| More Than a Rabble Rouser?
I'm echoing the sentiments of my members when I use that sort of language." He sent an e-mail later that day backing down from his earlier statements, however, calling his word choice in the 2005 e-mail “a bit unwise, and probably inappropriate. However, the sentiment behind the note was heartfelt and quite accurately reflective of the sentiment exhibited by the borrowers who I hear from." Collinge’s "full speed ahead" mentality has made even some advocates for loan reform — those who are generally on his side of the issue — question his effectiveness at times. “Frankly, the way that they presented themselves in the beginning, it was very extreme. [Collinge] seemed very obsessed; I wasn't sure what he had to contribute," says Anya Kamenetz, author of Generation Debt (Riverhead, 2006) and its blog.
Gates pushes ‘creative capitalism’
Bill Gates, the Microsoft chairman, issued a call on Thursday night for a new form of “creative capitalism" that works both to generate profits and solve the world's inequities. Reflecting on his Microsoft career as he prepares to leave the company this summer to focus on his foundation, he noted how his ideals had changed over the years. “Ten, 20, 30 years ago, my focus was totally on how the magic of software could change the world," he said. “But breakthroughs change lives only where people can afford to buy them." He called on companies to “find a way to make the aspects of capitalism that serve wealthier people serve poorer people as well". He hoped the power of recognition for a good deed would do the trick as a “market-based reward for good behaviour".
Household budget pain to worsen
Last year's juicy paper profits on share portfolios have taken a hefty hit since the beginning of the year and superannuation returns for this financial year now look shaky. For those people on a standard variable mortgages there was also that niggling rate increase by the major banks. And to top it all, those credit card bills will now be arriving from that $36.5 billion Christmas shopping frenzy that we had to have. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Will things get better in the next few months ahead? Probably not. This week's inflation numbers for the December quarter were shocking and economists generally expect the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to counter this increasingly worrying problem with another rate rise when its board holds it first meeting of the year on February 5.
Consumers at heart of stimulus plan
In Salt Lake City, Munn Powell is used to funding a family of six on a bit of an economic roller coaster. A self-employed videographer, his income varies yearly and usually drops when times get tough. "After 9-11, it was a measurable drop," said Munn, 37, who's a father to 3-year-old twins, a 6-year-old boy and an 8-year-old girl. Under the Bush stimulus plan, the family would qualify for about $2,400. Munn says he hasn't discussed a possible rebate with his wife of 12 years, Cristy, but said the family has a fairly set financial plan. "I imagine we'd be somewhat conservative with any little windfall," said Munn, who just finished a spending splurge remodeling his basement. "Honestly, it's probably going to back into our reserves. That's probably not what Bush is hoping for." ___ Associated Press writers Dinesh Ramde in Milwaukee and Jennifer Dobner in Salt Lake City contributed to this report.
Could U.S. bank dividend contagion spread north?
This week's dividend cut at U.S. banking behemoth Citigroup raises a question relevant to widows, orphans and just about every other class of investor in this country.Could any of the big Canadian banks reduce their dividend? Business conditions for banks are worse in the United States than here, yet many of our bank stocks are trading at levels that suggest the highest level of risk in ages. .
Markets: Bears roar in Tuesday
Oregon's '08 recession, if it comes, likely would spread pain selectively. The economic tornado would hit certain industries and products, and glance off others. Like December's flooding, economists say, it could devastate portions of Oregon and leave parts unscathed. Company managers already see some of what's coming. At Gunderson, where 1,100 people work in Northwest Portland, railcar production is slipping as cargo shrinks nationally -- but barge production is up. Across Oregon, residential construction is plunging -- but commercial and public projects are booming. Economists, resembling Northwest weather forecasters handicapped by sparse Oregon data, struggled this week to gauge gathering global forces. After overseas stock markets plunged Monday, the Federal Reserve made an emergency rate cut.
Banks hope cut eventually lifts demand for loans
The bad: Short-term pressures will remain. Banks have already been socked hard by the mortgage crisis and quarter after quarter of asset write-downs as investors try to figure out what banks' loan portfolios are really worth. And the cost of getting deposits — what banks pay in interest on savings, checking and certificate of deposit accounts — will remain higher than what they can charge on loans in the immediate future. For some banks, the rate cut means that they will lower their prime rates in tandem — SunTrust Banks did so Tuesday — but they won't be able to cut deposit rates as quickly because of competition for those deposits. The ugly: Consumer confidence is a wild card for the economy and for banks. If the Fed cuts don't ease consumer concerns, economic growth would be stifled, and there would little new demand for loans.
Hip-Hop Rumors: Jim Jones Gets Emotional. R.Kelly Shoots Ne-Yo Down ...
However, it makes sense since the year is closing and figures have to look good going into the next fiscal year (depending if their fiscal yr ends in Dec or Jan).
- Uh why is Jim Jones still in the news? What has this fool done lately (excluding the mixtape biting off someone elses concept album)? Seriously, what has he been doing big? I'm just lost....maybe I'm just stuck under a rock the size of VA. :-\ .
Iggle Piggles, kidults and the Slinky - all in a day’s work for The ...
It is about ten inches high, light blue, and as hideous as only toys for the very young can be. Press its foot, and it lisps childishly. It is an Iggle Piggle, and if you haven’t got one yet this Christmas, you probably won’t now. Every year there is some must-have item that the shops sell out of, to the despair of the parents of inconsolable tots. Remember Cabbage Patch Dolls? You shudder at them still. Toy manufacturers and retailers are routinely accused of engineering such artificial shortages to boost interest in their products. Gary Grant, chairman of The Entertainer, says it is no conspiracy, but the impossibility of knowing, in a business with a 16-week delay between order and arrival in the shops, what will be irresistible to the young this year.
Stimulus Gone Bad
And the result is a plan that not only fails to deliver help where it's most needed, but is likely to fail as an economic measure. The words of Franklin Delano Roosevelt come to mind: "We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals; we know now that it is bad economics." And the worst of it is that the Democrats, who should have been in a strong position does this administration have any credibility left on economic policy? appear to have caved in almost completely. Yes, they extracted some concessions, increasing rebates for people with low income while reducing giveaways to the affluent. But basically they allowed themselves to be bullied into doing things the Bush administration's way. And that could turn out to be a very bad thing.
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