Workers at the largest financial institutions are on track to earn as much money this year as they did before the financial crisis began, because of the strong start of the year for bank profits.

read more about it here

Members of President Obama’s automotive task force spent last week in meetings and on conference calls with G.M. officials and its advisers in Detroit and Washington. Those talks are expected to continue this week.

The goal is to prepare for a fast “surgical” bankruptcy, the people who had been briefed on the plans said. G.M., which has been granted $13.4 billion in federal aid, insists that a quick restructuring is necessary so its image and sales are not damaged permanently.

President Obama, who was elected with strong backing from labor, remained concerned about potential risk to G.M.’s pension plan and wants to avoid harming workers.

President Obama, who was elected with strong backing from labor, remained concerned about potential risk to G.M.’s pension plan and wants to avoid harming workers.

read more about his question here

No doubt you’ve heard about him in the news. Watch this short and funny video and I’m sure you’ll finally understand the whole thing afterwards !

Compared with people who are straight-up laid off, those who keep their job but are under a constant threat of losing it suffer a greater decline in mental well-being.

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Pour les élèves de BTS, mais aussi tous les autres.

Lisez cet article sur la crise économique aux USA

The Credit Crisis explained :

With the recession on the brink of becoming the longest in the postwar era, a milestone may be at hand: Women are about to surpass men on the nation’s payrolls, taking the majority for the first time in American history.

The proportion of women who are working has changed very little since the recession started. But a full 82 percent of the job losses have befallen men, who are heavily represented in distressed industries like manufacturing and construction. Women tend to be employed in areas like education and health care, which are less sensitive to economic ups and downs, and in jobs that allow more time for child care and other domestic work.

Read more about it here

Pour les élèves de BTS (mais aussi pour les autres parce que c’est sous-titré !!) quelques vidéos très intéressantes sur les raisons de la crise financière actuelles.

C’est sur le site de Mediapart et à l’origine sur le site du Wall Street Journal.

The media mention a lot  the_great_depression as a comparison with today’s financial crisis. Here are a few pictures related to this event. This first picture by Dorothea Lange is a classic (you may have seen it in you Histoty textbook). It’s title “Migrant Mother” also evokes immigration.  During The Dust Bowl families also left their homes in search of a better work.

This second picture evokes unemployement as a consequence of the Great Depression.

To finish, a short video from the BBC. Watch the images of the 1929 Crisis