Economy

I can’t use the words that really deserve to be said in this title

By Donald B. Hawthorne | November 17, 2008 |

After all his administration has done already and how they have laid the groundwork for even more under an Obama administration, President George W. Bush has the gall to say this? Give me a break.

Where the Cooler Heads?

By Justin Katz | November 13, 2008 |

It’s time for any remaining sober officials in the federal government to tell Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson that enough is enough: The Treasury Department yesterday officially abandoned the original strategy behind its $700 billion effort to rescue the financial system, as Bush administration officials acknowledged that banks and other institutions were as unwilling as ever…

Real world consequences of Obama’s taxation policies

By Donald B. Hawthorne | November 13, 2008 |

Jennifer Rubin points out how this trend is not being covered by the MSM: No President-elect in the postwar era has been greeted with a more audible hiss from Wall Street. The Dow has lost 1,342 points, or about 14%, since the election, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hitting similar skids. The Dow fell…

Letting the System Learn

By Justin Katz | November 1, 2008 |

Although she’s added depth to her explanation, Froma Harrop is still trying to find the individual responsible for our country’s financial predicament: The 2000 Commodity Futures Modernization Act revived the bucket-shop bet. It was a rider attached to an 11,000-page appropriations bill hours before Congress planned to leave for Christmas recess. Page 262 forbade states…

A Question of How

By Justin Katz | November 1, 2008 |

In a comment to Marc’s post mocking Obama’s campaign wealth, Erik cites some data related to wealth and stock ownership and states the following: Considering the USA has the widest gap between rich and poor in the entire industrialized world, the idea of “spreading the wealth” seems pretty realistic at this time. … Is it…

A Clear Non-Dividend

By Justin Katz | October 30, 2008 |

The Providence Journal editorial writers have this one right: Should the taxpayers now bailing out some big banks let the troubled companies pay dividends to their stockholders? We think not. A dividend is a distribution of earnings to shareholders. The nine banks don’t have earnings; they have losses. If they had earnings, the banks at…

Monique: Radio Star!

By Justin Katz | October 29, 2008 |

Monique will be calling in for Anchor Rising’s regular pre-7:00 spot, tonight, on the Matt Allen Show, and she also took a few minutes to discuss Barney Frank with John DePetro on Monday morning. Stream the latter by clicking here, or download it.

The Year of Saving Face

By Justin Katz | October 25, 2008 |

One needn’t have been an economic guru to understand that, when calamity comes, folks will look to save face. Some will point fingers. Some will bow their heads in contrition, but with resolve. And some will disavow their beliefs in an attempt to do both. Alan Greenspan appears to be doing that last: Greenspan’s interrogation…

Don’t Overlook This Part of the Story

By Justin Katz | October 19, 2008 |

It doesn’t pass judgment upon nor level recriminations against Regino Romero — who appears to be doing his best to support his family and do right by his children — to note an easily ignored and often dismissed piece of his story (emphasis added): If money were not so tight, Regino Romero would use the…

People resort to “moral equivalence” arguments when they don’t have the facts on their side

By Donald B. Hawthorne | October 17, 2008 |

David Boaz of the Cato Institute shreds more illogical thinking by the Left: Harold Meyerson in the Washington Post has a column titled “Gods That Failed.” He’s referring to a famous book: In 1949, a number of famous writers, among them Arthur Koestler, André Gide, Richard Wright, Stephen Spender and Ignazio Silone, wrote essays explaining…