The White House: Your New GM Dealer

This didn’t take long.

Newest GM Dealership

Barack Obama: GM’s New Chairman of the Board

By Jeff Harding

It is happening here.

“We can’t theorize about the future,” cried Wesley Mouch, “when there’s an immediate national collapse to avoid! We’ve got to save the country’s economy! We’ve got to do something!” …

“You’ve been making temporary adjustments for years. Don’t you see that you’ve run out of time?” said Rearden…

“We [...]

Weekend Miscellanea

I’ve saved this stuff for the weekend to give you relief from all the heavy stuff. I’ve scraped this stuff off of other blogs and sites for your enjoyment.

My favorite headline:

Bobcat walks into Arizona bar, attacks 3 patrons

You can’t make this stuff up. Out here we have occasional cougar assaults in [...]

Cash for Crap v.2.0: The Public Private Investment Program

Summary

The Treasury’s new Public Private Investment program is an attempt to cure the “credit crisis.” But since we really have a debt crisis, it will fail because consumers are trying to reduce debt and increase savings, not borrow more on top of an already huge debt burden. The [...]

The Chinese, Part II

In my Tuesday article on the Chinese response to the Fed’s profligate ways, I noted the problems of the US may have selling its debt.

Yesterday it happened, as reported by the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg:

 The U.K. government failed to find enough buyers in a bond auction for the first time in 14 years, underscoring [...]

The Meditations of St. Barack

I’m not one to criticize the press because I understand that a degree in communications or journalism does not give them any special understanding of politics and economics. Even if they took Econ 101 and Poly Sci 101 they were fed the usual mainstream flotsam. Why criticize people who don’t have a [...]

Geithner: “This Plan Will Work”

Timmy’s in trouble again.

The Chinese Aren't As Dumb As the Fed Thought

Here’s the first serious salvo across the bow of the USS Greenback. The head of China’s central bank said the dollar ought to be replaced by another reserve currency. Here’s the gist of the article in the Wall Street Journal:

China called for the creation of a new currency to eventually replace the [...]

Why Falling Home Prices is Good News

Reported today in the Wall Street Journal were the new numbers for the housing market:

Demand for existing homes climbed in February above expectations, driven by foreclosure sales that are sending prices plunging.

Home resales rose 5.1% to a 4.72 million annual rate from 4.49 million in January, the National Association of Realtors said Monday. About [...]

AIG Bonuses: The Cirque du Politique Comes to Town

This AIG bonus hoopla is fun to watch, maddening from all angles, but good low entertainment. Until you think about it. It reveals the problem of letting politicians run anything. We’ve given AIG $173.3 billion and they are yelling about $135 million of bonus money. No one seems to be yelling about [...]

Who is Barack Obama?

Like most pragmatists he can say one thing and do another.     

I’m trying to figure Barack Obama out. He says that he has an open administration and that he is willing to work with everyone to see “what works.” Yet in his Inaugural Address he says the debate about large versus [...]

Another Explanation of Keynesian Stimulus

Professor Russ Roberts of George Mason University is one of my favorite economists. He blogs at Cafe Hayek and is a respected scholar of the Austrian school of economics. He just posted this piece today on Keynesian fiscal stimulus which nicely fits into my piece (below) on his Keynesian nemesis, Paul Krugman. I think he makes it [...]

Professor Krugman and Professor Keynes

Paul Krugman is already setting us up for the failure of Obama’s Keynesian stimulus.     

For once I agree with Paul Krugman. We both believe that the stimulus bill won’t work, but for much different reasons.

Prof. Krugman is one of my favorite liberals because he is held out to be a paragon of liberal [...]

Stewart vs. Cramer

I would guess that Jon Stewart and I don’t see eye-to-eye on most things. Stewart’s premise is that the bad guys on Wall Street are responsible for everything. But in this interview with Jim Cramer, Stewart takes on the concept of Talking Heads on CNBC.  He eviscerates Cramer for talking out of both sides of his mouth. Stewart [...]

Obama Administration Plans Major New Controls Over Economy

Barney Frank charged by Obama to draft new regulatory scheme for financial companies.          

The Obama Administration is poised to implement radical new financial controls over the US economy. Instead of financial and banking decisions being made by many individuals acting in the free market, an elite group of bureaucrats [...]

The Mind of Mr. Black Swan

Nasim Taleb has a different way of looking at things, which is why I like his take on current events. This video interview is one of the more fascinating discussions I have heard him give. He starts with Russia and explains the problems we face here in the U.S. I think you will enjoy it, [...]

Tim Geithner Finally Comes Up With A Plan

Here’s the latest press release from the US Treasury.

Sorry, but you’ll have to view an ad.

AIG Gets $30 Billion Bailout — To Bailout Goldman Sachs?

Earlier this week we wrote about the AIG bailout (AIG Must Fail). We noted that they got another $30 billion on top of the $140 billion they’ve already received. AIG has been using the funds to cover the guarantees they foolishly made on credit default swaps they sold to investors hedging risky trades. We and others have [...]

Peter Schiff Yet Again

I like what Peter Schiff has to say about the causes and cures of our economic dilemma. His comments about what the government should do are right on point. I don’t endorse any investment advice he or his company gives.

Jon Stewart vs. The Talking Heads

Jon Stewart takes on the talking heads. It’s amusing. This is why people like Nasim Taleb make a good living. You can watch CNBC all day and get (i) a consensus of sheep, and/or (ii) people that don’t know what they are talking about. Yet they get air time and people listen. Please read Taleb’s [...]