One of the ongoing criticisms of the Federal Reserve is that, despite its expertise and mandate, it presided over the failing institutions and didn’t understand enough about the complex transactions that triggered this financial crisis — not to mention that it hardly has the best interests of the consumers of More…
One year after the Obama administration launched its $75 billion anti-foreclosure program, the housing market remains volatile, loan modifications have been scant, foreclosures are still sky-high — and more and more lawmakers are wondering why the White House hasn’t More…
Anyone who has ever been unemployed or “underemployed” (working part-time or freelancing when one needs full-time work) knows that it’s quite easy to get down about your employment prospects. But just in case you thought the 20 percent of Americans who are among the ranks of the un- More…
The headlines trumpet the increase in Wall Street bonuses in 2009 — they were up 17 percent over 2008, a number that the New York State comptroller, Thomas DiNapoli, calls a “bitter pill” for American taxpayers (if not for New York’s increasingly stretched coffers). Did bankers learn nothing? More…
It is with great fanfare that President Obama will roll out his new plan to help keep struggling homeowners from going into foreclosure. His $1.5 billion program will provide block grants to states in which housing prices have dropped 20 percent from their all-time highs. Thus, More…
The White House wants it. Senate leaders support it. The House has already passed it. And, in the wake of the worst financial upheaval since the Great Depression, many consumer groups and state regulators say it’s vital if the country is to avoid another economic collapse. Yet the proposal to More…
The top eight spenders in the financial industry alone spent nearly $30 million to lobby Capitol Hill last year, according to Nathaniel Popper of the Los Angeles Times — a 13 percent overall increase from 2008. That overall increase was fueled by a 12 percent increase — to More…
With the unemployment rate hovering just shy of 10 percent and Washington focused on job creation, President Obama this month called on Congress to approve a plan that would take $30 billion in repaid TARP funds and make it available for small banks to lend to small businesses.
“We’re More…
Yesterday, everyone got worked up over President Obama’s comments to Business Week that he didn’t begrudge Chase CEO Jamie Dimon or Goldman Sach CEO Lloyd Blankfein their bonuses — despite the many reasons those bonuses aren’t as out-of-line as the headlines would have Americans believe. But are they More…
Although the federal government is closed due to snow, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke decided not to wait for today’s congressional hearing to be rescheduled to release his statement. In it, he pointed out something exceedingly obvious: The Fed’s actions to keep short-term interest rates at zero are going More…
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