Yves Smith offers several ideas worth considering on the future of Elizabeth Warren and protecting consumers at Elizabeth Warren in Treasury Crosshairs Again.

by Tom aka Rusty Rustbelt BOOMER (LACK OF) BUSINESS ETHICS I recently had lunch with a friend of mine, one of the most sophisticated financial planners in the country. He has an interesting practice, about half wealthy executives and entrepreneurs, and the other half labor union pension plans. He made a huge ton of money […]

While the yield curve is widely followed and recognized as a leading indicator of the economy, another interest rate measure–quality spreads — is not as widely recognized as a leading indicator of the economy. Maybe that is because it is not quite as reliable as the yield spread and has also given false recession signals. […]

by Rebecca Wilder As a global economic slowdown is very likely underway, inflation expectations are being watched closely. David Beckworth comments on inflation expectations in the US using the Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) market (he commented previously on an alternate measure of inflation expectations at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland). He argues that the […]

CBS News reports: Wallace asked Kyl on “Fox News Sunday”: “At a time Republicans are saying that they can’t extend unemployment benefits unless you pay for them, tell me, how are you going to pay that $678 billion to keep those Bush tax cuts for the wealthy?” Responded the Arizona senator: “[Y]ou should never raise […]

Rebecca Wilder and Ian Masters on Radio KPFK Daily Briefing have a conversation on economic policy and social consequences (July 13, about 43 minutes into the show).

Reader benamery 21 comments on US energy consumption from a previous post at Angry Bear on a better picture of what drives energy consumption in China. The NYT article used air conditioning and shopping malls as one metaphor for the good life that the Chinese are striving for, but he would advise caution for those […]

by Daniel Beckerupdated: Tom Coburn, not John.I was not sure how to title this but, today on Washington Journal, Tom Coburn was on to talk about the economy and unemployment. At 2 minutes into the interview, Greta Brawner presents Ezra Klein’s take from this article: “And we’re just going to leave them without incomes and without […]

Tom aka Rusty Rustbelt HEALTH CARE: BUREAUCRATS GONE INSANE (topic update) President Obama wants health care provider to invest in electronic medical records networked in electronic health records systems. President Obama put funds in the the stimulus bill to subsidize providers’ large capital outlays. President Obama wanted “meaningful” EHR utilization, and only providers meeting the […]

by Linda Bealecrossposted with Ataxingmatter Dodd-Frank Bill closer to passage as Republicans Sign On Senators Brown (R-MA), Snowe (R-ME) and Collins (R-ME) have indicated that they will support the financial reform package. Along with Maria Cantwell, who had hesitated because of the bill’s relative weakness at correcting the key problems that caused the financial crisis, […]