“Mammoths & Mastodons” Exhibit at Field Museum I always learn something new at a great museum like Chicago’s Field Museum, and today’s visit was no different. Going through the new “Mammoths and Mastodon” exhibit, I learned that there are five primary theories about what killed the mammoths and mastodons, the last of which disappeared in...Read More
Discretionary vs. Non-Discretionary Bailouts Watching the latest round of debt problems emerge — this time involving sovereign states like Greece — reminds me of my not-so-happy experience as a “newbie” landlord a few years ago (turned off by the experience, I quickly sold the property). Immediately after taking title, my (long-term, holdover) renter started presenting...Read More
Guess Who the Addict Is? No, Matt Taibbi hasn’t mellowed since his infamous Rolling Stone article last summer (“Inside the Great American Bubble Machine”). Here’s an excerpt from the sequel: Instead of liquidating and prosecuting the insolvent institutions that took us all down with them in a giant Ponzi scheme, we have showered them with...Read More
Goldman Sachs & the 4 Not-So-Little PIIG’s Wall Street did not create Europe’s debt problem. But bankers enabled Greece and others to borrow beyond their means, in deals that were perfectly legal. –“Wall St. Helped Greece to Mask Debt Fueling Europe’s Crisis“; The New York Times(2/14/2010) We all know the basic story line by now....Read More
Wall St. Pay: the (Dis)Honor System Lives! So, how do people on Wall Street — and their defenders, like The Wall Street Journal — define “restraint?” A. Turning down the heat to 65 degrees.B. Cancelling their cable subscription.C. Taking public transportation to work, instead of the car.D. Paying one’s self only $9 million, instead of...Read More
Goldman-Speak for “Mug” Too-big-to-fail firms have become loss transmitters and accelerators to the rest of the system. –“An Ex-Goldman Partner Lets Loose on Wall Street“; Time (2/2/2010). Hmm . . . “loss transmitter and accelerator??” By the same logic, I suppose that the recent, devastating Haiti earthquake was “a focused diffusion of geologic energy.” Or...Read More
