Economy & Budget

I'm not exactly sure how to interpret this, but check out this paragraph from a BBC report on Tim Geithner's speech at Beijing University today:

In a speech at Beijing University at the start of his two-day visit, Mr Geithner reassured his Chinese hosts that they need not worry about the estimated $770bn (

The Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee will hold a hearing next Tuesday investigating the case of billionaire Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff, committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) announced today.

At the hearing, which is to be held at 10 a.m., the committee will "examine what went wrong in the case of Madoff Investment Securities, with a focus on the performance of federal regulators who are expected to police such firms and what can be done to prevent such frauds from occurring in the future," according to Dodd's announcement.

Dodd and Ranking Member Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) requested documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission on the Madoff case earlier this month, announcing they would investigate.

Witnesses for the hearing have not yet been announced.

President-elect Barack Obama, as he outlined his budget philosophy and announced his new Office of Management and Budged chief, cited thousands of potentially improper farm payments doled out by the U.S. Department of Agriculture since 2003.

"This isn Read more...

A Harvard Law School professor, a New York bank superintendent and a top lawyer for the AFL-CIO were appointed Friday by

Rep. Dennis Kucinich is calling for Congress to investigate whether banks are using the federal government's bailout money for fat bonuses.

The Treasury Department is planning to put $250 billion in equity into banks struggling in the financial crisis. Kucinich wants compensation data going back to 2003 from at least 11 banks participating in the program and for each employee making more than $500,000 annually.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has asked two house committees to hold hearings examining the Bush administration's regulation of U.S. financial systems in light of today's federal buyout of Wall Street giant AIG.

"I have asked Chairman Barney Frank of the Financial Services Committee and Chairman Henry Waxman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee to hold a series of hearings that will examine the Bush Administration

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today announced it would limit the trading of oil futures after a bipartisan group of senators called for such a measure earlier this month.

Democratic and Republican senators had alleged that futures speculation has helped to drive up the price of oil.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), one of the senators who led the call, lauded the decision today in a press release.

"Today

House Oversight Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) today requested information on the Federal Reserve's deal with BlackRock Financial Management, Inc., the firm hired to manage the portfolio backing the Bear Stearns buyout.

Waxman expressed concern that the Fed awarded a no-bid contract to BlackRock to manage $30 billion in tax revenue. The Fed's regional bank in New York made an immediate, no-bid deal with BlackRock to manage the portfolio backing its loan to JP Morgan Chase.

See Waxman's letter to Timothy Giethner, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, after the jump. Read more...