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

Financial Speculation Taxes

OMB Watch points us to the idea that: Financial Taxes Can Raise Revenues, May Help Stabilize Markets The congressional Super Committee, tasked with forging a $1.2 trillion deficit reduction package by Thanksgiving, is currently deliberating on which revenues — if any — to raise and to include in its plan. With Wall Street at the […]

Berlusconi and the AP

The Italian prime minister just won a vote of confidence in Parliament. It surprises almost no one who lives in Italy that investors weren’t pleased. The associated Press has a great quote The best signal that Italy could have sent to the markets would have been to boot Mr. Berlusconi out, but it has failed […]

Three Cheers for Felix Salmon

Reuters posted (and has since updated) an article on alleged financial connections between George Soros and Occupy Wall Street (OWS). The article illustrates much of what is wrong with English language journalism. Felix Salmon wrote a devastating critique (just click the link and read it) Felix Salmon works for Reuters. To me the news is […]

Barney Frank and the need for a risk-based bank fee

by Linda Beale Barney Frank and the need for a risk-based bank fee That post about the McCain-Paul environmental devastation and revenue decimation bill (somehow mistakenly given the label of a “jobs bill” by the misguided pair ) suggests the unprecedented extent to which our Congressional reps now believe they can use and abuse national […]

SOCIAL SECURITY: IT’S JUST MATH

Update: By Dale Coberly (was inadvertently omitted as author, although regulars know and the label names him) SOCIAL SECURITY: IT’S JUST MATH or how to lie with numbers “Math doesn’t lie” seems to be the new focus group tested mantra  about Social Security that Congressmen and their journalists are so proud to repeat.  What it […]

Senators Levin and Isakson: millionaire surtax vs corporate repatriation subsidy

by Linda Beale Senators Levin and Isakson: millionaire surtax vs corporate repatriation subsidy The PBS News Hour last night interviewed Senators Levin and Isakson on the jobs bill (video and transcript available here). Isakson was first off.  He sounded like a right wing sound bite machine: we’re overregulating businesses so we need a “time out” […]

Charlie Stross Discovers that The WSJ has been Teaching to the Test

And, therefore, ripping off its (at least European) advertisers: The Guardian has just broken a new story about News International: Wall Street Journal circulation scam claims senior Murdoch executive: Andrew Langhoff resigns as European publishing chief after exposure of secret channels of cash to help boost sales figures. To quote a little bit of the […]