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The Facebook Illusion

Sun, 27 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Ross Douthat - May. 27 (Opinion) - There were two grand illusions about the American economy in the first decade of the 21st century. One was the idea that housing prices were no longer tethered to normal economic trends, and instead would just keep going up and up. The second was the idea that in the age of Web 2.0, we were well on our way to figuring out how to make lots and lots of money on the Internet.

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Bain Capital and our screwed-up culture

Sat, 26 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Seattle Times - By Fromma Harrop - May. 26 (Opinion) - The problem is not the profession. It's what one does in the course of business. But even among those intent on making it big, people with a conscience will not cross certain lines. Bain blew across them.

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How Crazy Is Wall Street, New York Times?

Sun, 20 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

The Daily Beast - By Edward Jay Epstein - May. 20 (Opinion) - The New York Times published an opinion piece on May 12, 2012, concerning the question of whether the rich, from a moral standpoint, are good or bad. The story reported, “A recent study found that 10 percent of people who work on Wall Street are ‘clinical psychopaths’ and that they exhibit an ‘unparalleled capacity for lying, fabrication, and manipulation.’ ” The vivid term “clinical psychopath” brings to mind the berserk buzz-saw-wielding investment banker played by Christian Bale in the film American Psycho. Since some 3.9 million people work in the financial-services industry, a clinically diagnosed horde of lunatics numbering almost 400,000 people would certainly be a matter of public concern, though it might only confirm some journalists’ view of American capitalism.

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Jamie Dimon Should Resign Over JPMorgan's $3B Lost Bet and Campaign Against Financial Regs

Thu, 17 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Paul Krugman: Amy Goodman - May. 17 (Interview) - As the financial giant JPMorgan Chase continues to suffer major losses on its risky derivatives trades, Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman says bank chief Jamie Dimon should resign “precisely because he has been using his supposed wisdom as a way to campaign against reform and now it turns out he wasn't that wise after all. In fact, his bank was doing seriously bad stuff." Krugman says, "I think it would be better for everybody if he went." The Justice Department is now probing JPMorgan amid new calls for tougher regulation of Wall Street. "They are making these bets with your money because these are banks that are guaranteed. They have guaranteed deposits," Krugman says. "We are supposed to have a rule going into effect -- the Volcker Rule -- that says they can't do this kind of stuff, but they are continuing to do it. ... We can not trust the bankers to use this money safely." [Transcript to come. Check back soon.]

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Obama says Romney would cut his own taxes while raising others’

Sun, 13 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

PolitiFact - By Molly Moorhead - May. 13 (Fact Check) - President Barack Obama says Mitt Romney is the anti-Robin Hood. In a campaign speech in Columbus, Ohio, on May 5, 2012, Obama said the Romney's economic plan would raise taxes for millions of low-income Americans while cutting them for the wealthy.

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How Facebook's Elite Skirt Estate Tax

Sat, 12 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Wall Street Journal - May. 12 (News Report) - Mark Zuckerberg and other insiders appear to be using special trusts to shield their shares from gift or estate taxes. Investors are focusing on Facebook's FB 0.00% offering price as the company prepares to go public as soon as next week. Tax specialists are paying attention to something else: how half a dozen of the firm's luminaries, including founder Mark Zuckerberg, appear to be using a perfectly legal maneuver called a grantor-retained annuity trust, or GRAT, to avoid at least $200 million of estate and gift taxes on their own Facebook shares.

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Capitalists and Other Psychopaths

Sat, 12 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By William Deresiewicz - May. 12 (Opinion) - is an ongoing debate in this country about the rich: who they are, what their social role may be, whether they are good or bad. Well, consider the following. A recent study found that 10 percent of people who work on Wall Street are “clinical psychopaths,” exhibiting a lack of interest in and empathy for others and an “unparalleled capacity for lying, fabrication, and manipulation.” (The proportion at large is 1 percent.) Another study concluded that the rich are more likely to lie, cheat and break the law.

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"We Need to Make a Ruckus": Robert Reich Hails Occupy for Exposing Concentration of Wealth and Power

Tue, 08 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - May. 08 (Interview) - In his new book, "Beyond Outrage," former Labor Secretary Robert Reich opens with a dedication to the Occupy Wall Street movement. He writes: "To the Occupiers, and all others committed to taking back our economy and our democracy." We speak to Reich about the success of Occupy in reshaping the national dialogue on the economy and why strong grassroots movements are needed to push elected leaders in Washington to enact a progressive agenda. Reich also discusses why austerity is not the answer to the economic crisis at home or in Europe. [Transcript to come. Check back soon.]

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Hollande Ousts Sarkozy in French Presidential Election

Sun, 06 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Steven Erlanger, Nicola Clark - May. 06 (News Report) - François Hollande swept into office on Sunday, becoming the first Socialist to be elected president of France since François Mitterrand left office in 1995. Mr. Hollande’s campaign promised a kinder, gentler, more inclusive France, but his victory over President Nicolas Sarkozy will also be seen as a challenge to the German-dominated policy of economic austerity in the euro zone, which is suffering from recession and record unemployment.

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Austerity Is So Wrong!

Sun, 06 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

The Daily Beast - By Paul Krugman - May. 06 (Opinion) - In a new book, End This Depression Now!, Nobel Prize–winning economist Paul Krugman says the current economic problems can be fixed both more easily and more quickly than anyone imagines. But politicians’ desire to slash spending is deeply destructive, and he details why austerity is so appealing even to Very Serious People—and why it’s such a bad idea.

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Is US a model for austerity-wary Europe?

Sat, 05 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Christian Science Monitor - By Laurent Belsie - May. 05 (News Analysis) - America's poor jobs report has rattled world markets. Germany's DAX index fell 2 percent Friday. Wall Street saw its worst week of the year, as slowing job growth stoked fears that recovery in the United States is faltering. Last month, the economy added only 115,000 jobs.

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Occupy the regulatory system!

Sat, 28 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - By Suzy Khimm - Apr. 28 (News Report) - Occupy Wall Street has moved. Its new address: 60 Wall Street. There, inside a soaring public atrium, dreadlocked teens trade shoulder massages near the evening meditation circle. A young man holds up a sign: “You’re a Federal Reserve $lave.” The dinnertime crowd buzzes over free plates of rice and beans while listening to an improvised, profanity-laden operetta about the evils of agro-giant Monsanto. But amid the din, there’s a small group holding a quieter, and far wonkier, conversation.

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Are CEO Bonuses Wrecking the Wider Economy?

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700

finance.yahoo.com - Apr. 27 (News Analysis) - In an editorial in daily newspaper "Evening Standard," Mount wrote that, for 30 years after WW II, the UK had become a more equal and open society but now "it is painfully obvious that social mobility has slowed again and a new super-class is soaring out of sight." "Without knowing why or how, we seem to have hatched our own oligarchs, and we stand aghast and bewildered at this flock of monstrous cuckoos," Mount wrote.

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The Greenlining Institute : Greenlining Report > Tech Untaxed Report

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700

greenlingin.org - Apr. 27 (Investigative Report) - Tax avoidance by wealthy high-tech firms is on the rise, a new report from The Greenlining Institute finds. Cash held overseas by tech firms rose 21 percent from 2010 to 2011. Apple’s 2011 tax rate of 9.8 percent was lower than that of American households making an average of $42,500 per year.

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Earth faces a century of disasters, report warns

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700

The Guardian - By John Vidal - Apr. 26 (News Report) - Economic and environmental catastrophes unavoidable unless rich countries cut consumption and global population stabilises World population needs to be stabilised quickly and high consumption in rich countries rapidly reduced to avoid "a downward spiral of economic and environmental ills", warns a major report from the Royal Society . Contraception must be offered to all women who want it and consumption cut to reduce inequality, says the study published on Thursday, which was chaired by Nobel prize-winning biologist Sir John Sulston . The assessment of humanity's prospects in the next 100 years, which has taken 21 months to complete, argues strongly that to achieve long and healthy lives for all 9 billion people expected to be living in 2050, the twin issues of population and consumption must pushed to the top of political and economic agendas. Both issues have been largely ignored by politicians and played down by environment and development groups for 20 years, the report says. "The ...

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WATCH: Stewart Calls 'Bullsh*t' On Asteroid Mining

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Jon Stewart - Apr. 26 (Comedy News) - This week, a collective of privately independent people, including two Google execs and "Titanic" director James Cameron, announced the launch of a company called Planetary...

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What If the Greedy Rich Paid Their Share? 8 Things to Know About Wealth and Poverty in the US

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Les Leopold - Apr. 19 (News Analysis) - The wealth of the wealthy skyrocketed, not by accident, but by policy design. "Greed is good" replaced the middle-class American dream.

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Murder, Suicide and Financial Ruin: How the Class War Is Destroying Americans' Lives

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Mark Ames - Apr. 18 (News Report) - This past Thursday, a Modesto, California, man whose house was in foreclosure shot and killed the Sheriff’s deputy and the locksmith who came to evict him from his condominium unit. Modesto authorities responded by sending 100 police and SWAT snipers to counter-attack, and it ended Waco-style, with the fourplex structure burning to the ground with the shooter inside.

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A Love Song for Paul Ryan [Cartoon]

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Mother Jones - By Zina Saunders - Apr. 09 (Cartoon) - Mitt Romney woos Paul Ryan with a rendition of Judy Garland's "You Made Me Love You" from the film "Broadway Melody." What else is a flip-flopping Republican candidate to do when he needs some right-wing credentials?

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3 Corporate Myths that Threaten the Wealth of the Nation

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By William Lazonick, Ken Jacobson, Lynn Parramore - Apr. 06 (Opinion) - We need to confront some powerful myths of corporate governance as part of a movement to make corporations work for the 99%. To start, we have to recognize these corporations for what they are not. • They are not “private enterprise.” • They should not be run to “maximize shareholder value.” • The mega-millions in remuneration paid to top corporate executives are not determined by the “market forces” of supply and demand.

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How the Young Are Indoctrinated to Obey

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Noam Chomsky - Apr. 06 (Opinion) - many measures have been taken to restore discipline. One is the crusade for privatization – placing control in reliable hands. Another is sharp increases in tuition, up nearly 600 percent since 1980. These produce a higher education system with "far more economic stratification than is true of any other country," according to Jane Wellman, former director of the Delta Cost Project, which monitors these issues. Tuition increases trap students into long-term debt and hence subordination to private power.

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Social Darwinism or a Decent Society

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700

readersupportednews.org - By Robert Reich - Apr. 05 (Opinion) - We are likely to hear a lot more about social Darwinism in the months ahead. It was the conservative creed during the late 19th century - legitimizing a politics in which the lackeys of robber barons deposited sacks of money on legislators' desks, and justifying an economy in which sweat shops were common, urban slums festered, and a significant portion of America was impoverished.

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How the Big Energy Companies Plan to Turn the United States into a Third-World Petro-State

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Michael T. Klare - Apr. 03 (News Analysis) - The “curse” of oil wealth is a well-known phenomenon in Third World petro-states where millions of lives are wasted in poverty and the environment is ravaged, while tiny elites rake in the energy dollars and corruption rules the land.

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Capitalism's Dirty Secret: Corporations Don't Create Jobs, They Destroy Them

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Lynn Parramore - Apr. 03 (Opinion) - For the last four decades, U.S. corporations have been sinking our economy through the off-shoring of jobs, the squeezing of wages, and a magician’s hat full of bluffs and tricks designed to extort subsidies and sweetheart deals from local and state governments that often result in mass layoffs and empty treasuries.

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Obama Slams Ryan Budget: Social Darwinism

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Sarah Seltzer - Apr. 03 (News Report) - President Obama came out swingin on economic issues today in a speech, in a preview of the showdown we're soon to see as the election heats up. A particular target of his rhetoric? GOP budgetary darling Paul Ryan, whose plans amount to "Social Darwinism," the President said.

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