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28 May 2010 11:11

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Politics: Hillary Clinton brilliantly flips national debt issue on its head

  • We cannot sustain this level of deficit financing and debt without losing our influence, without being constrained in the tough decisions we have to make … [it’s time to] make the national security case about reducing the deficit and getting the debt under control.
  • Secretary of State Hillary Clinton • Making an argument that the national debt could be handled better with a smaller U.S. military presence around the world. Her argument? The high level of national debt and deficit could be even more dangerous than having a weak military. Clinton is suggesting we work with other emerging countries to help lift the military burden off of the U.S. Will this work? Good question. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 May 2010 10:34

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U.S.: Museums forced to sell pricey items to keep the doors open

  • Some of the items are super-expensive. Many museums are finding that they need extra cash, so they’ve been selling some of their items. It comes with caveats, though: The American Association of Museums says they can only use the proceeds to acquire more items or directly care for the items they already have. Even so, though, it’s not stopping fire sales like these:
  • $3.2M the amount that Cleveland’s Western Reserve Historical Society has earned from selling collection items
  • $81k the amount that the Beloit, Wis. Historical Society made by selling a page of an Abe Lincoln State of the Union draft
  • $1M the amount an Oregon museum stands to make by selling a 1880s-era hotel; they’ve faced deep budget cuts source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 May 2010 21:14

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Biz, U.S.: The federal deficit blew the roof off of April’s record

  • 19 straight months of federal
    deficit increases source
  • » Why it’s alarming this time: It’s relatively rare for deficit increases to happen in the month of April, due to the fact that it’s tax season and lots of revenue is coming in. In fact, there’s been an April surplus 43 of the last 56 years. Even crazier, the increase this April was four times bigger than last April, from $20 billion to $83 billion. That’s also twice the Wall Street estimate of $40 billion.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 8 Comments • Permalink

12 May 2010 20:56

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World: Three things Britain’s new coalition government wants to do

  • More consistent votes Create a more consistent schedule of leadership change by setting elections for parliament for every five years. The legislature can do it sooner if 55 percent of parliament votes to do so.
  • Austerity measures Like much of Europe, the coalition government plans to do something about the large amount of debt it’s built up. It won’t be quite as insane as Greece, but expect some things to get cut out of the budget.
  • Creating jobs 2.5 million Britons are unemployed, a number that might affect the strength of the coalition if they don’t do something about it. Expect Clegg’s people and Cameron’s people to be on it. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 May 2010 21:28

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Biz: The European Union throws a ton of money at debt crisis

  • €720B
     could get loaned to European countries greatly affected by the debt crisis
  • €440B
     the amount European countries will make available; the EU will loan €60 billion
  • €220B more could come from the Greece-helping International Monetary Fund source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 May 2010 11:11

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World: Greece willing to “walk it alone” on drastic austerity plans

  • We will press ahead, even if we have to walk alone, without the backing of other parties.
  • Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou • On the country’s plan to completely reboot its economy, despite large protests and heavy criticism from its citizens. If they can’t get help from its fellow European countries, they’ll do it anyway. In other news, PEOPLE DIED in these protests. Oh, and many are concerned that they will not have enough money to survive. Unfortunately, Greece is in a rock-hard place situation due to all of that debt, so widespread public concern may not be enough to shake the leadership. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

04 May 2010 22:52

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Biz: The Dow lost a big chunk of its recent winning streak today

  • 15% amount the Dow gained over an eight-week period until last week
  • 2% amount the Dow lost over an eight-hour period earlier today source
  • » Why the slide? Investors are looking at Greece’s massive debt problems and seeing the possibility that this could happen in the U.S. and other countries. Dudes are getting nervous.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

18 Apr 2010 11:57

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Offbeat: Unlucky kids at prom pick limo company with major debt issues

  • good You’re going to prom, and you rent a super-expensive limo.
  • bad The limo company had financial issues you didn’t know about.
  • worse The limos get repossessed while you’re inside. Gah! source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Apr 2010 09:51

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Biz: Even for those on Obama’s foreclosure plan, it’s not really helping

  • 75% of people in Obama’s foreclosure-prevention plan owe more than their homes are worth
  • 50% of people owe more than
    25 percent in negative equity on
    their homes; crazy source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Apr 2010 11:05

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U.S.: Debt-ridden California owes a lot of money in pensions

  • $500
    billion     amount the state owes in
    pensions, according to a Stanford
    University study
  • 2,000%
    increase     the amount California’s
    pension burden increased between 1999 and 2009 source
  • » Why is this bad for California? David Crane of the L.A. Times notes that this pension burden is what’s really holding the state back. Because they have this huge albatross on their back, they’re forced to cut other, arguably more important things, like education.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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