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regulators
by leon on March 20, 2010
Former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan helped create the real estate bubble that produced the global financial crisis when it burst. He routinely suppressed the forces of creative destruction that come...
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regulators
by leon on March 18, 2010
Everyone is appalled by the accounting shenanigans at Lehman Brothers that allowed its number crunchers to shift toxic assets off its books and pretend its debt was nowhere near as bad as it actual...
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regulators
by leon on March 6, 2010
Can we expect government regulators to start moving against hedge funds in the wake of the Greek crisis? If they do, it won't stop things blowing up again.The hedgies have been accused of blowi...
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regulators
by leon on February 24, 2010
So former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan has come out saying that this financial crisis is "by far" the worst in history. But whose fault is that?The so-called financial genius who plunged t...
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regulators
by leon on February 3, 2010
Back at the end of 2008, I did a blog entry looking at revelations from the Office of Inspector General that Securities and Exchange Commission employees were using SEC computers to access porn. In...
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by leon on January 27, 2010
It has been an extraordinary 12 months for tax crackdowns. And now the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development says its has obtained 195 tax information exchange agreement...
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regulators
by leon on January 25, 2010
More evidence that the bailout of AIG, and those generous payments to its trading partners, were part of a massive conspiracy that kept US taxpayers in the dark. And another sign that the banks are...
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regulators
by leon on January 25, 2010
And so with the banks, as reported by The Guardian, spending millions lobbying to stop the Obama administration from bringing them into line. They spent $26 million lobbying last year and you can b...
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regulators
by leon on January 22, 2010
Just when the Democrats thought it couldn't get any worse. The spirit of George W lives on!! Soon US taxpayers will hear more from big banks and pharmaceutical companies about their preferred c...
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by leon on January 4, 2010
Bubbles are popping up everywhere. The rally in the stock market is only one. Others include China, gold, renewable energy, the prices of junk financial stocks like Fannie, Freddie, AIG, Citi and B...
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regulators
by leon on December 31, 2009
Plenty has been said about the Securities and Exchange Commission launching surprise audits on money managers, ostensibly to ensure there are no more Bernard Madoffs. But in reality, the SEC's ...
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by leon on December 17, 2009
At the moment, the jury is still out on whether cell phones give you cancer.From Denmark, we have a comprehensive study conducted over a 30 year period showing that mobile phones do NOT cause cance...
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regulators
by leon on December 16, 2009
This year I have looked at how California might be forced to legalize marijuana because of its financial crisis. Marijuana is a great cash crop and dope sales could get more revenue in through the ...
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regulators
by leon on December 11, 2009
When it comes to climate change, these seem to be desperate times, the sort of times when people will come up with desperate solutions. The sort of solutions that will transform society, business ...
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regulators
by leon on December 10, 2009
President Barack Obama has come out with his job creation package that basically targets small business, infrastructure spending and energy efficiency. But will it work? Experts think not. They re...
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regulators
by leon on December 8, 2009
Ten years after the Clinton administration did the groundwork for the financial meltdown by repealing the Glass Steagall Act, something I looked at here. US lawmakers plan to bring it back with pr...
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regulators
by leon on December 5, 2009
In the lead up to Copenhagen, the International Monetary Fund has produced a report warns about the dangers of over compensating carbon producers by handing out too many free permits. First, ther...
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by leon on November 24, 2009
The whispers are getting louder with the New York Post reporting that JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is emerging as the replacement for beleaguered Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. According to t...
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by leon on November 22, 2009
More evidence of the military's growing clout with reports here and here that Us lawmakers are proposing higher taxes to pay for sending more troops to Afghanistan.Carl Levin, chairman of the Sena...
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regulators
by leon on November 15, 2009
The age of Big Brother is upon thanks to climate change. Yesterday, I did a blog entry looking at how the Dutch government plans to introduce a road tax to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Signif...
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by leon on November 7, 2009
Back in January, US unemployment was sitting at 7.2% and commentators were saying a stimulus package would fix everything. It hasn't. The latest appalling figures show that US unemployment has hit...
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regulators
by leon on October 29, 2009
The US government is moving on financial firms that are "too big to fail" and where the government has no choice but to "rescue" them when they get into trouble. Its plan is to make it easier...
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regulators
by leon on October 11, 2009
The US Government's big mistake was allowing Lehman Brothers to go bust because it under-estimated the impact that would have on the market. Regulators misjudged the systemic importance of that co...
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by leon on October 2, 2009
Having dragged the world into financial meltdown, ratings agencies are now in the gun with new rules requiring them to provide the Securities and Exchange Commission with data showing past informati...
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by leon on September 20, 2009
An idea that's flawed but worth considering from adjunct professor of earth and environmental sciences at Columbia University's Earth Institute, James Hansen.In this piece, Hansen suggests im...
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by leon on September 16, 2009
Back in June, the US Federal Trade Commission announced it was investigating the department store chain Sears for spying on its customers' online activity. It was a sneaky little arrangement whe...
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by leon on September 15, 2009
Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons.
- Woody Allen
I've been rich, I've been poor. Rich is better.
- Sophie Tucker
French president Nicolas Sarkozy wants to scr...
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regulators
by leon on September 14, 2009
Beware the law of unexpected consequences! The Obama administration's stimulus funds have boosted the gun industry, reports the Christian Science Monitor. According to that report, a record one ...
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by leon on September 6, 2009
The push for electric cars seems to be gathering pace with Japan's Mitsubishi and France's Peugeot-Citroen signing a contract to develop and market electric cars next year. Meanwhile, Hyunda...
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by leon on August 31, 2009
New revelations showing the sickness at the heart of the US financial system.The Center for Public Integrity presents a new report showing that firms that created the subprime lending frenzy, includ...
