The Pentagon Has Been Preparing for Worldwide Civil Unrest by Learning to Target Protesters

Staff / Truthdig Aug 10, 2016 Since 2008, the Department of Defense has been funding research that studies the dynamics of civil unrest; some planes have what is called a "corpse cupboard" to store dead passengers; and it turns out that the first person to use an umbrella in England was publicly shamed for his audacious attempt to stay dry. These discoveries and more after the jump. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Hillary Clinton’s Wall Street Reform Plan Leaves Credit Rating Agencies Untouched

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Jan 14, 2016 “Clinton’s vision of financial reform neglects one part of the industry everyone agrees was an essential factor in the 2008 crisis: the credit rating agencies, which assess the worthiness of Wall Street securities for investors,” writes David Dayen at The Intercept. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

First They Jailed the Bankers. Now All Icelanders Will Get a Payout From Bank Sale.

Staff / Truthdig Nov 9, 2015 Iceland’s revolutionary approach to dealing with the international financial meltdown of 2008 certainly deserves every bit of the attention it has garnered. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

‘Rat Banker’ Statues That Popped Up in London’s Finance District Turn Out to Be Cats

Natasha Hakimi Zapata / Truthdig Jul 29, 2015 Business Insider reported Tuesday that "mysterious, insulting statues of 'rat bankers' have appeared in the City of London," with no indication as to who made them. But then the riddle was solved. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Rap Compilation of Conservative Speeches Is the Only U.K. Election Message You Need

Natasha Hakimi Zapata / Truthdig Apr 4, 2015 The United Kingdom is holding elections in May, and while David Cameron, Nigel Farage and their classist, racist cronies are out to convince the public to vote for them with sugar-coated messages, the British comedy duo Cassetteboy knows what they're really peddling. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Why Ireland’s Political Elite Are Terrified of Syriza

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Feb 2, 2015 Irish leaders -- eager to maintain that compliance with the demands of international creditors after the 2008 crisis was the best choice for Ireland -- are concerned that the defiant tactics of Greece's newly elected Syriza party may expose their program as flawed if Syriza wins concessions from the troika of lenders. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

California May Be Able to Sue ‘Deceptive’ Standard & Poor’s

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Mar 23, 2014 A California judge has tentatively ruled that the state could hold the major financial research company accountable for pinning triple-A ratings on state-bought mortgage-backed securities that went bust in the crash of 2008. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Records Show Federal Reserve Wildly Misunderstood Crisis

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Feb 23, 2014 "Hundreds of pages of transcripts, based on recordings made at the time, reveal the ignorance of Fed officials about economic conditions during the climactic months of the financial crisis," The New York Times reports. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Still Broken Five Years Later

By Mike Whitney, CounterPunch Feb 22, 2014 Very few people seem to know that the crisis began in a shadowy part of the financial system called repo, which is short for repurchase agreement. Dig deeper ( 6 Min. Read )

Nobel Prize-Winning Economist Says Buying a House Is a Bad Idea

Staff / Truthdig Oct 16, 2013 If the housing crisis wasn't enough to turn you off of buying real estate, listen to economist Robert Shiller: Houses are poor investments, and they pretty much always have been. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Is Homeland Security Preparing for the Next Wall Street Collapse?

By Ellen Brown, Web of Debt Oct 7, 2013 An Associated Press article in February confirmed a purchase order by the Department of Homeland Security for 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition. That’s enough to sustain an Iraq-sized war for over twenty years. Someone in government seems to expect some serious civil unrest. Why? Dig deeper ( 6 Min. Read )

Poverty Damages the Mind

Staff / Truthdig Aug 31, 2013 There is a strong connection between scarce resources and cognition: The more a person struggles financially, the less he or she can channel brain processes to completing other tasks. When you can't make ends meet, the weight of worry occupies a large portion of the mind. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )