• Optimism and the world economy | A glimmer of hope? | The Economist

  Apparently the Economist thinks this is a Fake Recovery too. “Optimism is one thing, but hubris that the world economy is returning to normal could hinder recovery and block policies to protect against a further plunge into the depths.”

• naked capitalism: On Pelosi’s Duplicity and Apparent Sandbagging of Elizabeth Warren

  Despite her longevity as a California pol, house speaker Nancy Pelosi is looking like every bit as much of a dyed-in-the-wool financial services industry backer as the Congressmen on the New York-Boston corridor.

• Spread of Bubonic Plague, 1347-1351 – Paul Kedrosky

  Just a reminder of what an epidemic looks like. If you want to read a book on it, try John Barry’s book on the Spanish Flu called The Great Influenza.

• Mexico Declares Emergency on Swine Flu as Death Toll Climbs – Bloomberg.com

  This has the makings of an epidemic and is very disconcerting

• Home Builders Are Preparing for a Thaw – NYTimes.com

  The companies with the strongest liquidity are, in fact, the best positioned, he said. “It’s like a sand timer — the more cash they have, the more time they have,” he said, and a Pulte-Centex combination makes for “a pretty enormous sand timer.” Could further consolidation follow in the industry? Ms. Zelman says potential takeover targets could include the Ryland Group and Richmond American Homes, while possible buyers include D. R. Horton, the Lennar Corporation and NVR Inc.

• The capital well is running dry and some economies will wither – Telegraph

  As my friend Scott just said to me: Fiat currencies are going to come into disrepute. QE does have consequences.

• Susan Boyle on South Park (Video) – Mashable

  South Park is apparently calling for the end of the world’s Susan Boyle obsession: in the latest episode of the irreverent cartoon, Ike is said to have run away from home to escape the never-ending chatter about the Scottish YouTube star (video below).

• The Sick Logic of the CIA Memos: Abuse Isn’t Torture If a Doctor Is There – AlterNet

  You can tell I think this torture was a serious low point for America

• Frank Rich – The Banality of Bush White House Evil – NYTimes.com

  “By no later than the summer of 2004, the American people had before them the basic narrative of how the elected and appointed officials of their government decided to torture prisoners and how they went about it.” – And we re-elected Bush anyway. Pathetic.

• Trichet, Lagarde Question IMF Estimate of Bank Writedowns – Bloomberg.com

  The ECB head and the French finance head think the IMF is out to lunch with their recently released writedown estimates.

• Price of seaside home plunges by €2m – Independent.ie

  Here’s a great example of a bust in the Irish property market.

• Big banks rescue will cost us very dearly – Independent.ie

  The Irish are having the same problem that Americans are having. Bailing out the banks is expensive.

• Industry Ignored Its Scientists on Climate – NYTimes.com

  This post is a testament to the damage special-interest groups can do. “A document filed in a federal lawsuit demonstrates that even as the coalition worked to sway opinion, its own scientific and technical experts were advising that the science backing the role of greenhouse gases in global warming could not be refuted.”

• What Good is the News? – Ryan Avent – Market Movers – Portfolio.com

  Amity Shlaes, conservative maven, bankrupt ideas? Sometimes, the media needs to take sides. Not all economic views are equal.

• Kevin Rose: 10 Ways To Increase Your Twitter Followers

  Interesting take from about 3 months ago.

Blogs I now read

• The Prudent Investor – Another blog from a German-language blogger. This one’s in English though, but still gives some good insights into the goings-on in European finance.
• The Wealth Alchemist – This is a blog I found that is good at helping you recession-proof your life.
• Miscellaneous economic ramblings – Another German blogger worthy of consideration