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

More tax cuts?

by cactus Hilzoy notices what everyone is worried about…— I hope Hilzoy doesn’t mind if I steal her post in its entirety, but the last line is too good to pass up. And Speaking Of Incoherent Policy…No sooner did I finish my last post than I found this from Politico: “As part of a plan […]

Palin’s income tax reporting

Tax Prof Blog notes the following about Gov. Palin’s tax returns: Tax Profs Agree: Gov. Palin’s Tax Returns Are Wrong Jack Bogdanski (Lewis & Clark) & Bryan Camp (Texas Tech) have independently reviewed the tax issues raised by the release of Gov. Palin’s 2006 and 2007 tax returns and financial disclosure form, as well as […]

DOJ report on prosecutor firings

rdan From the Toledo Blade: It was an overlooked bombshell in breaking news cycles preoccupied with financial crisis, rescue plans, presidential politics, and a vice-presidential debate. But what the Justice Department’s exhaustive investigation and blistering report concluded about the enormous damage done to the department through improper politicization is far more troubling than even Sarah […]

Did Lehman Manage that ?

Robert Waldmann had a post entitled “How did Lehman manage That?” asking how Lehman’s debt could sell for about ten cents on the dollar. A commenter told me I was confused and that Lehman’s accountants would have warned investors if there was anything, along the line of the things I imagined, lurking in their detailed […]

What next?

One Salent Oversight notes:—————–Summary:—————–Low savings rates are the main cause of the current crisis. Moreover,the previous recession caused by the tech boom was also a result of afailure to save. The US economy (and others) have discouraged savings,which has resulted in an overinvestment in high risk ventures (such asasset price bubbles). Had savings rates been […]

Quotes for the day

rdan(h/t reader Jack) The NYT reports: Not only have individual financial institutions become less vulnerable to shocks from underlying risk factors, but also the financial system as a whole has become more resilient.” — Alan GreenspanMultimedia Punit Paranjpe/ReutersA LINGERING GLOBAL INFLUENCE An interview with Alan Greenspan, nicknamed the Oracle, was shown live outside the Bombay […]

The Wrong Crisis

Robert Waldmann What isn’t going on in financial markets ? There are various theories of the financial crisis which suggest simple solutions and have the only defect that they are fantasies. 1) The only problem is mark to market accounting. Market prices for mortgage backed securities (MBS) are very low because of a panic. Banks […]