by Linda Bealecrossposted with Ataxingmatter Tenneco CEO’s Wall St. Journal on “American Capitalism” Gregg Sherrill, the CEO of Tenneco, Inc., seems to think that Capitol Hill and the White House are “bashing” the “entire free enterprise system”–saying that the business world has “taken a pounding on Capitol Hill and at the White House” but except […]

by Linda BealeSpeculation and Finance: Good for you? (part III) In a couple of prior postings (Part 1 and Part 2), I considered (1) Darrell Duffie’s op-ed in the Wall St. Journal asserting that financial institution speculation in the markets is “good” for us and (2) the question of financial institution speculation in credit default […]

by Linda Beale More on speculation: Banks, Credit Default Swaps, and Greece’s Debt (Part 2) Yesterday, I commented on Darrell Duffie’s defense of speculation in the Wall Street Journal, here. I noted that the idea that speculation is a positive because it absorbs risk others don’t want and helps reveal the “true price” by providing […]

by Linda Beale Bankers Bonuses and Bank Reforms: why they are needed, what they might include, and are you angry yet? A big title for a tiny little sketch of a post, I know. Not much time today folks, but if you can read only one blog posting, read the one at Naked Capitalism at […]

Floyd Norris cites John C. Dugan, the man whose agency was charged with regulating AIG Financial Products in the NYT: [T]hey believe that the banking system on its own is unlikely to have the ability to provide enough credit to sustain an economic recovery in the United States. Gosh, really? Norris quotes Dugan: “We need […]

While I applaud the cautious optimism of Spencer and Tom, I’m more inclined to quote Joseph Brusuelas: [T]he January payrolls added a dollop of Zen like logic to a recovery that is shaping up like no other. An additional 111,000 workers entered the labor force, yet the unemployment rate fell to 9.7% while private sector […]

by Linda Beale When the Republicans wanted to enact huge tax cuts for individuals and businesses in 2001 and 2003 (as well asadditional cuts in other years), they realized that it would result in long-term deficits of unforgiving amounts. So they scaled back their package with a gimmick–a sunsetting tax provision that, like Cinderella’s fairy […]

Rahm Emanuel accidentally Tells the Truth and Shames the Devil: “We have to get them off the sidelines and get them to play a more active role in our economic recovery,” Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff, said on Sunday. “They play an essential role in helping the economy grow.” Gosh, the Administration […]

by Linda Beale A Year and Counting: re-regulation of Wall Street On Monday night, I participated in a symposium on the Financial Crisis: One Year Later, sponsored by the Center for the Study of Citizenship and others. With me were Larry Ingrassia, Business Editor of the New York Times, and Chip Dickson, CFO of W2Freedom, […]