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News Articles
| US: Industry Takes Aim at Plan to Create Financial Protection Agency
by Brady Dennis, Washington Post
July 7th, 2009
Business and trade-group lobbyists are beating a path for the first major battle over the Obama administration's efforts to overhaul the financial regulatory system. Recent discussions have involved the American Bankers Association, National Auto Dealers Association, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Mortgage Bankers Association and other lobbyists. |
| US: Activist Financier 'Terrorizes' Bankers in Foreclosure Fight
by James R. Hagerty, Wall Street Journal
May 20th, 2009
A nonprofit organization, Neighborhood Assistance Corp. of America, or NACA, has emerged as one of the loudest scourges of the banking industry in the post-bubble economy. Though some bankers privately deplore his tactics, NACA's Bruce Marks is a growing influence in the lending industry and the effort to curb foreclosures. |
| US: Debt Settlers Offer Promises but Little Help
by David Streitfeld, New York Times
April 19th, 2009
With the economy on the ropes, hundreds of thousands of consumers are turning to “debt settlement” companies like Credit Solutions to escape a crushing pile of bills. State attorneys general are being flooded with complaints about settlement companies and other forms of debt relief. |
| WORLD: The Jewel Trade's Fading Luster
by V. Dion Haynes and Rama Lakshmi, Washington Post
March 28th, 2009
The drop in U.S. demand for high-end jewelry in a slumping economy is having ripple effects around the globe as stores close, workers are laid off in mass in the diamond-polishing factories of Gujarat, and countries like Botswana experience a dramatic drop in diamond revenue. |
| US: Mr. Whipple Left It Out: Soft Is Rough on Forests
by Leslie Kaufman, New York Times
February 25th, 2009
The U.S. obsession with soft toilet paper has driven the growth of brands like Cottonelle Ultra, Quilted Northern Ultra and Charmin Ultra. But fluffiness comes at a price: millions of trees harvested in North America and in Latin American countries, including some percentage of trees from rare old-growth forests in Canada. |
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CorpWatch Exclusives
 | Mexico’s Other Crisis: Foreign Banks
by Kent Paterson, Special to CorpWatch
May 15th, 2009
The worldwide financial crisis is hitting people in the Global South with particular venom, and disaster profiteering is alive and well. Take Mexico. While entities like Citigroup-owned Banamex get away with charging Mexican credit account-holders usurious interest rates of up to 100 percent, Banamex itself turned nearly $1 billion in profits in 2008. |
 | Dark Side of the Tourist Boom: Cruise Ship Controversies Cross Borders
by Kent Paterson, Special to CorpWatch
July 9th, 2008
The Mexican Pacific resort of Zihuatanejo recently cancelled a major new cruise ship terminal, giving a victory to environmental activists and other opponents. However, Mexico remains the world’s Number One cruise ship destination; and with little regulation, allegations of onboard crime, and increasing militarization as regards security while ships are in port, the rapidly expanding industry is facing new challenges. |
 | Lessons of Empire: India, 60 Years After Independence
by Nick Robins and Pratap Chatterjee, Special to CorpWatch
August 14th, 2007
60 years after India gained independence, British capital is still exploiting poor communities in its former colony. Centuries after Britain's East India Company -- the world's first multinational -- faced protests in London, a group of villagers continue the tradition of resistance. |
 | University, Inc.
by Jennifer Borden, Special to CorpWatch
April 11th, 2005
From research patents to high-stakes partnerships, Jennifer Washburn spent years researching the links between industry and the American University. In this exclusive interview with CorpWatch's Jennifer Borden, Washburn talks about what she found, why it matters and what you can do about it. |
 | Spinning Media for Government
by Chris Raphael, Special to CorpWatch
February 10th, 2005
Public relations giant Omnicom has received almost a quarter of a billion dollars in contracts from the federal government for public relations work. At least one has been labeled "covert propaganda," another involved paying off a journalist and opinion-maker. |
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