Conflicts of interest, corruption and Trump-era fraud.
117 articles · page 6 of 6
In response to the Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. elections, a recent New York Times article likened Facebook’s deficient advertising policy to an out-of-control Frankenstein monster. While there is some truth in comparing Facebook, Google, and other mega social-media sites to out-of-control systems, this article does a great disservice to Frankenstein’s reputation. In…
One of the Trump administration’s less visible goals is to allow American corporations to bribe foreign governments to win business. As reported in the New Yorker, Trump expressed this goal in a discussion with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Tillerson, the former head of Exxon Oil, countered that this was not a goal…
It’s no secret that college debt is a significant factor preventing millions of grads from paying down on a house. It’s also no secret that college debt is at its highest levels than at any other time in U.S. history. The surprise is that high housing debts impact a student borrower’s ability to build…
A little-known segment of the Dodd-Frank bank reform bill has been revoked by Trump’s Republican Congress. It allows major global corporations to do what they do to get business done: bribe foreign governments. The measure to repeal Section 1504 was passed by a vote of 52-47, strictly according to party lines, and was done…
Face it: the world of corporate communications is pretty unimaginative and bland. It could use some rejuvenation. And now, this is possible thanks to the cutting-edge communications techniques used by the ranting Commander-in-Chief Donald Trump. There is no need for any more staid, predictable, stage-managed shareholder meetings and sincere-sounding Letters from the CEO. Corporate communications…
In the past few years, the investment and banking industries have absorbed news that the world’s largest indexes—LIBOR, gold, silver and even the largest world market, foreign exchange—have all been victimized to various degrees by global banks and their traders who help set and also benefit from these same benchmarks. While the details…
One of the core conservative beliefs of the Republican Party is to loosen or remove regulations, but a new proposed law by a conservative Senator raises the ante on eliminating regulations by forcing them to receive Congressional approval. This should make financial industry lobbyists salivate at the proposed law since they easily control…
Wells Fargo (WFG), the nation’s third largest bank, which generates over $5 billion in earnings per quarter, could soon be charged with securities fraud as a result of its scheme to surreptitiously open new accounts for unsuspecting customers. While news reports say the fraud was widespread and was known to the bank’s top…
Pity the poor equity analysts. When faced with making their final formalized, profound analyst recommendations after extensive number crunching and model analysis, the analysts only can make three conclusions: buy, sell or hold. Of course, this can be modified by a “strong” or “weak” recommendation, but maybe there are more choices that should be…
As an earlier article on this web site said, there were no chairs thrown at the Bernie Sander Democratic convention in Nevada. The media did a poor job of verifying an allegation by a second-hand blogger that chairs were thrown, but the political media never did their basic job of due diligence. The event…
It is easier to steal a canoe than a pack of gum and so it was in Nevada this week when the Nevada Democratic Party railroaded the Bernie Sander’s campaign by ignoring a floor debate and unilaterally declaring a vote and more delegates to Hillary Clinton. The disputed result produced a vocal display on the convention floor,…
At long last, the General Accounting Office (GAO) has been asked to investigate the revolving door personnel changes that occur under every administration between top-level people working on Wall Street who enter the very federal agencies that provide oversight for their former firms. This revolving-door scenario is common at all the major federal agencies that…
Financial journalism used to be a straightforward presentation of market, company and economic facts, but almost imperceptibly over the past decade or so, financial journalism, especially on cable, has become blatantly pro-corporate in its daily news presentations and ever-present commentaries and editorials. This new distorted version of financial journalism has paralleled the deification of laissez…
In his new book “Reply All,” Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush uses his e-mail correspondence with various constituents to explain his policies, political philosophy and strategy to promote his conservative platform as Governor of Florida. (He served as Florida governor from 1999 to 2007.) But one very important series of e-mail exchanges that readers will…
Sometimes the simplest message can become profound. Consider this simple one below: This contains some powerful tricks to break personal connections that prevent people from working together. It does this by inserting economic jealousy, class hatred, and greed into a simple cookie analogy. In this case, the banker has the power to tell the story,…
Economic inequality, wage stagnation and too-big-to-fail bank dominance are all deservedly critical current topics in the developing presidential campaigns. But what about the role of economic propaganda that still dominates the news and has worked to quash any public education and criticism of the U.S. financial system? Most professional reporters who cover investments and finance…
Corporate tax evasion reaches a new pinnacle. America’s largest corporations hold themselves out as the paragon of citizenship and patriotism, yet when it comes to doing their biggest civil duty–paying taxes–too many of the nation’s largest corporations are traitors and deserters. Now, it looks like the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the $1 trillion-plus agency…
