Project S.H.A.M.E: The Recovered History of Charles Murray
We are delighted to post the latest offering of Project S.H.A.M.E., a media transparency initiative led by Yasha Levine and Mark Ames, and now in partnership with NSFWCORP.
Read more...Yearly Archives: 2013
Dan Kervick: US Double-Dip Death Watch Continues
By Dan Kervick, who does research in decision theory and analytic metaphysics. Cross posted from New Economic Perspectives
I thought I would take a break from the latest outburst of debt ceiling mania to call attention once again to the bipartisan plan of budget austerity and recession-tempting economic devastation that will be implemented in March in one form or another, and from which the debt ceiling debate is designed to distract us.
Read more...Former Deutsche Bank Employee Claims Bank Took Big Libor Bets During Crisis Because It Could Influence Rates
The Wall Street Journal has an exclusive story based on a whistleblower leak, apparently with supporting transaction records.
Read more...Links 1/9/13
Schadenfreude Alert: With or Without AIG’s Help, Hank Greenberg Plans to Torture Treasury and Geithner
Never underestimate the greed of a billionaire. But I have to say separately that I will thoroughly enjoy the pigfight between former AIG chief Hank Greenberg’s C.V. Starr (now the biggest shareholder in AIG) versus the Federal government over the rescue of AIG. Any cost and embarrassment that the Administration suffers will be the direct result of the Bush-Obama policies of being concerned only about saving financial players rather than meting out any punishments, and for being incompetent negotiators.
Read more...Eric Zuesse: Obama Administration Lies, Then Covers Up, to Minimize BP Liabilities for Deepwater Horizon Disaster
By Eric Zuesse, an investigative historian and the author, most recently, of They’re Not Even Close: The Democratic vs. Republican Economic Records, 1910-2010, and of CHRIST’S VENTRILOQUISTS: The Event that Created Christianity.
The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the Federal Government has refused to investigate why it vastly underestimated the amount of oil spilled in BP’s Deepwater Horizon huge blowout in the Gulf of Mexico, and thus refused to understand why the actual liability of BP will never be able to be estimated accurately, for calculating BP’s penalties and compensation-payments.
Read more...Philip Pilkington: The Origins of Neoliberalism, Part I – Hayek’s Delusion
By Philip Pilkington, a writer and research assistant at Kingston University in London. You can follow him on Twitter @pilkingtonphil
It is not only by dint of lying to others, but also of lying to ourselves, that we cease to notice that we are lying.
– Marcel Proust
Friedrich Hayek was an unusual character.
Read more...Imminent Death of the Blogs Predicted, Except Not
By lambert strether. Original version published at Corrente.
There’s been some loose talk lately that the blogosphere is no longer “vital.” And indeed some blogs are ripe for disintermediation; who needs partisan blogs when you’ve got The Party? And who needs who needs Kos when you’ve got Maxim?
But to those who say that blogging is dead, I say, take a look at this chart:
It shows how a single comment ignited a media and policy explosion* two-and-a-half years later. Does that look like a power curve to you, or what?
Read more...Links 1/8/12
$8.5 Billion Foreclosure Fraud Settlement: Yet Another Loss for Homeowners Touted as a Victory
It’s bad enough to see long suffering homeowners take it once again in the chin, thanks to the way the bank regulators prostrate themselves before their supposed charges. It adds insult to injury to see this type of ritualized sellout yet again presented as a boon for consumers.
The latest case study is the $8.5 billion foreclosure fraud settlement announced today.
Read more...Yes, Virginia, the Department of Justice Really Believes It has Been Tough on Corporate Fraud
At the instigation of reader Doug, I’m shedding light on a remarkably flattering assessment of the Department of Justice, as revealed by a clearly planted story at the Law.com blog. It’s not so much that this article (as offensive as it is) important in and of itself, but it serves to illustrate the phenomenon that folks at te M&A boutique Lazard (when it was the top expert in CEO psychopathy) called “believing your own PR”. This sort of thinking bears examining because it is widespread in both Corporate America and within the Beltway.
Read more...Bill Black: Why Neo-Liberals Need to Dismiss Latin Americans as “Idiots”
By Bill Black, the author of The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One and an associate professor of economics and law at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Cross posted from Benzinga
Alvaro Vargas Llosa (AVL) co-authored the Guide to the Perfect Latin American Idiot with two other journalists. He revisited the subject with an article in 2007 entitled “The Return of the Idiot.”
AVL derides young Latin Americans as idiots, claiming that “they suppress the notion that predation and vindictiveness are wrong.” That claim fails because stopping “predation and vindictiveness” is what drives young Latin American progressives.
Read more...Ian Fraser: Corruption allegations, major fraud inquiries, links to pornographic magazines … and a luxury yacht. Welcome to the world of banking
Police are (still) poised to press charges against several HBOS bankers and consultants after a two-year investigation into large-scale fraud, money laundering and corruption involving the Edinburgh-based bank.
Read more...Links 1/7/12
Why Corporate Subsidies in the Fiscal Cliff Bill Matter: We Can Stop Corruption If We Understand It
Matt Stoller is a fellow at the Roosevelt institute. You can follow him at http://www.twitter.com/matthewstoller.
Three days ago, Naked Capitalism published a story, Eight Corporate Subsidies in the Fiscal Cliff Bill, From Goldman Sachs to Disney to NASCAR. Basically, when everyone else was focused on taxes for the wealthy or spending cuts, we actually looked at the underlying bill. And loh and behold, the corporate extenders were egregious and included cash for NASCAR, Hollywood, mining companies, GE, Citigroup, and so on. The reaction has been swift, and is useful to understand, because it points to an underlying political dynamic. And that is, change is possible, and “the system” isn’t inherently dirty. We can make a difference, if we try.
Read more...