Does anybody in the federal government know or could know “who, what, where and when” of the massive, complex, vertical, horizontal, global collapse of Wall Street and its planetary tentacles in over 100 countries abroad? Step forward if you exist! Uncle Sam needs you!

Is the multi-million dollar bailout of this financial mess and house of cards, this phantom wealth mummy hitting air beyond the federal governments’ salvage capability?

There was some rare good news for the Government today as it published figures showing that the number of people waiting for jobless opportunities has reduced significantly since the start of the economic downturn. Waiting times for unemployment have also fallen in what the Government is describing as ‘a real turnaround in performance against a key economic measure’.
‘The queue for the dole queue is now substantially shorter than this time last year, and the position compared to three years ago has been completely transformed,’ said Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell today. ‘We accept there are still people on waiting lists, but we’re working hard to get them out of paid employment as quickly as we can. It’s only right that people should have immediate access to key public services such as unemployment benefits and the excellent professional advice provided by jobcentre staff.’

Taxpayers are to be forced to bail out a £21.5 billion programme for new hospitals, schools and roads as private funding collapses in the recession.
Chancellor Alistair Darling is tomorrow expected to set up a fund – essentially a mini-bank – to inject extra state funding into controversial private finance initiative projects.

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph he concedes that there are a “lot of lessons” for the Government to learn from the events that led to the downturn and concludes that the regulation of banks has been a failure.
It is the first significant admission of responsibility from a senior government figure for the current economic crisis, partly blamed on ministers allowing the financial markets to run out of control for much of the past decade.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will press President Barack Obama for details on his plans to fix the ailing U.S. financial sector in talks Tuesday that will focus on the global economic crisis.
The two leaders will also discuss ways to tighten lax financial regulations, a major topic for the summit of the Group of 20 developed and emerging economies that Brown will host in London on April 2.

The government is promoting its efforts to help the British economy through the recession with its own version of US President Obama’s “recovery” website.
Gordon Brown referred to the “real help now” website – listing action being taken around Britain – as the cabinet met in Southampton.

The government has told ailing van maker LDV that the taxpayer cannot be expected to bail out the firm, after it asked for £30m in loans.
The firm has asked the government for a bridging loan because it is “literally running out of cash”.

ESTATE agents have identified a “tipping point” that they claim will bring buyers flooding onto the property market.
Homeowners willing to price their property at least 25 per cent below its peak value are swamped with offers, agency Savills said.

The rapidly deteriorating global economy and the continued difficulties UK businesses are facing in accessing credit will push the economy deeper into recession in 2009, the CBI said today (Monday 16th February, 2009).

The CBI is publishing its latest economic forecast against a worsening international backdrop. Last month the International Monetary Fund revised its forecast for world economic growth sharply downwards, and recent economic data have dashed hopes that growth in the emerging economies would soften the impact of the global downturn.

Alistair Darling admitted government failings over the credit crunch yesterday while attacking the banks for not holding their executives to account.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer cast aside Gordon Brown’s caution over accepting mistakes in economic management when he appeared before the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee.