World-News

Christopher S. Rugaber, The Associated Press: "New claims for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week, the government said Wednesday, while consumers cut back on their spending for the fifth straight month amid a deepening recession. The Labor Department reported that initial requests for jobless benefits rose to a seasonally adjusted 586,000 in the week ending Dec. 20, from an upwardly revised figure of 556,000 the previous week. That's much more than the 560,000 economists had expected."

http://www.truthout.org/122508C



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=jobless
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=unemployment
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=recession
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Christopher+S.+Rugaber

http://derstandard.at/?url=/?id=1229975002453



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Unter Bankstern – Artikelserie von Artur P. Schmidt

Von Banken und Nullen

„Was ist eigentlich eine Bank? Sie ist zunächst einmal ein Sitzmöbel, weshalb wir auch sofort verstehen, warum Bankmanager Probleme lieber aussitzen, anstatt sie zu lösen. Bänke sind in der Regel aus Holz, womit sie leider die gleiche Konsistenz wie manche Köpfe in den Chefetagen der Banken haben. Im Mittelalter durften nur Personen auf einer Bank Platz nehmen, die einander gleichgestellt waren. Ebenso ist es heute, denn viele Großbanken hätten am liebsten nur noch Elitekunden, die über ein besonders üppiges Bankkonto verfügen…“ Artikel von Artur P. Schmidt (Unter Bankstern - Teil 1) in telepolis vom 22.12.2008 http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/29/29372/1.html


Die Banken und das liebe Geld

Artikel von Artur P. Schmidt (Unter Bankstern - Teil 2) in telepolis vom
24.12.2008 http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/29/29380/1.html


Aufstieg und Fall der schweizerischen Banken

Artikel von Artur P. Schmidt (Unter Bankstern - Teil 3) in telepolis vom
26.12.2008 http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/29/29381/1.html


Raubritter, Blindflieger und Verbrecher

Artikel von Artur P. Schmidt (Unter Bankstern - Teil 4) in telepolis vom
28.12.2008 http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/29/29382/1.html


Banken spielen mit Krisen

Artikel von Artur P. Schmidt (Unter Bankstern - Teil 5) in telepolis vom
30.12.2008 http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/29/29383/1.html


Die geplante Innovationsverhinderung

Artikel von Artur P. Schmidt (Unter Bankstern - Teil 6) in telepolis vom
02.01.2009 http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/29/29384/1.html


Machtspiele im Spielcasino

Artikel von Artur P. Schmidt (Unter Bankstern - Teil 7) in telepolis vom
03.01.2009 http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/29/29385/1.html


Strukturkrise des Kapitalismus – und jetzt wohin?

„Noch vor zwei Monaten konnte der große Krisenmanager der Bundesregierung, Finanzminister Steinbrück, keinerlei Anzeichen einer allgemeinen Wirtschaftsrezession erkennen. Nun wird sie von allen, auch von den amtlichen Seiten festgestellt. Der Internationale Währungsfonds IWF) prognostiziert für 2009 für sämtliche kapitalistischen Zentren einen Rückgang der Wirtschaftsleistung. Diese Gleichzeitigkeit des Rückgangs ist ein Novum in der Wirtschaftsgeschichte des Kapitalismus nach dem 2. Weltkrieg. Dieses Mal kann nicht eine noch funktionierende Region die anderen wieder anschieben helfen. Vielmehr zieht im globalisierten Kapitalismus jeder mit seiner Krise den anderen weiter nach unten…“ Artikel von Conrad Schuhler bei isw – institut für sozial-ökologische wirtschaftsforschung e.V. (pdf) http://www.isw-muenchen.de/download/strukturkrise-kom01-cs.pdf


Die Multis gegen den Rest der Welt: Die Finanzkrise und die Transformation des globalen Kapitalismus.

Zu diesem Thema hielt Leo Mayer, Mitarbeiter des isw, beim 15. Friedensratschlag in Kassel (6./7. Dezember 2008) ein Forumsreferat, in dem er die folgenden sechs Thesen abhandelte: 1. Es handelt sich nicht um eine kurze Rezession, sondern die Weltwirtschaft stürzt in eine länger anhaltende Depression. / 2. Die Krise führt zu einer weiteren Zentralisation des Kapitals. Die neoliberale Globalisierung wird weitergehen. / 3. Es verflechten sich zahlreiche Krisenprozesse. In der Folge wird der Nord-Südkonflikt verschärft. / 4. Der permanente Krieg wird, wenn auch modifiziert, weitergehen. 5. Die Schwellenländer werden stärker in Entscheidungsprozesse integriert; Russland und China werden unter Druck gesetzt, „globale Verantwortung“ zu übernehmen. / 6. USA und EU – gemeinsam gegen den Rest der Welt. Text des Vortrags beim ISW (pdf) http://www.isw-muenchen.de/download/fripora-ref-lm-2008.pdf


Aus: LabourNet, 6. Januar 2009



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Tom Parfitt and Julian Borger, The Guardian UK: "Russia has thrown down a new gauntlet to Barack Obama with an announcement that it will sharply increase production of strategic nuclear missiles. In the latest of a series of combative moves by the Kremlin, a senior government official in Moscow said the Russian military would commission 70 strategic missiles over the next three years, as part of a massive rearmament program which will also include short-range missiles, 300 tanks, 14 warships and 50 planes."

http://www.truthout.org/122408T



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Agence France-Presse: "The US economy shrank in the third quarter, official data confirmed Tuesday, as the IMF's top economist warned of a second Great Depression offering no respite from relentless gloom ahead of Christmas. The abrupt 0.5 percent contraction of gross domestic product (GDP) in the world's largest economy was seen as marking the start of a steep downturn for the United States after GDP growth of 2.8 percent in the second quarter."

http://www.truthout.org/122408R

--------

IMF economist warns of "Great Depression"

The top economist at the International Monetary Fund, Olivier Blanchard, warned earlier this week that continued declines in consumer spending would set off a global depression. "Consumer and business confidence indexes have never fallen so far since they began. The coming months will be very bad," he told the French newspaper Le Monde, as reported by Agence France-Presse.

http://wsws.org/articles/2008/dec2008/econ-d27.shtml



Holiday Sales Drop to Force Bankruptcies, Closing

U.S. retailers face a wave of store closings, bankruptcies and takeovers starting next month as holiday sales are shaping up to be the worst in 40 years.

http://tinyurl.com/8yqfom



Cash-strapped states cut juvenile justice programs

State budget cuts are forcing some of the nation's youngest criminals out of counseling programs and group homes and into juvenile prisons in what critics contend is a shortsighted move that will eventually lead to more crime and higher costs.

http://tinyurl.com/7pamt3



Cash-strapped states weigh selling roads, parks

Minnesota is deep in the hole financially, but the state still owns a premier golf resort, a sprawling amateur sports complex, a big airport, a major zoo and land holdings the size of the Central American country of Belize.

http://tinyurl.com/9hffmz


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=economy+shrink
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A new report from the U.S. Army War College discusses the use of American troops to quell civil unrest brought about by a worsening economic crisis.

http://www.newsmax.com/headlines/military_domestic_use/2008/12/23/164765.html



US Army Ready If Downturn Gets Out Of Hand

The US Army War College is on the case - ready to handle "unforeseen economic collapse" and the "rapid dissolution of public order in all or significant parts of the US."

http://tinyurl.com/85qd48



U.S. jobless claims surge to 26-year high

The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits jumped by 30,000 to a 26-year peak last week, government data on Wednesday showed, as the country's year-long recession continued to chill the labour market.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/email/idUKTRE4BN2FX20081224



Housing Starts Fall Through the Floor

In fact, the start reported for November is lower than any rate reported for the last fifty years.

http://www.cepr.net/index.php/data-bytes/housing-market-monitor/housing-starts-fall-through-the-floor/



Unemployed Americans Competing With Immigrant Labor for Unskilled Jobs

"Everybody is coming to look for work," Rene Jemio, outreach coordinator for the hiring hall, told the Wall Street Journal. "It's not just your average immigrant anymore; it's African-Americans and whites, too.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,470656,00.html


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=civil+unrest
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A new Citigroup scandal is engulfing Robert Rubin and his former disciple Chuck Prince for their roles in an alleged Ponzi-style scheme that's now choking world banking.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/12042008/business/ponzi_scheme_at_citi_142511.htm


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Citigroup
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Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who has been named to the same Cabinet post in the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama, is asking experienced members of the Bush war team to stick around to smooth the transition in the Pentagon.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/dec/23/exclusive-obama-wants-bush-war-team-stay/


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Robert+Gates

In the end, the shame of Vice President Dick Cheney was total: unmitigated by any notion of a graceful departure, let alone the slightest obligation of honest accounting.

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20081223_cheneys_legacy_of_deception/


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Cheney
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Robert+Scheer

US appears to ignore findings of British court on detainee's torture.
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Guantanamo_lawyer_says_Gates_may_have_1222.html


From Information Clearing House



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Hundreds of Afghans have been killed in U.S. air strikes this year, undermining public support for the continued presence of NATO-led and U.S. coalition troops in Afghanistan and leading to a rift between President Hamid Karzai and his Western backers.

http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=1108205


From Information Clearing House



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War With Contempt for Civilians.
http://www.counterpunch.org/cloughley12242008.html


From Information Clearing House



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CBS Video Report

Many banks don't have enough money to survive in 2009, but mergers will keep their brands alive, said Ralph Silva of TowerGroup.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=975644719



Greed Has Pushed Political Credibility and Financial Trust into Freefall

By Gary Younge

Greenspan's ideology was unfettered, free-market capitalism. Its understanding of how the world works was rooted in self-interest. It was a value system that placed the private before the public, the individual before the collective, and the wealth of the few before the welfare of the many.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21523.htm



Hey Reagan Democrats

Now Do You Get It?

By David Michael Green

The very people who had failed to regulate the folks causing the Even Greater Depression of the early twenty-first century now took $700 billion worth of taxpayer money and handed it to those same financial 'industry' crooks, without any requirements at all on what they could do with the money. But when the blue collar auto industry wanted just $15 billion to keep millions of middle class jobs afloat, the Republicans wouldn't give it to them.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21528.htm



Higher Wages or Bubblenomics

What's it gonna be?

By Mike Whitney

A strong economy must be built on a solid foundation of steadily rising wages. If wages don't keep pace with production, the only way the economy can grow is through the expansion of debt, which leads to disaster.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21520.htm



A New Wind Blowing

By Mary Pitt

The whole country is agog with the news of the Madoff Ponzi scheme and the billions he scammed from big investors, but nobody appears to realize that it is only the tip of a huge iceberg.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21527.htm


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Greenspan
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By Conn Hallinan

Over the next several months there will be a battle for hearts and minds, but not in Iraq or Afghanistan. The war will be here at home, waged mostly in the halls of Congress, where grim lobbyists for one of the top 15 economies in the world are digging in to preserve their stake in the massive U.S. military budget.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21522.htm



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By David Glenn Cox

All change in the world comes either from rot or from new growth. Ford's pardon of Nixon might have been expedient at the time, but it has allowed the rot to fester. Senator Carl Levin wants a congressional inquiry into the actions of the Vice President and the Attorney General and their role in the torturing of prisoners. Thanks to Gerald Ford this is a question rather than a precedent. Had Nixon been put on trial, win, lose or draw there would be precedent for putting members of the Executive branch on trial.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21526.htm



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Now, Is The Crucial Time

You can make a difference!

By Ramsey Clark

We cannot sit back and expect that change will just happen now. In order to make real change, people must be mobilized and organized. Otherwise, all of the hopes for a new direction can be quickly diverted.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21521.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Ramsey+Clark
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http://www.lewrockwell.com/raimondo/raimondo19.html



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