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STORIES:
Teacher’s Wages Garnished As U.S. Goes After Loan Default -
(www.bloomberg.com) Lawyers drained Linda Brice’s
bank account and seized a quarter of her take-home pay, or more than $900 a
month. Brice, a first-grade teacher and Coast Guard veteran, begged for mercy,
saying she couldn’t afford food, gas or utilities. Brice’s transgression: she
defaulted on $3,100 she had borrowed more than 30 years ago to pay for college.
The chief federal judge in Los
Angeles took her side, ruling that Brice should pay only $25 a
month. The law firm of Goldsmith & Hull -- representing the federal
government -- then withdrew $2,496 from her bank account. “I am at the end of my rope,” Brice wrote in a
May 2009 court filing. “I apologize for taking the court’s time, but I simply
do not know what to do.”
Fed's Lockhart: not time for the bigger guns yet - (www.reuters.com) The Federal Reserve would
only likely launch another full-on round of bond buying if the economy took a
turn for the worse or if Europe's problems flared out of control, a top
policymaker said on Wednesday. "I don't think the conditions have
developed that require us to bring out bigger guns quite yet," Atlanta Fed
President Dennis Lockhart said in an interview with Nightly Business Report.
Lockhart is a voter this year on the central bank's policy-setting panel.
Euro compromises likely to unravel - (www.marketwatch.com) The major German concessions (above all, over
the use of ESM European rescue funds directly for Spanish banking
recapitalization) agreed at the euro summit are unlikely to enter into force.
The compromises announced on Friday between creditors and debtors will fall
apart because they are mutually contradictory. The good news (of sorts) is that
the European Central Bank is out of the firing line for the moment. It can cut
interest rates by ¼ percentage point on Thursday without being accused of
kowtowing to government pressure. ECB bond purchases, hotly opposed by the
Germans and a steadily growing band of other countries, are off the agenda as
the focus switches to taxpayer-backed rescue devices.
Merkel Faces More Domestic Criticism - (online.wsj.com) German Chancellor Angela
Merkel won parliamentary backing for Europe's permanent bailout fund and a
sturdier fiscal pact, considered key for fortifying the euro-zone, but faces
new hurdles at home after political adversaries followed through with previous threats
and filed legal challenges before Germany's highest court. In a victory for Ms. Merkel, both houses of the
German Parliament late Friday night voted to ratify the bailout measure, known
as the European Stability Mechanism, and the fiscal pact, which institutes
national budget requirements European states.
Hooray!
Euro is saved for the 483rd time - (money.cnn.com)
Good news from Europe! The
euro surged Friday morning on news of a deal to help recapitalize banks. Bond
yields in Spain and Italy fell. Stocks around the world rallied and
there was a nice pop on Wall Street as well. Bad
news from Europe! The euro surged Friday morning on news of a deal to help
recapitalize banks. Bond yields in Spain and Italy fell. Stocks around the
world rallied and there was a nice pop on Wall Street as well. Every time
European leaders announce some sort of piecemeal solution to the continent's debt crisis,
the financial markets act as if the ref just blew the final whistle to end a
soccer match. (Forza Azzurri!) Unfortunately, that gives
European leaders a false sense of security. We've seen this
play out numerous times since Greece first started dominating financial
headlines in early 2010.
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