What RI should know about hedge funds, part 2
The truly remarkable thing about the hedge fund industry is that once you strip away the confusion about how shares are valued and what exactly the returns are, you find returns that are far from extraordinary. In fact, the average returns over the past 20 years for the industry — the returns actually experienced by [...]
What Rhode Island should know about hedge funds, part 1
What’s the purpose of investing in a hedge fund? Because “hedge fund manager” is almost synonymous with “fabulously wealthy” in the popular press, lots of people think hedge funds are all about high risk and high returns. Originally, though, hedge funds were thought to provide high returns simply by being consistent, if dull. The idea [...]
Pensions, hedge fund managers, David Boies
As Rhode Island considers whether Gina Raimondo is making a wise gamble with our money by moving more of public sector retirees’ pension account into risky hedge funds, the New York Times Dealbook blog reports that the S&P 500 stock index outperformed the average hedge fund for the fourth year in a row. Swashbuckling bets [...]
Jack Reed takes it to the banks and their regulators
There’s been a surprising dearth of coverage in the local press of Jack Reed’s exemplary work last week, as he stuck it to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) alongside Sherrod Brown and Elizabeth Warren. Here’s a full transcript. Here’s the rub, from Dave Dayen at Salon: The vast majority of borrowers – [...]
Gina’s Moral Obligation: Wall Street, Not RI
There is an old saying in politics. “Don’t tell me what your priorities are. Show me your budget, and I will tell you what your priorities are.” Over the course of her first term as General Treasurer, Gina Raimondo, when pressed to make a choice stand with workers or with Wall Street she will choose [...]
‘Unions Buy Local’ Campaign Set to Launch
Two of Rhode Island’s largest unions, NEARI and the RI Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals, are launching a new Unions Buy Local campaign just prior to this Mother’s Day weekend. Shopping locally makes sense as we try to work with our neighbors to help grow our local – and state – economies. Rhode Island union [...]
Surprising Occupy Surprises Even Cynical Me
From the very beginning, the Occupy movement has been one surprise after another. The scale of the turnout in lower Manhattan is said to have stunned the AdBusters crew. The scale of peripheral support that came to the major protests surprised the activist core. The scale of the police response surprised the major media that [...]
Lock-em-up-unless-they’re-bankers Kilmartin
Striking a vital blow against accountability, Attorney General Peter Kilmartin endorsed the “50-state” settlement on foreclosure fraud yesterday, led by the Iowa Attorney General, Tom Miller. The settlement essentially allows banks to skip away from the crimes they committed in the course of foreclosing on a few million people’s houses. To recap: this settlement has [...]
Lucky Duckies
One of the more reprehensible things that conservatives have come out with of late is the idea of the ‘lucky duckies.’ This is what the Wall St Journal’s op-ed page called those of our society who are ‘fortunate’ enough to make such a low salary that they don’t have to pay fed income taxes. This [...]
Sound Fair to You?
Cities and towns across Rhode Island have faced financial hardship over the last several years. Cities have been devastated by the economic crisis, which itself was caused by a complete lack of oversight on Wall Street, oversight that even today Republicans are fighting tooth and nail. They even oppose the idea of having an agency [...]
AG Kilmartin, Hold Wall Street Accountable for its Fraud
Dear Attorney General Kilmartin, Hold Wall Street Accountable for its Fraud The rule of law must be applied equally to all people. Yet, the most massive organized crime spree in history has not only gone unpunished, but has actually been rewarded with trillions of dollars of bailouts and interest free loans to the criminals responsible. [...]
National “Occupy” Day in Support of Prisoners: February 20th
A proposal passed yesterday by the General Assembly of Occupy Oakland is to generate a national day of action that will call attention to prisons across America. While presidential candidates take to their stumps, one might be unaware that America is the international leader of incarceration with no competition in sight. February 20th, amidst American Black [...]
Retail Stock Data Proves The Middle Class Is Imploding
A close analysis of stock market data is an excellent bellwether for determining the financial health of the middle class. Despite the meteoric rise of the market since its bottom in 2008, there are very negative omens for the middle class if one examines the market data more in depth. An analysis of stock prices and company performance in the [...]
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