I must confess that there are certain types of human activity that are a complete mystery to me, and much of the column ink spilled this weekend serves as a vivid reminder. There are two types of articles very much on display: 1. Who will key members of Obama’s cabinet be (with the financial press […]
Read more...This comes from Adam Levitin at Credit Slips: There are lots and lots of differences in the financial institutions situation of the Depression and today. And yet there are some remarkable parallels in the problems and government responses. We shouldn’t overread parallels as predictive matters. But some of them are pretty astounding: Banks in the […]
Read more...I was catching up on other blogs and saw that Ed Harrison has a clip of Boy George “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?” as his theme song of the week just passed. I think this is a bit more evocative of what we have been through (trust me, just play it): : The […]
Read more...I must confess that I have found the events of the last few weeks mighty unsettling, for what they mean not just for the US and the world economy, but the possible implications for geopoltics and our own political processes. We are seeing big shifts along a lot of major fault lines. I found this […]
Read more...This doesn’t qualify as comic relief, but it is a tad freakish how well this clip works: Hat tip Ben Bitroff
Read more...Dunno about you, but I need some levity right now. Enjoy!
Read more...Enjoy!
Read more...Get a load of this e-mail I received from a CNN affiliate selling air time on American Airlines flights. And consider further that this was sent to my day-job e-mail address, which is, to put it mildly, not very easy to find (ie, I don’t subscribe to small business or consulting publications that would put […]
Read more...This exchange from Institutional Risk Analytics is a bit light on the vitriol, but the observation is acute: The IRA: But speaking of certainty, don’t you believe that it is impossible to give our leaders a pass with respect to the mortgage bubble? How can we look at Alan Greenspan, Larry Summers or Bob Rubin […]
Read more...From the New York Times: “I cannot find a single convincing argument that tells me that astrologers won’t do better than economists,” Mr. [Nassim Nicholas] Taleb said last week by telephone from Lebanon, where he was mountain hiking. “The problem is the arrogance of these economists,” he said. “They’re making people rely on theories that […]
Read more...I sincerely doubt this will ever happen (imagine the backlash from groups arguing that excess avoirdupois isn’t a person’s fault and hence shouldn’t be punished) but those who have beenn compressed more than once by an overweight neighbor on a plane might applaud. From Bloomberg: Imagine two scales at the airline ticket counter, one for […]
Read more...From the New York Times: “Taxpayers shouldn’t be taking on the risk of foreclosure,” said Tony Fratto, a White House spokesman. A little late to try to prevent that….
Read more...Today a brave filly died at Churchill Downs. Eight Belles was the only one of a huge field of twenty to break from the pack in the homestretch of the Kentucky Derby and attempt to run down the hard charging winner, Big Brown. She collapsed almost immediately after crossing the finish line, both ankles broken, […]
Read more...Forgive me, I couldn’t resist this oddity. From the BBC: A man in New Zealand has been charged with using a hedgehog as a weapon, the New Zealand Herald has reported. Police said William Singalargh, 27, had hurled the hedgehog about 5m (16ft) at a 15-year-old boy. “It hit the victim in the leg, causing […]
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