links for 2009-01-09

• Not Doing Enough - John Judis
• Geithner Preparing Overhaul Of Bailout - washingtonpost.com
• Monetary Policy and the Crime Rate - Macro and Other Market Musings
• Empirical evidence on the monetary policy trilemma since 1970 - voxeu.org
• Nationwide Inquiry on Bids for Municipal Bonds - NYTimes.com
• To Monetize or Not To Monetize: Who Cares? - Andy Harless
• Republican Fear of Debt Is Myopic, Years Late - John M. Berry
• Number of Homeless Families Climbing Due To Recession - CBPP
• Keep your enemies close - Free exchange
• Obama and trade: an alarm sounds - FT
• Economic history analyzed - Understanding Society
• Inflation Targeting Makes Fed Comeback - RTE
• In support of a feminist stimulus - The G Spot
• How to Create Jobs Without Them All Going to Skilled Professionals and White Male Construction Workers - Robert Reich

Comments

[anne]

http://www.juancole.com/2009/01/un-ceasefire-call-ignored-miseries-of.html

January 9, 2009

The United Nations has now called for a ceasefire in the Israeli war on Gaza, which is probably a sign that it will wind down not so long from now. Despite assurances given by outgoing US Secretary of State Condi Rice to her colleagues that the US would sign off on the resolution, in the end the US simply abstained. She appears to have been ordered into this humiliating about-face by W. when she made the mistake of phoning him before the vote. The lack of unanimity may weaken the force of the measure, but it nevertheless is a signal that Israel's freedom of movement is now going to be increasingly constrained.

Since the Bush administration is diplomatically challenged, the primary work on the resolution was done by Egypt and Britain, among others.

It was little noticed that China dared break with Washington on the need for a ceasefire even before Thursday's vote. * Chinese special envoy for the Middle East Sun Bi Gan said, according to Xinhuanet,

" 'The Gaza conflict proves again that military means are not the way out for resolving Palestinian-Israeli disputes. Military force could only bring more hostility and enmity, without giving either side absolute safety,' he said. Sun said international society and relevant parties, when endeavoring to ease the tense situation, should also consider carrying out feasible actions to accelerate the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, to establish an independent Palestinian state at an early date, and to realize peaceful coexistence."

So China's explicit position is the early announcement of a Palestinian state, and immediate talks to that end. At the moment, China is the Dennis Kucinich of Middle Eastern diplomacy. But as it rises as a great power, and given that it is the second largest petroleum importer in the world after the US--and so increasingly close to Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Iran, it may be come a player over time. China is usually so taciturn in these matters that I was surprised to see Sun Bi Gan speak out forcefully and before he had the cover of a UN Security Council resolution.

Less surprising is that France and the Soviet Union had begun calling for a ceasefire. Both have long been assertive in foreign policy, unlike the Chinese.

Israel's immediate reaction to the ceasefire call was to intensify its bombardment of Gaza.

* http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-01/08/content_10624827.htm

-- Juan Cole

[anne]

We have a government the for precious days blocked any ceasefire plea from the United Nations Security Council and when finally and too late allowing such a plea chose to be the only council member to abstain, as though peace were a mockery to this government. Also, while Barack Obama has refused to call for peace in Gaza because supposedly there is only 1 President at a time, Obama has not only repeatedly spoken on foreign policy matters for months, repeatedly called for new war efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan but has just sent coming Vice President Joe Biden to Pakistan to prepare for further American attacks in Pakistan. So much for there being only 1 President at a time.

That Obama has not spoken on Gaza is disgraceful.

[im1dc]

I suggest there is a high correlation between the premise of each article:

Feds uncover two more investor Ponzi schemes

By Matt Krantz and Pallavi Gogoi, USA TODAY
Authorities announced two alleged Ponzi schemes, just weeks after the arrest of investor Bernard Madoff stunned Wall Street.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/markets/2009-01-08-investor-ponzi-schemes_N.htm

U.S. study: Literacy still a problem for about 1 in 7 adults

By Greg Toppo, USA TODAY
An estimated 32 million adults in the USA -- about one in seven -- are saddled with such low literacy skills that they can barely read.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-01-08-adult-literacy_N.htm

An observation not to be taken as arrogant elitism, if the above holds true it is probable that less than 1/7th of the people of USA are educationally and intellectually capable of making informed decisions about their money or politics. That is due to the multiplier effect of non-readers, illiterates, semi-illiterates and those who are literate but unable to process, comprehend or interpret what they read, hear or watch for factual information.

Evidence: FOX NEWS, O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Mike Gallagher, Savage, Wm Kristol, Mark Levin, National Review, The Wall Street Journal Opinion and Editorial pages, etc.

[The Baron]

im1dc, two words, "Public Schools".

It is not in the best interest of the shepherd to breed smarter sheep.

[anne]

http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2009/01/gaza.html

January 8, 2009

Gaza

Gaza, not Iraq, will prove to be Bush-Cheney's biggest foreign policy disaster in the long run. (As big as Iraq will be).

-- As'ad AbuKhalil

[anne]

http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2009/01/i-stand-corrected.html

January 6, 2009

I stand corrected

I was certain that Obama would disappoint once he became president. I did not know that he would succeed in disappointing before assuming the presidency.

-- As'ad AbuKhalil

[anne]

http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2009/01/on-turkey-and-huffington-post.html

January 9, 2009

A reader sent me this: "I ate at a Vietnamese eatery here in Chicago, and I learned more about the Israeli massacres in Gaza on the Vietnamese news station in 20 minutes, than after 2 weeks of watching English-language reports, and I don't understand a word of Vietnamese."

-- As'ad AbuKhalil

[Patricia ShannonP]

http://www.cbpp.org/1-8-09hous.htm

January 8, 2008
NUMBER OF HOMELESS FAMILIES CLIMBING DUE TO RECESSION

New data indicate that the number of homeless families with children has climbed in recent months and continues to mount. Although the recovery package that Congress will consider in coming weeks is expected to include measures to restore several million jobs, an unusually large number of people are still likely to fall into severe poverty and to be at risk of homelessness, due to the depth of the recession. As a result, it is important that the package include funding for effective homelessness prevention strategies. Such measures could be included for a cost equal to just one-half of one percent of the cost of the overall package.

Goldman Sachs projects that the unemployment rate will rise to 9 percent by the fourth quarter of 2009 and continue rising into 2010. If unemployment reaches 9 percent and the increase in poverty, relative to the increase in the unemployment rate, is within the range that occurred in the last three recessions, the number of poor Americans will rise by 7.5 – 10.3 million. Moreover, the number of people in “deep poverty” — with incomes below half of the poverty line — will rise by an estimated 4.5 – 6.3 million if unemployment reaches 9 percent. This would represent an increase of about 900,000 – 1.1 million families with children that fall into deep poverty and thus are at risk of housing instability and homelessness.[1]

New figures suggest that hardship and homelessness are already growing:

*

In July - November 2008, compared with the same period in 2007, the number of families entering New York City homeless shelters jumped by 40 percent.[2]
*

Massachusetts reports a 32 percent increase between November 2007 and November 2008 in the number of homeless families residing in state-supported emergency shelters.[3]
*

In Connecticut, family homeless shelters turned away 30 percent more families due to lack of bed space in September 2008 than in September 2007.[4]
*

Hennepin County, Minnesota (Minneapolis) reports a 20 percent increase between the first 10 months of 2008 and the comparable period in 2007 in the number of homeless families in emergency shelters.[5]
*

Los Angeles County reports a 12 percent increase between September 2007 and September 2008 in the number of families receiving welfare assistance who are known to be homeless.[6]

Two recent national surveys support these data. In a fall 2008 survey by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, 16 of the 22 cities that provided data on the number of homeless families with children reported an increase in 2008, some of them substantial. (Louisville reported a 58 percent increase.)[7] In another national survey, one in five responding school districts reported having more homeless children in the fall of 2008 than over the course of the entire 2007-2008 school year.[8]

[Patricia ShannonP]

In another national survey, one in five responding school districts reported having more homeless children in the fall of 2008 than over the course of the entire 2007-2008 school year.

[anne]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/09/washington/09petraeus.html

January 9, 2009

Major Push Is Needed to Save Afghanistan, General Says
By ELISABETH BUMILLER

Gen. David H. Petraeus said that the country would require a sustained commitment from the United States and other nations, but declined to suggest a time frame.

[A forever war, in a country poor beyond poor, and there is no significant leadership objection.]

[im1dc]

A new take on Pay-to-Play:

(The following is evidence I am not talking crazy though it may sound like it to the uninformed. In fact, I am, sadly, 100% correct -- again -- about the underlying flaw in our economy, i.e., FRAUD,. Nothing is as it seems, bubbles everywhere in everything)

Fraud such as this works as long as there is the next greater fool to buy what you are selling.

Are you the next FOOL?

Nationwide Inquiry on Bids for Municipal Bonds

By MARY WILLIAMS WALSH
Published: January 8, 2009

The federal investigation that prompted Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico to withdraw his nomination as commerce secretary offers a rare glimpse into a long-simmering investigation of possible bid-rigging, tax evasion and other wrongdoing throughout the municipal bond business.

Three federal agencies and a loose consortium of state attorneys general have for several years been gathering evidence of what appears to be collusion among the banks and other companies that have helped state and local governments take approximately $400 billion worth of municipal notes and bonds to market each year.

E-mail messages, taped phone conversations and other court documents suggest that companies did not engage in open competition for this lucrative business, but secretly divided it among themselves, imposing layers of excess cost on local governments, violating the federal rules for tax-exempt bonds and making questionable payments and campaign contributions to local officials who could steer them business. In some cases, they created exotic financial structures that blew up.

People with knowledge of the evidence say investigators are not just looking at a few bad apples, but also at the way an entire market has operated for years.

“It’s rare to sell a Senate seat, but it’s not rare to sell a bond deal,” said Charles Anderson, who retired as manager of tax-exempt bond field operations for the Internal Revenue Service in 2007. “Pay-to-play in the municipal bond market is epidemic.”

More at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/09/business/09insure.html?em

It's FRAUD that is the problem with America's financial system.

Endemic and Pandemic FRAUD. But I repeat myself.

The system has been cooked, the rich got richer b/c they cheated everybody else. Great living if you can pull it off.

SOLUTION: Put those who benefited by this FRAUD in prison and confiscate their loot. Make those in the system fear being caught defrauding citizens.

Neither Obama's or Krugman's plans for the economy have addressed this FRAUD. In fact, they don't mention it b/c they don't want the Electorate to become aware of the rot, decay and lies at the heart of the America's so-called free market Capitalism as championed by Conservatives*.

Without cleaning up the sewer, going after the crooks and retrieving the ill gotten gains, it is not possible to fix what ails America or the globe financially, imo, this generation.

*Conservatives defined: Men and women in political Party's and/or holding elected offices who vote to represent established special interests, usually Corporate, over the interests of the country and or their constituents.

[anne]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/09/business/09norris.html?ref=business

January 9, 2009

Bull Market Dividends Were a Sign of Lax Lending
By FLOYD NORRIS

The payments were not an indication of solid corporate performance.

[Related and important but I am still thinking about the meaning since the way in which corporate earnings may have been systematically undermined is complex.]

[Meh]

Can we stop giving Jagdish Bhagwati airtime until he updates his theories to include, for example, Krugman's back of the envelope discovery that trade has more distorting effects than he thought it did?

Or perhaps comes to grips with the fact that the vast majority of China's climb out of poverty occurred before trade liberalisation and the remainder, under the present trading regime still looks more like mercantilism than free trade.

In other words - until he updates his public theories with actual evidence?

[anne]

"Or perhaps comes to grips with the fact that the vast majority of China's climb out of poverty occurred before trade liberalisation and the remainder, under the present trading regime still looks more like mercantilism than free trade."

Interesting, I would also argue that much or possibly most of China's climb to development has not been trade dependent, but when the term mercantilism is used to describe the Chinese trade system I have no idea of the meaning of the term beyond being an undeserved insult to China.