Jeremy Scahill, author of Dirty Wars, interviewed by Democracy Now!'s Amy Goodman & Juan González

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Financial Meltdown Topics

Democracy Now! stories, posts and pages that relate to Financial Meltdown

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  • Fed Bailout of Bear Stearns First of its Kind Since Great Depression

    The nation’s fifth largest investment bank Bear Stearns nearly collapsed last week. It was saved only after the Federal Reserve took extraordinary measures to help JPMorgan purchase the eighty-five-year-old firm. The Fed has become the lender of last resort for other investment banks in a move that marks one of the broadest expansions of the Fed’s lending authority since the 1930s. We speak with Nomi Prins, an author and former investment...
    Mar 20, 2008 | Story

  • Homeowners Plan Demonstration at NYC Offices of Bear Stearns, JPMorgan Chase to Protest Government Bailout

    Hundreds of homeowners are planning a demonstration today in Manhattan in front of the corporate offices of Bear Stearns and JPMorgan Chase to protest the "taxpayer bailout...and refusal of the government and Federal Reserve to provide real solutions for the millions of homeowners at risk of foreclosure." We speak with Bruce Marks, the founder of the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America that is organizing the demonstration....
    Mar 26, 2008 | Story

  • Loretta Napoleoni on "Rogue Economics: Capitalism's New Reality"

    Italian economist, journalist and author Loretta Napoleoni argues that recent events on Wall Street indicate a much larger upheaval and could “signal the end of the ‘Roaring Nineties,’ nearly two decades of easy money, cheap credit, and soaring global debt.” It’s an argument Napoleoni develops in her latest book called Rogue Economics: Capitalism’s New Reality. [includes rush transcript]
    Mar 31, 2008 | Story

  • Report: 40 Years After King, Little Progress in Closing Economic Inequality Gap Between African Americans and Whites

    In the late 1960s, Dr. Martin Luther King recognized that the next phase in the quest for civil rights and equality would focus on the economic divide. A new report from the Institute for Policy Studies titled “40 Years Later: The Unrealized American Dream” lays out key elements of the inequality that African Americans still experience in the United States around education, employment and wealth accumulation. We speak with the co-author of...
    Apr 10, 2008 | Story

  • Five Ways Wall Street and Washington Set Us Up for the Crash: Author Nomi Prins Explains Where Congress Went Wrong on Lending

    The worst of the economic crisis may be far from over. That was the message of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke Tuesday. He indicated that the housing and financial turmoil will persist deep into next year. The Senate, meanwhile, is deliberating a bill this week that would provide government-backed loans to 400,000 homeowners on the brink of foreclosure. We speak with former investment banker turned journalist and author, Nomi Prins, about...
    Jul 09, 2008 | Story

  • Foreclosure Phil: Journalist David Corn on How McCain Campaign Adviser Phil Gramm Helped Create the Subprime Mortgage Crisis

    In the latest issue of Mother Jones magazine, David Corn writes, "Who’s to blame for the biggest financial catastrophe of our time? There are plenty of culprits, but one candidate for lead perp is former Sen. Phil Gramm. Eight years ago, as part of a decades-long anti-regulatory crusade, Gramm pulled a sly legislative maneuver that greased the way to the multibillion-dollar subprime meltdown. Yet has Gramm been banished from the corridors...
    Jul 09, 2008 | Story

  • With Crises in Fuel, Food, Housing and Banking, What Gvt. Policies Are Being Pushed Through? Naomi Klein Reexamines "The Shock Doctrine"

    As the country and the world reel from crises ranging from skyrocketing oil prices and global food shortages to housing and climate change, how best to understand the government policies being pushed through? We spend the hour with Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. Klein also discusses Barack Obama’s economic advisory team, whom she calls "Obama’s Chicago Boys"; why she’s suing...
    Jul 15, 2008 | Story

  • Bailout for Mortgage Giants, IndyMac Bank Collapse, Dollar Hits New Low, Inflation at 26-Year High, Dow Falls Below 11K...A Look at the Financial Crisis

    It has been a tough seven days for the US economy. On Friday, the FDIC seized control of the failed California-based IndyMac Bank. It was second largest bank failure in US history. Analysts project another 150 banks could collapse. On Sunday, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced extraordinary moves to bail out the mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped below 11,000 for the first time...
    Jul 17, 2008 | Story

  • The Big Squeeze: Steven Greenhouse on Tough Times for the American Worker

    A new book by New York Times labor reporter Steven Greenhouse examines how much of the American workforce is working more but earning less. Wages have stagnated, health and pension benefits have grown stingier, and job security has shriveled. Greenhouse joins us to talk about The Big Squeeze: Tough Times for the American Worker. [includes rush transcript]
    Jul 29, 2008 | Story

  • US Seizes Control of AIG with $85 Billion Bailout

    The US government has seized control of insurance giant American International Group in an unprecedented $85 billion bailout. The Federal Reserve made the deal on Tuesday to save AIG from collapse in what the New York Times describes as "the most radical intervention in private business in the central bank’s history." The move comes as a series of financial crises has altered the landscape of Wall Street. We speak with investment banker...
    Sep 17, 2008 | Story