Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

Links Worth Rants

Busy day on several fronts, but these should be discussed and I’ve already posted one rant this week, so a riff on the second piece would be overkill. Sort of an Open Thread, with four topics. Tyler Cowen argues that, instead of giving out stimulus monies, the government should just hire people directly. No, really: […]

Another Reason You Can Have Him

Fitch won’t downgrade the U.S., but they have downgraded Chirstiedom, officially because he didn’t pillage the state’s severely-underfunded Pension Funds enough. Of course, those Pension Funds wouldn’t be so underfunded if they had been funded instead of f*ck*d by the Whitman Administration’s Coke-Induced Budgeting Practices. (The “miracle of compound interest” includes that it doesn’t compound […]

Forthcoming Tyler Cowen articles that will be Echoed by Felix Salmon

References are here (Cowen) and here (Salmon).* Just because Charlie Sheen got drunk, did some other drugs, and committed adultery doesn’t mean he’ll do it again. Just because someone who calls himself Jack the Ripper has killed two women in London doesn’t mean he’ll do it again. Just because the U.S. dropped a hydrogen bomb […]

Part of the Problem Becomes Part of the Solution

Moody’s had always assumed banks and their securities were “Too Big to Fail.” Not any more: Moody’s Investors Service will no longer assume that holders of the securities will benefit from government support to shore up troubled lenders, after the global financial crisis proved this wasn’t the case, Moody’s said in an e-mailed statement today. […]

Ratings, Stocks, and Credibility

There is a reason I never believe people who judge the health of a company by its credit rating: the evidence isn’t there, and everyone in the market knows it isn’t there. Here is a prime example: General Electric (GE; the company that Jack eviscerated) has a AAA credit rating. It is also paying a […]