Items of Interest:
Buck up comrades, going socialist with a nary a whimper
Rasmussen Reports:
Just 53% Say Capitalism Better Than Socialism — Only 53% of American adults believe capitalism is better than socialism. — The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 20% disagree and say socialism is better. Twenty-seven percent (27%) are not sure which is better...
discussion:
The New Republic: Socialism Lives — We used to argue in the late '60s whether socialism …
Donald Douglas / American Power: American Socialists Come Out of the ClosetMyglesias / Matthew Yglesias: The Declining Unpopularity of SocialismKathy / Comments from Left Field: New Poll Sends Right Into TizzyLiza / culturekitchen: Rasmussen Reports: The most comprehensive concern trolling data anywhereBruce McQuain / QandO: By A Small Majority, Americans Think Capitalism Is Better Than SocialismNate Silver / FiveThirtyEight: The Have-Nots Aren't Having It — I'd caution against reading …Digby / Hullabaloo: Rebranding The Devil — When the McCain Palin people started …Chris Good / The Atlantic Politics Channel: Americans Split On Capitalism?Conor Clarke / The Atlantic Business Channel: Not Quite the Road to SerfdomAllahpundit / Hot Air: Rasmussen: Young adults prefer capitalism to socialism by ... four pointsDr. Steven Taylor / PoliBlog: Latest Worthless Poll NumbersJay McDonough / Newshoggers.com: Only 53% of Americans favor capitalism over socialismTigerHawk: Who likes capitalism?Jesse Taylor / pandagon.net: Socialism: For Sucka-Free MCsPundette / Pundit & Pundette: Rasmussen: socialism vs. capitalismMaha / The Mahablog: Red Alerts — Yesterday I described the partisans of the Right …Susan Duclos / Wake up America: Majority Of Americans Prefer Capitalism To SocialismDavid Knowles / Political Machine: Rasmussen: Just 53% of Americans Think Capitalism Better than SocialismBrian Montopoli / CBS News: Just 53 Percent Say Capitalism Is Preferable To Socialismrelated:
Newsweek:
We Are All Socialists Now -- In many ways our economy already resembles a European one. As boomers age and spending grows, we will become even more French...
Celestine Bohlen / Bloomberg:
Workers Go Wild, Reap Government Goodies - What do a furloughed French factory worker and a Merrill Lynch & Co. boss have in common? Both feel entitled to grab for as much as they can as they head out the door.
Of course, the laid-off worker at a Caterpillar Inc. plant in southeastern France is a blameless victim of the worldwide economic slump, unlike those Merrill employees who reached for big payouts even as they were sweeping toxic debt under the rug.
Still, when the Caterpillar employees near Grenoble hold four plant managers hostage overnight, they are exhibiting the same kind of “what’s in it for me” thinking as the gang that received $3.6 billion in bonuses just as Merrill was being sold at a fire-sale price....
John Tamny / Real Clear Markets:
More Financial Regulations, More Financial Failures
Martin Sorrell / Financial Times: Capitalism Will Escape Its Deathbed
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James Freeman / Wall Street Journal:Is Silicon Valley a Systemic Risk? -- The Obama administration wants to regulate venture capital firms to prevent systemic risks. Silicon Valley residents are scratching their heads and asking: What risks? The rest of us should ask why Washington is targeting a jewel of the American economy that had nothing to do with the housing bubble...
discussion:
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch: Hey Geithner, Get Your Grubby Hands Off The Venture Capital IndustryBarrett Sheridan / Newsweek Blogs: Breakfast Buffet, Thursday, April 9Andrew Grossman / PointOfLaw Forum: SEC Rules for Venture Capital?
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John Robb / Global Guerrillas:Playing with Global Economic Dominos for Fun and Profit -- One of the most unappreciated aspects of our global economic system is the ability of small groups, typically driven by greed, to severely disrupt it...
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Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias: Wells Fargo Posts Record Profit — When you hear about something like Wells Fargo posting record profits, I think you should resist the temptation to do what I saw some TV anchors doing this morning and start wondering if banks are in better shape than you thought...
discussion:
Joe Bel Bruno / Wall Street Journal: Wells Fargo Projects Record ProfitRandyj / TIME.com: Banks Back?? — Banking giant Wells Fargo projects record …Swopa / Needlenose: Not that the Obama administration is scrambling for ideas to boost
related:
Housing Wire: Fed Orders Banks Mum on Stress Tests: Report
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Time: More Quickly Than It Began, The Banking Crisis Is Over — Investors find it disconcerting to see the stocks in the huge financial institutions that are at the foundation of the global capital system trading up and down 25% a day, and, in some cases trading in the pennies...
discussion:
Moe Tkacik / TPMMuckraker:
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Paul Krugman / New York Times:Making Banking Boring
discussion:
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias: The Ethics of Homo EconomicusKevin Drum / MoJo Blog Posts: Boring is Good — Paul Krugman wants banking and finance to become boring again:Big Tent Democrat / TalkLeft: It's Not A Matter Of TrustHenry Blodget / Clusterstock: Krugman's Horrifying Solution: Make Banking Boring
related:
Jonathan Weil / Bloomberg: Obama Stakes Fortune On Failed Banksters
David Weidner / Wall Street Journal: The Meredith Whitney Myth
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Megan McArdle:The Incredible Shrinking Public Pension Funds
discussion:
Leo Kolivakis / naked capitalism: Guest Post: Pensions Facing a Cash Flow Collapse?Deborah Brewster / Financial Times: Double blow for US pensions as values crashGaius / Blue Crab Boulevard: Underfunded. Virtually UnreportedJoe Weisenthal / Clusterstock: The Pension Problem Isn't Going AwayEric / Viking Pundit: We're all Billy Joel now — Here's Megan McArdle with …
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- Reagan's Legacy: Our 25-Year Boom - Editorial, Investor's Business Daily
- David Dreman, Contrarian, Exits Unbowed - Floyd Norris, New York Times
- Is the Market Turning? Stay Skeptical - Jim Jubak, MSN Money
- Shadows Still Loom Over the Stock Market - The Economist
- Who Should Decide the Size of Your TV? - Max Schulz, The American
- Should We Make Newspapers Tax Exempt? - Eric Alterman, The Nation
- The Smart Money's Gloomy Scenario- Rick Newman, U.S. News
- Madoff's Victims Should Be Bailed Out - Ronnie Sue Ambrosino, Daily Beast
- It's Do or Die Time for Japan's Economy - William Pesek, Bloomberg
- Is It Really Time for Tax Tea Parties? - Bruce Bartlett, Forbes
- Why Should We Defend Rich Heirs? - Michael Kinsley, Washington Post
- How to Make the Bank Plan Work - Michael Pereira, Wall Street Journal
- U.S. Decline Is Worse Than Japan's Lost Decade - Douglas McIntyre, 24/7
- Tenured Profs Can Be For Free Markets - Donald Boudreaux, Cafe Hayek
- The Vanishing Social Security Surplus - Bruce Webb, Angry Bear
- We Are Wasting a Perfectly Good Crisis - James Quinn, Seeking Alpha
- The Global Downturn Didn't Start Here - Alan Reynolds, New York Post
- 12 Years of Wealth Down the Drain - Elizabeth Wurtzel, Wall Street Journal
- How Ben Bernanke Staged a Revolution - Neil Irwin, Washington Post
- Game Theory Exposes PPIP As Fraudulent - James Keller, RealClearMarkets
- Even with Recovery, Things Won't Be the Same - Nouriel Roubini, Forbes
- Did They Really Think Housing Wouldn't Fall? - Alex Pollock, American
- Larry Summers: Living Large and In Charge - Robert Scheer, The Nation
- Ranking Debt, Deficits and Dollar Weakness - David Malpass, Forbes
- How Cheap Is the Market? - Jeremy Siegel, Yahoo Finance
- The End of the Rally Is Nigh - Michael Kahn, Barron's
- The Pendulum Will Swing Back To Growth- Martin Sorrell, Financial Times
- Unequal Rulings Under the Law- Diana Furchtgott-Roth, RealClearMarkets
- You Can't Rush Economic Recovery - Amar Bhide, Wall Street Journal
- Economy Could Recover Much Sooner Than Expected - Albert Bozzo, CNBC
- The Fed's Independence Is Threatened by Congress - Economist
- Return of Day Traders--How To Beat Buffett - Lee Eisenberg, Daily Beast
- Moody's Berkshire Downgrade: More of the Same - Doug Kass, TheStreet