Financial derivatives, their rise and rise

From ABC Radio National: Many of the large collapses during the global financial crisis were finance companies dealing in exotic financial instruments such as Collateralised Debt Obligations - CDOs. CDOs are a form of derivative, a trading tool with a long and chequered history. We trace the origin and purpose of derivatives and how they became so large and dangerous....listen here

Truth about Markets - London

Latest "Truth about Markets" London: a weekly 1hr radio show broadcast on Resonance 104.4FM hosted by Stacey Herbart (political journalist) & Max Keiser (economic activist and documentary maker)........listen here

Presenting The Wall Of Worry: The 50 Ugliest Facts About The US eCONomy

From ZeroHedge.com: As we close on another week replete with ugly economic data and the usual bizarro counterintuitive market, here is a summary of the 50 most underreported facts about the state of the US economy.....read on

Shouldn’t do it; couldn’t do it anyway

By Bill Bonner: Paul Krugman, Martin Wolf and the other big spenders are remarkably resilient. And cunning. On their advice, the world's governments put up as much as 4 years' worth of the entire planet's savings to bring about a 'recovery.' On the evidence of the last couple of weeks, it didn't work.....read on

A Balanced Budget

"The Budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance of foreign lands should be curtailed lest the Republic become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance."

Marcus Tullius Cicero, 55 BC

~ thanks to troyounce for the quote and pic.

British economy dealt fresh blow as IMF downgrades UK growth forecast

Chancellor George Osborne has been dealt a fresh blow today after a respected international economic thinktank downgraded its forecasts for the British economy.

In one of the biggest downgrades it has made to any developed economy, the International Monetary Fund lowered its 2011 growth forecast for Britain from 2.5 per cent to 2.1 per cent....read on

Seriously Underpriced Silver

The Mogambo Guru: Now you know why silver, in serious short supply and evermore vitally needed, is selling for less than $19 an ounce right now, when gold is over $1,200! Using the last 4,500 years as evidence of their average correspondence, a gold-to-silver ratio of 15:1 means that silver should be $81 dollars an ounce! Right now! 426% higher!

And with the roaring inflation that is guaranteed because of all the money that the Federal Reserve is creating so that the federal government can borrow it and spend it, both silver and gold will be much, much, MUCH higher from here!.....read on

"The future ain't what it used to be"

"There can be no other criterion, no other standard than gold. Yes, gold which never changes, which can be turned into ingots bars, coins, which has no nationality and which is eternally and universally accepted as the unalterable fiduciary value par excellence" - Charles de Gaulle......read on

CRISIS REDUX: ROAD TO PERDITION

Latest essay from Jim Willie: "Time to awaken to a new dreadful reality. Just like autumn 2008, all over again, the stock market is breaking down in a powerful visible manner, after nothing was fixed with the vast financial structures but much money was spent"......read on

Are we running out of Other People's Money?

The latest essay from Martin Armstrong: download here