---------- Forwarded message ---------- "Down Home" Derivatives: It's Athens, Georgia Too, Not Just Greece *07 June 2010. *By now, pretty much anyone reading this is aware of the destructive role played by derivatives - largely, although not exclusively purveyed by Goldman Sachs - in creating the mess in Greece now rolling through Europe under the rubric of the "Euro debt crisis". What may be a bit more shocking is that these same sort of dubious government financial practices turn out to be just as "popular" WITHIN the US as well. Municipalities such as metro Atlanta, Marietta, Birmingham Alabama, and even Emory and Georgia State Universities have all been scorched by the same sort of derivative deals that have been so prominent in Europe. At least a dozen local governments and other institutions that used derivative deals to try to lower the cost of bond issues have ended up owing as much as $394 million in fees to the Wall Street investment banks that set up the deals. That total includes at least $100 million in fees paid to firms such as Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan and UBS AG just to cancel the deals when they went sour. As in southern Europe, these hefty refinancings and fee payments occurred even as the city of Atlanta and other institutions were cutting budgets, laying off employees, reducing services and being downgraded by bond rating agencies because of budget shortfalls. In each case, the higher costs will likely be passed on to taxpayers or the users of the various institutions, which include the city's water system and airport, some area hospitals and other facilities - sound familiar ???
Read More .... 'Down Home' Derivatives in Athens, Georgia Too <http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=9t3L_&m=J3xy6g.82_Rx0C&b=Nu1q88b5.U9KTt5abVJDHA> EconomyWatch.com, Stanley St Labs Pte Ltd, 1a Stanley St, Singapore 068720 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""GLOBAL SPECULATORS"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/globalspeculators?hl=en.
