Archives: September 2008

Good Riddance to Bad Rubbish

Posted by: Michael Mandel on September 29, Categories: Political Economy

I may regret saying this, but the Paulson plan was bad, just bad. As Peter Coy wrote in this week's issue, this was not the best way to spend $700...

Economic Dream Team?

Posted by: Michael Mandel on September 26, Categories: Political Economy

Karen Fisher, the editor for my textbook (almost done!), asked me a good question: If you could compile an “economic dream team” to make it through this particular nightmare, who...

Economists against the plan

Posted by: Michael Mandel on September 26, Categories: Political Economy

A letter by economists from both ends of the political spectrum opposing the Paulson plan (for example, Robert Lucas from the more conservative end of the profession, and Michael Reich...

The Real Problem: Not Enough Political Legitimacy in DC

Posted by: Michael Mandel on September 26, Categories: Financial markets

The failure of Thursday’s bailout talks points out a big problem: Solving this crisis is going to require a leader in Washington with the political clout to enforce unpopular measures—to...

The Galbraith Plan

Posted by: Michael Mandel on September 26, Categories: Financial markets

I like the plan put forward by James Galbraith in yesterday's Washington Post. Here's what he said: Is this bailout still necessary? The point of the bailout is to buy...

Nuts...

Posted by: Michael Mandel on September 26, Categories: Financial markets

....just nuts WaMu going under...punishment of the greedy (I just hope JPMorgan Chase is getting a good deal) The so-called bailout deal being submarined by politics? I'm so not surprised....

10 years of nonexistent stock returns

Posted by: Michael Mandel on September 24, Categories: Financial markets

I've been thinking about whether to put more money into the stock market, or take my remaining money out. I'm still undecided, but here's the thing. When I looked back...

Innovation Economics Conference

Posted by: Michael Mandel on September 23, Categories: Growth

I know everyone is obsessed with financial collapse, but here's a change of pace. I will be on a panel at a conference on Innovation Economics in DC on Thursday....

More questions for Paulson

Posted by: Michael Mandel on September 23, Categories: Financial markets

Barry Ritholtz of the Big Picture Blog has 14 questions for Paulson and Bernanke. I've excerpted from his list. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke are...

More skepticism

Posted by: Michael Mandel on September 23, Categories: Financial markets

More skepticism about the Paulson plan from David Cay Johnston, directed toward journalists: Don't assume that Congress must act instantly, as so many news stories state as if it was...

Bernanke as Lenin

Posted by: Michael Mandel on September 22, Categories: The Fed

Given that Bernanke and Paulson are about to socialize risk in the financial system, it's time to bring back the cover image from earlier this year--Bernanke as Lenin....

The Opposition Grows

Posted by: Michael Mandel on September 21, Categories: Political Economy

Opposition is growing to the Paulson plan. Much of it makes sense: Luigi Zingales from the U of Chicago Business School writes: The decisions that will be made this weekend...

The Real Impact of the Plan

Posted by: Michael Mandel on September 21, Categories: Financial markets

We now know the first version of the big bailout plan. It gives Paulson virtually unlimited authority to buy and sell up to $700 billion in residential and commercial mortgages,...

The $1 Trillion Solution: Will It Work?

Posted by: Michael Mandel on September 19, Categories: Financial markets

The numbers have gone so high that they’ve become inconceivable. Now Paulson and Bernanke are proposing a government fund or funds to buy up failed securities and prop up the...

Reregulation is Here

Posted by: Michael Mandel on September 18, Categories: Regulation

and the thirty-year deregulation movement is now officially over. See my story here. Also, see the reregulation page on Business Exchange,...

Is it time to get back into the market?

Posted by: Michael Mandel on September 17, Categories: Financial markets

Is it time to get back into the market? Let me start by being honest. We’re in the fog of war right now, and I don’t have a clue what...

Double Wow, Indeed...AIG

Posted by: Michael Mandel on September 17, Categories: Financial markets

Maybe now I can get my auto insurance from the Fed...

Wow!

Posted by: Michael Mandel on September 15, Categories: Environment

Fannie, Freddie, Lehman, Merrill, AIG?... D**n...that's the only thing I can say. I knew that the global financial system was stressed, but I expected the break to come in China,...

Innovation Economics

Posted by: Michael Mandel on September 11, Categories: Growth

I just did a cover story on innovation economics which appears here. More later..I've got to recover....

Henry Paulson: Mr. Risk

Posted by: Michael Mandel on September 10, Categories: Financial markets

When Paulson was appointed Treasury Secretary in 2006, I wrote a cover story entitled "Mr. Risk Goes To Washington". The inside language said: "Hank Paulson's profound understanding of risk and...

Keep your eye on consumption

Posted by: Michael Mandel on September 08, Categories: Labor Market

The Fed bailout got all the news this weekend, as it should. But don't forget the weak job report from Friday. The combination of employment woes, falling house prices, and...

Fannie, Freddie, and Schrodinger's Cat

Posted by: Michael Mandel on September 07, Categories: Financial markets

You know, when I think about the fate of Fannie and Freddie, I am reminded of the fate of Schrodinger's cat. Erwin Schrodinger was an Austrian physicist in the 1930s...

Freddie-Fannie Takeover: Good news or Bad News?

Posted by: Michael Mandel on September 07, Categories: Financial markets

With Freddie and Fannie apparently about to be bailed-out/taken-over by the government, is this good news or bad news for the economy and the markets? Back in July, when Paulson...

How Bad Will The Recession Get?

Posted by: Michael Mandel on September 05, Categories: Macro

This morning’s employment report has settled the question of whether the U.S. is in recession. With the unemployment rate jumping to 6.1%, the answer is unequivocally yes. Now the question...

BLS Responds to Criticisms of CPI

Posted by: Michael Mandel on September 04, Categories: Macro

The BLS has just published its response to its critics, especially John Williams at Shadow Government Statistics. The BLS writes: One widely cited alternative index is based on an estimate...