“Crony capitalism” is a term often applied to foreign nations where government interference circumvents market forces. The practice is widely associated with tin-pot dictators and second-rate economies. In such a system, support for the ruling regime is the best and only path to economic success. Who you know supersedes what you know, and favoritism trumps the rule of law.
General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) is closing in quickly on its June 1 deadline to finish overhauling its operations, or opt for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Because that deadline is actually one week from yesterday (Monday), analysts and investors will be watching GM closely this week.
Oil rose towards $41 a barrel on Tuesday, lifted by expectations that the approval of an $800 billion-plus stimulus package by the U.S. government would boost demand for oil in the world’s largest energy consumer.
As the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression continues to worsen, decades of deregulation and the growing independence at the state level are being reversed as a deteriorating national economy forces the federal government to increasingly take on responsibilities that no other institution has the power or resources to handle.
Citigroup Inc. (C) Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit and Chairman Winfried Bischoff will forgo 2008 bonuses after the bank lost three-quarters of its market value and got a $45 billion U.S. bailout, Pandit said in a memo to employees.
The 116 banks that are receiving billions in taxpayer-provided bailout money this year actually paid out $1.6 billion in compensation and benefits to their top executives last year – even though the results at some of these institutions were so poor that they would soon have to turn to Washington for a government-engineered rescue.
Senate rejects auto bailout… ECB pushes back from the rate cut table… Goldman and Citigroup predict a dollar fall… China to continue to appreciate… And Now… Today’s Pfennig!
U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson yesterday (Wednesday) announced a reshaping of the government’s $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program. Instead of purchasing troubled assets directly from banks, Paulson said the majority of the funds allotted to the Treasury Department would be used to purchase equity stakes in financial institutions and bolster the consumer credit market.
The U.S. Treasury Department has rejected General Motors Corp.’s (GM) request of $10 billion in assistance for its potential merger with Chrysler LLC after the Bush Administration decided it didn’t want to broaden its $700 billion financial rescue program to include industrial companies – or to play a role in a GM-Chrysler merger that could cost the U.S. economy tens of thousands of jobs, The New York Times reported yesterday (Monday).
A tentative Bush Administration plan aimed at keeping as many as three million homeowners who are behind on their mortgages from losing their houses will be difficult to administer, and could end up costing the country hundreds of billions of dollars more than the plan’s architects expect.