Category: News and Views

2009 UN World Drug report – The Big Picture – Boston.com

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2009 UN World Drug report – The Big Picture – Boston.com.

The 2009 United Nations World Drug report, released earlier this year, notes that 2009 marks “the end of the first century of drug control (it all started in Shanghai in 1909)”, and that the illicit drug market worldwide has now become a $320 billion-per-year industry. As drug-related violence in Mexico appears to continue unabated, and crackdowns in Afghanistan are being made against its massive opium crops, new efforts are also being made worldwide in methods of enforcement and treatment of recovering addicts. Collected here are a handful of recent images from the rough world of illegal drugs across the globe. (37 photos total)

S.B.A. Softens New Good-Will Rules | NYTimes.com

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We just ran across this issue with one of our clients, so I thought this would be good information to pass along. Note that the ‘good will’ limitation was $250,000 or 50% before, so this is a big policy change.

As always, all SBA deals are done according to individual bank policies so it remains to be seen if this change will actually help someone.

Effective Oct. 1, good will and other intangible assets can amount to up to $500,000, with no limit on the percentage of the loan. When intangibles exceed $500,000, the S.B.A. will recommend that banks limit the S.B.A.-backed loan to 75 percent of the purchase price.

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Back in the U.S.S.R.: The secret Paulson-Goldman meeting | Blogs | Reuters

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ThisUSSR Hank meeting took place between Hank Paulson, then Treasury Secretary and the Board of Goldman Sachs, in Moscow, in secret. This was two months before the collapse and subsequent bailout.

Goldman Sachs was a hugely powerful for-profit investment bank, and there he is, giving private chapter and verse on his opinions about the US and global economy, talking about internal Treasury matters, and previewing an upcoming (and surely market-moving) speech. All in secret, at a “social event” which somehow got kept off his official calendar.

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Federal deficit: who owns what? |fst

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Timothy Geithner, US Treasury Secretary
Timothy Geithner, US Treasury Secretary

Reports from last month reveal that the US federal deficit had been catapulted to record territory in August, hitting $1.38 trillion with just one month left in the budget year.

It remains a concerning figure – not least because of the worries it has raised regarding the willingness of foreigners to continue purchasing Treasury debt. For that is where the debt comes from: US Treasury securities – a government debt issued by the United States Department of the Treasury, which other countries and institutions then buy.

In essence then, Treasury securities (in this case, Treasury bonds) are nothing more than glorified loans – and as the US Treasury releases data pertaining to this – it is becoming increasingly hard for the American people to get a grasp on the fact this is how their country borrows money.

If its any consolation, it should be noted that this is how all governments borrow money, so the US isn’t alone: but with America’s deficit now soaring to an incredulous height, concerns seem to not only be justified but also gaining impudence.

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US foreclosures’ flurry of activity | fst

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foreclosureThe effects of the credit crunch have been clear for all to see: from bank failings to government bailouts, to a full-blown economic fallout, the recession continues to hang over us – now with just spots of recovery on the horizon.

As such, the American people are now facing unprecedented levels of layoffs and cut backs, and US mortagage foreclosure filings remain near a record high. This comes despite news that foreclosure filings had actually fallen for a second straight month last month, largely thanks to ongoing government efforts to keep borrowers in their homes. But, while foreclosures in September were down four percent when compared with August, they remain up by 29 percent from the year-earlier month.

The RealtyTrac US Foreclosure Market Report, which is behind the current findings, provides a count of the total number of properties with at least one foreclosure filing reported during the month (or quarter). The data, collected from ore than 2000 counties nationwide, accounts for more than 90 percent of the US population.

As a result, for those people actually facing foreclosure filings – 343,638 in all throughout September – which include mortgage default notices, house auctions and home repossessions by banks, the problem seems both very intense and very, very real…

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