting to the bottom of [...]
Brazil’s President Slams Rich Nations
RIO DE JANEIRO — Likening the global financial crisis to a sinking ship, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva lashed out once more Wednesday against rich nations for provoking the world’s economic woes and called for a new economic order based on input from all nations.
“There is water leaking in the ship. And in [...]
Government’s Administration and Banking System
If you were wondering how the government’s administration of the TARP compared to the last major intervention in the banking system — the Resolution Trust Corporation formed to get the banking system through the savings account and Loan crisis — David Altig has an excellent summary of the RTC’s evolution. He concludes:
So there you have [...]
Obama: Stop Protecting Wall Street Bankers From Main Street
The president needs to stop shielding financial executives from the pitchfork-wielding public.
April 9, 2009 | A cartoon in the Sunday comics shows that mustachioed fellow with monocle and top hat from the Monopoly game — “Rich Uncle Pennybags,” he used to be called — standing along the roadside, destitute, holding a sign: “Will blame poor [...]
Obama: Timing Right For Millions To Refinance
WASHINGTON (AP) — Declaring “good news” in the midst of an economic meltdown, President Barack Obama on Thursday urged families to take advantage of near-record low mortgage rates by refinancing their home loans.
“We are at a time where people can really take advantage of this,” Obama said, seated with a handful of homeowners who have [...]
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