Smiling, glasses and hats taboo for driver’s license photos NWI
The Road to Zell Daniel Gross, Slate
Worst Spending Slump Since 1942 Extends ‘Scary’ U.S. Recession Bloomberg
House Prices Must Return to Trend Levels to Stabilize Market RISMedia. I somehow missed this when it came out, but worth reading. Key section:
….prices are still hugely out of line with trend levels in bubble markets and calls for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to restrict the buying of mortgages in these areas.
After Wall St. Tremors, Office Vacancy Rates Rise in Manhattan’s Shadow New York Times
The Stock Picker’s Defeat Wall Street Journal
Panel to Criticize Handling of Bailout Wall Street Journal. Oh, this will be so much fun! I hope I find the time to watch C-Span. Should be great theater. The problem, however, is that this will only be theater, since the TARP legislation puts the Treasury Secretary outside the reach of the law.
Is the Fed Taking the First Steps to Selective Default and Devaluation? Jesse’s Cafe Americain
Volkswagen: if the American carmakers can get bailout funds, so can we Ed Harrison
Asian trade in ‘free fall’ as exports to West dry up Ambrose Evans-Pritchard and US clothing slump hits shipments Financial Times. The magnitude of the fall is troubling.
Needed: Rapid and large liquidity funding for emerging markets Guillermo Calvo, Rudy Loo-Kung, VoxEU
Capitalist Fools Joseph Stiglitz, Vanity Fair
Antidote du jour:
Joe 
Posts
Tuffy: “What I want to know is, why is there no food in this little box except my sister Muffy? Huh? Huh? Got an answer for _that_, Mr. Bill??”