http://www.realclearmarkets.com/ en Copyright 2008 Sat, 07 Nov 2009 06:09:06 -0600 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=3.33 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Sat, 07 Nov 2009 06:04:33 -0600 What a difference a year makes. Charles M. Blow In October 2008, the candidate Barack Obama delivered a major economic speech in Toledo, Ohio. In it he said: "Right now, we face an immediate economic emergency, and that requires urgent action. We can't wait to help workers and families and communities who are struggling right now "” who don't know if their job or their retirement will be there tomorrow; who don't know if next week's paycheck will cover this month's bills. ... We need to pass an economic rescue plan for the...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/07/this_is_obama039s_economic_crisis_now_95260.html 95260 AM Update Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:08:38 -0600 The Job Report: Another month, another drop in payrolls. Will it ever occur to our leaders in Washington that what they're doing isn't working - and may actually be damaging our economy? News that the unemployment rate jumped to 10.2% in October, its highest level since 1983, as the economy shed 190,000 nonfarm jobs, underscores the spectacular failure of the so-called fiscal stimulus to stimulate anything other than economic misery.Since the $787 billion stimulus was passed in February, the economy has lost 2.9 million jobs - for a total of 4.3 million since the end of 2008. The...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2009/11/07/stimulating_failure__97495.html 95261 AM Update Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:15:55 -0600 In Baltimore, the 300 block of East 23 1/2 Street is getting patched up in time for winter. One economic stimulus program is paying to insulate 11 rental rowhouses, another is paying for furnaces and a third is covering the cost for reflective roofs to be installed by prison inmates in a job-training program. The block is part of one of the biggest initiatives ever undertaken by the federal government, a nationwide push to improve the energy efficiency of buildings. But as the national unemployment rate crosses into the double digits and Republicans question the stimulus program's...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/07/green_initiative_hasn039t_stimulated_jobs_95263.html 95263 AM Update Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:28:32 -0600 ]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/07/a_039jobless_recovery039_is_nothing_to_get_excited_about_95265.html 95265 AM Update Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:30:27 -0600 By Moira Herbst The national unemployment rate for October reached 10.2 percent, the highest level since 1983. An estimated 16 million Americans are out of work. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images A greater-than-expected rise in the October U.S. unemployment rate, released Nov. 6, makes all the more clear that the U.S. could be facing a painful jobless recovery. At 10.2%, the jobless rate has increased 3.6 percentage points from a year ago. It has doubled since March 2008. With every uptick in the unemployment rate, Congress and the Obama Administration face more pressure to bolster job growth....]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/07/seeking_to_grow_jobs_not_the_deficit_95266.html 95266 AM Update Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:20:22 -0600 According to the congressional forecasters, Democrats have succeeded in turning water into wine, proposing health care legislation that will simultaneously expand the welfare state with new entitlements while also reducing budget deficits. This is big news, at least from a political perspective, since proponents hope so-called deficit hawks will have an excuse to support bigger government. Moderate Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats should not be deluded by rosy-scenario estimates. Government-run health care will be a budget buster. First, new subsidies and handouts will cost more than...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2009/11/07/obamacare_will_balloon_future_budget_deficits_97494.html 95254 AM Update Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:53:40 -0600 In my latest NEWSWEEK column, I suggested that the unthinkable had become thinkable: some advanced society"”say, the United States, Spain, Italy, Japan, or Great Britain"”might someday default on its government debt. It wouldn't pay its creditors all they were owed or wouldn't pay them on time. Just a few days later, and completely coincidentally, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) issued a report that, without saying so, added credence to this unsettling hypothesis. (Click here to follow Robert J. Samuelson).Customize the Newsweek homepage...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/07/up_against_a_wall_of_debt_part_ii_95269.html 95269 AM Update Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:41:39 -0600 Dow Jones Reprints: This copy is for your personal, non-commerical use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers, use the Order Reprints tool on any article or visit www.djreprints.comBy JIM MCTAGUE | MORE ARTICLES BY AUTHOR IT'S REASONABLE TO ASSUME THAT VOTERS in Virginia and New Jersey were attempting, when they elected Republican governors last week, to flee what they view as fiscal madness. Much of the U.S. electorate is worried about deficit spending, which has reached $1.4 trillion, and the negative...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/07/scared_of_inflation_voting_with_their_portfolios_95267.html 95267 AM Update Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:08:38 -0600 ]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/07/bubble_fears_prompt_investors_to_seek_exit_strategy_95252.html 95252 AM Update Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:23:00 -0600 ]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/07/give_the_fed_credit_for_the_surge_in_gold_95264.html 95264 AM Update Sat, 07 Nov 2009 06:07:32 -0600 NationalMuslims stunned by Fort Hood shootingCommentaryMaking fun of faithNationalSurvey: only 3rd able to get H1N1 vaccineBusinessRetailers slice DVD stickers in price warWorld25 troops injured in search for 2 U.S. soldiersNationalOne dead, 5 injured in Fla. shooting PoliticsFurious scramble for health reform supportSaturday, November 7, 2009Rate this storyAverage 0.00after 0 votes Login or register to rate this storyBy Jacob Sullum President Obama's promise to raise taxes only on the wealthy was easy to make and easy to break. He broke it barely two weeks after taking office, and he...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/07/obama_won039t_admit_he039s_raising_taxes_95268.html 95268 AM Update Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:13:29 -0600 Opel workers on Thursday protested the GM decision not to sell the German automaker after all. The sign reads: "GM, Get Out of Here!"GM's about-face has angered both Opel workers and European governments. In an interview with SPIEGEL ONLINE, union leader and Opel board member Armin Schild blasts GM for mismanagement and says that the US company is uninterested in saving the Opel brand. SPIEGEL ONLINE: Mr. Schild, General Motors has decided not to sell Opel after all, preferring to restructure the German automaker itself. What do Opel employees think of the plan? Armin...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/07/gm_management_039reminds_one_of_socialism039_95253.html 95253 AM Update Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:55:53 -0600 ]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/07/mises_the_man_who_predicted_the_depression_95259.html 95259 AM Update Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:12:36 -0600 MARKETS Breadcrumb trail navigation:By Henny Sender Published: November 6 2009 17:57 | Last updated: November 6 2009 17:57When one of the world's most renowned hedge fund investors turns 180 degrees on a key financial instrument that has been centre stage throughout the financial crisis, it is worth paying heed.David Einhorn, founder of Greenlight Capital, was one of the earliest and most prescient users of credit default swaps. Now he is calling for these instruments, in effect a form of insurance on individual firms (or governments) that pays out when the institution defaults...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/07/david_einhorn_calls_for_a_ban_on_cdss_95262.html 95262 AM Update Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:43:07 -0600 ]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/07/meet_the_new_leaders_of_banking_95247.html 95247 AM Update Sat, 07 Nov 2009 04:45:00 -0600 ]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/07/julian_robertson039s_27_million_tax_victory_in_new_york_95258.html 95258 AM Update Sat, 07 Nov 2009 04:40:26 -0600 ]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/07/indignation_10m_bonuses_amp_10_unemployment_95257.html 95257 AM Update Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:02:16 -0600 Welcome Home This week's print edition Daily news analysis Opinion All opinion Leaders Letters to the Editor Blogs Columns KAL's cartoons Correspondent's diary Economist debates World politics All world politics Politics this week International United States The Americas Asia Middle East and Africa Europe Britain Special reports Business and finance All business and...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/06/unemployment_in_america_jobs_gloom_with_glimmers_95245.html 95245 PM Update Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:40:03 -0600 NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- As far as so-called psychological barriers go, unemployment rising to more than 10% is a big one. The unemployment tally swelled by 190,000 in October, and the jobless rate jumped to 10.2%, a 26-year high. As joblessness continues to rise, the longer it will take the economy to return to normal. The severity of the losses may be decreasing, but until companies add jobs, the situation won't improve. This is yet another case of less bad not equaling good. Consumer confidence will suffer the most from higher unemployment. As news headlines alerted Americans to...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/06/reality_bites_with_10_plus_unemployment_95251.html 95251 PM Update Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:54:09 -0600 By Peter Coy Rising productivity is usually one of the best things you can hope for in an economy. It means people are producing more for each hour they work. That's the path to higher living standards.But the huge burst in productivity that the U.S. economy experienced in the third quarter is not entirely good. In fact, it's a sign that the U.S. economy is still in a sickly condition—a conclusion that is likely to be driven home by the latest job-loss figures release on Nov. 6. Economists who cheered the productivity number are ignoring the dark side of its sudden...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/06/the_dark_side_of_the_productivity_surge_95243.html 95243 PM Update Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:21:47 -0600 Destabilizing US must change course (Jul 3, '09) Recession 'shape' points down (May 22, '09)  ]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/06/dancing_in_dollars_falling_from_helicopters_95241.html 95241 PM Update Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:16:47 -0600 Two weeks ago I visited the New York Federal Reserve, for a meeting with a high-ranking official in an elegant conference room overlooking Wall Street. It's an appropriate view now, considering that in today's post-crisis world the Fed has assumed oversight responsibility for all the financial markets, not just banks.Before the meeting above Wall Street, though, I went below Wall Street. I went five stories down into the solid bedrock underneath the New York Fed, 30 feet below the level of the New York subway system and 50 feet below sea level.There the New York Fed has a vault...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/06/buy_gold_it039s_that_simple_95250.html 95250 PM Update Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:55:07 -0600 Author of "The Looting of America""Wall Street will remain a big, important part of our economy, just as it was in the '70s and the '80s. It just won't be half of our economy....We don't want every single college grad with mathematical aptitude to become a derivatives trader." -- President Obama, May 2, 2009.It's time to face up to the essential feature of the Billionaire Bailout Society: It's not a shared society. We're not in it together. What's good for Wall Street is not good for the rest of us. They even get their swine flu...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/06/we_need_to_kill_wall_st_jobs_to_create_main_st_jobs_95240.html 95240 PM Update Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:12:01 -0600 Another Depression may have been averted, but the bailouts compromised our future. We need to know how the economy fell into such a deep hole.The reader can rest assured that I have no training or professional expertise in finance or business. I say this not as a disclaimer but -- chest forward and chin high -- as a claim on the reader's trust. Lessons from the Great RecessionOne thing seems sure, there's a tinny, fraudulent sound to the Babylonian blather of the experts: The layman won't believe any of it anymore. All that opaque, priestly algebra -- risk management, credit...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/06/9_questions_wall_street_must_answer_95246.html 95246 PM Update Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:57:06 -0600 Dow Jones Reprints: This copy is for your personal, non-commerical use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers, use the Order Reprints tool on any article or visit www.djreprints.comBy STEVEN M. SEARS | MORE ARTICLES BY AUTHOR OF ALL THE HONORS AND adulations bestowed upon Warrren Buffett, one has eluded him these many years.His company's stocks, Berkshire Hathaway (ticker: BRKA) and the so-called Class B Baby Berkshires (BRKB), have never been included in the Standard & Poor's 500 index. The...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/06/berkshire_hathaway_in_the_sampp_500_95244.html 95244 PM Update Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:35:18 -0600 Increase Font SizePrinter-FriendlyEmail a FriendRespond to this article Former Vice President Al Gore is on the cover of November's The Costco Connection, the "lifestyle magazine for Costco members." It's hard to figure who looks worse in this odd coupling--the global-warming guru or the supersize warehouse store, which would not be a retail powerhouse were it not for the family minivan.In the issue's cover story--timed to coincide with Costco's release of Gore's new book, Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis--Gore...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/06/alarmist_al_gore_amp_costco_get_cozy_95249.html 95249 PM Update Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:47:30 -0600 ]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/06/andrew_cuomo039s_self-serving_suit_against_intel_95242.html 95242 PM Update Fri, 06 Nov 2009 03:10:07 -0600 ]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/06/three_decades_of_subsidized_risk_95223.html 95223 AM Update Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:19:11 -0600 "It is important where taxpayers have made a central contribution to make sure that taxpayer interests are being put first rather than those of shareholders and certainly rather than those of incumbent management and that's why Ken Feinberg is involved in reviewing compensation levels at the companies where the TARP has made the most major investments."---Larry SummersWhen Congress doled out the Troubled Asset Relief Program money in last fall's crisis, it attached strings giving the government numerous ways to control the entities that were getting the money. At first, it...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2009/11/06/of_assets_elevators_and_money_velocity_97493.html 95221 AM Update Fri, 06 Nov 2009 03:20:05 -0600 It took just five weeks after the WorldCom accounting scandal erupted in 2002 for Congress to pass, and President George W. Bush to sign, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. That law required public companies to make sure their internal controls against fraud were not full of holes.It took three more years for Bernard Ebbers, the man who built WorldCom into a giant, to be sentenced to 25 years in prison for his role in the fraud.Mr. Ebbers will be 85 years old before he is eligible for release from prison. He may be freed, however, before the law is ever enforced on the vast majority of American...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/06/goodbye_to_the_sarbox_reforms_of_2002_95225.html 95225 AM Update Fri, 06 Nov 2009 03:17:07 -0600 ]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/06/new_business_is_what_creates_jobs_95224.html 95224 AM Update Fri, 06 Nov 2009 03:32:27 -0600 With the throw-the-bums-out results of this week's elections and the prospect that the unemployment rate is about to break through the 10 percent mark, politicians in Washington are desperate to show that they're doing something about jobs. Unfortunately, what they're proposing to do is to spend a lot of money that they don't have in ways that won't work to help too many people who are neither desperate nor deserving. Topping the list of idiotic ideas is the bipartisan push to reinflate the housing bubble by not only extending the tax credit for struggling...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/06/faulty_thinking_won039t_create_jobs_95227.html 95227 AM Update Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:12:41 -0600 ]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/06/unhappy_employment_days_for_young_amp_striving_95232.html 95232 AM Update Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:04:56 -0600 COMMENT Breadcrumb trail navigation:By Mohamed El-Erian and Ramin Toloui Published: November 5 2009 22:04 | Last updated: November 5 2009 22:04It has become fashionable to speculate on the future of the US dollar as the world's reserve currency. Amid an average 10 per cent decline in the past six months, analysts have tended to favour one of two conclusions. Some argue that, since you cannot replace something with nothing, the dollar's global role is secured. Others feel that America's medium-term prospects are now inconsistent with such a role.As with many post-crisis...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/06/filling_the_dollar039s_gap_95231.html 95231 AM Update Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:23:42 -0600 ]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/06/is_the_greenback_dying_a_slow_painful_death_95233.html 95233 AM Update Fri, 06 Nov 2009 03:52:53 -0600 ]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/06/bondholders039_revenge_on_fee-hungry_bankers_95229.html 95229 AM Update Fri, 06 Nov 2009 03:47:19 -0600 ]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/06/how_to_make_the_next_budget_commission_work_95228.html 95228 AM Update Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:00:09 -0600 By Mara Der Hovanesian and Dean Foust Browse the BusinessWeek Archive Watch the Video… When Goldman Sachs (GS) sold complex bonds backed by the Arizona Grand Resort and other commercial properties in 2006, it suggested the returns would be strong. The 164-acre luxury Arizona Grand, set against the Sonoran Desert in Phoenix, boasted an award-winning golf course, deluxe spa, and several swank restaurants. The on-site water park was named one of the best in the country by the Travel Channel. With the resort's new owners planning to refurbish hotel rooms and common areas,...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/06/the_commercial_property_bust_is_different_95230.html 95230 AM Update Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:30:22 -0600 ]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/06/comparing_the_economic_health_of_india_and_china_95222.html 95222 AM Update Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:46:48 -0600 By Samuel Thernstrom Thursday, November 5, 2009 Filed under: Science & Technology, Government & Politics, World Watch Reading the climate-change news in recent weeks, one might wonder who won the last election.The Obama administration has rejected the Kyoto Protocol (ensuring it will expire), adopted some of former President George W. Bush’s key positions in international climate...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/06/the_quiet_death_of_the_kyoto_protocol_95234.html 95234 AM Update Fri, 06 Nov 2009 03:24:20 -0600 Remember those Republican boasts that they would turn health care into President Obama’s Waterloo? Well, exit polls suggest that to the extent that health care was an issue in Tuesday’s elections, it worked in Democrats’ favor. But while health care won’t be Mr. Obama’s Waterloo, economic policy is starting to look like his Anzio. Paul Krugman True, the elections weren’t a referendum on Mr. Obama. Most voters focused on local issues — and those who did focus on national issues tended, if anything, to go Democratic. In New...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/06/obama039s_half_measures_depress_growth_95226.html 95226 AM Update Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:16:33 -0600 By Jane Sasseen As a candidate and President, Barack Obama has had one core message for the middle class: I won't raise your taxes. The White House has pledged that only the wealthy—families earning more than $250,000—would face a boost in income, capital gains, or other taxes. For the 97% of Americans below that level, no increases are in store. But as Congress inches closer to forging a massive package of health-care reforms, it's increasingly clear how difficult it will be to keep that pledge. To pay for the near trillion-dollar health-care system...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/05/health-care_reform039s_hidden_taxes_95197.html 95197 PM Update Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:35:36 -0600 November 5, 2009 by Joshua M Brown The “everybody’s a real estate mogul” era started innocently enough, with a distaste for the stock market after the dot com meltdown and an incredibly long stretch of time with 1% interest rates.The leap from trading up in house size to using home equity loans for financing boat purchases certainly didn’t take very long.  With that in mind, I thought I’d share some of my observations about other potentially dangerous national pastimes currently being taken up en masse by retail investors.These areas bear...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/05/3_potential_bubbles_for_retail_investors_95204.html 95204 PM Update Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:12:31 -0600 ]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/05/steve_jobs_the_ceo_of_the_decade_95196.html 95196 PM Update Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:19:03 -0600 ]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/05/valuing_bonds_dollar_crazy_in_world_gone_mad_95199.html 95199 PM Update Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:19:45 -0600 Buried in the Treasury's International Reserve Position report is an intriguing bit of math. The document details the total amount, by weight, of the Treasury's gold reserves, plus a dollar value for said metal. But some fast division reveals something interesting: The Treasury marks the value of its gold at $42 an ounce, the price settled on in 1973, two years after the United States scrapped the Bretton Woods System, which had held gold at $35 an ounce for decades.Wait, what? Spot gold is heading toward $1,100 per ounce, and the Treasury is embracing a Cold War relic of a price?...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/05/how_to_find_288_billion_in_hidden_gold_95200.html 95200 PM Update Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:21:57 -0600 Sign inBecome a MarketWatch member todayPeter Brimelow Nov. 5, 2009, 3:02 a.m. EST · Recommend (5) · Post: View all Peter Brimelow "º "¹ Previous ColumnTurnaround Letter not for faint of heartFirst Take "ºDiscretionary spending loses its cool By Peter Brimelow, MarketWatch NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Does India like gold, or dislike Washington's anti-gold dollar domination? Let Mary Anne and Pamela Aden tell the story. Their...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/05/is_india_paving_the_way_for_gold_moonshot_95201.html 95201 PM Update Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:25:34 -0600 ]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/05/channeling_your_inner_warren_buffett_95203.html 95203 PM Update Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:17:45 -0600 I've been in a good mood all week about the announcement that Warren Buffett was investing $32 billion in Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNI Quote), the nation's second-largest railroad. "From my standpoint, it's a lot easier to make a $32 billion investment than 10 $3 billion investments," Mr. Buffett said, and also noted, with his customary dry wit, that he was probably doing it because his dad never bought him a train set as a kid. And then you think, wait ... this is Warren Buffett we're talking about. The guy who never invests in anything he doesn't...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/05/has_warren_buffett_gone_off_the_rails_95198.html 95198 PM Update Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:10:25 -0600 ]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/05/when_mutual_funds_get_strange_95195.html 95195 PM Update