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Time Magazine names Ben Bernanke
head of the US Federal Reserve - Person of the Year preventing the collapse of
the US economic system.
Early December, governments
report that the recession is ending but fails to explain why the unemployment
figures continue to grow in both Canada and United States.
Early November, Gold traded within 0.5 percent of a record ($1,087 an
ounce) after India’s central bank bought 200 metric tons of the metal from the
International Monetary Fund.
The U.S. unemployment rate rose to 10.2 per cent in October from 9.8 per
cent, as non-farm payroll employment declined by 190,000
The US economy grew in the third quarter for the first time in a year as
consumer spending and investment in new home-building rebounded, data showed on
Thursday, unofficially ending the worst recession in 70 years
The US Federal Reserve's policy of printing money to buy Treasury debt threatens
to set off a serious decline of the dollar and compel China to redesign its
foreign reserve policy, according to a top member of the Communist hierarchy.
For the first time, more than 34 million Americans received food stamps, which
help poor people buy groceries, government figures. This is a sign of the
longest and one of the deepest recessions since the Great Depression in the USA.
The first 12 months of the U.S. recession saw the economy shrink more than twice
as much as previously estimated, reflecting even bigger declines in consumer
spending and housing, revised figures showed.
U.S. federal regulators made permanent an
emergency rule aimed at reducing abusive short-selling
During the first days of July it was announced that the US unemployment rate had
risen to 9.6.
June and the start of the month bought GM to the court to file for bankruptcy
protection which if it works out will restructure a smaller GM.
End of April. Remember the Pontiac... yes the Pontiac car made by GM... it
will be toast as GM cuts lines to save the company.
The start of April and the G-20 nations are meeting in London to discuss the
present economic crisis. Three are emerging: those governments supporting
massive financial support for failing institutions, more control over the
financial institutions like banks and a combination of both. Rioters in the
streets are saying that the financial institutions stole their money. It comes
down to the US wanting to spend their way out of the recession and have China
pay for the stimulus. In the end the leaders of the world's wealthy nations
agreed to inject $1 trillion into the global economy in an effort to pull it out
of the spreading recession. Wall street is balking at setting limits to
financial incentives paid to top ranking officials and threatens to set up
special companies who will accept government bailouts who will in turn funnel
the money to large financial companies.
Mid March - a U.N. panel will next week recommend that the world ditch the
dollar as its reserve currency in favor of a shared basket of currencies - that
sure is a kick in the face of the US the backbone of the world currencies for
the past 40 years. The Obama administration unveiled a sweeping overhaul of the
financial system designed to impose greater regulation on major players like
hedge funds. Seems like they are preparing to plug up the dam if they can get
this one passed the Senate and House of Representatives.
End of February, it is clear that with banks and automotive stocks at record
lows that the US government plans to bail or buy out the largest of these
companies that have large economic impact on the US creating what was thought to
be impossible just 12 months previously and that was a socialist society.
Billions of dollars are poured into the financial insurance giant AIG with fears
that the US dollar will soon be worthless.
And as the February calendar was changed to March it was noted by the press that
the Dow had dropped 25% since Barrack Obama became President of the USA.
Mid February, key lawmakers in the US and the White House reached for final
agreement on a $789 billion economic stimulus measure designed to create
millions of jobs in a nation reeling from recession. It also is clear that
the US is moving towards the nationalization of their banking system. The
stock market has lost about 30 % of the value from mid 2008 and is predicted
that it will cost trillions of US dollars to support the banks.
In January US employers slashed another 598,000 jobs and in Canada 129,000 lost
their jobs.
Many U.S. banks have made it harder for borrowers to obtain all kinds of loans
over the last three months despite a $700-billion (U.S.) federal bailout program
and a flurry of other bold moves to stem the worst financial crisis to hit the
country since the 1930s.
End of January the US passes a bill to try to improve their unemployment numbers
by injecting over $819 billion in a stimulus spending and tax reduction bill.
Outside the US, countries now worry about US economic isolationism while inside
the US the right wing factions worry about spreading socialism.
A record plunge in gasoline prices pushed overall U.S. consumer prices down for
the third straight month in December, closing out 2008 in which the change in
inflation was the smallest in more than a half-century.
But despite low
interest rates to banks, the banks have raised their consumer lending rates
stating that because of the number of defaults in repayment of loans they have
to raise their consumer lending rates. Seems like a lot of cross logic. |
