US Economy
As unemployment claims rise
White House rejects new measures to stem jobs crisis
By Barry Grey, October 24, 2009
Even as the Labor Department reported an unexpected rise in initial claims for unemployment benefits, the Obama administration and Democratic congressional leaders reiterated their opposition to any s...
US bankers cash in despite phony pay restraint
By Patrick Martin, October 24, 2009
According to the report issued Thursday by Treasury Department “pay czar” Kenneth Feinberg, at least 66 of the 138 bank and corporation executives under his jurisdiction will receive government-ap...
“A bit of a hoax”
White House unveils token bank pay restrictions
By Andre Damon and Joe Kishore, October 23, 2009
As details of the Obama administration’s bank pay restrictions were released, it became evident that they will do little to limit compensation, even at the handful of companies affected.
US Fed Chairman Bernanke demands austerity
By Barry Grey, October 22, 2009
In remarks Monday to a conference on Asia and the global economic crisis Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke called for austerity policies to rein in US budget deficits and the ballooning national d...
Sun Microsystems to cut 10 percent of workforce
By Andre Damon, October 22, 2009
Sun Microsystems, maker of servers and database software, announced plans Tuesday to lay off 3,000 people ahead of its merger with Oracle Corp.
One in six Americans in poverty in 2008
By Tom Eley, October 21, 2009
A revised analysis of 2008 US census data shows that nearly 50 million Americans, 15.8 percent of the population, lived in poverty.
Michigan governor slashes $54 million more from school funding
By Tom Eley, October 21, 2009
Michigan Governor Jennnifer Granholm on Monday vetoed another $54 million from public school funding, targeting school districts in metropolitan Detroit, and signed into law a statewide funding cut of...
Obama’s job creation fraud
By Jerry White, October 20, 2009
Data released last week shows that the Obama administration’s stimulus program has created a pitiful number of jobs, under conditions where 15 million people are out of work and joblessness is at th...
Oregon: plagued by homelessness, unemployment, cuts in social services
By Jon Spencer, October 20, 2009
The current crisis is hitting Portland, and the rest of Oregon, particularly hard, with state-wide unemployment levels competing with hard-pressed California for fourth place nationally.
Signs of the US dollar’s demise
By John Chan, October 19, 2009
An article the Independent on October 6 entitled “The demise of the dollar” is credited with adding to the recent weakness of the US dollar and the rise of gold prices.
The two Americas
By Andre Damon and Joe Kishore, October 19, 2009
Two reports in the media last week point to the interconnected phenomena of surging pay for bankers and record declines in the wages of the working class.
US House panel approves pro-Wall Street derivatives bill
By Barry Grey, October 19, 2009
The Financial Services Committee of the US House of Representatives on Thursday approved a bill incorporating loopholes and exemptions that will allow Wall Street banks to continue unimpeded their luc...
