Let me refer you to two excellent posts this evening that skewer some of the more egregious elements of the fiscal stimulus bill. First, Calculated Risk identifies $55 billion in non-stimulus grants that could be channelled elsewhere. This (carryback of operating losses)Â is a clear gift to shareholders of the homebuilders. How does this help create […]
Archive for February 9th, 2009
Could We See A 1980 Sort Of Recovery From The Recession?
A very solid article in the WSJ today gives some historical perspective on why we might see a surprisingly strong rebound in the economy sooner than expected. The article uses the recession of 1980 as its basis of comparison. That recession came on very suddenly with a drop in consumption and employment that exceeded what we’ve […]
Washington May Be Having Second Thoughts On An Auto Company Bankruptcy
All of a sudden, the prospect of a chapter 11 filing for GM and Chrysler is back. This time with a different twist. The government of the United States is talking about forcing the issue. What happened? It suddenly dawned on the Washington crowd that they might be a bit too far down the capital […]
The Pelosi Chart
Making the rounds on the Internet has been Nancy Pelosi’s chart that demonstrates the severity of this recession as opposed to the last two. I would be putting my blogging license in jeopardy if I didn’t reproduce it. There are all sorts of problems with this chart, not the least of which is that it […]