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

It’s Back! H.R. 3808 Interstate Recognition of Notarization Act of 2010

It’s Back! H.R. 3808 Interstate Recognition of Notarization Act of 2010…simply a watch and see item after the pocket veto by Pres. Obama, to be voted on today for confirming or overturning the veto, noted by 4closureFraud. Update: Voting in the House was pretty much by party…results are here.

Brad DeLong on Economists (and non-economists)

by Linda Beale Brad DeLong on Economists (and non-economists)crossposted with Ataxingmatter In Economists (and Non-Economists) Behaving Very Badly Indeed Watch, Brad DeLong accosts the austerity bandwagon that objects to any more federal stimulus, whether from Congress or from the Fed. At the moment our flow of nominal spending at $14.7 trillion per year is some […]

Extrapolated September 2010 Debt, by President

by Mike Kimel Extrapolated September 2010 Debt, by President Cross-posted at the Presimetrics blog. This one is quick and dirty because I’m very low on time…. Anyhow, these days there’s a lot of talk about the debt, and some talk about how irresponsible Obama is, or maybe its GW. Who knows, there’s a lotta talk […]

Unemployment extensions end soon

NELP (National Employment Law Project) notes: For administrative reasons, states need to shut down their extended unemployment programs in advance of the federal government’s Nov. 30 cut-off. NELP estimates that 800,000 people will lose unemployment benefits in the coming weeks and 2 million workers will lose their benefits by December if Congress fails to act. […]

The Congressional Oversight Committee on forclosures

The Washington Post notes more on foreclosures is coming, this time from The Congressional Oversight Committee today. No link yet. A congressional oversight panel is set to warn on Tuesday that a widespread problem of flawed and fraudulent foreclosure paperwork could upend the housing market and undermine the nation’s financial stability, just as the issue […]

Japanese Q3 2010 GDP growth hit it out of the ballpark but set to fall flat next quarter

The Japanese economy grew 3.9% at a seasonally-adjusted annualized rate in Q3 2010 and over 2X the pace in Q2 2010 (data here). According to Bloomberg, the headwinds to Q4 growth are household consumption and the yen: Consumption, accounting for about 60 percent of GDP, led the gain as households stepped up purchases of fuel-efficient […]

Dual mandate of national trade policy

Purpose of trade policy in the summary Congressional Rsearch Service paper March 24 2010 caught my attention. U.S. trade policy is at a cross-roads as the Obama Administration and the 111th Congress face a range of policy issues and challenges. The future direction of trade policy and how the issues will be addressed are unclear […]

Myths Wallstreet lives by?

Mainly from minute 10 to 20 for the story, start at minute 17 to listen to the jist of some Wallstreet laments from several regular traders about the bailout and how it is framed: Bailout blues??? Shame? Nah…just smarter than most.