rdan Sovereign Immunity can be invoked to prevent lawsuits by citizens against their government. What is up with the the lastest move to prevent such in wiretapping cases? Update: Glenn Greenwald keeps us up to date.

rdan Subprime by Todd Federman Inspired by “There was an old lady who swallowed a fly”, lyrics by Rose Bonne No money down, two years interest free, Buying a house was no problem you see. And so the young man along with his spouse, They could not afford, but yet bought the house. A company […]

rdan Yves Smith catches a caution from the father of capitalism, Credit cards can charge 30%, definitely not near prime rate for loans. Adam Smith, in The Wealth of Nations, advocated usury laws (limits on interest rates) because they would promote lending to prudent borrowers and productive projects, which was better for society as a […]

rdan Dean Baker suggests second opinions on the Geithner strategy….Stiglitz team and Johnson team: The prospect of even an arranged bankruptcy of a major bank will undoubtedly shake up markets, but many safeguards have been put in place since the Lehman collapse. If the stock market goes down for a few weeks or months, who […]

rdan(hat tip vtcodger) The Guardian reports that Elizabeth Warren will be recommending startling actions. Any confirmation? Elizabeth Warren, chief watchdog of America’s $700bn (£472bn) bank bailout plan, will this week call for the removal of top executives from Citigroup, AIG and other institutions that have received government funds in a damning report that will question […]

The Hilzoy Manifesto and a Small Addendumupdate: by cactus Hilzoy has a way with words. And sometimes she nails complex ideas concisely, clearly, and incredibly to the point. I think this could be a manifesto of sorts for much of the center-left in this country: Like a lot of conservatives, I am very worried about […]

rdan Salon has a short note and a voting widget for whether newspapers should charge for on-line content as a way to increase revenue and I assume stay in business as part of a conversational piece.Charging for on-line information. Locally, whether the Boston Globe stays in business is a major concern. Also, it is also […]

rdan(hat tip reader Julie) A quick reminder with no analysis for a Sunday afternoon on greed is good meme: Wikipedia provides a memory jog for twenty years ago. The Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) was a major international bank founded in Karachi, Pakistan in 1972 by Agha Hasan Abedi, a Pakistani financier. The […]

rdan Another look at the budget deficit: Discussions of the budget outlook typically begin with the budget “baseline”… In building the baseline, CBO follows rules that … generally assume that current laws affecting taxes and mandatory spending will continue without change. Sometimes, however, current law diverges from current budget policies. This year, the official budget […]