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bailout

A Disruptive Proposal by the IMF

 Hoping to learn from what it sees as its missteps in handling the Greek bailout and other recent crises, the International Monetary Fund is quietly wading into one of the most sensitive issues in international finance: How to balance political, economic and financial considerations when a country might not be able to pay back its […] Continue reading →

Inequality on the Brain

Paul Jacob,  We’re told that “economic inequality” is on the rise . . . by the same people who took our tax dollars to bail out some folks on Wall Street and elsewhere, surely making more than minimum wage. But, once one investigates the issue beyond the buncombe level of egalitarian hysteria, one finds the […] Continue reading →

8 Million Acres of China’s Farmland is Too Polluted to Farm; All Farm Products From China Suspect

Mike Shedlock,  At the end of 2013, China reported over 3 mln hectares of land too polluted to farm. About 3.33 million hectares (8 million acres) of China’s farmland is too polluted to grow crops, a government official said on Monday, highlighting the risk facing agriculture after three decades of rapid industrial growth. China has […] Continue reading →

Taxpayers lose $10.5 billion on General Motors

You know, this could have been a lot worse.  So… up-twinkles, I guess.  Only losing $10.5 billion on a payoff to special interests (in this case, labor unions) qualifies as a roaring success by current Washington standards.  And, sadly, I don’t just mean Obama standards. Fox Business brings us the happy news that the “G” in GM no longer […] Continue reading →

Government sells remaining stake in GM

The U.S. government ended up losing $10.5 billion on the General Motors bailout, but it says the alternative would have been far worse. The Treasury Department sold its final shares of the Detroit auto giant on Monday, recovering $39 billion of the $49.5 billion it spent to save the dying automaker at the height of […] Continue reading →

Portuguese leaders seeking economic consensus

LISBON, Portugal  — Portugal’s main political parties pledged Friday to try to negotiate a joint economic strategy that aims to spare the country a second international bailout. But the obstacles to an agreement were clear during the annual State of the Nation debate in Parliament as parties traded accusations over who is to blame for […] Continue reading →

Regulators name AIG, GE Capital potential risks

U.S. regulators have labeled insurer American International Group Inc. and General Electric Co.’s finance arm as potential threats to the financial system, designations that bring stricter government oversight. The Financial Stability Oversight Council on Tuesday announced the two companies would be the first to be designated “systemically important.” As a result, they must increase their […] Continue reading →