nationalization news stories on Newser

Spain Takes Over 'Poster Child' Bank

Rob Quinn — Thu, 10 May 2012 03:18:05 CDT

Merging seven struggling banks in Spain appears to have created a big, struggling bank instead of the healthy institution authorities were hoping for. The Spanish government is now grabbing a controlling 45% stake in Bankia, the nation's fourth-largest lender and the one with the most exposure to the country's shell-shocked...

Bolivia Seizes Spanish-Owned Power Firm

Rob Quinn — Wed, 02 May 2012 04:19:00 CDT

Bolivian President Evo Morales marked May Day by ordering the country's armed forces to seize the assets of the country's main electricity company. Spanish-owned Red Electrica owned and operated around 85% of Bolivia's power grid, and Morales announced that he was nationalizing the company because it had failed to invest...

Argentina Seizing Key Energy Firm

Rob Quinn — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 04:21:05 CDT

The government of Argentina, claiming that a rise in oil imports is making the country "unviable," is taking control of the country's main oil producer. President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has announced plans to nationalize YPF, and is sending a bill to the country's senate allowing the government to expropriate...

Belgium Bails Out Failing Dexia

Matt Cantor — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 09:01:15 CDT

Leading Franco-Belgian bank Dexia has agreed to a government rescue plan—making it "the biggest euro zone bank failure in quite some time," one analyst tells the New York Times . The plan will nationalize Dexia's Belgian banking division in a $5.4 billion government buyout; meanwhile, Belgium, France, and Luxembourg...

Sarah Palin, Tea Partiers Are Actually Anti -Populist

Harry Kimball — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 10:45:50 CST

Calling what Sarah Palin and the Tea Partiers practice “populism” is backwards, writes Peter Beinart. In fact, they’re “anti-Populists.” The original Populists, in the late 19th century, “cursed Washington because it wasn’t powerful enough” to protect the people from the greed of “the privileged few” on Wall Street, Beinart writes....

Dubai: We Won't Bail Out Dubai World

Kevin Spak — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 10:29:27 CST

Dubai’s government threw investors a curve ball today, saying that even though struggling Dubai World is state owned, the government won’t guarantee its debts or bail it out. Lenders “have deemed Dubai World as part of the government, and this is not true,” Dubai’s finance director said on TV. “The...

'Bourgeois' Golf Courses Tee Off Chávez

Jason Farago — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 09:20:38 CDT

Hugo Chávez has gone after oil conglomerates and media companies, and now he's hitting the capitalist pigs where it hurts: at the golf course. The Venezuelan president is trying to shut down the country's best-known courses, which he believes are part of an anti-Marxist conspiracy, the Independent reports. "Let's leave...

Biden: 'SOB' Saddam 'Rolling Over in His Grave'

Kevin Spak — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:22:14 CDT

Joe Biden presided over a huge naturalization ceremony in Baghdad today, CNN reports, as 237 US service members became American citizens. “We did it in Saddam’s palace,” Biden said, “and I can think of nothing better. That SOB is rolling over in his grave right now.” Biden called the newcomers...

Obama: We Are 'Reluctant Shareholders'

Kevin Spak — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:00:30 CDT

President Obama heralded “the beginning of a new GM” today, explaining the administration’s plans for the bankrupt automaker. He also sought to reassure the public that he had “no interest” in running GM, despite the 60% stake the government will take in the company. “We are acting as reluctant shareholders,...