01 Mar 2009
Propping Up a House of Cards

The real story behind the AIG bailouts ... read it and weep.

I don’t doubt this bit of conventional wisdom; after the calamity that followed the fall of Lehman Brothers, which was far less enmeshed in the global financial system than A.I.G., who would dare allow the world’s biggest insurer to fail? Who would want to take that risk? But that doesn’t mean we should feel resigned about what is happening at A.I.G. In fact, we should be furious. More than even Citi or Merrill, A.I.G. is ground zero for the practices that led the financial system to ruin.

(link) [New York Times]

14:49 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

Buffett Accepts Blame and Faults Others

Gosh, guess I'm not alone in seeing derivatives as weapons of mass financial destruction and identifying them as the root cause of the meltdown. In fact, it seems I'm in pretty good company, investment adviser wise anyway. Better company than the blowhards whining about taxes, deadbeats and socialism, anyway.

In his letter to shareholders, Warren E. Buffett was uncharacteristically critical of himself and the business world at large.

(link) [New York Times]

09:16 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

‘Socialism!’ Boo, Hiss, Repeat

If the antithesis of these guys being in charge is "socialism" then color me red. Because frankly, whatever state socialism does to us will not be any worse than the last 15 years of state capitalism ...

Conservatives may be seeking a spiritual leader, organizing principle and fresh identity, but they seem to have settled on a favorite rhetorical ogre: socialism.

(link) [New York Times]

09:13 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link