The week that was: 'Fat cats' called on carpet
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President Barack Obama was doing his best to channel FDR last week when he took dead aim at the nation's banking industry. A day after greasing the skids by referring to them as "fat cats" in a "60 Minutes" interview, the president met with leaders of the banking industry at the White House and told them they had an obligation to start lending more money to boost the economy after getting massive amounts of government aid.
The president also called on bankers to be more open to financial reform. "The problem is there is a big gap between what I hear and what lobbyists are saying on Capitol Hill. The industry has lobbied vigorously against some of these reforms on Capitol Hill," the president said. Imagine that: People in Washington saying one thing and doing another.
Exxon Mobil Corp. made a big bet last week on a future that includes less gasoline and more natural gas, spending $41 billion to buy natural gas giant XTO Energy Inc. The move marked a major gamble on gas as a cleaner-burning alternative to oil, and came as leaders from around the world were gathering in Copenhagen for climate-change talks aimed at stemming the flow of greenhouse gases. Some of that natural gas may be even underneath us here in Pennsylvania, as part of the Marcellus shale formation. As the natural gas rush arrives, here's hoping that cleaner alternative reference also applies to extraction methods, not just to how natural gas burns.
The SEC voted last week to force companies to pony up more information on how they pay top executives. Mostly at issue is how public companies report stock options and stock awards, which can make up a majority of pay for top executives. The Obama administration imposed curbs on banks that received federal bailout money. Since then, most of the banks have either repaid or said they will repay their federal money, largely to escape pay caps for bank CEOs. In a technically unrelated story, a bankruptcy court last week approved paying $50 million in bonuses to Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. employees handling derivatives contracts. The judge said the bonuses helped Lehman attract employees with "unique skills."
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In this, the season of giving, we'd feel guilty if we didn't at least try to share some happy news. So, here goes: The state's unemployment rate dropped fourth-tenths of a percentage point in November, to 8.5 percent, well below the national average. ... Google Inc. said it signed a lease for office space in Bakery Square in the East End and was "aggressively hiring" to fill it. ... When last week ended, the average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in the Pittsburgh area was $2.642. That's about 8 cents less than it was a week earlier.
First Published December 20, 2009 12:00 am
