Update: I just did Squawk Box and will post my impressions in a bit. In the meantime, you can check out some clips from the show here. I'd love to hear what you thought of the show. Please post your reactions in the comments section.
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I spent Wednesday afternoon in DC, taking part in a Senate hearing on the future of journalism, organized by John Kerry, chairman of the subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet.
I was joined by Google's Marissa Mayer; James Moroney of the Dallas Morning News; Steve Coll, former managing editor of the Washington Post; Alberto Ibarguen of the Knight Foundation, and The Wire creator David Simon.
I have to admit, my favorite moment of the hearing came when Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington, during her questioning of the panel, said she likes reading HuffPost on her BlackBerry and held it up.
You can check out my opening remarks and an exchange I had with Sen. Kerry here.
Now it's off to New York, where I'll be guest hosting CNBC's Squawk Box Thursday morning 7 am - 9 am EDT. Among those I'll be interviewing: Eliot Spitzer, Elizabeth Warren, GM CFO Ray Young, Yale economics professor Robert Shiller, and economist Simon Johnson. I'd love to have your help deciding what to ask them. Please post your suggested questions in the comment section of this post.
I was a programmer long enough to learn that these problems are solveable if your tech team codes the interface properly. It boils down to coding your money making clients so they don't stop the page load process. I hope you can fix this problem as I really love HuffPo.
I thought your use of the "smell test" as a contrast to the "stress test" had impact.
I was not too impressed with the Harvard Professor, who is now in congress.
Her thinking (on the bailout mechanism) was too much like a lawyer who is representing party A in contract negotiations. After giving the money from his client party A to party B, the lawyer asks party A, now what do we want the contract to say?
http://blogdredd.blogspot.com/2009/05/bush-ii-eradicated-robber-barons.html
Here's a question for the economy prof, from way down in the Gumbo Gallery, which, by the way, loses about a football field's worth of land to the Gulf of Mexico every hour:
"In light of leading scientists' assessment that this planet's finite resources simply cannot sustain the six billion + humans already living upon it, how much longer can we support a growth-based global economic model built upon the incorrect (and now largely discredited) assumption that there exists an infinite supply of resources?"
Thanks, and keep up the great work. You are a light in the dark, cher!
People overseas are good at innovation. Americans make money by " shifting" money around. Too many MBA's and NOT enough engineers (which are being "off-shored as well)).
Then, instead of the U.S. government giving money or purchasing equities, preferreds, etc., "under the table", suggest to her that these transactions should be done THROUGH legitimate exchanges like the NYSE, etc. Yes, there will be commissions which can be negotiated, but all funds would be accounted for & I bet a lot LESS money would be needed to revitalize the investment side of our economy.
What ares of financial accounting do you think need to be more highly regulated in order to increase transparency and accuracy of financial statements? How would you change these areas?
Simon Johnson's was the most effective guest appearance I have seen anywhere, and he has the most cutting edge argument against the apparent Summers' strategy of allowing the financial oligarchy simply to re-establish itself.
Simon's statement was, in effect--we in the U.S. have allowed to take root what is a common growth inhibiting arrangement typical of a developing third world nation. That is, a rent-seeking financial oligarchy is aligned with the government. The financial industry saps the nation's growth by siphoning off the profits.
Simon's analogy of the U.S. being bogged down in a restricted growth, "L" shaped recovery chiefly because we are acting like a third world developing country should be anathma even to a small thinker like Joe Kernan.
Material changes during the bank stress test rebuttal period (if any) and of course, their validity revealed to the public is a good idea. This alone does invalidate neither the tests nor the objective of the tests. Lift the uncertainty since without some official version or some baseline for everyone to measure. Even if imperfect, it is still amazingly better than what we have had to go on. Nothing and no one to believe. Neither the banks, money managers nor the agenda laden academics and economists.
Spitzer is a prime example of someone who was taken down by powerful people and a reason that we must be smart and vigilant on regulation, especially in the non-regulated markets. Further, we must now know that based upon the mortgage cram down legislation loss that health care will not be a piece of cake either. The stakes are even higher than ever, since if we cannot say “at least we have our health” we cannot say we have any sense of a civilized society.
The IPO question was quite interesting. Perhaps those that have been religiously posting on Huff Po could get access at the initial offer price?
Yasou
Today, there hasn't been serious progress on either issue, but persons with radical politics have to constantly review their agendas to make contribution.
Presently, I'm still figuring out Huffington Post's software, in an effort to start posting fine art and photography and protest art information and articles, right here.
Marriage is un realistic for men. I married but the desire to sleep with other women is always there. To think that men in their position are any better than me is a stretch. They going to continue being men until they die. That doesn't mean that they can't still have a career in politics. I don't care about Spitzers personal life on anyone elses for that matter.
http://www.hallstyle.blogspot.com
Arianna,
Your Squawk Box visit is another testiment to your understanding of how good business decisions are supportive of good government public policy (not political ideology).
I particularly like how the "Squawk Box" perception of the value of the "boom & bust" finance model is debunked by you and other guests.
Maybe remind the "Squawk Boxers" that Conservatives were floating the idea of using Social Security funds to buy stocks, pre this financial mess.
You know I'm right.
If future funds are built on solid loans, are well collateralized with proper underwriting, and decent credit, then the funds themselves should be as solid as a mutual fund or other vehicle. Without the funding sources that these funds provide it will not be possible for any significant real estate growth or future development which, in turn, supports and sustains solid economic growth.