In this dour global economy, a country will take money where it can get it, even if it means scrounging through the couch cushions of the high seas to find it. According to the Times, $18 million worth of silver sits inside the British ship Mantola, which was sunk in 1917 by a German sub and now lies off the coast of Ireland. Odyssey Marine Exploration, a Tampa-based company, plans to retrieve the silver and split the profits 80/20 with the British government. Maybe Ron Paul and those "silver standard" folks are right: at least you can retrieve this money when it gets torpedoed. more ›

It seemed like Gov. Paterson had managed to cobble together a deal for the State to take over NYC OTB yesterday afternoon and prevent its closing. A state takeover would require a vote by the legislature Monday, but Sheldon Silver and Joseph Bruno both seemed amenable to the idea. Mayor Bloomber, however, is holding fast on his insistence that he is going to close all of the city's OTB parlors tomorrow. more ›

The New York State Legislature finally passed a budget two weeks ago, which it balanced by taking on extra debt without the approval of voters to fund a 6% increase in spending as revenues continue to shrink. State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says New York is heading for trouble, especially since revenue projections are so uncertain and vulnerable to further economic downturn. more ›

Democratic lawmakers in Albany seem poised to block Mayor Bloomberg’s congestion pricing plan, which attempts to reduce traffic by charging drivers $8 to enter Manhattan below 60th Street during peak hours. Though the plan was approved by the City Council on Monday, a “lively, sometimes emotional” meeting between state lawmakers yesterday ran over three and a half hours, and approximately 30 of them expressed opposition to the plan, with only four or five in favor. more ›