Economic News of Note - 17 Oct 2009

Birth-Rate Study: In Recession, Fewer Women Having Kids - TIME

Another casualty of the recession: Birthrates. US Birthrate down more than 2%.

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Apple joins Chamber of Commerce exodus over climate change scepticism | Environment | guardian.co.uk

As fluffy as this may sound, this is a portent of bigger battles between companies that have historically benefited from externalized costs and those that seek a more accurate reflection of the true production costs.
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AIG's Benmosche: The tone deaf CEO - Oct. 6, 2009

AIG head is the most tone-deaf CEO out there. Ends with an interesting quote: "He called us idiots, he called us corrupt," said Sherman, the California lawmaker. "I do have to thank this guy for his insults. He caused us to wake up from being completely asleep." He had a hell of deal going (US taxpayers funding his business), but he's so goddamned greedy, he's screwing it up. He just can't help himself.
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Rolfe Winkler » Blog Archive » TARP deadbeats | Blogs |

US Taxpayers getting screwed by the bailouts. CITIGROUP amongst the deadbeat bailout recipients. Any talk of the US taxpayer 'making money on this deal' is total bull.
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THE CUNNING REALIST: "Shabby Secret"

Great discussion of what's driving the collapse of the dollar. There's no doubt that Obama's spending is causing international concern about the dollar. But just as important is the new status quo of "too big to fail" for the financial sector and what that means for various aspects of Federal Reserve policy. The implicit government guarantee of a few GSEs was an important factor in the financial crisis. There's now an explicit government guarantee of every large financial institution on Wall Street. Almost two years after the Bear Stearns debacle, there are still no plans by the government to unwind or repudiate that guarantee. He also makes a very good point that the current trend may have overplayed itself, at least in the short term.
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The Lost Generation - BusinessWeek

Huge unemployment rates for recent graduates. The market you graduate in makes a huge difference in your career. This could be one consequence of the Recession that lasts and lasts. I'm very glad I graduated when I did. Many friends of mine are not so lucky.
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China buys the world - Start your engines (8) - FORTUNE

China's global shopping list. The Rio Tinto escapades were particularly interesting.
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No shame in walking away from mortgage - The Big Money- msnbc.com

Walking away from mortgages is a legitimate tactic, or so the article argues. The system was designed to prevent debt slavery and to encourage banks to be careful about who they lend to.
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Quiet Atlantic hurricane season a boon for insurers | U.S. | Reuters

Insurance companies rake in huge profits on quiet hurricane season, thanks to El Nino.

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Ruling could undo thousands of foreclosures - BostonHerald.com

Thousands of foreclosures potentially overturned because of lost paperwork. Was the paperwork lost, or was it destroyed to hide a trail of criminal malfeasance by mortgage brokers?

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Emphasis on Growth Is Called Misguided - The New York Times

Poking holes in G.D.P. as a measure of economic health of a country
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Utility Snubbed by Banks Shows States Pay Too Much (Update2) - Bloomberg.com

Government entities get screwed when borrowing money. AAA government debt more expensive than AA- private debt. Utah (AAA rated) was charged 0.11% more on $500 million in bonds than Wal-Mart (AA2/AA). This is a huge disparity and I have no idea why it isn't covered more. Investing in government bonds is about the safest thing you can do and the returns are, in relation to the risk, surprisingly good, but never spectacular. Is there a reason for the institutional bias?

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Europe Richer Than America - Forbes.com

EU now richer than NAFTA. Europe, as a whole, has been hit less by the Recession than the US. _____________________

Can't Sleep. Clowns will eat me.

Up real early this morning (partly because of this), so I'll post a few links.

Wonkette reports on Draft Stormy movement. "VITTER MUST BE DESTROYED!" Related: David Vitter is a jackass (Iced Coffee and a Bagel).

The Politics of Health Reform. Fascinating to get an outside perspective. A sample from the BBC:


Map of New Orleans political donations. Fascinating to click through for a while. I find it especially interesting that a lot of the old St. Charles Ave./Pickwickian-types mainly donated to Fred Thompson and Rudy Giuliani. Now there's money well spent!

Stimulus Battle in Perspective: Of course, the last time we saw a vote like this one was probably the 1993 vote on Clinton's first budget -- every single Republican in the chamber voted against it, hoping to prove, once and for all, that they were right about economics and Democrats were wrong. If memory serves, that budget was the first step towards the longest economic expansion on record, the creation of 22 million jobs, and the total elimination of the federal budget deficit. Related: For Republicans, there wasn't much downside to voting no.

More extensions to housing aid in Louisiana? Those overly generous subsidies to landlords is part of what's keeping market rates up. You remove those payments, the market will fall (it already has fallen from it's post-Katrina highs). Probably won't return to pre-Katrina rents, but that's unreasonable to expect.

Gulfport Mayor indicted for Katrina fraud.

Taibbi + Blago. Need I say more?

Roger Clemens has always been batshit insane. Deadspin clarifies the level of insanity: "Then Donahue would rub the hottest possible liniment on his testicles. “He’d start snorting like a bull,” the trainer said. “That’s when he was ready to pitch.” "

State Farm completely pulling out of property insurance in Florida.

Here's a few companies that have never had mass layoffs. I can thing of a few to add to the list, too (Honda, for one).

When it comes to Israel, to revive or dump the two-state solution?

Bill Gates talks about education, especially high school, and what constitutes a successful school. Two most interesting points: a kid is better off with a good teacher in a "bad" school than he is with a bad teacher in a "good" school. Also, in extremely poor areas, the schools with the longest schooldays tend to do the best.

Sad to see Cerasoli go. Oyster rounds up the reacts. One little tidbit: “People were telling me he [Nagin] was saying they would regret getting the office up and running 10 years from now.

Old media, don't piss off new media. Remember that the "Symbiotic relationship between new and old media" isn't a one way street... Also, McCain-endorser's Pedo son gets out of jail early with barely a peep from local media.

So, after closing Our Lady of Good Cousel, et. al.*, the Nazi Pope decides to embrace a Holocaust-denier and a cleric who said Katrina was God's punishment for being too kind to the gays.

Want to see Scott Cowen foam at the mouth? Mention the letters AAUP and stand back.

And for your amusement:

The Thing, remade with G.I. Joe's.

*BTW- Great comic 2 weeks ago Greg. Can't link to your comic, though, because the archives are down.

Around the Net

Found a few new local bloggers recently. Actually some of them I found a while ago, but am just getting around to posting.

The Wayward Episcopalian. Volunteer in NOLA.

Emily Metzgar. Campaigner against corruption. Mostly focused more on Louisiana than New Orleans.

City Biz Blog. City Business is one of the most under-read journals in the city. Their blog posts good stuff, but even fewer people read it.

Overheard in NOLA. CLASSIC NEW ORLEANS!!! You'll laugh your ass off. Vignettes that really represent the funkiness of New Orleans.

Xavier Nurse. A conservative New Orleans blogger. Lots of coverage of the Give Them Back controversy, which is another underreported story, IMHO.

I'll get them on the blog roll soon.

Also, here are a couple of nice articles to read:

State Farm attacks Dickie Scruggs. I actually met Dickie Scruggs during my Katrina-semester at Ole Miss. If I were the insurance industry, I'd be scared as hell of him. He's the man who brought big tobacco to its knees.

A collection of essays by former and current soldiers. Not Generals, but the little guys at the bottom. All are incredibly insightful and the collection covers a wide range of opinions on Iraq. The collection is titled "How a Democrat Can Get My Vote."