| State of the Union
The surge bought me enough time to hand this problem over to the next guy or gal.I urge Congress to pass the economic stimulus package and taxpayers to quickly spend their rebate checks. Translation: When you get your check, don't save it; go out and spend it right away. It's financial irresponsibility that got us into this mess, and it's financial irresponsibility that's going to get us out.What else? .
Do Britain's banks have ub-prime skeletons hidden in the closet?
The bank's once-profitable foray into loans to risky customers had blown up as rocketing defaults caused bad debts to jump. HSBC is expected to flag further write-downs from the sub-prime fallout today, but, unless there is a massive shock, investors will probably take the news in their stride. HSBC has stopped selling and trading US mortgage-backed securities and its shares have performed well through the credit crunch. The main concerns for investors in recent weeks have been Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland. These are the two British lenders whose corporate and investment banking arms have grown most strongly on the back of the debt boom of recent years. Investors were already nervous about the exposure of Barclays and RBS to the crash in the debt markets before the recent wave of statements from US banks upping their credit-crunch write-downs.
Recession watch: Economic downturn benefits schools
LAS CRUCES — Luis Garcia calls it a "recession-proof" industry. He's talking about the trucking school where he's the president — Mesilla Valley Training Institute, which like every trucking school is always looking for students. "It's one of the biggest sells, that even though there may be a recession, people still need to eat, they need medical supplies and that needs to be moved by trucks," Garcia said. When he talks "recession-proof," Garcia might as well be talking about education in general. When the economy looks dicey, New Mexico State University prepares for a bump in graduate students looking to boost their résumés. Doña Ana Community College expands its licensure programs. Education becomes a hot commodity, and understandably so — 26 percent of county residents lack a high school diploma, 24 percent have that and only that, 6 percent have an associate's degree and 15 percent have bachelor's degrees.
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