U.S. Economy

California's Economic Recovery Has Been a Tale of Two States

When President Obama was elected in November 2008, the national unemployment rate was at 6.5 percent, and quickly rising. The Great Recession was picking up speed. By the inauguration, the unemployment rate had reached 8.5 percent. It eventually peaked a year later, in January 2010, at 10.6 percent. ... More >>

Few Homeowners Have Requested Independent Foreclosure Reviews

By now, it's old news that many people lost or nearly lost their home because of banks' errors during the foreclosure crisis. A 2010 ProPublica analysis, for example, found that around a quarter of loan modification rejections occurred because the mortgage service provider couldn't find certain docu ... More >>

Occupy Now Has Trading Cards

Since they can't camp out anymore, Occupy has come up with an old-school way to keep up the fight against the 1 percent. The group has created their very own trading cards, chewing gum not included. It's just what you would expect on an Occupy trading card: names, stats, and misdeeds of people the m ... More >>

Occupy Camp Cleared Out, Multiple Protesters Arrested

That makeshift Occupy camp that had become a fixture in downtown San Francisco is no more. According to press reports, some 70 police officers raided the small camp late last night, arresting 20 or so protesters. The drama started about 11:35 p.m., when police surrounded the campsite on Market Stree ... More >>

Blame Uncertainty for Rising Unemployment, Study Says

"Uncertainty!" Scottinsh dramatist David Mallet wrote "Fell demon of our fears! The human soul that can support despair, supports not thee." The human soul and the economy have that in common. By now, it's been ingrained in our consciousness by news stories and stump speeches: Uncertainty is holdin ... More >>

America's Petro-Terrorists: How Speculators Drove Up Oil Prices

Blowing Up J.J.

Soup to Nuts: Crazy Food Taxes Penalize the Poor, Benefit the Rich

Even In A Recession, San Francisco Spends Billions on Nightlife

​Have you hugged a tourist today? San Francisco's Office of Economic Analysis revealed that 3,200 nightlife establishments have generated more than $4 billion for the city in a 2010 study. 80 percent of this stemmed from visitor areas including North Beach, Chinatown, and Union Square, and on an a ... More >>

Occupy SF to Reoccupy Justin Herman Plaza

Lauren Smiley Round 2 ​Update (2:10 p.m.) Protesting makes you hungry, which is why Occupiers have taken their cause back to the Federal Reserve building where there's rumors of pizza on its way. After they regain their energy, the group is planning to reoccupy Just Herman Plaza later this evening ... More >>

OccupySF Blocks Wells Fargo HQ; 11 Taken Away in Handcuffs

​OccupySF protesters did more than yoga this morning. The group marched down Market Street this morning and reportedly blocked the doors of the Wells Fargo Headquarters, slowing traffic through the Financial District and forcing employees to use the side doors. According to news reports, the group ... More >>

Occupy Wall Street Protest Expands to San Francisco

12 days, plus interest ​Today marks the 12th day of the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York City -- and unlike BART protests, there's no sign that this demonstration is dying down. In fact, it's spreading -- all the way to the West Coast, where California is suffering from a staggering 12 perc ... More >>

Black Market Giants World Series Gear to Be Donated to Haitians

Giants win goes global. ​Remember when the feds were vigorously seizing knock-off Giants World Series clothing from black-market vendors around AT&T Park last year? Well, it turns out that all those clothes won't just rot in federal custody. In one of those unexpected turns in a globalized wor ... More >>

Here Are San Francisco's Biggest Tax Debtors

Tax delinquency: an American tradition​Nobody likes paying taxes. Granted, not all of us are "angry" enough about them to don a tricorne hat and start ranting about the Nafta Superhighway and the Federal Reserve. But the chunk of money Uncle Sam takes out of your paycheck every two weeks -- not to ... More >>

S.F. Fraudsters Fueled 2008 Financial Collapse

If only feds had listened back in 2006.​America's financial crisis had roots in fraudulent schemes to rope immigrants and other disadvantaged borrowers into loans they could never repay. And federal regulators knew of this problem as early as 2006, when abusive lending practices were the subject o ... More >>

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It Was On a Boat