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

The WSJ Editorial Page: Fumbling Toward Accuracy II

The editors of the WSJ agree with Brad DeLong that the Fannie/Freddie problem is that their short-term cash flows may be(come) impaired: The most immediate danger is that investors will shrink from rolling over the debt of the two companies, leading to a run a la Bear Stearns….With so much on the line, we’ve been […]

Pot, Kettle; Kettle, Pot

John Carney at Dealbreaker notes the official reason the White House prefers that the government takeover Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: The reason the Bush administration is leaning toward bringing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into conservatorship rather than backstopping the two home mortgage companies is that concern about moral hazard problem. Bailing out Fannie […]

The myth of the argument is in the conflation

By: Divorced one like Bush I am responding to a post put up at Crooks and Liars: The McCain campaign small business myth. It presents that the myth is found in the number of small businesses in existance and what percentage of them earns $250,000 or more. I love C and L, but this is […]

Real Trade Report

Calculated risk is out today and just reported the head line trade data and linked to the Wall Street Journal calling the improvement in the trade balance a surprise But the real trade deficit improved from $ -46,966 M (2000 $) in March to $-46,679 in April and $-43,589 M in May. Remember, the improvement […]

Does this include abridgement of 2nd Amendment rights as well?

The NYT reports: A federal judge in California said Wednesday that the wiretapping law established by Congress was the “exclusive” means for the president to eavesdrop on Americans, and he rejected the government’s claim that the president’s constitutional authority as commander in chief trumped that law. The judge, Vaughn R. Walker, the chief judge for […]

Same labels, same old stuff

One Salient Oversight sends some thoughts from down under on recycling labels: Think of the common labels thrown out against political opponents thesedays. What sort of political thinking would be labelled in the followingway? * The propagation of ideas like Darwinism, Marxism, the teachings ofNietzche, Liberalism, Socialism, Communism and Anarchism.* A focus on Utopianism that […]

Trying to Short Joe Biden

So the good news yesterday (h/t Felix) is that, even as he was voting to eviscerate the Fourth Amendment, Barack Obama urged a change to bankruptcy law. The devil is in the details (the “median cost” of a home in NY State won’t keep anyone living in their house in Westchester or even Rockland County, […]