This Sunday, New York Times Magazine is publishing a story titled: HEADING OFF THE NEXT FINANCIAL CRISIS (Hat tip Mike Allen at Politico). In the piece New York Times economics columnist David Leonhardt looks at the idea of preventing the next financial crisis, or at least making it less damaging. He includes a conversation he [...]
Health Care Bill Passes
Think “medical tourism”!
Samuelson rides his hobby horse but makes good points on Greenspan
Samuelson, like most guys with big idea, wants to fit everything into it these days. But it is his defenses of Greenspan that are most interesting. We used to be always attacking the fellow back in his maestro days, but [...]
Ok, let’s take the Dodd bill point by point, using the summary written by Dodd’s own committee staff.
1)Creates “a strong consumer protection watchdog” which though housed in the Fed will be able to “autonomously write rules for consumer protection.”
Dodd’s justification: “The economic crisis was driven by an across-the-board failure to protect consumers”
Our Take: Imprudent “pro-consumer” [...]
Forget how sleazy this is. How stupid is it than someone with this kind of access is BUYING AIG in January 2008. Just goes to show how hopeless any regulatory solution is. This woman, along with Dodd himself, has privileged access to the best information available to the government. She is chief counsel to the [...]
We think Geithner et al are wrong and that unemployment will decline substantially this year. Both theory and experience argue business investment not consumer spending is the essential driver of recovery. Now that most businesses of significant size can borrow again investments that have been postponed for almost two years now have to come soon.
If [...]
How is it that one man can be so wrong, so often, about such obvious things. Here he takes up the mantra that of course we need a consumer financial protection agency. If the banks are not duping the gullible then “ why are the most risky loan products sold to the least sophisticated borrowers.” [...]
Bernanke goes all Obama; lays out plan to tighten-up. . . someday. Not saying he is wrong to keep rates low for now; just that making promises to reform someday is a very un-Fed-like, and very politician-like.
If we thought the Administration was serious about coordinating banking reform with Europe, then we’d be scared. Wait a [...]
It seems like whenever the government or its apologists want to distract attention from government’s responsibility for the financial crisis they start talking about hedge funds. Thus Bloomberg’s headline today about Volcker’s testimony: “Volcker Says Hedge Funds Should be Allowed to Fail”
Well, when weren’t they? The only hedge fund that ever moved the U.S. government [...]
It was a disappointing but not surprising piece in the NYT today from the man we still regard as the greatest Fed Chairman in history. Paul Volcker’s long and rambling commentary re-states one inoffensive but irrelevant reform proposal and another that would perpetuate the worst in the current system.
The small but irrelevant proposal is to [...]
Andrew Redleaf and Richard Vigilante of Whitebox Advisors and authors of Panic call for cuts in capital gains, dividends and federal payroll taxes as well as a strong dollar policy.
Over the last two years so many pols and pundits have made Barack Obama the vessel of their fantasies it only seems fair that we take our turn. So [...]
