EU-DIGEST

Jan 9, 2010

The Financial Sector: why banks profit with so many bad loans out there - by Ilyce Glink

The biggest US banks have profited in 2009 in a variety of ways. For Bank of America, Merrill Lynch (which the bank acquired in late 2008) has brought extraordinary profits. Goldman Sachs profited by hedging against its real estate investments and not getting in as deeply as other big banks.

Banks were bailed out because governments believes that without a strong financial system, American capitalism would be toast. I have to agree. But we should have placed requirements on the cash we lent to the banks so that they would aid in the recovery (which they're not really doing).

For more: Why banks still profit with so many bad mortgages out there - washingtonpost.com

Labels: Banking Industry, Financial Industry

7:22 PM | Permalink | | links to this post

Jan 7, 2010

Latvia Backs Iceland's Position on Holding a Referendum

Latvia's Foreign Minister Maris Riekstins rejected the storm of criticism position

"Has such response been prompted by the fact that Iceland is a small country? It is hard to imagine that one would hear similar comments, should the move have been made by the president of France, for example," Riekstins was quoted as saying by the Baltic News Service. Riekstins said it was tantamount to questioning a democratic country's right to respect its own constitution.

Note EU-Digest: If the citizens of the EU and US, with barely a whimper, accepted the bailout of their "happy go lucky" unregulated financial industry with taxpayers money, they should at least respect the more courageous citizens of Iceland, who are not willing to turn a blind eye on the financial mismanagement of their banks or foot the bill they left behind. The Icelandic President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson's decision to call a plebiscite was the right democratic decision.

For the complete report: Latvia backs Iceland's critiziced referendum

Labels: Democracy, EU, Financial Industry, Iceland, Latvia, referendum, US

11:05 PM | Permalink | | links to this post

About us

EU-Digest, a free service of Europe House, provides news highlights and links to European related news reports on economic, social and political issues. Europe House reserves the right to deny any comments or articles it finds irrelevant. The information published in EU-Digest does not necessarily reflect the viewpoint or the opinion of Europe House.