The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) likely kept the banking industry afloat, and few doubt the necessity to keep the banking industry solvent for the sake of functioning markets and businesses. The bailout began under the president who encouraged the housing bubble in the first place, and was accepted by the Obama Administration as a […]
Nonprofits Looking for Ways to Bridge Gaps in Funding
More grim news about the economic situation we find ourselves in: The stock market rose by some 28 points on the news that ONLY 20,000 jobs were shed in February (as opposed to 60,000 in January). Our readers are well aware of the situation, of course. And all economics, like politics, are local as we […]
A Report From the Weather Front
The nor’easters that have pummeled the eastern seaboard over the last month or so have provided many a fun day for kids unencumbered by the duties of school. Businesses and city budgets have been less enthusiastic as they have seen a notable falloff in customers or a striking pothole in their treasuries. The winter season […]
#Opinion: Like Rome Before the Fall? Not Yet (According to the New York Times)
Article by Piers Brendon. Originally published in the New York Times. Vice President Joe Biden complains that he is being driven crazy because so many people are betting on America’s demise. Reports of it are not just exaggerated; they are, he insists, ridiculous. Like President Obama, he will not accept “second place” for the United […]
Stark Figures on Housing in Major Markets
The crash of the housing market might be behind us (although ‘Objects in Mirror May Be Closer Than They Appear’), but the recessionary effects abound, as does the detritus of the houses themselves. So many built on the belief that mortgages could be offered indefinitely, and paid back indefinitely as well. The momentum of the […]
Fossil-Fuel Producers as Fossil-Fuel Deniers
This report might fit under the rubric of John Cleese’s famous rejoinder, “Well, aren’t you Master of the Bleeding Obvious?!” But we must remind ourselves that all is not as it may seem. A report by Jonathan Owen and Paul Bignell in the British newspaper The Independent outlines many of the links between multi-national oil […]
Voting against our interests
Last week the BBC posted an intriguing synopsis of the tendency of a majority of Americans to vote against their economic interests. A classic example (though not referred to in this particular article) was the general support for the Bush Administration’s tax cuts, though less than 4% of the population directly benefited from them. Though […]
In-depth: ‘Series on 10 Ways to Use Recovery Funds for Green Buildings’
Last Friday (22 January) we blogged about some of the ways money from the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)” was being put into the greening of standing buildings and the creation of green public and government buildings. There was a very positive response to the posting, so this week we are starting an occasional […]