Yep

Austerity at-a-glance for the Irish

 
The saving move, which will keep a lot of banks from losing money, is to make Ireland a poor country again, as it's been before and ever shall be, world without end, it would seem.
 

Not Contrary to Public Interest, Report Claims

 
Top Banks Paid $1.6 Billion in Excessive Bonuses, U.S. Finds
 

Dismal? I'll Show You Dismal. . .

 
Paul Krugman sits down to talk with Bloomberg News about the current financial crisis. [Part 1 of 5 parts]


 

Krugman, Recently Cited in the Quotidian, Wins Nobel-ish Prize

 
Paul Krugman, recently cited here in the Quotidian (formerly the Diurnal Journal), has won the prestigous Sveriges Riksbank Award in Economic Sciences in Honor of Alfred Nobel, or whatever the hell it's called, briskly and commonly and in fact mistakenly referred to by all as the "Nobel Prize in Economics."

Our condolences go out to Professor Krugman for the inevitable solecism imprecise wording thus forever attached to his deserved fame.
 

Another Great Depression? Pshaw!

 
The Panic of 1873

BREAKING: KRUGMAN AGREES TO QUOTIDIAN BAILOUT PLAN: STOCK INFUSION, NO CASH FOR TRASH!

 
Just now New York Times columnist Paul Krugman announced on his blog his support for the bailout strategy outlined here at the Quotidian (formerly the Diurnal Journal) the other day. It's good to see him come around publicly, and the sudden support for something I've blurted out from someone who actually knows what they're talking about warms the spirit, as always.

The Republicans Say This Speech Was Far Too Mean

Rep. Pelosi's Remarks on Floor Ahead of House Bailout Vote Today

Madam Speaker, when was the last time someone asked you for $700 billion?

It is a number that is staggering, but tells us only the costs of the Bush Administration's failed economic policies--policies built on budgetary recklessness, on an anything goes mentality, with no regulation, no supervision, and no discipline in the system.

Democrats believe in the free market, which can and does create jobs, wealth, and capital, but left to its own devices it has created chaos.

That chaos is the dismal picture painted by Treasury Secretary Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke a week and a half ago in the Capitol.

As they pointed out, we confront a crisis of historic magnitude that has the ability to do serious injury not simply to our economy, but to the American people: not just to Wall Street, but to everyday Americans on Main Street.

It is our responsibility today, to help avert that catastrophic outcome.

Let us be clear: This is a crisis caused on Wall Street. But it is a crisis that reaches to Main Street in every city and town of the United States.

It is a crisis that freezes credit, causes families to lose their homes, cripples small businesses, and makes it harder to find jobs.

It is a crisis that never had to happen. It is now the duty of every Member of this body to recognize that the failure to act responsibly, with full protections for the American taxpayer, would compound the damage already done to the financial security of millions of American families.

Over the past several days, we have worked with our Republican colleagues to fashion an alternative to the original plan of the Bush Administration.

I must recognize the outstanding leadership provided by Chairman Barney Frank, whose enormous intellectual and strategic abilities have never before been so urgently needed, or so widely admired.

I also want to recognize Rahm Emanuel, who combined his deep knowledge of financial institutions with his pragmatic policy experience, to resolve key disagreements.

Secretary Paulson deserves credit for working day and night to help reach an agreement and for his flexibility in negotiating changes to his original proposal.

Democrats insisted that legislation responding to this crisis must protect the American people and Main Street from the meltdown on Wall Street.

The American people did not decide to dangerously weaken our regulatory and oversight policies. They did not make unwise and risky financial deals. They did not jeopardize the economic security of the nation. And they must not pay the cost of this emergency recovery and stabilization bill.

So we insisted that this bill contain several key provisions:

This legislation must contain independent and ongoing oversight to ensure that the recovery program is managed with full transparency and strict accountability.

The legislation must do everything possible to allow as many people to stay in their homes rather than face foreclosure.

The corporate CEOs whose companies will benefit from the public's participation in this recovery must not benefit by exorbitant salaries and golden parachute retirement bonuses.

Our message to Wall Street is this: the party is over. The era of golden parachutes for high-flying Wall Street operators is over. No longer will the U.S. taxpayer bailout the recklessness of Wall Street.

The taxpayers who bear the risk in this recovery must share in the upside as the economy recovers.

And should this program not pay for itself, the financial institutions that benefited, not the taxpayers, must bear responsibility for making up the difference.

These were the Democratic demands to safeguard the American taxpayer, to help the economy recover, and to impose tough accountability as a central component of this recovery effort.

This legislation is not the end of congressional activity on this crisis. Over the course of the next few weeks, we will continue to hold investigative and oversight hearings to find out how the crisis developed, where mistakes were made, and how the recovery must be managed to protect the middle class and the American taxpayer.

With passage of this legislation today, we can begin the difficult job of turning our economy around, of helping those who depend on a growing economy and stable financial institutions for a secure retirement, for the education of their children, for jobs and small business credit.

Today we must act for those Americans, for Main Street, and we must act now, with the bipartisan spirit of cooperation which allowed us to fashion this legislation.

This not enough. We are also working to restore our nation's economic strength by passing a new economic recovery stimulus package--a robust, job creating bill--that will help Americans struggling with high prices, get our economy back on track, and renew the American Dream.

Today, we will act to avert this crisis, but informed by our experience of the past eight years with the failed economic leadership that has left us left capable of meeting the challenges of the future.

We choose a different path. In the new year, with a new Congress and a new president, we will break free with a failed past and take America in a New Direction to a better future.

— via Talking Points Memo

Epic Fail

The House votes down the bailout.

Stock Market Reels With Sudden Spike in Oil Prices

Even as uncertainties abound about the fundamentals of the energy market, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East regained center stage after Israel’s transportation minister and a deputy prime minister, Shaul Mofaz, said Friday that an attack on Iran’s nuclear sites looked “unavoidable” if Iran did not abandon its nuclear program.

Iran is the second-largest oil producer within the OPEC cartel and exports nearly two million barrels a day. Because the world has few supplies to spare, any interruptions in Iran’s exports could push prices to higher levels. The world currently has about three million barrels a day of spare capacity, and consumes 86 million barrels a day of oil.

—NYT, June 6, 2008

Investors are dumping dollars and jumping into oil futures, which makes sense. The dollar is sinking, and oil looks to be a safe bet to maintain value in the long term, right up to the point where the very last barrel sucked out of the ground is priceless. Talk of $5 per gallon of gas in the US by November isn't out of line at all [although the ostrich talk is a bit twee. My money is in auroch futures].

An "unavoidable" attack on Iran would certainly cinch the deal.