Chris Whalen is one of the better financial analysts around Wall Street. His specialty is banking and he was one that warned early and often of the coming collapse of the financial system. Mr. Whalen has written a detailed analysis of the Federal Reserve entitled I am Superman: The Federal Reserve [...]

Another excellent clip from MSNBC’s Dylan Ratigan show. It is an interview with Eliot Spitzer and Jonathan Alter regarding the “Volcker Rule” and the obstructionists in the Obama Admininistration. More Supporters DissatisfiedSunday Morning ReadingEggs vs. Idiots

Dylan Ratigan is one of the few journalist/TV commentators that understands what is going on. More importantly, he has the courage to be outspoken and call out those responsible. Apparently that was unsatisfactory for CNBC in their continuing role to tout markets. Kudos to MSNBC (they don’t get much for [...]

Joel Bowman of the Daily Reckoning opines on the European “fix:” “This isn’t over yet, fellow reckoners. Not by a long shot. (As we were writing these words, in fact, news that the leader of Spain’s largest union will call a public sector strike was just coming across the wires.) [...]

How many people in this country know they have been suckered into bailing out Greece? John Mauldin in his Outside the Box newsletter of May 3 states: It now looks like almost 30% of the Greek financing will come from the IMF, rather than just a small portion. And since [...]

“If the public does learn more, they will be outraged more.” The Federal Reserve is under fire and deservedly so. This film lays out the issues and the unconstrained, irresponsible behavior of the Fed. It is a private bank with no elected officials and accountable to no one. It is [...]

An irate Dylan Ratigan lays out what is going on with the so-called financial reform bill. The clip shows why it doesn’t matter which party holds power. The system is hopelessly corrupt! Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy Sunday Morning ReadingEconomy Not RecoveringRosenberg Video [...]

The wisdom of our ancestors never ceases to amaze me and all others that take the time to read their views on issues. Long before our current issues became problems, they warned about them. Indeed, our Constitution was written in a way that many of our current problems could not [...]

Economists and lawyers think differently. Economists believe incentives are more effective to alter behavior; lawyers believe that coercion via laws is the way to affect behavior. The parable of the Sun and the Wind are illustrative. They are both intent to get a man to remove his overcoat. The Wind [...]

“The bold effort the present (central) bank had made to control the government … are but premonitions of the fate that await the American people should they be deluded into a perpetuation of this institution or the establishment of another like it.” President Andrew Jackson “I believe that banking institutions [...]

The developed economies are in terrible shape. Western democracies are all insolvent as a result of runaway welfare spending and commitments that are destroying their economies. The sclerotic economic performance in Western Europe has been apparent for decades. Less known is what has been happening in the US. Economic growth, [...]

One of the most important though little known books in Economics is Democracy in Deficit, co-authored by James Buchanan and Richard Wagner. The significance of the book becomes more apparent by the day. The prognostications made thirty-five years ago are playing out, probably in excess of what they or anyone [...]

Dylan Ratigan destroys the banksters. Eliot Spitzer piles on. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0XIF84AtYg[/youtube]

Corruption, Ineptness and Duplicity — The Description of  Washington, DC For anyone still under the delusion that the government is actually a neutral referee or that we will get out of this crisis in any reasonable time or manner, the following is an absolute must-read. The financial sector has been [...]

Welcome the future. If you have any questions regarding how current economic and social policies will work, look at the following video. While this one focuses on Detroit, other cities could have been the setting. Perhaps none quite as dramatic, but wait a few years! [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hhJ_49leBw[/youtube] Motown as a Model [...]

Kicking the Can Down the Road If you believe that the housing market is improving, it might be understandable given the “pumping” provided by main-stream media, CNBC, government officials and Federal Reserve statements. However, you might want to look at government actions rather than propaganda. On Christmas eve, after the [...]

When a graph like the following develops, one has mixed emotions: On the one hand, there is the obvious sorrow and empathy for the less fortunate. This economic downturn is serious and probably has a lot further to run both in terms of unemployment and in terms of those requiring [...]

Obey The King or The Law? The current economic crisis had its own unique economic and financial aspects. The political response did not. Politicians initially reacted by blaming everyone in sight (save members of their own party). The blame-game was then followed by posturing about how legislators would act to [...]

FINANCIAL OLIGARCHY RUINING THE ECONOMY “… recovery will fail unless we break the financial oligarchy that is blocking essential reform. And if we are to prevent a true depression, we’re running out of time.” The Atlantic, May 2009 Many believe that the US has become a financial oligarchy with large [...]

The corruption of science is now out in the open with the Climategate emails. An apparent  H1N1 scandal may also be in the process of being uncovered. To see such corruption where the explicit goal of science is to “find the truth” is dismaying. “Hard” science does not deal in [...]

Ron Paul on CSPAN’s Washington Journal, Dec. 3, 2009 This is a highly recommended watch. There are four parts, each about 10 minutes. Links are provided for the last three at the bottom. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwU7CKjNtHc&feature=related[/youtube] Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Wisdom – Friedrich Hayek on Keynesian EconomicsEconomic and Political Disagreement [...]

This article appeared in Fortune. For those unfamiliar with mortgage-backed securities and the disgraceful behavior of the parties involved, it is a simple and sickening microcosm of what was happening on Wall Street. Junk mortgages: It just gets worse In 2007 we dissected one toxic issue. The horror story continues, [...]

Senator Jim Bunning provides a brutal and thorough summary of Bernanke’s role in the financial crisis. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVwr-Nf0slQ&feature=player_embedded[/youtube] Jimmy Stewart Wouldn’t Run These BanksThe Fed is a Hazard to Your Wealth and The CountryEssential Read: WingNuts and Dead Man Walking

This post is older, but classical in its approach to the housing crisis. It sheds light on how the crisis started and grew, and why government intervention will hurt rather than help. It is a good, elementary exercise in understanding economics. Government Intervention Is Needed to Solve the Housing Crisis? [...]