Wikimedia Commons
Nov 6 2009, 4:15PM
Worrying About Bailout Banks' Brain Drain
For the past year, the bailout banks have been complaining that the compensation restraints that came along with their acceptance of government aid would cause their best employees to flee to greener pastures. Although we've begun to see some repots of that, Bloomberg has a more tangible one, explaining who some of the major beneficiaries have been: Barclays and Nomura. I don't think we can be particularly surprised, but should we care?
WikimediaCommons
Nov 6 2009, 3:17PM
Hey Obama, We Need a Job Stimulus, Now!
"When the economy's not strong there's a lot of interest in controlling spending," Nelson said.
Oh hi, Republican Rep. Paul Ryan. What's it like inhabiting the body of Sen. Nelson?
Wikimedia Commons
Nov 6 2009, 3:01PM
The Deficit Choice: What The White House Is Thinking
Huge deficits will be omnipresent throughout President Obama's first term, complicating his administration's messaging efforts on the economy. But advisers separate the political repercussions from the actual underlying fiscal and monetary policies. In some ways, the short-term politics of the deficit are negligible. They're preferable to the short-term politics of a much higher unemployment rate with no economic growth -- and a smaller deficit.
Nieve44-La Luz / flickr
Nov 6 2009, 2:45PM
Why Did Savings Decline In The Third Quarter?
On Wednesday, I wrote about the odd observation that over the past year workers' hours have decreased while consumption spending has essentially been flat. One thing I noted was that savings have increased over the same period. One commenter, mgoodfel, requested a chart showing that decline. I added one, but in doing so noticed something kind of unexpected: savings suddenly decreased in the third-quarter of this year. What's going on here?
epicharmus / Flickr
Nov 6 2009, 1:59PM
Guaranteeing Lower Borrowing Costs For Big Banks
As a part of the bank bailout, the government slapped federal guarantees on hundreds of billions of dollars in bonds issued by banks. This was above and beyond the direct capital infusions. The move was meant to calm investor fears in the banks' assets and provide more private capital to the struggling financial institutions. It worked, and they were seen as safer. Investors viewed them as so healthy, in fact, that big banks saved a great deal of money in borrowing costs. But the New York Times reports that a Congressional panel thinks this is a fishy situation. I find that reaction puzzling.
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Wikimedia Commons
Nov 6 2009, 12:40PM
Fannie Seeks Another $15 Billion In Emergency Capital
Things at government sponsored owned mortgage giant Fannie Mae continued to deteriorate in the third-quarter. As a result, it's requested even more capital from the emergency fund set up by the Treasury. Its bailout's price tag now totals $60 billion, and there's no light at the end of the tunnel.
Atlantic
Nov 6 2009, 12:30PM
The Meaning of 10.2% Unemployment
Jerome/Flickr
Nov 6 2009, 12:15PM
You Get a Tax Credit! You Get a Tax Credit!
TaxVox, a Tax Policy Center blog, sighs that this extended tax credit, which follows on the heels of Cash for Clunkers, a credit for car swaps, presages a future in which tax credits are handed out like cars on a special episode of Oprah.
WikimediaCommons
Nov 6 2009, 11:41AM
Leave the Deficit Hawks Alone! (Some of Them, Anyway)
Slate's biz man Daniel Gross delivers an ornithological smackdown to Washington's flock of deficit hawks. It is very amusing! It is also, like the morning bird who starts chirping outside my bedroom window around 6AM every morning, prematurely and cloyingly cheery. Chirp away, Mr. Gross...
mikebaird / flickr
Nov 6 2009, 11:01AM
Should Stimulus Projects Create Jobs?
Well, yes. The chief purported basis for February's $787 billion stimulus bill was to reduce the ever growing number of Americans unemployed. Back then, it was a mere 7.6% in January. Now it has risen by more than one-third standing at 10.2% in October. An article today in the New York Times explains precisely why so much of the spending has been so ineffective: because it was aimed less at creating jobs and more at satisfying other goals.
