links for 2011-09-02

Corporate profits in the second quarter (both nominal and inflation-adjusted using the business sector price deflator) reached all-time record highs during the April-May period of this year, according to today's BEA report on GDP and corporate profits for the second quarter (see chart above)

For the American economy – and for many other developed economies – the elephant in the room is the amount of money paid to bankers over the last five years. In the United States, the sum stands at an astounding $2.2 trillion. Extrapolating over the coming decade, the numbers would approach $5 trillion, an amount vastly larger than what both President Barack Obama’s administration and his Republican opponents seem willing to cut from further government deficits.

The federal agency that oversees the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is set to file suits against more than a dozen big banks, accusing them of misrepresenting the quality of mortgage securities they assembled and sold at the height of the housing bubble, and seeking billions of dollars in compensation.

Frontline adds that while candidate Obama "promised a sweeping overhaul of the Bush administration’s war on terror" and "a top to bottom review of the threats we face and our abilities to confront them," Rizzo explains that, in fact, Obama officials during the transition made clear to the CIA that they intended almost complete continuity. 

Last week The Economist described what it called a "slow-motion run in the funding markets" in Europe — in other words, a gradual but steady run on European banks, as depositors remove their money from European banks and put it in places that are seen to be safer. It's worth taking a look at some data to see how significant this phenomenon is.

While Mrs. Thatcher is a towering figure in British political history, well deserving of admiration, the conservative legend about her time in power is at odds with the facts. In this legend, she was even more aggressive than Reagan in cutting taxes and the welfare state. But that is not true.

Damaged cars and trucks from cities and towns affected by the storm are likely to make their way to auto auctions across the country. Once on used-car lots, these vehicles may then be sold at deep discounts relative to the going rates of similar cars, but without any disclosure from sellers about the vehicles’ exposure to the storm, echoing a common practice in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Die Entwicklung der Staatsschulden Griechenlands ist laut einem Bericht von Fachleuten im Auftrag des griechischen Parlaments „außer Kontrolle“ geraten. Das bereits hohe Defizit des Staates, die starke Zunahme der Schulden und die tiefe Rezession hätten die Entwicklung „zum Äußersten getrieben“, heißt es in dem am Mittwochabend bekannt gewordenen Bericht.