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

I Remember When Mankiw was still a Neo-Keynesian

Cassander, writing at Steve Keen’s Debtwatch,* puts the hammer to those arguing that the death of the patient had nothing to do with the doctor: What a load of bollocks. The “principles of economics” that [N. Gregory] Mankiw champions, and the “More economic research (and teaching)” that [Doug] McTaggart et al are calling for, are […]

UnReal Business Cycle

Via Dr. Black, those RBC models may be missing a variable or two: In April, the rate in the United States rose to 8.9 percent. When the European figures are compiled, it seems likely that the American rate will be higher for the first time since Eurostat began compiling the numbers in 1993…. First, it […]

McMegan, Discrimination, and Inappropriate Loans

Susan of Texas has an immortal post on the housing crisis, McMegan’s ratiocination, and the persistence of ignorant memes. The money quote: McArdle doesn’t refute facts, she hen-pecks at the methods used to gather information. That way she doesn’t actually have to prove anything, she just casts enough aspersions on the data to confuse the […]

"Banks Just Don’t Go Under"

Did no one in Georgia pay attention in the 1980s? It’s not just reputations that are on the line. Board members, also known as directors, could be held personally liable for a bank’s demise. Experts are expecting a wave of lawsuits against directors to be filed in Georgia over the next year or two as […]

What Obama Means when he says "the troops"

Meet the New Boss; Same as the Old Boss. Andrew Sullivan points out the obvious link from yesterday’s appointment to today’s “reversal“: It was a point of pride that the Red Cross would never be allowed in the door, Jeff says. This is important because it defied the Geneva Conventions, which require that the Red […]

Someone whose list of Bad Banks Matches Mine–and Goes Further

Ken Houghton finds someone who is more pessimistic than I am. Via Bankimplode.com News, I see that Martin D. Weiss, Ph.D., has come up with a list of Large Banks Likely to Fail: Seven institutions — JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup, Wells Fargo & Co., Goldman Sachs Group, GMAC LLC, SunTrust Banks, Inc., and Fifth […]

Reverse Robin Hood applies to banks too

The next time someone tells you that “the banks need help,” just refer them to Barry Ritholtz: Talk about burying the lead: The Times also noted — in the very last paragraphs — how the big incompetent banks and their very pricey bailouts are screwing these small healthy banks: “Isn’t that the American way?” [Donald […]