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

Yankee Interlude

I’m not really paying attention to (major league) baseball this year, so I should probably leave this to Scott, but, as a query: For all team that was supposed to have had a major improvement in its middle relief this year, the Yankees appear to have given up a large number (>=7) of runs in […]

I’ve Got the Under on S/h/e/a/ C/i/t/i/ Taxpayer Field

So the brilliant NFL has “solved” the Yom Kippur problem, moving the starting time for the Jets-Titans game to 1:00p.m. Which means that, with luck, the game ends around 4:00—probably closer to 4:15.* It appears that sundown on 27 September 2009—from which time one is expected to fast for 24 hours, so any eating better […]

And Here I Thought Corporations were Rational

Ken Houghton lowers the level of discourse at AB by discussing the career of a porn star other than Adam West. One of the primary tenets of economic theory is that corporations believe in nothing other than profits. Well, it’s not quite that stark—we use phrases such as “utility maximization,” “cost minimization,” and the like—but […]

PSA: A Good Reason to Watch the NYSE Closing Bell Today

One of my favorite charities, StreetwisePartners, is ringing the closing bell. For those who aren’t loyal watchers of business news channels, you can watch the event live via this link. Those who live or work in or near one of the city’s where the program is offered (currently, NYC; Jersey City, NJ; and Washington, DC) […]

Capitalism deserves a better defense, or Reasons to Short the Old Firm, Pre-BK

Ken Houghton’s Loyal Reader directed my attention to this WSJ blog entry, commenting on, and attempting to provide cover for, the management and actions of The Old Firm. I’m sympathetic to the general argument—Ace Greenberg’s naming of Jimmy Cayne to succeed him was incredibly bad judgment that had real consequences, but not malice aforethought—but the […]

I Agree with Hank Paulson, not Paul Krugman

Ken Houghton notes that no one has stolen my ID or shifted my sense of politics or the economy. Brad DeLong has been running excerpts from the February 2009 Vanity Fair “Oral History” of the Bush White House. Time and priorities being what they are, I didn’t get a chance to read the whole piece […]

Random Notes toward Progress, Oil, and the post-WW II U.S. Economy

Posted for discussion. First, relating to the discussion in comments to rdan’s TBI post, Annual Change in U.S. output per hour: And, for future discussion, the Relationship between Oil Prices and the Consumer Price Index for the past sixty-plus years.

Back-of-the-Envelope: Making Sense of TARP

Suppose I told you that there was a crisis with a stock, say, GE. That the price of the stock had dropped around 75% in the past year. And you responded, “But the problem is solved; the prices of long-term Call Options (say, the January 2011 20s) has gone up, as has their Open Interest. […]