FT.com – John Gapper – A credibility problem for Goldman
pre-earnings thoughts on Goldman

AT&T Continues Its Attack Against Google Voice With A Second Letter To The FCC
More on the Google threat

World Cup, Group Six: England 3-0 Belarus
Crouch should have a bigger role for England.

Calvin Trillin’s Theory – James Kwak
Statistical evidence supporting the smart guys blew us [...]

Easter Island: Rapa Nui déjà vu | The Economist
Too many tourists like in Machu Pichu

As Facebook Nears 100M U.S. Visitors, Twitter Falls Further Behind In The Rear-View Mirror
Is Facebook winning? I am skeptical.

Kunden räumen Konten leer – holländische DSB-Bank Pleite (UPDATE!) | egghat’s blog
A Dutch bank run. More later.

BizWeek Emblematic of the Fall of Print [...]

You Know You’re A Cool Geek When….
Are you a geek? C’mon. you know you are.

FT Alphaville- Mystery Meredith Whitney Goldman downgrade – update
It’s price: my rationale as well

Gold price hits fresh high
Silver above 15-month high

Goldman Sachs Cut to ‘Neutral’ by Meredith Whitney – Bloomberg.com
Sounds like basis was price. This was her only buy.

When Asked Whether [...]

FT.com – Thomas Palley – A second Great Depression is still possible
A reminder of the downside

FT.com – Swedbank hits out at Latvia’s mortgage plan
Of course they do.

Latvia agrees budget cut goal
Large spending cuts and tax hikes. What every depressionary economy wants?

FT.com – Loan losses to hinder US banks’ earnings
I expect some weakness. Let’s see what [...]

FT.com – Latvian contagion
There will be contagion: Lithuania and Estonia at a minimum.

bubbleinfo.com » Only The Shadow
Gives you a taste of the extent of the shadow inventory overhang

“Capitalism: A Love Story” « naked capitalism
Wonderful post on Michael Moore’s new movie.

Letting Data Die A Natural Death
T-mobile lost a bunch of data… permanently. This is a big [...]

Marshall Auerback here.  I want to add a few thoughts on the situation in Latvia which Ed has highlighted on several occasions. His allusion to Argentina to describe the situation in the Baltics last July was on the money. I have a solution here out of the Argentine playbook.
In Latvia, the neo-liberal insanity continues.  The [...]

General Motors’ car sales surge in China | Business | guardian.co.uk
"GM sold a record number of cars in China last month, with sales up 55% so far this year."

Latvian PM rules out devaluation
"The worst of Latvia’s recession is now over, the country’s Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis has told the BBC. He ruled out a devaluation [...]

I am off to a wedding today and through the weekend, so I will leave you with the links and one more post to come. I hope to hear from you all again on Monday.  Have a great weekend.
Paul Kedrosky: Why I Love Venture Capitalists
Good write-up on the purpose of venture capital

Strong Recovery Signal from [...]

Marshall Auerback here with a few thoughts on employment policy and the limit to government spending in a fiat currency regime.
The Detroit story Edward just posted illustrates that we should start by eliminating the notion that society requires a buffer stock of unemployed people to discipline wage demands and protect profits.  Not only is this immoral and [...]

Hypo Needs an Extra $10.2 Billion to Survive – WSJ.com
"German real-estate financier Hypo Real Estate Holding AG needs an additional €7 billion ($10.2 billion) in capital from the German government to stay afloat and won’t return to profitability until 2012 at the earliest, Chief Executive Axel Wieandt said at a shareholder meeting."

When Old Flames Beckon [...]