Recent comments

  • I'm not up on the actual bill but Oxley,who retired in 2006, blocked a house bill which he claimed would have adverted this disaster. He say the White House gave them the 1 finger salute.

    Bear in mind he is a Republican and he goes further:

    Adamant that the only solution to the problems posed by Fannie and Freddie was their privatisation, the White House attacked the bill. Mr Greenspan also weighed in, saying that the House legislation was worse than no bill at all

    Oxley was one of the sponsors of a bill to clean up accounting after the Arthur Anderson accounting scandals of 2001.

    Reply to: The BailOut - and no, Not for You, Average Joe, Freddie & Fannie Seized   16 years 1 month ago
    EPer:
  • Might very well be also on the list for a surprise. Today the stock is hemorrhaging. Are we going to have a balance restatement?

    Reply to: Lehman Brothers Looks like our Friday Surprise   16 years 1 month ago
    EPer:
  • Yes but there is some additional negotiations being attempted....

    but how the game currently is...India establishes contract body shops in the United States, as a foreign controlled corporation, brings in guest workers and then turns around and contracts them out to US domestic corporations, displacing US workers. So they clearly have access to the local labor market, no problem and on top of it, take wages that were from US domestic operations and move them to a foreign subsidiary, while that US corporation now has the expense of a large contract award only. Wala, no employees or direct contractors. It's pure labor arbitrage and these Indian body shops are making a huge profit from it. Basically obtain a large contract with a US domestic firm, make huge profits and simply provide workers are much lower rates than US workers.

    7 out of the top 10 H-1B Visa applicants are these India body shops, so this is already going on even with the 75k H-1B Visa cap and also with the L-1.

    Even worse these same body shop companies, these 3rd party contract houses have offices offshore and often they use this method to obtain training from US workers and expertise then....wala, the entire project, division, service is moved back offshore to their even lower cost Domestic (in that country) headquarters.

    Even worse, one has interjected a "middle man" business by this set up, these body shops...that is simply making huge profits off of the backs of workers, a complete business model where profits are pure wage arbitrage.

    Reply to: What is WTO GATS Mode 4?   16 years 1 month ago
    EPer:
  • Workers under Mode 4 are not granted access to the local labor market. They must either be employed by a foreign firm with commercial presence where the service is provided or be under a contract for the provision of a service.

    Reply to: What is WTO GATS Mode 4?   16 years 1 month ago
  • would be they plain do not bail them out.

    I mean just how much debt can the US federal deficit take here without causing a major US dollar crash?

    Reply to: Lehman Brothers Looks like our Friday Surprise   16 years 1 month ago
    EPer:
  • The only real surprise would be if Lehman didn't have to be bailed out.

    Reply to: Lehman Brothers Looks like our Friday Surprise   16 years 1 month ago
    EPer:
  • The Ponzi scheme (aka Winter Watch) is collapsing. This via Reuters:

    The cost of protecting Lehman Brothers' (LEH.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) debt with credit default swaps rose by 50 percent on Tuesday amid concerns that the investment bank may be unable to raise needed capital.

    Five-year credit default swaps on Lehman Brothers traded at 490 basis points, or $490,000 a year to protect $10 million of debt -- about 163 basis points wider on the day, according to John Atkins, an analyst at IDEAglobal in New York

    Reply to: Lehman Brothers Looks like our Friday Surprise   16 years 1 month ago
    EPer:
  • I don't care if it's a diesel. I have a hybrid, but only because of the 42 mpg. I'd buy whatever gave me the best gas economy for the right price. 25k is a decent price point for that car. People are spending close to 30k for a base model Prius with cheap plastic interior parts. Wise up Ford!

    Reply to: 65 mpg from Ford- Not for US   16 years 1 month ago
    EPer:
  • God Damn it, are they determined to make sure the United States implodes?

    Reply to: Who will get bailed out next?   16 years 1 month ago
    EPer:
  • ....hell, put a crony in charge? Is that what's going on here, the Democratic version of Bush hide the statistics?

    Reply to: Who will get bailed out next?   16 years 1 month ago
    EPer:
  • I saw something about this from another source, so I know he isn't just making things up.

    There will be a meeting today to discuss how this is going to all fall out... But here's some perspective on the situation... First and foremost, there's a question as to whether the gov't's conservatorship constitutes a "CDS event," which would force the settlement of the CDS contracts that are outstanding..Fannie and Freddie have roughly $1.5 trillion in debt outstanding... But that's chickenfeed compared to the notional amounts of CDS contracts that could be multiples of that $1.5 trillion!

    If the gov't's conservatorship does constitute a "CDS event," there won't be enough debt to settle the contracts, which will lead to a need for cash... And that could lead to major problems, with the least of them being the holders needing cash might have to sell other assets to raise the cash needed...

    I know this all is confusing, it took me a time or two before I fully understood these Credit Default Swaps... But in essence, they are simply an insurance policy, as it can be used by a debt holder to hedge or insure against a default under the debt instrument. This would be under the heading of "derivatives" that you've heard all about. When the "credit event" or "default" occurs, then these contracts get unwound, and Peter pays Paul, and Paul pays Robert, and so on... In other words... It could get very ugly out there! The association that governs the Credit Default Swaps, ISDA, will meet today to discuss how this will all come down or fall out...

    Reply to: Who will get bailed out next?   16 years 1 month ago
    EPer:
  • They'll be adding those 99/100 thingies at the end of prices on everything. Your next burger could cost $2.99 99/100th!

    Reply to: Sign of the times: $.99 says they can't sell for under a buck!   16 years 1 month ago
    EPer:
  • this crisis and make an opportunity to reduce inequality in this country.

    After years of privatization, the time has come for a transitory period of nationalization.

    There are basic industries without which a nation loses sovereignty. Further, there are key industries that guide entire economic sectors. The Big Three are both.

    We are facing the very real prospect that there may soon be no American owned auto industry. We live in a mechanized age in which heavy industrial capacity is a determinant of military power. The death of the US auto industry would be a body blow to US political sovereignty. If the Chinese (or Indians) strip the auto industry, do suppose that they'll be willing to sell us Hummers if we get in a fight with them? The loss of this industry would be a loss of sovereignty.

    Second, government control of the auto assembly function would allow for the social direction of the entire auto sector while limiting the government footprint.

    Finally, I'm not suggesting that GM and Ford should remain nationalized.

    I'd like to see a three legged stool model in the long term

    1/3 government ownership. Allow for social direction, but only in terms of the election of corporate officers and the vision that they bring to the company. Use the dividends as a government revenue source to take the burden off direct taxation.

    1/3 worker ownership. Compose works councils at the companies that will give workers direction in the firm. Use the labor ownership stake to put labor directors on the board.

    1/3 private ownership. Lassiez faire. Let ownership in this sector follow the rules of the market. Use it to send market signals to the firm without killing the company in the process of making the mesage clear.

    Reply to: Who will get bailed out next?   16 years 1 month ago
  • At least Vladimir isn't afraid to crack a few heads to get done what needs getting done.

    The position of labor in the Russian Federation has been tenous at best, but Putin has shown a willingness to take on corporate elites when he needs to. I have no doubt he's pocketing money, but no one can say that in economic terms the average Russian is worse off today than they were in 1999.

    Reply to: Who will get bailed out next?   16 years 1 month ago
  • once again.

    In a move that should delight fiscal hawks, Democratic congressional budget lawmakers tapped Peter Orszag, a social security guru and former economic advisor to the Clinton administration, to head up the Congressional Budget Office.

    A widely respected fiscal economist, Orszag is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a think tank in Washington, and the director of The Hamilton Project, a sort of Democratic cabinet-in-waiting housed at Brookings.

    Reply to: Who will get bailed out next?   16 years 1 month ago
  • Well, through years and years of having lobbyists write your bills, requiring our government to go on all of those jet trips, all of those parties....I'm not surprised on their own they have no clue how to craft legislation and policy written on behalf of the American people and national interest.

    I don't know the tally but it sure seems like any bill, any amendment, pretty much anything not written by a corporate lobbyist or special interest group, even if it passes both houses, is stripped out by conferees.

    Putin is one scary dude and when a nation goes into economic collapse that is assuredly when the Dictators have a window to rise to power because the people become desperate for someone to take the right steps at least on some issues.

    Reply to: Who will get bailed out next?   16 years 1 month ago
    EPer:
  • Putin is a fascist bastard of the highest degree, but at least he is a real leader with some amount of competence.
    All we have in this country are incompetent fascist bastards.

    Reply to: Who will get bailed out next?   16 years 1 month ago
    EPer:
  • CBO

    BTW, over in the bottom right column is the CBO RSS feed pulled into the site and today they shared...

    CBO estimates that the deficit for 2008 will be $407 billion, substantially higher than last year’s $161 billion. As a share of the economy, the deficit is projected to rise to 2.9 percent of GDP this year, up from 1.2 percent of GDP in 2007. That 1.7 percentage point increase as a share of GDP is roughly evenly split between a 0.9 percentage point decline in revenue relative to GDP (reflecting the impact of lower corporate tax revenue and the rebates enacted as part of stimulus legislation this year) and a 0.8 percentage point increase in spending relative to GDP

    The CBO goes further to say this massive deficit will slow economic growth and is coming to 3% of GDP.

    CNN has more details in their report.

    Reply to: Who will get bailed out next?   16 years 1 month ago
    EPer:
  • Long before that deal. That was one aspect of the tanker deal that really should have been brought to light. I don't know the percentage of work and jobs going offshore of Boeing versus Airbus, but there should be a comparison.

    I don't know where the tanker deal is now, seems there was something about the specifications and last I heard Boeing needed more time.

    Reply to: Manufacturing Monday: Strike at Boeing, Dell to sell plants, and Solar Arabia,   16 years 1 month ago
    EPer:
  • 99¢ = 99.99¢ It's the new math brought to you direct from our federal deficit.

    Reply to: Sign of the times: $.99 says they can't sell for under a buck!   16 years 1 month ago
    EPer:

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