The Guardian World News Sun 2009-09-20 10:57 EDT

Sarkozy refuses to fret over GDP

Nicolas Sarkozy called for a "great revolution" in the way national wealth is measured today, throwing his weight behind a report which criticises "GDP fetishism" and prioritises quality of life over financial growth. Speaking days before the G20 summit in Pittsburgh, France's president urged the rest of the world to follow his example as he ordered a shake-up in research methods aimed at providing a more balanced reading of countries' performance. Endorsing the recommendations of a report given to him by Nobel prize winners Joseph Stiglitz and Amartya Sen, he said governments should do away with the "religion of statistics" in which financial prowess was the sole indicator of a country's state of health.

fret; GDP; Guardian World News; Sarkozy refuses.

Taibblog Sun 2009-09-20 09:51 EDT

Will Obama listen to ex-Fed chief Paul Volcker's warnings?

Matt Taibbi

So former Fed chief Paul Volcker yesterday was spouting off about how nuts it is that certain ``too big to fail'' commercial banks that receive mountains of public money are allowed to run around acting like high-risk hedge funds...This would be meaningful if the Economic Recovery Board that Volcker runs for Obama were actually a chief policymaking center for the president. But the reality is that the Volcker group is a kind of show-pony the Obama administration kept on as a way to give consolation jobs to the more progressive economic advisers who led them through the campaign season, people like University of Chicago professor Austan Goolsbee...Obama did a bit of a bait-and-switch, hiring progressives to run his campaign and jettisoning them once he got into office. I hear about this phenomenon from different corners of the policymaking universe, from health care to defense and intelligence spending. But my sense is that the switch was most violent in the realm of economic policy...

ex-Fed chief Paul Volcker's warnings; Obama listen; Taibblog.

The Big Picture Wed 2009-08-26 16:02 EDT

Hoenig: Let Big U.S. Banks Fail

Kansas City Fed President Thomas Hoenig, the host for the annual Jackson Hole Fed confab, is utterly against bailouts, and thinks ``Too Big To Fail'' is a losing strategy. As I noted previously, ``Real capitalists nationalize; faux capitalists look for the free lunch.'' Bernanke has urged Congress to back part of Hoenig's proposal for dealing with faltering [...]

Big Picture; Hoenig; Let Big U.S. Banks Fail.

Wed 2009-04-01 00:00 EDT

Calculated Risk: Fed's Hoenig: 'Too Big has Failed'

Kansas City Fed President Thomas Hoenig: ``we have not defined a consistent plan and not addressed the basic shortcomings and, in some cases, the insolvent position of these institutions''

big; Calculated Risk; fail; Fed's Hoenig.

Mon 2009-01-19 00:00 EST

The Mess That Greenspan Made: A cat fight at the Fed

Philly Fed President Charles Plosser has broken ranks with Fed Chief Ben Bernanke

cat fight; Fed; Greenspan Made; Mess.

Sun 2008-11-23 00:00 EST

naked capitalism: New York Fed President Timothy Geithner's Not-So-Reassuring Speech

2007-03-25

naked capitalism; New York Fed President Timothy Geithner's; Reassuring Speech.

Tue 2008-10-07 00:00 EDT

The Institutional Risk Analyst: A Workable, Private Bank Assistance Plan or Why President Bush Should Fire Ben Bernanke and Hank Paulson

A Workable, Private Bank Assistance Plan or Why President Bush Should Fire Bernanke and Paulson Right Now, by Institutional Risk Analytics

Fire Ben Bernanke; Hank Paulson; Institutional Risk Analyst; President Bush; Private Bank Assistance Plan; Workable.

Tue 2008-09-23 00:00 EDT

The Institutional Risk Analyst: Memo to the President-Elect; How Much Capital Does a Bank Need?

Memo to the President-Elect; How Much Capital Does a Bank Need? by Institutional Risk Analytics

banks need; capitalism; Institutional Risk Analyst; memo; President elections.

Tue 2008-09-02 00:00 EDT

The Institutional Risk Analyst: Memo to the President-Elect; How Much Capital Does a Bank Need?

Memo to the President-Elect; How Much Capital Does a Bank Need? by Institutional Risk Analytics

banks need; capitalism; Institutional Risk Analyst; memo; President elections.

Thu 2008-07-10 00:00 EDT

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: Former Fed Governor Says "Fannie, Freddie Insolvent"

former St. Louis Federal Reserve President William Poole: "Congress ought to recognize that these firms are insolvent, that it is allowing these firms to continue to exist as bastions of privilege, financed by the taxpayer"

Fannie; Fed Governor Says; Freddie Insolvent; Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis.

Thu 2008-07-10 00:00 EDT

naked capitalism: Former St. Louis President Poole Calls Freddie, Fannie "Insolvent"

Richard Poole

Fannie; insolvent; Louis President Poole Calls Freddie; naked capitalism; St.

Fri 2008-07-04 00:00 EDT

Secret report: biofuel caused food crisis | Environment | The Guardian

Secret report: biofuel caused food crisis, by Aditya Chakrabortty | Environment | The Guardian; Biofuels have forced global food prices up by 75% says confidential World Bank report; report suppressed to avoid embarassing President George Bush; over a third of US corn now used to produce ethanol and about half of vegetable oils in the EU going towards the production of biodiesel.

biofuel caused food crisis; environment; Guardian; Secret Report.

Mon 2008-06-30 00:00 EDT

Angry Bear: Broken Clock Day

Thomas Friedman accidentally tells truth: "Since President Bush came to office, our national savings have gone from 6 percent of gross domestic product to 1 percent, and consumer debt has climbed from $8 trillion to $14 trillion."

Angry Bear; Broken Clock Day.

Tue 2008-06-10 00:00 EDT

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: Fox Asks For More Authority Over Hen House

Federal Reserve Bank of New York President Timothy Geithner called for greater central bank authority; Mish's Fed uncertainty principle

authority; Fox asked; hen house; Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis.

Sun 2008-05-04 00:00 EDT

A Special Report: The Right's America-Hating Preacher

by Robert Parry | The Smirking Chimp; Reverend Sun Myung Moon "has invested billions of dollars in financing the U.S. conservative movement and put fat wads of cash into the pockets of many prominent Republicans, including members of President George W. Bush's own family." Rev. Moon's lurid sex scandals, espionage, media empire, drug trafficking, gun-running

Right's America-Hating Preacher; special report.

Wed 2008-03-26 00:00 EDT

Barack Obama's Smart Speech "A More Perfect Union": Did It Reveal Him To Be Too Intellectual To Be President? | The Smirking Chimp

Barack Obama's Smart Speech "A More Perfect Union": Did It Reveal Him To Be Too Intellectual To Be President? by John Dean | The Smirking Chimp; "Republicans have spent the past half century dumbing-down the American presidency, for it has helped them win the White House"; "Anti-intellectual Republican presidents have led this nation into a new age of unreason"

Barack Obama's Smart Speech; intellectual; Perfect Union; President; revealed; Smirking Chimp.