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Please use the comments to demonstrate your own ignorance, unfamiliarity with empirical data, ability to repeat discredited memes, and lack of respect for scientific knowledge. Also, be sure to create straw men and argue against things I have neither said nor even implied. Any irrelevancies you can mention will also be appreciated. Lastly, kindly forgo all civility in your discourse . . . you are, after all, anonymous.

12 Responses to “10 Monday AM Reads”

1. franklin411 Says:
   October 24th, 2011 at 9:56 am

   Have you seen those facebook photos where rich white kids post handwritten messages saying “I’m not part of the 99%?” This article destroys `em!

   “Don’t EVEN Get Me Started, Mythical Bootstraps College Student”

   http://persephonemagazine.com/2011/10/dont-even-get-me-started-mythical-bootstraps-college-student/

2. Mike in Nola Says:
   October 24th, 2011 at 9:57 am

   Humorous anecdote on Jobs/Gates and who stole what from whom.

   http://microsoft-news.com/bill-gates-response-to-steve-jobs-on-windows-rip-off-claim/

3. Moss Says:
   October 24th, 2011 at 10:00 am

   Swiss Banks May Pay Billions to U.S., Disclose Client Names

   http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-24/swiss-banks-said-ready-to-pay-billions-disclose-customer-names.html

   I imagine these folks are pushing for the Flat-Tax. I say make them all public.
   A great big example of the corrupt banking cartel and what the 1% really do.

4. Equityval Says:
   October 24th, 2011 at 10:17 am

   Money quote from the Volcker story about Fred and Fan’s complicity in the mortgage underwriting fiasco of the last cycle:

   “THE other area that cries out for change, Mr. Volcker said, is the nation’s mortgage market, now controlled by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the taxpayer-owned mortgage giants.

   “We simply should not countenance a residential mortgage market, the largest part of our capital market, dominated by so-called government-sponsored enterprises,” Mr. Volcker said in his speech. “The financial breakdown was in fact triggered by extremely lax, government-tolerated underwriting standards, an important ingredient in the housing bubble.”

5. streeteye Says:
   October 24th, 2011 at 11:08 am

   FAZ – “In Germany at least, the bazooka awakens memories of the last stand, of the ‘Volkssturm’ (‘People’s Storm’) of old men and children who were meant to turn around a lost war, but bled to death instead.”
   http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,793599,00.html

   Krugman giving up on saving the Euro in its present form -
   http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/24/opinion/the-hole-in-europes-bucket.html

   Obama’s pre-election economic offensive -
   http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/24/us/politics/jobs-plan-stalled-obama-to-try-new-economic-drive.html

   A sea change – apparel inflation is back –
   http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/10/21/business/economy/Off-the-Charts-In-Apparel-Inflation-Is-Back.html?ref%3Dbusiness

6. rktbrkr Says:
   October 24th, 2011 at 11:13 am

   Understandable Sarkozy doesn’t like Cameron kibitzing during Eurozone deliberations. Cameron/Britain want it both ways, they didn’t want to be part of Euro zone but don’t want to excluded from benefits of membership.

   The leaked document (maybe true, maybe not) paints a really bleak picture of the situation there. “Everybody who wants a voluntary 60% haircut raise your hand”.

   No two PIIGs are exactly the same but if Greece is that bad how good can Spain or Italy be? Those two especially Italy are Euro show stoppers. Each turn of the screw produces more bailees and fewer bailers.

   http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/8844773/Nicolas-Sarkozy-tells-David-Cameron-Were-sick-of-you-telling-us-what-to-do.html

7. Transor Z Says:
   October 24th, 2011 at 11:18 am

   Two-part Boston Globe expose on fish restaurants finds 48% of certain species of fish on menus are deliberately mislabeled, fraudulently swapped out for cheaper species:

   http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2011/10/23/on_the_menu_but_not_on_your_plate/?p1=News_links

   http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2011/10/24/from_sea_to_sushi_bar_a_system_open_to_abuse/?p1=News_links

8. ami_in_deutschland Says:
   October 24th, 2011 at 12:30 pm

   Mathematicians have determined that 147 companies control 40% of the world’s wealth:

   http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21228354.500-revealed–the-capitalist-network-that-runs-the-world.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news

9. Frwip Says:
   October 24th, 2011 at 12:34 pm

   Scary one in the WSJ. ” Lean Companies Ready to Cut ”

   http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203911804576649093203840446.html

   So much for those (I would include myself in that lot) who were inclined to think that there wasn’t much left to cut, so little risk of a wage-driven recession.

   It looks like executives in quite a few companies are ready to cut even further into the bone to maintain earnings, as they did with a lot of success for the past 3 or 4 years. If this keeps going, we’re going to see a lot of US companies pass away in perfect financial health…

10. mote Says:
    October 24th, 2011 at 1:19 pm

    States messing with the Electoral College.

    http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2011/10/13/wisconsin-proposal-would-change-electoral-voting-distribution-pa-mulls-similar-change/

11. streeteye Says:
    October 24th, 2011 at 2:25 pm

    Transcript of Ray Dalio last Thursday on Charlie Rose -

    http://nerdinvest.blogspot.com/2011/10/dalio-biggest-hedge-fund-manager.html

12. formerlawyer Says:
    October 24th, 2011 at 4:38 pm

    @Equityval Says:

    I do not think it means what you think it means.

    - Fred and Fannie dominate the current mortgage market – fact
    - Lax government tolerated mortgage underwriting standards were a significant factor in the most recent collapse – fact

    There is no correlation or causation between those facts. Fannie and Fred did not cause the collapse.