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Posts Tagged Barack Obama
The Greek Tragedy That Changed Europe
Posted by Tetyana Matychak in Trading Markets on February 16th, 2010
Plutus, the Greek god of wealth, did not have an easy life. As the myth goes, Plutus wanted to grant riches only to the “the just, the wise, the men of ordered life.” Zeus blinded him out of jealousy of mankind (and envy of the good), leaving Plutus to indiscriminately distribute his favors.
Modern-day Greece may be just and wise, but it certainly has not had an ordered life. As a result, the great opportunity and wealth bestowed by European integration has been largely squandered. And lower interest rates over the past decade—brought down to German levels through Greece being allowed, rather generously, into the euro zone—led to little more than further deficits and a dangerous buildup of government debt.
Now Plutus wants his money back. Europe is entering unprepared into a serious economic crisis—and the nascent global recovery could easily collapse due to the unsustainable and Ponzi-like buildup of government debt in weaker countries.
At the end of the G7 meeting in Canada last weekend, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner told reporters, “I just want to underscore they made it clear to us—they, the European authorities—that they will manage this [Greek debt crisis] with great care.” Read the rest of this entry »
Barack Obama, crisis, debt, euro, IMF, interest rate, money
Afflictions of liberty
Posted by Tetyana Matychak in Favourites, Trading Markets on February 8th, 2010
Obama may have grasped that the ideal of freedom Americans so fiercely cling to is fracturing their society.
After a year of setback and struggle, Barack Obama last week sought to revive his programme, to reboot the American Dream. A generally solemn State of the Union address culminated in a rousing call to the nation “to start anew, to carry the dream forward, and to strengthen our union once more”.
Commentary focused on the president’s efforts to connect with the needs of middle-class America, those blue-collar workers whose lives are profoundly affected by the jobs market, taxation and interest rates.
But another feature of this address is just as remarkable – for its absence. The word “liberty” was entirely missing, and the term “freedom” was used only once.
Prior to Obama’s election, these terms had been liberally sprinkled over every address for the last 25 years. They represent a mission statement for America that has become hardwired into its logic circuitry. Read the rest of this entry »
US Economy Likely Grew 4.6% in Fourth Quarter
Posted by Tetyana Matychak in Trading Markets on February 3rd, 2010
The U.S. economy likely grew at its fastest pace in nearly four years in the fourth quarter as businesses made less-aggressive cutbacks on inventories, a government report showed on Friday.
A Reuters survey predicted that gross domestic product, which measures total goods and services output within U.S. borders, expanded at a 4.6 percent annual rate, up from 2.2 percent in the third quarter.
Analysts reckon the change in inventories could constitute as much as three-quarters of the GDP figure and overstate the strength of the recovery from the longest and deepest downturn since the Great Depression 70 years ago.
“We shouldn’t dismiss it (GDP number), but the problem is the inventory cycle really doesn’t last that long. It’s not what we call self-sustaining growth,” said Paul Ashworth, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics in Toronto.
Getting the economy on a sustainable growth track remains one of the key challenges facing President Barack Obama, who on Wednesday outlined a raft of measures to create jobs and nurture the recovery. Read the rest of this entry »
Obama to Announce $38 Billion Business Tax Break
Posted by Tetyana Matychak in Trading Markets on January 28th, 2010
President Barack Obama will propose extending through 2010 a temporary tax incentive that encourages businesses to accelerate purchases of equipment, an administration official said.
The president will call for renewal of the 50 percent “bonus depreciation” in his State of the Union address tonight, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Extending the break, which expired Dec. 31, would save companies that make qualified purchases of equipment such as tractors, wind turbines, solar panels and computers a total of $38 billion over this year and next, the official said.
Bonus depreciation was a tax element of the $787 billion economic recovery legislation adopted last February. It also has been a feature of earlier economic stimulus measures, including one adopted in 2003 under President George W. Bush. Read the rest of this entry »
The U.S. Isn’t as Free as It Used to Be
Posted by Tetyana Matychak in Trading Markets on January 26th, 2010
The United States is losing ground to its major competitors in the global marketplace, according to the 2010 Index of Economic Freedom released today by the Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal. This year, of the world’s 20 largest economies, the U.S. suffered the largest drop in overall economic freedom. Its score declined to 78 from 80.7 on the 0 to 100 Index scale.
![[index2010]](http://sg.wsj.net/public/resources/images/ED-AK833_index2_NS_20100119142047.gif)
Obama confident his proposed bank fee will become law
Posted by Tetyana Matychak in Banks on January 18th, 2010
President Barack Obama said Saturday that he’s determined his proposal to require banks repay taxpayers for financial-crisis aid through a special 10-year fee will become law.
“We’re not going to let Wall Street take the money and run. We’re going to pass this fee into law. And I’m going to continue to work with Congress on common-sense financial reforms to protect people and the economy from the kind of costly and painful crisis we’ve just been through,” Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address.
The “Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee” proposed by Obama Thursday would total at least $90 billion over 10 years. The fee would be charged to financial institutions with more than $50 billion in assets. The assessment would remain in place for at least 10 years, or until all losses from the Troubled Asset Relief Program or TARP were repaid. Ten firms will pay 60% of the tax. Read more about the proposed fee.
“Those who oppose this fee say the banks can’t afford to pay back the American people without passing on the costs to their shareholders and customers. But that’s hard to believe when there are reports that Wall Street is going to hand out more money in bonuses and compensation just this year than the cost of this fee over the next ten years,” Obama said. Read the rest of this entry »
There Will Be No ‘Second Wave’ Crisis
Posted by Tetyana Matychak in Budget on December 25th, 2009
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Tuesday the Obama administration is confident it will prevent a repeat of last year’s financial crisis, the worst to hit the country in seven decades.
“We are not going to have a second wave of financial crisis,” Geithner said in an interview with National Public Radio. “We cannot afford to let the country live again with a risk that we are going to have another series of events like we had last year. That is not something that is acceptable.”
Geithner, interviewed on NPR’s “All Things Considered” program, rejected the idea that a serious new crisis could be triggered by lingering problems with commercial real estate loans or with a sudden weakening in the value of the dollar.
“We will do what is necessary to prevent that and that is completely within our capacity to prevent,” he said.
Geithner spoke on a day when President Barack Obama met with executives from a number of community banks, reiterating his plea for banks to do more to lend to small businesses. Obama took a more conciliatory tone with the leaders of the smaller community banks than he had in a meeting last week with leaders of the country’s largest banks. Read the rest of this entry »
Unemployed? Refinancing Won’t Be Easy
Posted by Tetyana Matychak in Banks on July 20th, 2009
Mortgage rates are inching down, making refinancing more attractive for people who want to trim expenses. If you’re unemployed, however, your chances of successfully refinancing your home are very slim—especially if you can’t prove a steady source of income.
“A couple of years ago, it would have been technically very possible,” says Keith Gumbinger, vice president at mortgage information firm HSH Associates. As lenders have tightened standards, they’re now scrutinizing all aspects of potential borrowers’ financial lives.
“Income documentation is one of the primary ways lenders identify your ability to repay them,” says Mr. Gumbinger.
And while some homeowners may be able to use unemployment benefits to aid in qualification for a mortgage modification under the Obama administration’s Making Home Affordable plan, currently there isn’t much relief for the unemployed.
The Obama administration is exploring programs that could help unemployed workers get mortgage help, including possibly extending unemployment benefits, said Housing and Urban Development Department senior adviser William Apgar before the Senate Banking Committee last week. Read the rest of this entry »
Foreclosures rise 15 percent in first half of 2009
Posted by Tetyana Matychak in Budget on July 16th, 2009
The number of U.S. households on the verge of losing their homes soared by nearly 15 percent in the first half of the year as more people lost their jobs and were unable to pay their monthly mortgage bills.
The mushrooming foreclosure crisis affected more than 1.5 million homes in the first six months of the year, according to a report released Thursday by foreclosure listing service RealtyTrac Inc.
The data show that, despite the Obama administration’s plan to encourage the lending industry to prevent foreclosures by handing out $50 billion in subsidies, the nation’s housing woes continue to spread. Experts don’t expect foreclosures to peak until the middle of next year.
Foreclosure filings rose more than 33 percent in June compared with the same month last year and were up nearly 5 percent from May, RealtyTrac said.
“Despite all the efforts to date, we clearly haven’t got a handle on how to address the situation,”said Rick Sharga, RealtyTrac’s senior vice president for marketing. Read the rest of this entry »
Banks Oppose Financial Agency’s Costs; Consumers Seek Clarity
Posted by Tetyana Matychak in Budget on June 23rd, 2009
U.S. bankers lined up against a new federal oversight agency proposed by President Barack Obama, even as consumer advocates back the regulator as a way to help people understand the financial products they use.
“It would simply complicate our existing financial regulatory structure by adding another extensive layer of regulation,” American Bankers Association President Edward Yingling said in remarks prepared for a House Financial Services Committee hearing today in Washington. Improving existing rules “is likely to be more successful, more quickly, than a separate consumer regulator.”
Financial products are too complicated to permit consumers to compare terms with ease, said Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard University law professor who has backed a federal agency, in remarks prepared for today’s 10 a.m. Washington hearing.
The Consumer Financial Protection Agency is part of Obama’s regulatory overhaul to rein in abuses that contributed to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. The hearing is the first in a series by the House Financial Services Committee to transform the Obama proposal into legislation. Read the rest of this entry »
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Credit-Card Fees: the New Traps
26 February 2010
Credit regulations aim to help students
23 February 2010
The worst is yet to come
17 February 2010
Afflictions of liberty
8 February 2010
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