Gross Says America's Privileged 1% Should Pay Higher Taxes … Bill Gross said that wealthy Americans, having reaped the benefits of favorable tax treatment, should be willing to pay a greater share to bolster the prospects of the working class. "If you're in the privileged 1 percent, you should be paddling right alongside and willing to support higher taxes on carried interest, a...Read More

Swiss bank bailout turned poison into profit … When the final chapter of the UBS bailout closes in November, the bank accounts will show tax payers, ordinary account holders and small businesses as the chief beneficiaries. It's been a success story that's proven difficult to repeat elsewhere in the world. Far from losing money on the $31.8 billion (CHF29 billion) rescue act, the gove...Read More

JP Morgan sees 'most extreme excess' of global liquidity ever … If you think there is far too much money sloshing through the global financial system and causing unstable asset booms, you are not alone. A new report by JP Morgan says the bank's measure of excess global money supply has reached an all-time high. "The current episode of excess liquidity, which began in May 201...Read More

Are conspiracy theories destroying democracy? The more information we have about what governments and corporations are up to the less we seem to trust them. Will conspiracy theories eventually destroy democracy? What if I told you I had conclusive proof that the moon landings were faked, but I had been told to keep it under wraps by my BBC bosses acting under orders from the CIA, NSA and MI6. Most...Read More

Cameron Announces U.K. Plans for Debut Issue of Islamic Gilts … Minister David Cameron said the U.K. plans to become the first country outside the Muslim world to sell a Shariah-compliant bond as soon as next year. Cameron laid out his government's intentions in a speech to the World Islamic Economic Forum in London. The Islamic bonds, known as sukuk, would be valued at about 200 million...Read More

The Bank of Japan's massive stimulus is working, the International Monetary Fund's mission chief to Japan said, and there is still room to increase purchases of government bonds and exchange-traded funds if a further boost was needed. Jerry Schiff, who is also deputy director of the IMF's Asia-Pacific Department, stressed he saw no need for the central bank to offer additional stimulus...Read More

Central banks need to 'keep up' with markets says Mark Carney … The Bank of England, Mark Carney said on Thursday night, is open for business. The governor's message to the City was clear. The days when the Old Lady preached the perils of "moral hazard" without due regard to financial pressures are well and truly over. – Financial TimesDominant Social Theme: Mark...Read More

Small-Caps Double Dow in Signal Economy Gaining Speed … The smallest stocks are rallying almost twice as fast as bigger companies in the U.S., a bullish economic signal from businesses whose profits are most dependent on domestic demand. Shares of companies from Rite Aid Corp. to Teledyne Technologies Inc. in the Russell 2000 Index (RTY) have advanced 32 percent in 2013, compared with 19 per...Read More

World's anger at Obama policies goes beyond Europe and the NSA … Whether miffed over spying revelations or feeling sold out by U.S. moves in the Middle East, some of the United States' closest allies are so upset that the Obama administration has gone into damage-control mode to ensure the rifts don't widen and threaten critical partnerships. The quarrels differ in their causes a...Read More

EU Apathy: Leaders Fail to Make Progress at Summit … This week's European Council summit was sidelined by new accusations of US spying in Europe. But despite the distraction, it's clear EU leaders have deferred plans for greater integration, and lack the political will to address pressing concerns like migration. Ahead of talks in Brussels this week, European Union leaders said they...Read More

Most Americans accumulating debt faster than they're saving for retirement … A majority of Americans with 401(k)-type savings accounts are accumulating debt faster than they are setting aside money for retirement, further undermining the nation's troubled system for old-age saving, a new report has found. Three in five workers with defined contribution accounts are "debt savers,...Read More

FACEBOOK'S ZUCKERBERG PAID RECORD $2.2 BILLION … Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg set a new record for corporate compensation in 2012 with a package worth more than $2.278 billion, according to a survey by a corporate governance firm. The report by GMI Ratings showed Zuckerberg's salary of $503,000 and bonus of $266,000 were eclipsed by stock options worth some $2.27 billion. This was...Read More

Global climate investment flatlines …The world invested almost a billion dollars a day in limiting global warming last year, but the total figure – $359 billion – was slightly down on last year, and barely half the $700 billion per year that the World Economic Forum has said is needed to tackle climate change. These are the findings spelled out in the latest Climate Policy Initia...Read More

90,609,000: Americans Not in Labor Force Climbs to Another Record … The number of Americans who are 16 years or older and who have decided not to participate in the nation's labor force has climbed to a record 90,609,000 in September, according to data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The BLS counts a person as participating in the labor force if they are 16 years or old...Read More

A chance to reshape the Federal Reserve … In the coming months, President Barack Obama will have the opportunity to make over the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and put his stamp on the U.S. central bank for years to come. Along with naming a new chairman, he will be able to fill as many as four seats on the seven-member board. The question is whether Obama will use his picks as an oppor...Read More

Why is the liquidity trap? Credit where credit is due; Paul Krugman anticipated this where many others did not … Since late 2007 the monetary base has risen more than 300 percent, while GDP and consumer prices have risen less than 20 percent. And no, the disconnect is not all due to the 0.25 percent interest rate the Fed pays on reserves. The bottleneck remains, as it has for most of the pas...Read More

Are the Swiss having second thoughts about capitalism? … Top managers getting huge salaries must now deal with direct democracy … The extraordinary series of political initiatives on pay rates which are being put to Swiss voters is the sign of a rank-and-file "rebellion" against fat-cat salaries for top managers … The shock-waves after the carrying of the popular initia...Read More

Economic recovery proves QE working, says Paul Tucker … Outgoing deputy governor of the Bank of England says the UK's economic recovery is evidence that quantitative easing is finally working … Although Mr Tucker said it was still too early to say whether the economy had reached "escape velocity", his comments come ahead of new GDP figures which are expected to show growt...Read More

Sebelius on the Run … The HHS Secretary refuses to testify about ObamaCare's rollout. The Affordable Care Act's botched rollout has stunned its media cheering section, and it even seems to have surprised the law's architects. The problems run much deeper than even critics expected, and whatever federal officials, White House aides and outside contractors are doing to fix them isn...Read More

Problems with scientific research How science goes wrong Scientific research has changed the world. Now it needs to change itself … A SIMPLE idea underpins science: "trust, but verify". Results should always be subject to challenge from experiment. That simple but powerful idea has generated a vast body of knowledge. Since its birth in the 17th century, modern science has changed t...Read More