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The two news items, closely related, appeared simultaneously. One of them told about the innumerable scandals spawned by the distribution of federal aid to the hurricane victims in New Orleans. Hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars vanished in a colossal tragicomedy of errors, ingenious swindles and excesses. Thousands of violations of the rules and instances of fraud, arbitrariness and abuse were committed by those who received help from the federal government, as well as those who dispensed it cheerfully and irresponsibly . The other news item, which was a lot more encouraging, said that Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, the...

As the European Central Bank's policymakers gather in Madrid today to consider another rise in interest rates, they will also get a chance to experience first hand the enduring paradox that is Spain's buoyant economy. The bankers will fly over a sea of construction cranes before landing at the brand new, Richard Rogers-designed terminal at Barajas airport. A waiting fleet of limousines will take them past new suburbs that have sprung up during Spain's unprecedented building boom. More than 400,000 homes have been built in and around Madrid in the past five years, in part to accommodate 1m immigrants who...

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- He's a 74-year-old ex-guerrilla fighter who says age has taught him the ways of the devil and he's ready to take on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez -- at the polls in presidential elections. ADVERTISEMENT Teodoro Petkoff, who is running as an independent in Dec. 3 elections, pledged Friday a day after announcing his candidacy to reunite a country that he said has become deeply polarized during Chavez's seven years of government. Petkoff, the editor of the Tal Cual newspaper, said in his characteristically irreverent tone that Chavez's policies resembled a "bumper car" that had become the...

Immigrants are emerging as a powerful new force in the Spanish economy, boosting demand for new housing, which in turn is sustaining the country’s long construction boom, according to analyst reports. “There is no risk of a property crash in Spain in the short or medium term thanks to new demand generated by immigrants,” says Angel Berges, a partner at Analistas Financieros Internacionales, a Madrid consultancy. Mr Berges estimates immigrants will buy some 170,000 homes in Spain this year – almost one quarter of total demand for new houses. Nevertheless, it warned that Spain’s “bricks and mortar” growth model was...

Ratcheting up a war of words with Washington, President Hugo Chavez said on Wednesday that Venezuela would blow up its oil fields if a US attack he has repeatedly warned about becomes reality. While many Chavez supporters in poor neighbourhoods consider a US invasion a real threat, critics and most international observers call it a far-fetched fantasy designed to fire up Chavez's political base. "We would not have any alternative... We will blow up our own oil fields... they are not going to take that oil," Chavez said in comments broadcast on state television from a meeting of South American...

Federal Reserve officials felt a 14th straight increase in interest rates last month put borrowing costs near where they needed to be, but agreed they could not rule out more hikes, given inflation risks. "Although the stance of policy seemed close to where it needed to be given the current outlook, some further policy firming might be needed to keep inflation pressures contained and the risks to price stability and sustainable economic growth roughly in balance," minutes from the Fed's January 31 policy-setting meeting released on Tuesday said. The minutes said some officials believed "somewhat" higher than desired readings on...

Release Date: February 22, 2006 For immediate release Roger W. Ferguson, Jr., submitted his resignation Wednesday as Vice Chairman and as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, effective April 28, 2006. Ferguson, who has been a member of the Board since November 5, 1997, submitted his letter of resignation to President Bush. He will not attend the March 27-28 meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee. "Roger has made invaluable contributions to the Federal Reserve and to the country," said Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben S. Bernanke. "He led the Fed's first response to...

There was a revealing incident at the World Economic Forum in Davos this year. Nouriel Roubini, the New York-based international economist, took part in a panel discussion during which he raised questions about Italy's future in the eurozone. A fellow panellist was Giulio Tremonti, the Italian finance minister. Professor Roubini wrote in his web log* that his presentation "caused a stir with Minister Tremonti who interrupted me in the middle of my remarks, went into a temper tantrum and shouted: 'Go back to Turkey!' I happen to have been born in Istanbul." Perhaps one should not conclude too much from...

Testimony of Chairman Ben S. Bernanke The U.S. economy performed impressively in 2005. Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased a bit more than 3 percent, building on the sustained expansion that gained traction in the middle of 2003. Payroll employment rose 2 million in 2005, and the unemployment rate fell below 5 percent. Productivity continued to advance briskly. The economy achieved these gains despite some significant obstacles. Energy prices rose substantially yet again, in response to increasing global demand, hurricane-related disruptions to production, and concerns about the adequacy and reliability of supply. The Gulf Coast region suffered through severe hurricanes...

NEW YORK, Jan 25 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury debt prices slid on Wednesday after an auction of $22 billion in two-year notes drew surprisingly meager demand, particularly from indirect bidders. That category includes foreign central banks and their absence rekindled worries about waning offshore demand for U.S. government debt. "Not a good-looking two-year auction," said Andrew Brenner, head of fixed income at Investec U.S. "The indirect bid was the second weakest ever for a two-year, the bid-to-cover was below the average," noted a trader at a U.S. primary dealer. "It just gives you an indication that if we have a...

Around this time we mark another anniversary of Fidel Castro's triumphant drive into Havana at the head of his little army of bearded men, an event that happened no less than 47 years ago. At the time, the comandante was an impetuous and bold young man, convinced that he knew how to restructure humanity so everyone might become wealthy and happy, even if the way to achieve such a benevolent objective were to beat everyone into submission. At this point in history, only two interesting questions remain about the failed experiment staged by Castro on that poor island: • First,...

First three Russian choppers delivered to Venezuela Russian firm OAO Kazan sold three military transportation helicopters to a Venezuelan delegation currently in Russia, as part of an agreement the two nations initialed last March 10, AP reported. The Mi-17 choppers are the first three out of 10 the Russian company is scheduled to sell to Venezuela under a USD 120 million agreement, Interfax said. In June, Venezuela signed a USD 81 million sales agreement for other five Mi-17 helicopters. Last Friday, brigadier general Raúl Isaías Baduel, Venezuelan Army commander, ensured that the first three Russian choppers are to start operations...

U.S. diplomat Robert Blau was met by a nauseating stench as he walked into his residence in Havana. He soon learned that security agents of the Cuban government had entered his home surreptitiously and filled it with excrement. The authorization for that repugnant attack had come from Felipe Pérez Roque, the bellicose foreign minister, who was determined to punish the American delegation on the island for the oddest type of crime: allowing a handful of opposition democrats to gain access to the Internet for half an hour, once a week. It wasn't the first time something like that had occurred....

Maduro [National Assembly's president] announces legislation for Chávez' rule until 2030 The new National Assembly (AN) to be inaugurated next January with total dominance of government followers will take steps for President Hugo Chávez to rule until 2030, AN president Nicolás Maduro reported, as quoted by DPA. Maduro submitted the priorities of the new legislative term during a ceremony where Caracas incoming deputies were proclaimed. The congresspersons were chosen during the elections last Sunday where the opposition did not run. The senior official anticipated enactment of laws "for people and with people" and noted that the new AN will work...

The timeliness of those writings [Sir Winston Churchill's "Never Give In]comes to mind because of Iran. Same as Germany in the 1930s, through democratic procedures, fell in the hands of the crazed Nazis, Iran, also with the blessing of the electorate, today is a dangerous instrument in the hands of Islamic fundamentalism, a country where a fanatical leader named Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, that nation's brand-new president, impersonates Hitler and leads the planet in the direction of a terrible nuclear catastrophe. President Ahmadinejad -- with a brazenness we should thank him for, because it leaves no doubt as to his intentions --...

North Korea and Venezuela should stand together US pressure and blackmail, North Korean parliament Vice-President Yang Hyong Sop recommended, as quoted by AP. Both nations "are subject to US high pressure and blackmail," Tang said, according to a note on the web page of the Venezuelan Vice-President's Office. The Korean lawmaker met Thursday with Venezuelan Vice-President José Vicente Rangel. "The (President George W.) Bush administration is plotting a lot to suppress our Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela," Yang said, according to the note. "Closer relations and friendship of both peoples to face in this...

Individuals and corporations purchasing or selling any amount of foreign currency are to be punished as of October 14, under the Law on Exchange Offenses. In this way, penalties will be imposed on people performing operations with both big and small amounts of money. The Law on Exchange Offenses, article 6, establishes that people found taking part in exchange operations involving "any amount of money" through mechanisms other than banks and exchange offices, will be punished with fines in Venezuelan bolivars two-fold the amount of the operation. Further, individuals or corporations that "trade, export, import, transfer, receive or dispose of...

The entire mainstream Brazilian media, without exception, is anti-American, anti-Bush, and anti-Israel, including those publications which due to their past keep a conservative façade, even though they are by no means conservative today. Everybody in Brazilian media commenting on September 11 was unanimous in attributing to the US several different degrees of the responsibility for the evil that was done to them. There is no politician left in Brazil who is openly pro-American or pro-Israel, even among the ones who are defenders of a free market economy. There are, at best, those who defend good relations with the US exclusively...

The Chavez government is rapidly de-institutionalizing the three economic foundations of western civilization that evolved since the 15th century, namely: the right of anyone to own and use private property; a free market system bounded by law; and a free, regulated and dependable financial system. Private enterprises and ownership are being invaded, expropriated, destroyed or confiscated by the State. The State retains property title while permitting politically dependent tenants or squatters to use or waste the property. Where the medieval Lord required labor from serfs to produce capital profits, the State starts with oil capital profits and requires only political...

The Internet edition of Al-Ahram, the Cairo newspaper, attempts to combat international Islamic terrorism (which has also struck Egypt) by using a quaint analogy. According to Andel-Moneim Said, the article's author, Muslim people must learn from the Chinese the most effective way to confront the Western colonial powers. The historical error consists of describing the Islamic world as the victim of a cruel West that comes down hard on Muslims, both Palestinians and in Iraq. The historical truth is that, to a great degree, the Islamic world was built by blood and fire atop the ruins of the Christian civilization....