U.S. subprime lending crisis could pack a political punch
By Emily Kaiser CHICAGO, Reuters
Saturday, March 17, 2007 0:00 am
Sound familiar? A financial crisis that has rattled Wall Street is gathering steam in Washington pile more pressure on an Iraq-weary President Bush.
No, it’s not the savings and loan crisis that left Republicans and Democrats trading blame for the economic fallout that contributed to George H.W. Bush’s defeat in the 1992 election.
This time the turmoil surrounds unconventional mortgages that threaten to force millions of Americans out of their homes, giving Democrats more ammunition to fire at Republican President George W. Bush.
Many economists say the parallels between the S&L scandal of the 1980s and today’s subprime situation largely begin and end with the father-son connection in the White House, and the housing-related problems are unlikely to trigger widespread bank failures provided the economy stays healthy.
“If everything goes south, it would weigh on Bush the Junior for sure,” said Austan Goolsbee, an economics professor at the University of Chicago Business School...
US Subprime Crisis Has Little Direct Impact on China's Major Banks
The direct impact of U.S. subprime loan crisis on major Chinese banks remains slim, said heads of major commercial banks on the sideline of the annual full session of the country's top political advisory body.
"The direct impact of the subprime crisis is rather small, since the exposure of several national banks to the U.S. subprime lending market is relatively limited," said Yang Kaisheng, president of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC).
Yang is a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), which opened its annual full session on Monday afternoon.
EU leaders vow to coordinate in tackling financial crisis
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, France's President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown (L-R) pose for a family picture at a summit to discuss the international financial crisis at Elysee Palace in Paris October 4, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (2nd L) speaks with France's President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel (L) as British Prime Minister Gordon Brown answers questions during a news conference following a summit to discuss the international financial crisis at Elysee Palace October 4, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
PARIS, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Leaders from the European Union (EU)'s four largest economies concluded an emergency summit here on Saturday, vowing to work in a coordinated way in tackling financial crisis.
"We will work cooperatively and in a coordinated way within the European Union and with our international partners," leaders from France, Germany, Britain and Italy said in a joint statement.
Netizen:
As we all know, the United States is now caught in sub-loan crisis of the financial turmoil, the good old days gone by the middle class. Please think about it seriously, a million of the population of developed countries, he has been living a "parasitic" Days, one day end to the advent of the bar. The sub-loan crisis of the magnitude of the populace is there for all to see. This should permit a Marxist capitalist economic crisis predicted. We can not see that this is the total outbreak . But. We have reason to believe that more people will see this crisis in the face of capitalism. I was a very respected, "Empire - the global political order", we are constantly on the revolution, when we sing Ring the "Internationale", the lyrics are, should be: "hang stove that burned the red, Chenredatie to succeed. Exposed the weaknesses of capitalism, let us give it a serious blow to it! Revolution! Now! Maybe we can not solve the problem once and for all, at least, we can win! VIVA CHE! Revolution is immortal.
