Category: shock

October 22, 2008

Banks to Sit on Cash

In the US, bankers are admitting that they will likely sit on most of the cash that they’ve received from their government, mainly because ‘no one is going to lend a nickel until the economy turns’. So, as the media hyped up the ‘crisis’ and my dad nearly had a stroke because of the stress levels it induced, banks are going to sit on the […]

October 19, 2008

Financial Crisis Followup: Blackwater to Help with Evictions

Now that most real estate lies in the hands of the American government, it won’t be long before Blackwater comes knocking on the door of those who are trying to make one last go at holding on to their homes. Eviction notices will be deliverd by one of the world’s largest and fierce mercenary armies, thanks to a lot of funding during the Iraq war, […]

October 18, 2008

The Solution to Casino-Capitalism?

Ralph Nader has some timely suggestions for reducing or eliminating what he calls ‘casino-capitalism’:  a tax on transactions. Full story here. So what do you think?  Would the powers that be even remotely consider a tax on their own transactions?  No. That would be like asking a Ford to impose a tax on its own engines. I’m sorry if I sound resistant to the idea.  […]

October 13, 2008

Canadian Election: Best / Worst Moments

As the election looms, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the 2008 Canadian election and let you know what I thought were the top best/worst moments for me.  Please post yours below as well – I would appreciate your thoughts. The best moments for me, in no particular order, were the following: This rant , which was nominated ‘best rant of the […]

October 13, 2008

$400 Billion in Lehman Assets ‘lost’

Virtually overnight, nearly $400 billion in assets with Lehman Brothers were ‘lost’ weeks before last week’s global financial debacle. Story from Bloomberg here . Conspiract story here . What do this mean? Is Lehman the only commercial enterprise where assets are disappearing just before bailouts are being rewarded like treats for Pavlovian dogs? This kind of a story begs a lot of questions. For example, […]