MetaFilter posts tagged with US and money

Remittances reversed

Forktine — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:01:32 -0800

“We send something whenever we have a little extra, at least enough so he can eat." Remittances, the small money transfers a previous FPP called "the most important antipoverty program in the world", are now flowing the opposite direction. Yes, poor families in southern Mexico are having scramble to find money to send north to their out of work relatives in the US.

UK and USA might lose AAA rating

memebake — Tue, 26 May 2009 15:11:41 -0800

Standard & Poor’s changed the UK's credit outlook from stable to negative a few days ago, and warned that there is a chance the UK could lose its AAA rating. Meanwhile, Moodys, another of the big 3 rating agencies, has warned that the US might also eventually lose its AAA rating. The UK announcement caused sterling to drop by 1% and the FTSE by 2%. However, many blame the same rating agencies for their part in triggering the subprime crisis. The irony of this is not lost on the Wall Street Journal, who note that "After all, those governments are jacking up spending, in part, to bail out the financial firms who gobbled up those 'AAA' asset backed securities duly blessed by the credit ratings firms." How did the CDO's get AAA rated in the first place? There are reports that it may have been a bug in the rating software, although Greenspan says its because the ratings were based on only the last two decades, giving a too-optimistic outlook. This reseach paper by Vasiliki Skreta and Laura Veldkamp looks through some of the options. Incidentally, all the ratings given by the rating agencies come with a disclaimer: S&P says in small print: "Any user of the information contained herein should not rely on any credit rating or other opinion contained herein in making any investment decision". Joseph Mason, a former economist at the US Treasury Department, points out that "The ratings giveth and the disclaimer takes it away."

The Copper Standard

bigmusic — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 00:30:41 -0800

The new monetary standard: Copper.

AAA?

Gyan — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 06:47:35 -0800

Anatomy of a Meltdown - Ben Bernanke and the financial crisis (in one page)

Your Bottom Dollar

chuckdarwin — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 05:06:24 -0800

The pound has hit its highest level against the dollar in 26 years.

Mo' money, mo' legislation

djgh — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 10:19:20 -0800

Is there a link between donations given and bills passed? MAPLight.org aims to help you find out, giving you the ability to compare contributions with how legislators voted. [Via]

croutonsupafreak — Sat, 03 Feb 2001 10:10:46 -0800

Is the US really entering a recession? Even with recent layoffs, the last time unemployement was this low before 1999 was 1970. And maybe a recession is not such a bad idea, what with spending outmaching saving in recent years. [more inside]