by Bruce Webb If you click on the Social Security link in the upper left sidebar you are sent to an index page on my website which in turn links back to an extended series of posts here at Angry Bear starting in May of 2008. Something that apparently a reader did this morning leaving […]

Back in the old days of derivatives (the mid-1980s), there was an international commercial bank that was famous for declaring how much good derivatives had done for it. It was famous because it was common knowledge in the marketplace that the bank would have its swap counterparties “buy out” the positions where it was due […]

All right, I give up. I’ve reviewed for the Washington Post Book World, I consider some of their work interesting, and can almost forgive them for publishing Ruth Marcus, Charles Krauthammer, Anne Applebaum, and Richard Cohen as if they were sane. But when your Ombudsman claims that your readers “typically demand coverage that is unfailingly […]

by Rebecca(cross posted at Newsneconomics) Prof. Jim Hamilton at Econbrowser (thanks Mark Thoma for the link) addresses one of the Fed’s standard methods of draining liquidity from the banking system: reverse repurchase agreements. Basically, the Fed will transfer some of its assets to the banking system via short-term loans taken out with its Primary Dealers, […]

By Spencer Not only was the employment report disappointing, but previously reported encouraging leading indicators of employment were revised away. Most importantly, hours worked fell 0.5% from 99.0 to 98.5. We are now looking at a 3.0% drop in hours worked in the third quarter as compared to 7.8%,8.9% and 7.4% in the prior three […]

by Linda Beale Linda Beale writes at ataxingmatter: Health Care Reform or a boondoggle for private insurers? The Baucus proposal for health care “reform” doesn’t include a public option. And the Senate Finance Committee voted this afternoon-by 15 to 8–to reject the Rockefeller proposal to add a public option “community choice health plan’. See Hershenson, […]

Robert Waldmann Angry Bear September 04 2009 Tell reluctant senators and representatives that, if they think their constituents don’t want any public insurance except for medicare and medicaid, then they can refuse to have it. Ezra Klein and Senator Maria Cantwell October 1 2009 EK Can they opt out? MC States can opt out. Senator […]

Robert Waldmann A proposed reform (already shelved) is to require banks to offer “plain vanilla” products. I am very confused about this proposal, so this is a semi bleg. I can’t see any possible benefit from the regulation (probably because I haven’t read the fine print of the draft bill). My thoughts after the jump. […]