Archive for March, 2009

There really is not too much to say about GM that hasn’t been already said: it is a dead company. It reminds me of the famous Monty Python sketch about the parrot. As the great John Cleese said ‘if it hadn’t been nailed to the perch it would be pushing up the daisies’…. »

I highly recommend this article by Simon Johnson: The Quiet Coup – The Atlantic
(May 2009)
There are two key points to take away.
First: the financial sector has far too much political power in America. The intermingling of Wall Street people and politicians has produced a very unhealthy ‘oligarchic’ interdependency between the two. … »

In response to a question about this comment at The Baseline Scenario: Pay Back Time?
The upcoming G20 meeting threatens to be either raucous or a typically weasel worded non-event. there are huge policy differences between the US/UK and Europe on how to deal with the current crisis. In fact the European… »

Krugman nails it today. Here’s his column in this mornings New York Times: Op-Ed Columnist – The Market Mystique
Therein lies the rub.
Those of us who think something fundamental is wrong align with opinions like those Krugman expresses here. Clearly the Obama administration is in a different camp.
My view is that finance… »

I have been so distracted by the various bailout plans littering Washington and the emerging budget struggles that I have forgotten to keep score on the actual economy. Since the latest and final revision to the fourth quarter data is now available let’s take stock.
It was awful.
Possibly the worst quarter on record. Or… »

My he’s a busy lad.
Tim Geithner spent some time today presenting in a broad way – does he ever get into details? – the shape of a new regulatory structure for finance in the US. The New York Times has the reaction here: Plan for Financial Oversight Draws a Mixed Response
OK. It… »

The infamous Geithner Plan is not sitting well with me. I hope it works, but something keeps gnawing away at me and prevents me from endorsing it. The problem is that even if the plan works we are still left looking at a financial system littered with undercapitalized banks. Geithner’s Plan doesn’t… »