The New Republic

If I had to put a number on it, I'd say Krugman is 10 percent more alarmist than I am, 75 percent more skeptical of the Obama administration, and about 25 percent more liberal. (And probably 100 percent smarter.) But, man, am I grateful he's around writing these columns. If Krugman weren't regularly asking questions from such prominent real estate, it's hard to imagine Treasury facing the kind of skepticism it faces. Which can only be a good thing given what happens if we get this wrong. READ MORE >>

Earlier today I noticed that the silver lining from the Fed's beige book looked more like a copper-nickel alloy. But tonight's Goldman Sachs economic report has some genuinely (if modestly) encouraging news. In general, Goldman sees the consumer-spending cliff-dive stabilizing a bit in January and February, and believes the worst may be behind us on that front: READ MORE >>

A reader notes that, with Citigroup now trading at around $1, yesterday's CitiCoke graphic has been overtaken by events. This person proposes an update: CitiFrosty--after the frozen refreshment from Wendy's 99-cent menu. Enjoy. (Graphic made possible by Flickr.) --Noam Scheiber READ MORE >>

Some of us have been alarmed by the European Central Bank's apparent refusal to acknowledge that deflation (and its really, really bad economic consequences) is a genuine possibility. So it's reassuring to see the ECB start to follow the Fed's lead and move more aggressively to prevent it. READ MORE >>

Yesterday the Fed released its "beige book," an eight-times-a-year update on the economy based on reporting from its 12 regional outposts. I'm not sure what was more depressing, the genuinely bad information, or the Times' attempt to find some good news: READ MORE >>

Harvard economist Robert Barro has a Wall Street Journal op-ed today writing up his recent attempt to quantify the chances of a depression. His short answer: 20 percent.   READ MORE >>

Amazing story of the week: Japan’s automakers are seeking billions in loans from the Japanese government, and it looks like they are going to get them, and they’ll get them in dollar-denominated assets that they can use to help Americans get loans to buy their cars. Here’s the report courtesy of CNN: READ MORE >>

First Read writes up the results of the latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, and it looks like the GOP's rejectionist strategy is working about as well as it did last fall (with the caveat that no sequel ever does quite as well as the original): READ MORE >>

....as usual. Today's effort: This [the current approach], then, is loss-socialisation in action – it guarantees a public buffer to protect creditors. This could end up giving the government a controlling shareholding in some institutions: Citigroup, for example. But, say the quibblers, this is not nationalisation. READ MORE >>

So I'm reading Matt Yglesias's blog and I notice he's recommending a post by Hendrik Hertzberg on Charles Krauthammer's ideological evolution. Being a fan of Hertzberg's and a detractor of Krauthammer's, and working at the magazine where both launched their journalism careers (I think), I naturally click through. And it doesn't disappoint. READ MORE >>