Goldman Booms, While Jobs and Housing Crash

Labor arithmetic (6.00 / 2)

There's also some weird arithmetic from the Bureau of Labor Statistics...

As if Americans needed the grim reminder, the BLS said that since the recession began in December 2007, "the number of unemployed persons has increased by 7.2 million, and the unemployment rate has risen by 4.6 percentage points."

The Economic Policy Institute, a liberal research organization, said that Thursday's jobs report marked a grim watershed event. The entire growth in jobs over the last nine years now has been wiped out; the economy has fewer jobs than it had in May 2000, the institute said. The labor force, however, has grown by 12.5 million workers since then.

"This is the only recession since the Great Depression to wipe out all jobs growth from the previous business cycle, a devastating benchmark for the workers of this country and a testament to both the enormity of the current crisis and to the extreme weakness of jobs growth from 2000 to 2007," Heidi Shierholz, an economist with the institute, wrote in an analysis of the jobs report.

And still no layoffs at Goldman Sachs...

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by: Jacob Freeze @ Thu Jul 02, 2009 at 23:58:45 PM CDT

Wonder what their cut was? (5.00 / 2)

http://www.reuters.com/article...

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by: mattes @ Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 07:18:10 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

I don't know. (6.00 / 1)

The sweet-heart deal for the very few "prime brokers" for federal bonds makes my ears buzz, and I just can't focus on the details.

A friend of mine actually shot his computer monitor with a target rifle when the first bail-out came down in September.

Boom!

I'm trying to stay (relatively) calm, so I can't afford to get too close to Goldman Sachs, or the collapsing dollar, especially compared to shekels!

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by: Jacob Freeze @ Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 09:08:13 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Without knowing any facts, (0.00 / 0)

this whole thing comes as no surprise.  Just saying.

"It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brush fires of freedom in the minds of men." -- Samuel Adams (1722-1803)

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by: mplo @ Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 08:24:07 AM CDT

Goldman is doing Well for a Reason. They are a good company. (6.00 / 1)

Barak Obama is doing everything in his power to get the economy back on track.

Goldman Sachs is doing well because they have income. What's wrong with that?

They are starting to pay back the government the money it owes the government and the people of America who lent it to Goldman Sachs.

Whats wrong with that?

A lot of the money that Gold Sachs received came from AIG...the people who insured Goldman Sachs in case their loans went bad.

The government gave the money to AIG, far more than they gave to Goldman Sachs so that AIG could pay out the insurance it owed to Goldman Sachs.

There are trillions of dollars owed by insurance companies to other companies who have lost money on bad loans and who bought insurance on the bad loans in case the bad loans went bad. In fact, insuring the bad loans was a very profitable enterprise for companies like AIG which are simply too big to fail. If AIG fails and companies like AIG fail....who will pay back the trillions of dollars owed to,  not only the companies who issued bad loans, but the speculators who gambled that the loans would go bad?

These people, the speculators for example, are OWED MONEY. They have a right to that money and it should be given to them. And if AIG can't give it to them, then the government should give it to them.

What's wrong with that?

Obama is simply trying to do what's RIGHT....far far far Right.

What's wrong with doing Right?

Stu Piddy...a Free Range Human

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by: Stu Piddy @ Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 16:51:21 PM CDT

it's so much more fun (0.00 / 0)

to scapegoat and have a hissy fit.  

Oh if we'd only elected Nader.  We could have had a bond co-op where foreign govts could have brought eco friendly hemp bags to carry home their bond purchases.

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by: UnrealAmerican @ Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 23:28:10 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

What?? You can't be serious. (5.00 / 1)

Ever heard of insurance fraud?

And AIG insured Jackson.

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by: mattes @ Sat Jul 04, 2009 at 09:51:48 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

America is North, Central and South. (5.50 / 2)

Some of the most brilliant people who worked at Goldman now work for the government ensuring that an equitable distribution of the wealth of America takes place.

Tim Geithner who did not work for Goldman Sachs but did  attended Camp Becket-in-the-Berkshires-for-boys and comes from a family that knows about money is ensured with the trust of Barak Obama to  acertain what's best for America.

I am so pleased with Barak Obama as witnessed by the strong stance he has taken against the coup initiated and approved by the United States of America in Honduras. It's a testament to his honesty. America is not just the United States, it's central America and South America....It's America.

I digress ...but with inspiration and confidence that the obstacles facing us will be overcome with the brilliance that is particular and exceptional to America

Stu Piddy...a Free Range Human

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by: Stu Piddy @ Sat Jul 04, 2009 at 10:40:31 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Check this out! (5.00 / 2)

My sockpuppet Rutabaga has crept up to the top of the rec list at TPMCafe, and even attained a tiny rectangle on the front page of TPM itself!

Could this be my... 15 milliseconds of fame-like semi-obscurity?

Harharharhar!!!

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by: Jacob Freeze @ Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 16:51:49 PM CDT