Economy
David Brooks and the Centralization Meme
Military Spending as Fiscal Stimulus?
SEC to Fraudster Banks: We're Coming
After the stress test results came out a few months back, I did a piece about how, while the government's scrubbing of bank balance sheets was certainly welcome, there were still a lot of things the banks weren't fessing up to. One of those things was loss reserves--that is, the amount of capital banks set aside to absorb losses on loans that turn bad. Here's a brief explanation: READ MORE >>
Worth Reading
NYT talks up TARP profits and WSJ warns of big FDIC losses. The pain of being a middle-aged former finacial-sector employee. READ MORE >>
Implementing ARRA--Another Way to Gauge Stimulus Success
With the President Obama’s $787 billion stimulus package (aka, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act or ARRA) six months old now, it's fair to ask like everybody else is: How’s it working? READ MORE >>
The Two-Track Economy Arrives
The notion of a two-track economy seems to be taking hold. We kicked the concept around pretty well last week--your 130 comments (as of this morning) helped clarify a great deal of what we know, don’t know, and need to worry about. The two-track concept overlaps with, and builds on, long-standing issues of inequality in the U.S., but it’s also different. Within existing income classes, some people find themselves in relatively good shape and others are completely hammered. READ MORE >>
Are Speculators to Blame for Oil Prices?
Who Knew? Mickey Did.
My friend Mickey Kaus has a rejoinder to my latest column, in which I suggest that the emphasis on cost-cutting--while most likely a strategic mistake--was nevertheless easy to understand in retrospect. Among other things, he suggests, some people did predict this. Like, for example, Mickey. READ MORE >>
The Metro Orbit of Small Town America
Given the American appetite for rankings as well as hometown pride, it’s not surprising that our media is awash with lists of the most desirable communities. READ MORE >>
Why Taxing Trades Could Make Sense
The UK's top financial regulator, Adair Turner, has suggested a tax on all financial transactions around the world. The purpose of this tax, he argues, would be to prevent the return of "business as usual" for the banking sector: "If you want to stop excessive pay in a swollen financial sector you have to reduce the size of that sector or apply special taxes to its pre-remuneration profit." READ MORE >>
