Washington Post
by Robert J. Samuelson

11/02/09

The idea that the government of a major advanced country would default on its debt — that is, tell lenders that it won’t repay them all they’re owed — was, until recently, a preposterous proposition. Argentina and Russia have stiffed their creditors, but surely the likes of the United States, Japan or Britain wouldn’t. Well, it’s still a very, very long shot, but it’s no longer entirely unimaginable. Governments of rich countries are borrowing so much that it’s conceivable that one day the twin assumptions underlying their burgeoning debt (that lenders will continue to lend and that governments will continue to pay) might collapse. What happens then?

http://tinyurl.com/yfhe39p



Make them afraid Of Wall StreetÂ’s money

Our Future Blog
by Isaiah J. Poole

11/03/09

Economist Robert Johnson says progressive activists are going to have to fight more aggressively against the forces on Capitol Hill and the White House who are working on behalf of the financial services industry to block financial reform, given the kinds of deals now being cut by the Obama White House and some Democrats in Congress. Johnson, in the video interview above, says that while there is some good news in the recent moves toward creating a financial consumer protection agency, legislative proposals to curb the behavior of so-called ‘too-big-to-fail’ banks remain seriously flawed. The bottom-line problem, Johnson says, is that the campaign and lobbying dollars from the financial service industry is speaking louder than the general public. ‘I’d like to see voters mobilized to make people afraid to take Wall Street money,’ Johnson says...

http://tinyurl.com/yzpe2rt


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=financial+industry
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=collapse
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Wall+Street
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=lobbying
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Robert+Johnson
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Robert+J.+Samuelson
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Isaiah+J.+Poole

Imported from external blog