What Was the Job of the Banks in 2009?

by Rebecca Wilder I started research on India to further explore economic prospects after reading and (excellent) FT article on necessary labor reform. In doing so, I now see a (possibly) much flatter economic growth trajectory for Brazil. Here is an excerpt from the article (last paragraph): Over the years, numerous academic studies and official […]

by Linda Beale When the Republicans wanted to enact huge tax cuts for individuals and businesses in 2001 and 2003 (as well asadditional cuts in other years), they realized that it would result in long-term deficits of unforgiving amounts. So they scaled back their package with a gimmick–a sunsetting tax provision that, like Cinderella’s fairy […]

UPDATE: In this context, Dr. Black catches Jamie Dimon expressing what is at best ignorance: However, [Dimon] cautioned, until the market meltdown “you never saw losses in these products, because home prices were going up.” All that research in 1984 and 1990 was for naught, apparently. I’m still away (things are better, but still not […]

by Dale Coberly Bruce Krasting tells us The sky is falling the sky is falling Social Security has run out of money 30 years before it was supposed to happen. The words here are mine, the tone is his. He writes: I think that the recession of 08 and 09 and the anticipated high unemployment […]

by Linda Beale I’m attending the American Association of Law Schools conference in New Orleans, where cold winds are blowing but revelry of Mardi Gras has already begun. This morning Jeff Gordon presented his views on what it will take to deal with the systemic risk to the banking system to avoid crises like the […]

by Rebecca Wilder The Customs Administration announced record trade flows in and out of China in December. Specifically, exports grew at a 17.7% annual pace, while imports surged 55.9% over the year. This is a remarkable one-month rebound; reported export growth beat consensus expectations by a factor of 3.5 (+ 5% export growth and + […]

by cactus Last week I found out I was turned down for a life insurance policy. Some background – I’m 40, I don’t drink, smoke or take any drugs or pharmaceuticals, am neither overweight nor underweight according to any table you might look at, and I exercise vigorously an hour a day, rain or shine. […]

by divorced one like BushUPDATED: Jim Watt  Remember him? If you did not see it, go watch this weeks Bill Moyers Journal.  Part 2 is here. From the second part we get all we need to know about where we’re going regarding government for, of and by the people and how little regard there is […]