Money and Financial Lifestyle

(From http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/ on August, 22, 2010) This graph shows the national Loan Performance data since 1976. January 2000 = 100

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CoreLogic: House prices flat in June, 2010

The Coming Pension Crisis That Will Screw Us All by John Mauldin, Thoughts from the Frontline A report just out from the Center for Policy Analysis, by Courtney Collins and Andrew J. Rettenmaier (solid academic types from Mercer University and Texas A&M respectively), that indicates that state and local pension funds are drastically underfunded

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The Coming Pension Crisis, by John Mauldin

It had to happen… after direct government intervention in banking, insurance and auto manufacturing, and Fed bailouts of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Obama Administration has decided that the only way to get the economy moving is to reduce mortgage balances for underwater homeowners, by forgiving a portion of the balances of mortgages held by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac…

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An August Surprise from Obama? by James Pethokoukis

The Obama Agenda and the Enthusiasm Gap August 3, 2010 A stimulus too small to significantly reduce unemployment, a TARP that didn’t trickle down to Main Street, financial reform that doesn’t fundamentally restructure Wall Street, and health-care reforms that don’t promise to bring down health-care costs have all created an enthusiasm gap. They’ve fired up the right, demoralized the left, and generated unease among the general population.

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The Obama Agenda and the Enthusiasm Gap

Corporate Profits Are Up Because of the Unemployment Crisis by Derek Thompson, staff editor at TheAtlantic.com Blogger’s comment: About twenty years ago, China and corporate America made an unspoken deal… China would take the jobs and corporate America would take the profits.

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Corporate Profits Are Up Because of the Unemployment Crisis

Consumers, Wall Street disagree on economy Confidence waning in households even as earnings help boost stock market By Anne D’Innocenzio, Associated Press updated 7/27/2010 6:54:08 PM ET WASHINGTON — The disconnect between Wall Street and Main Street is growing. Americans’ confidence in the economy faded further in July, according to a monthly survey released Tuesday, amid job worries and skimpy wage growth

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Consumers, Wall Street disagree on economy, 7/27/2010

Botox Economics: Part 1 Botox Economics: Part 2 By Satyajit Das, a risk consultant and author of Traders, Guns & Money: Knowns and Unknowns in the Dazzling World of Derivatives – Revised Edition (2010, FT-Prentice Hall). Botox is commonly used to improve a person’s appearance by removing facial lines and other signs of aging. The effect is temporary and can have significant side effects

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Botox Economics: by Satyajit Das

Crisis Awaits World’s Banks as Trillions Come Due By JACK EWING Published: July 11, 2010 FRANKFURT — The sovereign debt crisis would seem to create worry enough for European banks, but there is another gathering threat that has not garnered as much notice: the trillions of dollars in short-term borrowing that institutions around the world must repay or roll over in the next two years.

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Crisis Awaits World’s Banks as Trillions Come Due

Debt commission leaders paint gloomy picture The heads of President Barack Obama’s national debt commission painted a gloomy picture Sunday as the United States struggles to get its spending under control. The bipartisan U.S. Debt Commission has reported its findings and it is not pretty.

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Debt commission leaders paint gloomy picture - Yahoo! News

With the U.S. trapped in depression, this really is starting to feel like 1932 This op-ed piece pulls no punches and tells it like it really is.

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It’s starting to feel like 1932