Lender liability

FROM THE ARAB REVOLUTIONS TO GLOBAL AUSTERITY

by Third World Network

3 May 2013

To highlight some of the complex dynamics and challenges of the IMF’s role in the Arab region, in a context of continuing popular uprisings that are calling for social and economic justice and for transforming the national development paradigm, and to link it to the waves of austerity across Europe, the US and other regions, a panel discussion titled “From the Arab Revolutions to Global Austerity,” was held on the sidelines of the spring meetings (19-21 April) of the IMF and World Bank. More

HOW THE BANKS DO IT

by Donald Mackenzie

2 May 2013

The insurance that taxpayers provide to banks has the effect of making it seem to bankers that it is much cheaper for them to take on debt to fund their assets than to raise cash from shareholders, for example by issuing new shares. More

THE LESSON FROM ICELAND’S ECONOMIC RECOVERY: LET BANKS GO BUST

by Matthew Partridge

5 March 2012

Governments around the world bailed out their financial sectors. However, Iceland took a different tack. The government declared that it would only save domestic bank account holders - everyone else would have to fight over the remaining assets More

THE LESSONS OF DUBAI

by Nouriel Roubini

2 December 2009

Although Dubai World’s financing issues are not a surprise and are relatively small given global credit losses, they are a reminder that the vulnerabilities and imbalances that contributed to the credit crunch have not disappeared. More

G-20 MEETING IN PITTSBURGH : CASINO CAPITALISM AS USUAL

by Mark Engler

3 October 2009

he Group of 20 (G20) meeting in Pittsburgh (Sept. 24-25 2009) brought together leaders from the most significant players in the global economy. Unfortunately, the changes left off the table at the summit were far more significant than the modest reforms actually debated, and the few alterations that did make it into the final agreement are likely to be further watered down in implementation. More

USA: BERNARD MADOFF AND THE SEC’S REVOLVING DOOR

by Pam Martens

31 August 2009

The long-awaited investigative report by the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Inspector General on how the SEC bungled multiple investigations of Bernard Madoff is set for release this week. More

US CONGRESS DIVIDED ON THE NEED OF A NEW STIMULUS PACKAGE

by Bill Laforme

9 July 2009

A debt has started to develop in Washington on the and the viability or not of second federal stimulus package as, despite the massive deficits piling up in recent months, the economy is not reacting. More

ECUADOR OFFERS TO BUY BACK PUBLIC BONDS AT 70% DISCOUNT

by News Agencies

21 April 2009

Ecuador offered to repay holders of defaulted bonds as little as 30 cents on the dollar. Yhe proposal was launched as a resolution for the 2012 and 2030 Global Bonds More

G20: HOW NOT TO RULE THE WORLD

by Jayati Ghosh

13 April 2009

Not much could have been expected from this G20 Summit. Despite the urgency of a global economy going rapidly over the cliff, there is still too much disagreement about most issues among the members. Even so, the resulting communiqué released with so much fanfare is deeply disappointing. More

"TOXIC ASSETS" OF US BANKS: WHY THE GEITHNER PLAN WILL FAIL

by Patrick Madden

27 March 2009

The Geithner plan assumes that the toxic assets that the banks hold can be detoxified to re-start lending; it assumes that there is no problem with the fundamentals of the global economy More

GOOD MONEY AFTER BAD : BILLIONS MORE FOR FAILED BANKS

by Dean Baker

25 March 2009

As a result, the banks are likely to still have several hundred billion of bad assets on their books even after this plan has been put in place. The Obama administration will then be forced to go to Congress with yet another bailout proposal More

OBAMA DIALS DOWN WALL STREET CRITICISM

by Monica Langley

24 March 2009

In recent days, in spite of public furor over huge bonuses paid at American International Group Inc., the administration has concluded that it needs the private sector to play a central role in fixing the economy. More

FINANCIAL CRISIS: SECRECY JURISDICTIONS UNDER PRE-G20 SUMMIT PRESSURE

by Eurodad

20 March 2009

The financial crisis has definitely put tax havens on the spotlight. In the run up to the G20 London summit on 2 April, secrecy jurisdictions are on the front pages of most newspapers More

POOR COUNTRIES TO NEED UP TO 700 BILLION DOLLARS

by Jim Lobe

9 March 2009

In the latest in a series of increasingly dire predictions, the World Bank Sunday warned that developing countries may need up to 700 billion dollars in external financing this year due to the squeeze in global credit markets which has seen a dramatic plunge in private investment.
In a new report, prepared for next weekend’s meeting of the Group of 20 finance ministers and central bank governors in Britain, the bank predicted that global gross domestic product (GDP) will actually decline in (...) More

REBUILDING BANKING

by Leo Panitch

13 February 2009

Understanding the role of the state in a capitalist society helps us to see why, when a government bails them out with public money, the bankers do not see this as the start of socialism. More

JUST SAY ’’NO’’ TO THE CREDIT RATING AGENCIES

by Gerald Epstein

9 February 2009

The credit rating agencies have got us, coming and going. First they help cause the biggest economic calamity since the 1930’s. And now they tell us we can’t take the fiscal measures needed to get us out of this mess. Meanwhile, they are laughing all the way to the bank (that is, if they can find one that is still solvent). Why are we still listening to them? More

LENDERS, NOT BORROWERS, ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ‘ILLEGITIMATE’ LOANS

by Joseph Hanlon

12 October 2005

Lenders should be held liable for improper or ‘illegitimate’ lending. Debt ‘relief’ has focused on the borrower - debt is cancelled if a country is too poor to repay and now has acceptable policies. Iraq shifted the focus to the lender - debt should be cancelled because creditors should never have lent money to the repressive regime. This paper uses domestic and international law to establish the concept of ‘illegitimate debt’, which should not be repaid independent of the status of the (...) More