Paul Krugman makes a point today in his column that I, and others, have made before: Meanwhile, a Washington Post report based on administration sources says that Mr. Geithner and Lawrence Summers, President Obama’s top economic adviser, “think governments make poor bank managers” — as opposed, presumably, to the private-sector geniuses who managed to […]
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Jonathan Tasini's Ruminations on Work, The Economy, and PoliticsArchive | General Interest
The Bigger Shame: The Rich Got Richer
Posted on 31 January 2009.
Yes, as the president said, the bonuses taken by Wall Street bankers are shameful. But, there is an even larger shame happening in the country: the plundering of America by the richest Americans and our unwillingness to call for significantly higher taxes on the elite. Buried in the business section of The New […]
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Let Them Eat Cake: The Bonuses Flow
Posted on 30 January 2009.
Yours truly is on a plane soon for the rest of the day, more or less. But, here’s a quick little something to make your heart grow fonder for those incomptent, greedy people who helped crater the financial system: By almost any measure, 2008 was a complete disaster for Wall Street — except, that […]
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Peering Into The Abyss: New *50 Million* Jobless Worldwide
Posted on 29 January 2009.
It’s often said we live in a global economy. Yet, we tend to spend most of our time thinking only about how the economic financial crisis has sent a sea of Americans to the jobless line. The global picture, however, is even more catastrophic: 50 million additional people may find themselves jobless by the […]
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On The Precipice
Posted on 28 January 2009.
If anyone–like obstructionist Republicans–had any doubt that we have no time to waste on the stimulus, we are peering over the edge of the abyss: Furloughs, wage reductions, hiring freezes and shorter hours simply did not do enough. A year into this recession, companies across the board are resorting to mass job cuts. Home […]
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CEOs Boosting Their Pensions While Workers Pensions Go Poof
Posted on 27 January 2009.
I suppose nothing should surprise us. But, here’s another one in a list of "let them eat cake" moments: CEOs are getting major boosts in their pensions, while the pensions of most Americans have either disappeared or take a major hit. This article largely escaped notice in last week’s Wall Street Journal, whose […]
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Incompetence and Greed Catch Up With Thain
Posted on 24 January 2009.
It’s always quite amazing that the business world demands that everyone adhere to strict, high standards–except for those people running the business world. And that brings us to today’s newest example, John Thain, who got the axe at Bank of America: His Wall Street pedigree seems impeccable. A top job at Goldman Sachs. The […]
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The Banks Shrink
Posted on 23 January 2009.
There is a truly incredible chart this morning in the Financial Times headlined "The rapidly shrinking banking industry". When you look at the chart you understand: the banking sector will either implode dramatically, even further than before, or we will nationalize large chunks of the banking sector. And, unless ths Administration and Congress significantly […]
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The Mess He Inherits
Posted on 21 January 2009.
While I can’t claim this is fact, I would bet it’s hard to find a presidential inauguration day probably since the Great Depression–and maybe not even then–when the Dow dropped so steeply–and, in fact, as I just glanced back at The Wall Street Journal, the newspaper says that the 332-point drop yesterday was the […]
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Inauguration Break
Posted on 21 January 2009.
Up too early in DC and no time to think today.
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