Tricky

Are Business Schools to Blame for the Crisis?

User 353732 put forward some great points. To build upon his last one, consider the fundamental structure of academia in any field. The way that professors advance their careers is publish (as in "publish or perish"). In order to make their research look scholarly and quantitative, what is the top metric used to study "effectiveness" of a business entity? Share price metrics. This culture isn't going away anytime soon.

Social Security: Bankrupt System Will Impact Markets Sooner than Expected

A huge driver of this mess is an unwillingness to face some brutal realities about life and economics: 1) we're all going to die some day and of something, 2) SS age limits HAVE to be raised -- it was was not intended to fund people being economically unproductive for 15+ years, it was originally set up to help with the last few years of life when we are physically unable to work, and 3) there is simply no way the taxpayers can fund $100k+ life extending treatments for a massive number of elderly people (see point #1)


On May 01 08:44 AM doubleguns wrote:

> Second I see them raising the age that we become elligable AGAIN.
>
>
> My night mare would be that once govt health care comes into play
> they give an age where you are no longer elligable for life saving
> measures. Say age 75. At this point the govt health care, medicare
> also, would not treat you for cancer etc...... You have outlived
> your "value".
>

As More Homes Fall Underwater, Trapped Americans Cannot Migrate

Well, there ARE downsides (as well as some upsides) to a national policy fixation on home ownership. Ah, the law of unintended consequences. I never fail to be amazed.

Not a Day to Dive Back In

^ exactly where I am at too, we'll see how that pans out

21 Reasons to Be Bullish

I agree with much of what Spartacuss said. Additionally, I fear several more potential triggers for another wave of financial panic beyond what he mentioned. The short list includes European banks, entire Eastern European countries (which we will bail out via the IMF), and corporate debt defaults. I don't think the world is going to end, but I think there are too many large potential triggers to keep things unpleasant for a while.

Obama Worries, Rather Than Impresses, Wall Street

I believe Jeff Miller said it best

seekingalpha.com/artic...

Will There Be an Obama Bounce?

Have we already had our Obama rally? We knew he was getting elected well before the election was finalized. Although we didn't have as much data as we do today, we basically knew what we would be getting in a President Obama. So I'm not sure anything changes, as far as investor expectations, on Tuesday morning?

Reversion to the Mean for Equities

Agree that this article prompted a quality dialog. Thanks to all.

2009 Fixed Income Roadmap: 8 Actionable Ideas

The skepticism regarding ratings is certainly understandable, given recent debacles. The author referenced "AAA ratings" in two asset classes, and it's important to discuss those separately.

The first is European bonds -- I'm not expert on creditworthiness of sovereign nations, but I would certainly agree with an approach that involves doing more homework to corroborate a view of the creditworthiness.

The second is prerefunded muni's -- totally different matter. I created a lot of these in a previous life. They are fully backed up by a pool of UST's to meet the schedule of principal and interest requirements on the muni bond. They don't get rated AAA (at least back in my day) unless the math checks out, verified by an accounting firm -- and the math really isn't that hard to check. The only way these don't deserve a AAA is if you don't think the UST's deserve a AAA -- and that's a different line of discussion that I'll waive on.

Cheers!


On Jan 09 01:20 PM notsosmart wrote:

> you mention AAA rated paper t.hats a joke who can trust a rating???.you
> mention tips.who can trust govt figures on inflation?

The Shallowest Generation

The Boomers will make their true destructive contributions when they retire and use their massive numbers (and available time) fighting any cutbacks in social security and medicare benefits and shoot down every school bond that comes up for vote.

The U.S. Economy After the Bailout

Indeed, Gabe is always good for a chuckle. I have to LOL at the notion that taxpayers will be getting a great deal on those securities. The base reason for this scheme is to OVERPAY for those securities, so that the banks can cook their books by inflating the value of those securities. Oh, and I have to LOL at the notion that the banks are going to keep the bad securities and only sell us the good ones.