#Banking & debt Finance
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
Text
Why the Fed wants to crush workers
The US Federal Reserve has two imperatives: keeping employment high and inflation low. But when these come into conflict — when unemployment falls to near-zero — the Fed forgets all about full employment and cranks up interest rates to “cool the economy” (that is, “to destroy jobs and increase unemployment”).
An economy “cools down” when workers have less money, which means that the prices offered for goods and services go down, as fewer workers have less money to spend. As with every macroeconomic policy, raising interest rates has “distributional effects,” which is economist-speak for ���winners and losers.”
Predicting who wins and who loses when interest rates go up requires that we understand the economic relations between different kinds of rich people, as well as relations between rich people and working people. Writing today for The American Prospect’s superb Great Inflation Myths series, Gerald Epstein and Aaron Medlin break it down:
https://prospect.org/economy/2023-01-19-inflation-federal-reserve-protects-one-percent/
Recall that the Fed has two priorities: full employment and low interest rates. But when it weighs these priorities, it does so through “finance colored” glasses: as an institution, the Fed requires help from banks to carry out its policies, while Fed employees rely on those banks for cushy, high-paid jobs when they rotate out of public service.
Inflation is bad for banks, whose fortunes rise and fall based on the value of the interest payments they collect from debtors. When the value of the dollar declines, lenders lose and borrowers win. Think of it this way: say you borrow $10,000 to buy a car, at a moment when $10k is two months’ wages for the average US worker. Then inflation hits: prices go up, workers demand higher pay to keep pace, and a couple years later, $10k is one month’s wages.
If your wages kept pace with inflation, you’re now getting twice as many dollars as you were when you took out the loan. Don’t get too excited: these dollars buy the same quantity of goods as your pre-inflation salary. However, the share of your income that’s eaten by that monthly car-loan payment has been cut in half. You just got a real-terms 50% discount on your car loan!
Inflation is great news for borrowers, bad news for lenders, and any given financial institution is more likely to be a lender than a borrower. The finance sector is the creditor sector, and the Fed is institutionally and personally loyal to the finance sector. When creditors and debtors have opposing interests, the Fed helps creditors win.
The US is a debtor nation. Not the national debt — federal debt and deficits are just scorekeeping. The US government spends money into existence and taxes it out of existence, every single day. If the USG has a deficit, that means it spent more than than it taxed, which is another way of saying that it left more dollars in the economy this year than it took out of it. If the US runs a “balanced budget,” then every dollar that was created this year was matched by another dollar that was annihilated. If the US runs a “surplus,” then there are fewer dollars left for us to use than there were at the start of the year.
The US debt that matters isn’t the federal debt, it’s the private sector’s debt. Your debt and mine. We are a debtor nation. Half of Americans have less than $400 in the bank.
https://www.fool.com/the-ascent/personal-finance/articles/49-of-americans-couldnt-cover-a-400-emergency-expense-today-up-from-32-in-november/
Most Americans have little to no retirement savings. Decades of wage stagnation has left Americans with less buying power, and the economy has been running on consumer debt for a generation. Meanwhile, working Americans have been burdened with forms of inflation the Fed doesn’t give a shit about, like skyrocketing costs for housing and higher education.
When politicians jawbone about “inflation,” they’re talking about the inflation that matters to creditors. Debtors — the bottom 90% — have been burdened with three decades’ worth of steadily mounting inflation that no one talks about. Yesterday, the Prospect ran Nancy Folbre’s outstanding piece on “care inflation” — the skyrocketing costs of day-care, nursing homes, eldercare, etc:
https://prospect.org/economy/2023-01-18-inflation-unfair-costs-of-care/
As Folbre wrote, these costs are doubly burdensome, because they fall on family members (almost entirely women), who have to sacrifice their own earning potential to care for children, or aging people, or disabled family members. The cost of care has increased every year since 1997:
https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/18/wages-for-housework/#low-wage-workers-vs-poor-consumers
So while politicians and economists talk about rescuing “savers” from having their nest-eggs whittled away by inflation, these savers represent a minuscule and dwindling proportion of the public. The real beneficiaries of interest rate hikes isn’t savers, it’s lenders.
Full employment is bad for the wealthy. When everyone has a job, wages go up, because bosses can’t threaten workers with “exile to the reserve army of the unemployed.” If workers are afraid of ending up jobless and homeless, then executives seeking to increase their own firms’ profits can shift money from workers to shareholders without their workers quitting (and if the workers do quit, there are plenty more desperate for their jobs).
What’s more, those same executives own huge portfolios of “financialized” assets — that is, they own claims on the interest payments that borrowers in the economy pay to creditors.
The purpose of raising interest rates is to “cool the economy,” a euphemism for increasing unemployment and reducing wages. Fighting inflation helps creditors and hurts debtors. The same people who benefit from increased unemployment also benefit from low inflation.
Thus: “the current Fed policy of rapidly raising interest rates to fight inflation by throwing people out of work serves as a wealth protection device for the top one percent.”
Now, it’s also true that high interest rates tend to tank the stock market, and rich people also own a lot of stock. This is where it’s important to draw distinctions within the capital class: the merely rich do things for a living (and thus care about companies’ productive capacity), while the super-rich own things for a living, and care about debt service.
Epstein and Medlin are economists at UMass Amherst, and they built a model that looks at the distributional outcomes (that is, the winners and losers) from interest rate hikes, using data from 40 years’ worth of Fed rate hikes:
https://peri.umass.edu/images/Medlin_Epstein_PERI_inflation_conf_WP.pdf
They concluded that “The net impact of the Fed’s restrictive monetary policy on the wealth of the top one percent depends on the timing and balance of [lower inflation and higher interest]. It turns out that in recent decades the outcome has, on balance, worked out quite well for the wealthy.”
How well? “Without intervention by the Fed, a 6 percent acceleration of inflation would erode their wealth by around 30 percent in real terms after three years…when the Fed intervenes with an aggressive tightening, the 1%’s wealth only declines about 16 percent after three years. That is a 14 percent net gain in real terms.”
This is why you see a split between the one-percenters and the ten-percenters in whether the Fed should continue to jack interest rates up. For the 1%, inflation hikes produce massive, long term gains. For the 10%, those gains are smaller and take longer to materialize.
Meanwhile, when there is mass unemployment, both groups benefit from lower wages and are happy to keep interest rates at zero, a rate that (in the absence of a wealth tax) creates massive asset bubbles that drive up the value of houses, stocks and other things that rich people own lots more of than everyone else.
This explains a lot about the current enthusiasm for high interest rates, despite high interest rates’ ability to cause inflation, as Joseph Stiglitz and Ira Regmi wrote in their recent Roosevelt Institute paper:
https://rooseveltinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/RI_CausesofandResponsestoTodaysInflation_Report_202212.pdf
The two esteemed economists compared interest rate hikes to medieval bloodletting, where “doctors” did “more of the same when their therapy failed until the patient either had a miraculous recovery (for which the bloodletters took credit) or died (which was more likely).”
As they document, workers today aren’t recreating the dread “wage-price spiral” of the 1970s: despite low levels of unemployment, workers wages still aren’t keeping up with inflation. Inflation itself is falling, for the fairly obvious reason that covid supply-chain shocks are dwindling and substitutes for Russian gas are coming online.
Economic activity is “largely below trend,” and with healthy levels of sales in “non-traded goods” (imports), meaning that the stuff that American workers are consuming isn’t coming out of America’s pool of resources or manufactured goods, and that spending is leaving the US economy, rather than contributing to an American firm’s buying power.
Despite this, the Fed has a substantial cheering section for continued interest rates, composed of the ultra-rich and their lickspittle Renfields. While the specifics are quite modern, the underlying dynamic is as old as civilization itself.
Historian Michael Hudson specializes in the role that debt and credit played in different societies. As he’s written, ancient civilizations long ago discovered that without periodic debt cancellation, an ever larger share of a societies’ productive capacity gets diverted to the whims of a small elite of lenders, until civilization itself collapses:
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2022/07/michael-hudson-from-junk-economics-to-a-false-view-of-history-where-western-civilization-took-a-wrong-turn.html
Here’s how that dynamic goes: to produce things, you need inputs. Farmers need seed, fertilizer, and farm-hands to produce crops. Crucially, you need to acquire these inputs before the crops come in — which means you need to be able to buy inputs before you sell the crops. You have to borrow.
In good years, this works out fine. You borrow money, buy your inputs, produce and sell your goods, and repay the debt. But even the best-prepared producer can get a bad beat: floods, droughts, blights, pandemics…Play the game long enough and eventually you’ll find yourself unable to repay the debt.
In the next round, you go into things owing more money than you can cover, even if you have a bumper crop. You sell your crop, pay as much of the debt as you can, and go into the next season having to borrow more on top of the overhang from the last crisis. This continues over time, until you get another crisis, which you have no reserves to cover because they’ve all been eaten up paying off the last crisis. You go further into debt.
Over the long run, this dynamic produces a society of creditors whose wealth increases every year, who can make coercive claims on the productive labor of everyone else, who not only owes them money, but will owe even more as a result of doing the work that is demanded of them.
Successful ancient civilizations fought this with Jubilee: periodic festivals of debt-forgiveness, which were announced when new monarchs assumed their thrones, or after successful wars, or just whenever the creditor class was getting too powerful and threatened the crown.
Of course, creditors hated this and fought it bitterly, just as our modern one-percenters do. When rulers managed to hold them at bay, their nations prospered. But when creditors captured the state and abolished Jubilee, as happened in ancient Rome, the state collapsed:
https://pluralistic.net/2022/07/08/jubilant/#construire-des-passerelles
Are we speedrunning the collapse of Rome? It’s not for me to say, but I strongly recommend reading Margaret Coker’s in-depth Propublica investigation on how title lenders (loansharks that hit desperate, low-income borrowers with triple-digit interest loans) fired any employee who explained to a borrower that they needed to make more than the minimum payment, or they’d never pay off their debts:
https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-sales-practices-of-biggest-title-lender-in-us
[Image ID: A vintage postcard illustration of the Federal Reserve building in Washington, DC. The building is spattered with blood. In the foreground is a medieval woodcut of a physician bleeding a woman into a bowl while another woman holds a bowl to catch the blood. The physician's head has been replaced with that of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.]
#pluralistic#worker power#austerity#monetarism#jerome powell#the fed#federal reserve#finance#banking#economics#macroeconomics#interest rates#the american prospect#the great inflation myths#debt#graeber#michael hudson#indenture#medieval bloodletters
463 notes
·
View notes
Text
What is the difference between credit card and debit card? - Credit card
Credit card and debit card - In today's fast-paced world, financial transactions...
#credit card benefits#credit card rewards#credit card holder#credit card processing#credit card debt#credit#loans#banking#investments#personal finance
39 notes
·
View notes
Photo
Max Gustafson
* * * *
LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN
March 12, 2023
Heather Cox Richardson
At 6:15 this evening, Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen, Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome H. Powell, and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Chairman Martin J. Gruenberg announced that Secretary Yellen has signed off on measures to enable the FDIC to fully protect everyone who had money in Silicon Valley Bank, Santa Clara, California, and Signature Bank, New York. They will have access to all of their money starting Monday, March 13. None of the losses associated with this resolution, the statement said, “will be borne by the taxpayer.”
But, it continued, “Shareholders and certain unsecured debtholders will not be protected. Senior management has also been removed. Any losses to the Deposit Insurance Fund to support uninsured depositors will be recovered by a special assessment on banks, as required by law.”
The statement ended by assuring Americans that “the U.S. banking system remains resilient and on a solid foundation, in large part due to reforms that were made after the financial crisis that ensured better safeguards for the banking industry. Those reforms combined with today's actions demonstrate our commitment to take the necessary steps to ensure that depositors' savings remain safe.”
It’s been quite a weekend.
On Friday, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) failed in the largest bank failure since 2008. At the end of December 2022, SVB appears to have had about $209 billion in total assets and about $175 billion in deposits. This made SVB the sixteenth largest bank in the U.S., big in its sector but small compared with the more than $3 trillion JPMorgan Chase. This is the first bank failure of the Biden presidency (while Donald Trump Jr. tweeted that he had not heard of any bank failures during his father’s presidency, there were sixteen, eight of which happened before the pandemic). In fact, generally, a few banks fail every year; it is an oddity that none failed in 2021 or 2022.
The failure of SVB created shock waves for three reasons. First, SVB was the major bank for technology start-ups, so it involved much of a single sector of the economy. Second, only about $8 billion of the $173 billion worth of deposits in SVB were less than the $250,000 that the FDIC insures, meaning that the companies who had made those deposits might not get their money back quickly and thus might not be able to make payrolls, sparking a larger crisis. Third, there was concern that the problems that plagued SVB might cause other banks to fail, as well.
What seems to have happened, though, appears to be specific to SVB. Bloomberg’s Matt Levine explained it most clearly:
As the bank for start-ups, which have a lot of cash from investors and the initial public offering of stock, SVB had lots of deposits. But start-up companies don’t need much in the way of loans because they’ve just gotten so much cash and they don’t yet have fixed assets. So, rather than balancing deposits with loans that fluctuate with interest rates and thus keep a bank on an even keel, SVB’s directors took a gamble that the Federal Reserve would not raise interest rates. They invested in long-term Treasury bonds that paid better interest rates than short-term securities. But when, in fact, interest rates went up, the value of those long-term bonds sank.
For most banks, higher interest rates are good news because they can charge more for loans. But for SVB, they hurt.
Then, because SVB concentrated on start-ups, they had another problem. Start-ups are also hurt by rising interest rates because they tend to promise to deliver returns in the long term, which is fine so long as interest rates stay steadily low, as they have been now for years. But as interest rates go up, investors tend to like faster returns than most start-ups can deliver. They take their money to places that are going to see returns sooner. For SVB, that meant their depositors began to need some of that money they had dumped into the bank and started to withdraw their deposits.
So SVB sold securities at a loss to cover those deposits. Other investors panicked as they saw SVB selling at a loss and losing deposits, and they, too, started yanking their money out of the bank, collapsing it. Banks that have a more diverse client base are less likely to lose everyone all at once.
The FDIC took control of the bank on Friday. On Sunday, regulators also shut down Signature Bank, based in New York, which was a major bank for the cryptocurrency industry. Another crypto-friendly bank, Silvergate, failed last week.
Congress created the FDIC under the Banking Act of 1933 to restore trust in the American banking system after more than a third of U.S. banks failed after the Great Crash of 1929, sparking runs on banks as depositors rushed to take out their money whenever rumors suggested a bank was in trouble, thus causing more failures. The FDIC is an independent agency that insures deposits, examines and supervises banks to make sure they’re healthy, and manages the fallout when they’re not. The FDIC is backed by the full faith and credit of the government, but it is not funded by the government. Member banks pay insurance dues to cover bank failures, and when that isn’t enough money, the FDIC can borrow from the federal government or issue debt.
Over the weekend, the crisis at SVB became a larger argument over the role of government in the protection of the economy. Tech leaders took to social media to insist that the government must cover all the deposits in the failed bank, not just the ones covered under FDIC. They warned that the companies whose deposits were uninsured would fail, taking down the rest of the economy with them.
Others noted that the very men who were arguing the government should protect all the depositors’ money, not just that protected under the FDIC, have been vocal in opposing both government regulation of their industry and government relief for student loan debt, suggesting that they hate government action…except for themselves. They also pointed out that in 2018, under Trump, Congress weakened government regulations for banks like SVB and that SVB’s president had been a leading advocate for weakening those regulations. Had those regulations been in place, they argue, SVB would have remained solvent.
It appears that Yellen, Powell, and Gruenberg, in consultation with the president (as required), concluded that the collapse of SVB and Signature Bank was a systemic threat to the nation’s whole financial system, or perhaps they concluded that the panic over that collapse—which is a different thing than the collapse itself—was a threat to the nation’s financial system. They apparently decided to backstop the banks to prevent more damage. But they are eager to remind people that they are not using taxpayer money to shore up a poorly managed bank.
Right now, this appears to leave us with two takeaways. The Biden administration had been considering tightening the banking regulations that were loosened under Trump, and it seems likely that the need for the federal government to step in to protect the depositors at SVB and Signature Bank will make it much harder for those opposed to regulation to keep that from happening. There will likely be increased pressure on the Biden administration to guard against helping out the wealthy and corporations rather than ordinary Americans.
And, perhaps even more important, the weekend of panic and fear over the collapse of just one major bank should make it clear that the Republicans’ threat to default on the U.S. debt, thus pulling the rug out from under the entire U.S. economy unless they get their way, is simply unthinkable.
LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN
HEATHER COX RICHARDSON
#Finance#the economy#Heather Cox Richardson#Letters From An American#Banking regulation#bank collapse#bank failure#Max Gustafson#debt#student loan debt#venture capitalists
81 notes
·
View notes
Note
I just read your Who Stole Westeros article (great onde, btw!), and it got me thinking: how could the crown undo all the financial damage Littlefinger did?
This is something that I've discussed in bits and pieces, but I think it's a good idea to have one place where I lay out my ideas.
Accurate Intelligences
The first thing that needs to happen is that the crown needs to get an accurate understanding of its finances and make that understanding known to the necessary stakeholders. This starts with a very thorough audit of both the Crown's books and Littlefinger's books, preferably done with the participation of the Iron Bank (not only do they have the necessary expertise to see through Baelish's fraud, but bringing them into the process at an early stage will make later negotiations easier because they're more likely to feel "part of the team" and not like a bombshell's been dropped on them).
The second step is, I would argue, a document laying out, in detail, what the Crown's incomes, expenditures, and debts actually are - and the extent of Littlefinger's fraud and embezzlement - is absolutely vital for rebuilding trust from the Crown's major creditors. Think of this as a somewhat more private (and hopefully more honest) Compte Rendu. Not only is having an accurate understanding vital for future policymaking, but it's also a way of framing the overall narrative to your creditors that defines the universe of how much you can afford to pay back and how much you should pay back.
Debt Forgiveness
After the full scope of the economic damage is known, the first priority should be to A. recoup as much of the losses as possible, and B. reduce the debt that has to be paid as much as possible. As far as A goes, the absolute de minimus strategy should be to seize the entire Baelish estate - not just the gold, but also the brothels, the ships, the commodities futures, the debts of various noble houses and merchants, the lands and titles belonging to Harrenhal - and those of all of his minions in the royal bureaucracy, and use that to improve the royal income-to-debt ratio by paying off some of what's owed, with as much as possible going to principal over interest.
Secondly, there's a strong need for debt relief. That's a touchy subject around creditors, but it's still one that has to be faced - and is made somewhat easier by the War of Five Kings. So if Renly or Stannis had won, it would absolutely been in their interests to declare the Crown's debt to House Lannister repudiated on the grounds of treason, thus reducing the total owed by 50% (assuming that the Crown actually owes 3 million to House Lannister and 6 million overall). On the flip side, and this is somewhat paradoxical, it is rather surprising that at no point after the death of King Robert does the Lannister regime forgive debt it effectively owes to itself, even if that would be to its ultimate advantage.
Restructuring Finances
Ultimately, though, the nice thing about being a government is that (barring a revolution or foreign conquest) you are effectively immortal, and thus even staggeringly huge debts can be dealt with - over a long enough time horizon. Look at the example of British war debt:
It turns out, constantly fighting imperial wars and then having to fight two world wars is very expensive, but just hanging on as a going concern was enough to gradually reduce the debt-to-gdp ratio down to manageable levels. It really helps if you have a central bank, a sinking fund, and strong levels of economic growth, but just staying alive is the big ticket.
However, in order for time to heal all wounds, one of the things that has to happen is some debt restructuring aimed at reducing the interest rate owed on the royal debt. Pretty much all previous steps I've outlined, from sharing information to cultivating stakeholders to paying off as much as you can from Littlefinger's coffers, etc. are aimed at trying to soften the negotiating ground for this step, because medieval interest rates were really high (largely as a hedge against frequent defaults), around 12% on average. It's pretty hard to grow your way out of that, so bringing down those rates is the top priority. Once you've gotten them as low as you can, you want to negotiate for the longest repayment window possible.
#asoiaf#asoiaf meta#royal debt#westerosi finance#medieval finance#littlefinger#central banking#early modern finance#early modern economy#westerosi economic development#medieval banking
58 notes
·
View notes
Note
O' highly esteemed and knowledgeable Bitches, I first off wanted to say that I am one payment away from fully paying off my beater of a car and the thought of having that extra money to throw at other bills is exhilarating! Secondly, because of this extra money I am looking into possibly consolidating my other bills. Interest rates on credits cards are too fucking high and it's seemingly impossible to make a dent in paying anything off. A friend has told me to look into Credit Karma to search around for loan providers before committing to a bank, but I'm not sure how comfortable I feel with sites like that. Is Credit Karma and other sites like it trustworthy enough or should I stick to my guns and go with my bank for loan?
First off kiddo, we are SO DAMN PROUD OF YOU. You're doing SO well and we are weeping with joy over here.
Credit Karma is considered very safe and legitimate. We endorse it, and after looking at its security measures, I can confidently say I'd use it myself if the need ever came up.
We also advise shopping around for loans, rather than just going with your personal bank for convenience's sake. You can get much better terms if you hunt around, and Credit Karma can probably help with that. We explain a bit more about shopping around for loans here:
A Hand-holding Guide To Getting Your First Credit Card
When (And How) To Try Refinancing or Consolidating Student Loans
{ MASTERPOST } Everything You Need to Know about How to Pay off Debt
If you found this helpful, consider joining our Patreon.
#debt#paying off debt#debt consolidation#personal finance#credit karma#refinancing loans#banks#banking
15 notes
·
View notes
Text
.
#2023 is the year that I get my finances and my financial trauma sorted out#because it’s either this or it kills me and I’m all done leaving myself open to being killed#have to do a lot of hard work realizing how bad the money stuff was re: hours per week of being trapped in the kitchen with 1-2 people#damning me if I did and damning me if I didn’t#and one of them constantly watching my bank account because they had access till I was 25#and all the fear they put in me and how they trained me to sabotage myself for them#NO MORE#it is not as scary to just face the hellish nightmare zone of loans and debts and not enough money for butter or dog food or whatever#than it is to not face it and live in guiltridden fear all the time#at least with the first option I have itemized spreadsheets I can take to debtors and a bankruptcy attorney if needed#I’d love to find a second job again but it’s been pretty hard#but regardless#no more avoidance NO MORE AVOIDANCE avoidance and shame don’t get me anywhere#the only thing that will is holding hands with the shame and the terror#and if all goes well#maybe I’ll be able to finally get my root canal and other cavities done 2 years late#and also rebuild some savings#mostly just I gotta do this or I’m going to give myself high blood pressure and an ulcer by the end of the year I cannot handle a mother#year of looming financial threat#it’s getting sorted out this year or not at all#and I’m all out of accepting ‘not at all’s#shh katie
11 notes
·
View notes
Photo
19 notes
·
View notes
Text
I slept in and just woke up, so here's what I've been able to figure out while sipping coffee:
Twitter has officially rebranded to X just a day or two after the move was announced.
The official branding is that a tweet is now called "an X", for which there are too many jokes to make.
The official account is still @twitter because someone else owns @X and they didn't reclaim the username first.
The logo is 𝕏 which is the Unicode character Unicode U+1D54F so the logo cannot be copyrighted and it is highly likely that it cannot be protected as a trademark.
Outside the visual logo, the trademark for the use of the name "X" in social media is held by Meta/Facebook, while the trademark for "X" in finance/commerce is owned by Microsoft.
The rebranding has been stopped in Japan as the term "X Japan" is trademarked by the band X JAPAN.
Elon had workers taking down the "Twitter" name from the side of the building. He did not have any permits to do this. The building owner called the cops who stopped the crew midway through so the sign just says "er".
He still plans to call his streaming and media hosting branch of the company as "Xvideo". Nobody tell him.
This man wants you to give him control over all of your financial information.
Edit to add further developments:
Yes, this is all real. Check the notes and people have pictures. I understand the skepticism because it feels like a joke, but to the best of my knowledge, everything in the above is accurate.
Microsoft also owns the trademark on X for chatting and gaming because, y'know, X-box.
The logo came from a random podcaster who tweeted it at Musk.
The act of sending a tweet is now known as "Xeet". They even added a guide for how to Xeet.
The branding change is inconsistent. Some icons have changed, some have not, and the words "tweet" and "Twitter" are still all over the place on the site.
TweetDeck is currently unaffected and I hope it's because they forgot that it exists again. The complete negligence toward that tool and just leaving it the hell alone is the only thing that makes the site usable (and some of us are stuck on there for work).
This is likely because Musk was forced out of PayPal due to a failed credit line project and because he wanted to rename the site to "X-Paypal" and eventually just to "X".
This became a big deal behind the scenes as Musk paid over $1 million for the domain X.com and wanted to rebrand the company that already had the brand awareness people were using it as a verb to "pay online" (as in "I'll paypal you the money")
X.com is not currently owned by Musk. It is held by a domain registrar (I believe GoDaddy but I'm not entirely sure). Meaning as long as he's hung onto this idea of making X Corp a thing, he couldn't be arsed to pay the $15/year domain renewal.
Bloomberg estimates the rebranding wiped between $4 to $20 billion from the valuation of Twitter due to the loss of brand awareness.
The company was already worth less than half of the $44 billion Musk paid for it in the first place, meaning this may end up a worse deal than when Yahoo bought Tumblr.
One estimation (though this is with a grain of salt) said that Twitter is three months from defaulting on its loans taken out to buy the site. Those loans were secured with Tesla stock. Meaning the bank will seize that stock and, since it won't be enough to pay the debt (since it's worth around 50-75% of what it was at the time of the loan), they can start seizing personal assets of Elon Musk including the Twitter company itself and his interest in SpaceX.
Sesame Street's official accounts mocked the rebranding.
158K notes
·
View notes
Text
What are the economic prospects for the UK ahead of the Budget?
We can start today’s look at the UK economic situation with some good news. We have seen a further fall in shop prices according to the British Retail Consortium. October saw shop prices fall marginally further into deflation for the third consecutive month. Food inflation eased, particularly for meat, fish and tea as well as chocolate and sweets as retailers treated customers to spooky season…
#Bank of England#bond yields#business#Chancellor Hunt#Chancellor Rachel Reeves#economy#Finance#Gilt Yields#Interest Rates#Money supply#national insurance#tax on jobs#UK#UK debt sales
0 notes
Text
Understanding Velocity Banking: A Potentially Powerful Tool To Pay-off Debts
In a world where financial literacy is more crucial than ever, innovative strategies are emerging to help people take control of their finances. One such strategy that has gained popularity is velocity banking. But what exactly is velocity banking, and how can it benefit you? Let’s dive into this lesser-known financial concept. What is Velocity Banking? Velocity banking is a financial strategy…
View On WordPress
#becoming debt-free#money#paying off debts#personal finances#personal finances canada#Velocity banking#velocity banking canada#velocity banking explained
0 notes
Text
Strategic Banking & Debt Finance Solutions for Businesses in San Jose:
In the fast-paced business environment of San Jose, securing the right financial structure is critical to the success and growth of any company. Whether you're a startup seeking financing to expand operations or an established company restructuring existing debt, navigating the complexities of banking and debt finance requires expert legal guidance. At Strategy Law LLP, our experienced team of banking and debt finance attorneys in San Jose is here to provide tailored legal solutions that align with your financial goals.
Why Banking & Debt Finance Matters for Your Business
The financial health of your business is foundational to its long-term success. Making the right decisions around banking and debt financing can impact cash flow, creditworthiness, and operational flexibility. A knowledgeable attorney helps ensure that your business secures financing under favorable terms while protecting your assets and minimizing risk.
Whether you’re raising capital, negotiating loan agreements, or managing debt restructuring, legal expertise is crucial to making sound financial decisions.
Our Banking & Debt Finance Services at Strategy Law LLP
Loan Documentation and Negotiation Securing a loan requires careful negotiation and thorough documentation. Our attorneys work closely with lenders and borrowers to negotiate terms that are clear and beneficial for your business. We prepare and review loan agreements, promissory notes, security agreements, and other related documents to ensure compliance with state and federal regulations while protecting your interests.
Debt Restructuring and Refinancing If your business is dealing with existing debt that requires restructuring, our team will assist in renegotiating terms with creditors, helping to create more manageable repayment schedules or reduce interest rates. We also guide you through refinancing options, ensuring that the process aligns with your broader financial strategy.
Asset-Based Financing For businesses looking to secure loans against their assets, asset-based financing is a viable option. Our attorneys help structure asset-based lending arrangements, ensuring the proper valuation and security of assets such as inventory, receivables, or equipment, while negotiating favorable terms for your business.
Secured and Unsecured Lending Whether your business is considering secured or unsecured lending, we help you understand the key differences and potential risks. For secured loans, we ensure that collateral agreements are properly drafted and understood by all parties. For unsecured loans, we focus on reducing risk through clear contractual obligations.
Commercial Real Estate Financing If your business is planning to purchase or develop commercial property, we provide legal support for all real estate financing transactions. From mortgage agreements to construction loans, our attorneys ensure that your commercial property investments are legally sound and financially beneficial.
Workouts and Bankruptcy Alternatives If your business is facing financial distress, our legal team can help explore workout solutions with creditors to avoid bankruptcy. This can involve negotiating repayment terms or creating a restructuring plan that allows your business to continue operations while managing debt more effectively.
Why Choose Strategy Law LLP for Banking & Debt Finance in San Jose?
Expert Legal Guidance: At Strategy Law LLP, we have deep knowledge of banking and debt finance laws, with years of experience helping businesses secure financing under favorable terms.
Tailored Solutions: Every business has unique financial needs. Our attorneys work closely with you to understand your goals and create customized solutions that meet your business's specific requirements.
Local Expertise: Located in the heart of San Jose, we understand the unique financial landscape of Silicon Valley and can provide strategic advice that leverages local opportunities while mitigating risks.
The Strategy Law LLP Advantage
At Strategy Law LLP, we believe that banking and debt finance decisions should be made with confidence. Our team of skilled attorneys works diligently to protect your financial interests, negotiating deals that offer security, flexibility, and long-term value.
We pride ourselves on being more than just legal advisors—we are strategic partners invested in your business’s success. Whether you’re raising capital for growth, managing existing debt, or exploring refinancing options, we offer the legal expertise you need to make informed decisions and achieve financial stability.
Secure Your Business's Financial Future Today
If your business is in need of legal support for banking and debt finance matters, Strategy Law LLP is here to help. Our experienced attorneys in San Jose are ready to guide you through the complexities of securing the right financing and managing debt effectively.
0 notes
Text
The student loan debt crisis impacts over 43 million Americans. Rising debt and global hardships have led to new laws.
#personal finance#finance assignment help#economy#crisis económica#financetips#federal#bank of america#debt#student debt#credit#loans#debt recovery#debt relief#debt consolidation#riskassessment#personal loans#student loans#mortgage#marriage#loan repayment#private#education#student#university#student life#america#usa#usa news#americans#united states
1 note
·
View note
Text
1 note
·
View note
Text
Check out the good CIBIL score in India and discover the ideal CIBIL score range and its importance in securing loans.
#finance and banking#finance#investing#cibil score#credit score#credit cards#loans#debt#income#report
0 notes
Text
Investing Future with Motilal Oswal Jaipur: A Path to Financial Growth
One of the most successful strategies of generating money and safeguarding your financial future is equitiesinvestment. It might make a world of difference to have a reliable financial partner by your side whereas stock markets continue to change.Motilal Oswal has come to represent dependability & knowledgeable suggestion, and a strong emphasis on building wealth for investors in Jaipur.
Why Equity Investing?
Investing in equity has the potential to yield better returns than assets with fixed income and particularly in the long run. They present chances for rapid development, yet also carry an appropriate amount of danger. By purchasing stock, you can participate in the growth of businesses that have the potential for significant returns if they are successful.
The Motilal OswalAdvantage Offering reliableinvestments solutions catered to each person's financial objectives, Motilal Oswal Jaipur has been a pioneer in this field. The firm assists clients in making well-informed selections and assures that investments are in line with long-term wealth objective of equities research and market analysis. One of the biggest advantages of partnering with Motilal Oswal is the tailored strategy. regardless of your level of experience, their staff can provide tailored plans that reflect your risk patience and your financial goals & the current state of the market.
Why Invest in Equityfor Motilal Oswal Jaipur?
Research: Motilal Oswal is well known for producing exhaustive & high-quality research.
personalized Advisory: The financial path of each investor is distinct. A devoted financial advisor at Motilal Oswal Jaipur will assist you in building a portfolio that is customised to meet your individual goals.
Long-Term money Creation: Using equity investments as the primary means for guaranteeing a stable fiscal future & Motilal Oswal emphasizes on accumulating money over an extended period of time.
Technological Edge: Clients can simply navigate their portfolios and get real-time updates and execute transactions quickly thanks to modern instruments and software.
Investing in Your Future Whilst the stock market can be unpredictable, risks can be reduced and rewards can be increased with professional advice. Investingin the decades to come with Motilal Oswal of Jaipur guarantees you the backing of one of India's top financial service companies. Motilal Oswal Jaipur's equities spending can put you on the road to success whether the objectives are to grow your wealth, save for retiring, or reach other financial goals. In conclusion, partnering with Motilal Oswal Jaipur is a wise move for everyone wishing to invest in stocks and build an enjoyable financial future as markets change and possibilities present themself.
#article#investment#motilaloswal#news#broker#jaipur#motilaloswaljaipur#googlemaps#invest#stockmarket#investingfuture.in#googlenews#equity trading#equity#equity mutual funds#equity markets#equity financing#equity investment#employees#report#market#banks#debt
0 notes
Text
Concerns about Goldberg began to circulate late in 1989 and between Christmas and New Year 1990 his bankers appointed KPMG Peat Marwick to look at the company. Sykes recounts:
What [KPMG] uncovered was one of the biggest rats' nests of the 1980s. The Goldberg empire comprised a web of companies, trusts, partnerships and individuals. Money had been shuffled around in it untraceably. The total debt was far larger than anyone had thought – to the horror of the banks – and was hopelessly in excess of the value of the assets. The Godfather of the rag trade was broke several times over. On 24 January 1990 the bankers voted to appoint receivers to Linter Group. It was the end.
"Westpac: The Bank That Broke the Bank" - Edna Carew
#book quotes#westpac#edna carew#nonfiction#concern#abe goldberg#80s#1980s#90s#1990s#20th century#christmas#new year#bankers#kpmg peat marwick#kpmg#linter group#rat nest#company#trust#partnership#individual#money#debt#banking#finance#loans#textiles#january 24
1 note
·
View note