selene

50 Comments

    • ON: Wed Oct 8th 09:58 AM
      Commented on:
      Which Candidate Will Get to Spend the $700 Billion?
      Well-written, and certainly food for thought.

      A quibble: I'm not convinced, Mr. Hutchinson, that a person of your evident intelligence and thoughtfulness really thinks that what is meant by "deregulation&quo... is so "mysterious."... You seem to understand "re-regulating everything" just fine by the end of your piece!

      Maybe what's needed is not so much going back to the old regulatory framework pre-1999 as a new framework that will be flexible enough for today's markets but make it tough for bad actors to get away with gaming the system, or for compensation structures to reward actions that bring short-term personal reward out of proportion to the long-term risks, such as happened with mortgage securitization.
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    • ON: Wed Oct 8th 09:44 AM
      Commented on:
      The Debate: McCain's Insane Mortgage Proposal
      Let's try to remember that no one is suggesting anything as simplistic as raising taxes across the board, or cutting them across the board. Obama wants to cut taxes on everyone making under $200K and raise them on everyone above $250K, broadly speaking. Since current tax policies have disproportionately benefited the top 2% of Americans by income, something like this shouldn't be dismissed out of hand.

      After last night's performance I don't think it matters what McCain wants to do.
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    • ON: Fri Oct 3rd 11:17 AM
      Commented on:
      Why the Bailout Cannot Solve a Thing: Nobody Is Blaming the Right Culprit
      Oh please. I have just about had it with people blaming the financial crisis on too many black people getting mortgages. I know I can't stop you from doing it, so I will just vent -- AAAAAAAAAAAAARGH! At least our international readers will see that not all Americans are ignorant in this way.
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    • ON: Fri Oct 3rd 11:07 AM
      Commented on:
      The Biden-Palin Panderfest
      Why does anyone care what memorized, regurgitated, disconnected talking points Palin came up with? It's obvious she has pretty much no understanding of economics or the financial crisis. And today the McCain camp is running around trying to explain away the fact that she said they agree with the proposed bankruptcy workout provisions, when in actuality McCain opposes them. She made this silly mistake because she has no understanding of what she is talking about,
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    • ON: Mon Sep 29th 12:02 PM
      Commented on:
      Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News
      Billgls, you are confused. Not only is Franklin Raines not connected to the Obama campaign (this has been debunked for days if not weeks), but McCain's campaign manager was on Fannie's payroll just to provide access to McCain. The only reason anyone connected Raines to Obama is because they are both African-American.

      From Newsweek:

      Never mind the fact that Raines never actually advised Obama on anything. The real problem here is that McCain's campaign is swarming with 26 advisers or fundraisers who have lobbied for Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac--including nearly a dozen who lobby right now. As the Washington Monthly's Steve Benen wrote last week, "one of McCain's top policy advisers, Charlie Black, was lobbyist for Freddie Mac for 10 years, while his campaign manager, Rick Davis, lobbied to help Fannie and Freddie steer clear of additional federal regulations [and earned $2 million in the process]... Tom Loeffler, who serves McCain's campaign co-chairman, also lobbied for Fannie Mae. Aquiles Suarez, a McCain economic adviser, was a Fannie Mae executive. Dan Crippen, a McCain adviser who helped craft the campaign's health-care policy, lobbied for Fannie Mae (and Merrill Lynch). Arthur B. Culvahouse, who helped lead McCain's VP search committee, also lobbied for Fannie Mae." According to former Fannie Mae executive William Maloni, "photographs of Sen. McCain's staff... loo[k] to me like the team of lobbyists who used to report to me." Without these ties--which are far more extensive than Obama's--McCain would have every right to say that associating with officials from troubled financial institutions is a sign of bad judgment. Again, it's not like Obama's hands are spotless. But with them, McCain offers Obama an otherwise unavailable opportunity to remind voters that McCain's own judgment--at least by McCain's own standards--is worse. So much for "no seat... at the table."

      www.blog.newsweek.com/...
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    • ON: Mon Sep 29th 10:00 AM
      Commented on:
      Predictions on Imclone's Suitors
      Jeez. Is it not possible to disagree with Derek without calling him "incompetent"... as well? What are your credentials?
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    • ON: Wed Sep 24th 10:23 AM
      Commented on:
      Answers for David Cay Johnston on the Bailout Plan
      Thank you Felix. Like many people I really admire Johnston's <i>Perfectly Legal </i> and was hugely confused and dismayed by his piece yesterday. Being skeptical is a good thing and a normal response, given some of the history of recent years. However, evidence shows that credit is indeed drying up, even if somewhere in Mudville a blinky ad for mortgages still dances.
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    • ON: Wed Sep 24th 10:08 AM
      Commented on:
      Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News
      "John McCain's campaign manager and Freddie Mac essentially had what amounts to a secret half a million dollar lay-a-way plan. For almost three years and as late as last month, Freddie Mac made secret, monthly payments of $15,000 to Rick Davis's firm, apparently in exchange for providing special access to a future McCain White House. If McCain knew about this, his presidential campaign should be in serious trouble. If he didn't know about it, he ought to fire Rick Davis immediately," said David Donnelly, Director of Campaign Money Watch.
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    • ON: Wed Sep 24th 10:02 AM
      Commented on:
      The Real Reason Behind the Global Financial Crisis, Part III
      Great article, thanks.

      But good luck getting any of that effective regulation. We may not get it in a Democratic administration, and recent experience shows we certainly won't get it in a Republican one.
      View article »
    • ON: Wed Sep 24th 10:01 AM
      Commented on:
      Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News
      Uh, Dick Morris is an authority now? I'd be insane to believe that.
      View article »
    • ON: Tue Sep 16th 09:14 AM
      Commented on:
      Russian Oil Is Worth the Risk
      Unclear that it was "the U.S." who overpromised to Georgia. More likely it was John McCain's chief foreign policy adviser, Randy Scheunemann. He's been a paid lobbyist for Georgia in the U.S. for over 3 years.

      But whoever it was, there's always the issue with any Russian equity of ownership risk. This is particularly a concern with natural resources. We know there's value in there, but we don't know that that value will go to shareholders and not to (a) the government, whether through expropriation or punitive taxes or (b) cronies somewhere.
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    • ON: Fri Sep 12th 09:34 AM
      Commented on:
      Has the Economy Killed the Health Food Craze?
      Disagree STRONGLY with the implication that you have to shop at WFMI to get healthy food.
      View article »
    • ON: Thu Sep 11th 10:06 AM
      Commented on:
      ImClone and the Mystery Bidder
      Icahn is the chairman of IMCL board. If he goes out in front of shareholders and completely makes stuff up, they can sue him.
      View article »
    • ON: Thu Sep 11th 10:01 AM
      Commented on:
      ImClone's Icahn Is Holding a Pistol to Bristol
      Since Icahn's an insider and the chair of IMCL board, I think he could be in deep doo-doo if he is completely making this stuff up.
      View article »
    • ON: Thu Sep 11th 09:55 AM
      Commented on:
      5 Stocks to Buy if Obama Wins
      GDP and personal income also rose under Clinton. Tech bubble doesn't affect those metrics.

      Also, consistently since 1900 stock market does better under Democratic presidents. Even when you correct for the effect of which bunch controls Congress. This has been extensively written up and could easily be Googled.
      View article »
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