From the category archives:

Obama

Weekly Round Up

by Erik on July 3, 2009

in Alternative Energy, Asia, Business Logic, Economy, Green Tech, IBM, Jobs, Markets, New Tech, Obama, Recession, Technology, Unemployment, Weekly Roundup

For Modest Earners, Relief Repaying Student Loans – Repaying a student loan could soon be a little less painful. Starting this week, anyone with a federal student loan can apply for a program, run by the Department of Education, that caps monthly payments based on income, and forgives remaining balances after 25 years. Those choosing to work in public service could have their loans forgiven after just 10 years.

New Grads May Have Leg Up On Older Job Seekers – Recent college graduates are finding out that an economic downturn is not the best time to be searching for work. But they do have a leg up on older job hunters: It’s a lot easier for a 22-year-old — unburdened by mortgage and kids — to go to where the work is.

IBM Reinvents the 401(k) – Staffers were nervous when Big Blue replaced its pension plan with a souped-up 401(k). Now, the plan could be the new gold standard.

U.S. Job Losses Rise and Unemployment Reaches 9.5% – The American economy lost 467,000 more jobs in June, and the unemployment rate edged up to 9.5 percent in a sobering indication that the longest recession since the 1930s had yet to release its hold. “The numbers are indicative of a continued, very severe recession,” said Stuart G. Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial Services in Pittsburgh. “There’s nothing in here to show that the economy and the market are pulling out of the grip of recession.”

A Day With 400 Tweets Starts With Simplicity – A Comcast Social Media Associate has plenty of advice to give on using Twitter and other social networking sites, as do other always-on pros and amateurs. Their tips will help you minimize your time and effort while maximizing your social bliss.

Q&A: Rising Unemployment Clouds Outlook – The increase in the unemployment rate to a 26-year high of 9.5 percent doesn’t bode well for a smooth transition to economic recovery. Economists expect unemployment to continue to rise into 2010, and possibly longer. Here, a look at what some leading economists say lies ahead as the fall season approaches, when retailers typically expect a boost from back-to-school shopping.

Green Power Takes Root in the Chinese Desert – As the United States takes its first steps toward mandating that power companies generate more electricity from renewable sources, China already has a similar requirement and is investing billions to remake itself into a green energy superpower.

Economist: Stimulus Appears To Be Working – More jobs were lost last month than expected, but the Obama administration’s economic stimulus package promises to create 600,000 jobs by the end of the summer. Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com, says that without the stimulus, the numbers would be worse.

Obama Disappointed By Jobs Numbers – President Obama said Thursday he is “deeply concerned” about unemployment. The remarks to The Associated Press came after the Labor Department said U.S. businesses shed 467,000 jobs in June and that the unemployment rate increased to 9.5 percent.

Madoff Likely Won’t Be Serving Time In ‘Club Fed’ – Anyone who thinks convicted swindler Bernard Madoff will serve easy time in a “Club Fed” minimum-security prison should think again. He is unlikely to land in a cushy cellblock, and he will need to watch his back, consultants and former inmates say.

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Administration Won’t Try To Directly Limit Exec Pay

by Erik on June 13, 2009

in Economy, Markets, Obama

Talking tough but stepping gently, the Obama administration rejected direct intervention in corporate pay decisions Wednesday even as officials argued that excessive compensation in the private sector contributed to the nation’s financial crisis. [Via NPR]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

The Economy Is Still at the Brink

by Erik on June 10, 2009

in Economy, Obama, Recession

“The Storm Is Not Over, Not By A Long Shot”

An oped this week in The New York Times, talks about  the economic situation, and asks a couple of really intriguing questions. The writers, one a broker, the other a retired Wall Street banker, question the simplified PR campaign of the current Administration that hinges on the mantra “if the mood is right, the capital will flow.”

I agree with the authors that our banking system, and by default – our economy – is far more complex than a PR campaign to increase consumer confidence can fix, but, I disagree with their point that the Obama administration should not be spending time working the party to drum up support of the sweeping changes that are needed. In the end, consumers need to know things are getting better (if they actually are), and there’s no one else better suited for that job than a sitting President.

The storm is not over, not by a long shot. Huge structural flaws remain in the architecture of our financial system, and many of the fixes that the Obama administration has proposed will do little to address them and may make them worse. At another fund-raising event, for Senator Harry Reid, President Obama said: “We didn’t ask for the challenges that we face. But we are determined to answer the call to meet those challenges, to cast aside the old arguments and overcome the stubborn divisions and move forward as one people and one nation …. It will take time but I promise you, I promise you, I’ll always tell you the truth about the challenges we face.”

“Six months ago, nobody believed that our banking system was well designed, functioning smoothly or properly regulated — so why then are we so desperately anxious to restore that model as the status quo?”

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Obama Taps Well-Known Hacker as Security Adviser

by Erik on June 8, 2009

in Cyber Security, Obama

The Obama administration is embracing the dark side to help it fight cyberattacks.

On Friday, a well-known hacker was one of 16 people named to the Department of Homeland Security’s Advisory Council (HSAC).

Jeff Moss, aka “Dark Tangent,” started out as a high-school “phone phreak” making free long-distance calls and later founded the DefCon and Black Hat hackers’ conferences.

He’s since worked in information security for accounting giant Ernst & Young, and now is a consultant testing corporations’ cybersecurity.

But he told Wired News and Cnet News he was genuinely surprised to be asked to join a government law-enforcement body.

“I always figured that because of my associations in the past that I would be kind of out of the running for anything like this,” he told Wired News. [Via Fox News]

I think it’s great that the Administration is going to add someone who knows the inner workings of the “hacking underground” as Fox News calls it. Who better to help with cyber security, than someone who is capable of actually hacking, and is not just working in “theory.”

{ Comments on this entry are closed }