financial crisis

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Finance Geeks Behind Crisis Hard at Work on a Fix

The inventors of the CDO turn their math minds to better valuations of assets

(Newser) - The finance-desk math wizards who created the securities behind the market meltdown are now betting they can think their way out of the mess, the Wall Street Journal reports, working to design new systems for pricing bad assets fairly so governments can buy them off of banks’ balance sheets. “...

Stop Stalling and Nationalize Bailout Banks: Krugman

The sooner we take over zombie banks, the better, says Krugman

(Newser) - The case for temporarily nationalizing some of America's biggest banks is so persuasive that even Alan Greenspan, the baron of laissez-faire capitalism, thinks it's a good idea. Yet the Obama administration keeps proposing half-measures and workarounds. New York Times columnist Paul Krugman says the government should get it over with:...

Treasury Seeks Bankruptcy Financing for GM, Chrysler

Obama administration will not rule out Chapter 11 for ailing autos

(Newser) - Treasury advisers are working to line up $40 billion in financing for General Motors and Chrysler—5 times the size of any previous bankruptcy loan—just in case the two automakers need it, the Wall Street Journal reports. While efforts continue to restructure the companies by other means, the administration...

Brown Calls for 'Global New Deal'
Brown Calls
for 'Global
New Deal'
Feb 23, 2009 6:13 AM CST

Brown Calls for 'Global New Deal'

At Berlin meeting, British PM says world needs $500B rescue

(Newser) - The world needs to unite on a "global New Deal" to end the economic crisis, Gordon Brown said yesterday at a European summit. The British prime minister, who is chairing April's meeting of the G20, joined colleagues from France and Germany to call for a major overhaul of the...

Analysts: We Haven't Hit Bottom Yet

Market isn't following pre-recovery trends, say experts

(Newser) - With its 6% dive this week, the Dow has now taken back all of its gains since the end of the last bear market in 2002. So we're ready to climb again, right? Not quite. Analysts tell the Washington Post that markets aren’t behaving as they typically do when...

California Has a Budget, but Trouble Looms in May

Critics say another crisis looms

(Newser) - California's budget fight is officially over. For now. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law yesterday a budget package that closes the state's $41 billion shortfall, but not before making $1 billion in line-item trims. The governor cut personnel budgets for state officials by 10%, $400 million in prison funding, and $510...

Dodd Backs Nationalizing Banks; White House Doesn't

Banking chair weighs short-term moves

(Newser) - Chris Dodd says the US may have to nationalize the most troubled banks for “a short time” to save the financial system, Bloomberg reports. The chairman of the Senate Banking Committee joined Ben Bernanke and Alan Greenspan in calling for serious consideration of nationalizing flailing institutions such as Bank...

Obama Should Draft Krugman
 Obama Should Draft Krugman 
OPINION
Feb 19, 2009 3:11 PM CST

Obama Should Draft Krugman

NYT columnist would do a lot better than Geithner and Summers

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s economic team so far has failed to inspire confidence, writes Steven Stark for the Boston Phoenix. Instead of Geithner and Summer, Obama should pick a new man to lead the charge on the financial crisis: Appoint Paul Krugram, Nobel laureate and economics columnist for the New York ...

How the Crisis Changed Bernanke
 How the
 Crisis Changed
 Bernanke 

ANALYSIS
Feb 19, 2009 12:33 PM CST

How the Crisis Changed Bernanke

Extraordinary times have changed the Fed chairman's language and policy

(Newser) - Crises change people, and the changes wrought by the financial meltdown on Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke were well evident at a Press Club lunch yesterday, writes Dana Milibank for the Washington Post. Previously known for bland answers, this academic now tempers his economist-speak with straight talk and supplemented official data...

Mortgage Plan Relies on Incentives, Lacks Muscle
Mortgage Plan Relies on Incentives, Lacks Muscle
ANALYSIS
Feb 19, 2009 9:14 AM CST

Mortgage Plan Relies on Incentives, Lacks Muscle

Proposal does does little to address securitized mortgages

(Newser) - The Obama administration’s foreclosure-prevention plan contains more carrots than sticks, relying heavily on incentives designed to prod mortgage servicers to modify at-risk loans, the Wall Street Journal reports. The plan offers monetary rewards to mortgage companies that lower interest rates on delinquent mortgages, and reduces principal for borrowers who...

NYC Wants to Turn Laid-Off Bankers Into Entrepreneurs

Bloomberg unveils $45M program

(Newser) - With the Wall Street mess taking a heavy toll on New York City's economy, Mayor Bloomberg is launching a program to retrain laid-off investment bankers and make the city a mecca for entrepreneurs and foreign financial firms. The city plans to spend $45 million in federal and city money to...

Autoworkers, Bankers Have a Lot in Common
Autoworkers, Bankers Have a Lot in Common
OPINION
Feb 18, 2009 9:11 AM CST

Autoworkers, Bankers Have a Lot in Common

Exorbitant pay of both brought down their respective industries

(Newser) - They may not seem all that similar, but Detroit’s autoworkers and Wall Street’s bankers have the same story, writes Steven Pearlstein in the Washington Post. From the 1950s up until, say, yesterday, "autoworkers were the aristocrats of the blue-collar world, (and) Wall Street traders and investment bankers...

Global Plunge Panics Economists

Markets dive worldwide as new figures point to intractable slowdown

(Newser) - The markets' global plunge yesterday was testament to a new, scary fact, writes the Washington Post: the world economic crisis is getting even worse. New figures show the economies of Japan, Britain and Germany contracting at their fastest in decades, while emerging markets like Russia and Brazil are tanking, and...

Bailed-Out Banks Cut Lending
 Bailed-Out Banks Cut Lending 
Feb 18, 2009 3:15 AM CST

Bailed-Out Banks Cut Lending

Report finds that bailout funds have failed to jolt banks into boosting lending

(Newser) - The 20 largest banks that received billions in  US government rescue funds slightly reduced their lending to consumers and businesses in the last quarter of 2008, the government said yesterday. Banks cut their mortgage and business loans by a median of 1% each, while credit card lending rose by a...

Firms Cut Pay Instead of Jobs
 Firms Cut Pay Instead of Jobs 
Feb 17, 2009 2:24 PM CST

Firms Cut Pay Instead of Jobs

(Newser) - Companies looking to cut labor costs are increasingly turning to salary reductions rather than further layoffs in an attempt to save employee morale, the Chicago Tribune reports. One extreme case is Acco Brands in Illinois, which imposed a six-week, 47% reduction for all workers instead of downsizing. "It's an...

On Stimulus, White House Kept Congress Close
On Stimulus, White House Kept Congress Close
ANALYSIS
Feb 17, 2009 12:36 PM CST

On Stimulus, White House Kept Congress Close

Prez still didn't get much GOP support

(Newser) - President Obama promised a new spirit of cooperation in Washington, and in his relationship with Congress, he did his best to deliver, the Wall Street Journal reports. Obama left congressional leaders wide leeway in crafting the stimulus bill and stayed in close touch with members. Joe Biden stayed on pivotal...

Brokerages Get Tough on B-List Hedge Funds

With financing cut, look for many to merge or collapse

(Newser) - Brokerage firms are cutting their financing and support to hundreds of hedge funds, reports the Wall Street Journal, delivering a further blow to what was the highest-flying sector of American finance. As they attempt to shore up their own positions, the banks are dividing their hedge fund clients into two...

Don't Like the Stimulus? Don't Take the Cash
Don't Like the Stimulus? Don't Take the Cash 
OPINION
Feb 16, 2009 2:21 PM CST

Don't Like the Stimulus? Don't Take the Cash

Opponents can be 'guinea pigs' for alternate plans: Begala

(Newser) - Here’s a clear way for political leaders to oppose spending in the stimulus package: “refuse to take the money,” Paul Begala writes for CNN. Case in point: South Carolina’s governor, who opposes the plan, shouldn’t help his struggling state with federal cash. Instead, he can...

Mayors, Guvs Jockey for Piece of Stimulus Pie

Many have budgets on hold until plan is finalized

(Newser) - As the stimulus bill becomes law this week, state officials across the country are competing for their share of federal largess, the New York Times reports. Complex rules govern how money is doled out, and states are still catching up. “This is all rather daunting,” said the director...

The Stimulus Battle Is Just Getting Started
The Stimulus
Battle Is Just Getting Started
ANALYSIS
Feb 16, 2009 12:21 PM CST

The Stimulus Battle Is Just Getting Started

Succeed or fail, look for it to be the focus of the 2010 elections

(Newser) - At $790 billion, the stimulus package that Barack Obama signs into law this week carried enormous economic risks. But as the Washington Post reports, the political stakes of the stimulus are nearly as large. By denying the president a single vote in the House, the GOP is betting that the...

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