President Obama’s scolding of the financial industry Thursday for awarding itself nearly $20 billion in bonuses during one of its worst years in decades pretty much speaks for itself. Instead of piling on here, let’s just turn instead to the late Myron Cope, the longtime voice of the More…
When the Federal Reserve announced Tuesday that, in an effort to stem foreclosures, it plans to modify troubled mortgages it acquired with the rescues of Bear Stearns and insurance giant AIG, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) seemed quite pleased. “This is a very big deal,” said the chairman of the More…
That was fast: The Obama administration told Citigroup to get rid of its $50 million jet, just one day after reports about the expenditure made their way into the public eye, ABC News reports.
From ABC:
The high-flying execs at Citigroup caved under pressure from President Obama and decided
Naked Capitalism looks at Citigroup’s purchase of its new $50 million corporate jet, just as the bank keeps itself afloat with billions of dollars in government bailout money, and concludes it represents a culture of corporate entitlement that has became entrenched in recent years.
From Naked Capitalism:
Even
Philip K. Howard is back. The lawyer who loves to hate other lawyers has returned, after a six-year hiatus since his last attorney-bashing book.
In a prominently featured op-ed Monday in the Wall Street Journal, Howard, who practices corporate defense law, cunningly found a way to use More…
As I mentioned earlier, the economy is in trouble not just because major banks aren’t lending all that government bailout money out to business and consumers. It’s also that the lending actually decreased in the last quarter, despite the billions of dollars the banks received under the Troubled Assets More…
It sure looked last week like allowing bankruptcy judges to modify mortgage loans and keep people in their homes finally was getting somewhere. After two years of opposing any such move, Citigroup announced it was getting on board with the idea, with some limitations. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) praised More…
Housing advocates have been pushing for years, without success, for changes in federal law to allow bankruptcy judges to modify mortgages. The idea was a non-starter during the Bush Administration, since lenders strongly opposed it. But American Banker (subscription required) reports today that lawmakers may have reached a comprise More…
Over at Beat the Press, economist Dean Baker raises an interesting question that deserves follow-up: Is there a hidden tax credit for Citigroup in the upcoming Obama administration’s proposed stimulus plan?
From Baker:
The media seem to have largely overlooked the Citigroup tax credit in their discussion
Wait, what’s this? Citigroup’s top executives are giving up their annual bonuses this year, according to the Financial Times. CEO Vikram Pandit and senior advisor and director Robert Rubin are among those foregoing the usual end of the year cash awards.
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