Policy Failure and the Great Recession

The debate about the causes of the financial crisis and the great recession will continue for many years, and the facts and analysis that Robert Hetzel put forth in his new book The Great Recession: Market Failure or Policy Failure? should now be part of that debate. As I said in my comments for Cambridge University Press, “Hetzel applies his …

Quote of the Week

Dan Loeb at the Columbia Student Investment Conference 2012:
Think deeply about process over outcome. If you do something the right way enough times, you’ll win.
HT: Market Folly

Drug Lord Thanks Obama, Both Bushes, and Reagan For War On Drugs: "I Owe My Whole Empire to You"

Top billionaire Mexican drug lord (ranks #701 on Forbes list of the world’s richest people) “bitch slaps five American presidents” by saying “I couldn’t have gotten so stinking rich without George Bush, George Bush, Jr., Ronald Regan and even El Presidente Obama, none of them have the cojones to stand up to all of the big money that wants to keep thi…

No More Viagra For Mario Monti And His Ilk

Wolf Richter   www.testosteronepit.com
Economic, regulatory, and entitlement reforms are tough. While they’re supposed to open opportunities, put budgets on sounder footing, or make the economy more competitive, they invariably cut into the flesh of some groups, who then react with demonstrations and strikes to draw attention to their…

Germany the Vampire Squid of Europe

Herr VAMPIRE SQUID revisited and affirmed-
Germany is in it for Germany, not for united Europe. When you look at Europe and see that Germay is a success and no one else is, there is a reason for that.
Germany, after ‘trapping’ many countries in the e-Zone ignored their situation while Germany continues to post increasingly lower-than-required rates …