Jacob Weisberg wrote The assumption that the rating agencies knew their business, a key enabler of the subprime meltdown, is analogous to the view before the Iraq war that Saddam Hussein had WMD. There are a lot of people now who scoff about what an obvious fallacy that was and not many who can point […]

by Linda Beale published on ataxingmatter April 28 Financial reform–the GOP’s “chicken game”; and is it hedging or casino betting when banks go short on products they have created/sold to customers? Edited to add additional links 4/28/10 at 5:35pm As the GOP blocked progress on the Senate finance bill for a third time (56-42) in […]

In all the discussions of the real GDP release I did not see this comparison, and I thought it should be made. So far real GDP has increased 2.7% as compared to an average of 4.3% in recoveries since 1950. The range is from a high of 6.8% in 1958 to a low of 1.5% […]

The great thing about Accounting Identities is that they must be true. The bad thing about Accounting Identities is that their truth is often trivial. Tim Duy notes the reality: We can’t all be net exporters The Greek crisis…is a reminder that global imbalances are still with us – and, if not corrected, will eventually […]

by Bruce Webb It is I think a truism that in any economic enterprise all costs ultimately have to come out of price, that in the end ‘the customer pays’. But what is not true is that price is infinitely elastic, at some point price in and of itself will restrain demand, and while you […]

by Linda Beale The IRS released its draft schedule and instructions for the new initiative (announced late in January by Commissioner Shulman and set forth in Ann. 2010-9) for disclosure on new Schedule UTP on uncertain tax positions for taxpayers with assets of $10 million or more. The release, Ann. 2010-30 [Download Ann.2010-30. uncertain tax […]

by cactus John McWhorter on James Patterson and Some Odd Numbers on Black Childhood Poverty I’m kinda in the home stretch for the fact checking on my book – we’ve revised and rewritten and rechecked so many times I’m ready to plotz, but even so, I’m willing to bet some mistakes will creep in. Its […]

Just cactching up. Hat tip to Mark Thoma for the post on the Milken Global Conference. He mentions the panel on Geopolitics, Global Demand and the Quest for Energy Security”, and the video from the session Roubini and Milken Debate Where we’ve been-where we’re going

by Dale Coberly HOW MUCH MONEY DOES A MAN NEED A morality tale Leo Tolstoy tells a story about a Russian peasant who makes a deal with the Devil. The devil will give the man as much land as he can walk around in one day. But, the devil warns him (the devil always tells […]