With all the high-level talks going on in Washington right now about the great economic crisis and the planned bailout, I found that the following passage from The Lord of the Rings came to mind: So great was the power that Saruman exerted in this last effort that none that stood within hearing were unmoved. […]
Word comes today that we have the start of another bank run. This one is hitting the Hong Kong based “Bank of East Asia”. According to the BBC: The Bank of East Asia has denied rumours that it is in financial trouble, after thousands of customers queued to withdraw their savings. After weeks of global […]
Sort of: This stick-figure presentation at Google Docs (warning: explicit language) — which we linked to some months back — still remains the best (simple) explanation of just what went wrong in the global (not just US) financial markets. Think Lehman Brothers, Merril Lynch and Bear Stearns (not to mention Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac!) […]
Congress and the treasury have been working all weekend to rob the US taxpayer of $1.2 Trillion by putting every one of us taxpayers on the hook to repay all of the bad investments their oligarch pals made over the last 10 years, while letting them keep all of the profit. Now word surfaces this […]
Today’s New York Times reports that the US government plans to take over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: WASHINGTON — Senior officials from the Bush administration and the Federal Reserve on Friday called in top executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage finance giants, and told them that the government was preparing to […]
The Onion, as usually, hits the nail right on the head: WASHINGTON—A panel of top business leaders testified before Congress about the worsening recession Monday, demanding the government provide Americans with a new irresponsible and largely illusory economic bubble in which to invest. “What America needs right now is not more talk and long-term strategy, […]
[06/17/08: Many thanks for Rand Simberg for the link from Transterrestrial Musings, one of my favorite blogs. C’mon, folks, I want Rep. Dicks to have a lifetime supply of motor oil. I want the whole Subcommittee to have a lifetime supply of motor oil. And then some.] It’s time for action. Oil is at $130/barrel, […]
Some folks may have noticed that we have yet to update our trend animator with banking data for the first quarter of 2008. It’s not because we don’t want to, it’s because the FDIC has yet to release their data. Yes, that’s right – one of the more interesting quarters of the US banking industry […]
There are mixed reports in the press about the state of the US economy. While the majority of the national media seems to be rooting for a good economic downturn (perhaps to spice up the election cycle this fall) The data from the government is also somewhat conflicted, perhaps because the powers that be would […]
The Gods of the Copybook Headings
Jerry Pournelle over at his blog has linked to the Rudyard Kipling classic. Written nearly 90 years ago, it is remarkably apt right now, as our financial system threatens to melt down over human greed and stupidity: As I pass through my incarnations in every age and race, I make my proper prostrations to the […]
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