Tag Archives: layoffs
Statscan Censorship?
An interesting post on The Progressive Economics Forum
Censorship in Canada
Once again, there seems to be a heavier hand in editing Statistics Canada's releases. This morning The Daily reported that:
"Spending on research and development in the higher education sector amounted to $9.6 billion (current dollars) in the fiscal year 2006/2007."
but there was no word on whether this was an increase or decrease from the previous period, which Statscan releases almost always have.
The year 2006/7 was the first year that the Harper government was in office. Investment in research and development is essential to increase our economy's productivity, which hasn't increased since the start of 2006 (and has grown at a dismal rate since 2000).
Canada has some of the most generous tax incentives for private R&D in the world, yet Canada has one of the lowest rates of investment in R&D among OECD countries thanks to both low rates of government and business investment in R&D, accoridng to Industry Canada's Science and Technology Data tables. Canada's investment in higher education R&D had recently been relatively good, but it looks like the current federal government may soon rectify that.
The Harper government is laying off federal scientists and forcing departments to slash their R&D budgets . It is deregulating food safety inspection and transferring or selling off federal labs to the private sector, intent on further commercialization and privatization. They eliminated the national science advisor and have instead appointed Preston Manning among others to help advise on science issues. This approach to science recently earned the Harper government scathing criticism in an editorial in Nature, one of the most respected science publications in the world.
Tagged canada, censorship, Conservatives, Corruption, crown coportations, Death, economy, federal, federal conservatives, food safety, green, Harper, Harper government, Industry Canada, inspections, layoffs, Liberal, listeria, listeriosis, national science advisor, nature, NDP, neo-con, OECD, Ontario, PC, Preston Manning, private, privitization, R&D, scientist, selling, Statistics Canada, Stephen Harper, tax, Tories, Tory, walkerton, water inspection
Lehman Files for Biggest Bankruptcy in American History, rumors of warnings with AIG and Citibank and the coming market meltdown
Sept. 15 (Bloomberg) — Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the fourth-largest U.S. investment bank, succumbed to the subprime mortgage crisis it helped create in the biggest bankruptcy filing in history.
The 158-year-old firm, which survived railroad bankruptcies of the 1800s, the Great Depression in the 1930s and the collapse of Long-Term Capital Management a decade ago, filed a Chapter 11 petition with U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan today. The collapse of Lehman, which listed more than $613 billion of debt, dwarfs WorldCom Inc.'s insolvency in 2002 and Drexel Burnham Lambert's failure in 1990.
Lehman was forced into bankruptcy after Barclays Plc and Bank of America Corp. abandoned takeover talks yesterday and the company lost 94 percent of its market value this year. Chief Executive Officer Richard Fuld, who turned the New York-based firm into the biggest underwriter of mortgage-backed securities at the top of the U.S. real estate market, joins his counterparts at Bear Stearns Cos., Merrill Lynch & Co. and more than 10 banks that couldn't survive this year's credit crunch.
"There is likely to be a domino effect as other firms and individuals who relied on Lehman for financing feel the effects of its meltdown," said Charles "Chuck" Tatelbaum, a bankruptcy lawyer with Lauderdale, Florida-based Adorno & Yoss and former editor of the American Bankruptcy Institute Journal. "The whole thing is frankly frightening for the U.S. economy."
Posted in News, The Economy, The United States of America, World
Tagged 4th largest, AIG, all time low, Bank of America, bankrupt, banks, bay street, Bear Stearns, billions, canada, Canadian Banks, Citiback, domino effect, Dow Jones, Drexel Burnham, finnacial, forth largest, funds, History, investments, layoffs, Lehman, Lehman Brothers, Lehman Brothers Holdings, loss, markets, meltdown, Merrill Lyncg, millions, money, Nasdaq, oldest bank, oldest firm, Real Estate, recession, removing money, stock prices, stocks, subprime, the coming depression, the great depression, TSX, US Economy, wall street
GM prepares for large cuts in North America. More bad news for Oshawa?
Posted on July 14, 2008 by thegtapatriot | 1 comment
General Motors will unveil further measures on Tuesday to cope with the dramatic downturn in the north American vehicle market.
The world's biggest carmaker said that the steps, to be outlined at a press conference, are designed "to align the business to current market conditions". The conference will be attended by Rick Wagoner, chief executive, as well as Fritz Henderson, chief operating officer, and Ray Young, chief financial officer.
GM announced last month that it would close four north American light-truck plants in the wake of an abrupt shift in demand from big pick-up trucks and sport-utility vehicles to more fuel-efficient cars and crossover vehicles.
It is also reviewing the future of Hummer, its biggest vehicle, and accelerating the introduction of more popular vehicles.
GM's US sales tumbled 18 per cent in June from a year earlier. By contrast, its business in many other countries is performing strongly. It said on Monday that sales volumes in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East jumped 18 per cent in the second quarter to a new record.
International operations now make up about 60 per cent of GM's sales volumes.
Mr Wagoner last week dismissed talk that the company might seek bankruptcy protection or ditch more of its eight US brands.
However, it is widely expected within the next few months to take steps to shore up its liquidity, with analysts projecting that it will raise between $10bn-$15bn.
It currently has about $24bn in cash reserves but analysts estimate that it is burning about $1bn a month.
Himanshu Patel at JPMorgan said that GM had several options to bolster liquidity, including secured debt, delaying the transfer of its blue-collar healthcare plan to the United Auto Workers union, issuing new equity and further trimming capital outlays.
GM shares are currently at their lowest level in more than half a century. They slipped another 5.4 per cent on Monday to $9.38.
Posted in Canada, GTA Issues, Oil, Ontario, Toronto
Tagged Cars, cuts, Gas, gm, hummer, layoffs, Mini, Oil, Ontario, Oshawa, pontiac, small cars, Smart-car, trucks