News Round-Up: 23 Jul 2008

While I don’t agree with all the opinions expressed in the articles below, they are all still very good reads. Today, there is a lot more on politics. Warning: some articles may be controversial.

Politics

• Why Jesse Jackson Hates Obama – WSJ
• Senate Clears First Hurdle for Oil Speculation Bill – Bloomberg
• Infrastructure Spending and Stabilization Policy – Economist’s View
• Kissinger Says Pullout Timeline Poses Danger to Iraq – Bloomberg
• EU Pondering Restricting Sales of Securitized Debt – naked capitalism
• How China’s Taking Over Africa, And Why The West Should Be Very Worried – Evening Standard
• Madness and Shame – Bob Herbert, NY Times
• McCain gaffes pile up; critics pile on – Politico

Economy

• Oil Falls to 6-Week Low as Storm May Miss Fields, Dollar Rises – Bloomberg
• House Prices: Home improvements are a waste of money – Telegraph
• Why the oil crunch may grow worse – LA Times
• ECB Lowers Growth Outlook – WSJ
• Japan’s Government Cuts Growth Forecast – WSJ

Finance

• Sponsoring Recklessness – New Yorker
• WaMu Has $3.3 Billion Quarterly Loss on Rising Delinquencies – Bloomberg
• Assured Guaranty Plunges, Bond Risk Soars on Review – Bloomberg
• Two Short Lists – Market Beat
• The death-knell of Bernankeism – Martin Hutchison, Asia Times
• The Mother Of All Short Squeezes May End Badly – Safe Haven

Germany

• IKB bekommt erneut Milliardenkredite – Spiegel
• German Strikes Pose Challenge for ECB – WSJ
• SPD mobilisiert Mitglieder für Obama – Financial Times Deutschland

Spain

• El consumo de gasolinas cayó un 10% en mayo, y el del gasóleo un 3,9% – ABC
• Martinsa centra su plan de viabilidad en la venta de suelo y la mora de pagos – ABC
• Los pilotos de aerolíneas preparan una huelga para agosto – ABC
• Solbes dice que lo importante no es el déficit del Estado sino que la deuda no aumente – El Mundo
• El Euribor retoma su escalada y sube al 5,418% – El Mundo
• Madrid y Barcelona, entre las 50 ciudades más caras del mundo – El Mundo
• Los empresarios turísticos alertan de que el sector ya nota la crisis – El Mundo

  Odds and Ends

  Batman Denies He Assaulted Mom, Sister – Bloomberg