Politician vs Market

Sticking the public with the bill for the bankersapos; crisis
Last week, The Globe and Mail published a fascinating article about the origins of the G20 . It turns out the entire concept was conceived in a meeting back in 1999 between then Finance Minister Paul Martin and his U.S. counterpart Lawrence Summers (itself interesting since Mr. Summers was at that time playing a central role in creating the conditions for this Financial Crisis allowing a wave of bank consolidation and refusing to regulate Derivatives). The two men wanted to expand the...

Stock futures tumble on global economic worries
NEW YORK (AP) - Stock futures and Interest Rates tumbled Tuesday after fresh signs of a Global economic slowdown spooked investors. Asian Markets tumbled overnight when Japanese data showed its country's recovery slowed and China's Market was hurt by an initial public offering that pulled investors away from the rest of the Market. European indexes opened sharply lower after Greek workers again walked out of their jobs to Protest steep Budget cuts. Interest Rates fell in the Bond Market as...

Stock futures sharply lower, interest rates tumble on concerns about economic slowdown
NEW YORK — Stock futures and Interest Rates tumbled Tuesday after fresh signs of a Global economic slowdown spooked investors. Asian Markets tumbled overnight when Japanese data showed its country's recovery slowed and China's Market was hurt by an initial public offering that pulled investors away from the rest of the Market. European indexes opened sharply lower after Greek workers again walked out of their jobs to Protest steep Budget cuts. Interest Rates fell in the Bond Market as...

Stock futures tumble on global economic worries
NEW YORK (AP) - Stock futures and Interest Rates tumbled Tuesday after fresh signs of a Global economic slowdown spooked investors. Asian Markets tumbled overnight when Japanese data showed its country's recovery slowed and China's Market was hurt by an initial public offering that pulled investors away from the rest of the Market. European indexes opened sharply lower after Greek workers again walked out of their jobs to Protest steep Budget cuts. Interest Rates fell in the Bond Market as...

Summit Backstage
The biggest news at the Canadian G-8 and G-20 summits was that the United States held to the position of the need for additional Stimulus, while the other majors all had decided the time had come to tighten their belts. The Obama Administration just doesn't get it. But we knew that beforehand, didn't we? What was important was what swirled around the event. The arrest of the ten deep cover agents of Russia at the end of the G-8 and G-20 summits carries with it a significance far beyond the...

Britain, France, Germany use torture intel: HRW
Source: afp AFP - Britain, France and Germany use foreign Intelligence obtained through Torture in the fight against Terrorism, a new report from Human Rights Watch said Tuesday. The use by three heavyweight European powers of information from secret services in countries that routinely rely on Torture was damaging the reputation of the entire European Union, said the Rights group. "Berlin, Paris and London should be working to eradicate Torture, not relying on foreign Torture Intelligence,"...

North Korea calls G-8 an 'evil group' for criticism over deadly sinking of SKorean warship
Seoul, South Korea — North Korea on Tuesday rejected Group of Eight criticism over its alleged deadly sinking of a South Korean warship, a day after the isolated Communist nation threatened to bolster its Nuclear Capability. The North's Foreign Ministry accused the G-8 leaders of a "sinister political purpose," saying in a report carried by the country's official Korean Central News Agency that the G-8 has been reduced to an "evil group." An international investigation led by South Korea...

Japan, Paraguay vie for World Cup quarter-final spot
Japan and Paraguay stand on the brink of history ahead of their second round clash at the Loftus Versfeld stadium here on Tuesday. Neither side has ever made it to the quarter-finals of the World Cup before so one team is guaranteed to be the greatest that their respective country has ever produced. This match-up is one of the most unexpected and unlikely in the second round and in some respects courtesy of the failings of others. Paraguay were expected to be playing for second place in their...

NKorea dismisses G8 criticism on ship
AAP North Korea on Tuesday rejected Group of Eight criticism over its alleged deadly sinking of a South Korean warship, a day after the isolated Communist nation threatened to bolster its Nuclear Capability. The North's Foreign Ministry accused the G8 leaders of a "sinister political purpose", saying in a report carried by the country's official Korean Central News Agency that the G8 has been reduced to an "evil group". An international investigation led by South Korea concluded in May that...

Japan and Russia agree to territory talks
Tokyo, June 29 (UPI) -- Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev reiterated a desire to solve the 65-year territorial dispute over the Russian-occupied Kuril Islands group. Kan and Medvedev made their statements in Canada where they briefly met on the sidelines of the Group of Eight Summit near Toronto. The G8 Summits bring together leaders from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States. Russia occupied four Japanese Islands,...

World Cup Bettors Have a Lousy Week
By WILL CONNORS And HANNAH KARP Agence France-Presse/Getty Images People who bet on England react happily to the team scoring in the first half of its match against Germany at a Sports-betting shop in Johannesburg on Sunday. Johannesburg—Everyone in England reacted with horror on Sunday after a missed call robbed Frank Lampard of a goal against Germany. Everyone, that is, except the bookies. English bookmakers were on the hook for more than $100 million had England gone on to win the...

Greek unions hold general strike over proposed pension, labor reforms
Athens, Greece — Public services shut down across Greece Tuesday as workers walked off the job in a new nationwide general strike that disrupted Public transport, left Hospitals operating on emergency staff and pulled all news broadcasts off the air. Tension mounted once more in the country's main port of Piraeus, where hundreds of demonstrators from a Communist Party-backed Labor Union attempted to prevent tourists and locals from boarding ferries to Aegean islands, even though a court...

Why Obama is Sabotaging U.S. Economic Growth
They do not want the United States of America to drive Global Growth anymore. If the Financial Reform Bill passes, the bad Wall Street will win, the good Wall Street will not. And investors and American

Britain, France, Germany use torture intel: HRW
Leg irons and hand cuffs. Britain, France and Germany use foreign Intelligence obtained through Torture in the fight against Terrorism, a new report from Human Rights Watch said Tuesday. AFP - Britain, France and Germany use foreign Intelligence obtained through Torture in the fight against Terrorism, a new report from Human Rights Watch said Tuesday. The use by three heavyweight European powers of information from secret services in countries that routinely rely on Torture was damaging the...

France/Germany/United Kingdom: Wrong Message on Torture
The 62-page report, "No Questions Asked: Intelligence Cooperation with Countries that Torture," analyzes the ongoing cooperation by the governments of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom with foreign Intelligence services in countries that routinely use Torture. The three governments use the resulting foreign Torture information for Intelligence and policing purposes. Torture is prohibited under International Law, with no exceptions allowed. "Berlin, Paris, and London should...

Britain, France, Germany use torture intel: HRW
Source: afp AFP - Britain, France and Germany use foreign Intelligence obtained through Torture in the fight against Terrorism, a new report from Human Rights Watch said Tuesday. The use by three heavyweight European powers of information from secret services in countries that routinely rely on Torture was damaging the reputation of the entire European Union, said the Rights group. "Berlin, Paris and London should be working to eradicate Torture, not relying on foreign Torture Intelligence,"...

Economic Distemper Imperils Democrats
Politically speaking, the Democrats' problem at the moment is pretty simple: Confidence in The Economy has slumped, and at exactly the wrong time in the Election calendar.   Seib:Voters Sour on Economy at Worst Time for Dems 3:14 At a time when Democrats most-need voter support -- just five months ahead of Midterm Elections -- a poll shows the weak economy has soured many on President Barack Obama and Democratic Party Economic Policy, WSJ's Gerald Seib reports. Blame it on Greece. For...

G20 Wrap-up: What happened? Part 2: The power
Image by Getty Images North America via @daylife What the fuck happened? The fallout from the G20 weekend in Toronto isn't likely to dissipate any time soon, and certainly not while the numerous accounts of mass arrests and allegedly repugnant detention practices continue to flood the Internet. So, what do we make of them? At the Guardian on Monday, I made the point that both sides of this argument " the Protesters and the Police " got what they wanted this weekend. That is, the...

Blatter 'sorry' for World Cup errors, opens debate
England and Mexico received a fulsome Apology from FIFA President Sepp Blatter on Tuesday over refereeing errors during their World Cup last 16 matches and announced FIFA would discuss the introduction of goal-line technology at a meeting next month in Cardiff. The Swiss was reacting to two incidents on Sunday when England's Frank Lampard had a goal disallowed even though it was clearly over the line in the clash with Germany which would have made it 2-2. The Germans went on to win 4-1. Mexico...

EU: Eurozone business and consumer confidence barely moves in June
Brussels — Business and Consumer Confidence in the 16 nations that use the euro hardly moved in June, according to an EU survey published Tuesday that points to a slow and uncertain Economic Recovery in the region. Economic Growth in Europe's currency Union currently relies far more on exports than Growth at home, where people are still reluctant to spend and companies aren't keen to take on new hires. Unemployment in the Eurozone reached a ten-year high of 10.1 percent in April. The...

EU: Eurozone business and consumer confidence barely moves in June
Brussels — Business and Consumer Confidence in the 16 nations that use the euro hardly moved in June, according to an EU survey published Tuesday that points to a slow and uncertain Economic Recovery in the region. Economic Growth in Europe's currency Union currently relies far more on exports than Growth at home, where people are still reluctant to spend and companies aren't keen to take on new hires. Unemployment in the Eurozone reached a ten-year high of 10.1 percent in April. The...

Keynesianism is dead in Europe
The G-8 and G-20 meetings in Canada were remarkable in historic terms. European governments criticized the United States for being spendthrift. Brazil provided political cover to the US on behalf of the Developing Countries . This has been a consequence of something truly remarkable happening in Europe. Keynsianism has lost in Europe. There is no political support for it. And Barack Obama got hit in the face with this reality. Since the beginning of the Financial Crisis, conservative and...

G-20 Summit sets bank regulation back to Seoul agenda
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, left, chats with France Finance Minister Christine Lagarde during a break in the G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Busan, South Korea Saturday, June 5, 2010. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, Pool) Giant Banks, while bracing for a wave of tougher Regulation in Washington, will not have to face a new set of global rules on capital and Liquidity anytime soon. The world's biggest economies have been developing rules that would require Banks...

David Cameron's agony and ecstasy | Simon Hoggart's sketch
David Cameron came back from the G20 and G8 summits in Canada, and like all Prime Ministers before him explained how world leaders had agreed with everything he said. "Why, the scales have fallen from our eyes, Prime Minister!" " that was the gist of what Messrs Obama, Sarkozy, etc told him. But it wasn't all fun. "I suffered the exquisite agony of watching England lose 4-1 to Germany in the company of my good friend Angela Merkel and the German summit team." Well, it's his own silly fault....

Speculation over airbus charges
NZPA Air New Zealand will not confirm a report that an announcement is imminent on whether charges will be laid over the 2008 Airbus A320 crash in France which killed seven people. The Air New Zealand Aircraft crashed on a test flight as it was approaching Perpignan in the south of France on November 27, 2008. The five New Zealanders and two Germans on board all died. The airline confirmed that a confidential briefing was held in France on Monday for the parties involved in the tragedy, but it...