Italians are left shocked by two cases in as many days in which men set themselves alight in protest at their financial circumstances.

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Shock at Italy self-immolations

Coutts bank is fined £8.75m by the Financial Services Authority for failing to take adequate measures to prevent money laundering.

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Coutts fined £8.75m by regulator

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke has left his mark on economic history not once but twice, using almost every weapon in his arsenal to quell the financial panic of 2008 and then to lift the U.S. economy out of the recession that followed. Read full article > >

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On unemployment, is Bernanke aggressive enough?

Paul Krugman’s talk on the failures of the economics profession during the financial crisis got me thinking a bit about the related, but, in my view, much less excusable, failures of policymakers during the financial crisis. Read full article > >

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The political failure that worsened the crisis

Spurred by predictions of profits even in the worst forecasts, big-money investors are returning to the same complex loan pools that nearly washed away the financial system.

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DealBook: Prices of Mortgage-Backed Securities Prove Irresistible

The government’s $25 billion settlement Thursday with banks over fraudulent foreclosure practices begins a long-promised reckoning with the financial industry over its role in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, officials said. Read full article > >

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Settlement launches foreclosure reckoning

ROME — Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has declared he is “stepping aside” from frontline politics, revealing he has no intention of running again for his old post. In his first interview since resigning amid turmoil over financial markets in November, Berlusconi spoke to the Financial Times at his Rome residence on a range of subjects, including what he called a media-inspired furor over his “bunga bunga” parties, his anger at “left-wing” magistrates hounding him in the courts and his drive to promote political and judicial reforms. Read full article > >

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Italy’s Berlusconi to quit frontline politics

ROME — Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has declared he is “stepping aside” from frontline politics, revealing he has no intention of running again for his old post. In his first interview since resigning amid turmoil over financial markets in November, Berlusconi spoke to the Financial Times at his Rome residence on a range of subjects, including what he called a media-inspired furor over his “bunga bunga” parties, his anger at “left-wing” magistrates hounding him in the courts and his drive to promote political and judicial reforms. Read full article > >

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Italy’s Berlusconi to quit frontline politics

On a day when valuation is in the news (ahem, Facebook ), let’s look at a new analysis of the economic worth of what we used to call “keeping house.” This week, the editors at Mint , the financial services Web site, released a breakdown of the value of different homemaker duties. They found that if the job were salaried, it would draw, on average, close to six figures: $96,261. Read full article > >

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A homemaker’s real salary

Technically, the financial crisis began in late 2008, with the collapse of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers. But 2009 was the year we really felt it. It was in 2009 that we lost more than 5 million jobs — the majority of the total job losses caused by the recession. By 2010, we seemed to turn the corner. The economy added more than a million jobs. Growth returned. The financial markets stabilized. Many forecasters looked to 2011 with real optimism. Read full article > >

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2011 in economic policy: The year of the aftershocks

Technically, the financial crisis began in late 2008, with the collapse of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers. But 2009 was the year we really felt it. It was in 2009 that we lost more than 5 million jobs — the majority of the total job losses caused by the recession. By 2010, we seemed to turn the corner. The economy added more than a million jobs. Growth returned. The financial markets stabilized. Many forecasters looked to 2011 with real optimism. Read full article > >

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2011, the year of the aftershocks

Rarely has the financial divide appeared so wide, or the public contrast so stark, between lawmakers and those they represent.

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Economic Downturn Took a Detour at Capitol Hill

New rules to stop the resurgence of risky mortgage lending are likely to be imposed in 2013 by the financial regulator.

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Stricter mortgage rules outlined

Since the financial crisis of 2008, state and local budgets have been tightened in new ways that are being felt in courthouses and communities across the country.

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Budget Cuts for State Courts Risk Rights, Critics Say

So, what should be occupied next? No doubt, the Occupy Wall Street protesters were right to target the financial industry first. Soaring Wall Street pay has been a key force behind America’s income disparities over the past three decades , and banks have yet to be held accountable for the destruction they wrought in recent years. Read full article > >

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Occupy this: Six culprits for economic injustice and inequality in America