Economic News Round-Up

Here's some of what I've been reading this morning...

Reuters—Anti-Wall Street activists look to block West Coast ports:

Anti-Wall Street protesters, hoping to briefly cripple a key supply chain of American commerce and re-energize their movement, plan to attempt to block major West Coast ports on Monday.

By marching on U.S. ports from California to Alaska, organizers look to call attention to economic inequalities in the country and a financial system they complain is unfairly tilted toward the wealthy.

The planned action comes after the Occupy movement that began in New York in September has seen its tent camps in most big West Coast cities dismantled in police raids, leaving the movement looking for new avenues to voice its discontent.

...Police in several cities were so far not disclosing their plans for handling the protesters or whether they aimed to confront them, risking clashes, or stand back.

The Port of Oakland has mounted a public relations campaign to dissuade protesters from joining the effort, while two of the largest labor unions involved have split -- with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union opposed to the blockade and Teamsters in favor.

But union workers were largely expected to stay on the job, and were contractually barred from joining such a strike. The protest will focus in part on truck drivers who earn low wages and cannot join unions because they are classified as independent truck drivers, and must provide their own trucks.

"It's a group that encapsulates basically everything that is wrong with society," [Mike King, a graduate student who acts as a media liaison for Occupy Oakland] said.

And reminding us why the Occupy Movement exists...

New York Times—With lobbying blitz, for-profit colleges diluted new rules:

Last year, the Obama administration vowed to stop for-profit colleges from luring students with false promises. In an opening volley that shook the $30 billion industry, officials proposed new restrictions to cut off the huge flow of federal aid to unfit programs.

But after a ferocious response that administration officials called one of the most intense they had seen, the Education Department produced a much-weakened final plan that almost certainly will have far less impact as it goes into effect next year.

The story of how the for-profit colleges survived the threat of a major federal crackdown offers a case study in Washington power brokering. Rattled by the administration's tough talk, the colleges spent more than $16 million on an all-star list of prominent figures, particularly Democrats with close ties to the White House, to plot strategy, mend their battered image and plead their case.

I highly recommend reading this whole article. In other reminders of why the Occupy Movement exists...

Bloomberg: Bank Credit Highest Since Before Lehman as US Growth Continues.

WaPo: Congress Edges Toward a Bipartisan Compromise on Spending.

CNN Money: Millions of Unemployed Americans to Lose Unemployment Benefits if Congress Doesn't Act.

Paul Krugman in the New York Times—Depression and Democracy: "It's time to start calling the current situation what it is: a depression. True, it's not a full replay of the Great Depression, but that's cold comfort."

Meanwhile, the Eurozone debt crisis is "far from over."

As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to leave links to anything you're reading and/or writing in comments.