| The Free Market: A False Idol After All?
FOR more than a quarter-century, the dominant idea guiding economic policy in the United States and much of the globe has been that the market is unfailingly wise. So wise that the proper role for government is to steer clear and not mess with the gusher of wealth that will flow, trickling down to the every level of society, if only the market is left to do its magic. That notion has carried the day as industries have been unshackled from regulation, and as taxes have been rolled back, along with the oversight powers of government. Faith in markets has held sway as insurance companies have fended off calls for more government-financed health care, and as banks have engineered webs of finance that have turned houses from mere abodes into assets traded like dot-com stocks. But lately, a striking unease with market forces has entered the conversation.
UK troops are 'poorly trained for insurgency'
Where is the call on the 'army community' to come forwrd with info. on who was responsible for Mr Baha's death/the other abuse. They are shielding abusers. Also if there is the excuse of a majority of the army being good, that non-stigmatising approach should apply to others who are currently demonised. .
Paydirt: Don't panic; it's not another Depression
Headlines about panicked stock traders around the globe and recession in the United States have Anna Peters worried. "I understand that it's bad news, but I don't know what it means for me," said the 26-year-old nonprofit worker in Minneapolis. She probably hasn't heard the economist's one-liner: "A recession is when your neighbor loses his job. A depression is when you lose your job.'' I don't think it's very funny, but it gets to the simple truth about the economy: Someone is always getting ahead, and someone is always falling behind. How good or bad things are for you personally depends on what side you find yourself. It takes a while to diagnose a recession, leaving plenty of time for debate among furrowed-browed analysts. Where the stock market's headed in the short-term is anybody's guess.
Bankrate: Inflation Fears Nudge Mortgage Rates Higher
NEW YORK, Dec. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Fixed mortgage rates moved higher for the second consecutive week, with the average conforming 30-year fixed mortgage rate now at 6.21 percent. According to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey of large lenders, the average 30-year fixed mortgage has an average of 0.35 discount and origination points. The average 15-year fixed rate mortgage popular for refinancing inched higher to 5.9 percent, and the average jumbo 30-year fixed rate to 7.26 percent. Adjustable mortgage rates were mixed, with the average one-year ARM remaining at 6.17 percent, and the average 5/1 ARM dropping to 6.21 percent. Mortgage rates moved higher after two reports showed inflation could be an issue. In particular, both the Producer Price Index and Consumer Price Index showed larger than expected increases, even after excluding volatile energy costs.
Despite economic turmoil nationally, our area stable
The state's $1 billion payday-lending business continued to grow and headed off a big legal fight in the 2007 General Assembly between supporters of a ban and reforms pushed by the industry. Car-title lenders also remained unregulated after a legislative stalemate. The battles galvanized payday-lending opponents throughout the year, and a Hampton Roads group formed to lead the push for a ban in 2008. Virginians filed suits over unlawful collection practices, and credit unions pushed programs to their members to combat payday lending. The loans were banned this fall to the military, cutting a chunk of the Hampton Roads customer base.
Coliseum Mall Major changes hit the Coliseum retail area, with the Coliseum Mall getting torn down to make way for the new outdoor Peninsula Town Center.
Lame Duck'' citizens and the global economy
The fact remains that people are reluctant to utter the word ''depression'', and therefore all we are left with are the words of all those experts who created the mess in the first place. by Pablo Ouziel (UN Observer) In regards to our "global economy", one is better off reading Dostoevsky's "The Gambler" and saying to himself, "at the present moment I must repair to the roulette-table", than listening to George Bush deluding himself about the fact that "while there is some uncertainty, the financial markets are strong and solid." The truth is, our global markets have become a "lame duck" and all we can do is wait for the next disaster to shake the corrupt foundation on which things have been run. As Hugues Rialan, managing director in charge of discretionary asset management at Robeco France puts it, 'if they [financial institutions] had a much more transparent communication, we would not have all the bombshells, or rumors of bombshells, that we're having today, with all the negative implications for the market.' The fact remains that people are reluctant to utter the word "depression", and therefore all we are left with are the words of all those experts who created the mess in the first place.
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