EconomyWatch.com

Lending thru off-balance-sheet channels fueled by privately owned trust companies that partner w banks & engage in complex deals repackaging loans into "investment" — informal securitization: deals essentially disguised as loans, like GS & Greece

In next two years, "leaders" / bankers / regulators etc will try to deal with a tsunami of short-term banking obligations about to come crashing down over everyone’s heads between now and 2012, as govts & banks fight to "impress" bond markets

The Goldman settlement — both its size & legal implications — brought a palpable sense of relief on Wall Street. It was all finally settled, and for a price Goldman could easily afford. The penalty amounted to ~ 15 days of profits – if that.

Eternal economic "mystery" of stagflation, no/low/slow growth AND inflation, seems to have re-appeared in UK, setting off furious debate about how it can even happen, given conventional beliefs. US & EU should pay heed, as it may visit them soon too.

Latin America, beset in past by debt defaults, currency devaluations & need for bailouts, plus consistent domination by US corporations / government, now experiencing robust economic growth throughout region, to the envy of its northern counterparts

Dagong Global Credit Rating Co used its first foray into sovereign debt to paint a revolutionary picture of creditworthiness around the world. The US falls to AA, the UK and France slither down to AA-, China & Germany rise to AA+.

Two years ago, an economic collapse forced Ireland to cut public spending and raise taxes - the type of austerity measures financial markets now pressing on advanced industrial nations. Not rewarded for its actions, though, Ireland is being penalized

For many in aging and debt-weary Europe, Turkey’s economic renaissance — last week it reported a stunning 11.4 percent expansion for Q1, second only to China — poses a completely new question: who needs the other one more — Europe or Turkey?

The AIG "bailout" was a conspiracy organized and carried out on behalf of certain privileged banks by the New York Fed, then headed by now-Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. Given HUGE leeway for regulators by Obama, it raises red flags about US future

Soaring labor costs caused by worker shortages & unrest, a strengthening currency that makes exports more expensive, inflation & rising housing costs - all threaten to sharply increase the cost of notebook computers, digital cameras, smartphones, etc