Tag: Depression

California Recovery Task Force Launches Interactive Web Portal

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Press Release

For Immediate Release:  03/23/2010

Contact: Aaron McLear/Eric Alborg
916-445-5880

California Recovery Task Force Launches Interactive Web Portal

In an effort to provide unprecedented transparency of stimulus spending in California, the California Recovery Task Force has launched an interactive Web Portal (www.recovery.ca.gov) that tracks the more than $85 billion in cash and tax benefits expected overall for Californians.

“Tracking stimulus money has further underscored the need to break through the silos of government at the federal, state and local levels,” said Senior Advisor to the Governor and California Recovery Task Force Director Herb K. Schultz.  “Our Web Portal will continue to evolve in order to provide the most transparent picture of government spending in U.S. history.”

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SBA Recovery Act Funding Extended

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Extension of SBA Recovery Lending Programs Will Support $1.8 Billion in Small Business Lending

Agency plans to restart Recovery loan approvals on March 10

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama signed legislation Tuesday extending until March 28 the U.S. Small Business Administration’s ability to provide small business loans that are enhanced with special provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), including a higher guarantee of SBA-backed loans and a waiver of loan fees normally paid by borrowers.

SBA estimates the additional funding will support about $1.8 billion in small business lending.
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Regulators ease up on small business loans | CNN Money

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I hope this is true.

Hoping to ease the small-business credit crunch, six regulatory agencies recently banded together in a joint statement essentially promising to back off second-guessing banks’ loans. “Prudent” small business lending “will not be subject to supervisory criticism,” a regulatory group led by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) said earlier this month.

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Failing Big Banks? Euthanize ‘Em! | Mother Jones

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It’s a plan Volcker has been pushing since he emerged on the financial-reform scene in the past year or so, and Obama so far seems to be support some kind of bank wind-down process. “You get very aggressive traders, and they’re out there,” Volcker said. “Millions of dollars are at stake, and personal bonuses, so they have a real incentive to take risks, which is fine, if you’re not being protected by the government.”

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John Thain Makes Bold Promise He Most Likely Can’t Keep | Dealbreaker

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This is poetic justice.

John Thain (not in photo) is the former CEO of Merrill Lynch who famously spent millions of dollars redecorating his offices while the firm went down in flames. At left is the office he has sworn not to alter at his new job at CIT Group.

For a man who spent $87,000 on a rug and $1,000 a yard for drapes, this is perfect.

The cardboard cutout in the photo will presumably be removed.

Sweet.

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Euro Area Headed for Break-Up, SocGen’s Edwards Says (Update2) – BusinessWeek

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More fallout from the Greece situation:

Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, a former European Central Bank executive board member and Italian finance minister, said today there was no possibility of a partition of the euro-zone.

“I don’t think there is any prospect for such an event and I don’t think it makes much sense to talk about it,” he said in an interview on Bloomberg Television.

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Europe Risks Another Global Depression | The Baseline Scenario

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You may or may not be aware, but Greece is on the edge of a complete economic collapse. The problem is that the more prosperous European Union countries don’t want to ride to the rescue of their unfortunate neighbors:

But the Europeans are not being careful – and it’s not just about Greece any more. Worries about government debt and associated public sector liabilities (e.g., because banking systems are in deep trouble) have spread through the eurozone to Spain and Portugal. Ireland and Italy are next up for hostile reconsideration by the markets, and the UK may not be far behind.

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