Federal Bailouts

Citigroup Returns to Banking by Divesting Its Oil Trading Arm

Raymond J. Learsy | Posted 10.14.2009 | Business


Raymond J. Learsy

It is scandalous that those in government vested with the responsibility of financial oversight have permitted a culture of "heads they win, tails we lose" to take hold and to grow into a financial Frankenstein.

Intolerable Cruelty: Our Sick Children's Indebted Future

Robyn O'Brien | Posted 09.30.2009 | Living


Robyn O'Brien

In 1946, Harry Truman said, "A nation is only as healthy as its children." What have we done to ours?

The Payoff Patriots

Vanessa Carmichael | Posted 11.11.2009 | Politics


Vanessa Carmichael

While many in the heartland fashion themselves as fiscally conservative, the reality of federal spending tells a different story.

Economic 9-11: Did Lehman Brothers Fall or Was It Pushed?

Ellen Brown | Posted 10.23.2009 | Business


Ellen Brown

Why was Bear Stearns saved from bankruptcy but Lehman Brothers was not? How could the decision makers not realize the dire consequences of letting Lehman go down?

Why the Senate Should Confirm Bernanke But Make the Fed More Accountable, Too

Robert Reich | Posted 09.25.2009 | Business


Robert Reich

If you'd have asked me three months ago whether Bernanke would be confirmed, I'd have said no. Congress (and much of the public) is still furious about the bank bailouts, as well they should be.

Latest Consumer Spending Data Much Worse Than Expected

Sheldon Filger | Posted 09.17.2009 | Business


Sheldon Filger

The centrality of the U.S. consumer to the overall global economy has meant his pulling back on a debt induced shopping spree, which has sparked a worldwide synchronized recession.

Fed Survey: Economy Has "Begun To Stabilize, Albeit At A Low Level."

AP | JEANNINE AVERSA | Posted 08.29.2009 | Business


WASHINGTON — The economy is finally showing signs of stabilizing in some regions of the country – especially in parts of the Northeast and...

Federal Stimulus: Are Construction Projects Stimulating You?

Jerry Chautin | Posted 08.27.2009 | Business


Jerry Chautin

There can be a symbiotic relationship between small-business construction contractors, SBA and federal procurement officers.

Playing the Hand that Life Deals You

Don McNay | Posted 08.22.2009 | Living


Don McNay

I've dealt with hundreds of parents of special needs children. They take the hand that is dealt to them. And usually turn that hand into aces.

Outsourcing Top Management: The Lesson of Fiat-Chrysler

Dean Baker | Posted 06.04.2009 | Business


Dean Baker

The economists and the media somehow failed to notice that professionals were intentionally sheltered from international competition and instead just trumpeted them as the winners in the global economy.

GDP, Federal Spending Now Equal

bloomberg.com | Mark Pittman and Bob Ivry | Posted 05.01.2009 | Business


March 31 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. government and the Federal Reserve have spent, lent or guaranteed $12.8 trillion, an amount that approaches the valu...

The "Populists" Are Right About Wall Street

Thomas Frank | Posted 04.25.2009 | Business


Thomas Frank

How has a popular Democratic president with a convincing electoral mandate failed to translate the opportunities of recent events into the "change" for which voters clamored?

Pendulum Swings Against Business, Banks, and Bonuses

Tim Berry | Posted 04.25.2009 | Business


Tim Berry

Anybody who hasn't been living in a cave knows how bonuses got a bad name: excess and greed in large business. But what those of us in small business, where a bonus is a reward for a job well done?

Take the Steering Wheel out of Geithner's Hands

Arianna Huffington | Posted 04.23.2009 | Politics


Arianna Huffington

Tim Geithner's actions throughout his career, including his time as Treasury Secretary, are proof that the toxic thinking that got us into this mess is part of his DNA.

AIG Bonus Money is Kid's Play: Literally

Jennifer Delaney | Posted 04.23.2009 | Living


Jennifer Delaney

If AIG were to donate the 418 bonuses to charity, it would be a brilliant preemptive PR move to neutralize its current out of touch public persona. Here's what the money could provide.

If We 'Kill the Rich', Don't We Kill the Dream?

Vicky Ward | Posted 04.23.2009 | Business


Vicky Ward

New York is the national epicenter of ostentation and consumerism. Now those qualities are considered tasteless. Wealth has become a dirty word.

Geithner's Last Stand

Robert Kuttner | Posted 04.22.2009 | Politics


Robert Kuttner

The indignation over AIG will serve a useful purpose if it focuses public attention on the much larger issue of the failure of the entire approach that Tim Geithner and Larry Summers are using to rescue the banking system.

A Real Simple Solution to the AIG Bonus Mess

Andy Ostroy | Posted 04.21.2009 | Politics


Andy Ostroy

Rather than allow these bonuses to remain intact or to take them away outright, how about deferring them until the companies and their troubled business units turn their financial fortunes around?

Capitalism and Moral Sentiments

Jeffrey Sachs | Posted 04.21.2009 | Business


Jeffrey Sachs

The fascinating thing about this Wall Street greed is that it is so deeply ingrained that neither the bankers themselves nor our economic leadership understands just how disgusting and dangerous it is.

Goldman Sachs, Obama, Money

Bob Ostertag | Posted 04.20.2009 | Politics


Bob Ostertag

Have things changed so dramatically that Obama will have room to dump his biggest campaign contributers overboard? That question will be answered in the coming weeks.

The Politics of the Populist Moment

David Sirota | Posted 04.20.2009 | Politics


David Sirota

I appeared on ABC's World News Tonight and ABC's Nightline last night about the economic meltdown. You can watch the Nightline clip here. As I've w...

AIG, Toxic Assets and the Call to Personal Sacrifice

Raymond J. Learsy | Posted 04.20.2009 | Business


Raymond J. Learsy

If there has ever been an example of "sow and ye shall reap" gone awry, it is the madcap stripping of the national treasure by those who have brought us to the edge of the cliff.

Smoking Gun Points to Geithner

Earl Ofari Hutchinson | Posted 04.20.2009 | Politics


Earl Ofari Hutchinson

How long will and should Obama continue to defend Geithner in the face of the smoking gun proof of what he knew about AIG and when he knew it?

Defining Extravagance Up

Jamie Malanowski | Posted 04.20.2009 | Politics


Jamie Malanowski

It's admirable that our leaders now want to be frugal with our money but let's remember what the taxpayers themselves have been buying with money not rendered unto Uncle Sam.

90% Tax? Now, We Really are Screwed

Henry Blodget | Posted 04.20.2009 | Business


Henry Blodget

The frantic passage of the Populist Rage Tax was a new low in the US government's response to this crisis.