Truthdigger of the Week: Ex-TARP Investigator Neil Barofsky

Staff / Truthdig Aug 5, 2012 In late 2008, Neil Barofsky was appointed the Treasury Department’s investigator of the bank bailouts. In the time since, he has suffered dismissal and deprecation from his colleagues and the corporations they're supposed to regulate.Since he was appointed to investigate the bank bailouts in 2008, Neil Barofsky has suffered dismissal and deprecation from his colleagues and the banks they're supposed to regulate. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Obama Talks Corporate Tax Cuts and Loopholes

Staff / Truthdig Feb 22, 2012 So the official story here is that President Obama says he wants to cut the country's corporate tax rate by seven percentage points, dropping it from 35 percent to 28 percent, which gives him a nice tax-related headline on a day when similar stories are cropping up about the competition. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Geithner Eyes the Exit

Staff / Truthdig Jan 26, 2012 If you saw the broadcast of Tuesday's State of the Union address, you might have caught Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner looking a little uneasy on his perch next to a solemn Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, which could have something to do with the state of his position at the White House. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Video Game Companies Cash In on Tax Tokens

Staff / Truthdig Sep 11, 2011 American video game developers are benefiting from an odd combination of tax breaks many analysts say are intended to encourage industries that serve the public good by providing broadly valuable social services. (more) Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Wall Street’s Not-So-Little Secret

Staff / Truthdig Aug 28, 2011 In 2008, the 10 biggest US banks and brokerage firms took $829 billion in emergency loans from the U Treasury and the Federal Reserve Until now, who got what had been a secret (more). Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

A Downgrade’s GOP Fingerprints

Eugene Robinson / Truthdig Aug 9, 2011 There is one good reason to downgrade the United States' credit rating, but S&P, whose credibility was already spent after the housing meltdown, gave a host of largely bogus explanations for its actions. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Investors Seek Treasury Port in a Storm

Staff / Truthdig Aug 8, 2011 US stocks sank almost 6 percent Monday, as investors disposed of risky assets and bought low-yielding but more secure Treasury bills and bonds, despite Standard & Poor's recent downgrade of the U government credit rating (more). Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Big Finance Argues Its Irrelevance

Staff / Truthdig Jun 12, 2011 Don't mistake the claims of relative unimportance coming from the big shots on Wall Street before an audience of federal regulators over the past several months for some sort of newfound humility. (more) Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Swiss Cheese Sanctions

Staff / Truthdig Dec 25, 2010 Like a piece of Swiss cheese, U.S. sanction policy is riddled with holes, according to reports. A former Treasury official claims licenses to trade with blacklisted countries such as Iran have been doled out to the tune of billions of dollars in profits, all at the behest of lobbying groups. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Fail and Grow Rich on Wall Street

Robert Scheer / Truthdig Nov 24, 2010 Welcome to the brave new world of post-bailout capitalism. The Commerce Department announced Tuesday that corporate profits are at their highest level in U.S. history, and the Fed released minutes of an early November meeting in which officials predicted a stagnant economy and continued high unemployment. Welcome to the brave new world of post-bailout capitalism. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Federal Reserve Finds $600 Billion in the Couch

Staff / Truthdig Nov 4, 2010 Trying to follow the amount of money the Federal Reserve has pumped into the economy (and the banks) can be truly mind-boggling, and it's not getting easier. (continued) Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

The Incredible Shrinking Deficit

Staff / Truthdig Oct 27, 2010 Republicans pulled off a pretty neat trick, running up huge deficits and then making it their party's big issue. Not to be outdone, the Democrats have managed to make $1.3 trillion look small. (continued) Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )