Maine weather wreaking havoc on deer PhysOrg
Clueless Guys Can’t Read Women LiveScience, In particular, men interpret friendliness as a sexual overture and vice-versa.
Ben Stein Watch: March 30, 2008 Felix Salmon. Thank God someone did the work….
Bagehot, central banking, and the financial crisis Xavier Vives. Vox EU
The Sting of Poverty Drake Bennett, Boston Globe (hat tip Mark Thoma)
Credit Card Fair Fee Act Adam Levitin Credit Slips
Post Subprime: A Bloodbath in Trader Bonuses International Political Economy Zone
The Dilbert Strategy Paul Krugman
Dith Pran, Journalist Portrayed In ‘The Killing Fields,’ Dies at 65 Associated Press
I do not consider it the place of this blog to urge political action. On the other hand, it is just about impossible not to notice that many readers are intensely unhappy about the conduct of the Fed and Treasury of late.
Congressional hearings on the Bear bailout are scheduled for this week, for April 3. This is an opportune time to call or e-mail your Senator and Congressman and express your views (I have a sneaking suspicion that calling has slightly more impact simply because so many organizations orchestrate e-mail petitions. But those with more informed views on how best to proceed are encouraged to speak up).
Antidote du jour:
Anonymous 
Posts
Yves,
Check this out in regard to the circus this week between Paulson/Bush & Dodd/Senate/Congress and powers of The Fed and Treasury!! Very important week!!!
http:// http://www.cascadiaprospectus.or…national_in.php
“That’s why a March 11 hearing by the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs took on special significance. The hearing focused on a bill sponsored by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-CT) and Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) to create a National Infrastructure Bank (S. 1926).
Described by Sen Dodd as a “unique and powerful public-private partnership,” the proposed Bank could potentially offer a fresh solution to the challenge of infrastructure financing.
The bill proposes to create an independent national bank financed with a $60 billion bond issue. Using the bonds to leverage private capital, the bank would supplement public spending and finance large capacity-building infrastructure projects “of substantial regional and national significance.”"
But the idea of a national capital budget is not without its critics. The Treasury Department might be opposed to the bonds if they became a new encumbrance on the U.S. treasury. The congressional appropriators might object to the Bank as usurping their prerogative to be the sole dispensers of the federal largesse. There might also be objections from those who believe that the answer lies in relying more heavily on market forces to direct private investment into the needed infrastructure rather than creating a new centrally directed bureaucracy.