Nothing Has Changed on Wall Street

Staff / Truthdig Sep 14, 2009 A year after Lehman Brothers went under -- taking a big chunk of the economy with it -- the deregulation and lax oversight that enabled the crisis are still a problem. According to this New York Times report, things might even be worse. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

‘Government Sachs’ Strikes Gold … Again

Robert Scheer / Truthdig Jul 15, 2009 Connect the dots: Goldman Sachs made $3.44 billion in profit this past quarter, while the U.S deficit topped $1 trillion for the first time in the nation’s history and appeared to be headed toward doubling that figure before the budget year is out. Since most of the increase in the federal deficit is due to bailing out the banks and salvaging the greater economy they helped destroy, why is the top investment bank doing so well? Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Living Large and in Charge

Robert Scheer / Truthdig Apr 8, 2009 Not surprisingly, Lawrence Summers is convinced that he deserved every penny of the $8 million that Wall Street firms paid him last year. And why shouldn’t he be cut in on the loot from the loopholes in the toxic derivatives market that he pushed into law when he was Bill Clinton’s treasury secretary? Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Finding a Way Out After the Bailout

Titus Levi / Truthdig Oct 16, 2008 Wall Street has yet to recover after the economic shocks of recent weeks. Why? Two problems. One we already know: The “plan,” even with revisions, is deeply flawed. The second problem has not been mentioned all that much because it’s pretty scary: Put simply, we have no idea what we’re doing. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Just How Fat Are Wall Street’s Fat Cats?

Staff / Truthdig Oct 7, 2008 Sure, we've all heard the stories about Wall Street bigwigs lining their pockets with gold dubloons while the rest of us scramble to save pennies, but The New York Times has drawn out that contrast in graphic detail with a handy series of charts showing the total earnings (including bonuses) of 12 top executives from 2003-2007. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Lehman Bros. Paid Execs Millions as Company Tanked

Staff / Truthdig Oct 6, 2008 On Monday, the House Oversight and Reform Committee took a look into the collapse of Lehman Brothers as part of a larger review of the factors leading to the current economic crisis, and it wasn't a pretty sight. Judging by the committee's account, leaders at Lehman Bros. disregarded key warnings of impending trouble and cut hefty checks for their fellow executives even as the firm teetered on the brink of disaster. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

‘Democracy Now!’: Sen. Sanders, Scheer on the Bailout Boondoggle

Staff / Truthdig Sep 23, 2008 On Monday morning, as the aftershocks from Wall Street's worst week in decades continued to rock the national and global economy and the Bush administration scrambled to contain the fallout with a bailout plan that could cost American taxpayers over a trillion dollars, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Robert Scheer and Dean Baker joined "Democracy Now!" host Amy Goodman (above) to sort through the rubble and speculate about what might come next. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

‘Left, Right & Center’: Wall Street on the Rocks

Staff / Truthdig Sep 20, 2008 What to make of the bailouts and sellouts that dominated the past week's financial headlines? Well, "Left, Right & Center" commentators Matt Miller, Robert Scheer and Tony Blankley (Arianna Huffington was away) have some ideas about what caused the nightmare on Wall Street and what the future holds. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Economic Meltdown: Don’t Say We Weren’t Forewarned

Robert Scheer / Truthdig Sep 19, 2008 Has the war on terrorism become the modern equivalent of the Roman Circus, drawing the people’s attention away from the failures of those who rule them? Corporate America is a shambles because deregulation, the mantra of our president and his party, has proved to be a license to steal. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Bush Makes Cameo Appearance at White House

Staff / Truthdig Sep 19, 2008 President Bush had been laying low over recent days, but it seems his inner circle considered it prudent to trot him out for a brief appearance at the White House. He surfaced on Thursday to speak vaguely about the snowballing economic crisis on Wall Street before disappearing once again. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

‘Daily Show’: Economic Meltdowns Have Their Upsides

Staff / Truthdig Sep 19, 2008 Hey, now that Jon Stewart mentions it, that whole government bailout thing starts to sound a lot better: We, the taxpayers, just bought a really, really big insurance company. That's like having two hotels each on Boardwalk and Park Place in Monopoly, right? Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

‘Daily Show’: The Notorious A.I.G.

Staff / Truthdig Sep 17, 2008 Whither Lehman Brothers? Et tu, Merrill Lynch? What's going on on Wall Street? Jon Stewart breaks down the financial meltdown on Tuesday night's edition of "The Daily Show" -- complete with '80s monster movie allusions. Sweet! Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )