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CONSUMER News:
20080819
 Prices
-  History
-  Energy
-  Labor
"Wholesale
prices: Highest annual rate in 27 years: The Labor
Department reports that its Producer Price Index increased by 1.2% in July
and by 9.8% in the past year." ... "In another indication of growing inflation,
wholesale prices increased in July to the highest annual rate in 27 years,
according to a government report released Tuesday." ... "The annual Producer
Price Index for finished goods rose 9.8% in the 12 months that ended in
July." ... "The jump in wholesale prices is the fastest rate of increase
since a 10.4% bump-up in June 1981, according to Joseph Kowal, economist
at the Bureau of Labor Statistics." ... "The Labor Department also reported
that PPI rose 1.2% in July, after increasing 1.8% in June. Analysts polled
by Briefing.com had expected an increase of only 0.6%." ... "The surge
in producer prices is in large part due to higher energy prices, said Doug
Roberts, chief investment strategist for ChannelCapitalResearch.com."
-CNN
20080806
 Barack
Obama -  John
McCain - Oil
- Companies
-  Politics
-  2008
Election -  Ohio
-  Arizona
- Working
-  Families
"Energy
wars continue on trail." ... "In Youngstown [Ohio],
[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack] Obama said that
[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain has "proposed
an energy plan that’s nothing but four years more of the same," and that
helps oil companies and not consumers, according to excerpts provided by
the Obama campaign." ... "Obama says that "under [Arizona] Senator McCain’s
plan, the oil companies get billions more, we don’t pay any less at the
pump, and we stay in the same cycle of dependence on oil that got us into
this crisis. The oil companies have placed their bet on Senator McCain,
and if he wins, they will continue to cash in while our families and our
economy suffer and our future is put in jeopardy.That’s the choice we face
in this election. We can choose four years more of the same failed policies
that have gotten us where we are. Four years more of oil companies calling
the shots while hard working families are struggling. That’s what Senator
McCain is offering."" ... "Obama then promotes his own plan for alternative
energy and green-collar jobs." ... "Trying to reinforce Obama's point about
McCain't ties to Big Oil, the Democratic National Committee posted a web
video that shows McCain as a puppet whose strings are being pulled by oil
company lobbyists." ... ""Big Oil in the White House. We've seen this show
before," the video concludes. " -By Foon Rhee
-Boston/Globe
 WATCH:
McCain Oil Industry Lobbyists Puppet Masters ad
Hacking
- Business
-  Computer
- Consumer
- Data
- Identity
Theft -  Privacy
-  US
-  Ukraine
- China
"Theft
ring accused of hacking 41 million credit card numbers."
... "Eleven people, including a U.S. [United States] Secret Service informant,
have been charged in connection with the hacking of nine major retailers
and the theft and sale of more than 41 million credit- and debit-card numbers,
the Justice Department announced Tuesday." ... "The data breach is believed
to be the largest hacking and identity-theft case ever prosecuted by the
Department of Justice, which said the suspects were charged with conspiracy,
computer intrusion, fraud and identity theft." ... "Three of those charged
are U.S. citizens, while the others are from places such as Estonia, Ukraine,
Belarus and China." -StarTribune
20080804
Money
- Gasoline
- Unemployment
"U.S.
Economy: Inflation Erodes Buying Power, Tax-Rebate Effects."
... "The biggest increase in prices in almost three years eroded consumers'
buying power, reinforcing speculation the Federal Reserve won't raise interest
rates in the face of faster inflation and slow growth." ... "Consumer inflation
in June climbed 0.8 percent, the most since September 2005, the Commerce
Department said today in Washington. Spending increased 0.6 percent, more
than forecast, compared with a gain of 0.8 percent the prior month. Price
jumps in petroleum and chemicals also swelled the value of orders to American
factories in June." ... "Tax rebates from $168 billion in fiscal stimulus
will provide only a temporary boost for Americans facing $4 a gallon gasoline
and unemployment at the highest level since 2004. Fed officials, meeting
tomorrow, must find a way to acknowledge the risk of accelerating inflation
without signaling a rate increase that would worsen the economic slowdown,
economists said." ... "The Fed's preferred gauge of prices, which excludes
food and fuel, climbed 0.3 percent, more than economists forecast." -By
Bob Willis and Shobhana Chandra -Bloomberg
20080729
Consumer
- Financing
"Home
prices fell at record pace in May: S&P." ...
"Falling home prices are seen at the crux of a growing crisis in foreclosures
as homeowners find themselves "underwater," with the value of their homes
now less than their loans." ... "Expectations that prices will continue
to fall into 2009 also makes refinancing of loans tougher, leaving homeowners
in high-cost mortgages peddled during the housing boom." -By
Al Yoon with contributions by Theodore d'Afflisio
-Reuters
20080621
 Housing
- Market
- History
- "Rise
in Renters Erasing Gains for Ownership." ... "Driven
largely by the surge in foreclosures and an unsettled housing market, Americans
are renting apartments and houses at the highest level since President
Bush started a campaign to expand homeownership in 2002." ... "The percentage
of households headed by homeowners, which soared to a record 69.1 percent
in 2005, fell to 67.8 percent this year, the sharpest decline in 20 years,
according to census data through the end of March. By extension, the percentage
of households headed by renters increased to 32.2 percent, from 30.9 percent."
... "The figures, while seemingly modest, reflect a significant shift in
national housing trends, housing analysts say, with the notable gains in
homeownership achieved under Mr. Bush all but vanishing over the last two
years." ... "Many of the new renters, meanwhile, are struggling to get
into decent apartments as vacancies decline, rents rise and other renters
increasingly stay put. Some renters who want to buy homes are unable to
get mortgages as banks impose stricter standards. Others remain reluctant
to buy, anxious that housing prices will continue to fall." ... "The confluence
of factors has largely derailed what Mr. Bush called “the ownership society,”
his campaign to give millions of people — particularly minority and lower-income
families — a shot at homeownership by encouraging lenders to finance more
home purchases." ... "“We’re not going to see homeownership rates like
that for a generation,” said Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody’s
Economy.com, a research company." (1, 2)
-By Rachel
L. Swarns -NYTimes
20080616
Electricity
- Market
-  Law
-  Enforcement
-  Texas
"Power
firms’ treatment angers Texans." ... "Prices aren’t
the only thing skyrocketing in the state’s deregulated electricity market."
... "Amid continuing company failures — and the resulting forced transfer
of tens of thousands of ratepayers to default electric companies — Texans
in growing numbers are griping about their ill treatment by power companies."
... "According to the Texas Public Utility Commission, complaints related
to the electric market jumped from 704 in January to 1,123 in May. Complaints
against three of the four recently failed electric companies jumped about
2,400 percent, from about 20 at the beginning of the year to 508 in May."
... "E-mails and phone calls also continue streaming into the Star-Telegram.
Frustrated consumers tell stories of poor treatment by their regular electric
competitors, confusing PUC rules, uninformed marketers and the near impossibility
of obtaining reliable information about the financial status of companies
seeking their business." ... "One company has collected payments from customers
but not delivered any electricity, according to some complaints." -By
R.A. Dyer -Star-Telegram.com
20080612
 Health
-  Science
-  Environmental
-  Safety
- Laws
-  Manufacturing
- Industries
-  EU
- US
-  Global
- Consumers
-  Government
- Politics
- Computer
- Privacy
- Newborns
"Chemical
Law Has Global Impact: [European Union's] E.U.'s
New Rules Forcing Changes By [United States] U.S. Firms." ... "Europe this
month rolled out new restrictions on makers of chemicals linked to cancer
and other health problems, changes that are forcing U.S. industries to
find new ways to produce a wide range of everyday products." ... "The new
laws in the European Union require companies to demonstrate that a chemical
is safe before it enters commerce -- the opposite of policies in the United
States, where regulators must prove that a chemical is harmful before it
can be restricted or removed from the market. Manufacturers say that complying
with the European laws will add billions to their costs, possibly driving
up prices of some products." ... "The changes come at a time when consumers
are increasingly worried about the long-term consequences of chemical exposure
and are agitating for more aggressive regulation. In the United States,
these pressures have spurred efforts in Congress and some state legislatures
to pass laws that would circumvent the laborious federal regulatory process."
... "Adamantly opposed by the U.S. chemical industry and the [Republican
President] Bush administration, the E.U. laws will be phased in over the
next decade. It is difficult to know exactly how the changes will affect
products sold in the United States. But American manufacturers are already
searching for safer alternatives to chemicals used to make thousands of
consumer goods, from bike helmets to shower curtains." ... "The European
Union's tough stance on chemical regulation is the latest area in which
the Europeans are reshaping business practices with demands that American
companies either comply or lose access to a market of 27 countries and
nearly 500 million people." ... "From its crackdown on antitrust practices
in the computer industry to its rigorous protection of consumer privacy,
the European Union has adopted a regulatory philosophy that emphasizes
the consumer. Its approach to managing chemical risks, which started with
a trickle of individual bans and has swelled into a wave, is part of a
European focus on caution when it comes to health and the environment."
... "A study by the nonprofit Environmental Working Group found an average
of 200 industrial chemicals in the cord blood of newborns." (1, 2)
-By Lyndsey Layton -WashingtonPost
20080611
Barack
Obama - John
McCain - Corporate
- Law
- Politics
- Arizona
- 2008
Election
"Obama
attacks U.S. credit card companies, McCain." ...
""For too long, credit card companies have been using unfair and deceptive
practices to trick Americans into signing agreements they can't afford,"
[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack] Obama said." ...
"Obama said the laws and regulations governing credit card companies have
been lax and that the companies have paid millions of dollars to curry
favor with members of Congress "to get laws written to their liking.""
... "Obama said [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] "John
McCain has been part of the problem," accusing the presumptive Republican
nominee of siding with banking industry lobbyists on credit issues and
voting against an effort to increase transparency on credit card bills."
... ""When he had the chance to help families avoid falling into debt,
John McCain sided with the credit card companies," Obama said of the Arizona
senator." (1, 2)
-By Steve Holland -Reuters
20080604
Consumer
- Home
- Legislation
- Politics
"`Sliced,
Diced' Mortgages More Likely to Default, Offit Says."
... "Most of the 5.85 million subprime [home] mortgages in the U.S. are
in danger of defaulting
in the next 12 months because of restrictions on changing terms of the
loans, according to Offit Capital Advisors." ... "About 80 percent of the
loans are in bonds that ``slice and dice'' rights to a mortgage's interest
or principal in multiyear segments, said Todd Petzel, chief investment
officer for the New York-based firm, which manages $5 billion. Lifting
restrictions on loan modifications spelled out in the securities requires
the agreement of everyone who has invested in them, Petzel said." ... "``If
you could get all the investors in the same room, there's no limit to the
modifications that could be made to a loan, but that's not likely to happen,''
Petzel said. ``Once you cut up a pig into pork chops and loins and hams
it's nearly impossible to put the pieces back together.''" ... "Anti-foreclosure
legislation in the [United States] U.S. House and Senate asks lenders to
voluntarily reduce mortgage principal and banking regulators are urging
lenders to modify loan terms to stem the worst surge of foreclosures in
seven decades. About half of the subprime adjustable mortgages in securities
had payments delinquent for more than 60 days or was in foreclosure, according
to a report on the Federal Reserve's Web site." ... "The collapse of the
subprime market that began last year caused at least $380 billion of asset
writedowns and credit losses and damaged the economy. Measured annually,
U.S. economic growth probably will reach a seven-year low of 0.9 percent
in 2008, Fannie Mae, the world's largest mortgage buyer said in a May 8
forecast. " -By Kathleen M. Howley
-Bloomberg
20080602
 Education
- Consumer
- Poor
-  People
-  Oregon
-  Calif
- Federal
"Student
Loans Start to Bypass 2-Year Colleges." ... "Some
of the nation’s biggest banks have closed their doors to students at community
colleges, for-profit universities and other less competitive institutions,
even as they continue to extend federally backed loans to students at the
nation’s top universities." ... "Citibank has been among the most aggressive
in paring the list of colleges it serves. JPMorgan Chase, PNC and SunTrust
say they have not dropped whole categories, but are cutting colleges as
well. Some less-selective four-year colleges, like Eastern Oregon University
[Oregon] and William Jessup University in Rocklin, Calif. [California],
say they have been summarily dropped by some lenders." ... "The practice
suggests that if the credit crisis and the ensuing turmoil in the student
loan business persist, some of the nation’s neediest students will be hurt
the most. The difficulty borrowing may deter them from attending school
or prompt them to take a semester off. When they get student loans, they
will wind up with less attractive terms and may run a greater risk of default
if they have to switch lenders in the middle of their college years." ...
"Tuition and loan amounts can be quite small at community colleges. But
these institutions, which are a stepping stone to other educational programs
or to better jobs, often draw students from the lower rungs of the economic
ladder. More than 6.2 million of the nation’s 14.8 million undergraduates
— over 40 percent — attend community colleges. According to the most recent
data from the College Board, about a third of their graduates took out
loans, a majority of them federally guaranteed." ... "“If we put too many
hurdles in their way to get a loan, they’ll take a third job or use a credit
card,” said Jacqueline K. Bradley, assistant dean for financial aid at
Mendocino College in California. “That almost guarantees that they won’t
be as successful in their college career.”" (1, 2)
-By Jonathan
D. Glater -NYTimes
20080514
-
US
-
 Military
- Families
-  Iraq
-  Afghanistan
-  Israel
- Consumer
- Business
-  Terrorism
- Politics
- History
- "Bush
Says He's Not A Golfer In Wartime." ... "[Republican]
President Bush said yesterday that he gave up golfing in 2003 "in solidarity"
with the families of soldiers who were dying in Iraq, concluding that it
was "just not worth it anymore" to play the sport in a time of war." ...
"Democrats have criticized Bush for allegedly not requiring Americans to
sacrifice enough while waging wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and for urging
people to keep shopping as a way to fight terrorism after the [September]
Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Bush was also widely criticized in August 2002
when he decried terrorist bombings in Israel while golfing and then told
reporters: "Now watch this drive."" ... "... [Presidential historian Robert]
Dallek, who is critical of the current president's legacy, said Bush's
remarks about Iraq "speak to his shallowness." Dallek added: "That's his
idea of sacrifice, to give up golf?"" -By Dan Eggen
-WashingtonPost
 WATCH:
"Now watch this drive," video of Republican President Bush golfing
immediately after explaining that "We must stop the terror. I call upon
all nations to do everything they can to stop these terrorist killers,
thank you. Now watch this drive."
20080511
-
 Mother's-Day
-  Museum
-  West
Virginia -  Woman
- Mother
- People
- Consumer
- Marketing
- Industry
- "For
the mother of Mother's Day, it's just never been right."
... "Anna Jarvis never had children, but she became the mother of Mother's
Day, giving birth to the holiday during a serene church ceremony in her
hometown [Grafton, West Virginia] 100 years ago." ... "At first, her creation
was perfect and pure. People honored their mothers the way she envisioned
it -- with a white carnation, a symbol of maternal purity, a handwritten
note or a day off." ... "But then her holiday started acting like a rebellious
teenager, selling out to the flower and card industry, leaving Miss Jarvis
bitter and disillusioned. She ended her life in a mental asylum." ... "The
story of Miss Jarvis and the holiday that she couldn't control come to
life in two exhibits more than 20 miles south of Morgantown [West Virginia].
The International Mother's Day Shrine memorializes the first Mother's Day
service on May 10, 1908, the anniversary of the death of Miss Jarvis' mother,
Ann Marie Reeves Jarvis." ... "Four miles away from Grafton in Webster
[West Virginia] is the Anna Jarvis Birthplace Museum, a lovingly restored
wooden Civil War-era house." ... "Miss Jarvis likely would cringe if she
could see Mother's Day today." ... "The simple white carnation handed out
to mothers in the former Andrews Methodist Church 100 years ago has given
way to modern marketing -- crowded department store Mother's Day sales,
restaurant pitches for elaborate brunches and dinners, ornate floral bouquets
and rows upon rows of Mother's Day cards, instead of the handwritten note
she urged. On average, Americans are expected to spend $138 each on mom
this Mother's Day, ringing up $15.8 billion in sales." ... "In her day,
Anna Jarvis was a public figure and irresistible newspaper copy as she
crashed confectioners' conferences, broke up a War Mothers' rally and threatened
lawsuits -- all in the name of saving her beloved Mother's Day from encroachers."
-By Cristina Rouvalis
-Post-Gazette.com
20080509
-
Consumers
-
 Food
- Safety
- Humans
- Health
- Law
- Politics
-  Animals
-  Agriculture
- Business
-  Kan
- US
-  Japan
- "Government
asks court to block wider testing for mad cow." ...
"The [Republican President] Bush administration on Friday urged a federal
appeals court to stop meatpackers from testing all their animals for mad
cow disease, but a skeptical judge questioned whether the government has
that authority." ... "The government seeks to reverse a lower court ruling
that allowed Arkansas City, Kan.[Kansas]-based Creekstone Farms Premium
Beef to conduct more comprehensive testing to satisfy demand from overseas
customers in Japan and elsewhere." ... "Less than 1 percent of slaughtered
cows are currently tested for the disease under Agriculture Department
guidelines. The agency argues that more widespread testing does not guarantee
food safety and could result in a false positive that scares consumers."
... "Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, can be fatal
to humans who eat tainted beef. Three cases of mad cow disease have been
discovered in the U.S. [United States] since 2003." -By
Sam Hananel -AP
via -SFGate.com
20080507
-
Secret
- Government
-
 Intelligence
- Terrorism
- Politics
- Illegal
- Surveillance
- Investigation
-  Internet
- Archive
-  Library
- Electronic
- Civil
Liberties - Brewster_Kahle
- Censorship
- San
Francisco - California
- Student
- Health
- Consumer
-  Telephone
- Electronic
- Data
- National
Security Letter - "FBI
Targets Internet Archive With Secret 'National Security Letter', Loses."
... "The Internet Archive, a project to create a digital library of the
web for posterity, successfully fought a secret government Patriot Act
order for records about one of its patrons and won the right to make the
order public, civil liberties groups announced Wednesday morning." ...
"On November 26, 2007, the FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation] served
a controversial National
Security Letter (.pdf) on the Internet
Archive's founder Brewster Kahle, asking for records about one of the
library's registered users, asking for the user's name, address and activity
on the site." ... "The Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Internet Archive's
lawyers, fought the NSL [National Security Letter], challenging its constitutionality
in a December 14 complaint
(.pdf) to a federal court in San Francisco [California]. The FBI agreed
on April 21 to withdraw the letter and unseal the court case, making some
of the documents available to the public." ... "The Patriot Act greatly
expanded the reach of NSLs, which are subpoenas for documents such as billing
records and telephone records that the FBI can issue in terrorism investigations
without a judge's approval. Nearly all NSLs come with gag orders forbidding
the recipient from ever speaking of the subpoena, except to a lawyer."
... "Brewster Kahle called the gag order "horrendous," saying he couldn't
talk about the case with his board members, wife or staff, but said that
his stand was part of a time-honored tradition of librarians protecting
the rights of their patrons." ... ""This is an unqualified success that
will help other recipients understand that you can push back on these,"
Kahle said in a conference call with reporters Wednesday morning." ...
"Though FBI guidelines on using NSLs warned of overusing them, two Congressionally
ordered audits revealed that the FBI had issued hundreds of illegal requests
for student health records, telephone records and credit reports. The reports
also found that the FBI had issued hundreds of thousands of NSLs since
2001, but failed to track their use. In a letter to Congress last week,
the FBI admitted it can only estimate how many NSLs it has issued." -By
Ryan Singel -Wired
20080502
-
 Hillary
Clinton - John
McCain - Gas
- Politics
- Consumer
- Memorial
Day - Labor_Day
-  New
York - 2008
Election
- "Clinton,
McCain Push Gas Tax Break Economists Panned (Update1)."
... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Hillary Clinton
and [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain are both
pushing a ``gas-tax holiday'' to give consumers an 18.4- cent-a-gallon
price break. Clinton says the plan will take excess profits from oil companies.
McCain says it will help families buy school supplies." ... "Economists
have a different take: They say the oil companies may end up the biggest
beneficiaries, while the aid to families wouldn't be enough to buy a $35
backpack." ... "The trouble with the plan, they say, is that oil prices
are rising because of low supplies, and companies will continue to charge
the average $3.60 a gallon and just pocket the money that would have gone
to federal taxes." ... "``That's $10 billion, and it's going into the pockets
of oil refiners,'' said Leonard Burman of the Tax Policy Center in Washington.
``The last time I checked, they didn't need it.''" ... "Ethan Harris, chief
U.S. [United States] economist at Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., said families
would save only about $18 a month. Burman estimated the total savings from
Memorial Day to Labor Day at $28." ... "New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg
said the proposal was ``about the dumbest thing I've heard in a long time
from an economic point of view.''" -By Alison Fitzgerald
-Bloomberg
20080430
-
Clinton
- McCain
- Obama
- Infrastructure
-
 Auto
- Transportation
-  North
Carolina - 2008
Election - Oil
- Companies
- Politics
- "Clinton-McCain
gas tax holiday slammed as bad idea." ... "The [gas]
tax is used to fund the Highway Trust Fund that builds and maintains roads
and bridges." ... "Economists said that since refineries cannot increase
their supply of gasoline in the space of a few summer months, lower prices
will just boost demand and the benefits will flow to oil companies, not
consumers." ... ""You are just going to push up the price of gas by almost
the size of the tax cut," said Eric Toder, a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings
Tax Policy Center in Washington." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential
Candidate Barack] Obama criticized the plan as pure politics and said the
only way to lower the price of gas is to use less oil." ... ""It would
last for three months and it would save you on average half a tank of gas,
$25 to $30. That's what Senator Clinton and Senator McCain are proposing
to deal with the gas crisis," he said on Tuesday in Winston-Salem, North
Carolina." ... ""This isn't an idea designed to get you through the summer,
it's an idea designed to get them through an election."" (1, 2,
3)
-By Alister Bull with contributions by Bill Trott
-Reuters
20080429
-
McCain
- Clinton
- Obama
- Transportation
- Infrastructure
- Federal
- Money
- Arizona
- New
York
-
 Illinois
- 2008
Election - Labor_Day
- Memorial
Day - Consumer
- Car
- Gas
- Politics
- "What
a gas: Candidates seem far less presidential when
they talk about 'gas tax holidays' rather than the nation's ongoing needs."
... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator]
Sen. John McCain's idea to give Americans a summer holiday from federal
gas taxes is about as weighty as a Barbie Dream Car, yet he can't stop
driving it into the ground." ... "Neither can [2008 Election Democratic
Presidential Candidate and New York Senator] Sen. Hillary Clinton. The
two presidential contenders can't resist the chance to pander to voters
and, as a bonus, paint [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate
and Illinois Senator] Sen. Barack Obama as an elitist. By doing so, they're
missing an opportunity to show leadership on some major long-term challenges
-- such as updating the nation's crowded roads and aging bridges." ...
"In a speech on April 15, McCain proposed that the federal government suspend
the 18.4-cent-per-gallon gas tax and the 24.4-cent-per-gallon diesel tax
between Memorial Day and Labor Day. ... "McCain's idea is problematic on
several levels. First, it would begin and end several months before the
next president takes office, so it's more of a thought balloon than a plan.
Second, the tax relief would save the typical American family only about
$40 per car, while also siphoning $10 billion from the cash-strapped federal
highway fund." ... "What's more, leading economists say the tax break would
do little to lower the prices at the pump. More likely, the slightly lower
prices would lead to higher demand, which would push the prices back up,
allowing oil companies to make more money while federal tax coffers go
hungry." ... "This is an election-year sop, not a plan for the future."
-Oregonian
20080425
-
Consumer
- Opinion
- History
- Fuel
- Employment
- Houses
- Cars
-
 Michigan
- "U.S.
Economy: Sentiment Weakens More Than Anticipated (Update3)."
... "U.S. [United States] consumer confidence
fell more than forecast in April to a 26-year low as record fuel prices
and rising unemployment threatened to reduce spending." ... "The Reuters/University
of Michigan sentiment index decreased to 62.6, from 69.5 the previous month.
The measure was down from a preliminary estimate of 63.2 issued on April
11." ... "Consumers are growing increasingly anxious because the economy
has lost almost a quarter million jobs so far this year, gasoline is up
17 percent and property
values have fallen. Sales of houses and cars have declined as a result,
contributing to a slowdown that may bring an end to the six-year expansion."
... "The index of consumer expectations
for six months from now, which more closely projects the direction of consumer
spending, dropped to 53.3 from 60.1 last month." ... "The economy lost
80,000 jobs in March, the most in five years, following a 76,000 drop in
payrolls in each of the prior two months, according to figures from the
Labor Department." ... "The average price of regular unleaded gasoline
rose to a record $3.58 a gallon yesterday, according to data from AAA [American
Automobile Association]." ... "Cars and light trucks sold at an average
15.2 million annual pace in the first three months of the year, the fewest
since the third quarter of 1998." -By Bob Willis
-Bloomberg
20080422
-
Consumer
- Real
Estate - History
- "Regulator
fears wave of bank failures." ... "US bank failures
could rise above "historical norms" as a weakening economy puts pressure
on badly underwritten loans, particularly in commercial real estate, according
to a bank regulator." ... "In an interview with the Financial Times, John
Dugan, who oversees about 1,700 national banks as comptroller of the currency,
said the growing problems for lenders follow a period of almost four years
in which no institution regulated by his agency had failed." ... "Mr Dugan's
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is particularly worried about
lending by smaller banks to commercial real estate developers for condominiums
and other projects. More than a third of smaller community banks have made
commercial property loans that exceed 300 per cent of their capital, the
OCC [Office of the Comptroller of the Currency] says. By comparison, in
1987, when hundreds of banks failed amid a commercial property collapse,
such banks had commercial property loans equal to 175 per cent of their
capital." (1, 2)
-By Daniel
Pimlott, Krishna
Guha and Joanna
Chung -FT.com
20080417
-
-
-
 Media
- Politics
- Corporate
-  Network
- 2008
Election - 
-
-
-
- Torture
-
- Human
Rights -
- Consumer
-
- 
- Safety
-
-
-
- Death
Penalty - "Okay,
Now I'm Bitter." [Mary Mapes on what
DISNEY/ABC didn't cover in the 2008 Election Democratic Presidential
Candidate debate in Pennsylvania with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama]
... "In Iraq, we've seen a rebound in suicide bombings and gotten the disquieting
information that Iraqi soldiers have been fleeing the battlefield in frightening
numbers." ... "Americans learned that detailed discussions of torture techniques
had been held in the [Republican President] White House -- our White House
-- and President Bush revealed that he knew this and approved." ... "[Home]
Foreclosure rates have spiked to frightening levels." ... "U.S. [United
States] shoppers were told that food prices in this country are rising
at a higher pace than at any time in the past 17 years." ... "The airline
industry floundered through dreadful days of groundings, amidst safety
concerns, economic ailments and passenger anger." ... "Oil prices are setting
new records almost every day and $4 a gallon gas is coming soon to a service
station near you." ... "The anguish over China's human rights record and
its handling of Tibet turned the Olympic torch relay into a cross between
Spain's Running of the Bulls and 3rd grade keep-away." ... "[2008 Election
Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain, acting like a mean old
man trying to chase those pesky voters off his lawn, refused to endorse
a new GI bill that would help those currently serving our country get a
college education." ... "The Supreme Court issued a fractured opinion on
the death penalty that for the first time in years raises the real possibility
of a national debate on the value and morality of the ultimate punishment."
... "And we are in the middle of what is clearly the most important, most
consequential election of my lifetime -- and I'm no spring chicken." ...
"Instead, I sat in front of my TV open-mouthed, listening to a hodgepodge
of juvenile questions about flag jewelry, the possibility of a "dream"
ticket, elderly radicals, Charlie Gibson's personal tax concerns and ministers
who emote too much. What, no time for a question about Cindy McCain's purloined
pork chop recipe?" -By Mary Mapes
-HuffingtonPost.com
20080415
-
Consumer
- Economy
-
 Nevada
- California
-  Florida
- "Foreclosures
jump 57 percent in last 12 months." ... "Home foreclosure
filings surged 57 percent in the 12 month-period ended in March and bank
repossessions soared 129 percent from a year ago, as homeowners struggled
to make mortgage payments, real estate data firm RealtyTrac said on Tuesday."
... "For the month of March, foreclosure filings, default notices, auction
sale notices and bank repossessions rose 5 percent, led by Nevada, California
and Florida, RealtyTrac said." ... "The rise in March to filings on a total
of 234,685 properties followed a 4 percent decline in February, RealtyTrac
reported." ... "RealtyTrac said the peak has yet to be reached." (1, 2,
3)
-By Lynn Adler with contributions by Leslie Adler
-Reuters
20080414
-
Consumer
- Money
- History
- Poor
- Families
- Agriculture
- "Food
Costs Rising Fastest in 17 Years." ... "The U.S.
[United States] is wrestling with the worst food inflation in 17 years,
and analysts expect new data due on Wednesday to show it's getting worse.
That's putting the squeeze on poor families and forcing bakeries, bagel
shops and delis to explain price increases to their customers." ... "U.S.
food prices rose 4 percent in 2007, compared with an average 2.5 percent
annual rise for the last 15 years, according to the U.S. Department of
Agriculture. And the agency says 2008 could be worse, with a rise of as
much as 4.5 percent." ... "Eggs cost 25 percent more in February than they
did a year ago, according to the USDA [United States Department of Agriculture].
Milk and other dairy products jumped 13 percent, chicken and other poultry
nearly 7 percent." -By Ellen Simon
-AP via -SFGate.com
20080409
-
Families
- Jobs
- Consumer
- Economic
- History
-
 Accounting
- "For
Many, a Boom That Wasn’t." ... "The bigger problem
is that the now-finished boom was, for most Americans, nothing of the sort.
In 2000, at the end of the previous economic expansion, the median American
family made about $61,000, according to the Census Bureau’s inflation-adjusted
numbers. In 2007, in what looks to have been the final year of the most
recent expansion, the median family, amazingly, seems to have made less
— about $60,500." ... "This has never happened before, at least not for
as long as the government has been keeping records. In every other expansion
since World War II, the buying power of most American families grew while
the economy did. You can think of this as the most basic test of an economy’s
health: does it produce ever-rising living standards for its citizens?"
... "“We have had expansions before where the bottom end didn’t do well,”
said Lawrence F. Katz, a Harvard economist who studies the job market.
“But we’ve never had an expansion in which the middle of income distribution
had no wage growth.”" ... "But the larger point is still crucial: the modern
American economy distributes the fruits of its growth to a relatively narrow
slice of the population." -By David
Leonhardt -NYTimes
20080401
-
Federal
- Law
- Enforcement
- Politics
- Consumer
-
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