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Category Archives: Politics
Cheney Responds to Greenspan
Jeff Bercovici asks what I make of Dick Cheney’s (unprecedented?) op-ed in the WSJ today. The answer, I think, is pretty easy when you come across its standard recitation of supply-side principles: Even at a lower rate of taxation, the … Continue reading
Posted in fiscal and monetary policy, Politics
Comments Off on Cheney Responds to Greenspan
Bush’s Mainly Cosmetic Homeowner Rescue Proposals
Yves Smith at Naked Capitalism submits: The Wall Street Journal, in “Bush Moves to Aid Homeowners,” reports that today the President will set forth a program to help stressed borrowers at risk of losing their homes. Main elements: Allowing the … Continue reading
Posted in bonds and loans, housing, Politics
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The WSJ’s Greg Ip Defends Bernanke Against Martin Wolf
Yves Smith at Naked Capitalism submits: Frankly, this is pathetic. If Bernanke and his minions can’t take the heat of some well-deserved criticism from the highly-regarded Martin Wolf of the Financial Times, they don’t belong in public service. To recap: … Continue reading
Posted in Media, Politics, regulation
4 Comments
How Greenspan Diminished the Fed
Yves Smith at Naked Capitalism submits: It must be miserable to be a central banker these days. Not only are they confronted with the worst mess in at least a generation, but too many interested parties, from the financial services … Continue reading
Posted in Media, Politics, regulation
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Martin Wolf Takes Bernanke to the Woodshed
Yves Smith at Naked Capitalism submits: Oh, I do so enjoy it when the Financial Times’ chief economics editor, the normally measured and thoughtful Martin Wolf, works himself into a lather. Wolf blasts what he reads as the Fed’s vow … Continue reading
Posted in fiscal and monetary policy, Politics, regulation
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Do We Need to Bail Out Homeowners? (Nouriel Roubini Edition)
Yves Smith of Naked Capitalism submits: Has Roubini gone to the Dark Side? Nouriel Roubini, normally the voice of prudence, makes a marked shift in his latest post, “Fiscal versus Monetary Solutions to the Subprime Crisis. ” He sympathizes with … Continue reading
Posted in banking, bonds and loans, housing, Politics
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Larry Summers’ Unanswered Questions
Yves Smith at Naked Capitalism submits: Today, in a comment at the Financial Times, “This is where Freddie and Fannie step in” (subscription required), Harvard’s Larry Summers argued that the subprime crisis highlights three questions. Most commentators focused on the … Continue reading
Posted in banking, bonds and loans, hedge funds, Politics, regulation
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Paulson Hoist on His Own Petard (Yuan Version)
Yves Smith of Naked Capitalism submits: One of the Treasury Department’s big campaigns has been to put pressure on the Chinese to allow the yuan to float more freely (the Chinese now engage in a dirty float in place of … Continue reading
Posted in china, foreign exchange, Politics
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Bush’s FHA Band-Aid
Yves Smith of Naked Capitalism submits: The Bush Administration, which resisted proposals to have Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac buy more mortgages to alleviate stress in the housing markets, is instead looking to the Federal Home Administration, which traditionally has … Continue reading
Has Smoke and Mirrors Worked?
Yves Smith at Naked Capitalism submits: In an inspired bit of stagecraft, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd reported today on a meeting with Fed chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury secretary Henry Paulson that the Fed stood ready to use … Continue reading
Posted in banking, bonds and loans, fiscal and monetary policy, Politics, regulation
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Abolish Mortgage-Interest Tax Deduction, But Not Now
Matt Cooper is 100% right, today, when he says that we should
abolish
the mortgage-interest tax deduction.
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Posted in fiscal and monetary policy, housing, Politics
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How Politicians Can Help Fix the Mortgage Mess
Hillary Clinton has a plan to address
the subprime mortgage mess, and, to my surprise, it’s actually eminently
sensible.
Continue reading
The Futility of Talking Growth
Matt Cooper wants the Democratic presidential candidates to
"talk
growth".
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Posted in Politics
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Anti-Counterfeiting Bill Doing Well in Washington
John McCary of the Wall Street Journal reports today on the Bayh-Voinovich
bill, an anti-counterfeiting bill which got nowhere in 2005 but which has slightly
better prospects now, in the wake of minor revisions.
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Posted in Politics
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Alternatives to Globalization
There are major downsides to globalization, but it increasingly seems as though fighting it is worse than futile: it’s actually counterproductive.
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Lloyd Blankfein, Man of the People
Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein came
out as a Democrat today, aligning himself with Robert Rubin
and Jon Corzine rather than with Hank Paulson.
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Garrard: The Clinton Connection
Bill Clinton is a part owner of the UK jeweler.
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Posted in Politics
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Dsquared on Political Event Swaps
Commenter dsquared has made a couple of good points in response
to my post about political
event swaps.
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Posted in hedge funds, Politics
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It’s Time for Political Event Swaps
A way of hedging political-event risk.
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Posted in hedge funds, Politics
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When Politicians Go Private
Giuliani’s brace of seven-figure salaries makes the $479,000 paid
to John Edwards by Fortress Investment Group seem positively
modest.
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Posted in Politics
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Bloomberg vs Spitzer?
Mike Bloomberg
is splashed all over the front page of the New York Post today, saying he’s
interested in running
for governor of New York when his tenure as mayor of New York City runs
out at the end of 2009.
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Posted in Politics
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Wolfowitz
I’ve recently written an article about Wolfowitz at the World Bank for publication, so I was going to avoid the topic here. But then I found myself today reading Thursday’s WSJ editorial on the subject, and it incensed me so … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
14 Comments
Calipari and rendition
The Bush administration, I think it’s fair to say, never tells the truth when it would be better served by a lie. We saw this when it came to WMDs, of course, but we’ve also seen it time and time … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
3 Comments
Scenes from the protests
A nice balmy summer’s night – perfect for a group bike ride around New York City, no? I thought so, anyway, so I joined about five thousand other like-minded bicyclists at Union Square this evening for the monthly Critical Mass … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
12 Comments
Solar energy in California
California, we were repeatedly told during the gubernatorial recall election last year, is largely ungovernable. The reason? California’s version of direct democracy, with an initiative process which has been hijacked by special interests, means that there’s very little discretion in … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
16 Comments