First
Anonymous wrote on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 3:20pm.
strategery is over-rated.
First
many = none ?
Liz Warren is always good stuff.
Few.
lawyerliz
strategery is over-rated.
Elizabeth Warren is great. Neil Barofsky is also showing himself well.
Federal Bankruptcy Watch: US Federal Deficit Hits $1 Trillion For First Half Of FY2009
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released mid-year deficit figures earlier this week. The numbers are shocking but not surprising given the estimates. We are well on our way to a $2 trillion deficit for this year. I suspect it will be closer to $2.5 trillion as I wrote 6 weeks ago. Perhaps the most interesting trend discernible from the CBO release was the dramatic slowdown in tax receipts. Down 15% from a year ago is somewhat unsettling and represents the largest year-over-year drop in more than 30 years.
After the jump, we have the detailed numbers from Reuters and another debt cartoon.
She's an explainer. Puts it in terms ordinary people can understand.
Yay, daily bail is now obfuscating his linkspam with "http://bit.ly" links.
Wonder why.
Meanwhile in bucolic Asheville where all the children are above average...
Let's see ...we have the Grand Bohemain Hotel open last week with target rates of $200-$300/night; we have the Hotel Indigo topping out under construction 2 months ago; we had the Pioneer Bldg condos open with its smallest condo of 900 sq.ft listed at $240,000; and we had Biltmore Grande Square Mixed-use "New Urbanism" open its first phase of retail space and condos.
Why?
Cuz "Asheville Is Immune !" as the Realtors and Developers chant chant chant into the dark cold night.
HC, if you are still out there, where are you trying to rent?
Whatever. I read that dual income trap thing. LOL...there was not 'trap' there was no 'conspiracy'..there just was a bunch of Whiskey Tango who thought they'd become rich by buying too many shiny cars & McMansions...
"I spend all my money on SUVs & a 4500 sq. ft. house! How dare you trap me...NOOOOOOOOOO"
Off to dine.
lawyerliz
A little OT here, but the SEC is gonna 'suspend' shortin' them there equities as soon as they'd get ready to deliver up them there stress testin' results. Sorry fella's.... someone's a shavin' the dice again.
asheville = Portland-lite on the east coast... lots a faux yuppie "wealth"
"Wonder why."
I wonder what he is selling. It is kind of like the Michael posts with everything pointing to the RP stuff. I just wonder what kind of AstroTurf bail is peddling. Just not interested enough to poke around the site and figure out the spin.
Economite,
I got left behind in the last thread
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/housing/hvs/historic/index.html
Table 8. Quarterly Estimates of the Housing Inventory [xls - 86k]
---
From 2000 to 2008, Each year is a new row, columns are Q1 - Q4
% of Housing units Vacant
11.60% 11.87% 11.68% 11.36%
11.85% 12.21% 11.84% 11.75%
12.05% 11.89% 12.00% 12.13%
12.34% 12.57% 12.83% 12.81%
12.96% 13.06% 12.67% 12.38%
12.64% 12.84% 12.64% 12.55%
12.83% 13.00% 13.15% 13.20%
13.80% 13.61% 13.96% 13.81%
14.35% 14.36% 14.29% 14.51%
---
Go on, call me a liar again for saying there was excess supply in 2007. You're only digging yourself a bigger hole
"someone's a shavin' the dice again."
So, short while the shorting is good? FAZ?
Who were the top 5 holders of CDS again?
GS, JPM, Citi, BoA what is the fifth? Wells?
"short while the shorting is good?"
SDS [AH] $72.39 -0.47 / -0.64 Apr 08 6:25pm E
.............................
Base hits win ballgames.
If you don't take your profits, someone else will.
"You're only digging yourself a bigger hole"
-------
Yeah, that's not Economite's job.
It's the government's!
***Don't Forget To Ask About The 1% Down, $40,000 County Money Down Payment Program***
http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/reb/1106009133.html
all is well in down payment land....
O should make her Sec. of the Treasury...
"I took a 50,000 cash advance out on my Amex to buy hookers & blow...How dare you trap me...Can someone write a book about how I've been trapped...the game is rigged against meeeeeee!"
Related- true observation. I constantly run into people who are deep in debt & bitterly complain about it...so far, I've observed that 100% of them are driving a car not less than 3 years old (effectively all brand new)...
Hmmm...I wonder what could it be, I just can't figure it out...
Article in Der Spiegel about Greece, http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,617915,00.html
I normally see/hear little about Greece, but the article makes it seem desperately brutal at present
Anyone catch this at the end?
"there is some disagreement even on our panel about whether we should be discussing alternate strategies at all in this moment of crisis"
Yeah, that worked out so well for us in the past.
By the way, where is Sebastion ?
Elizabeth Warren may be one of the few people in D.C. earning her check. Of course, I was disappointed that she didn't raise a dagger and scream, "Death to the banksters," but these things take time. Let us be patient ...
"there is some disagreement even on our panel about whether we should be discussing alternate strategies at all in this moment of crisis"
Yeah, I think the panel's vote was 3 to 2. Yesterday?
So here we are again discussing TARP. Like any good and viral STD, it just keeps coming back no matter what med is administered.
Marry me!
EHP - It was the Olympics that pushed over the edge. Something Canada, indeed British Columbia should be concerned about.
Barley
Unbudgeted costs, unmet revenue expectations associated with the Winter Olympics is a much smaller concern than other issues for BC or Canada. Winter games are much smaller than Summer, and Canada is much larger than Greece with a much different fiscal/political history. It warrants attention, but not a death watch
What's the ETA on the new financial institution resolution authority? Is it going to land before or after the stress tests are released? If it's after, then the stress tests are for show. If it's before ... things might get interesting, assuming Timmy can grow a pair.
"Elizabeth Warren may be one of the few people in D.C. earning her check. Of course, I was disappointed that she didn't raise a dagger and scream, "Death to the banksters," but these things take time. Let us be patient ..."
It's the setup. She is a politician after all. She just pushed the pawn, so the queen can come out. It's Timmy Gs move. Is he smart enough to know he is about to get F'd or not? If congress goes to their peeps and rallies support, it is all over, cause they are getting hammered already.
If O' is the only one between the bankers and the pitchforks, this is congress saying. "Were picking up some pitchforks on the way home, you might want to revise your positioning."
Good overview; my only complaint is that she could have provided a few more examples the the various indirect subsidies the banks are receiving. There are so many, it would be hard to overstate the breadth, and since it's the bulk of the current approach it would be informative to list the biggies, with some round numbers. A trillion for this, two trillion this way, etc.
I know who I want to replace Geithner when he's pushed on his sword.
"Good overview; my only complaint is that she could have provided a few more examples the the various indirect subsidies the banks are receiving."
I disagree it needed to be simple clear and very high level. If you bog J6P down with numbers and details they start thinking about what is on TV.
This is just to set up the ground work. The outrage comes next. This is also a political move to see how the bankers respond. She is signaling intent and asking the bankers what they are going to do about it, without showing her hand.
An Irish Story: Pass the Hot Potatoe
Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said that the new government agency announced Tuesday to take over property loans from banks worth as much as €90 billion ($119 billion) will "work them out over time."
"We don't need any bailout here in Dublin," Lenihan said in an interview with Bloomberg Television yesterday. "We are adaptable, we are agile."
The tactic mirrors Sweden in the 1990s and governments in eastern Europe after 1989. Ireland is trying to cope with the fallout from a property crash as what was once western Europe's most dynamic economy shrinks at the fastest pace in the euro region.
"This is also a political move to see how the bankers respond."
This looks like Congress versus Obama. So if I understand Professor Warren's role correctly, I think the message is that the bankers just quietly became irrelevant in the TARP power struggle.
U.S. Imagines the Bailout as an Investment Tool
As part of its sweeping plan to purge banks of troublesome assets, the Obama administration is encouraging several large investment companies to create the financial-crisis equivalent of war bonds: bailout funds.
The idea is that these investments, akin to mutual funds that buy stocks and bonds, would give ordinary Americans a chance to profit from the bailouts that are being financed by their tax dollars. But there is another, deeply political motivation as well: to quiet accusations that all of these giant bailouts will benefit only Wall Street plutocrats.
Somehow I think that even this will be gamed. What's the difference between the Class A and Class B funds again?
"This looks like Congress versus Obama."
I do not think the (D) congress is necessarily hostile to O'. I think they are giving him a chance to do his job, or they are going to do it for him.
I think some folks who voted for Obama hoped he would surround himself with more people like Elizabeth Warren in top positions in government.
She is leaps and bounds better than most in high-up positions. I don't think she'll peddle much influence, however.
"I don't think she'll peddle much influence, however."
Yeah, that Geithner guy is connected. To the banks!
George Soros on the dangers of propping up zombie banks:
http://money.cnn.com/
.............................
Base hits win ballgames.
If you don't take your profits, someone else will.
Interesting read, although I'm confused about Sununu's objections. The TARP's purpose has changed so many times during its short life, it's impossible to judge its performance against any fixed metrics. ("Returning stability to the financial system" is not a performance metric!) The Treasury's actions have been so ad-hoc and reactionary, we must conclude that reacting ad-hoc is the strategy! Therefore, any evaluation of the effectiveness of the TARP must include discussions of alternative strategies.
------------------
sacrealstats
Just like Berkshire Hathaway, Ford and New York Times stock classes.
I liked her report. A bit understated though. She's also much easier on the eye and ear than Paulson or Giethner in both style and substance.
Perhaps the most interesting trend discernible from the CBO release was the dramatic slowdown in tax receipts. Down 15% from a year ago is somewhat unsettling and represents the largest year-over-year drop in more than 30 years.
Aiiiieeeeeeee!!!!!!!!
Not to worry, it'll all be good after the 2nd half recovery 
The idea is that these investments, akin to mutual funds that buy stocks and bonds, would give ordinary Americans a chance to profit from the bailouts that are being financed by their tax dollars.
These bailouts are being used to fill in the holes left by evaporating ponzi illusions. There are no profits to be made.
If these were viable investments you wouldn't need bailouts.
This is just another attempt to create the illusion of future wealth where their is none. The Obama adminstration is attempting to engage in a Wall Street style sleight of hand in order to quell popular rage. It is yet more of the same.
Paying for someone else's gambling losses is not an investment.
Taxes will be what helps motivate people too actually think about what is going on. Especially in the counties that often tripled in size (population) in the last 10 years. Overstrained emergency services and roads. They never got caught up and now they can not afford to provide what would normally be considered the basics.
http://afterthecrash.net - Home of the Doomer Story Portal and Other Stuff
Warren and Krugman might make a good team, if academics actually counted for something in Washington.
Nightly Business Report: Street Critique: Hillary Kramer - Bear Market Rally is over - we're goin down.
http://www.pbs.org/nbr/site/onair/street_critique/sc_home/
.............................
Base hits win ballgames.
If you don't take your profits, someone else will.
I've been thinking of a few things lately. The first of which being the risk related to interest rates. All of the financials have been benefiting from artificially low interest rates, which allow them to underwrite a huge volume of refi's and continue to underprice risk. How could you possibly underwrite 30 year fixed loans at <5% interest in the current environment? Simple -- you can't profitably. Thus you need to immediately peddle them off on Fannie/Freddia/FHA, and other government programs who will now assume the risk for these unprofitable loans, while the banks immediately recognize the earnings. Pretty sweet deal for banks! So essentially the government is replacing the securitization process, and will be on the hook for the losses that pensioners/insurance co's/SWFs/and other institutional investors soaked up before.
But this is transferring an incredible amount of interest related risk to the government. Remember how the thrifts all blew up when they underwrote loans and interest rates subsequently rose? The losses on the government's loan portfolios will explode if interest rates rise. In order to keep interest rates down, the Fed has to jawbone and keep buying treasuries, while simultaneously managing inflation expectations to prevent long rates from rising. In the event that the Fed/treasury can't hold rates down, the losses are going to compound and create a negative feedback loop. Losses incurred are sufficiently large that the US cannot credibly finance them through treasury auctions (i.e. default premium rises). Thus if the bond market even starts to slip away, it is going to snowball and crash treasuries, driving long yields through the roof, and resulting in further losses which need to be financed. So in my mind, this means that an inflation scenario is out of the question -- Any attempt to inflate our way out of this would lead to a death spiral which would collapse our currency.
Now on the flipside you have deflation, which would bring down our financial system as current household/government debt levels are completely unsustainable and we wouldn't be able to service the interest. Deflation would inevitably result in a sovereign default, something which even Buiter recognizes as a possibility.
Thus the only real option for the Fed/Treasury is to walk an extremely delicate line between the two. If the pendulum swings too far one way or the other, then Bernanke/Geithner must immediately make an announcement that completely contradicts the market's prevailing sentiment and drive it back in the other direction. Our economic/political stability depend on it. So if you are betting on any outcome from the government, you might as well bet that they will continue to keep releasing contradictory statements, obfuscating whether they will choose between inflation/deflation. The reality is that we cannot afford to experience either.
Feel free to comment/critique/throw rocks -- I'm just trying to get a better sense of what the Fed/Treasury are really trying to do here.
From the COP Executive Summary:
"... it is possible that Treasury's approach fails to acknowledge the depth
of the current downturn and the degree to which the low valuation of troubled assets accurately
reflects their worth."
--- Only just "possible?"
"The actions undertaken by Treasury, the Federal Reserve Board and the
FDIC are unprecedented."
--- Well, that's one word that you could use. I can think of others...
But if the economic crisis is deeper than anticipated..."
-- "Deeper than anticipated by WHOM exactly?" Most people anticipate that it will be worse than the govmt is projecting.
"it is possible that Treasury will need to take very different actions in order to restore financial stability."
- Ya think? Got any plan B strategies/timeframes/metrics?
Grrrrr...
"Interesting read, although I'm confused about Sununu's objections."
I agree. I do not see how you can evaluate the success of TARP, unless you can benchmark it against the alternatives outlined by Warren.
My assumption would be that Sununu does not want that comparison made, because the bankers do not come out looking so good in that situation.
FTU hold on baby!
This has allowed Treasury to leverage TARP funds well beyond the funds appropriated by Congress.
Leverage. Isn't that what started this whole mess?
The total value of all direct spending, loans and guarantees provided to date in conjunction with the financial stability efforts (including those of the FDIC as well as the Treasury and the Federal Reserve) now exceeds $4 trillion.
Does that $4 trillion include all the Recovery Act grant programs now gushing out of every orifice of every federal agency?
"- Ya think? Got any plan B strategies/timeframes/metrics?"
Of course not, "This plan will work." Pay no attention to the fact that it is just a direct subsidy to a select few banks.
This is like watching my grandmother giving me an economics lecture.... I now have a hankering for some milk and cookies....
nova
How about the city councils that financed large parts of sprawling suburbs, by paying for utility and road connections up front with the expectation of recouping the investment over the next 15 years of normal taxation. Unfortunately they did not also compute the cost of servicing poorly organized developments with garbage pickup, emergency services, and other ongoing operational costs. All they should be thinking about is how to never allow such self-interested/short sighted/greedy/stupid into power again. I mean those egregious decisions are even perhaps the least of their worries. Pension funds, paying excessive fees for financial products, engaging in interest rate swaps as a matter of speculation, offering decade+ subsidies to businesses, building sport stadiums, etc...
.....THAT'S MY GIRL!
- - - - -
Black 
Ranch
Gavshire Hathaway (member) wrote on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 7:27pm.
Interesting. Are you talking about a bond market dislocation? I do not know enough to answer anything but I followed your logic. Chilling.
http://afterthecrash.net - Home of the Doomer Story Portal and Other Stuff
Funny how I knew why Greece was in crisis before even reading an article about the crisis in Greece:
But now the banks have stopped cooperating. They are refusing to provide new loans and this has caused the entire system to collapse. "It has cut off our oxygen supply," Sargentis says. "We are being suffocated by debt." But it is not the hospital suppliers' debts the banks are worried about -- it is the highly indebted Greek government they no longer see as being creditworthy.
Hoocoodanode!!!
"$4 trillion"
80K for every M/W/C in the USA? That would buy a lot of health care coverage. Or new businesses, or pay off homes.
But noooooo, we get to blow it on a futile effort to save a few well connected bankers instead.
Interesting idea, gavshire hathaway.
Your suggestion is the only thing -- other than that they are corrupt and/or stupid -- that even begins to make sense out of the last few weeks' Fed/Treasury actions.
Maybe they are all three... Sigh.
My friend Lisa is a great illusionist -- maybe she oughta start consulting for 'em.
I wonder if Obama is listening:
Greece has yet to break its old habits. The level of competitiveness is low, much-needed reforms are overdue, government bureaucracy is bloated and corrupt, and the country continues to live beyond its means. Even though the national pension funds are chronically short of cash, female public employees with school-age children are allowed to retire at the age of 50....
Sargentis only knows what will happen if the Greek government continues to be unable to pay its bills and the companies in his sector are unable to sell their goods. "This will spell the end of the health care system in our country." Among other things.
Gavshire Hathaway
Nice post, it's what I have seen for a few months now. My metaphor of choice is the fed is walking along a path, it can only go forward, and the further along it goes the path narrows and the drop off on either side becomes steeper and steeper. Soon they will be running along a knife's edge and the side to which they fall will be determined by the winds of fate.
"Thus the only real option for the Fed/Treasury is to walk an extremely delicate line between the two."
I do not think that line exists. There is an overlap.
The options are"
A)Hyper-inflation (print)
B)Default (deflation)
C)Both (but maybe save a bank or two)
O' and Timmy G. are going with "C"
EvilHenryPaulson wrote on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 7:32pm.
Around here the county boards sure have a lot of real estate/developers on them. It was all one closed loop circle jerk.
http://afterthecrash.net - Home of the Doomer Story Portal and Other Stuff
The only thing that the FRB knows for certain is that printing can't hurt in the short term. Whether it actually helps is still debatable.
"My assumption would be that Sununu does not want that comparison made, because the bankers do not come out looking so good in that situation."
DING-DING-DING-DING-DING
- - - - -
Black Ranch
nova
Marie Antoinette is popularly attributed the quote "Let them eat cake".
I say let the developers and councillors eat their own salty cracker
Another interesting thought is that if the scenario I outlined above is true -- that the Fed/treasury are really concerned about a bond market dislocation, then they have no choice but to cater to our nation's creditors, who also happen to be the creditors of the financials/insurers. Failure to keep bailing out the bondholders could result in retaliation in the treasury auctions, which would be an endgame.
So maybe the problem is less that our political system is beholden to the interests of the mega-banks, but rather that they have no other option than to continue down the path of endless bailouts, less the largest ponzi scheme of them all begins to unravel.
"Around here the county boards sure have a lot of real estate/developers on them. It was all one closed loop circle jerk. "
That is the problem with democracy. If the public takes their eye off the ball, you end up with Creationism in textbooks.
Why at certain points during this video do the tone and words imply an adversarial relationship with Treasury?
Surely there are not people out there that don't realize Geithner is an Obama appointee. Right?
More than anything, this video and the content make me wonder where the *real* scamming is going to go down. Transparency in one area always seems to serve to distract/hide from a bigger crime somewhere else. I hope I'm wrong and overly cynical for once - but I doubt it.
------------------------------------
"I am disrespctful to dirt!"
But endless bailouts are just THAT. ENDLESS bailouts.
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Black Ranch
Gavshire, your analysis is interesting. But you give the treasury too much credit. The truth is usually simpler than we assume. i think they (the treasury) are simply scared of facing reality, and also desperately wanting to bail out their banking buddies. Hence all the contradictory signals.
"by the winds of fate" or 由命运风确定
School board members in Kenosha, WI who participated in CDO "investment" ousted. Only one incumbent reelected. Doesn't help get the money back but removal of incompetent officials does happen.
http://www.kenoshanews.com/home/newcomers_top_vote_totals_4714927.html
Blackhalo,
Companies competing in a high growth market price differently than in a low growth market. Absent a credit bubble, the US is both a smaller market and a low growth market.
There is also the matter of seignorage, or the currency of ultimate liquidity. For the moment, the high USD is sheltering the economy from higher input costs (although at this time, I believe it is preferable to have a lower currency even though trade is collaps-ed/ing because it is better at lowering the biggest cost quickly, trade-weighted wages rather than the significant trend in Europe, America, and Japan to do a combination of salary cuts and furloughs. post-crisis currencies can find their own equilibrium and value of savings is restored)
Evil,
"My metaphor of choice is the fed is walking along a path, it can only go forward, and the further along it goes the path narrows and the drop off on either side becomes steeper and steeper. Soon they will be running along a knife's edge and the side to which they fall will be determined by the winds of fate."
Couldn't have said it better myself... And it doesn't really matter which way it falls -- we end up in the same place. In the end, it may make no difference whether you invest correctly or not. The inflationistas/depressionistas, and the true tinfoil hatters who have been hoarding food, gold, and guns, could very well be right.
bla bla bla.
congressional actress said:
"here are our choices on how to hump you harder"
on a bike ride monday in SE portland i saw perhaps a dozen bicycle caravans. small groups of 3-4 people aged 20-50, maybe two bike trailers, frequently one of the trailers extra long like 6 feet. all of the trash cans on my street get preened/gleaned throughout the day. encampments all over.
to raise the ante on feral living anecdotes:
one guy was sitting on a sewer pipe fishing. i saw him cast in the pipe.
who needs a bailout?
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Gav nice post.
You may have forgotten the US of A is a debtor nation. That is there may come a time when a creditor just says nope, pay more. I saw this happemn in Sweden. This is why I think two bonds will emerge. A foreign bond and a domestic pay bond. I think the US may well loose its abilty to influence interest rates as other nations figure out ways to avoid single currency dominance.
Flip side, interest rates have recently become a tool to manage the economy. Lets say, oh, GDP goes ballistic and to cool off the economy interest rates rise....
Gah! Now they got a school marm playin' cop. Made it about to the point where she said we have 3 choices...
Nostrovia,
Misean - aint seen you in a while
"i think they (the treasury) are simply scared of facing reality, and also desperately wanting to bail out their banking buddies. Hence all the contradictory signals."
I think ultimately, you have the public on one side, wanting as many bankers hanging from the gallows as possible, while on the other, you have the bankers who want as few as possible. In the middle you have a spectrum of players, Timmy G., O', and Congress.
Congress is the closest to the people, because they have midterms coming up and some splainin' to do. Even though they sure do like getting banker money to help getting re-elected. What they are REALLY worried about is the opposition running on a burn the banks platform. Cause they've been getting the calls and e-mails and they know that will sell.
Then you have O' who one hopes, is just listening to the wrong folks. But they may just be saying what he wants to hear. Something like, "We are almost there. Just a few trillion more, and then we will help you deliver on all of your campaign promises..."
Then, Timmy G. who has spent a long time at the Fed making chump change compared to what he what he could be making at GS, probably with a plan to return and cash in on his connections, and get his 500mil like Paulson. And If the banks go boom, there is no payday for him.
asheville is flakey.
portland shoots asheville's balls.
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Gavshire Hathaway,
Well I've been expecting slow economy, deflation to reign and saw the blip in drybulk shipping anticipatory inventory input build coming. Looks like that is going to plan.
Later I expect certain currencies to face some big problems, with the USD being at play in the final round. At that point, you can expect inflation in USD terms. US currency will not go to zero, in whatever form that may be. Credit markets post-crisis will be most interesting, much more multi-lateral rather than single clearing house -- the rebuilding of margins of error at sub-component levels.
However before the USD is at risk, it's Asian pegs. Which means inflation in base goods. We'll see how far up to user price we can take fertilizer, iron ore, wheat, etc we can get before they give way.
More green Shoots for retail? Or Green Weeds?
After hours, from BBerg:
OTOH, the producers, mfgs, and suppliers still blowing chunks...
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aftSgkSkQkZc&refer=us
I am completely missing why anyone here is thinking/advocating why this woman is doing a good job with this report, or is a good candidate going forward.
She's reading off a TelePrompTer - watch her eyes. Someone wrote that for her and she's just reading.
Plus, she doesn't get down to answering anything of any sort about what her job is supposed to be, except that "we're keeping an eye on things."
Yeah, well lady, there's an eye on the back of our dollar bills doing the same thing when they aren't shoved in my wallet losing value.
Perhaps I've missed something(
, but... she's talking out of both sides of her mouth and one other orifice.
If you're buying that, my depression is not deep enough yet. Sorry, help me out by explaining someone.
Is she implying that Japan's policy of subsidization of the banks was successful?
Hey Barley.
Nostrovia,
Meet the New Consumer: Mr. Thrift:
The sales of Russian Lada cars increased four times in Germany in March in comparison with the same period of the previous year. Lada Deutschland GmbH, the official importer of AvtoVAZ in Germany, reported the sales increase of 154 percent over the first quarter of the year
Barley, I've considered the two bond approach. That might be the only way for the US to default without forcing it's citizens into poverty. Or perhaps they have to introduce a new currency, in which there is a different exchange rate for citizens vs. foreigners? I've seen a couple others with similar musings.
It's unlikely for the status quo of power to be maintained if A) our currency gets trashed, or B) we fail to meet the obligations of destitute retirees after a default
Lord Blankfein on NPR today. After this round of softball by the "journalist" I will never donate to NPR. How did this guy become the most powerful CEO in the US?
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102887296
"The idea is that these investments, akin to mutual funds that buy stocks and bonds, would give ordinary Americans a chance to profit from the bailouts that are being financed by their tax dollars."
This is like feeding a cow hamburgers, no?
EHP - Please 'splain "multi-lateral"...interesting...
true tinfoil hatters who have been hoarding food, gold, and guns, could very well be right.
What is "tinfoil" about that?
"This is like feeding a cow hamburgers, no? "
Nope. It's like crawling into an alligators mouth to get your arm back after its bitten it off.
Nostrovia,
true tinfoil hatters who have been hoarding food, gold, and guns, could very well be right.
What is "tinfoil" about that?
No offense. I resemble that statement too 
.
Lord Blankfein on NPR today....How did this guy become the most powerful CEO in the US?
Well, he was following Hank Paulson, so the bar was kind of low.
Barley
Eating dinner, will get back to you after
Good AutoVaz link btw
would you invest in this plan?
wait, I'm already backstopping the whole damn thing!!!
I'm listening to her schpiel and wondering when the LIVE FROM NEW YORK - ITS SATURDAY NIGHT!!! happens... but it didn't.
.
"would you invest in this plan?
wait, I'm already backstopping the whole damn thing!!!
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/09/business/09fund.html?hp"
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Sounds like "son of Ponzi" to me. I'm not surprised. Given anti-bank sentiment, do they really think the demand will be there? Anybody dumb enough to buy those deserves to take a bath on them.
BSR,
Way OT, but I found this blog today and it reminded me of you. This guy appears to be pursuing the same project as you -- growing his own food, staying under the limit for taxable income, etc -- but he's in Scotland. Scroll down and read the post (and comments that follow) about "Market price for weaners." Enjoy.
.
Meet the New Consumer: Mr. Thrift:
The sales of Russian Lada cars increased four times in Germany in March in comparison with the same period of the previous year. Lada Deutschland GmbH, the official importer of AvtoVAZ in Germany, reported the sales increase of 154 percent over the first quarter of the year
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It's not thrift - it's nostalgia for the good old daze.
Now for a little Leningrad Cowboys...
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It's not thrift - it's nostalgia for the good old daze.
Lets hope they don't take the nostalgia thing to far.
Germany is getting whacked. It says "Since records began in 1950" They must have lost the 1930's records
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
German Exports Continue To Fall In February
German exports slumped 23.1% year on year in February, indicating that the sharp decline in global demand is having a very significant effect on German industry. Total goods imports declined 16.4% over the same period,. February's collapse in exports is almost identical to the January's one, when exports dropped 23.2% on a year-to-year basis, the sharpest decline since records began in 1950. Total goods exports, adjusted for workday and seasonal factors, fell 0.7% from January, while imports decreased 4.2% over the same period.
source http://germaneconomy.blogspot.com/
http://afterthecrash.net - Home of the Doomer Story Portal and Other Stuff
Blackhalo (member) wrote on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 5:56pm.
"Elizabeth Warren may be one of the few people in D.C. earning her check...She is a politician after all."---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elizabeth Warren has been a professor at Harvard and has written for the New York Times. She isn't a politician.
traderwalt
"I am completely missing why anyone here is thinking/advocating why this woman is doing a good job . . . . . . "
Well of course she's reading off a teleprompter. Of course she's not saying "Geithner is lying thru his teeth". Of course she's not saying "Obama is an idiot for hiring Timmah".........This is a panel put together by TPTB on The Hill. Since when in past history has the majority party in The House publicly slit the throat of their President and his appointees? It doesn't happen.
The most we can expect from this Professor is a discussion on the shortcomings to this point in time. In regards to those four points relating to TARP; transparency, assertiveness, accountability, and clarity, though the results publicly are "mixed", every other sentence in her "talk" pretty much spells out that Geithner and TARP Sucks Swampwater.
And, not to be discounted, if the woman is a distant cousin of mine, she does find MOST important the familial ties to responsibility. Elizabeth Warren, wife of Mayflower's Richard Warren might very well be her lineage and pocketed driver.
- - - - -
Black Ranch
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Wednesday, April 8, 2009
German Exports Continue To Fall In February
German exports slumped 23.1% year on year in February, indicating that the sharp decline in global demand is having a very significant effect on German industry. Total goods imports declined 16.4% over the same period,. February's collapse in exports is almost identical to the January's one, when exports dropped 23.2% on a year-to-year basis, the sharpest decline since records began in 1950. Total goods exports, adjusted for workday and seasonal factors, fell 0.7% from January, while imports decreased 4.2% over the same period.
:: ::
Exercise in futility: go to a company website and look in their career section to see if they are hiring... I did that at a few companies to day just to get a feel for the types of people who work there [engineers, buyers, accountants, etc.]... in 'normal' times it is a good indicator of what goes on at a facility... either no one works at those sites now or this ain't 'normal' - most places I looked had absolutely NO openings - NADA - ZILCH - not even bill collectors.
The people running the show couldn't stick their finger in their eye by using BOTH hands....This gal has a clue and no one up there gives a shit!......Typical Government
(In response to the OT - Thank you ATM, I appreciate the thought. )
"In actuality, our pay-off is meat, vegetables, fruit and eggs, plus the pleasure of producing our own food. And not the pleasure of dealing with certain kinds of expert and certain kinds of customer. And if I sound grumpy, I am. I get sick and tired of dealing with idiots."
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Black Ranch
Higher Bankruptcy Filings Foreshadow Deeper Pain For Lenders
A bias presentation pretending to be fair. There is also significant missing facts. This is much a better debate presenting different angles.
http://www.petersoninstitute.org/events/event_detail.cfm?EventID=109
Obama to Meet with Economic Team on Stress Tests
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601110&sid=a1tKqJl3J28U
Barley,
sorry for the delay. The multi-lateral comment was somewhat offhand,
Today the deepest credit markets are in USD, CHK, EUR, GBP, JPY. Most wealth is held in those currencies, most people like to invest in the currency they hold their savings in and most bankers are perpetually optimistic in favour of the currency they hold their own savings in. As such it is perfectly reasonable to have those currencies host foreign borrowers and investors, acting as a node or clearing house of the global financial system
Going forward all of these credit markets will be much shallower in terms of free capital. They all face major challenges. What capital that remains will be heavily weighted towards the safest assets. It will just be practical to have more point to point lending/borrowing develop organically. Instead of 1 New York, there could be a dozen Sao Paolo's, or a hundred St Petersberg's in terms of new lending. When risk appetite returns, those markets will absorb market share of financial connections. I specifically said "new lending", because there is a colossal amount of wealth stored in Western financial markets - even if the assets and currencies take big hits relative to non-big 5 markets. Once the ad-hoc financial network matures, proves itself, it becomes a direct competitor to the incumbent system. There's also the idea of too big to fail, too big to exist in terms of mega-banks and government regulation to think about.
Lothar:
Ms. Warren is chairman of the committee charged by Congress with preparing monthly reports on the banking crisis. She is reading prepared remarks because she is communicating the voice of the committee. Even if she were communicating just her own views, it would be prudent to stick with a script. Financial markets react, sometimes negatively, to inappropriate word choices even if they are unintentional. For my money, she struck exactly the right tone: concerned, rational, questioning of the Geithner/Paulson approach and a reasoned explanation of alternative approaches. She stepped on no toes, but she's clearly getting fitted for a pair of boots.
dryfly,
re: German economy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgAi7DYHA94 (Fawlty Towers)
Bond Girl, you're hitting way too close to home. The fraudulency is amazing, and how many people bought into it (Memphis, Birmingham, anywhere MK went and the other jokers as well, who I won't name but are easily traceable to Stanford.
This corruption runs so deep it's ridiculous.
"would you invest in this plan?"
That is awful on so many levels.
Thanks to GH (w/ EHP commentary) for some very cogent posting.
Also from the "Nice Overview" Dept., the latest from Michael Pettis if you've not seen it:
http://mpettis.com/2009/04/is-governor-zhou-a-closet-bernanke-ite/
At the bottom of the Pettis post he's got whispers of March loan figures in China-- -plus the mal-investment much of this money is taking.
Force SOE's to buy newly built vessels from other SOE's? Money for nothing, ships for free?
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re: German economy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgAi7DYHA94 (Fawlty Towers)
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I wonder which one was Werner.
Going forward all of these credit markets will be much shallower in terms of free capital. ...
I think I get it. The Internet is the key isn't it. Just like it is killing MS and its bloatware. They will be lnodes on a distributed financial network instead of the monolithic main frame center controlled HQ (NY) model. The internet is the new model... These little nodes will do quite well for themselves. Its the little fuzzys eating the big financial dinos eggs
http://afterthecrash.net - Home of the Doomer Story Portal and Other Stuff
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Force SOE's to buy newly built vessels from other SOE's? Money for nothing, ships for free?
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More 'good old daze'... next up the cultural re-revolution.
I am starting an email campaign to support Professor Warren. It is all we have at this point and maybe it will help. Here is her Harvard webpage and email. She is are only hope.
http://www.law.harvard.edu/faculty/directory/index.html?id=82
dryfly,
Are you trying to think of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUzjy_RM1AE&feature=related (Monty Python, Mr Hilter w/ German subtitles)
Anak,
Good to see you around on this new comment system
Blackhalo
I agree it is awful
the question is this.
if I am going to complain about being the backstop (I am)
should I still complain when I am then given an opportunity to get the gravy?
Now, my view is that the banks are getting a free gift, the FDIC (and taxpayer most likely) will take a bath, the fees for the fund managers will ensure that they are rewarded, but the funds won't be profitable.
So my view is that this is a lose on the front end and lose on the back end proposition for the taxpayer - but hey, as someone said earlier, it is a Ponzi scheme method, except, I'm aware of the scheme, and yet they are asking me to pay money to myself and pretend that it is not happening- insanity really
Sorry "our." Not saying there is much hope; but this is it.
More 'good old daze'... next up the cultural re-revolution.
Dryfly: On the old "plus ca change" front, you'll never disappoint!
I just was hired by a company in agribusiness; after being laid off by a semiconductor industry supplier. It's an anecdote, but a good one for me:) Since doing some contract work for my former employer to wind things down, I will wind up having essentially not been unemployed at all.
"Elizabeth Warren has been a professor at Harvard and has written for the New York Times. She isn't a politician."
You do not have to be elected, to be a politician. Politics is everywhere. It is how deals get done. She is communicating on multiple levels. And sending multiple messages. Not just in what she is saying but how she says it.
She is on the congressional TARP oversight board. She is a politician. Police Chief s are political. FIRE chiefs are political.
First posts on the new system-- very snappy! Thanks to kcoop, et al.
Would really encourage reading that Pettis post. Brings a lot of strings together in some provocative ways....
Stanford poached a lot MK people, yes?
Yes, she is politically aware; but the information in the report is as accurate as possible given the enormous pressures. It is amazing that any criticism filtered through at all.
A 2.5 Trillion dollar deficit?!!? How insane is that?
These days everybody is talking about dollars in the trillions. But does this have any meaning at all to commentators and politicians?
If the total population of America is somewhere around 330 million each person's share of a trillion dollars is $3000.
So, if the USA runs a 2.5 trillion dollar deficit each person's share of that will be roughly $7500. A typical family of four is forking over $30,000 for just this one year's worth of deficit consisting of various bailouts, giveaways, stimuli and other sugar daddy big government largess.
Basically the entire population of the United States could survive with subsistence level housing and food for the entire year for the amount of deficit spending the Federal Goverment is engaged in. Factor in the deficit spending by states, counties, cities, local school boards etc etc and you will see that things have passed beyond the surreal.
I honestly believe that Big Government has reached the point where it is so out of control that it will unstoppably feed on the nations wealth until the country disintegrates beneath the onslaught of it's ravenous hunger.
"How did this guy (Blankfein) become the most powerful CEO in the US?"
By being an asshole and by consistently using performative language, ie, "Look!," "Listen to me!"
Blankfein, however, has not crossed paths with Conjure, who hopes to meet him one day.
Conjure says he would enjoy giving Mr. Blankfein a lesson in humility.
Gavshire
Regarding low interest rates and the mortgage market, I think you are a bit confused, it is really quite simple.
Fannie/Freddie are not replacing securitization, they ARE securitization. They take raw mortgages and package them into MBS, just as they have been doing for years.
Normally, a bank would originate the mortgages, f/f would package them up, and an investor like the Chinese govt would buy them, demanding a spread over Treasuries to compensate for the prepayment risk.
However, the investor is taking credit risk of f/f, since f/f are guaranteeing payment on the mortgages underlying the MBS.
At one time, that was no big deal, as f/f looked pretty strong, and had an implicit govt guarantee.
However, then they got put into "conservatorship", which no one really understands. They aren't owned by the government, they still have shareholders. The govt has given them a lot of money, but have not given them the full faith and credit. So basically they just owe the govt a ton of money.
If you were looking at buying an MBS today, which matures in 10 years or so, would you? f/f are terribly in debt, and might not have the money to make good on the defaulted mortgages in your MBS. But yet the govt, which is itself getting itself further into debt, won't officially back them. Could that be because they want to keep that default option? To walk away from f/f if things get too out of control?
So given that, no one wants to buy f/f MBS or debt. So in steps the Fed, as not only the buyer of last resort, but basically the only buyer in the market, other than that scumball Bill Gross who thinks the govt will always bail him out.
Basically this is just a way to monetize debt of the US govt, without it looking as obvious as buying Treasuries., while at the same time supporrting the housing market, because without the Fed, MBS would be about 150bps higher than they are today, putting mortgage rates near 7%.
f/f are basically off balance sheet vehicles of the govt, and the Fed is monetizing their debt.
i honestly don't see a way out of it for any of the players. it is going to end badly, eventually the Fed won't be able to support the market, and mortgage rates will skyrocket, causing housing activity to dry up to nothing.
Bond Girl - yes. Not well documented in the local media, but there is some stuff about it. They apparently came in, took all the rich folks' money for investing, and didn't bother to tell them they were screwing them over. Memphis society is up in arms (screwed) by it.
"if I am going to complain about being the backstop (I am)
should I still complain when I am then given an opportunity to get the gravy?"
But unlike the banks you will not have any insight as to what securities are good and which are bad. Banks are able to sell their trash to the PPIP for a handsome price and can even then buy it back (at face value) and resell for another spin at the trough. All the while hanging on to their best performing assets.
You however will NOT have that access or option, as you do not have any "legacy" assets to sell. Your just not big enough not to fail.
The only way to give Blankfein a lesson in humility is to support this report. There is little hope; maybe this is a feint. Nothing is certain but buried at page 71 is a call for accountability and criminal prosecution.
"They apparently came in, took all the rich folks' money for investing"
Memphis has rich folks? Every time I drive though, I feel like I am on the bad side of TN.
"A typical family of four is forking over $30,000 for just this one year's worth of deficit"
-----------
No, they're not.
The Fed is just creating it.
Don't worry, that family of four IS on the hook for $30K but they can borrow $35K this year, make the payment and still spend $5k on potato salad and Disneyland,.
Elaborateon the two bond system - are you suggesting the internal debt call it 50% of gov't outstanding now be paid in a new diluted currency while the external debt is made whole on a floating basis? have heard the 2 currency approach in many variations but the typical devaluation in EM is about 50% or so. Argentina went 1:1 to 1:4 ...If everyone else is devaluing it will be increasingly difficult to devalue via fiat UNLESS there is some hard anchor
I thought that the guillotine was a better option.. oh well..
//The only way to give Blankfein a lesson in humility is to support this report.//
"it is going to end badly, eventually the Fed won't be able to support the market, and mortgage rates will skyrocket, causing housing activity to dry up to nothing."
Nicely said. They are just delaying the inevitable. Maybe to give the banks a chance to come up with a new ponzi, or to finish their house in the caymans.
There will be no default; there will be confiscation. It is easy and swift. Private pension/401ks will be "offset" against promised SS payments. Medicare promises will be re-jiggered into FICO like HOE (health outcome evaluation) scores to shift risk based on "cost-effective" therapies.
"It will just be practical to have more point to point lending/borrowing develop organically."
---------
I've heard this idea for years and I've seen schemes to support it.
But they've invariably failed.
Nation - currency - gunpowder.
You have no gunpowder, EHP.
Binko
There is about $50tn in USD denominated US debt. $2.5tn is 5% of that. To keep that debt, and all the other nominal asset prices stable the Fed should be replacing the decline in credit dollar for dollar. At this point, because they have painted themselves into a corner over the last 7 months, they ought to print and spend at least $2.5tn.
The country was already broke, and because recovery to status-quo is impossible the optimal choice would focus on setting up for what is next, thereby consciously choosing the way into effective default.
There are alternatives which would avoid effective default, but they require too much international cooperation, trust, and sacrifice. Stuff for the least likely bin
I prefer the "French solution."
from Bondgirl's blog, looking for a downgrade on the entire muni sector?
Moody's Assigns Negative Outlook to U.S. Local Government Sector
http://www.bondbuyer.com/attachments/20090407QWOARLQW-1-040809LOCAL.pdf
Private pension/401ks will be "offset" against promised SS payments. Medicare promises will be re-jiggered into FICO like HOE (health outcome evaluation) scores to shift risk based on "cost-effective" therapies.
Same difference, but to me, this is still default because it alters the future expectations.
I have enjoyed reading this thread. Thank you. Sometimes the complexity of what is happening is overwhelming. It is good to have it broken down like this. A lot of very clear and concise explanations from you all. EHP, you would make a great professor.
http://afterthecrash.net - Home of the Doomer Story Portal and Other Stuff
Agreed. It is default; without the language of default.
If y'all set up a "Chip In" for Conjure to meet up with Blankfein I'd pony up for that!
Blackhalo, certain parts of Memphis suburbs (and surrounding geographies) have plenty of money to invest. FedEx is based in Memphis.
That the public trough-lickers/exploiters got screwed, totally different issue, tho relevant.
The city proper still is, as I've said, a hell-hole.
Some folk here deride that, but whatever. I doubt they'd feel like walking around the city after dark, though they may tell you they don't.
Easy pickins, I say.
Disclosure: I don't live there, just read the news.
The desperate battle is to save the unregulated shadow financial system embedded in the regulated financial system at all costs including national insolvency, the dissolution of all investor/consumer protections and the total dismantlement of the regulated structures that have served us well.
Broward Horne,
Well it's not from the POV of my nation/currency/gunpowder I was speaking from. A lot of the comments verged into the deep future which was extending the idea to exhaustion, and not a prediction. As for military power, the US will have to significantly contract its forces if it cannot finance it from foreign production.
I'm not expecting a new system. I'm expecting the existing system to grow in a manner fitting of its new structure. My rough guidelines for the financial sector in the US are to contract headcount by 50% and compensation by 50% in order to survive on revenue relative to GDP at its pre-1980 share of the economy. It will be a lower fee world. Many of the riskier borrowers will be shut out. The system will adapt by enabling more direct lending/borrowing between non-traditional markets. A fee is a fee, and the lowest fee wins in that world. Very non-credit bubble.
dd wrote on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 9:36pm.
There will be no default; there will be confiscation. It is easy and swift.
And followed immediately by default.
Proposed stimulus for Japan
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601110&sid=amJWnvOToO0M
new thread....
Sector outlook is distinct from the rating and outlook on a specific credit.
Only in the most dire outcome. There are many strategies to avoid actual default. SS and Medicare reductions are one method and very likely. Other alternatives are increased taxation schemes or mandated support for the faltering financial sector. It is easy to imagine mandated health insurance, mandatory contributions to retirement accounts managed by favored financial entities, and even mandatory life insurance.
My first reaction : Wow, just wow.
Then I asked : How long will this women live ? (Since she can not be "disposed of" with a hooker like Spitzer)
But then when it came to PPIP, I asked myself : why does she "miss" the deviousness of that plan as that Khan Academy video so lucidly shows ?
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-arbfLTCtI&feature=PlayList&p=4EF8BA0ADA... posted here the other day by CD)
Americas best still not good (courageous, open and honest) enough ?
But all in all, one has to commend Elizabeth Warren for starting to try and wishing her success .
P.S. Where is Paul Volker ? Why does he still lend his good name to a such discredited government ? ( Or is anybody thinking Obama does not fully understand the deviousness of PPIP ?)
dd wrote on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 9:43pm.
Agreed. It is default; without the language of default.
I disagree in that, I think it will have the consequences of default, which will soon roll into the reality of default, or at least a default-status like inability to raise money, which is the thing about default that matters.
this is a little old, but maybe Energyecon will make a new one soon:
http://energyecon.blogspot.com/2009/01/treasury-marketable-debt-maturity...
Once they start Mickey Mousing around, either they're going to blow up the short-duration Treasury market, or they're going to print raw and blow up the dollar. Very quickly too, 'cause the sums involved are immense and the time frame involved, microscopic.
Edit: FWIW, it looks identical to an ABCP-leveraged SIV to me, and so I think it will meet the same death.
Bond Girl,
You think Munis will repeat P&G's lawsuit against BT? ( http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/505917/proctor_gambles_derivati... )
Alabama is looking at the initial legal authority to enter a swap right now, but we can't be that far from a major lawsuit based on broad terms?
Why does she start tilting to the right around minute seven? Is she suddenly uncomfortable with somthing she is saying?
Terminat hora diem; Terminat auctor opus.
Berserker
Americas best still not good (courageous, open and honest) enough ?
You mean those authority figures?
America's best are in the room with you, Werner. Those people are apparatchiks and paid whores.
EHP per Brinko
If they print $2.5T per deficit, it acrues on the back end. They can only pile on the debt until the yield curve runs away from them at which point poof. Austerity ushered in and the days of guns and butter gone. All these complicated schemes make little sense. In the best years of .com we took in $2B in tax revenue. Revenue in Feb was down 60% or something obscene.
1. unless money gets funneled into the system this depression will follow the old saw: booms create wealth and recessions concentrate it
2. If gov't was serious they could make holding reserves punative
3. Even if the money did get into circ, the idea that it would be meaningful is simply not true. For example, Many have argued that if China devalues that the dollar would appreciate X or a big percent. But what is to say thsat Chinese would not choose to allocate some of their savings to the USD thereby perverting the expected adjustment. Basically there are many dymanics at work. Even if the gov't inflates and the banks play ball, the basics via the world demand will rise which will almost certainly more than offset the abundant "liquidity.'
4. Even if the fed were to unleash inflation and the banks get on boiard 2 things would have to happen: (1) the yield curve would have to embed the hgiher expecations so J6P could earn their COLA..but that would defeat the point. (2) wages would have to go up and if since they have been flat for decades real terms that is not happening. So the two things that would have to happen to give the cvonsumer any chance of not finding themselves more deeply impoverished are a pipedream.
5. Rising rates would make debt service impossible given curren construction of the buddget. @5% avg. rate the US would be paying something like $500-5550B, which is ~30-50% of the budget receipts currently tracking. This is simply not sustainable with the committed nondiscretionary spend plus defense.
6. competitive advanatege windows are being eroded by the day. Technological ddiffusion and global supply chains have maderent capture windows truncate. Hence the elongated rents captured by US companies are to be shared going forward.
Liz Warren always has the facts and she's not trying to become a TV personality. Hawley like-y.
s
I do not expect printing to continue indefinitely. This is a time limited very high stakes game of poker.
byz ruin
agree the amount of short end issuance is staggering in the name according to treasury an co for the beenfit of the taxpayer. Read somewhere that the gent repsonible for crushing the long bond has suggested eliminating TIPs,
I am going to wager that the bond market wins.. Julian robertson is on the record with a long bond 15% call
that tips eliimination owuld of course be for the benefit of the taxpayer too
Nice to see the Moody's folks doing a cracker jack job of evaluating and rating US Local Gov Sector.
This is the same Moody's that rated all those MBS AAA.
If it weren't true it would be funny..
Warren2012
Some darn interesting parts in Elizabeth Warren's panel's report.
Click on my name to see two striking highlights.
Tax receipts down 15% - time to raise taxes on unemployment benefits and SS. How can we tax Medicare?
The truth is that people would be more productive if work were subsidized and hand outs were taxed.
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Many have died or been impoverished that government of the banksters, by the banksters, for the banksters, shall not perish from the earth.
"Warren and Krugman might make a good team, if academics actually counted for something in Washington."
What was Benny's pedigree again?
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Many have died or been impoverished that government of the banksters, by the banksters, for the banksters, shall not perish from the earth.
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