Citigroup has successfully plead the case for a US$20 billion bailout (and US$306 billion in loan guarantees) from the US Treasury. However, if the situation at Citi is that dire (and evidence suggests it is), they are mandated to disclose that damage to their investors mid-quarter. They haven’t, and the government doesn’t seem to mind.…
DetailsOver dinner on the roof of the Al Quasr Metropole Hotel in Amman, an Egyptian woman is telling me about an upcoming year as a guest scholar at Notre Dame University in South Bend, Indiana. She is concerned, in passing, with her academic objectives. Once I assure her that Notre Dame is a highly regarded…
DetailsFor the last three days, I’ve been in Amman, Jordan, getting schooled in Arab democracy from an international team of researchers from the Arab Reform Initiative (ARI). Technically, I was supposed to be there helping them design research methodology, but it looks like they’re doing just fine on their own. Monday morning found me in…
DetailsHuman Rights Watch denounces the pressure on Nigeria’s leading anti-corruption activist, Nuhu Ribadu. Since being fired from the government, Ribadu has been subject to harassment, threats and a drive-by shooting. Meanwhile his replacement at his former watchdog agency is busy sacking his best investigators. Human Rights Watch: Nigeria’s leading anti-corruption campaigner has in recent weeks…
DetailsAs we’re in the business of rating and assessing things, we find the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s vote today to curb the influence of securities issuers on ratings agencies (Standard & Poors, Moody’s, Fitch), well, amazingly common sense. And it took exactly how long for the SEC to wake up to these problems? Bloomberg…
DetailsIn a recent post on The Global Dashboard Blog, political analyst Leo Horn criticizes the Western media’s portrayal of Thailand’s current political crisis as steeped in cliches. Resisting the typical “virtuous rural masses versus power-possessive urban elites” lens, Horn takes a broader outlook. He sees the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protest as social progress…
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