I just received an e-mail message from a conference speaker –someone I have not yet met in person and would welcome knowing. We know each other by name. He thanked me for attending his speech earlie…

PricewaterhouseCoopers agreed in March to pay $30 Million in a settlement regarding its role as an auditor to Metropolitan Mortgage in Washington State.

Here is the original Complaint:

Metropolitan …

The way to view the Paulson Plan is as a piece of a global plan to centralize the financial system:

Global Revamp Urged For the Regulation of MarketsWall Street Journal (07 Apr 2008)

It will now be …

Chris Powell of GATA recently published this important insight:

If one puts today’s news together …

Arabian Gulf Oil Principalities Will Stick with Dollar Until They Achieve Monetary Union in 2010…

In our Top Picks this week, there is a story entitled Weather Engineering in China by Technology Review. While a number of people have hinted that “weather modification” may be real, this is the firs…

In our Top Picks this week, there is a story entitled Weather Engineering in China by Technology Review. While a number of people have hinted that “weather modification” may be real, this is the firs…

I thought I would lay out the specifics of the U.S. Treasury plan to centralize and consolidate the U.S. financial regulatory system before commenting on it. A description of Treasury Secretary Paulso…

Former Goldman Sachs chairman Hank Paulson is not the only person supporting increased powers for the Federal Reserve:

Obama Calls for Overhaul of Financial Regulations

Did you know that Goldman Sa…

“We can do this nice or we can do this rough.”
—Tina Turner from Proud Mary

OK, so this morning’s on-line Wall Street Journal provides us with an excellent example of the multiple personality …

I am still amazed when I hear comments that the U.S. housing bubble started in this decade. In November 2001, I presented a paper at an investment conference in London in one of many attempts from 199…

So now JP Morgan is going to pay $10 per share for Bear Stearns?
JP Morgan Agrees to Increase Bear Price
By Kevin Kingsbury – Wall Street Journal (24 Mar 2008)
Bear May Have Lived
By Paul Tharp – New …

For those who want to understand the relationship of sex to mortgage fraud, The Franklin Cover-Up by Nebraska Senator John DeCamp is a must read. This is because it is essential to understand what Ell…

The Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development after Jack Kemp was Henry Cisneros.

Cisneros was HUD Secretary in the Clinton Administration from 1992 to 1996. For the steps to be t…

As if last weekend’s shotgun merger agreement between Bear Stearns and JP Morgan was not wild enough, things just keep getting weirder. Bear Stearns stock is trading above $5, which says something…

A great insight from Jim Willlie in his Golden Jackass March Newsletter.
Imports to the US are slowing, but import prices are seriously in uptrend. Total US import prices are up 13.6% on an annual bas…

The US economy depends on access to energy and the role of dollar as the reserve currency. Take those two things away and the source of funds to finance the US military-industrial interests shrink ra…

Well, now we have a hint as to why the American Bar Association does not seem to object to predatory lending and weekend bailouts. Either that or Sullivan & Cromwell and Skadden Arps are insisti…

I wonder who made money on puts on Bear Stearns stock? Was this a highly profitable economic hit?

SEC: Bear Stearns’s Liquidity Eroded Rapidly Since Tuesday

By Judith Burns – Dow Jones Newswire…

I am excited about all the good things percolating here in Tennessee. Saturday was a rainy day full of the promise of Spring – perfect for a trip with my dog over to Hohenwald, Tennessee.
I spe…

Alan Greenspan’s comments on the current financial situation here:

Greenspan Sees Many Casualties From Crisis
By Jamie McGeever & Ian Chua – Reuters (17 Mar 2008)

Catherine’s translation here:

Our …

Dangerous Wheat-Killing Fungus Detected in Iran
From the UN News Centre (5 Mar 2008)
“A dangerous new fungus with the ability to destroy entire wheat fields has been detected in Iran, the United Natio…

letters@time.com

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Thank you for publishing “The Wire’s War on the Drug War” by this TV series producer and writing team, Ed Burns, Dennis Lehane, George Pelecanos, Richard Pric…

letters@time.com

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Thank you for publishing “The Wire’s War on the Drug War” by this TV series producer and writing team, Ed Burns, Dennis Lehane, George Pelecanos, Richard Pric…

Well, Eliot Spitzer’s resignation was just in time. Can you imagine what he would have said about this?

As of December 31, 2007, the New York State Teacher’s Retirement System owned 493,007 shares…

On February 14th, Eliot Spitzer published an editorial in the Washington Post about the federal role in promoting predatory lending:
“When history tells the story of the subprime lending crisis and re…

To understand the political issues that determine the rise and fall of New York Attorney Generals and Governors such as Eliot Spitzer, it is helpful to map the financial flows in New York and how they…

To understand the political issues that determine the rise and fall of New York Attorney Generals and Governors such as Eliot Spitzer, it is helpful to map the financial flows in New York and how they…

HOW IS THE WAR GOING IN IRAQ?

MARCH 13, 2008. Media reports about the surge in Iraq indicate it’s been working, and now the war is dropping off the radar screens of voters, according to new polls.

…

In the summer of 1989, I was serving as Assistant Secretary of Housing at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in the first Bush Administration. The Secretary of Housing was Jack Ke…

In the summer of 1989, I was serving as Assistant Secretary of Housing at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in the first Bush Administration. The Secretary of Housing was Jack Ke…

Special kudos to Jim Sinclair of jsmineset.com who has dubbed the new fed loan system to member banks as “the monetization of bankruptcy.”

I think Jim is still a tad gracious. I would say that the “…

So, with rumors circulating of more write offs and major financial institutions in trouble, does Wall Street want Elliot Spitzer out? Could it be he offended both banks and black budget folks with his…

So, with rumors circulating of more write offs and major financial institutions in trouble, does Wall Street want Elliot Spitzer out? Could it be he offended both banks and black budget folks with his…

This weekend, mega defense contractor United Technologies announced an offer for Diebold (1) (2) at a 66% premium to the current stock market price. Leading this effort is the board of directors of Un…

This weekend, mega defense contractor United Technologies announced an offer for Diebold (1) (2) at a 66% premium to the current stock market price. Leading this effort is the board of directors of Un…

An unanswered question proposed for our discussion:

Is M3 rising at 15-25% rate really a combination of a much higher M3 printing loans and money (including in the form of fictitious marking up abov…

The new spin is that the recession will be short, but the recovery will not be because “Father Fed” is going to deal with inflation for our own good. Kind of like the pedophile who insists he tenderl…

Sometimes I am asked how to prepare for a worst case scenario if we experience a financial or political meltdown in the U.S. or the global banking system. One way to help yourself imagine what such …

“Due to budgetary constraints, the Economic Indicators service will be discontinued effective March 1, 2008.”

Economic Indicators.gov is brought to you by the Economics and Statistics Ad…

Thanks to the wonderful opensecrets.org, here are the top 20 contributors for the candidates running in the Presidential primaries.
[* These charts list the top donors to the candidate in the 2008 ele…

Whistle-Blower Site Taken Offline
From BBC News (18 Feb 2008)

Wikileaks Taken Down By Order of a US Court
By Phil Cubeta – Gift Hub (18 Feb 2008)
U.S. Court Shuts Down Whistleblower Site
By Pau…

One way for municipalities to address the credit contraction and
creeping financial coup d’etat we have been writing about and to help
protect their citizenry from a falling dollar is to issue local c…

~ Updates

Bank Wants Out of Clear Channel TV Sale
RadioWorldOnline (29 Feb 2008)
Wachovia May Halt Clear Channel-Providence Deal
Bizjournals.com (25 Feb 2008)
(Click the image to view the full Compla…

In recent testimony, New York Governor Eliot Spitzer referred to the
efforts by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to dilute and
stop state enforcement efforts against predatory lending. Se…

In recent testimony, New York Governor Eliot Spitzer referred to the
efforts by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to dilute and
stop state enforcement efforts against predatory lending. Se…

Maher Brothers Make $1.1 Billion Claim Against LehmanSource: American Shipper – East Coast Connection (21 Jan 2008)

Lehman Clients Demand $1.1 Billion in Auction Dispute (Update2)
Bloomberg (18 Jan…

For those who want to check out the social prestige being purchased by a few of the perpetrators of the subprime mortgage bust, check out Slate Magazines latest:

The 60 Largest American Charitable …

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is the owner of the World Trade Center. Bloomberg reports Goldman Sachs just had trouble auctioning Port Authority variable rate paper — with the rate so…

As I have mentioned before, the housing bubble and bust is successfully stripping municipalities of their financial sovereignty.

The Creeping Financial Coup d’Etat

To make matters worse, with munici…

I appreciate all the calls I have received from folks checking to see if I was ok after the latest round of tornados. We had quite a theatrical evening last week when the storms came through. My house…

A sampling from today’s Wall Street Journal of investigations of financial firms over the subprime downturn:

Brooklyn US Attorney’s office: criminal investigation of Bear Stearns and UBS
Manhattan …

Would you help us get accurate information about the missing money to
the Diane Rehm Show? I have sent her a note about a serious error on this morning’s show, “The Budget and the Deficit 10am Thurs…

Anti-War Candidates are Top Recipients of ’08 Donations from US Troops
From ThinkProgress.org

Individuals in the Army, Navy and Air Force made those branches of the armed services among the top contr…

Anti-War Candidates are Top Recipients of ’08 Donations from US Troops
From ThinkProgress.org

Individuals in the Army, Navy and Air Force made those branches of the armed services among the top contr…