Stock Market Collapse: More Goldman Market Rigging?

When Goldman does not get its way, it is in a position to throw a tantrum and crash the market. . . .

Read more here –
http://www.webofdebt.com/articles/stockmarket_crash.php

WILL HOLLYWOOD GO THE WAY OF ENRON? DERIVATIVES COME TO THE MOVIES

As if attacks from paparazzi and star-crazed fans weren’t enough, Hollywood stars may soon have a literal price put on their heads by investors in the Cantor Exchange, a real-money trading platform where people can bet on the gross profits of upcoming movies.

Read more here –
http://www.webofdebt.com/articles/derivatives_movies.php

IPSNews: U.S. States Consider Starting Their Own Banks

U.S. States Consider Starting Their Own Banks by Matthew Cardinale

ATLANTA, Georgia, Apr 30, 2010 (IPS) – At least eight U.S. states are considering proposals to start state-run banks in the wake of an economic crisis where many private banks ceased or greatly decreased their lending, literally shrinking the money pool available in state economies.

Read more here.

COMPUTERIZED FRONT RUNNING: HOW A COMPUTER PROGRAM DESIGNED TO SAVE THE FREE MARKET TURNED INTO A MONSTER

While the SEC is busy investigating Goldman Sachs, it might want to look into another Goldman-dominated fraud: computerized front running using high-frequency trading programs.

Read more here –
http://www.webofdebt.com/articles/computerized_front_running.php

STUDENT LOANS: THE GOVERNMENT IS NOW OFFICIALLY IN THE BANKING BUSINESS

The government is now officially in the banking business. On March 30, 2010, President Obama signed the reconciliation “fix” to the health care reform bill passed by Congress last week. Slipped into it was student loan legislation the President calls “one of the most significant investments in higher education since the G.I. Bill.”

Read more here –
http://www.webofdebt.com/articles/student_loans.php

THE GROWING MOVEMENT FOR PUBLICLY-OWNED BANKS

As the states’ credit crisis deepens, four states have initiated bills for state-owned banks, and candidates in seven states have now included that solution in their platforms.

Read more here –
http://www.webofdebt.com/articles/growing_movement.php

IMF-STYLE AUSTERITY MEASURES COME TO AMERICA: WHAT “FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY” MEANS TO YOU

In addition to mandatory private health insurance premiums, we may soon be hit with a “mandatory savings” tax and other belt-tightening measures ushered in by the President’s budget task force initiated on February 17. These radical austerity measures, however, are not only unnecessary but will actually make matters worse. The push for “fiscal responsibility” is based on bad economics.

Read more here –
http://www.webofdebt.com/articles/fiscal_responsibility.php

CAMPAIGNING FOR STATE-OWNED BANKS

The public bank concept is gaining ground on the state level, attracting proponents across the political spectrum.

Read more here –
http://www.webofdebt.com/articles/campaigning_state-owned_banks.php

Great money reform video from Scotland

Entertaining and enlightening — view here.

AIG-GATE: THE WORLD’S GREATEST INSURANCE HEIST

The onion is being peeled in the AIG bailout, which is being compared to the Watergate scandal.

Read more here –
http://www.webofdebt.com/articles/aig_gate.php

JPMorgan vs. Goldman Sachs: Why the Market Was Down 7 Days in a Row

We are witnessing an epic battle between two banking giants, JPMorgan Chase (Paul Volcker) and Goldman Sachs (Geithner/Summers/Rubin). The bodies left on the battleground could include your pension fund and 401K.

Read the full article here.

FUNDING PUBLIC HEALTH CARE WITH A PUBLICLY-OWNED BANK: HOW CANADA DID IT

The story goes that Churchill offered a woman 5 million pounds to sleep with him. She hedged and said they would have to discuss terms. Then he offered her 5 pounds. “Sir!” she said. “What sort of woman do you think I am?” “Madam,” he replied, “We’ve already established that. Now we’re just haggling over the price.”

The same might be said of President Obama’s health care bill, which was sold out to corporate interests early on. The insurance lobby had its way with the bill; after that they were just haggling over the price. The “public option” was so watered down in congressional deal-making that it finally disappeared altogether.

Read more here –
http://www.webofdebt.com/articles/canadian_healthcare.php

ESCAPE FROM POTTERSVILLE: THE NORTH DAKOTA MODEL FOR CAPITALIZING COMMUNITY BANKS

The recent proposal to vote with our feet by shifting our deposits from Wall Street to community banks is a great start. However, community banks are not suffering from a lack of deposits so much as from a lack of the capital they need to make new loans, and investment capital today is scarce. There is a way out of this dilemma, demonstrated for over 90 years by the innovative state of North Dakota — a partnership in which community banks are backed by the deep pockets of a state-owned bank.

Read more here –
http://www.webofdebt.com/articles/pottersville.php

LET THEM EAT CAKE: THE ANOMALY OF COMPULSORY PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE

Rather than focusing on making health care affordable, the current debate is on how to force people either to buy health insurance if they don’t have it, or to pay more for it if they do

Read more here –
http://www.webofdebt.com/articles/eat_cake.php

EU/IMF REVOLT: GREECE, ICELAND, LATVIA MAY LEAD THE WAY

Europe’s small, debt-strapped countries could follow the lead of Argentina and simply walk away from their debts. That would shift the burden to the creditor countries, which could solve the problem merely by a change in accounting rules.

Read more here –
http://www.webofdebt.com/articles/eu_imf.php

More from the Daily Bell

The Daily Bell is continuing their dialog, if anyone wants to jump in and comment on their site.

LESSONS FROM THE JAPANESE: TIME TO REPLACE SOVEREIGN DEBT WITH SOVEREIGN CREDIT

Miners used to keep canaries in coal mines as an early warning device. If the air was so bad that it killed the canary, the miners would soon be next. Japan may be the canary for the out-of-control deficit spending policies now being pursued in the United States and the United Kingdom

Read more here –
http://www.webofdebt.com/articles/lesson_japanese.php

A LITTLE POPULIST RETRIBUTION: MAKING WALL STREET PAY ITS FAIR SHARE

Wall Street’s speculative traders have managed to trade in practically the only products left on the planet that are not subject to a sales tax. The fact that trades in “financial products” remain untaxed suggests a tidy way the public could recover some of its bailout money.

Read more here –
http://www.webofdebt.com/articles/populist_retribution.php

Tax the Traders! Make Wall Street Pay Its Share

Wall Street bankers have been called today’s “welfare queens,” feeding at the public trough to the tune of trillions of dollars. They are taking from the taxpayers and not giving back. These banks were rescued so they could make loans, take deposits, and keep our money safe. But while that is what banks used to do, today the big Wall Street money comes from short-term speculation in currency transactions, commodities, stocks, and derivatives for the banks’ own accounts . . . .

Read entire article (posted on Truthout) here.

Max Keiser interview

Max Keiser interviewed me, posted yesterday. If you feel like making a comment, it’s here (with video). If you want to hear more audio interviews, they’re posted here.