The latest Versus econoparody: And since this is a Friday night, let me give you a couple of personal faves. This one from O Lucky Man! is similar philosophically but very different stylistically. This Lindsay Anderson film (with Malcolm McDowell) has the interesting device of treating the band as a Greek chorus. During the picture, […]
Read more...The battle lines are forming. In the last two years, local attorneys working for the small minority of borrowers who contest foreclosures have reported a wide range of what in spin doctor land would be called irregularities. These reports were so widespread and consistent as to suggest that malfeasance was endemic, but without corroborating evidence […]
Read more...The specter of demonstrations in Europe are not only likely to become a regular news item, but other economies have high odds of similar social stresses, a UN agency forecasts. The International Labour Organisation has pushed back its estimate of when global employment will return to pre-crisis levels back to 2015. Given the widespread signs […]
Read more...Australia has less income disparity than the US (not that that is saying much, the US is the most extreme among advanced economies) by virtue of having relatively high minimum wages and cultural opposition to big pay packages. Australians are pretty egalitarian; for instance, they are skeptical that large paychecks are fairly earned (ie. they […]
Read more...By Jordi Blanes i Vidal, Lecturer in Managerial Economics and Strategy at London School of Economics; Mirko Draca Research Economist at the Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics; and Christian Fons-Rosen, Assistant Professor of Economics at Universitat Pompeu Fabra. First posted at VoxEU. Lobbying in the US, as well as other democracies, is […]
Read more...Well, at least you have to give the mandarins at the Bank of England points for honesty. They’ve actually admitted they don’t give a rat’s ass for the welfare of old people who had prudently hoped to live off income from their investments. Admittedly, the retirees might have been kidding themselves a wee bit, since […]
Read more...By Marshall Auerback, a portfolio strategist .hedge fund manager, and Roosevelt Institute Senior Fellow My friend, Yves Smith, has posed the question as to why there is no political outlet for the anger on the left. In other words, where are today’s Huey Longs when you need them? It’s become patently obvious to anybody with […]
Read more...Poll ratings show approval levels for the major political perps, meaning the President, Congress, each of the two major parties, at levels so low as to be tantamount to loathing. But while the Tea Party has become a force to be reckoned with by tapping into this wellspring of discontent, those on the left who […]
Read more...Tom Adams pointed out a story on ABC about the sleazy strong arming tactics used by a debt collection agency engaged by Bank of America debt collection agency called ACT Technologies. I imagine we are going to hear more and more about this sort of thing, not simply because high unemployment rates mean more people […]
Read more...Three women filed a sex discrimination suit against Goldman seeking class action status. It has gotten some attention in the press and on the Web for not the best reasons, namely, the complaint recounts in some detail how one of the plaintiffs, Christina Chen-Oster a convertible bonds sales rep, had had a colleague force himself […]
Read more...The birth of modern propaganda took place in World War I, where an extraordinarily well orchestrated campaign turned America from pacifist to ferociously anti-German in a mere eighteen months. When after the war, the public learned that its beliefs had been turned without their realizing it, some of the key actors. such as Eddie Bernays […]
Read more...While this is a tad wide of our usual focus, the outcome of the November midterms has the potential to have significant economic implications. I ran into an old colleague, an investor and sufficiently serious Republican donor to have gotten invited to both Bush inaugurations. Surprisingly, he was not keen at all about the prospect […]
Read more...It is increasingly evident that the appointment of Elizabeth Warren to act as special advisor to the President and Treasury for the newly-established Consumer Financial Protection Agency has everything to do with Obama trying to shore up his questionable credentials as a reformer and perilous little with helping ordinary citizens. So the only question that […]
Read more...The London sponsored bike hire scheme provides an ongoing media opportunity for one of the UK’s less well liked banks. Not everyone thinks the PR should go unchallenged. Shot in Smithfield yesterday, hat tip Richard Smith:
Read more...I received this query from someone we will call AK via e-mail: Was wondering if you might be help with a mental exercise I’ve been toying with the last few weeks pertaining to the roll of timeframe of consequences, and whether we will be hit with a shock or slow-burn when gravity finally kicks in. […]
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