Economy

(Bloomberg) – US Households Lost $100,000 From Crisis, Study Says

The financial crisis and recession cost US households an average of about $100,000 in lost wealth and income, according to a study by former Treasury Department economist Phillip Swagel. Read More Here

(InternationalForecaster) – Global Financial Conflagration: The World of Fiat Money is Buckling under the Pressure of Unpayable Debts – Bob Chapman

America and the world face a financial conflagration of immense proportions. The world of fiat money and massive credit is buckling under the pressure of unpayable debt. Each day the safe haven of gold and silver related assets become more attractive. We ask where else do you go for safety? A conflagration is a fire out of control and that is exactly the conditions the world faces today. The inflationary depression has smoldered for 14 months and it will soon accelerate. Read More Here

(IPSNews) – U.S. States Consider Starting Their Own Banks

At least eight U.S. states are considering proposals to start state-run banks in the wake of an economic crisis where many private banks ceased or greatly decreased their lending, literally shrinking the money pool available in state economies. Read More Here

(WashingtonsBlog) – Should a Stock Market Decline Stop the Goldman Prosecutions?

As of 2007, the bottom 50% of the U.S. population owned only one-half of one percent of all stocks, bonds and mutual funds in the U.S. On the other hand, the top 1% owned owned 50.9%.

From the San Francisco Chronicle: Read More Here

(TimesOnline) – Merkel misled Germans

She was initially hailed as the “Iron Chancellor” for holding out against a bailout for the Greeks. But this weekend Angela Merkel was accused of having misled voters after it emerged that Germany would contribute more than €25 billion (£21.7 billion) towards a rescue package. Read More Here

(Uruknet) – Confessions Of A Wall St. Nihilist: Forget About Goldman Sachs, Our Entire Economy Is Built On Fraud – Read More Here

(Telegraph) – Pakistan facing bankruptcy

Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves are so low that the country can only afford one month of imports and faces possible bankruptcy. Read More Here

(BitsOfNews) – Pol/Econ: The 401k Scam

“The 401(k) will turn out to be the greatest systemic financial hoax ever perpetrated on an unsuspecting public.” – William Wollman, The Great 401(k) Hoax
Like most people I was told to plow as much money into my 401k pension plan as possible. So like millions of other workers out there, I did as I was told. By 2003 I had accumulated a nice little nest egg…that I couldn’t touch. Then one day I was in a bookstore and I happened across a book called The Coming Generational Storm. What I read about 401k’s that day made me immediately stop all contributions. Read More Here

(Bloomberg) – Carnivores’ Dilemma Widens as Pork Signals Record Meat Prices

U.S. meat prices may rise to records this summer after farmers reduced hog and cattle herds to the smallest sizes in decades, the result of surging feed costs linked to demands for more ethanol. Read More Here

(CatoInstitute) – Video: Advice to Tea Partiers

The Tea Party movement may endure, but its endurance will be a testament to its ability to understand that cutting government means having a long-term focus. John Samples, author of The Struggle to Limit Government and Director of the Cato Institute’s Center for Representative Government, offers an assessment of what Tea Partiers should do if they want to sustain an effort to cut government.