Musings on the U.S. recession
Richard Kelly [Toronto] : TD Bank Financial Group, April 11, 2008.
http://www.td.com/economics/special/rk0408_usrec.pdf
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Oil Industry Profit Review 2007, April 04, 2008
“Increases in the price of crude oil that began in 2004 pushed the spot price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), a key oil in determining market prices, to nearly $100 per barrel in the third quarter of 2007. Tight market conditions persisted through the remainder of 2007, with demand growth in China, India, and other parts of the developing world continuing. Uncertain supply related to political unrest in Nigeria, Venezuela, Iraq, and other places continued to threaten the market and contribute to a psychology that pushed up prices. The decline of the value of the U.S. dollar on world currency markets, as well as the investment strategies of financial firms on the oil futures markets, has also been identified by some as factors in the high price of oil.”
http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL34437_20080404.pdf
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Federal Financial Interventions and Subsidies in Energy Markets 2007
“Total Federal energy-specific subsidies and support to all forms of energy are estimated to have reached $16.6 billion for fiscal year (FY) 2007, according to Federal Financial Interventions and Subsidies in Energy Markets 2007, released April 9, 2008 by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). This amount is more than double the level, in real terms (2007 dollars), of the estimated $8.0 billion shown in the last EIA report on subsidies completed in May 2000.”
http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/servicerpt/subsidy2/index.html
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Iraq Oil Report – ‘The Iraq oil circus comes to Washington’ … and more
This week the circus came to town. Not Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, but Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, and with it the three rings of a five-plus year war and occupation, politicians in their populist best pitches and the media echo of what’s going on with Iraq’s oil revenue.
Petraeus, the commander [...]
You may view the latest post at
http://tinyurl.com/6pukfx (iraqoilreport.com)
Iraq Oil Report has posted a new item, ‘Iraqi Kurd MP pans Iraq oil law’
Plus:
*BP exec says service contract a few months away
*Black Gold: War News Radio’s five-part series on Iraq’s oil struggles
*Sterling banks on Kurdistan, sells U.S. assets
*Attacks take out northern Iraq power
*Iraq-AmChamIraq plan energy conference
An Iraqi parliamentarian representing Iraq’s Kurds says his party will not approve a draft oil law that has been altered from the February [...]
You may view the latest post at
http://tinyurl.com/6g74p6 (iraqoilreport.com)
Iraq Oil Report has posted a new item, ‘Iraq Oil Ministry announces 35 companies qualify for upcoming oil and gas field bidding’
Below are the companies from the Ministry announcement, listed alphabetically.
Iraq Oil Report will have more today on this.
1. Anadarko Iraq Company USA
2. BG International UK
3. BHP Billiton Petroleum Pty Ltd. Australia
4. B.P UK
5. Chevron Iraq Ltd. USA
6. CNOOC China Ltd China
7. CNPC China
8. Conoco Phillips USA
9. Edison International SPA Italy
10. ENI Italy
11. Exxonmobil USA
12. Hess Corporation USA
13. Inpex Holding Japan
14. Japex Japan
15. JSC Gazprom Neft Russia
16. Kogas Korea
17. Lukoil Russia
18. Maersk Denmark
19. [...]
You may view the latest post at
* http://tinyurl.com/3e83aq (iraqoilreport.com)
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Airlines and Whistleblowers
PAUL HUDSON, acapaviation@yahoo.com
Hudson is executive director of the Aviation Consumer Action Project and a longtime member of the FAA’s Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee for air safety who represents airline passengers. He said
today: “What has in effect happened over the last several years is that airplane safety inspections have been largely privatized.
“The government is allowing airlines to do self-policing — that is, airline employees are charged with doing and monitoring safety inspections. To the extent that government workers do much of anything, it’s mostly just checking over the paperwork.
“We’ve been critical of this approach. At minimum, the airline employees doing this need to have whistleblower protection and should take an oath of office as deputized FAA inspectors. As it is, they are conflicted and may even be offered bonuses that encourage going along with questionable procedures.”
From: Institute for Public Accuracy
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From ‘Buy American’ to ‘Buy, Americans’
April 14, 2008
MELISSA FORD SHAH, GUEST COLUMNIST
It’s clear that there are myriad ways in which the financial industry has tried to profit from the debts of individual Americans, many of whom are now upside down in their mortgages and swimming in credit card debt.
…
Complete article at:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/359017_shop15.html
Melissa Ford Shah of Seattle is a public policy researcher. She conducted this fieldwork while she was a doctoral student at the University of Chicago.
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AFL-CIO PayWatch: Mortgage Company CEOs Fueled Crisis
April 14, 2008
by James Parks
Millions of American families are losing their homes through foreclosures—and the financial turmoil set off by the collapse of the mortgage market could total nearly $1 trillion, according to the International Monetary Fund. Meanwhile, CEOs of companies at the center of the crisis are walking away with big pay.
According to the AFL-CIO 2008 Executive PayWatch released today, the CEO of a Standard & Poor’s 500 company made, on average, $14.2 million in total compensation in 2007, according to early estimates. In comparison, the median pay for workers rose only 3.5 percent, to $36,140 in 2007, from $34,892 the previous year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
http://www.aflcio.org/corporatewatch/paywatch
This year, PayWatch features case studies of CEOs whose push for short-term financial gains helped spawn the mortgage crisis. The case studies highlight the need for reform to protect companies and their investors—and the PayWatch site makes it easy for users to contact members of Congress to urge new rules on mortgage protection and executive pay. (Click here to urge your senators to support a Say on Pay, requiring publicly traded companies to submit executive pay plans to nonbinding shareholder votes each year, and here to tell Congress to confront the mortgage meltdown.)
What makes the excessive pay for the CEOs of mortgage-related companies so egregious is that for many Americans, their home is their most valuable asset and an important source of financial security for their retirement. And for a growing number of working families, the American Dream of homeownership has become a nightmare. American workers are being hit by a double-whammy as they lose not only their homes, but also their retirement savings, as pension funds bear the brunt of overwhelming losses faced by financial institutions.
Excessive CEO pay takes money out of the pockets of shareholders—including the retirement savings of America’s working families. Moreover, a poorly designed executive compensation package can reward decisions that are not in the long-term interests of a company, its shareholders and employees.
In his online column, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney says, “Out-of-control CEO pay is a symptom of a disease that is sweeping America,” a disease of greed “that makes corporations and the rich richer by stomping out the middle class.”
It disgusts me to see the heads of companies rewarded after causing so much pain and suffering—and in some cases destroying workers’ investments and jobs by overseeing practices that drove their companies into the ground.
Click here to read Sweeney’s full column.
…
Complete article at:
http://tinyurl.com/4d9gca (blog.aflcio.org)
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CONSERVATIVE HYPOCRITES EXPOSED
By Amanda Marcotte
Conservatives have one ideology and that’s hypocrisy
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/82277/
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And now for the important news ….
By Argus Hamilton
Eminem was asked to sing at a concert in Nelson Mandela’s honor when he comes to Washington D.C. this summer. Both men will go down in history. Nelson Mandela ended racial apartheid in South Africa and Eminem broke the color barrier in rap music.
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com
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three thousand words
Jack Ohman: … are those asterisks?
http://images.ucomics.com/comics/tmjoh/2008/tmjoh080410.gif
David Horsey: … not me
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/dayart/20080415/335Cartoon20080415.gif
Matt Bors: investment tips for the meltdown
http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoons/BorsM/2008/BorsM20080415_low.jpg
