By 2002, when WaMu became the sixth largest bank in America, Killinger had acquired a new wife, a taste for corporate jets, and a vision that he was creating the Walmart of banking. To drive the mortgage business, he launched a “Power of yes!” advertising campaign targeted at risky borrowers; according to The New York Times, when a mariachi singer applied for a mortgage claiming a six-figure income that couldn’t be verified, they took a picture of the guy in front of his house dressed in the mariachi outfit, put it in his application file, and approved the loan. From here, the ending went pretty much by the numbers: Between 2001 and 2007, Killinger earned an ego-boosting $88 million. As defaults grew, losses mounted, and the stock price tumbled, Killinger told irate shareholders that the problems were cyclical, advising them to “calm down, have a little faith.

—

And we know how that ends…

100 to Blame: Infectious Greed, The International Monetary Fund, and More: Bruce Feirstein | Vanity Fair

The world faces a permanent food crisis and global instability unless countries act now to feed a surging population by doubling agricultural output, a report drafted for ministers of the Group of Eight nations has warned.

— FT.com / Global Economy - G8 warns of hunger threat to stability

Guatemalan Gov’t to Curb Economic Crisis Guatemala, Jan 30 (Prensa Latina) The Guatemalan government presented a national emergency and economic recuperation program to mitigate the negative effects of the world financial crisis on the country. According to Public Finance Minister Juan Alberto Fuentes Knight, the plan is aimed at building trust to increase or maintain investment at difficult times and guaranteeing attention to the poorest sectors. Among the measures to be taken are increasing public expenditure in 2009 and reorienting investment to generate jobs and enhance social protection

—

Image via Wikipedia

Guatemalan Gov’t to Curb Economic Crisis - Prensa Latina

Funniest headline ever! Are they serious with this statement?