Economy

(LondonEveningStandard) – Riots in Athens as thousands protest against cutbacks

Masked youths stoned police outside Greece’s parliament today in protest at cutbacks proposed to try to end the country’s debt crisis. Read More Here

(TheNewspaper) – Federally Funded “Ticket Blitz” in Virginia

A federally funded ticketing blitz in the state of Virginia landed a total of 6996 traffic tickets this weekend. The blitz, dubbed “Operation Air, Land & Speed” coincided with frantic efforts by state officials to close a$2.2 billion budget deficit. Read More Here

(YahooFinance) – U.S. Taxpayers on Hook for $5 Trillion of Fannie, Freddie Debt… No Matter What Barney Frank Says

House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank caused a bit of an uproar Friday when he suggested the U.S. government does not guarantee the debts of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Read More Here

(HuffingtonPost) – Stop the Federal Reserve From Shredding Its Records

Should the policymaking committee of the most powerful peacetime entity in the United States government be allowed to destroy their source records? The Federal Open Market Committee of the nation’s central bank, an intricate part of the United States government may be continuing to destroy its source records, a policy it began in 1995 with an unrecorded vote -no fingerprints – conducted by then Chairman Alan Greenspan. Read More Here

(NYTimes) – Program Will Pay Homeowners to Sell at a Loss

In an effort to end the foreclosure crisis, the Obama administration has been trying to keep defaulting owners in their homes. Now it will take a new approach: paying some of them to leave. Read More Here

(BobChapman) – Structural Weakness of the US Dollar. The Dollar Rally will not last

Every important factor we see is working against the dollar and we believe that trend is irreversible. That means the present dollar rally probably cannot endure and it could well be the time to short the USDX. Read More Here

(RussiaToday) – Video: No Bailouts in Iceland

People in Iceland have rejected their government’s pledge to repay a debt of more than US$5 billion left by the collapse of Icesave Internet bank. 93 per cent of people voted “no” in a referendum. Video Link Here

(BBC) – Britain: Fake Storefronts Soothe Consumers During Recession

Fake businesses are to be used to lessen the impact of the recession on high streets in North Tyneside. Read More Here

(WSJ) – U.S. Monthly Budget Deficit Balloons to a Record $651.60 billion

Even as government receipts posted a rare increase in February, soaring outlays pushed the country’s year-to-date deficit up to a record $651.60 billion. Read More Here

(MSNBC) – Financial reform tips toward bankers

As Congress this week inches toward a new set of rules to avert another global financial collapse, it is focused on two conflicting goals: reforming the banking system to protect consumers while still giving lenders the freedom to take risks. Read More Here

(WSJ) – Treasury Plans to Take Social Security from Elderly for Unpaid Loans

A little–noticed law could soon result in smaller Social Security checks for hundreds of thousands of the elderly and disabled who owe the U.S. money from defaulted loans and other debts more than a decade old. Read More Here

(AP) – Budget deficit sets record in February

The government ran up the largest monthly deficit in history in February, keeping the flood of red ink on track to top last year’s record for the full year. Read More Here

(CNN) – Welcome to the United States of Iceland

It’s time to start paying attention to the financial sinkhole that Iceland is trying to climb out of — the view from inside of it is eerily similar to our own. Read More Here

(InfoClearingHouse) – Economist Lewis Black Tells It Like It Is

ADULT CONTENT WARNING: If you’re not familiar with Lewis Black, I’d turn back if I were you.
Lewis Black is funny. Dangerously funny. That he has such a large audience and still packs plenty of politics in his shtick gives one hope for the fate of our sorry species. So I figured it’s time I learned something from him. Read More Here

(TheKansan) – RHOADES: State revenue has another $108 million shortfall – Read More Here

(WashingtonsBlog) – Unemployment: Better, Worse or Less Bad? – Read More Here

Beware of Obamanomics

In 1920–21, the United States faced a grave economic crisis, worse than the first year of the Great Depression. Double-digit unemployment and a 21 percent decline in production over the previous twelve months greeted the new president.