CONVERSABLE ECONOMIST: Labor's Falling Share, Everywhere

CONVERSABLE ECONOMIST: Labor's Falling Share, Everywhere
"The OECD has observed, for example, that over the period from 1990 to 2009 the share of labour compensation in national income declined in 26 out of 30 developed economies for which data were available, and calculated that the median labour share of national income across these countries fell considerably from 66.1 per cent to 61.7 per cent ... Looking beyond the advanced economies, the ILO World of Work Report 2011 found that the decline in the labour income share was even more pronounced in many emerging and developing countries, with considerable declines in Asia and North Africa and more stable but still declining wage shares in Latin America."

Why the Super-Rich Love Bubbles | The Reformed Broker

Why the Super-Rich Love Bubbles | The Reformed Broker
"What you'll see is a regular pattern of stock market crashes followed by the rapid recovery of income share by the top .01%. The super-rich have been benefitting disproportionately from this boom/bust pattern that Alan Greenspan kicked into high gear with his doctrine of defending asset prices at all costs."

Madoff, other felons say markets are unfair - MarketWatch

Madoff, other felons say markets are unfair - MarketWatch

"MarketWatch found that insider trading may be one of the most common crimes on Wall Street and one of the least prosecuted. And that was only the beginning. MarketWatch discovered that the problem for retail investors goes far beyond a failure of regulators to identify insider-trading violations.

The financial criminals we spoke with said that not only do many investors routinely skirt insider-trading laws, but the explosion of computerized high-speed trading in recent years has made the situation even more unfair for the retail investor.

Those retail investors should be careful when relying on audited financial statements because accounting fraud continues unabated, according to one interview. Accounting-fraud cases are complex, and regulators don’t have the resources to enforce the law effectively, according to one felon."

Zillow CEO: Rising Mortgage Rates May Trap You - Yahoo! Finance

Zillow CEO: Rising Mortgage Rates May Trap You
"The reason for the limited supply is that "44 percent of Americans with a mortgage are effectively in a negative equity position," he said. "Meaning if they sold their home, they wouldn't be able to clear their mortgage. They're basically trapped in their home and can't list."
""We're now seeing unsustainably high rates of appreciation," Rascoff said. "In Phoenix, in San Francisco, in Orange County and San Jose, [Calif.], 20-plus percent year-over-year appreciation. Far too high. We've come back too fast. It's concerning."

Inside San Jose's largest homeless encampment, the Jungle - San Jose Mercury News

Inside San Jose's largest homeless encampment, the Jungle - San Jose Mercury News
"If you're out here, the system has failed you...The safety net that was supposed to catch you didn't. I think it's a terrible statement for our community that there are people who believe this is their best option. This is a terrible, terrible place for anyone to live."

U.S. stands out as a rich country where a growing minority say they can’t afford food | Pew Research Center

U.S. stands out as a rich country where a growing minority say they can’t afford food | Pew Research Center

"Despite being the richest country in the survey, nearly a quarter of Americans (24%) say they had trouble putting food on the table in the past 12 months. This is up from just 16% who reported such deprivation in 2007, the year before the Great Recession began.

Americans’ reported level of deprivation is closer to that experienced by Indonesians or Greeks than it is the British or the Canadians. In fact, the percentage of Americans who say they could not afford the food needed by their families at some point in the last year is three times that in Germany, more than twice that in Italy and Canada."

Americans have rebuilt less than half of wealth lost to the recession, study says - The Washington Post

Americans have rebuilt less than half of wealth lost to the recession, study says - The Washington Post
"In addition, the report showed most of the improvement was due to gains in the stock market, which primarily benefit wealthy families. That means the recovery for other households has been even weaker."

The ‘cult of capitalism’ and U.S. moral decline - Paul B. Farrell - MarketWatch

The ‘cult of capitalism’ and U.S. moral decline - Paul B. Farrell - MarketWatch
"Wall Street’s greedy narcissists are unwittingly sabotaging the economy, lost in their silent conspiracy, controlling the invisible hand, in a costly war that will again lead, as in 2000 and 2008, to the fulfillment of the death wish of the cult of capitalism."

Monsanto sows seeds of protest - MarketWatch

Monsanto sows seeds of protest - MarketWatch
"For many protesters, it comes down to this slogan: “Either mankind will stop Monsanto or Monsanto will stop mankind.”
"Monsanto recently short-circuited this process by lobbying Washington lawmakers to slip a provision into a bill that President Barack Obama signed into law. It requires the USDA to ignore court rulings and permit planting of genetically engineered crops — even if courts deem them potentially unsafe — as the agency conducts further reviews. ... Imagine Boeing getting a law passed that allowed airlines to keep flying the Dreamliner while conflicted bureaucrats studied why its batteries caught fire in midflight."

The Real Numbers: Half of America in Poverty -- and It's Creeping Upward | Alternet

The Real Numbers: Half of America in Poverty -- and It's Creeping Upward

"Analysis of  Economic Policy Institute data shows that Mitt Romney's famous  47 percent, the alleged 'takers,' have taken nothing."
"The IRS reports that the highest wage in the bottom half of earners is about $34,000. To be eligible for food assistance, a family can earn up to  130% of the federal  poverty line, or about $30,000 for a family of four. "

America is the only rich country that doesn’t guarantee paid vacation or holidays

America is the only rich country that doesn’t guarantee paid vacation or holidays
"The United States is the only advanced economy in the world that does not guarantee its workers paid vacation. European countries establish legal rights to at least 20 days of paid vacation per year, with legal requirements of 25 and even 30 or more days in some countries. Australia and New Zealand both require employers to grant at least 20 vacation days per year; Canada and Japan mandate at least 10 paid days off. The gap between paid time off in the United States and the rest of the world is even larger if we include legally mandated paid holidays, where the United States offers none, but most of the rest of the world’s rich countries offer at least six paid holidays per year. "
" Of course, in practice, richer workers are able to negotiate for both paid vacation and paid holidays. It’s poorer workers who can’t take any time off."
"So among richer workers, almost all employers offer paid vacation and holidays, and quite a bit of it. Among poorer workers, less than half get paid vacation, and even when they do, their employers offer a lot less of it. This is one more way in which the poor often end up working much harder than the rich."

More Evidence Banks Violated Mortgage Pact: NY Attorney General

More Evidence Banks Violated Mortgage Pact: NY Attorney General
Schneiderman has said that, since last October, his office had documented 339 violations of standards—210 by Wells Fargo and 129 by Bank of America—dictating the timeline for banks to process mortgage modification applications. 

Protesters around the world march against Monsanto

Protesters around the world march against Monsanto
Organizers said "March Against Monsanto" protests were held in 52 countries and 436 cities, including Los Angeles where demonstrators waved signs that read "Real Food 4 Real People" and "Label GMOs, It's Our Right to Know."

Calculated Risk: Update: The Two Bottoms for Housing

Calculated Risk: Update: The Two Bottoms for Housing
"There are usually two bottoms for housing: the first for new home sales, housing starts and residential investment, and the second bottom is for house prices...Now it appears activity bottomed in 2009 through 2011 (depending on the measure) and real house prices bottomed in early 2012."

Insurers Stray From the Conservative Line on Climate Change - NYTimes.com

Insurers Stray From the Conservative Line on Climate Change - NYTimes.com
"And the industry expects the situation will get worse. “Numerous studies assume a rise in summer drought periods in North America in the future and an increasing probability of severe cyclones relatively far north along the U.S. East Coast in the long term,” said Peter Höppe, who heads Geo Risks Research at the reinsurance giant Munich Re. “The rise in sea level caused by climate change will further increase the risk of storm surge.” Most insurers, including the reinsurance companies that bear much of the ultimate risk in the industry, have little time for the arguments heard in some right-wing circles that climate change isn’t happening, and are quite comfortable with the scientific consensus that burning fossil fuels is the main culprit of global warming."

Rising & Falling Home Prices in the USA | The Big Picture

Rising & Falling Home Prices in the USA | The Big Picture

Click to enlarge

Average US Retirement Age Is 61--And Rising - Yahoo! Finance

Average US Retirement Age Is 61--And Rising 
"The average non-retired American now plans to retire at 66, up from 60 in 1995, according to the Gallup survey....The trend to retire older started in the 1990s...."

Markets Erode Morals, Let People Do Horrible Things: Study

Markets Erode Morals, Let People Do Horrible Things: Study
"Formerly public institutions have been privatized, including the warehousing of human beings in prisons, as The Huffington Post's Chris Kirkham has documented extensively. People get the names of casinos and porn sites tattooed on their faces. Pension plans have been replaced by market-based 401(k)s, which gradually eat away at retirement security. Some would like to replace social programs like Medicare and Social Security with market-based accounts. Satisfying the god of the free market has led to widening income inequality, with soaring stocks and stagnant wages."

Gen. Efraín Ríos Montt of Guatemala Guilty of Genocide - NYTimes.com

Gen. Efraín Ríos Montt of Guatemala Guilty of Genocide - NYTimes.com
"The American military had a close relationship with the Guatemalan military well into the 1970s before President Jimmy Carter’s administration cut off aid. When General Ríos Montt seized power in March 1982, President Ronald Reagan’s administration cultivated him as a reliable Central American ally in its battle against Nicaragua’s Sandinista government and Salvadoran guerrillas."
...
"By the end of 1982, however, the State Department had gathered evidence that the army was behind the massacres.

But even then, the administration insisted that General Ríos Montt was working to reduce the violence. After a regional meeting, President Reagan described him as “a man of great personal integrity and commitment.”

New Database Reveals Adjacent Hospitals Charging $200,000 Difference For Same Procedure | TechCrunch

New Database Reveals Adjacent Hospitals Charging $200,000 Difference For Same Procedure | 
"Average inpatient charges for services a hospital may provide in connection with a joint replacement range from a low of $5,300 at a hospital in Ada, Oklahoma, to a high of $223,000 at a hospital in Monterey Park, California. Even within the same geographic area,”

Stephen Hawking joins academic boycott of Israel | World news | The Guardian

Stephen Hawking joins academic boycott of Israel 
"Hawking's decision marks another victory in the campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions targeting Israeli academic institutions."

Enron's Skilling May Be Free As Soon As 2017 Or 11 Years Early | Zero Hedge

Enron's Skilling May Be Free As Soon As 2017 Or 11 Years Early | Zero Hedge
"ENRON'S SKILLING HELPED MASTERMIND MASSIVE FRAUD AT ENERGY FIRM

Indeed he did: which is why it is surprising he served any prison time at all.

So in brief: justice for all, except for those who have $40 million set aside for "restitution payments."

The Idled Young Americans - NYTimes.com

The Idled Young Americans - NYTimes.com
"For all of Europe’s troubles — a left-right combination of sclerotic labor markets and austerity — the United States has quietly surpassed much of Europe in the percentage of young adults without jobs. It’s not just Europe, either. Over the last 12 years, the United States has gone from having the highest share of employed 25- to 34-year-olds among large, wealthy economies to having among the lowest."

The Rich Have Gained $5.6 Trillion in the 'Recovery,' While the Rest of Us Have Lost $669 Billion | Alternet

The Rich Have Gained $5.6 Trillion in the 'Recovery,' While the Rest of Us Have Lost $669 Billion | Alternet
"From 2009 to 2011, the richest 8 million families (the top 7%) on average saw their wealth rise from $1.7 million to $2.5 million each. Meanwhile the rest of us --  the bottom 93% (that's 111 million families) -- suffered on average a decline of $6,000 each.
Do the math and you'll discover that the top 7% gained a whopping $5.6 trillion in net worth (assets minus liabilities) while the rest of lost $669 billion. Their wealth went up by 28% while ours went down by 4 percent."

How Did the World's Rich Get That Way? Luck - Businessweek

How Did the World's Rich Get That Way? Luck - Businessweek
"Take the importance of family. In the U.S., about 50 percent of variation of wealth and about 35 percent to 43 percent of variation in income of children can be explained by the relative wealth and income (PDF) of their parents, suggest economists Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis. One reason for this tight relationship is that parents who were educated are far more likely to educate their own kids. According to Michael Greenstone and Adam Looney of the Brookings Institution, the median wage of the average American male—employed or not—has declined by $13,000 since 1969. Most of that drop is because of plummeting earnings among those with a high school diploma or less, something that’s highly dependent on your parents. Evan Soltas examined the General Social Survey data and concluded that if your father didn’t graduate high school, you are eight times more likely not to graduate high school yourself—a 22.2 percent chance, as compared to a 2.9 percent chance among kids whose fathers did graduate.

The advantages of a privileged background don’t stop at graduation. Tufts economist Linda Loury suggests that half of all jobs in the U.S. are found through family, friends, or acquaintances. Canadian economists Miles Corak and Patrizio Piraino look at how often men end up working at the same company where their father worked, finding that as many as 40 percent have done that at some point. The proportion rises to 70 percent among the top 1 percent in income distribution. This helps to explain why the relationship between the earnings of parent and child is even higher at the top end than it is across the population at large, according to Corak. One-third of successions between chief executive officers in publicly listed companies in the U.S. involves an incoming CEO related by blood or marriage to the old CEO, the founder, or a large shareholder."

Calculated Risk: Real House Prices, Price-to-Rent Ratio, City Prices relative to 2000

Calculated Risk: Real House Prices, Price-to-Rent Ratio, City Prices relative to 2000
"In nominal terms, the Case-Shiller National index (SA) is back to Q2 2003 levels (and also back up to Q3 2010), and the Case-Shiller Composite 20 Index (SA) is back to November 2003 levels, and the CoreLogic index (NSA) is back to January 2004. "
"In real terms, the National index is back to October 1999 levels, the Composite 20 index is back to January 2001, and the CoreLogic index back to February 2001. 
In real terms, most of the appreciation in the last decade is gone."

"On a price-to-rent basis, the Case-Shiller National index is back to Q4 1999 levels, the Composite 20 index is back to January 2001 levels, and the CoreLogic index is back to February 2001.

In real terms - and as a price-to-rent ratio - prices are mostly back to early 2000 levels."

Wealthiest Americans Only Winners in Recovery, Pew Says - Bloomberg

Wealthiest Americans Only Winners in Recovery, Pew Says
"Pew attributed the disparity to gains during that period in the stock and bond markets, benefiting affluent households, while the housing market’s decline hit others harder. The report underscores the nation’s growing income inequality, with the top 13 percent of households recovering their losses from the 18- month recession that ended in June 2009, and the rest of the country continuing to hemorrhage wealth."

Wall Street betting billions on single-family homes in distressed markets - The Washington Post

Wall Street betting billions on single-family homes in distressed markets - The Washington Post
“There is the possibility that Wall Street and the banks and the affluent 1 percent stand to gain the most from this,” said Jack McCabe, a real estate consultant based in Deerfield Beach, Fla. “Meanwhile, lower-income Americans will lose their opportunity for the American Dream of building wealth through owning a home.”

The wealthy keep getting wealthier - Business Insider

The wealthy keep getting wealthier - Business Insider
"The wealthiest 7% (households earning $840,000 or more), on the other hand, had more money to invest in the stock market, which has rebounded at a faster rate. Between 2009 and 2011, the S&P 500 soared by 34% while the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index dropped by 5%."

Hewlett-Packard and Its Obstinate Director - NYTimes.com

Hewlett-Packard and Its Obstinate Director - NYTimes.com
"Boards “are like the Hotel California,” Mr. Patterson said. “Directors check in but they never check out. It’s so hard to mount and win a campaign, and even then, they stay. Shareholders need to mobilize for a second round."

Lawrence Wittner: That's Where the Money Goes

Lawrence Wittner: That's Where the Money Goes
The United States spent more than four times as much on the military as China (the number two big spender) and more than seven times as much as Russia (which ranked third). 

Whoops! Turns out debt doesn’t ruin economies - Salon.com

Whoops! Turns out debt doesn’t ruin economies - Salon.com
"The reason we are just now getting critical second looks at Reinhart and Rogoff’s findings, when the paper in question came out in 2010, is that the economists just didn’t release their data. Here’s Dean Baker complaining about that fact in 2010. As he wrote: “Mr. Rogoff and Ms. Reinhart have declined to adhere to standard ethics within the economics profession and have refused to share the data on which they base their conclusion with other researchers.”
This is important — it should in fact be a Big Deal — because Reinhart and Rogoff have been the ultimate authorities in the appeals to authority from everyone advocating austerity in the U.S. and across the world for the last few years. Tim Fernholz excerpts Tom Coburn’s account of the address the two gave to 40 senators, and quotes officials and politicians from Europe and the U.S. and from both sides of the American party divide praising Reinhart and Rogoff’s study.
So, austerity’s canceled, right? Haha, no, sorry.
The problem is that debt moralists used the study to justify a political belief, and they will not shed that belief now that the study has been shown to be flawed. The idea that debt is just innately bad, and indicative of a sort of national deficiency of character, will persist. It’s not based on data, it’s based on facile analogies to kitchen table checkbook balancing and “common sense” about how it is always necessary to “live within your means.” We already have plenty of evidence that austerity doesn’t boost economies, and no one cares. No one will care about this."

A Tax System Stacked Against the 99 Percent - NYTimes.com

A Tax System Stacked Against the 99 Percent - NYTimes.com
"What should shock and outrage us is that as the top 1 percent has grown extremely rich, the effective tax rates they pay have markedly decreased. Our tax system is much less progressive than it was for much of the 20th century. The top marginal income tax rate peaked at 94 percent during World War II and remained at 70 percent through the 1960s and 1970s; it is now 39.6 percent. Tax fairness has gotten much worse in the 30 years since the Reagan “revolution” of the 1980s."

Goldman, AIG and the government renew their friendship - Reuters

Goldman, AIG and the government renew their friendship | Unstructured Finance
"For those who follow bailout sagas, the idea of a Goldman bankers handling AIG’s bailout repayment and being congratulated by a former government official has a certain degree of irony.

One of the biggest scandals coming out of the financial crisis was a $12.9 billion payment AIG made to Goldman Sachs after its bailout in the fall of 2008. The payout was related to credit default swaps that Goldman had purchased from AIG in the years leading up to the crisis, to protect against potential losses on mortgage securities.

As mortgages went belly up in 2007, Goldman began demanding payments from AIG. The two parties had a drawn-out, heated battle about the amount of money Goldman deserved. But when the government took over AIG’s finances, the insurer paid Goldman and more than a dozen other banks 100 cents on the dollar.

Goldman got special scrutiny because it received more than other banks, and because the country was in the midst of a populist backlash against Wall Street. Within four months, Goldman Sachs had become the “vampire squid” – a moniker that stuck – and dozens of conspiracy theories about Goldman being “Government Sachs” took root."

The Madness of NYT’s Tom Friedman | Consortiumnews

The Madness of NYT’s Tom Friedman | Consortiumnews
"When ranking which multi-millionaire American pundit is the most overrated, there are, without doubt, many worthy contenders, but one near the top of any list must be the New York Times’ Thomas L. Friedman – with his long record of disastrous policy pronouncements including his enthusiasm for George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq.
Friedman, of course, has paid no career price for his misguided judgments and simplistic nostrums. Like many other star pundits who inhabit the Op-Ed pages of the Times and the Washington Post, Friedman has ascended to a place where the normal powers of gravity don’t apply, where the cumulative weight of his errors only lifts him up."

How High Should Top Income Tax Rates Be? (Hint: Much Higher)

How High Should Top Income Tax Rates Be? (Hint: Much Higher):
"time series analyses of top income tax rates since World War II suggest that their decline has had a statistically insignificant impact on economic growth and its driving factors — labor supply, savings, investment, and productivity. On the other hand, the falling top tax rate has had a statistically significant impact both in increasing the share of income concentrated at the very top of the income distribution and the share of income accruing to capital at the expense of labor income."

Millionaire Freshmen Make Congress Even Wealthier - OpenSecrets Blog

Millionaire Freshmen Make Congress Even Wealthier - OpenSecrets Blog
"According to data collected from personal financial disclosure forms filed by all members of Congress and candidates who succeeded at the polls in November, the median net worth of the 94 incoming lawmakers at the end of 2011 was $1,066,515. The most recent numbers available from the U.S. Census show that the median net worth of the typical American household is $66,740. "

How New Jersey Defendants Receive A Ten-Month Sentence For Being Poor | ThinkProgress

How New Jersey Defendants Receive A Ten-Month Sentence For Being Poor | ThinkProgress: "Most of the inmates in New Jersey’s jails are incarcerated because they were charged with a crime and are awaiting trial, and nearly 40 percent of them would have been released immediately had they been able to afford bail, according to a new study. "

Naked Capitalism Whistleblower Report on Bank of America Foreclosure Reviews

Naked Capitalism Whistleblower Report on Bank of America Foreclosure Reviews:

Arggggh! American Workers at a Breaking Point - Yahoo! Finance

Arggggh! American Workers at a Breaking Point - Yahoo! Finance
"A whopping 83 percent of American workers said they are stressed out by at least one thing at work, up sharply from 73 percent in 2012, according to a survey by Harris Interactive for Everest College."

21 graphs that show America’s health-care prices are ludicrous

21 graphs that show America’s health-care prices are ludicrous
This is the fundamental fact of American health care: We pay much, much more than other countries do for the exact same things. 

Study: Iraq, Afghan war costs to top $4 trillion - The Washington Post

Study: Iraq, Afghan war costs to top $4 trillion - The Washington Post
"As a consequence of these wartime spending choices, the United States will face constraints in funding investments in personnel and diplomacy, research and development and new military initiatives,” the report says. “The legacy of decisions taken during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars will dominate future federal budgets for decades to come.”

Hot Money Blues - NYTimes.com

Hot Money Blues - Krugman - NYTimes.com:
 "But the truth, hard as it may be for ideologues to accept, is that unrestricted movement of capital is looking more and more like a failed experiment.

It’s hard to imagine now, but for more than three decades after World War II financial crises of the kind we’ve lately become so familiar with hardly ever happened. Since 1980, however, the roster has been impressive: Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Chile in 1982. Sweden and Finland in 1991. Mexico again in 1995. Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Korea in 1998. Argentina again in 2002. And, of course, the more recent run of disasters: Iceland, Ireland, Greece, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Cyprus."

'via Blog this'

Incomes of bottom 90 percent grew $59 in 40 years - Salon.com

Incomes of bottom 90 percent grew $59 in 40 years - Salon.com

College Grads May Be Stuck in Low-Skill Jobs - Yahoo! Finance

College Grads May Be Stuck in Low-Skill Jobs - WSJ
"Underemployment—skilled workers doing jobs that don't require their level of education—has been one of the hallmarks of the slow recovery. By some measures, nearly half of employed college graduates are in jobs that don't traditionally require a college degree.
Economists have generally assumed the problem was temporary: As the economy improved, companies would need more highly educated employees. But in a paper released Monday by the National Bureau of Economic Research, a team of Canadian economists argues that the U.S. faces a longer-term problem."

The London Whale and the real link between the US economy and Cyprus | Dean Baker | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

The London Whale and the real link between the US economy and Cyprus | Dean Baker | Guardian
"Many highly-respected Washington types have been running around for the last three years yelling that because of its large budget deficits, the United States is Greece. Then we learned last week that the immediate danger is the United States being Cyprus."

How the Maker of TurboTax Fought Free, Simple Tax Filing - ProPublica

How the Maker of TurboTax Fought Free, Simple Tax Filing - ProPublica

Why Does No One Speak of America’s Oligarchs? « naked capitalism

Why Does No One Speak of America’s Oligarchs? « naked capitalism

Fed's Fisher: Too-big-to-fail banks are crony capitalists | Reuters

Fed's Fisher: Too-big-to-fail banks are crony capitalists | Reuters

Jamie Dimon Told Regulators He Would Not Follow Regulations | FDL News Desk

Jamie Dimon Told Regulators He Would Not Follow Regulations | FDL News Desk:
"Only Wall Street could be so brazen, the confidence that comes from widespread bribery. In no other field could a corporate officer decide to break the law and when questioned by the regulator scream at them about the law being wrong. If you are looking for more evidence that it’s the rich not the law that rules – now you have it. How dare the regulators try to regulate! Don’t they know Dimon is special? Don’t they know that Wall Street is above the law?

The Senate Committee released a damning report on JP Morgan’s conduct in the London Whale trade and apparent cover up. Of course, there won’t be any real consequences, not only does Wall Street get toshop for its regulators but in the event the regulator actually tries to enforce the law they get to bully them out of their position which the public will only learn about if the Senate has a hearing.

No fines, no jail time, just break the law and never back down and you can get that big bonus. Too Big To Fail and Too Big To Jail."

MI6 and CIA heard Iraq had no active WMD capability ahead of invasion | World news | guardian.co.uk

MI6 and CIA heard Iraq had no active WMD capability ahead of invasion - Guardian
"Tony Blair told parliament before the war that intelligence showed Iraq's nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons programme was "active", "growing" and "up and running".
A special BBC Panorama programme aired on Monday night details how British and US intelligence agencies were informed by top sources months before the invasion that Iraq had no active WMD programme, and that the information was not passed to subsequent inquiries."

Citigroup agrees to pay $730 million to settle with investors - The Economic Times

Citigroup agrees to pay $730 million to settle with investors - The Economic Times

JPMorgan bullied bank regulators, documents and testimony show - The Washington Post

JPMorgan bullied bank regulators, documents and testimony show - The Washington Post
When examiners issued recommendations the bank didn’t like, executives yelled and called the federal officials “stupid.”

How Monsanto outfoxed the Obama administration - Salon.com

How Monsanto outfoxed the Obama administration - Salon.com
"Experts who have examined Monsanto’s conduct say the Justice Department’s decision not to act all but officially establishes the firm’s sovereignty over the U.S. seed industry. Many of them also say the decision ratifies aggressive practices Monsanto used to entrench its dominance and deter competition. This includes highly restrictive contractual agreements that excluded rivals, alongside a multibillion-dollar spree to buy up seed companies."

Iraq war costs U.S. more than $2 trillion - study - Yahoo! News India

Iraq war costs U.S. more than $2 trillion - study - Yahoo! News India
"The U.S. war in Iraq has cost $1.7 trillion with an additional $490 billion in benefits owed to war veterans, expenses that could grow to more than $6 trillion over the next four decades counting interest, a study released on Thursday said.

The war has killed at least 134,000 Iraqi civilians and may have contributed to the deaths of as many as four times that number, according to the Costs of War Project by the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University."

37 percent of people completely lost | Notes & Errata by Mark Morford | an SFGate.com blog

37 percent of Americans completely lost - SFGate.com blog
"Six percent of Americans believe in unicorns. Thirty-six percent believe in UFOs. A whopping 24 percent believe dinosaurs and man hung out together. Eighteen percent still believe the sun revolves around the Earth. Nearly 30 percent believe cloud computing involves… actual clouds. A shockingly sad 18 percent, to this very day, believe the president is a Muslim."

Iraq's pain has only intensified since 2003 | Sami Ramadani | Comment is free | The Guardian

Iraq's pain has only intensified since 2003 | Sami Ramadani | The Guardian
The country already so damaged, is now crippled by fear of all-out civil war.
"Wanton imperialist intervention and dictatorial rule have together been responsible for the deaths of more than a million people since 1991. And yet, according to both Tony Blair and the former US secretary of state Madeleine Albright, the "price is worth it". Blair, whom most Iraqis regard as a war criminal, is given VIP treatment by a culpable media. Iraqis listen in disbelief when he says: "I feel responsibility but no regret for removing Saddam Hussein." (As if Saddam and his henchmen were simply whisked away, leaving the people to build a democratic state). It enrages us to see Blair build a business empire, capitalising on his role in piling up more Iraqi skulls than even Saddam managed."

Katrina vanden Heuvel: Above the law - The Washington Post

Katrina vanden Heuvel: Above the law - The Washington Post
The country is waging a war on terrorism that admits no boundary and no end. Now Holder is saying that the president has the authority to kill Americans in the United States if they are “engaged in combat.” No hearing, no review, no due process of law. For those who remember how the FBI deemed Martin Luther King Jr. a communist, and how the national security apparatus termed Nelson Mandela a terrorist, alarm is surely justified.
Then, the attorney general, while testifying before the Judiciary Committee, was challenged by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) about the glaring absence of any indictments against leading bankers or big banks coming out of the financial collapse. Holder responded that, essentially, these banks were too big to jail.
“The size of some of these institutions becomes so large that it does become difficult for us to prosecute them when we are hit with indications that if you do prosecute, if you do bring a criminal charge, it will have a negative impact on the national economy,” he said.
This astounding admission of what clearly has been administration policy helped spur newly elected Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) to grill regulators at a separate banking committee hearing. Asking why there was no indictment of the big British bank HSBC, which settled after after an investigation found that it laundered billions of dollars from Iran, Libya and drug cartels despite repeated cease-and-desist warnings, Warren expressed the public’s exasperation.
“If you’re caught with an ounce of cocaine, the chances are good you’re going to go to jail. If it happens repeatedly, you may go to jail for the rest of your life,” Warren said. “But, evidently, if you launder nearly a billion dollars for drug cartels and violate our international sanctions, your company pays a fine and you go home and sleep in your bed at night — every single individual associated with this. And I think that’s fundamentally wrong.”
Taken together, the attorney general’s astounding claims undermine the whole notion of a nation of laws.

Many Left Behind as Silicon Valley Rebounds - ABC News

Many Left Behind as Silicon Valley Rebounds - ABC News
 Food stamp participation just hit a 10-year high, homelessness rose 20 percent in two years, and the average income for Hispanics, who make up one in four Silicon Valley residents, fell to a new low of about $19,000 a year— capping a steady 14 percent drop over the past five years, according to the annual Silicon Valley Index...
Before the Great Recession, about 10 percent of people seeking food had at least some college education. Today, one in four who line up at food pantries for bags of free food have been to college. Last year the share of households in Silicon Valley earning less than $35,000 rose two percentage points to 20 percent, according to the 2013 Silicon Valley Index.
"There are millionaires, even billionaires, who sit in their sunrooms watching me work in their gardens and they have no clue what's going on," said Sherri Bohan, a credentialed horticulturist who ran a landscape gardening firm for 30 years and raised two sons as a single mom. Today, retired and disabled, she picks up a free bag of groceries every week at her local food bank. Without the food she says she would go hungry.

The 10 Worst Corporate Accounting Scandals of All Time

The 10 Worst Corporate Accounting Scandals of All Time

401Ks are a disaster: Column

401Ks are a disaster: USAToday
Thanks Wallstreet for pushing the 401Ks in place of defined benefit plans/pensions.

Markets Then & Now | The Big Picture

Markets Then(2007) & Now(2013) | The Big Picture

This is America, Now: The Dow Hits a Record High With Household Income at a Decade Low - Matt Phillips - The Atlantic

This is America, Now: The Dow Hits a Record High With Household Income at a Decade Low - Matt Phillips - The Atlantic

U.S. ranks low on retirement security and health care index - Encore - MarketWatch

U.S. ranks low on retirement security and health care index - MarketWatch

Economic Optimism Plunges; 59% Say U.S. In Recession: IBD/TIPP Poll - Investors.com

Economic Optimism Plunges; 59% Say U.S. In Recession: IBD/TIPP Poll - Investors.com:

Dow hits all time high while 59% think US is in recession !

Nuclear weapons must be eradicated for all our sakes | Desmond Tutu | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

Nuclear weapons must be eradicated for all our sakes - Desmond Tutu

India's rice revolution

India's rice revolution - Guardian
In a village in India's poorest state, Bihar, farmers are growing world record amounts of rice – with no GM, and no herbicide. Is this one solution to world food shortages?
Last month Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz visited Nalanda district and recognised the potential of this kind of organic farming, telling the villagers they were "better than scientists". "It was amazing to see their success in organic farming," said Stiglitz, who called for more research. "Agriculture scientists from across the world should visit and learn and be inspired by them."

For Recent Grads, Student Loan Delinquencies Reach 35% - Businessweek

For Recent Grads, Student Loan Delinquencies Reach 35% - Businessweek

100 Years Ago, The 1913 Women's Suffrage Parade - In Focus - The Atlantic

100 Years Ago, The 1913 Women's Suffrage Parade - In Focus - The Atlantic

Scott Adams Blog: Here Come the Market Manipulators 03/01/2013

Scott Adams Blog: Here Come the Market Manipulators

Ben Bernanke, Hippie - NYTimes.com

Ben Bernanke, Hippie - Paul Krugman - NYTimes.com

Racial Wealth Gap Tripled Since Reagan Era As Whites Increased Large Lead Over Blacks: Study

Racial Wealth Gap Tripled Since Reagan Era As Whites Increased Large Lead Over Blacks: Study

Only 6% Rate News Media As Very Trustworthy - Rasmussen Reports™

Only 6% Rate News Media As Very Trustworthy - Rasmussen Reports™

Short sales surged in 2012 - Yahoo! Finance

Short sales surged in 2012 - Yahoo! Finance
Foreclosures accounted for 11% of all sales, down from 13% a year before. Meanwhile, short sales rose 5% year-over-year, accounting for 32% of all home deals.

Refreshing News: Top 40 hedge fund managers earn total of $16.7bn

Top 40 hedge fund managers earn total of $16.7bn

Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss – review | Books | The Observer

Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss – Guardian.com
A damning investigation into the junk food industry is both chilling and contentious.

poorrichards blog: Monsanto drags over 400 U.S. farmers to court over GM seed patents: When will Big Ag's corrupt reign end?

Monsanto drags over 400 U.S. farmers to court over GM seed patents: When will Big Ag's corrupt reign end?

Why Should Taxpayers Give Big Banks $83 Billion a Year? - Bloomberg

Why Should Taxpayers Give Big Banks $83 Billion a Year? - Bloomberg
Banks have a powerful incentive to get big and unwieldy. The larger they are, the more disastrous their failure would be and the more certain they can be of a government bailout in an emergency. The result is an implicit subsidy: The banks that are potentially the most dangerous can borrow at lower rates, because creditors perceive them as too big to fail. 

50 Years Ago: The World in 1963 - In Focus - The Atlantic

50 Years Ago: The World in 1963 - In Focus - The Atlantic

Paulson Leads Funds to Bermuda Tax Dodge Aiding Billionaires - Bloomberg

Paulson Leads Funds to Bermuda Tax Dodge Aiding Billionaires - Bloomberg

There’s Still a Foreclosure Crisis » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

There’s Still a Foreclosure Crisis Mike Whitney - Counterpunch
A closer inspection of the data suggests that it’s not Mr. Public who’s buying all those homes, but deep-pocket speculators who’ve piled into the market seeking short-term gains. 

Don’t Blink, or You’ll Miss Another Bank Bailout - NYTimes.com

Don’t Blink, or You’ll Miss Another Bank Bailout - NYTimes.com
Late last Wednesday, the New York Fed said in a court filing that in July it had released Bank of America from all legal claims arising from losses in some mortgage-backed securities the Fed received when the government bailed out the American International Group in 2008. One surprise in the filing, which was part of a case brought by A.I.G., was that the New York Fed let Bank of America off the hook even as A.I.G. was seeking to recover $7 billion in losses on those very mortgage securities. 

Cost of Financial Crisis Tops $22 Trillion - Truthdig

Cost of Financial Crisis Tops $22 Trillion - Truthdig

Equal Opportunity, Our National Myth - NYTimes.com

Equal Opportunity, Our National Myth - Joseph Stiglitz - NYTimes.com
According to research from the Brookings Institution, only 58 percent of Americans born into the bottom fifth of income earners move out of that category, and just 6 percent born into the bottom fifth move into the top. Economic mobility in the United States is lower than in most of Europe and lower than in all of Scandinavia.

American Dream died with Dow 49,200 forecast - Paul B. Farrell - MarketWatch

American Dream died with Dow 49,200 forecast - Paul B. Farrell - MarketWatch
Some of the Dow predictions in 2000:

• 15,000 by 2005: Deutsche Bank economist Ed Yardeni, quoted in Barron’s.
  
• 18,500 by 2006: Prudential’s chief technician, Ralph Acampora, quoted in Fortune.
  
• 41,000 by 2008: Harry Dent, author of “The Roaring 2000s: Building The Wealth And Lifestyle You Desire In The Greatest Boom In History.” Wired magazine quoted 41,000 as a peak with the market not bottoming till 2022. Dent has since published “The Great Crash Ahead” and “The Great Depression Ahead.”
  
• 21,200 by 2010: Sheldon Jacobs, publisher of the popular No-Load Fund Investor newsletter hedged his optimistic bet in small type: “But it won’t be smooth sailing. There will be three major bear markets before then.” But long-run, it was optimistic.
  
• 30,000 by 2010: In an interview, Barron’s noted that back in 1989 Frank Jennings, manager of Oppenheimer Global Growth & Income Fund, had successfully predicted the Dow at 10,000 within 10 years. His new Dow 30,000 assumed an “exponential gain of 11% a year.” Later in 2000, Jenning’s optimism was reinforced with the publication of “Dow 36,000: The New Strategy for Profiting from the Coming Rise in the Stock Market,” by James Glassman and Kevin Hassett.
  49,200 by 2013: Investor’s Business Daily made this forecast based on an assumed 15% annual growth rate, which was the actual average gain of the Dow from 1982 to 2000, so at the time, it made sense.
  
  

Incomes Flat in Recovery, but Not for the 1% - NYTimes.com

Incomes Flat in Recovery, but Not for the 1% - NYTimes.com
There was a wide gap between the top 1 percent, whose earnings rose by 11.2 percent, and the other 99 percent, whose earnings declined by 0.4 percent. 

Bernanke Says Economy Far From Recovering Full Strength - Bloomberg

Bernanke Says Economy Far From Recovering Full Strength - Bloomberg

Millionaires Say They’re Better Off Than in 2007

Millionaires Say They’re Better Off Than in 2007 - cnbc

Obama’s Turn in Bush’s Bind With Defense Policies - NYTimes.com

Obama’s Turn in Bush’s Bind With Defense Policies - NYTimes.com

Poll: Americans expect economic pain to continue - The Washington Post

Poll: Americans expect economic pain to continue - The Washington Post
Great Recession Leaves Long-Lasting Scars.

Sen. Bernie Sanders: A Choice For Corporate America: Are You With America Or The Cayman Islands

Sen. Bernie Sanders: A Choice For Corporate America: Are You With America Or The Cayman Islands

How do you explain drone killings? With post-Orwellian “Newspeak” - Salon.com

How do you explain drone killings? With post-Orwellian “Newspeak” - Salon.com

In the logic of perma-war, "imminent threat" is everywhere and drone attacks on Americans are no problem.

E-Mails Show Flaws in JPMorgan's Mortgage Securities - NYTimes.com

E-Mails Show Flaws in JPMorgan's Mortgage Securities - NYTimes.com

So God made a banker - MarketWatch

So God made a banker - MarketWatch

S.& P. E-Mails on Mortgage Crisis Show Alarm and Gallows Humor - NYTimes.com

S.& P. E-Mails on Mortgage Crisis Show Alarm and Gallows Humor - NYTimes.com
“We rate every deal. It could be structured by cows and we would rate it.”

In Hard Economy for All Ages, Older Isn’t Better ... It’s Brutal - Yahoo! Finance

In Hard Economy for All Ages, Older Isn’t Better ... It’s Brutal - Yahoo! Finance

Israel does as it pleases - Israel News | Haaretz Daily Newspaper

Israel does as it pleases - Gideon Levy | Haaretz Daily Newspaper

Housing Market’s Future Still Has Many Clouds - NYTimes.com

Housing Market’s Future Still Has Many Clouds - NYTimes.com
History doesn’t suggest that another big bubble will come so fast. In fact, before the most recent one, the United States had had only one major national home price boom in the last century, when real prices rose a total of 68 percent from 1942 to 1953.
...
As of December, the Zillow-Pulsenomics Home Price Expectations Survey, which involves more than 100 forecasters, and the S.& P. Case/Shiller Composite Index Futures were both forecasting modest increases for the next half-decade, implying inflation-adjusted price growth of 1 to 2 percent a year.

Inventory and the Low Equity/No Equity Homeowner | The Big Picture

Inventory and the Low Equity/No Equity Homeowner | The Big Picture
It is not “If we only had more houses, we could sell them.” Rather, its more of “The lack of equity is causing both a lack of homes for sale and a lack of potential new buyers.”

Exclusive: Billionaires secretly fund attacks on climate science - Climate Change - Environment - The Independent

Billionaires secretly fund attacks on climate science - The Independent

Wall street dirty laundry

Wall street dirty laundry comes out in the open - Ackman vs Icahn - CNBC. 

The Untouchables: How the Obama administration protected Wall Street from prosecutions | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

The Untouchables: How the Obama administration protected Wall Street from prosecutions | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

Profiting off hunger: Wall Street makes big gains over food price spikes — RT

Profiting off hunger: Wall Street makes big gains over food price spikes — RT

Ranks of working poor increasing - The Washington Post

Ranks of working poor increasing - The Washington Post

World’s 100 richest earned enough in 2012 to end global poverty 4 times over — RT

World’s 100 richest earned enough in 2012 to end global poverty 4 times over — RT

Florida Defies Housing Rebound as Foreclosures Soar - Bloomberg

Florida Defies Housing Rebound as Foreclosures Soar - Bloomberg

Worst Of Foreclosure Crisis Is Over But Problems Remain - Forbes

Worst Of Foreclosure Crisis Is Over But Problems Remain - Forbes

Fed Slow to Grasp Crisis in 2007 as Yellen Sounded Alarm - Bloomberg

Fed Slow to Grasp Crisis in 2007 as Yellen Sounded Alarm - Bloomberg

Fed official alleges Geithner may have alerted banks to rate cut | Reuters

Fed official alleges Geithner may have alerted banks to rate cut | Reuters

HSBC to pay $249M to settle foreclosure-abuse case - Yahoo! Finance

HSBC to pay $249M to settle foreclosure-abuse case - Yahoo! Finance

Carmen Ortiz and Stephen Heymann: accountability for prosecutorial abuse | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

Carmen Ortiz and Stephen Heymann: accountability for prosecutorial abuse | Glenn Greenwald | Guardian

Aaron Swartz, American hero

Aaron Swartz, American hero - Washington Post

The inspiring heroism of Aaron Swartz | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

The inspiring heroism of Aaron Swartz - Glenn Greenwald

RIP, Aaron Swartz - Boing Boing

RIP, Aaron Swartz - Cory Doctorow , Boing Boing

Why Americans are dying earlier than their international peers - CNN.com

Why Americans are dying earlier than their international peers - CNN.com

NOAA: 2012 was warmest year ever for US, second most 'extreme' - U.S. News

NOAA: 2012 was warmest year ever for US, second most 'extreme' - U.S. News

CorpWatch : U.S. Banks Win Mortgage Fraud Settlement, Borrowers Lose

CorpWatch : U.S. Banks Win Mortgage Fraud Settlement, Borrowers Lose

Angelo Mozilo, Former Countrywide CEO, Claims He Doesn't Know What 'Verified Income' Is | Matt Taibbi | Rolling Stone

Angelo Mozilo, Former Countrywide CEO, Claims He Doesn't Know What 'Verified Income' Is | Matt Taibbi | Rolling Stone

Hank Greenberg Should Be Shot into Space For Suing the Government over the AIG Bailout | | Rolling Stone

Hank Greenberg Should Be Shot into Space For Suing the Government over the AIG Bailout | | Rolling Stone

Chavez’s Enemies See Opportunities in Cancer

Chavez’s Enemies See Opportunities in Cancer - Mike Whitney.

AIG May Sue the Government For An Insufficiently Generous Bailout - The Daily Beast

AIG May Sue the Government For An Insufficiently Generous Bailout - The Daily Beast

1.8 Million New Jobs in 2012: Where Did They Come From? - Jordan Weissmann - The Atlantic

1.8 Million New Jobs in 2012: Where Did They Come From? - Jordan Weissmann - The Atlantic

Bank of America to pay Fannie Mae $10 billion in loan settlement - latimes.com

Bank of America to pay Fannie Mae $10 billion in loan settlement - latimes.com

10 ways 1963 changed your life - Jon Friedman's Media Web - MarketWatch

10 ways 1963 changed your life,

Six Years Ago, Chuck Hagel Told the Truth About Iraq | MichaelMoore.com

Six Years Ago, Chuck Hagel Told the Truth About Iraq | MichaelMoore.com

'Fiscal cliff' deal has billions in business tax breaks - latimes.com

'Fiscal cliff' deal has billions in business tax breaks - latimes.com

Net worth of world's richest rose by $241B in 2012 - chicagotribune.com

Net worth of world's richest rose by $241B in 2012 - chicagotribune.com

UBS to pay $1.5 billion to settle Libor charges - latimes.com

UBS to pay $1.5 billion to settle Libor charges - latimes.com

How Wal-Mart Used Payoffs to Get Its Way in Mexico - Yahoo! Finance

How Wal-Mart Used Payoffs to Get Its Way in Mexico - NYT
Wal-Mart de Mexico was an aggressive and creative corrupter, offering large payoffs to get what the law otherwise prohibited, an examination by The New York Times found.

HSBC pays record $1.9bn fine to settle US money-laundering accusations.

Five facts about America's pathological wealth distribution

Five facts about America's pathological wealth distribution

For Pete's Sake, What's Happened to Our Democracy?

For Pete's Sake, What's Happened to Our Democracy?
One billionaire has the wherewithal to totally redirect America's political discourse.
 

Israel's West Bank Settlements Violate International Law

Israel's West Bank Settlements Violate International Law

The Secret of Bernie Sanders's Success | The Nation

The Secret of Bernie Sanders's Success | The Nation

German Commentators Blast Israel for Settlement Building Plan - SPIEGEL ONLINE

German Commentators Blast Israel for Settlement Building Plan - SPIEGEL ONLINE

The Biggest Bank Bailouts in History (#2 Is Happening Right Now) - Matthew O'Brien - The Atlantic

The Biggest Bank Bailouts in History (#2 Is Happening Right Now) - Matthew O'Brien - The Atlantic

Noam Chomsky - Palestine 2012 — Gaza and the UN resolution

Noam Chomsky - Palestine 2012 — Gaza and the UN resolution

Study: American Households Hit 43-Year Low In Net Worth « CBS DC

Study: American Households Hit 43-Year Low In Net Worth « CBS DC

Food stamps on the rise - Nov. 28, 2012

Food stamps on the rise 
Nearly 15 million households were on food stamps at some point last year, up from 13.6 million in 2010, newly released Census data shows. That's an increase to 13%, up from 11.9% in 2010.

U.N. votes to upgrade Palestine's status - CSMonitor.com

U.N. votes to upgrade Palestine's status - CSMonitor.com

Israel's Unceasing Grip on Gaza Goes Beyond Bombings | The Nation

Israel's Unceasing Grip on Gaza Goes Beyond Bombings | The Nation

Housing May Be Stable, but Not in ‘Full-Blown Recovery’: Ritholtz | Daily Ticker - Yahoo! Finance

Housing May Be Stable, but Not in ‘Full-Blown Recovery’: Ritholtz | Daily Ticker - Yahoo! Finance

Strategic Maneuvers | CREW | Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington

Strategic Maneuvers-The Revolving Door from the Pentagon to the Private Sector
- Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington

Caught on tape: what the Israelis really think of us

Bibi Unmasked - Caught on tape: what the Israelis really think of us - by Justin Raimondo-Antiwar.com

Hamas and Israel have opened the 'gates of hell' in Gaza yet again. And the number of journalistic cliches in hell is growing by the day - Comment - Voices - The Independent

Hamas and Israel have opened the 'gates of hell' in Gaza yet again. And the number of journalistic cliches in hell is growing by the day - Robert Fisk - The Independent

'We have no future!' EU anger unites millions in protest (PHOTOS, VIDEO) — RT

'We have no future!' EU anger unites millions in protest (PHOTOS, VIDEO) — RT

Bernanke Points to Obstacles in Housing Recovery - WSJ.com

Bernanke Points to Obstacles in Housing Recovery - WSJ.com

Ralph Nader’s 17 Solutions: “It’s Easier Than You Think to Turn Our Country Around” | Daily Ticker - Yahoo! Finance

Ralph Nader’s 17 Solutions: “It’s Easier Than You Think to Turn Our Country Around” | Daily Ticker - Yahoo! Finance

Ireland abortion policy under scrutiny after woman's death | World news | The Guardian

Tragic: Ireland abortion policy under scrutiny after woman's death | World news | The Guardian

Shiller: Housing Recovery Could Take 50 Years - Yahoo! Finance

Shiller: Housing Recovery Could Take 50 Years - Yahoo! Finance

U.S. Prosperity Slides in Index That Ranks Norway No. 1 - Bloomberg

U.S. Prosperity Slides in Index That Ranks Norway No. 1 - Bloomberg

Why Won’t President Obama Stand Up for Social Security? | The Exchange - Yahoo! Finance

Why Won’t President Obama Stand Up for Social Security? | The Exchange - Yahoo! Finance

Europe's Poor Ask for Food Aid as Crisis Bites - Yahoo! Finance

Europe's Poor Ask for Food Aid as Crisis Bites - Yahoo! Finance

Ex-Goldman director Rajat Gupta sentenced to 2 years in prison - latimes.com

Ex-Goldman director Rajat Gupta sentenced to 2 years in prison - latimes.com

U.S. sues BofA, calling loan fraud 'brazen' - latimes.com

U.S. sues BofA, calling loan fraud 'brazen' - latimes.com

George Carlin on The American Dream

George Carlin on The American Dream

'via Blog this'Publish Post

C.E.O.’s and the Pay-’Em-or-Lose ’Em Myth — Fair Game - NYTimes.com

C.E.O.’s and the Pay-’Em-or-Lose ’Em Myth — Fair Game - NYTimes.com:

'via Blog this'

The Sad Story of Jack Welch in Retirement: Opinion - TheStreet

The Sad Story of Jack Welch in Retirement: Opinion - TheStreet:

'via Blog this'

Bankers And Their Dirty Tricks » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

Bankers And Their Dirty Tricks » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

Shiller Data Questions Housing Revival Power: Cutting Research - Bloomberg

Shiller Data Questions Housing Revival Power: Cutting Research - Bloomberg

The devil in Case-Shiller housing details - Yahoo! Finance

The devil in Case-Shiller housing details - Yahoo! Finance
Some analysts say that the NAR report may present a too-rosy view of that market. Case-Shiller house prices are historically slightly more conservative than price data from the NAR, mostly because the report adjusts for the size of homes being sold, while the NAR’s price index does not. The result is that NAR’s numbers jump when homes at the high end of the market sell strongly, and larger and more expensive homes have lately been selling particularly well, says Jed Kolko, chief economist at real-estate listing site Trulia. “This is why the NAR median sales price has risen so much more than other indexes.”

Young U.S. Adults Flock to Parents’ Homes Amid Economy - Bloomberg

Young U.S. Adults Flock to Parents’ Homes Amid Economy - Bloomberg

Dow will repeat 2007-2008 peak-crash cycle - Paul B. Farrell - MarketWatch

Dow will repeat 2007-2008 peak-crash cycle - Paul B. Farrell - MarketWatch : 
You can never trust Wall Street bulls, they’re lying to you 93% of the time.

March 1999: Harry S. Dent, author of “The Roaring 2000s.” “There has been a paradigm shift.” The New Economy arrived, this time really is different.

October 1999: James Glassman, author, “Dow 36,000.” “What is dangerous is for Americans not to be in the market. We’re going to reach a point where stocks are correctly priced … it’s not a bubble ... The stock market is undervalued.”

August 1999: Charles Kadlec, author, “Dow 100,000.” “The DJIA will reach 100,000 in 2020 after “two decades of above-average economic growth with price stability.”

December 1999: Joseph Battipaglia, market analyst. “Some fear a burst Internet bubble, but our analysis shows that Internet companies ... carry expected long-term growth rates twice other rapidly growing segments within tech.”

December 1999: Larry Wachtel, Prudential. “Most of these stocks are reasonably priced. There’s no reason for them to correct violently in the year 2000.” Nasdaq lost over 50%.

December 1999: Ralph Acampora, Prudential Securities. “I’m not saying this is a straight line up. ... I’m saying any kind of declines, buy them!”

February 2000: Larry Kudlow, CNBC host. “This correction will run its course until the middle of the year. Then things will pick up again, because not even Greenspan can stop the Internet economy.” He’s still hosting his own cable show.

April 2000: Myron Kandel, CNN. “The bottom line is in, before the end of the year, the Nasdaq and Dow will be at new record highs.”

September 2000: Jim Cramer, host of “Mad Money.” Sun Microsystems “has the best near-term outlook of any company I know.” It fell from $60 to below $3 in two years.

November 2000: Louis Rukeyser on CNN. “Over the next year or two the market will be higher, and I know over the next five to 10 years it will be higher.”

December 2000: Jeffrey Applegate, Lehman strategist. “The bulk of the correction is behind us, so now is the time to be offensive, not defensive.” Another sucker’s rally.

December 2000: Alan Greenspan. “The three- to five-year earnings projections of more than a thousand analysts ... have generally held firm. Such expectations, should they persist, bode well for continued capital deepening and sustained growth.”

January 2001: Suze Orman, financial guru. “The QQQ, they’re a buy. They may go down, but if you dollar-cost average, where you put money every single month into them, I think, in the long run, it’s the way to play the Nasdaq.” The QQQ fell 60% further.

March 2001: Maria Bartiromo, CNBC anchor. “The individual out there is actually not throwing money at things that they do not understand, and is actually using the news and using the information out there to make smart decisions.”

April 2001: Abby Joseph Cohen, Goldman Sachs. “The time to be nervous was a year ago. The S&P was overvalued, it’s now undervalued.” Markets fell 18 more months.

August 2001: Lou Dobbs, CNN. “Let me make it very clear. I’m a bull, on the market, on the economy. And let me repeat, I am a bull.”

June 2002: Larry Kudlow, CNBC host. “The shock therapy of a decisive war will elevate the stock market by a couple thousand points.” He also predicted the Dow would hit 35,000 by 2010.

The Dow didn’t bottom until October 2002 at 7,286, down from 11,722. The Iraq War started in April 2003. Soon after, Enron, Spitzer and Sarbanes-Oxley were distracting us from all the insanity of the 2000 crash, the bear market and the 2000-2002 recession. 

Home prices climb for fourth month in row - Economic Report - MarketWatch

Home prices climb for fourth month in row - Economic Report - MarketWatch

Wells Fargo To Foreclose On Dying Cancer Patient Cindi Davis After Seeking 'Assistance' For Her

Wells Fargo To Foreclose On Dying Cancer Patient Cindi Davis After Seeking 'Assistance' For Her

Romney and Netanyahu » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

A Marriage of Morons - Romney and Netanyahu - » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

Microsoft Avoids U.S. Tax Along With HP, Senate Memo Says - Bloomberg

Microsoft Avoids U.S. Tax Along With HP, Senate Memo Says - Bloomberg

JPMorgan faces money laundering probe: source | Reuters

JPMorgan faces money laundering probe: source | Reuters

Over One Million U.S. Kids Are Homeless | Care2 Causes

Over One Million U.S. Kids Are Homeless | Care2 Causes

Chomsky Hitler History Lesson - YouTube

Chomsky Hitler History Lesson - YouTube

Report Blames Big Banks For 800,000 Preventable Foreclosures | ThinkProgress

Report Blames Big Banks For 800,000 Preventable Foreclosures | ThinkProgress

U.S. Poverty: Census Finds 46.2 Million Impoverished As Median Income Drops

U.S. Poverty: Census Finds 46.2 Million Impoverished As Median Income Drops

Rich-Poor Gap Widens to Most Since 1967 as Income Falls - Businessweek

Rich-Poor Gap Widens to Most Since 1967 as Income Falls - Businessweek

June Foodstamp Recipients Hit All Time High As Three Times As Many Americans Enter Poverty As Find Jobs | ZeroHedge

June Foodstamp Recipients Hit All Time High As Three Times As Many Americans Enter Poverty As Find Jobs | ZeroHedge

Majority of New Jobs Pay Low Wages, Study Finds - NYTimes.com

Majority of New Jobs Pay Low Wages, Study Finds - NYTimes.com

Half of Americans die with almost no money - Andrea Coombes' Ways and Means - MarketWatch

Half of Americans die with almost no money - Andrea Coombes' Ways and Means - MarketWatch

Dean Baker: Poverty: The New Growth Industry in America

Dean Baker: Poverty: The New Growth Industry in America

Majority of Americans Say the Rich Are Greedy and Dishonest: Pew Research Poll | Daily Ticker - Yahoo! Finance

Majority of Americans Say the Rich Are Greedy and Dishonest: Pew Research Poll | Daily Ticker - Yahoo! Finance