The recent recession has been the most brutal since the Great Depression and has caused enormous hardship for many American families, as well as immense financial problems for governments around the world. As a result, it’s hard …
Financial Crisis
Don’t Cry for Goldman Sachs, Despite ‘Bad’ Year and Partner Exits
Has Goldman Sachs lost its lustre? The Wall Street powerhouse is wrapping up its worst financial performance since 2008, with profits down more than 40% so far this year. As a result, end-of-year bonus payouts are sure to be …
Was the Government Bailout of AIG Illegal?
Here’s what we have learned for sure during the past three years: No one likes bailouts. Not even, apparently, the people being bailed out.
In two lawsuits filed on Monday against the government and the Federal Reserve, a …
Could the European Debt Crisis Cause a U.S. bank to Fail?
Depending on how you look at it, U.S. banks could lose as much as $1 trillion if the current money troubles in Europe were to lead to a full blown financial crisis. Or they could lose close to nothing. It depends on who you believe. Understanding why there is a difference of opinion is at the heart of knowing whether U.S. banks are …
$54 Billion Closer to Our Next Financial Crisis
After a couple years of austerity, we’re again racking up credit card debt at an alarming clip.
New Mortgage Suits: U.S. Financial Problems Are Far from Fixed
UPDATE: 9/2/11, 10:15 PM
Remember the financial crisis. It’s back, sort of. This time the worry about the banks is being created not directly from bad loans, but from lawsuits that are now coming out of those now sour deals. And it appears a new round, and perhaps the biggest so far, could be coming came at the banks as soon as next …
Bank of America Mortgage Settlement: Big Banks Could Be Forced to Repay $45 Billion
Eight months ago, when approached by investors to repay a portion of their losses in mortgage bonds, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said no way. He said that his firm had followed the rules and that he was going to fight this one to the end. The outcome of that “fight” may indicate that the big banks are far from paying their tab …
Is Dodd-Frank Reviving the Shadow Banks?
They’re back.
In the past few months, it appears, shadow banks (financial firms that make loans but aren’t actual banks) seem to be making a comeback. In case you’ve forgotten about these things already, shadow banks are like …
Financial Crisis Payback: JP Morgan Pays Second Largest Housing Bust Related Fine
It appears JP Morgan Chase is a vampire squid as well.
JPMorgan will pay a $153 million fine to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges that it misled investors in a mortgage bond deal just as the housing market was about to crack. The SEC alleges that JPMorgan sold a type of risky mortgage deal called a collateralized debt …
Is Greece the Next Lehman?
We can all remember the sudden collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, the official launch of the last financial crisis. Panicked investors dumped stocks and bonds around the globe in a desperate flight to cash and …
Did Lobbying Cause the Financial Crisis?
The HBO docu-drama Too Big To Fail and the book by Adam Ross Sorkin by the same title are billed as the defining history of the financial crisis. But it may be time to rewrite history again.
Recently, there has been some griping about financial lobbying because it seems the big banks are attempting to roll back every regulatory change …
Did the Auto Bailouts Break the Constitution?
GM IPO looks like a success even if it broke the law (Shannon Stapleton/REUTERS)
A new report says the bailout of GM and Chrysler was illegal and may have broken the constitution. Does it matter? Maybe.
The question over the auto bailout’s legality is one of those debates about the financial crisis and the government’s response that …