The New Republic

There's not a whole lot of good to say about the news, coming out of the Fed today, that Americans lost 18 percent of its net worth last year, or $11 billion the worst one-year decline since the Federal Reserve started keeping track after World War II. READ MORE >>

Big changes are afoot for the Windy City's most iconic structure. As part of a new financing deal, the Sears Tower will soon be renamed ... the Willis Tower, after a new British tenant. Doesn't have quite the same ring to it, methinks. READ MORE >>

Sens. Chuck Schumer and Dick Durbin have just introduced a bill to create a Financial Products Safety Commission, modeled on the Consumer Products Safety Commission. The plan was conceived by Harvard Law prof and bankruptcy expert Elizabeth Warren. I think it's a great idea, not in the least because, well, she first pitched the idea in Democracy, where I hang my hat as managing editor. READ MORE >>

The Government Accountability Office has a new report out on the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Fans of the GAO--come on, you're out there--will remember the bodice-ripper "Troubled Asset Relief Program: Additional Actions Needed to Better Ensure Integrity, Accountability, and Transparency," released in December. This is a follow up (apparently, they take that "accountability" part seriously). Overall TARP is getting better, according to the report, but one bit stuck out immediately: READ MORE >>

Why do so many business articles in Politico tilt conservative? Is it an ideological thing? Or is it all part of a plan to drum up sales by angering liberals? Or are they just lazy? READ MORE >>

Does green design mean bad design? Kriston Capps, at The American Prospect, thinks so: READ MORE >>

I just got back from a talk by Ben Bernanke at the Council on Foreign Relations. The Fed chair laid out a rather compelling vision for stabilizing the financial markets, including the obvious (but still refreshing to hear) principle that the more systemically important the institution, the greater the need for government oversight. This should go without saying, and yet clearly the last generation of public regulations have tilted in the opposite direction. READ MORE >>

Sen. Chris Dodd has proposed a bill to lend the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. some $500 billion to fill the bank insurer's emptying coffers. There have been 16 bank failures already this year, on top of 25 last year, and the fund started out 2009 with a mere $19 billion (along with a $30 billion credit line from the Treasury). Of course, the FDIC can just raise the fees--aka premiums--that banks pay for coverage. READ MORE >>

Having been criticized by White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs the other day, stock guru Jim Cramer decided to respond with--you guessed it--another rant, this time in his column. It has less of the blood pressure and spit than a live Cramer rant, but it's still worth reading. Especially this: READ MORE >>

The Associated Press reports that Annette Nazareth, Timothy Geithner's not-yet-official selection as deputy Treasury secretary, has withdrawn from consideration. Given that she used to be the chief enforcement official* at the SEC, her selection would have signaled a get-tough regulatory approach at Treasury--and make the case for giving the department added regulatory powers under the inevitable, impending SEC/CFTC/OCC/alphabet soup restructuring. READ MORE >>