Economy
TOP NEWS: Economy: July 3, 2012
- Factory Slump Reaches US
- Barclay’s CEO Resigns Amid Interest Rate Scandal
- Diamond’s Exit Alone Won’t Restore Banking’s Reputation
- US Economy At Risk, IMF Report Informs
- There’s Something Rotten in Banking
Excerpts and more top stories
ECONOMY: Factory Slump Reaches US
Neil Shah & Ben Casselman, WSJ – The global economic slowdown has finally caught up with American manufacturers. The U.S. factory sector shrank in June for the first time since July 2009—the first month of the economic recovery.
BARCLAY’S: Barclay’s CEO Resigns Amid Interest Rate Scandal
Sara Schaefer Munoz & Max Colchester, WSJ - The CEO of UK-based Barclays, Robert Diamond, resigned today over the bank’s involvement in rigging a vital interest-rate benchmark. Barclays agreed last week to pay $453 million to settle a UK and U.S. investigation that demonstrated traders at the bank had intentionally manipulated the London interbank offered rate, the Libor. Other global banks being investigated by UK, U.S., and Asian authorities include Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, JP Morgan Chase, and Royal Bank of Scotland.
BARCLAY’S: Diamond’s Exit Alone Won’t Restore Banking’s Reputation
Philip Stephens, Financial Times – The time for remorse is over. Bob Diamond’s infamous remark in the aftermath of the global crash said everything that needed to be said about the former Barclay’s chief executive.
ECONOMY: US Economy At Risk, IMF Report Informs
Howard Schneider, Washington Post – The economic drag from Europe and the risks from domestic fiscal issues have left U.S. economic growth “tepid and subject to elevated downside risks,” the International Monetary Fund warned on Tuesday.
BARCLAY’S: There’s Something Rotten in Banking
Editorial, Bloomberg – The Barclays scandal, in which the bank reported artificially low borrowing costs during the 2008 financial turmoil, is further confirmation that the industry just can’t be trusted to regulate itself. “We hope the investigations expose the bad actors, lead to jail terms for those who knowingly manipulated the market, and force out the senior managers and board directors who participated in, or overlooked, such conduct.”
===MORE STORIES===
ECONOMY: Howard Schultz: “The American Dream is in Jeopardy”
Andy Serwer, Fortune – The Starbucks CEO is concerned about the economy, unemployment and the general direction of the country. As the 4th of July approaches, he is speaking out — and not pulling any punches.
MORGAN STANLEY/RATINGS: Morgan Stanley Got S&P To Inflate Ratings, Investors Say
John Lippert, Zeke Faux & Jef Feeley, Bloomberg – Morgan Stanley (MS) successfully pushed Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s Investors Service Inc. to give unwarranted investment-grade ratings in 2006 to $23 billion worth of notes backed by subprime mortgages, investors claimed in a lawsuit, citing documents unsealed in federal court.
ECONOMY: The Real National Security Threat: America’s Debt
Kenneth Lieberthal & Michael O’Hanlon, LA Times, OP-ED – Our growing national debt is a threat not only to domestic programs but to a U.S. tradition of an activist foreign policy that helped America prosper.
HIGHER EDUCATION: Filling in the Skills Gap
Joe Nocera, NY Times – A high school diploma is no longer enough in today’s economy, so community colleges need to step up.
JOBS: Agency Confronts Hurdles in Helping Veterans Match Military Skills to Civilian Jobs
James Dao, NY Times - The Department of Veterans Affairs, recognizing the problem, has started a series of hiring fairs.
LAW: Poor Land in Jail as Companies Add Huge Fees for Probation
Ethan Bronner, NY Times - In an effort to improve revenue, courts are turning to businesses that specialize in collections, resulting in costs that can reach thousands of dollars for a minor traffic offense.
NOMURA HOLDINGS: Shareholder Activism in Japan? Not Yet
William Pesek, Bloomberg, Opinion - In Japan, stockholders are speaking out against shady investment practices such as insider-trading accusations at Nomura Holdings, Inc.
MARKETS: Lining Up Libor Alternatives
Katy Burne & Matt Phillips, WSJ – The hunt for a credible replacement for Libor—long the most accepted market measure of short-term interest-rate moves—is heating up.
JP MORGAN: Former Brokers Say JPMorgan Favored Selling Bank’s Own Funds Over Others
Susanne Craig & Jessica Silver-Greenberg, NY Times – Facing a slump after the financial crisis, JPMorgan Chase turned to ordinary investors to make up for the lost profit. But as the bank became one of the nation’s largest mutual fund managers, some current and former brokers say it emphasized its sales over clients’ needs.
HEALTH CARE: GlaxoSmithKline Settles Largest Health Care Fraud Case In U.S. History
Jesse J Holland, Huffington Post – GlaxoSmithKline LLC will pay $3 billion and plead guilty to promoting two popular drugs for unapproved uses and to failing to disclose important safety information on a third in the largest health care fraud settlement in U.S. history, the Justice Department said Monday.
ROMNEY: Mitt Romney and the New Gilded Age
Robert Reich, Huffington Post, Opinion – The election of 2012 raises two perplexing questions. The first is how the GOP could put up someone for president who so brazenly epitomizes the excesses of casino capitalism that have nearly destroyed the economy and overwhelmed our democracy. The second is why the Democrats have failed to point this out.
JOBS: As Obama Takes Court Victory Lap, US Unemployed Still Left In Line
Ed Carson, Investor’s Business Daily - President Obama wasted little time giving his perspective on the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold his sweeping health care law.
