No More Payday Predators … If you were thinking straight, would you pay more than 300 percent in annualized interest – or risk losing your home – to borrow a few hundred dollars? If the answer is no, you might see the wisdom of regulating the short-term, small-sum credit commonly known as payday lending. – BloombergDominant Social Theme: Those who prey on the poor are repre...Read More
Attorney General Eric Holder has given the Justice Department an opportunity to rewrite his legacy as the lead federal prosecutor who refused to take on some of the most notoriously larcenous bankers in history. – TruthoutDominant Social Theme: Remove this curse of predatory lending.Free-Market Analysis: Predatory lending is a big meme these days. During the sub-prime postmortems it was brou...Read More
No More Payday Predators … If you were thinking straight, would you pay more than 300 percent in annualized interest – or risk losing your home – to borrow a few hundred dollars? If the answer is no, you might see the wisdom of regulating the short-term, small-sum credit commonly known as payday lending. – BloombergDominant Social Theme: Those who prey on the poor are repre...Read More
Put Extra Eyes on the Fed … From its actions during the 2008 financial crisis to its policy of quantitative easing, there has been a considerable amount of controversy regarding the Federal Reserve system in recent years. Now that Republicans have taken control of the U.S. Senate, the calls for the U.S. Government Accountability Office to "audit the Fed" have increased and gotten l...Read More
Is Russia Planning a Gold-Based Currency? … The "perfect-storm" of geopolitical instability, diplomatic isolation, severe currency depreciation, and economic decline now confronting Russia has profoundly damaged Moscow's international standing, and possibly for the long-term. Yet, it is precisely such conditions that may push the country's leadership into taking the radical...Read More
Put Extra Eyes on the Fed … From its actions during the 2008 financial crisis to its policy of quantitative easing, there has been a considerable amount of controversy regarding the Federal Reserve system in recent years. Now that Republicans have taken control of the U.S. Senate, the calls for the U.S. Government Accountability Office to "audit the Fed" have increased and gotten l...Read More
Is Russia Planning a Gold-Based Currency? … The "perfect-storm" of geopolitical instability, diplomatic isolation, severe currency depreciation, and economic decline now confronting Russia has profoundly damaged Moscow's international standing, and possibly for the long-term. Yet, it is precisely such conditions that may push the country's leadership into taking the radical...Read More
Regulating the Regulators … U.S. lawmakers say they want regulators — notably, financial regulators — to weigh the economic impact of their actions more carefully. That's actually not a bad idea, as long as it doesn't end up neutering rules that the economy badly needs. With the stated goal of reducing red tape and a modicum of Democratic support, Republicans in Congress...Read More
US hosts anti-extremism summit after global terror attacks … The US has opened a three-day summit on countering violent extremism. Representatives from around the world are attending the gathering, which follows shooting incidents in Denmark, France and Australia. Vice President Joe Biden said it was imperative to engage with immigrants who may be radicalised because of marginalisation. &quo...Read More
Regulating the Regulators … U.S. lawmakers say they want regulators — notably, financial regulators — to weigh the economic impact of their actions more carefully. That's actually not a bad idea, as long as it doesn't end up neutering rules that the economy badly needs. With the stated goal of reducing red tape and a modicum of Democratic support, Republicans in Congress...Read More
US hosts anti-extremism summit after global terror attacks … The US has opened a three-day summit on countering violent extremism. Representatives from around the world are attending the gathering, which follows shooting incidents in Denmark, France and Australia. Vice President Joe Biden said it was imperative to engage with immigrants who may be radicalised because of marginalisation. &quo...Read More
3% down payments lure first-time homebuyers … After years of moving around the country for his job with Marriott hotels, John Eddleman wanted to put down roots. Last month, he bought a brick bungalow on Des Moines' south side, taking advantage of a recent federal policy change that allows down payments of as low as 3%. "It came at just the right time because otherwise I would have h...Read More
In Yemen there is no longer a government or a president. On January 22, after the Houthi, (Zaydi Shiites) militiamen in the north besieged the presidential palace in Sana'a, both interim President (since 2012) Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi and Prime Minister Khaled Bahah (of a caretaker government which secured parliamentary confidence in December 2014), resigned. Washington has closed its embassy an...Read More
3% down payments lure first-time homebuyers … After years of moving around the country for his job with Marriott hotels, John Eddleman wanted to put down roots. Last month, he bought a brick bungalow on Des Moines' south side, taking advantage of a recent federal policy change that allows down payments of as low as 3%. "It came at just the right time because otherwise I would have h...Read More
In Yemen there is no longer a government or a president. On January 22, after the Houthi, (Zaydi Shiites) militiamen in the north besieged the presidential palace in Sana'a, both interim President (since 2012) Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi and Prime Minister Khaled Bahah (of a caretaker government which secured parliamentary confidence in December 2014), resigned. Washington has closed its embassy an...Read More
What a Central Bank Can, and Can't, Do About Government Debt … In the 1920s, Britain embarked on a determined drive to work off the debt accumulated during the First World War through a program of severe austerity. As the International Monetary Fund pointed out in a 2012 report, Britain failed; by the early 1930s, its debt was higher as a share of GDP than it was at the start of the 1920...Read More
Republicans: We will get blamed for DHS shutdown … Republicans are getting pummeled in the messaging wars amid an escalating standoff over Homeland Security funding. In interviews with The Hill, centrist Republicans are conceding that their party — not the Democrats — will be blamed if the critical agency shuts down at the end of the month. – The HillDominant Social Theme:...Read More
What a Central Bank Can, and Can't, Do About Government Debt … In the 1920s, Britain embarked on a determined drive to work off the debt accumulated during the First World War through a program of severe austerity. As the International Monetary Fund pointed out in a 2012 report, Britain failed; by the early 1930s, its debt was higher as a share of GDP than it was at the start of the 1920...Read More
Republicans: We will get blamed for DHS shutdown … Republicans are getting pummeled in the messaging wars amid an escalating standoff over Homeland Security funding. In interviews with The Hill, centrist Republicans are conceding that their party — not the Democrats — will be blamed if the critical agency shuts down at the end of the month. – The HillDominant Social Theme:...Read More
Dallas Fed chief urges power shift at bank … The outgoing head of the Dallas Federal Reserve called Wednesday for major changes to the central bank's power structure, arguing that current policies fuel perceptions that big banks have too much influence with regulators. During a fiery speech to the Economic Club of New York, President Richard Fisher criticized the current structure, argui...Read More