Word: bankes
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Japan discovered the futility of ultra-low interest rates in the 1990s, when the Bank of Japan (BOJ) tried to prod the country out of a protracted recession by lowering the rate all the way to zero in 1999 - where it stayed, with one brief interlude, until 2006. Despite the fact that lenders could essentially get free money from the government, Japanese banks were busy recapitalizing and paring down mountains of bad assets, and had little interest in doling out more loans in a moribund economy. The zero-rate policy did little to stimulate growth...
...lower rates again, to below 1%, in the coming months as the economy weakens. Even though ultra-low rates may have little immediate economic impact, they help to stabilize the financial sector as well as stock markets. Equities become more attractive when interest earned by stashing cash in the bank is lower than the inflation rate. "While the BOJ's zero-rate policy did not work as expected in terms of reviving the economy, it contributed to preventing the financial system from collapsing," says JPMorgan's Kanno. The U.S. may soon find itself in a strange, zenlike economic state...
...Those principles are similar to the ones the FDIC worked out for the 60,000-odd bad home loans it took on when it closed IndyMac, a failed California bank, last summer. Bair outlined her proposal in testimony on Oct. 23 before the Senate Banking Committee. "The government could establish standards for loan modifications and provide guarantees for loans meeting those standards," she said. "By doing so, unaffordable loans could be converted into loans that are sustainable over the long term." At the same hearing, Neel Kashkari, the acting assistant Treasury Secretary in charge of the $700 billion bailout package...
...however, it appears that the breadth of her proposal is causing friction. HUD's existing programs would seem to be the natural foundation for a mortgage rescue plan. But part of the problem in addressing the housing crisis is figuring out which loans can still be serviced, since some banks required little or no documentation of a homeowner's ability to carry the loans. The FDIC's role as a bank overseer is viewed as giving it more insight into the quality of loans on banks' books...
...Online, Palestinian youths don't have to navigate the political allegiances - primarily to the warring Fatah and Hamas factions - that crisscross the camps and which have torn the West bank and Gaza apart. These tensions don't dominate "e-Palestine": experts estimate that up to 60% of young Palestinians are not members of any faction - an enormous break from the extremely high rate of party affiliation of previous generations...