I wasn’t at all surprised when I saw the following headline at WSJ.com: “Political Interference Seen in Bank Bailout Decisions”.
The story reads much as you might expect. Congressman lobby hard to ensure that money from the hastily implemented TARP program is routed to favorite banks. While precise economic criteria for government handouts might be lacking, and the worthiness of the recipient may be in doubt, finding that representative are funneling money to their constituents and favored interest groups is a virtual certainty.
I did however find this gem pertaining to OneUnited Bank in the articles closing paragraphs:
[Rep. Barney] Frank said he didn’t try to interfere with the regulatory process. “We have never told the regulators that they should ease up on them or not order them to do this or that,” he said.
He cites the bank’s status as the state’s only financial institution owned by African-Americans. “We did say, yes, I thought it would have been a social tragedy if the one minority bank in Massachusetts that has been working so hard and had been overextended into housing was to be wiped out by a federal action, the Fannie-Freddie preferred [shares] thing, and that’s why I think it was important to try to help them.”
And thus, a new category of distressed enterprises is created.
- k
Nicholas Kristof had this excellent op-ed in the New York Times last week. In it Kristof warns the incoming administration against pressing for labor standards reforms in developing countries. In short: sweatshops may not be ideal places to work, but they’re often far better than the relevant employment alternatives.
Assuming reform minded politicians mean well (its possible that many know better, but misrepresent the issue for political gain), they would better serve the for whom they advocate by liberalizing trade and hoping for the creation of even more sweatshops. In the United States, India, and China – competition for labor among sweatshops has inevitably lead to greater employment, improving labor conditions and increasing wages.
-k
http://www.blackbirdhome.com - The encumbrance of black skin has apparently grown so great - that one can no longer use a racially agnostic version of FireFox.
I’ll pass.
-k
On Saturday Decider-Elect Obama shared some of the details of his economic recovery plan. Predictably, it was filled with promises of infrastructure investment, school improvement, green initiatives and even a promises of broadband Internet access for all (apparently to promote access to PornTube - stimulus).
Obama assured viewers that he would avoid the old Washington pitfall of “throwing money at the problem”, stressing his desire to “use your tax dollars in new and smarter ways”. Curiously, this assurance was accompanied by a threat to State governments not spending federal dollars quickly enough.
How much will all of this costs? Well he didn’t mention that - but he indicated that his plan would “save or create 2.5 million jobs”.
There really isn’t much new here. The particular projects hardly matter as much as the fundamental reaility that these programs have to be paid for with tax payer dollars, and unproductive projects dont waste wealth, they destory it.
If i’m wrong about that, why not spend twice as much and create 5 million jobs? Why be stingy when the economy is sputering and you’ve got the magic elixer? Speard the Gummy Berry Juice on thick, and get the economy humming again.
-k
One establishes a blog for a multitude of reasons. If you’re sufficiently narcissistic, its not at all difficult to convince yourself that such an enterprise is worthwhile. With blogging, the barriers to entry are low enough that any chump with thumbs and a dial up connection can participate.
Whether or not anyone visits, I’ll behave as if everyone on the planet is paying close attention. And while I can’t promise that every post will be grammatically correct, I’ll always strive to be honest, fair, intriguing and where appropriate, merciless.
- k
