Mortgaging the Nation

The Bitter Fruits of Deregulation

By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS

Remember the good old days when the economic threat was mere recession? The Federal Reserve would encourage the economy with low interest rates until the economy overheated. Prices would rise, and unions would strike for higher benefits. Then the Fed would put on the brakes by raising interest rates. Money supply growth would fall. Inventories would grow, and layoffs would result. When the economy cooled down, the cycle would start over.

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Posted under Economy, Politics

By Leon Mangasarian

Sept. 25 (Bloomberg) — German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck said  the U.S. will lose its position as the world’s undisputed financial “superpower” and called for a ban on speculative short-selling to help restore the global economy.

Steinbrueck, in a speech on the financial-market crisis to lawmakers in Berlin today, set out an eight-point plan urging greater regulation  and larger capital reserves for banks. He championed the German banking system over its U.S. counterpart, dismissing the “Anglo-Saxon” model as having “an exaggerated fixation on returns.” Read More…

Posted under Economy, Politics

That’s a Lot of Goldman

Putting Lipstick on an AIG

By LILA RAJIVA

Hockey moms aren’t the only ones wearing Maybelline. Pigs come in cherry gloss too.

Like the porkers at Wall Street lining up with their lips in a pucker behind Washington’s plush behind. Having pigged out at the public trough for years, they now want their sticky little trotters washed down in the righteous waters of the Potomac.

Tarting up comes natural to our Wall Street-walkers. Turns out these great big masters of the universe were really, well, girly men who couldn’t balance their check-books and put out more than they took in… like any working girl. Read More…

Posted under Economy, Politics