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This quote from Caroline Baum sums things up pretty well about the Fed’s complicity in blowing a massive bubble in housing and in stocks before it.
I know Bernanke has given this issue a great deal of thought and devoted the Fed’s resources to finding the correct answer. Still, the defense sounds like something out of [...]

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The Financial Times reports that British regulators have now opened up to reveal more of the details surrounding the emergency aid banks received during the most acute periods of stress to date in the financial crisis.  Meanwhile, in the U.S., the Federal Reserve continues to resist providing greater details.
The sum some of Britain’s largest largest [...]

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FT.com – Lloyds raises new capital target as bondholders warm to CoCos (sounds like good investor appetite for Lloyd’s)
FT.com – Dollar knocked by China renminbi hints (Chinese showing they could revalue just before Obama arrives)
Goldman’s Complete Presentation And Transcript From The Merrill Lynch Financial Services Conference | zero hedge
Intel Pays A.M.D. $1.25 Billion to Settle [...]

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Columbia University Professor and former Federal Reserve official Frederic Mishkin wrote a much-discussed Op-Ed in the Financial Times yesterday. In it, he asks
Are potential asset-price bubbles always dangerous?

He answers this question with a no, noting that some asset bubbles are more dangerous than others because of their connection to debt and credit. I agree [...]

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Homeowners walking away from underwater mortgages – MiamiHerald.com
Strategic default on the rise.

Economics and Moral Courage – Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
Anecdote contrasting von Mises and Hans Meyer

Government Porkfare Is No Way to End Recession: Caroline Baum – Bloomberg.com
"not all spending is created equal"

FT Alphaville- Break-ING up is so hard to do
The bancassurance model is dead (at [...]

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Let’s say I run a company. For the sake of argument, we’ll call it a shoe store in New York City. I am making $100,000 net per year now. But, I look around me and see huge opportunity for growth. So I go to my bank and ask for a loan to expand my business.  [...]

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Yesterday I wrote a healthcare polemic which was mostly designed to discuss the politics of healthcare for the President. The essence of my argument was that Barack Obama has not shown enough willingness to fight for specific policies he espoused on the campaign trail. In a poor economic environment, this [...]

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I have a lot more to add but I have a horrendous Internet connection where I now am. So I will provide more tomorrow. Sorry for the delay in answering emails and comments.

“Just because the conventional economists are drinking the Kool-Aid doesn’t mean you have to” – FT AlphavilleDavid Rosenberg spins his [...]

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Posting will be light today as I will try not to be near a computer for most of the day. In the meantime, here are a few stories from around the web.
Town Hall Crowd Shoots Health Message: Caroline Baum – Bloomberg.com
Interview with Canadian PM Stephen Harper, 8/10/09 – Political Punch
Jake Tapper interviews on health care, [...]

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What I was afraid of – Paul Krugman
As I also predicted, Obama’s stimulus package is now looking inadequate.

Volcker Gets Less Than He Wants in Curbing Wall Street Excesses – Bloomberg
The title says everything, doesn’t it?

Our Crisis of Regulation – Richard Posner
This op-ed is spot on in saying that the Obama reform agenda is premature. We [...]