Archive for January, 2010
Underwater, But Will They Leave the Pool?
Some remarkable honesty about the class (although of course without using that term) dynamics of capitalism showed up in Saturday’s NY Times, in a piece by Richard Thaler about mortgage defaults: Much has been said about the high rate of home foreclosures, but the most interesting question may be this: Why is the mortgage default ...Read more.
Questions for Bernanke (Simon Johnson)
There is somewhat suddenly some opposition to Ben Bernanke’s reconfirmation as Fed chair, as reported at the New York Times, Roll Call, and elsewhere, with Barbara Boxer, Russ Feingold, and Bernie Sanders coming out against reconfirmation. On the economics blogs there’s some turmoil regarding Bernanke, too, with Calculated Risk saying “we can do better,” Brad ...Read more.
SCOTUS Guts Campaign Spending Limits
Just noticed this on the New York Times website. Jeesh. Justices Overturn Key Campaign Limits By ADAM LIPTAKPublished: January 21, 2010 WASHINGTON—Sweeping aside a century-old understanding and overruling two important precedents, a bitterly divided Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the government may not ban political spending by corporations in candidate elections. The ruling was ...Read more.
Mass Backwards (Jon Stewart)
We’re a little upset here in Massachusetts. Not because we liked Martha Coakley so much, and not because we like the health-care reform bill so much, but because…well, Jon Stewart will explain: The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c Mass Backwards www.thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care ...Read more.
Elizabeth Warren Fights for the CFPA
A couple of recent pieces about Elizabeth Warren,chair of the TARP Congressional Oversight Panel, and her efforts to make sure that the Consumer Financial Protection Agency survives Senate efforts to gut or eliminate it. First, from HuffPo: Will The Banks Win Again? Bailout Watchdog Rallies Support For Consumer Protection AgencyThe battle in the Senate over ...Read more.
More on the FCIC Hearings
Here is something from The Nation; it is somewhat in contradiction to what I posted late last week (here), which portrayed the hearings as letting Wall Street off the hook, whereas this piece finds the testimony (and the quesstioning?) pretty damning of Wall Street, regulators, and ratings agencies, but says that the media have stopped ...Read more.
For MLK Day (various)
Here’s what we recommend for MLK Day: Courtesy of The Real News Network (if you haven’t checked it out, you should–they have had unusually good coverage of the economic crisis, with frequent appearances by left economists), we have a recording of MLK’s Riverside Church speech on April 4, 1967 against the Vietnam War. And from ...Read more.
Haiti Suffering: Partly 'Made in the USA'
Here is something from Bill Quigley at HuffPo. I like his take on U.S. involvement in Haiti (for a more economics-focused, and satirical, version of some of these same points in connection with the last crisis in Haiti–the 2008 food shortages–see Maurice Dufour’s How to Make Mud Cookies from D&S, July/August 2008). But the anarchist ...Read more.
Wall Street Off the Hook
Two good items on the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission; hat-tip to LF. The first is from Newsweek Online: Off the Hook Wall Street and Washington escape whipping again as the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission gets underway. By Michael Hirsh | Newsweek Web Exclusive | Jan 14, 2010 One sure measure of a successful Washington hearing ...Read more.
Haiti Quake Relief Suggestions
Some suggestions for donating to relief efforts after the devastating earthquake in Haiti: One comes via frequent D&S contributor Marie Kennedy, who says: Please consider donating to Grassroots International’s earthquake relief fund for Haiti. I am on the board of Grassroots International, have traveled to Haiti a number of times and know well the organizations ...Read more.
