Monthly Archives: December 2009

December 31, 2009

• Best Antidotes of 2009 (Part 1)
  by Yves Smith 6:50 am

• Links New Year’s Eve 2009
  by Yves Smith 5:58 am

• More on Goldman Shorts: McClatchy Weighs In
  by Yves Smith 2:37 am

• Guest Post: Find a Local Credit Union and Assess Its Safety
  by George Washington 1:56 am

December 30, 2009

• Guest Post: Economist Says Health Care Bill “Is Just Another Bailout Of The Financial System”
  by George Washington 4:11 pm

• Links 12/30/09
  by Yves Smith 5:30 am

• On Goldman’s (and Now Morgan Stanley’s) Deceptive Synthetic CDO Practices (aka Screwing Their Customers)
  by Yves Smith 5:25 am

• DC For Sale: Health Care and Financial Services as Case Studies
  by Yves Smith 12:07 am

December 29, 2009

• Seeking Reader Input on (Modest) Website Redesign
  by Yves Smith 10:30 am

• Links 12/29/09
  by Yves Smith 5:05 am

• “2010: Foreseeable and Unforeseeable Risks ~ The Room For Policy Error is Enormous”
  by Yves Smith 3:27 am

• “What’s in Store for 2010”
  by Yves Smith 2:16 am

December 28, 2009

• How not to solve a financial crisis
  by Edward Harrison 3:02 pm

• Links 12/28/09
  by Yves Smith 4:40 am

• “Is Blaming AAA Investors Wall-Street Serving PR?”
  by Yves Smith 3:06 am

• Has Obama been a success despite suspicions of crony capitalism?
  by Edward Harrison 1:13 am

December 27, 2009

• “What Are We? – Stupid?”
  by Yves Smith 9:21 pm

• “Top Ten Reasons to Kill the Senate Health Care Bill”
  by Yves Smith 4:08 pm

• Links 12/27/09
  by Yves Smith 4:12 am

• Plus ca change…
  by Yves Smith 3:24 am

• Another Team Obama Present to Corporate America: Health “Reform” Bill Favors Big Pharma Over Generics
  by Yves Smith 12:49 am

December 26, 2009

• Will Continued Stealth Bailout of Housing Produce Unwanted Side Effects?
  by Yves Smith 4:03 pm

• Links 12/26/09
  by Yves Smith 1:37 am

December 25, 2009

• Links Christmas Day
  by Yves Smith 3:34 am

• Belated “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” (Financial Services Edition)
  by Yves Smith 1:36 am

December 24, 2009

• Guest Post: Princeton Economist and Computer Scientists Show that Derivatives Are Inherently Vulnerable to Fraud
  by George Washington 7:15 pm

• The nationalization of America’s mortgage problem
  by Edward Harrison 7:14 pm

• “Jane Hamsher, Grover Norquist Call for Rahm Emanuel’s Resignation”
  by Yves Smith 5:58 pm

• Antidote du Jour
  by Yves Smith 9:01 am

• Goldman, Deutsche, and the Destructive Use of Synthetic CDOs Come Into Focus
  by Yves Smith 8:27 am

• Treasury Gives Misleading Account of TARP Results
  by Yves Smith 7:27 am

December 23, 2009

• Is kleptocracy a relevant term for discussion about the origins of the crisis?
  by Edward Harrison 1:44 pm

• “Body Count From Goldman Actions Crosses Into Criminal Territory”
  by Yves Smith 5:05 am

• Links 12/23/09
  by Yves Smith 4:53 am

December 22, 2009

• Guest Post: The Real Reason Newspapers Are Losing Money, And Why Bailing Out Failing Newspapers Would Create Moral Hazard in the Media
  by George Washington 5:50 pm

• A look back at the debate on the role of monetary and fiscal stimulus in depression
  by Edward Harrison 11:52 am

• “Basel III – the OK, the Unfinished and the Ugly”
  by Yves Smith 5:09 am

• Links 12/22/09
  by Yves Smith 4:46 am

• Goldman Holiday Cartoon
  by Yves Smith 1:26 am

December 21, 2009

• Guest Post: Economists Are Trained to Ignore the Real World
  by George Washington 4:35 pm

• Some Things Went Bump in The Night Last Week (Bank Regulatory Shenanigans Edition)
  by Yves Smith 12:18 pm

• “The Hack’s Tale”
  by Yves Smith 10:37 am

• Links 12/21/09
  by Yves Smith 4:03 am

• WaPo Shreds Fed’s Pre-Crisis Performance as Regulator
  by Yves Smith 3:18 am

December 20, 2009

• TARP Double Standard: Credit Unions and Development Financial Institutions Get Short End of Stick
  by Yves Smith 11:53 pm

• Goldman Threatens to “Move” 20% of UK Staff to Spain to Escape Bonus Supertax
  by Yves Smith 8:15 pm

• More Evidence of Froth in China’s Housing Market
  by Yves Smith 4:57 pm

• Links 12/20/09
  by Yves Smith 3:59 am

• Supreme Court Guts Due Process Protection
  by Yves Smith 3:38 am

• Spitzer, Partnoy, Black Call for AIG Open Source Investigation (and Goldman Implications)
  by Yves Smith 12:06 am

December 19, 2009

• Links 12/19/09
  by Yves Smith 4:09 am

• Bank of England Calls Bluff of Bankers Who Threaten to Depart UK to Avoid Taxes
  by Yves Smith 2:51 am

• Bernanke Confirmation Headwinds Increasing
  by Yves Smith 1:27 am

• Keynes Rap! (with Lord Skidelsky in a Non-Singing Role)
  by Yves Smith 12:59 am

December 18, 2009

• Mark Thoma: Libertarians and populists versus Bernanke
  by Edward Harrison 9:38 am

• Links 12/18/09
  by Yves Smith 5:56 am

December 17, 2009

• Blodget and Task say Obama suffers because “taxpayer always finishes last”
  by Edward Harrison 7:54 pm

• How to escape currency volatility and contagion in the globalized world of finance
  by Edward Harrison 10:34 am

• Antidote du Jour
  by Yves Smith 7:21 am

• Nearly Three Years Old, and Finally, A Tip Jar!
  by Yves Smith 2:25 am

• “Greece – A Line in the Sand?”
  by Yves Smith 12:16 am

December 16, 2009

• Sen. Merkley, Dem. on Banking Committee, to Vote Against Bernanke
  by Yves Smith 2:47 pm

• Links 12/16/09
  by Yves Smith 3:01 am

• Former Barclays Chief Points Out Bonuses Were Paid Fraudulently
  by Yves Smith 2:24 am

• Guest Post: $38 Billion Tax Break Granted to Citigroup to Help Improve the TARP Results
  by Jesse 12:10 am

• Bernanke Stonewalls and Prevaricates in Response to Questions by Sen. Bunning
  by Yves Smith 12:05 am

December 15, 2009

• Guest Post: Any Climate Treaty Which Does Not Dramatically Reduce Soot Is Not Worth the Paper It’s Written On
  by George Washington 7:50 pm

• Quelle Surprise! Banks See Meeting With Obama as a “PR Stunt” for Administration
  by Yves Smith 7:28 pm

• Obama’s demand that fat cats lend is no ode to Samuelson
  by Edward Harrison 3:51 pm

• Guest Post: The Fed’s “Independence” Argument Is False
  by George Washington 3:24 pm

• Links 12/15/09
  by Yves Smith 4:28 am

• “Bankers Support Regulation? Au Contraire”
  by Yves Smith 12:29 am

• We Need New Words For Our Madness
  by Yves Smith 12:19 am

December 14, 2009

• “Obama’s Newfound Populism: All Hat, No Cattle”
  by Yves Smith 11:16 pm

• Guest Post: Larry Summers Is Like a Guy Who Yells That the Sun Really DOES Revolve Around the Earth and that the Current Orbit is Just a Temporary Aberration . . . and That If We Just Wait a Little While, “Everything Will Return to Normal”
  by George Washington 4:01 pm

• Yes, Obama is Getting Serious About Banks. He is Now Calling Them Bad Names!
  by Yves Smith 6:01 am

• Links 12/14/09
  by Yves Smith 5:56 am

• Hospital Cleaners Are Worth More Than Bankers (and Quelle Surprise, Bankers Destroy Value!)
  by Yves Smith 3:47 am

• So Why Did Abu Dhabi Run to the Rescue of Dubai?
  by Yves Smith 2:25 am

December 13, 2009

• Links 12/13/09
  by Yves Smith 5:50 am

• Drug Money Saved Banks in Global Crisis?
  by Yves Smith 4:28 am

December 12, 2009

• Sarah Palin vs. William Shatner
  by Yves Smith 4:36 pm

• Links 12/12/09
  by Yves Smith 6:18 am

December 11, 2009

• Guest Post: House Passes Bill to Audit the Fed
  by George Washington 6:48 pm

• Matt Taibbi: Obama’s Big Sellout
  by Edward Harrison 10:28 am

• Links 12/11/09
  by Yves Smith 3:33 am

• Pitchfork Watch: Vigilante Justice Against Banking Interests Rising?
  by Yves Smith 1:33 am

• Harvard Suspends Construction of Larry Summers’ $1 Billion Science Center
  by Yves Smith 12:55 am

December 10, 2009

• Discover Card Survey: Christmas Spending to Fall 15%
  by Yves Smith 11:20 pm

• “Financial Reform, or, Rearranging Chairs on the Titanic”
  by Yves Smith 9:57 pm

• Guest Post: Are Food Stamps the Soup Lines of this Great Recession?
  by George Washington 8:57 pm

• Links 12/10/09 (and IUpdates on the Gutting of House Financial Reform Bill)
  by Yves Smith 3:07 am

• Have Studies Linking Trading Performance and Testosterone Encouraged Bad Behavior?
  by Yves Smith 1:37 am

December 9, 2009

• Effort to Reform Finance Instead Turning into a Coup by Banksters
  by Yves Smith 7:56 pm

• Links 12/9/09
  by Yves Smith 6:24 am

• Calls For Protectionist Retaliation Against China Rise
  by Yves Smith 5:40 am

• “Highlights from the Bernanke Testimony”
  by Yves Smith 5:01 am

• Volcker: Little Evidence Financial Innovation Has Helped Economy
  by Yves Smith 12:06 am

December 8, 2009

• Meredith Whitney: The government is “out of bullets”
  by Edward Harrison 9:18 pm

• No Need for New TARP: Fed Land Grab in Miller Amendment
  by Yves Smith 4:04 pm

• Guest Post: Head of California’s Cap and Trade Offsets Program: Cap and Trade Won’t Work for Climate, It’s a Scam
  by George Washington 2:46 pm

• Links 12/8/09
  by Yves Smith 4:30 am

• Non-Reform of Rating Agencies
  by Yves Smith 4:29 am

• Alan Grayson Asks Bernanke for Answers in Latest Retrade of AIG Deal
  by Yves Smith 2:17 am

• Guest Post: Woman Who Invented Credit Default Swaps is One of the Key Architects of Carbon Derivatives, Which Would Be at the Very CENTER of Cap and Trade
  by George Washington 2:17 am

• “Let’s Deport Poor People! A Modest Proposal for the Unemployment Problem (with apologies to Swift)”
  by Yves Smith 12:22 am

December 7, 2009

• Links Pearl Harbor Day
  by Yves Smith 3:15 am

• AIG’s General Counsel Acts Against AIG’s Interest
  by Yves Smith 1:42 am

• Newsweek: Goldman Supplied 9 Pages of Proposed Changes to Derivatives Legislation
  by Yves Smith 1:05 am

December 6, 2009

• Is China’s Capital Spending Bubble About to Deflate?
  by Yves Smith 11:09 pm

• BIS Warns Low Rates Lead to Excessive Risk Taking
  by Yves Smith 8:53 pm

December 5, 2009

• Links 12/5/09
  by Yves Smith 3:55 am

• “Values and Rules”
  by Yves Smith 3:45 am

• “Barclays banker Hugh McGee wants son’s teacher fired for ‘sleazeball’ comment”
  by Yves Smith 3:27 am

• Every Dog Has Its Day, Even Citigroup
  by Yves Smith 1:33 am

December 4, 2009

• Barack Obama gets it
  by Edward Harrison 8:13 pm

• Bank failures in Georgia crushing small business and home owners
  by Edward Harrison 7:19 pm

• Will big banks now free of TARP’s shackles reach for yield?
  by Edward Harrison 10:27 am

• Links 12/4/09
  by Yves Smith 4:51 am

• The China Decoupling Myth?
  by Yves Smith 3:49 am

• Is Repaying TARP Good for Bank of America (and Taxpayers?)
  by Yves Smith 2:35 am

December 3, 2009

• Republican on Senate Banking Committee to Place Hold on Bernanke Confirmation
  by Yves Smith 1:36 pm

• Links 12/3/09
  by Yves Smith 4:10 am

December 2, 2009

• “Administration Considering Additional Subsidies and Tax Breaks”
  by Yves Smith 8:52 pm

• Progress on “No on Bernanke,” Including Sanders Putting Hold on Confirmation
  by Yves Smith 7:27 pm

• AmTrust Financial bankruptcy a bad sign for regional banks
  by Edward Harrison 4:12 pm

• Most Senators “Have Fingers in the Wind” on Bernanke
  by Yves Smith 2:41 pm

• Links 12/2/09
  by Yves Smith 5:45 am

• “In the Eye of the Storm: Updating the Economics of Global Turbulence”
  by Yves Smith 5:06 am

• Is Bloomberg Engaging in Bernanke Boosterism?
  by Yves Smith 4:30 am

December 1, 2009

• “Bank Profits Mirage”
  by Yves Smith 8:48 pm

• Guest Post: Questions for Bernanke’s Senate Confirmation Hearing
  by George Washington 8:07 pm

• “The Fed, Treasury, and AIG”
  by Yves Smith 10:44 am

• Links 12/1/09
  by Yves Smith 6:09 am

• Goldman Staff Packing Pistols to Defend Against Peasants
  by Yves Smith 4:25 am

• Housing Rescue Operations a Boon to Mortgage Fraudsters
  by Yves Smith 3:34 am