• Debt and Democracy: Has the Link been Broken? 6 Dec 2011
• Pegs, Pomp, and Direct Democracy 16 Aug 2011

• Expect More De Facto Decriminalization of Elite Financial Fraud in 2011 28 Dec 2010
• What the Mortgage Deal In The Works Reveals About The Obama Administration 8 Mar 2011
• The Obama Administration’s victory lap 8 Mar 2010

• AMEX credit card trouble deepens bank worries 25 Jun 2008
• More credit card writedowns are coming 1 Apr 2009
• Video: Jon Stewart on credit card reform 25 Feb 2010

• Russia: playing chicken with Ukraine over natural gas 4 Jan 2009
• John Brynjolfsson Is Betting On Convergence in Europe, Playing the Curve in US 21 Dec 2010
• Hungary Developments Are Worrisome 24 Nov 2010

• German Constitutional Court and Parliament on euro zone aid 14 Jun 2011

• Ireland votes No on Lisbon Treaty 13 Jun 2008
• The European Sovereign Debt Crisis is a solvency crisis 15 Aug 2011
• Sovereign debt crisis: What traders are talking about 20 Sep 2011

• What are the legal rights of lenders and homeowners in foreclosure? 23 Oct 2009
• Wow, judges now nixing lenders’ foreclosure claims entirely in court 25 Oct 2009
• Mortgage company hires people to break in and steal from man not in foreclosure 12 Jul 2011

• Countrywide Control Fraud, Inch Deep Prosecution 28 Feb 2011
• Cash Incentives for Whistleblowers of Control Fraud 27 Dec 2010
• FHFA Sues 17 Firms to Recover Losses to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac 2 Sep 2011

• Europe’s Political Climate Impacts the Debt Crisis Response 17 May 2011
• Euro Testing May 10 High, Helped By Strong Euro Zone Sentiment Survey 29 Jul 2010
• Roland Burris: more political tomfoolery in the U.S. 15 Feb 2009

• Fannie and Freddie need $75 billion 8 Jul 2008
• Freddie and Fannie are getting nationalized 5 Sep 2008
• Freddie and Fannie taken over by US government 7 Sep 2008

• To Save the Euro, Germany Must Quit the Euro Zone 25 May 2011
• Some Thoughts On Greece And The Euro Zone 11 May 2011
• Greece is considering withdrawal from the Euro-zone (rumour) 6 May 2011

• Citibank Belgium to pay ‘duped’ savers 128mn for bad Lehman deal 24 Oct 2009

• Ten Ideas That Would Turn David Rosenberg Bullish on the USA 24 Jan 2011
• A conversation about Prop. 8 with David Boies on Charlie Rose 5 Jun 2009

• New York to use eminent domain to build a basketball stadium 25 Nov 2009
• A reminder about eminent domain and government power 10 Dec 2009
• Corporatism masquerading as Liberty 10 Feb 2011

• National City Faces `Informal’ Probe Tied to Lending 8 Aug 2008
• Libor-OIS spread at an all-time high 25 Sep 2008
• Ireland faces two-year recession 13 Jun 2008

• The Obama Administration’s victory lap 8 Mar 2010
• Bush Administration turns the TARP over to Obama 17 Nov 2008
• Obama in his own words on the proposed tax cut deal 8 Dec 2010

• Cash Incentives for Whistleblowers of Control Fraud 27 Dec 2010
• Former Countrywide head Mozilo is charged by the SEC 4 Jun 2009
• Ex-Countrywide CEO is the new Ken Lay 8 Aug 2008

From today's Breakfast with Dave research note at Gluskin Sheff (highlighting added):

1. An energy policy that truly removes U.S. dependence on foreign oil (shale case, coal, nuclear).
2. A complete rewrite of the tax code that promotes savings, investment, and a revamp of the capital stock. Cut tax rates, eliminate loopholes and costly tax breaks. Tax consumption, promote savings and investment. That is crucial. But it will take political courage (ask Brian Mulroney).
3. A credible plan that reverses the runup in the debt to GDP ratio. This includes not just on-balance sheet items but new rules governing entitlements too. We need delineation of the future of Fannie and Freddie if there is any … they became wards of the government nearly three years ago and there is still no clarification on this file (slightly more important than these periodic consumer spending gimmicks that have surfaced over the past few years). We need a complete rewrite of social contracts and a reversal in sacred cows that have been created over the years that are completely unaffordable. Plus, people are not going to learn to live within their means if our politicians continue to set a bad example. The act of dipping into Social Security, incentivizing companies who are already cash-rich to spend more on new equipment and extending a Bush tax cut that always had a 10-year expiry date at the expense of the already severely strained public purse was political expediency at its worst.

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]]> http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/12/whistleblowers-cash-incentives-for-control-fraud.html/feed/ 1 http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/11/time-to-shut-down-mers.html http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/11/time-to-shut-down-mers.html#comments Tue, 23 Nov 2010 03:49:14 +0000 Randall Wray http://www.creditwritedowns.com/?p=22604 Randall Wray advises us to support Representative Kaptur’s bill and restore the rule of law Every link of the home finance food chain promoted fraud—from mortgage brokers and appraisers who conspired to overvalue property to stick buyers with overpriced homes, to many mortgage lenders which preferred the riskiest mortgages to maximize interest and fees, on

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]]> http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/11/time-to-shut-down-mers.html/feed/ 2 http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/11/put-back-losses-on-mortgages-estimated-at-31-billion.html http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/11/put-back-losses-on-mortgages-estimated-at-31-billion.html#comments Thu, 18 Nov 2010 23:45:39 +0000 John Lounsbury http://www.creditwritedowns.com/?p=22540 by John Lounsbury Buried 72 pages deep in the latest COP (Congressional Oversight Panel) Report is the following table: (Click on table for larger image.) The significance of this table is explained in the report: The estimated $52 billion would be borne predominantly by four firms (Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup),

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]]> http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/11/put-back-losses-on-mortgages-estimated-at-31-billion.html/feed/ 0 http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/11/videos-depositions-of-alleged-robo-signers-nationwide-title-clearing.html http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/11/videos-depositions-of-alleged-robo-signers-nationwide-title-clearing.html#comments Fri, 12 Nov 2010 18:00:19 +0000 Edward Harrison http://www.creditwritedowns.com/?p=22311 Over the past several years, Bryan Bly, Crystal Moore and Dhurata Doko have signed thousands of mortgage assignments as vice presidents of Citi Residential and other major lenders. Yet when asked in a recent deposition what a mortgage assignment is, Bly replied: "I’m really not sure." Moore, meanwhile, defined a promissory note as something "that

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]]> http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/11/videos-depositions-of-alleged-robo-signers-nationwide-title-clearing.html/feed/ 0 http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/11/is-the-foreclosure-crisis-is-overblown.html http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/11/is-the-foreclosure-crisis-is-overblown.html#comments Mon, 08 Nov 2010 23:27:06 +0000 Edward Harrison http://www.creditwritedowns.com/?p=22173 Here are Andrew Ross Sorkin and Joe Nocera of the New York Times having a video debate about the foreclosure crisis.  Nocera thinks this is a key economic issue. Sorkin thinks the issue is overblown. My take: For political reasons, the Obama Administration would like to deep six this issue because it could harm the

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]]> http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/11/is-the-foreclosure-crisis-is-overblown.html/feed/ 3 http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/11/open-bank-of-americas-books-and-set-the-record-straight.html http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/11/open-bank-of-americas-books-and-set-the-record-straight.html#comments Fri, 05 Nov 2010 12:23:57 +0000 Randall Wray http://www.creditwritedowns.com/?p=22074 William K. Black is an Associate Professor of Economics and Law at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He is a white-collar criminologist and was a senior financial regulator. He is the author of The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One. L. Randall Wray is a Professor of Economics at the University

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]]> http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/11/open-bank-of-americas-books-and-set-the-record-straight.html/feed/ 4 http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/10/no-mr-president-larry-summers-did-not-resolve-the-financial-crisis-for-a-pittance-he-just-papered-over-the-problem.html http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/10/no-mr-president-larry-summers-did-not-resolve-the-financial-crisis-for-a-pittance-he-just-papered-over-the-problem.html#comments Fri, 29 Oct 2010 15:00:18 +0000 William Black http://www.creditwritedowns.com/?p=21771 by William K. Black William K. Black is an Associate Professor of Economics and Law at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He is a white-collar criminologist and was a senior financial regulator. He is the author of The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One. I passed up the obvious title: "Heckuva

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]]> http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/10/no-mr-president-larry-summers-did-not-resolve-the-financial-crisis-for-a-pittance-he-just-papered-over-the-problem.html/feed/ 1 http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/10/foreclose-on-the-foreclosure-fraudsters-part-2.html http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/10/foreclose-on-the-foreclosure-fraudsters-part-2.html#comments Fri, 29 Oct 2010 12:20:02 +0000 Randall Wray http://www.creditwritedowns.com/?p=21772 By William K. Black and L. Randall Wray William K. Black is an Associate Professor of Economics and Law at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He is a white-collar criminologist and was a senior financial regulator. He is the author of The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One. L. Randall Wray

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]]> http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/10/foreclose-on-the-foreclosure-fraudsters-part-2.html/feed/ 4 http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/10/black-says-major-frauds-continue-at-mortgage-companies.html http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/10/black-says-major-frauds-continue-at-mortgage-companies.html#comments Tue, 26 Oct 2010 13:30:53 +0000 Edward Harrison http://www.creditwritedowns.com/?p=21630 Short clip below. Regarding the comments about Citi, see this article here. This is not new news because Bowen testified in April (see here). Yet, nothing was done in the intervening six months until the foreclosure crisis precipitated damage control. Update: Here is a second video that includes Bill Black talking to Dylan Ratigan on

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]]> http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/10/black-says-major-frauds-continue-at-mortgage-companies.html/feed/ 0 http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/10/the-subprime-debacle-act-2-part-2.html http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/10/the-subprime-debacle-act-2-part-2.html#comments Sun, 24 Oct 2010 17:25:24 +0000 Guest Author http://www.creditwritedowns.com/?p=21575 by John Mauldin They Knew What They Were Selling It’s hard to know where to start. There is just so much here. So let’s begin with testimony from Mr. Richard Bowen, former senior vice-president and business chief underwriter with CitiMortgage Inc. This was given to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission Hearing on Subprime Lending and

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]]> http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/10/the-subprime-debacle-act-2-part-2.html/feed/ 0 http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/10/foreclose-on-the-foreclosure-fraudsters-part-1.html http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/10/foreclose-on-the-foreclosure-fraudsters-part-1.html#comments Sat, 23 Oct 2010 19:30:25 +0000 Randall Wray http://www.creditwritedowns.com/?p=21567 By William K. Black and L. Randall Wray William K. Black is an Associate Professor of Economics and Law at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He is a white-collar criminologist and was a senior financial regulator. He is the author of The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One. L. Randall Wray

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]]> http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/10/foreclose-on-the-foreclosure-fraudsters-part-1.html/feed/ 1 http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/10/an-update-on-asymmetric-information-and-corporate-governance-in-bank-bailouts.html http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/10/an-update-on-asymmetric-information-and-corporate-governance-in-bank-bailouts.html#comments Thu, 21 Oct 2010 18:00:33 +0000 Edward Harrison http://www.creditwritedowns.com/?p=21500 Last June I wrote a post on the topic of corporate governance that pointed to one of only two outcomes as the likely result of the bank bailouts. Outcome number one was bank prudence and low credit growth in the face of uncertainty. Outcome number two was a reckless heads I win, tails you lose

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]]> http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/10/an-update-on-asymmetric-information-and-corporate-governance-in-bank-bailouts.html/feed/ 0 http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/10/ny-fed-joins-attorneys-general-in-pursuing-foreclosure-frauds.html http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2010/10/ny-fed-joins-attorneys-general-in-pursuing-foreclosure-frauds.html#comments Thu, 21 Oct 2010 13:00:40 +0000 Randall Wray http://www.creditwritedowns.com/?p=21491 by L. Randall Wray, Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Research Director with the Center for Full Employment and Price Stability and Senior Research Scholar at The Levy Economics Institute and author of Understanding Modern Money. In a surprising turn of events, the NYFed—no less—has gone after the Bank of America for

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