“Cash for clunkers” is out of money! So what to do now? The “cash for clunkers” program has been a roaring success. in just one week Americans bought enough new cars utilizing the program that the NTSA said it was pretty certain it had exhausted the $1 billion that had been appropriated and was, therefore, […]
Archive for July 30th, 2009
Wonk Alert
Tomorrow morning we get our first glance at second quarter GDP. That will dominate the news and everyone will forget that it’s a first estimate and subject to change. But something just as important is going to go on with national economic statistics tomorrow and will likely get lost in the mist for a few […]
Citi Passes Into The Taxpayers Hands
I almost missed this one. Today, my fellow taxpayers, we all became owners of about 34% of Citi’s common stock. From Reuters: One hundred ninety-seven years, one month and 14 days after its founding, Citigroup Inc has given a roughly 34 percent stake to U.S. taxpayers. While a few technical details still remain, the bank […]
Gouging The Rich?
I’m sure you have an opinion about these statistics from The Tax Foundation. It all depends on which side of the income scale you happen to fall. Indeed, the IRS data shows that in 2007—the most recent data available—the top 1 percent of taxpayers paid 40.4 percent of the total income taxes collected by the […]
“Heads I Win, Tails You Lose”
Andrew Cuomo is out with the results of his investigation Wall Street bonuses. To say the least it is disquieting. From the report: As one would expect, in describing their compensation programs, most banks emphasize the importance of tying pay to performance. Indeed, one senior bank executive noted recently that individual compensation should hot be […]