Item of Interest:
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Fighting Off Depression — “If we don't act swiftly and boldly,” declared President-elect Barack Obama in his latest weekly address, “we could see a much deeper economic downturn that could lead to double-digit unemployment.” If you ask me, he was understating the case ...
Discussion:Bill / Buck Naked Politics: Swift, Bold Action Required: KrugmanStormy / Angry Bear: Krugman: The Great Depression ReduxThe Heretik / theheretik.us: Rich News — The war between Keynes and Friedman continues.Robert Stein / Connecting.the.Dots: Fear of FailingKevin Drum / Mother Jones: NEGOTIATING WITH THEMSELVES....Paul Krugman surveys the current …Mustang Bobby / Bark Bark Woof Woof: Doing Something — Paul Krugman hopes that whatever …Donald L. Luskin / Chronicle of the Conspiracy: From Paul Krugman's column this morning: … Huh?
Related:
Paul Krugman:
Wall Street Journal: Is Obama relying too much on tax cuts? — I don't know yet. But news reports this morning certainly raise questions. — Let's lay out the basics here. Other things equal, public investment is a much better way to provide economic stimulus than tax cuts, for two reasons...
Discussion:Sean Paul Kelley / The Agonist: Three Hundred Billion In Tax-Cuts?Bob Cesca / Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog!: Tax Cuts — The Obama team announced the tax cut portion …Admin Lambert / Corrente: Insane Republicans … They're never going to give up their talking points, are they?
Obama Eyes $300 Billion Tax Cut — Huge Breaks for Firms, Individuals Are Aimed at Winning GOP Support for Stimulus — WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama and congressional Democrats are crafting a plan to offer about $300 billion of tax cuts to individuals and businesses …
Discussion:Ian Welsh / Firedoglake: A Stimulus Bill with 40% in Tax Cuts Won't Do the JobJennifer Rubin / Commentary: Now They're Talking — The Wall Street Journal reportsJohn Aravosis / AMERICAblog News: [Bush] Obama now talking $300 bn in tax cutsEric Kleefeld / TPM Election Central: Election Central Morning RoundupJim Lindgren / The Volokh Conspiracy: Obama Stimulus Package to Include Major Tax Cuts.Bill Scher / LiberalOasis: Progressive Breakfast: Tax Cut Redux?Cigar Mike / Babalu Blog: Holy Crap BatmanMac Ranger / Macsmind: Obama's Plan to Buy Off Republicans - Obama Koolaide for All!Jules Crittenden: New Deal — It isn't exactly change you can believe in...Yves Smith / naked capitalism: Obama Considering $310 Billion Tax CutThe Barrister / Maggie's Farm: Smart thing to do. Obama eyes tax cuts. It's one of the only …TigerHawk: Barack Obama channels TigerHawk!Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo: $300 BILLION IN TAX CUTS?Dave Price / Dean's World: Sanity — Looks like the Obama stimulus package will be largely in the form of tax cuts.
New York Times:
Obama Plan Includes $300 Billion in Tax Cuts
Obama Plan Includes $300 Billion in Tax Cuts
Discussion:Edward L. Glaeser / Boston Globe: Who should get the federal stimulus fundsBen Pershing / Washington Post: The Obamas' First Day of School — Sasha and Malia Obama …Frank James / The Swamp: Obama wants $300 bill. stimulus tax cutsAssociated Press: Obama, Congress leaders to meet on economyDigby / Hullabaloo: Stimulating Debate — The Democrats are floating the idea …Mike Allen / The Politico: Big tax cuts in the worksMark Thoma / Economist's View: Paul Krugman: Fighting Off DepressionAnnbinlot / TIME.com: Stimulus Bill May Take Longer Than ExpectedPrairie Weather: Monday morning news pills (some hard to take)Alan Stewart Carl / Donklephant: Tax Cuts Still Part of Obama's PlanThe Jed Report: Examining the stimulus packageHilzoy / Washington Monthly: Nooooo! No More Tax Cuts!Rob Bluey / The Foundry: Introducing Rapid ResponseNelson / THE LIBERAL JOURNAL: Too Much Tax Cut?Russell Roberts / Cafe Hayek: Tax cuts all aroundJoe Sudbay / AMERICAblog News: Obama has arrived in DC; 40% of “stimulus package” willbe for tax cutsJ. Taylor Rushing / The Hill: McConnell says GOP could back stimulus
Shailagh Murray / Washington Post:
Top Democrats Favor Deliberate Approach to Stimulus Bill
Discussion:New York Times: Senate Appointee in Illinois Vows to Fight OnMichael Falcone / The Caucus: The Early Word: Obama's Week AheadChris Wallace / Fox News: Transcript: Steny Hoyer on ‘FOX News Sunday’Annbinlot / TIME.com: Stimulus Bill Will Take Longer Than ExpectedJoe Sudbay / AMERICAblog News: Reid, Hoyer: Don't expect fast action on economic recovery package
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Michael Lewis & David Einhorn / NY Times:The End of the Financial World as We Know It -- AMERICANS enter the New Year in a strange new role: financial lunatics. We’ve been viewed by the wider world with mistrust and suspicion on other matters, but on the subject of money even our harshest critics have been inclined to believe that we knew what we were doing. They watched our investment bankers and emulated them: for a long time now half the planet’s college graduates seemed to want nothing more out of life than a job on Wall Street...
It’s hard to know what Mr. Paulson was thinking as he never really had to explain himself, at least not in public. But the general idea appears to be that if you give the banks capital they will in turn use it to make loans in order to stimulate the economy. Never mind that if you want banks to make smart, prudent loans, you probably shouldn’t give money to bankers who sunk themselves by making a lot of stupid, imprudent ones. If you want banks to re-lend the money, you need to provide them not with preferred stock, which is essentially a loan, but with tangible common equity — so that they might write off their losses, resolve their troubled assets and then begin to make new loans, something they won’t be able to do until they’re confident in their own balance sheets. But as it happened, the banks took the taxpayer money and just sat on it.
related:
John Plender / Financial Times: Originative Sin: The Future of Banking
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Bernie's Ponzi:- How the SEC Can Prevent More Madoffs - Arthur Levitt, Wall Street Journal
- Inside Look: Madoff Mayhem - Barry Ritholtz / The Big Picture
- Madoff: Cheat, Pray and Love - James Surowiecki, The New Yorker
- How Bernie Madoff With the Money- Kurt Brouwer, Fundmastery Blog
- If You Made Money Off Madoff, Good Luck Keeping It - Woolner, Bloomberg
- Madoff Wreckage Bangs Feeder Funds, Auditors - Jane Quinn, Bloomberg
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Barry Ritholtz / The Big Picture:L O N G Recession -- Nasty Downturn
----- Power to People: Economic Nullification - Locke Smith, RealClearMarkets
- Stimulus Is Really Only a Stopgap - Robert Samuelson, Washington Post
- The True Test of Democracy - Bill Frezza, RealClearMarkets
- Good, Bad and Ugly Ways to Raise Cash - John Wasik, Bloomberg
- In '09, U.S. Will Emerge As Top Dog - A. Evans-Pritchard, Daily Telegraph
- The Unfortunate Reality of Housing Subsidies - John Tamny, Forbes
- Toyota Isn't Immune From Recession - Paul Ingrassia, Wall Street Journal
- What I Really Think About Finance - Robert Waldmann, Angry Bear
- The Politics of Jealousy - Rich Karlgaard, Digital Rules
- Can The U.S. Economy Afford a Keynesian Stimulus? - MaverEcon
- Is This a Good Time To Raise Taxes on Gasoline? - Becker-Posner
- Risk Management for Beginners - James Kwak, The Baseline Scenario
