By Noni Mausa The Promise Merchants Part II — Postulates(Dan here…reformatted from the original posted earlier) 1. There is always [1] excess production. Individual human beingscannot produce enough to live comfortably, but people in groups can’thelp but overproduce. 2. People can’t stop producing. The time, attention and efforts ofhuman beings are expended continuously. Their energy […]
by Linda Beale The Mortgage Loan Foreclosure Mess: Yves Smith on the Banks’ Gluttony; Problems with MERS and Sloppy Securitizations Edited noon 11/1/10 to clarify discussion of certificates as qualified mortgages in a REMIC. crossposted with Ataxingmatter Yves Smith has an op-ed in the Oct. 31, 2010 New York Times on the mortgage mess. See […]
New Questions Being Raised About Filings in Foreclosure Cases as JPMorgan Chase Resumes Foreclosures The expanding investigation into foreclosure fraud in Florida has turned up a new problem: individuals hired by law firms to notify homeowners when their foreclosures are to be heard in court may have filed false or faulty documents. Law firms that […]
Over at Econospeak is a fascinating conversation of arcane economic thinking: Peter Dorman at Econospeak states: I have just taught the theory of the supply curve at the principles level for the umpteenth time, and my conscience is in open rebellion. This business with the horizontal demand curve and setting supply equal to marginal costs […]
While the employment report was weak, it was among the best we have seen this cycle. Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 151,000 and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 9.6%. Compared to the historic norm in earlier recoveries this employment gain was very weak, but compared to the same point in the last two jobless […]
A few articles regarding the bond crisis in Ireland: The Irish Mess (IV)ECB buying of Irish bonds ‘vital’ supportThe world backs away from Ireland, Spain, PortugalIn keeping with Halloween, here’s a scary oneEU leaders trigger another bond market crisisIreland fifth best place to live (a separate issue, of course) Yves Smith’s article (first link) is […]
New rules finalized last week by the U.S. Department of Education are good news for students and taxpayers. For all topics except “gainful employment,” this was the final step of the negotiated rulemaking process initiated by the Department more than a year ago to ensure the integrity of the federal financial aid programs. Among other […]
It was fascinating watching Jack Welch on CNBC this morning. He kept talking about how we needed to sacrifice to balance the budget. But at the same time he kept pushing that the Bush tax cuts had to be preserved. I kept wanting to ask Welch what he was willing to sacrifice to balance the […]
by Bruce Webb Okay readers and Bears, give me a hand here, because some of our standard narrative on ‘unsustainable’ US debt seems to be turned on its head. The standard narrative is simple: we have $13 trillion in US Treasury debt, and most of it, or at least the new issuances are dependent on […]