Lambert Strether and Bob Goodwinn via Naked Capitalism offer a point of view on how law is being implemented through large system programming, as it played out in the MERS system of property ownership fait accompli, and other systems.

Barry Ritholz offers this observation: One of my biggest complaints about the media is the lack of accountability. People say things on TV in print an on radio, and then . . .  Poof!  No consequences. They influence public perception of issues, affect policy debates, drive legislation. This is a perfect example of a stern […]

Robert Schiller began a look at executive compensation: Last Wednesday, we presented our findings, “The Squam Lake Report: Fixing the Financial System” (Princeton University Press). Ben S. Bernanke, the chairman of theFederal Reserve, helped introduce the book at a conference at Columbia University. He said he agreed with the principle that “the stakeholders in financial firms — including […]

by Linda Beale FATCA Agreement with France On November 14, the US Treasury Department announced that it had signed an agreement with France relating to the implementation of the 2010 Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) law.  That makes the 10th such agreement signed between the US and other countries to date, and helps move […]

Senator Elizabeth Warren says it well: Transcript is found at Floor Speech by Senator Elizabeth Warren The Retirement Crisis November 18, 2013 As Prepared for Delivery.

CEOs at the forefront of the drive to slash Social Security possess personal retirement funds worth an average of $14.5 million, and three have nest eggs worth more than $100 million. That’s according to a new report by two Washington-based research groups – the Institute for Policy Studies and the Center for Effective Government. Fix the Debt is […]

by Linda Beale Religious freedom, taxes, and corporatism–Part II In Part I, I outlined some of the many ways in which the U.S. provides favorable treatment to religious institutions and/or their representatives, including income exclusions from the federal income tax for ministers that are unavailable to any other occupation. In this Part II, I want […]

by Dale Coberly PERNICIOUS IGNORANCE ABOUT SOCIAL SECURITY A REPLY TO KRASTING Bruce Krasting in comments to Bruce’s post on Social Security made a number of claims that deserve a fuller answer than I was able to give in comments.  Below in quotes are Krasting’s claims followed by my replies.  I hope I am reasonably […]

Well lets try again (two hours of draft having just disappeared)/ The above figure is II.D6 from the 2011 Social Security Report. The reasons why I didn’t use the 2013 version will become clear later, short version is it doesn’t show ‘The Shape of Solvency’ while the longer version is, well, long. This figure shows […]

Who knew? TAX WIZARDRY THROUGH AN OFFBEAT MERGER Classic tax shelters used in the 1990s have become unattractive to most companies, thanks to enforcement actions by the Internal Revenue Service, coupled with changes in accounting and reporting requirements, Victor Fleischer writes in DealBook. Yet executives and tax directors have found other ways to avoid taxes […]