Photo: Russell Lee

I keep receiving reports that banks are cutting lines and refusing to loan to healthy businesses. There are more reports of profitable car dealerships that had the plug pulled in …

By Craig Karmin and Liz Rappaport

Harvard’s endowment, scalded in the financial crisis, is shying from some riskier bets even as markets had been improving—and losing talent in the process.

Marc S…

I published Solari & the Rise of the Rule of Law in 2002. I thought it might be appropriate to republish one of the sections on the blog. Our consciousness is shifting. I sense that more people wo…

California State Budget Crisis Not Caused by the Recession

by Peter Phillips

The budget crisis in California has been artificially created by cutting taxes on the wealthiest people and corporations….

By Edgar Ortega

NYSE Euronext (See 1) and (See 2) handled $38.05 trillion in stock trades across seven equity markets last year under CEO Duncan Niederauer, a 49-year-old former Goldman Sachs Grou…

By Scott Lanman

Bernanke, whose term expires Jan. 31, faces lawmakers at a hearing this week on steps to aid Bank of America Corp.’s takeover of Merrill Lynch & Co. as Congress increasingly…

The recent international banking incident between the US government and Swiss banking authorities in which Treasury demanded private account information about holdings of US citizens in Swiss bank a…

by John Rubino

Facts have a different feel when they’re personal. And speaking personally, evidence that Americans are seriously spooked is starting to pile up. In the past few months:

• I che…

By: Paul Sutherland

NASA will tomorrow launch a spectacular mission to bomb the Moon. Their LCROSS mission will blast off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying a missile that will blast a hole in …

Last week, the firm predicted that President Barack Obama’s government could issue $3.25tn of debt before September, almost four times last year’s sum. Goldman, a prime broker of US government bonds…

Amidst global economic recession and financial-market fragility, net private capital inflows to developing countries fell to 707 billion US dollars in 2008, a sharp drop from a peak of 1.2 trillion in…

The discussion and debate about the $134.5 billion bonds seized by the Italian government continues. We thought we would put all the links in one post.

Discrepancies in America’s Accounts Hide a …

Thomas Geissler of TG Gold-Super-Markt

By Richard Evans and Harry Wallop

Holidaymakers passing through Britain’s airports could soon have the chance to buy a block of gold from a vending machine, r…

By Scott Rasmussen

Republicans by nearly three-to-one say global warming is caused by planetary trends, while Democrats believe human activity is to blame by the same margin. Voters not affiliated w…

There’s only ONE shot that’s in perfect harmony with the field… One shot that’s his authentic shot, and that shot is gonna choose him… There’s a perfect shot out there tryin’ to find each and ever…

by Rick Rozoff

Since the beginning of the year the United States and NATO have repeatedly indicated in both word and deed their intention to lay claim to and extend their military presence in what …

By Barry Eichengreen & Kevin H. O’Rourke
Voxeu.org

“This is an update of the authors’ 6 April 2009 column comparing today’s global crisis to the Great Depression. World industrial production, tra…

Obama Initiative Seeks Fix To Finance Regulations
Yahoo Finance (17 Jun 09)

Obama Bank Revamp May Stall as Competing Issues Mount
Bloomberg.com (15 Jun 09)

FACTBOX – Obama Plan to Tighten Financial …

Background Information

A new food safety bill is on the fast track in Congress-HR 2749, the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009. The bill needs to be stopped.

HR 2749 gives FDA tremendous power w…

Photo By: Joel Black

Dr. Sam Chachoua is a talented physician who had to leave the United States for reasons of safety and to protect his vaccines and knowledge. Here is a video from the late 1990’…

Photo: PA

By Andrew Alderson

For the first time since the Second World War vegetables are being grown in the Palace’s grounds alongside ornamental plants.

The move comes amid a surge in demand fro…

Brass Check TV

The Bush Doctrine, Economic Warfare and Your Investment Portfolio

By Rob Kirby

In a military sense, we are all familiar with and can visibly recognize the physical manifestations of the implementa…

By: Jean-LeonGerome

For a long time, I have believed that community prayer can play an important role in transforming communities. That said, I don’t know much about community prayer and would lov…

Chicago’s 49th Ward

The participatory budgeting networks are abuzz with excitement about the participatory budgeting effort being introduced in the 49th Ward of Chicago.

The Watson Institute for In…

By: Kurt Nimmo

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Ron Paul’s Federal Reserve Transparency Act, HR 1207, has reached and surpassed the level of 218 cosponsors in the House of Representatives, which means…

Doctors Warn: Avoid Genetically Modified Food
By Jeffrey M. Smith

On May 19th, the American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) called on “Physicians to educate their patients, the medical comm…

Listen to the MP3 audio file

The Solari Report – 11 June 2009

Download the MP3 audio file

Audio

This is the second week of the month. That means I am headed over to …

By: Valuation Review
A new announcement from Fannie Mae calls for all appraisal data to be submitted electronically beginning March 2010. Uh oh, there goes the paper trial!
Lenders Can Deliver Electr…

Chicago’s 49th Ward

I thought I would create a space where readers could post links or other information on governmental resources related to Chicago’s 49th Ward. Here are links related to park hold…

By: MercoPress

In 2008, the world total military expenditure was an estimated 1.464 trillion US dollars, accounting for an increase of 4% in real terms compared to 2007, and an increase of 45% since…

Vatican Study Endorses GMOs for Food Security

Analysis: The academy aimed less to conduct an objective appraisal than to mobilize public support

By John L. Allen, Jr

In what seemed largely a forego…

Palmer pigweed in a Southern cotton field.

By Clea Caulcutt

The gospel of high-tech genetically modified (GM) crops is not sounding quite so sweet in the land of the converted. A new pest, the ev…

ATA Truck Tonnage Index Fell Another 2.2 Percent in April
American Trucking Association (26 May 09)

Association of American Railroads – Weekly Traffic Report
“Lower electricity demand and higher co…

Chrysler Asset Deal Stayed by U.S. Supreme Court
Bloomberg.com (8 Jun 09)

U.S. Says TARP Issue Out of Court’s Reach
Scotusblog.com (8 Jun 09)

Reference: Fiat Board of Directors / Wikipedia on Fiat…

By Dena Aubin and John Parry – Analysis
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Is Campbell’s Soup a better bet than U.S. government debt?
No, we’re not talking about stocking a bunker for survival. This is talk ab…

Photo By: Merrick Davies

View Article

[I get fascinating feedback. Here is an example. Worth thinking about the IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) and whether the oil price manipulations were part of an intentional hit. Cui Bono? Who benefits…

Photo: Douglas Jackson of E-Gold

By Kim Zetter

Jackson, 51, is the maverick founder of E-Gold, the first-of-its-kind digital currency that was once used by millions of people in more than a hundred…

Photo by: Media Gallery

The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on April 28, 2009, on the question of whether state officials are barred by the National Bank Act and regulations of the Office of the…

My good friend Jason Eaton wants a new logo for his website Social Thread. So he is having a design competition. It is an interesting way to get a new logo!

Mark Lundeen has just published week 86 in his “Bear Market Race to the Bottom Series.”

View the series to date at Gold Speculator—weeks 69 through 86.

by Dennis Cauchon

Benefits, such as Social Security, food stamps, unemployment insurance and health care, accounted for 16.2% of personal income in the first quarter of 2009, the Bureau of Economic A…

Photo By: Wall Street Geek

By Marcy Gordon and Greg Risling

Angelo Mozilo, the man who rode the housing boom to build Countrywide Financial Corp. into a California colossus of high-risk mortgage le…

By David Weidner

The reality of shareholder enfranchisement is harsh and depressing, a testament to the intractability of the system and the apathy of participants. In America’s corporate proxy conte…

Alas, the official statistics grow ever more suspect. Here are some comments on the real unemployment numbers.

May Employment Report Not Believable

Temp Work Helps Mask Joblessness Among Americans

…

Youtube

As discussed in last night’s Solari Report, the top story of the week is the abrogation of the social contract in America. Bernake alluded to it in his testimony this week, saying:

“The fun…

By Peter Zeihan

The global recession is the biggest development in the global system in the year to date. In the United States, it has become almost dogma that the recession is the worst since the …

Below are the top 20 financial institutions by market capitalization in 1999 and then in 2009.

Read article

View both charts in larger format

View article

If you want to get an in-depth overview of the many problems facing the American food system, here is a good overview.

Related Links:

Support the Crosby Mint Farm

Food – Where does it really come f…

By Shawn Dady

Tennessee Representative Frank Nicely has been quietly working on a cow-share bill for the state of Tennessee. This is a very good thing. He crafted the bill working with the The West…

By: Kirby Anaylytics Newsletter

QUITO, May 30 (Reuters) – Ecuador’s government-run central bank has ordered private banks to repatriate $1.2 billion in overseas deposits and investments to help jump-start the economy, leftist Pres…

[CAF Note: But are they buying real gold or paper gold?]

By Andrew Frye

Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co., the third-largest U.S. life insurer by 2008 sales, has bought gold for the first tim…

Credit: John Tenniel

by Greg Palast

They may be crying about General Motors’ bankruptcy today. But dumping 40,000 of the last 60,000 union jobs into a mass grave won’t spoil Jamie Dimon’s day.

Bu…