Category Archives: Banana republic

Did Italy And Malta Actually Agree To Swap Oil Rights For Refugees?

Accusations by a Maltese political leader that Malta and Italy engaged in an oil-for-refugees swap has gotten legalistic responses.

Leaked Memo Reveals IMF (Still) Wants Out of Greece Bailout and Plots to Pressure Germany to Act

A new leak shows the IMF as the least bad actor of the Troika, which given its record as a neoliberal fist in third world countries, speaks volumes about European politics.

A Firm Elizabeth Warren Wants Examined for Statements on Fiduciary Duty Reform is Where the SEC’s Tainted Former Exam Chief, Andrew Bowden, Landed as General Counsel

Former SEC official Andrew Bowden, who resigned over looking too cozy with the SEC, is now general counsel at a firm in Warren’s crosshairs.

Paul Ryan Sorry for Calling Americans “Takers.” Let’s Talk About the Real Takers.

Rana Foroohar’s new book, Makers and Takers: The Rise of Finance and the Fall of American Business, addresses what Paul Ryan conveniently left out.

New Zealand Foreign Trusts and the Unaoil Scandal: More Chickens Coming Home to Roost, and They’re Big

First a political fracas in Malta, now a giant international bribery scandal: New Zealand Foreign Trusts cover themselves in more glory

Mainstream Media Ignores Blockbuster Expose of Massive Bribery in Iraq by Unaoil

Fairfax and Huffington Post have broken a monster story on bribery by Unaoil in Iraq that implicates major multinational corporations and officials all over the Middle East. So why the media blackout?

Gaius Publius: The Rebellion Will Not Go Away

Rebellion watch: Why the natives will remain restless.

Marshall Auerback: Donald Trump Understands the Nexus Between Trade and Immigration

By linking immigration and trade, however crudely, Trump has exposed the broader paradox and inherent contradictions which lurk between the two.

Thomas Frank: How Democrats Created Liberalism of the Rich

Make no mistake; the Democrats engineered the Third Way faux liberalism that sold out the working classes to benefit the rich and their minions.

Negative Interest Rates – Are There Any Positives?

The more you look at negative interest rates, the harder it is to find anything to like.

Bill Black: Democrats Need to Give Up Being Deficit Hawks Even When it Feels Good Politically

Why do Democrats act like Republican wannabes with deficit scaremongering? Let us count the reasons: Wall Street, Pete Peterson, hatred of the poor…

Don Quijones: Brexit Meltdown at the Bank of England

The current and former governors of the Bank of England are singing from very different hymnals on the subject of Brexit.