financial crisis

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Economy Spurs Renewed Thai Protests

20,000 Thaksin supporters march on PM's office

(Newser) - More than 20,000 supporters of Thaksin Shinawatra surrounded the Thai prime minister's office today to demand the resignation of the government and new elections. The latest mass protest in Bangkok began shortly after the government of PM Abhisit Vejjajiva began doling out $55 checks to millions of Thais to...

AIG Honchos Quit Paris Office, Spurring Fears of Default

$234B at stake as top managers walk

(Newser) - Two of the top managers at AIG's Paris unit have resigned, reports the Wall Street Journal, leaving the insurer scrambling to avoid potential defaults on $234 billion in derivative transactions. The complicated scenario results from a French law that says regulators must approve of the managers' replacements or else pick...

UK Fails to Sell Its Top Bonds
UK Fails to Sell Its Top Bonds
Mar 26, 2009 6:00 AM CDT

UK Fails to Sell Its Top Bonds

Auction of government debt falls short, casts doubt on Brown's call for 2nd stimulus

(Newser) - Britain's central bank yesterday failed to complete its auction of government bonds for the first time in over a decade, reports the Telegraph. The auction of 40-year gilts fell short a day after the Bank of England governor warned that the country could not afford a second fiscal stimulus, as...

Geithner Pitches Overhaul of Financial Oversight

(Newser) - Tim Geithner today proposed a major expansion of federal regulatory powers, reports the Washington Post. In testimony before Congress, the Treasury chief called for hedge funds, derivatives markets, private equity firms, and major insurers like AIG to be brought under strict federal supervision for the first time. His plan, which...

Peanut Scare, Economy Slam Girl Scout Cookie Sales

(Newser) - Thanks to the economy, the peanut scare, and ugly winter weather, Girl Scout cookie sales are down 20% nationwide this year, the Boston Herald reports. Key programs are in danger of being cut, but the spirit of the young troopers is undimmed. “Not a lot of people on my...

Vandals Target Former RBS Boss, Vow Further Action

Goodwin target of public outrage over his pension

(Newser) - After the Edinburgh home of the former boss of the Royal Bank of Scotland was vandalized last night, an unknown group is warning of further attacks on financial figures, the Scottish Daily Record reports. Sir Fred Goodwin has been the focus of controversy since he took early retirement—complete with...

I Want Misguided Obama Policies to Fail: Thompson

He offers prez his help in curbing social spending

(Newser) - Former presidential hopeful Fred Thompson today joined the chorus of Republicans rooting for President Obama’s recession spending to flop. “I want his policies that I believe take us in the wrong direction to fail,” he told CNN, warning that higher inflation and interest rates loom. “I’...

'Doomsday' in NYC: $2.50 Subway Fare OK'd

(Newser) - Starting May 31, New Yorkers will have to pony up $2.50 to ride the bus or subway—even as the city’s public-transit system sees cutbacks in routes and schedules, the Daily News reports. Today’s vote by the Metropolitan Transit Authority to enact its so-called “doomsday budget”...

Obama Will Meet With Top Bank Execs

(Newser) - Amid growing dissatisfaction with government restrictions on bailout funds, President Obama will meet with bank CEOs on Friday, Reuters reports. Several banks have indicated that they will repay their TARP loans to avoid new government rules. In the meeting with execs from Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and others, Obama will urge...

AIG Employee Tells Liddy: You Betrayed Us
AIG Employee Tells Liddy:
You Betrayed Us
OPINION
Mar 25, 2009 9:27 AM CDT

AIG Employee Tells Liddy: You Betrayed Us

VP's resignation letter rips cowardly CEO, grandstanding pols

(Newser) - Though he says he’s blameless for the mess that brought down AIG, and worked 14-hour days at $1 a year to help dismantle the insurer, executive Jake DeSantis feels “betrayed” by CEO Edward Liddy—and lets him know in a resignation letter published by the New York Times....

Hedge Fund Managers Profit in Bear Market

Top 25 took home total of $11.6 billion in pay last year

(Newser) - Hedge funds lost an average of 18% last year, but as markets fell to earth, the top 25 hedge fund managers each earned more than $75 million in pay, reports the New York Times. The most successful, James Simons of Renaissance Technologies, pulled in $2.5 billion, while George Soros...

Generous Pensions Toppling Hungarian Economy

Public spending dilemma threatens to engulf Eastern Europe

(Newser) - Pensions are at the heart of the Hungarian financial crisis threatening to drag down the Eastern European economy, the Wall Street Journal reports. Three out of every 10 Hungarians currently collects a generous government pension, but the cost—around 10% of GDP and rising—has made the country's deficit unmanageable,...

Magna Cum Fraud: Top Schools for Scoundrels

People behind financial crisis went to same universities

(Newser) - Many of the bigwigs involved in the financial crisis went to the same few elite schools, notes Joe Weisenthal in Business Insider. Maybe, he writes, when the crisis begins to fade, we’ll think twice about having another Harvardian or MIT grad running things. Among the offending institutions:
  • New York
...

Geithner Asks Congress for Broad Takeover Powers

Defends actions during AIG bailout

(Newser) - Timothy Geithner today asked Congress for expanded power to take the helm of big, failing  institutions like AIG and wind them down in an orderly fashion, Reuters reports. “AIG highlights broad failures of our financial system," Geithner said in unusually spirited testimony before the House Financial Services Committee....

Obama to G-20: We Must Act Fast on Crisis
Obama to G-20: We Must Act Fast on Crisis
OPINION
Mar 24, 2009 9:55 AM CDT

Obama to G-20: We Must Act Fast on Crisis

Responds to Europe's stimulus reluctance with global op-ed blitz

(Newser) - President Obama published an op-ed piece in more than 30 newspapers worldwide today, urging the G-20 nations to take immediate, bold action to fix the economy. “The United States is ready to lead,” he wrote in the Los Angeles Times, among others, “and we call on our...

As Economy Tanks, So Does Alimony
As Economy Tanks, So
Does Alimony
Mar 24, 2009 9:39 AM CDT

As Economy Tanks, So Does Alimony

Wealthy argue that falling assets make old settlements unfair

(Newser) - The impact of plunging asset values is making itself felt in divorce courts, reports the Daily Telegraph. Celebrities and corporate high-fliers pleading poverty have managed to wrangle reduced payments to their exes in recent months. Lawyers warn that the trend toward cut-price settlements is now becoming mainstream and urge estranged...

Soaring Candy Sales Sweeten Hard Times

Confectioners' profits rise as people seek comfort

(Newser) - Tough times don’t seem to be trickling down to inexpensive candy shops, where adult customers are flocking for a sugar-coated escape from their troubles, the New York Times reports. “People may indulge themselves a little bit more when times are tough,” says an analyst. And indulge they...

Feds Seek Expanded Power to Seize Shaky Companies

Treasury sec should be able to seize non-bank firms, says administration

(Newser) - The Obama administration is expected to ask Congress for expanded powers that would let the Treasury secretary seize insurers, hedge funds, and other non-bank financial companies whose failure would imperil the economy, reports the Washington Post. While negotiations are ongoing, the plans to expand Treasury authority would represent a major...

Geithner Wins Over Wall Street
 Geithner Wins Over Wall Street 
ANALYSIS
Mar 24, 2009 4:45 AM CDT

Geithner Wins Over Wall Street

Careful roll out of asset plan helps Treasury secretary get his credibility back

(Newser) - The carefully orchestrated roll out of the federal plan to buy toxic assets has won Tim Geithner Wall Street's support in the nick of time, Jackie Calmes writes in the New York Times. The Treasury secretary—whose plan was slammed when the "framework" was unveiled last month—could scarcely...

Working at Home Could Boost Layoff Risk, Some Fear

'Trend toward flexibility' makes about-face in rough economy

(Newser) - Workers who once had the flexibility to work from home are sticking to the office, worried that less “face time” could make them layoff targets, the Washington Post reports. To some women, the shift appears to be a step backward as pressure builds to “work as many hours...

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