by Mike Kimel Assume a world similar to ours, but with a major difference. At some point in the 1920s, an inventor came up with a product called Fleem. Fleem has interesting properties, and when applied liberally in a house, gives even the meanest hovel a more homey feel. A healthy market for Fleem develops […]

I think given the seriousness of the political situation currently being played out, which in my thinking includes the current S and P opinion, has been discussed in comments in a remarkable fashion. Plenty of links and thoughtful commentary. And of course passions run high and are expressed. Well done and my thanks to the […]

Via Ellie Lang, the NYT (no link, unless this works) lists thirteen (13) countries that have a AAA credit rating from S&P: Switzerland Hong Kong Sweden Germany Canada Denmark Britain Netherlands Finland Norway Austria France Australia The thing all thirteen have in common? All provide National Health Care.

References are here (Cowen) and here (Salmon).* Just because Charlie Sheen got drunk, did some other drugs, and committed adultery doesn’t mean he’ll do it again. Just because someone who calls himself Jack the Ripper has killed two women in London doesn’t mean he’ll do it again. Just because the U.S. dropped a hydrogen bomb […]

Brad DeLong asked a few days ago who he should be reading on a daily basis. Following is a cross-post from my nominee, The Hunting of the Snark: Kudlow’s Komedy Kapers Larry Kudlow is worried that Obama is ruining the economy. Larry KudlowAugust 5, 2011 4:30 P.M. More Obama Spending Won’t Do ItAnd stocks know […]

Find a set of Mortgage-Backed Securities that are (1) still rated AAA by S&P, (2) have a WAL the same as (close to) an on-the-rin US Treasury, and (3) still have a Factor within 5% of the expectation of a generic MBS of that maturity  (that is, are not clearly impaired). Post the CUSIP(s) in […]

Sorry, there seems to be a problem at BLS and I have not yet been able to download the data as of 9:15. After yesterday in the stock market we needed some good news and compared to reduced expectations the employment report provided it. Private payrolls rose by 117,000 a levelmuch better than the last […]

I know the recent comments section is blank. I have tried amending, removing, replacing etc the blogger widget that provides the feed to no avail. Blogger comments and js kit comments appear to be functioning normally and in synch, so no guarantees on when it will be fixed. Apologies for the disruption. I have e-mailed […]

It’s that they are so bad at it. At least they made clear that Glenn Greenwald was correct when he said the deal is exactly what Obama wanted: Fact: President Obama laid out key priorities that had to be part of any deal. Those priorities are reflected in this compromise.…the initial down payment on deficit […]