H/T Credit Writedowns for this piece addressing causation of our economic malaise. The gist is that the problem is neither the business cycle nor structural imbalances.  Quoting Harold Meyerson of the Washington Post:

This grim new reality has yet to inform our debate over how to come back from this...

Yesterday President Obama heralded his newly appointed Chief of Staff, to great fanfare from the Republicans, US Chamber of Commerce, Wall Street Journal and others. According to the Wall Street Journal,

The selection of Mr. Daley shows that the president is more concerned with reaching out to the...

Perhaps it is time to explain the tone of my holiday greeting, in which I expressed optimism.

Happy Holidays to all. It has been an eventful year. This is the season of hope and, despite all the matters that we have criticized over this past year, I am full of...

Krugman and Ritholtz are singing from the same songbook today.  Ritholz points out that the subprime debacle was a creation of Wall Street, not caused by Federal Government housing policies, per se. Federal Reserve Board data show that:

• More than 84 percent of the subprime mortgages in 2006...

When I first became aware of Ralph Nader, he was already considered a flake by the New Economic consensus that would shortly sweep Ronald Reagan into office. I would have laughed out loud if you had told me that 30 years later I would quote him. In the preface...

The United States faces profound risks in the way its financial markets continue to operate. As I wrote last week, Ben Bernanke's latest stimulus effort smacks of desperation. If we are to find real solutions to our domestic problems, we need to open our minds to rethink what the core...

Yesterday the Fed laid out the plan it had signaled months before. In an Op-Ed at the Washington Post, Bernanke laid out his reasoning and self-indictment of the Federal Reserve when it comes to economic influence. First, his philosophy:

Easier financial conditions will promote economic growth. For example,...

In the rush to foreclosure, the banks and even government officials have been taking the position that the borrower/homeowners are fully to blame for the situations they find themselves in and that the paperwork technicalities just need to be worked out in order for there to be a...

The other day my vehicle was making a rubbing/grinding noise that was noticeable on low-speed turns. From prior experience, I knew it was probably wheel bearings, power steering, cv boots, axles or some such. As you can tell, I did not know much, just what I had paid for in...

Two new posts today articulate where the battle lines are beginning to take shape in the Mortgage Foreclosure Fraud mess. Because few mortgages are held on bank balance sheets, having been sold into Mortgage Trusts which support Mortgage Backed securities (MBS), there are parties who may find themselves at cross...

Once again, our largest banks have botched things up. Hat tips all around on this one. Everyone has been covering it but I will recognize specifically The Huffington Post, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Bloomberg, Naked Capitalism, and Representative Alan Grayson's office. A few days ago, I

The AP did a reductionist story on the Small Business Legislation just passed by the Congress. This has circulated widely and the I will reference a version included in a post by Mish Shedlock, who I follow and generally find informative. On this one he has missed the boat....

The appointment of Elizabeth Warren has raised the hopes of many and the ire of some.  According to Simon Johnson, she is the perfect person for the job.

The president finally has an adviser who understands the financial sector and who has healthy skepticism about its intentions and...

This week news flow continues to indicate an economy that is significantly weakening from an already anemic activity level. There are wide-ranging destructive effects on every sector of the economy, households, businesses, and government. Some of these effects threaten to spiral into negative feedback loops causing further destruction and unpredictable...

This Stanford Paper is absolute gold. The full paper is attached as Stanford Paper on Deceit. Huffington Post summary is here.

The paper is brilliant work in its own right. It focuses on what CEOs say in investor conference calls and how they say it. How they say...

A few days ago a news story broke about Wachovia (now part of Wells Fargo) laundering money for Mexican Drug Cartels.  Mish adds color commentary in this piece.

From the original news story:

Wachovia admitted it didn't do enough to spot illicit funds in handling $378.4 billion for...

On the last day of June the House voted in the much modified FinReg. Perhaps sometime in July it will become law. My last posts have already made it clear that I believe the impact to be limited and much delayed. We must continue to address the critical...

As the details emerge on the financial reform bill, it becomes apparent that it will do little to avert another financial crisis in the coming years. Huffpo notes the same regarding certain provisions of the Volcker Rule, intended to limit trading risks.

Specifically, there are varying implementation periods...

Regulation has its place and that place is and always will be of secondary importance to the character of the society it intends to govern. The past months have provided moments of despair and hope. At the end of the day, more than nothing was achieved. I'm not...

Adding to yesterday's comments, banks are run by Compensation Cartels. They buy the myth of superhero financial status, despite the fact that they consistently destroy long term value at banks. Any major bank ownership group consists of two classes of owners: those from banks that were acquired and have shares...