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Geithner Pushed AIG to Hide $13Bn CDS Deal
January 7, 2010 5 min. read

An arm of the Federal Reserve, then led by now-Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, told bailed-out insurance giant AIG to withhold key details from the public about overpayments that put billions of extra tax dollars in the coffers of major Wall Street firms, most notably Goldman Sachs. The sordid tale unfolds in a series of e-mails between the company and the New York Fed while Geithner was its president.

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Wall Street's Outsized Hubris Parties On
January 7, 2010 3 min. read

On Wall Street the past year was filled with one opportunity after another to fix the myriad fundamental structural deficiencies — revealed all too painfully by the financial crisis — that continue to plague the nation’s economic outlook. But as we enter 2010, not a single one of the “systemic failures” in the financial system has been adequately addressed, let alone resolved. This ongoing failure to act in the face of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression is especially disappointing since President Barack Obama was elected, in part, on a promise to bring constructive and lasting change to the canyons of Wall Street.

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Reading List: 'When China Rules the World'
January 6, 2010 2 min. read

  WHEN CHINA RULES THE WORLD: The End of the Western World and the Birth of a New Global Order By Martin Jacques, Penguin Press (2010). Historians may someday debate whether the financial crisis that began a year ago is most notable for how much damage it did to the United States, or how little […]

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NYT: Divergent Views of US Economy in 2010
January 6, 2010 2 min. read

Leading economist who study the U.S. economy for signs of life sometimes have wildly different views of economic metrics, what they mean and are often sharply divideded along partisan economic perspectives. Nevertheless, there are real signs of growth going into the new year.

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Global Markets PSA: Move Your Money
January 2, 2010 3 min. read

Exercise your Rights, move your money before it’s too late. Don’t let Potter win. JUST BEFORE CHRISTMAS this year, a few friends were having dinner wondering what personal actions they could take to help limit the power of the big banks and create a more sane, stable financial system. How, they wondered, could they help end […]

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'Big Government' vs. 'Big Business'
January 1, 2010 6 min. read

A brief examination of commonly held beliefs about “Big Government” vs. the evils and perils of the real culprits, “Big Business” and how they act against the public good. It is time we hold ‘Big Business’ accountable to be be good corporate citizens and to uphold their social responsibility to uphold the public good above greed and profits.

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Global Markets: 2009 Year In Review
December 28, 2009 7 min. read

A Year-end Round-up of major events and happenings in the Global Markets, Global Economy & International Trade arena, naming the Global Markets & Foreign Policy blog’s Person-of-the-Year, and our outlook for 2010.

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China Economic Power Unsettles Neighbors
December 10, 2009 2 min. read

China has long claimed to be just another developing nation, even as its economic power far outstripped that of any other emerging country. Now, it is finding it harder to cast itself as a friendly alternative to an imperious American superpower. For many in Asia, it is the new colossus.

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JPM's Dimon to Replace Geithner at Treasury..??
November 24, 2009 3 min. read

Rumors persist in recent days that JP Morgan CEO, Jamie Dimon is being considered as the most likely replacement for Tim Geithner at U.S. Treasury, as confidence in Geithner wanes because he is too cozy with Wall Street as he insists on soft reforms for the industry.

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Andrew Ross Sorkin Video: 'Too Big To Fail'
November 22, 2009 2 min. read

If you’ve ever wanted to be a ‘fly-on-the-wall’ in the clubby, heavily wood-paneled board rooms or the glass-encased corner offices of chief executives when the deal is being negotiated, this is it.

The book is interesting, detailed and crammed with an ‘insider’s’ perspective as the drama that precipitated the ‘Great Recession’ unfolded.

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Must Read: 'On Fooling People All the Time'
November 13, 2009 3 min. read

Fooling Some of the People All of the Time is the gripping chronicle of that revealing saga. Page by page, it delves deep inside Wall Street, showing how the $6 billion hedge fund Greenlight Capital conducts its investment research detailing the maneuvers of unscrupulous companies, greed-laden executives and the previaling orthodoxies of Wall Street leading up to the precipitation of the 2008 financial crisis. It is a compelling read.

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