Treasury Secretary “Hank” Paulson was the trailblazer with his proposal for TARP in September 2008. He went to the Congress with a list of demands—unlimited powers to hand unlimited amounts of taxpayer money to whomever—and threatened that the whole world would collapse if his demands weren’t met. It worked. So Greek prime ministers imitated him. And now Christine Lagarde, managing director at the IMF, tried it too.
Wall Street shenanigans
The Strenuously Hushed-Up Basic Flaw In The Tax Code
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on The Strenuously Hushed-Up Basic Flaw In The Tax Code
“Corporate Tax Dodging In The Fifty States” found that the largest corporations paid little or no state income taxes in any state. A prior report found that some of the most profitable corporations paid no federal income taxes. Both reports point at a major problem dogging the US economy: the tax code—and its basic flaw that not even tax reformers dare to mention.
Bailing out Zombies, Again
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Bailing out Zombies, Again
The government forks over another $13.8 billion to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to cover their losses for the last quarter. The regular drumbeat of bailout billions handed to these zombies barely enters the nation’s consciousness anymore, but it adds up: $184.8 billion since 2008. And there is no end in sight. Supercommittee, where art thou?
Where the Heck is Ron Paul? A Media Boycott Heats Up
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Where the Heck is Ron Paul? A Media Boycott Heats Up
NPR’s report on tonight’s GOP debate covered about everything you can cover in a few minutes: Palin’s and Christie’s exit from the race; Cain’s from-the-outside strategy; Romney’s 25% ceiling; and Perry’s effort to make up ground he lost in the last three debates. But where the heck is Ron Paul? And it’s not just NPR.
Dear Ben, Please Make Us Trillionaires
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Dear Ben, Please Make Us Trillionaires
In the Bowels the Jobs Report: 15.4 Million Missing Jobs
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on In the Bowels the Jobs Report: 15.4 Million Missing Jobs
Yakuza: ‘We Have To Evolve Our Business Model’
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Yakuza: ‘We Have To Evolve Our Business Model’
Dear Ben, Please Print us More Money
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Dear Ben, Please Print us More Money
We want you to prop up the stock market. Everybody knows it’s a Ponzi scheme that will collapse without your support. You don’t want us to end up like Bernie Madoff’s clients. No, Ben, we love Ponzi schemes. We get in early and get out before they collapse. That’s why we’re rich. The bad thing is that they sometimes collapse before we can get out. But you’ve bailed us out twice in the last couple of years….