Federal Reserve: rising inequality jeopardizes economic recovery
A top ranking member of the United States Federal Reserve cautioned economists this week that growing inequality within the US was worsening the odds of a quick return to the conditions of the pre-recession days. Fed Board of Governors member Sarah Bloom Raskin was in Washington, DC on Thursday, and during an address before the [...]
Gold price set for worst 2-day loss in 30 years
Gold is headed for its biggest two-day drop in 30 years being below $1,400 per ounce for the first time since March 2011 in the wake of underwhelming Chinese growth data. Spot gold dropped as low as 6.3 percent to below $1,384.69 an ounce, dropping more than $30 in a matter of minutes at one [...]
IRS expected to target small businesses this year
Americans who get paid in cash and own a small business are at high risk of being audited – especially if they live in wealthy suburbs: the IRS is going after those from which the agency thinks they can get more taxes. “It’s just a matter of them going where they think the money’s at,” Steve [...]
Eurozone unemployment hits highest level since records began: 19,071 million out of work
Eurozone unemployment levels have hit 12 percent – the highest in the history of eurozone record-keeping, since the currency was launched in 1999. The average unemployment rate across the eurozone’s 17 constituent European Union countries rose from January’s 11.9 percent high to 12 per cent in February, meaning a further net 33,000 people were left [...]
Bitcoin Versus Government: Is Bitcoin the new gun rights battle?
Google trends shows an explosive growth in the Bitcoin meme. Like a tsunami, it started as a ripple and didn’t look like much, traveling for miles on the digital sea, and then Cyprus hit and the ripple became a roar. Nearly all financial news outlets and blogs have weighed in with their opinion on Bitcoin; [...]
Eurozone finance ministers approve bailout deal for Cyprus
The Eurogroup has approved a deal on a €10 billion bailout for Cyprus, struck early Monday in Brussels. Cyprus avoids exiting the eurozone, but will have its second largest bank closed with heavy losses expected for big depositors. “The size of financial assistance will amount to 10 billion euro,” Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem has announced at a [...]
Cyprus, Troika agree to 20% tax on deposits over 100,000 euros at Bank of Cyprus
Cyprus and the Troika have agreed to a 20 per cent tax on deposits over 100,000 euros at the Bank of Cyprus and 4 per cent on deposits held at other banks. A senior Cypriot official told Reuters that a plan to tap nationalized pension funds would not be a part of a plan to [...]
‘Net is closing in on cybercriminals’ – Kaspersky Lab stands by INTERPOL
With Russia’s leading information security company Kaspersky Lab’s onboard to provide Interpol intelligence on cybercrime worldwide, cyber criminals will likely find it increasingly hard to escape justice. Today the International Criminal Police Organization expects the Russian cyber security company to be a constant reliable consultant in investigating and preventing cybercrime in the global web. Earlier [...]
Cypriot parliament approves ‘solidarity fund,’ allows capital controls
In a bid to secure an EU bailout, the Cypriot parliament has adopted laws creating a “solidarity fund” to pool assets as the basis for an emergency bond issue and allowing the government to impose capital controls for the country’s banks. Nicosia introduced emergency legislation in the parliament late on Thursday to secure a bailout [...]
Cypriot parliament votes against deposit levy
The Cypriot parliament has voted against a revised bank deposit levy. The tax was meant to shave 9.9% off any deposits over €100,000 and has since caused uproar in the country. Thirty six deputies voted against the proposal to tax bank deposits in the 56-member chamber, while 19 abstained. One deputy was not present for [...]