Economic (and financial crisis) links
Rentboys making their pitch on the web. (Not entirely worksafe.)
A long quote from Arthur Koestler of how indignation over the Great Depression drove him and so many others leftwards: The event that aroused my indignation to a fever pitch never reached before was the American policy of destroying food stocks to keep agricultural prices up during the depression years - at a time when millions of unemployed lived in misery and near starvation.
A classic statement against (pdf) appropriating public money for private benefit by Davey Crockett (yes, that Davey Crockett). Funniest quote on the bailouts. A rather nice summary of the regulatory disfunctions which led to the mess.
The letter to Congress from the CEO of a major bank arguing firmly against (pdf) any bailouts. It appears that quite a lot of local bankers are telling their local Congressfolk that they don’t have any problem. No sign of any credit crunch yet. Arguing against any bailout. On not getting too exaggerated in one’s pessimism: According to the MBA, 6.4 percent of mortgages are delinquent to some extent, and 2.75 percent are in foreclosure. Steve Forbes also suggests a bit more calm and blames the Fed’s easy money policy. A YouTube that points the finger at the Democrats. A classic skit on financial markets.
Getting agreement on the bailout proposals is proving difficult. Dubya’s speech on the crisis and bailout proposal. The bailout plan is in some trouble: In fact, some of the most basic details, including the $700 billion figure Treasury would use to buy up bad debt, are fuzzy.
"It's not based on any particular data point," a Treasury spokeswoman told Forbes.com Tuesday. "We just wanted to choose a really large number." The proposal fails in the House, mainly because of House Republicans distaste for taxing Main St to bail out Wall St. Casting around for a new package. It is not only American investment banks that are in trouble. Links to enthusiasts for the "Swedish model" of bank nationalisation and reasons against. On why and how that it matters that the US is not Sweden.
Pointing out that there is an asymmetric information problem about the value of the securities the bailout proposes the US taxpayer buys. An amusingly cynical response on the bailout: Think of Wall Street as a poker game and Goldman as the smartest player. It's sad when you think about it this way that so much of the dumb money on Wall Street has been forced out of the game. There's no one left to play with. Just as Goldman was about to rake in its winnings and head home, the U.S. government stumbles in, fat and happy and looking for some action. I imagine the best and the brightest inside Goldman are right this moment trying to figure out how it uses the Treasury not only to sell their own crappy assets dear but also to buy other people's crappy assets cheap. An amusing recasting of the bailout: The president added that, “Americans value the liberty they have to buy homes they can’t afford, to invest in securities backed by nothing but hope, and to draw six- and seven-figure salaries based on the courage to risk taxpayer dollars on deals that even the dealmakers don’t understand.” Concerns about how much will be needed to deal with possible bank closures.
An amusing response on Naomi Klein’s thesis and the crisis. A Swedish libertarian and Marxist have challenged reviewers who praised Naomi Klein’s Shock Doctrine to publicly defend a book the first two claim is a fraud.
A long quote from Arthur Koestler of how indignation over the Great Depression drove him and so many others leftwards: The event that aroused my indignation to a fever pitch never reached before was the American policy of destroying food stocks to keep agricultural prices up during the depression years - at a time when millions of unemployed lived in misery and near starvation.
A classic statement against (pdf) appropriating public money for private benefit by Davey Crockett (yes, that Davey Crockett). Funniest quote on the bailouts. A rather nice summary of the regulatory disfunctions which led to the mess.
The letter to Congress from the CEO of a major bank arguing firmly against (pdf) any bailouts. It appears that quite a lot of local bankers are telling their local Congressfolk that they don’t have any problem. No sign of any credit crunch yet. Arguing against any bailout. On not getting too exaggerated in one’s pessimism: According to the MBA, 6.4 percent of mortgages are delinquent to some extent, and 2.75 percent are in foreclosure. Steve Forbes also suggests a bit more calm and blames the Fed’s easy money policy. A YouTube that points the finger at the Democrats. A classic skit on financial markets.
Getting agreement on the bailout proposals is proving difficult. Dubya’s speech on the crisis and bailout proposal. The bailout plan is in some trouble: In fact, some of the most basic details, including the $700 billion figure Treasury would use to buy up bad debt, are fuzzy.
"It's not based on any particular data point," a Treasury spokeswoman told Forbes.com Tuesday. "We just wanted to choose a really large number." The proposal fails in the House, mainly because of House Republicans distaste for taxing Main St to bail out Wall St. Casting around for a new package. It is not only American investment banks that are in trouble. Links to enthusiasts for the "Swedish model" of bank nationalisation and reasons against. On why and how that it matters that the US is not Sweden.
Pointing out that there is an asymmetric information problem about the value of the securities the bailout proposes the US taxpayer buys. An amusingly cynical response on the bailout: Think of Wall Street as a poker game and Goldman as the smartest player. It's sad when you think about it this way that so much of the dumb money on Wall Street has been forced out of the game. There's no one left to play with. Just as Goldman was about to rake in its winnings and head home, the U.S. government stumbles in, fat and happy and looking for some action. I imagine the best and the brightest inside Goldman are right this moment trying to figure out how it uses the Treasury not only to sell their own crappy assets dear but also to buy other people's crappy assets cheap. An amusing recasting of the bailout: The president added that, “Americans value the liberty they have to buy homes they can’t afford, to invest in securities backed by nothing but hope, and to draw six- and seven-figure salaries based on the courage to risk taxpayer dollars on deals that even the dealmakers don’t understand.” Concerns about how much will be needed to deal with possible bank closures.
An amusing response on Naomi Klein’s thesis and the crisis. A Swedish libertarian and Marxist have challenged reviewers who praised Naomi Klein’s Shock Doctrine to publicly defend a book the first two claim is a fraud.