Thursday, May 13, 2010

US heading to calamity like Greece

The Governor of the Bank of England sees similarities between the fiscal situation in Greece and the US.

The problem with Greece is that the government can no longer afford the generous benefit packages that it's citizens get and now must borrow heavily as well as make significant cuts in the benefits.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/edmundconway/100005657/us-faces-same-problems-as-greece-says-bank-of-england/

Race Relations

Harvard professor Henry Gates, of the famous "Beer Summit", with President Obama and the Cambridge police officer who arrested him, has an interesting book out. In it, he writes that 90% of all slaves brought to the US were captured by other Africans and sold to European traders for export to the US. It is about time that the role that Africans played in the slave trade is discussed rationally.

http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/henry-gates-deflates-the-reparations-balloon/

On an unrelated note, it appears that people who study racial or ethnic studies have a lower respect for members of other racial or ethnic groups. Who knew? People who study discriminatory histories tend to discriminate.

http://www.mindingthecampus.com/forum/2010/05/a_down_side_of_racial_awarenes.html

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Freddie Mac Needs another $8 billion

The government has bailed out Freddie Mac with $61 billion. This corporation is supposed to be self sufficient. $10 billion in loses over the first 3 months of 2010. What is going on here?

And, perhaps more to the point, why am I reading about this in a BBC report. Where is the mass media coverage? Like the questions about General (or Government) Motors paying off the government loans 5 years early, with interest. Is this true? Or did GM just borrow from another government account to pay off the other government account? Or did the US government just buy equity in GM to give them the money to pay off the loan. Rumors are that the US owns 61% of this losing company, which puts it in the same mess as Freddie Mac.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/10099793.stm