Archive for January 18th, 2009

Quote Of The Day

So I should say that civilizations begin with religion and stoicism: they end with scepticism and unbelief, and the undisciplined pursuit of individual pleasure. A civilization is born stoic and dies epicurean.                                                                               Will Durant

Britain Set To Announce New Bank Rescue Plan

Britain will most likely unveil its latest scheme to rescue its banks and by extension its economy tomorrow morning. Early indications are that they are tending towards the same set of solutions as it appears the new Obama administration will pursue. Specifically, the aim is to jack up bank lending to consumers. Reuters is reporting […]

Why Charlie Wheelan Needs To Broaden His Base

Greg Mankiw has a post up asking all economists to endorse Charlie Wheelan, a University of Chicago economist, for Congressman from the 5th District of Illinois. He is running in a special election to fill the seat vacated by Rahm Emanue. Here is his platform: Charlie Wheelan is running for Congress as a centrist Democrat. His […]

How Phoenix Escaped The Recession For A Weekend

I suppose it was like this during the Great Depression as well but in Phoenix the weekend that is almost finished seemed like a throwback to the Bubble Days. The town’s been full of people spending money, partying and buying toys for which they have absolutely use. A fortunate confluence of three events led to this blowout. […]

Quote Of The Day

Washington is a place where men praise courage and act on elaborate personal cost-benefit calculations.                                                             J. K. Galbraith

Nationalize, Cleanse And Get It Over With

Washington is doing what Washington does best. Resurrecting old ideas and dressing them up as a new solution. The latest is the “aggregator bank”. Some sort of financially engineered solution to the ongoing problem with our banking system. It’s just new lipstick on the old TARP pig. The concept is the same one they have tried […]