Economy
Worth Reading
A very good explanation of why deficits aren't necessarily inflationary. Fed considered extending MBS purchases at last meeting. READ MORE >>
Seasons Change… Unemployment Rates
The Wall Street Journal reports this morning, based on new figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, that unemployment rates continued to climb in July in metropolitan America. READ MORE >>
Underneath the Hood of the Stimulus
New employment data for August will be released this Friday, fueling a fresh round of analysis and punditry about whether the economy is on the upswing. READ MORE >>
Questioning a Soda Tax's Effectiveness
A proposed tax on sugary drinks has gotten some good press of late, but here's a new paper that casts doubt on its obesity fighting abilities for children and adolescents. READ MORE >>
Worth Reading
Bailouts of Fannie and Freddie could also turn a profit. Sheila Bair: Super-regulator would "benefit the largest banks and punish community ones." Vanity Fair profiles Hank Paulson. READ MORE >>
A 'New Era' for Infrastructure?
Infrastructure—roads and rails, ports and pipes, bits and bytes—determines how efficiently and rapidly people, goods, and information move within and across our major metropolitan markets, driving their success and prosperity. READ MORE >>
TNRtv: Geithner May Be More Arsonist Than Firefighter
Madoff and the SEC: Intricate and Extremely Interesting
Edward Jay Epstein has become the de facto historian of the Madoff scandal. Every time he and I speak, he has found another key to the master Ponzi schemer's evil genius. There was a time when the Securities and Exchange Commission trusted Madoff absolutely. So he was able to clear two other stock markets by saying that the documents they used in their defense were kosher. Ah, but the rub was that those documents were actually treyf (not kosher) and they had been cooked up by Madoff himself. READ MORE >>
Geithner May Be More Arsonist Than Firefighter
Simon Johnson, professor at MIT's Sloan School of Management, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, and co-founder of baselinescenario.com, argues that the Obama administration may be doing more to set up future economic fires than they are to put out current ones. READ MORE >>
Is Modern Finance Like Junk Food?
Is modern finance more like electricity or junk food? This is, of course, the big question of the day. READ MORE >>
