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02 Apr 2009 10:12

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Biz, U.S., World: Five quick highlights from inside the G20 summit

  • Steps are being taken to make sure countries avoid protectionism with funds. source
  • Countries are hashing out details on the level of regulation of global financial institutions. source
  • Some countries want everyone to agree on regulating tax havens, such as Hong Kong. source
  • A bunch of money – $100 billion more – is being put aside to help world trade. source
  • Obama said the U.S. would not be a “voracious consumer market” again. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

31 Mar 2009 10:47

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Tech: So Google, you have a new venture capital fund. Wanna help us?

  • We have a pretty cool, innovative format going on here. We’re not lame like most of those other blogs out there. We have a sense of humor and good taste in music. If this web site’s URL had a girlfriend, it’d be an Asian Design major. source
  • There are lots of ways you could help us – priority in search results, usage of Gmail and Google Docs – but ultimately, we think the best way would be giving us lots of money, so we could hire a huge staff. Thanks in advance. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 4 Comments • Permalink

28 Mar 2009 13:03

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Biz, World: An example of the mushroom effect of the credit crunch

  • The Royal Bank of Scotland, well-known for its globalization efforts, has been ordered by the British government to pump billions into the British credit market. source
  • So RBS can redouble its efforts in its homeland, the company has recently started to scale back and tried to sell a number of its global endeavors – in countries big and small. source
  • Due to the new tightening of credit in developing countries such as Vietnam and Romania, the world credit market takes a hit and begins to constrict even more. Yikes. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Mar 2009 18:07

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Biz: Stocks sucked today. But this week, overall, ruled.

  • 6.8% increase for the Dow this week; not bad duders source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Mar 2009 10:30

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Biz: Another piece of the economy, durable goods, unexpectedly perks up

  • +3.4 increase in durable goods (computers, machinery, etc.) sales in February; that’s really good. Time to party! source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Mar 2009 22:14

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U.S.: Keeping people in prison is really expensive, guys

  • 7.3 million people are currently in prison in the U.S.; no word on whether they’re wearing orange jumpsuits or striped black-and-white getups source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Mar 2009 21:20

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Politics, U.S.: Maryland senator wants to save the newspaper, legislatively

  • About the bill Sen. Benjamin Cardin of Maryland introduced a bill today that would allow newspapers to be treated as nonprofit organizations and get tax breaks. They would not be able to make political endorsements (i.e. opinion sections), but they could report objectively on the news, including political campaigns. Cardin says the loss of journalism “is a real tragedy for communities across the nation and for our democracy.” source
  • About the bill Sen. Benjamin Cardin of Maryland introduced a bill today that would allow newspapers to be treated as nonprofit organizations and get tax breaks. They would not be able to make political endorsements (i.e. opinion sections), but they could report objectively on the news, including political campaigns. Cardin says the loss of journalism “is a real tragedy for communities across the nation and for our democracy.”
  • Why it’s needed In case you haven’t read the tone of this blog when we’re not making fart jokes, this is about journalism and its long-term future. Newspapers are getting closed left and right. Recently, the Ann Arbor News announced that it would fold its print edition, which is a big deal because Ann Arbor, Mich. is a one-paper town. This trend is not good for the economy, it’s not good for local news and it’s not good for the public. source
  • About the bill Sen. Benjamin Cardin of Maryland introduced a bill today that would allow newspapers to be treated as nonprofit organizations and get tax breaks. They would not be able to make political endorsements (i.e. opinion sections), but they could report objectively on the news, including political campaigns. Cardin says the loss of journalism “is a real tragedy for communities across the nation and for our democracy.”
  • Why it’s needed In case you haven’t read the tone of this blog when we’re not making fart jokes, this is about journalism and its long-term future. Newspapers are getting closed left and right. Recently, the Ann Arbor News announced that it would fold its print edition, which is a big deal because Ann Arbor, Mich. is a one-paper town. This trend is not good for the economy, it’s not good for local news and it’s not good for the public.
  • Reactions You can imagine some people like this a lot, while whiny cranks don’t. A sample: “Seriously, after all that the Media has done to this Country, to think that I would want them to survive is asinine. Stop the presses, shutter the doors, fire the editors and let’s all do this online or by word of mouth.” Here’s an editorial statement: People who say things like this are freaking idiots. Even when you say you don’t love them, you know you really do. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

24 Mar 2009 10:34

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Biz, U.S.: Bankers falling off the wagon in high numbers, rehab clinics say

  • We absolutely do see more people coming in naming either a job loss or huge financial reversals or big investments with Bernie Madoff.
  • Sigurd Ackerman • The medical director at New Canaan, Connecticut’s Silver Hill Hospital rehabilitation facility, on the high number of former bankers coming in with alcoholism problems. Many (well, former) bankers live in New Canaan. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Mar 2009 09:30

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Biz, U.S.: Most of AIG’s top ten bonuses will be given back

  • nine execs have agreed to give their AIG bonuses back; the tenth guy didn’t. Let’s beat him up! source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Mar 2009 10:23

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Biz, U.S.: The Obama administration has a plan for toxic assets. Hoo-ray!

  • $500 billion amount the Obama administration wants to spend to buy back toxic assets, to later resell source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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