The more I mull the idea that a bunch of completely irresponsible corporations who through default credit swaps and other exotic finance derivatives managed to crash their businesses are getting a potential $1.7 trillion bailout infuriates me. I was wondering if any of our representatives were not towing the Corporate Party line?
It's Friday Night! Party Time! Time to relax, put your feet up on the couch, lay back, and watch some detailed videos on economic policy! Well, not really this evening. It is more like time to breath. We need an educational catch up on the real causes of this financial crisis and resulting bail out, which is derivatives (and not falling housing prices per say).
This weeks video clip theme is education on derivatives and credit default swaps (CDS). These vehicles are so complex frankly it's tough to find material which explains them clearly.
All of a sudden words are buzzing like flies over the carnage. Swatted and flying in rapid succession from analysts everywhere is the term DeLeveraging. Now what kind of beige, innocuous glossing over term does that imply on what's really happening? Seeking Alpha defines deleveraging as Feedback Loops Gone Wild. Ok, so what does that mean?
Virtuous circles (and their accompanying animal spirits) give way to vicious cycles, in which lower prices beget write-downs, which beget lower prices
News moves at lightening speed. One minute the story is Lehman Brothers going bankrupt, the next is Barclays is now going to buy some of it, in the asset fire sale in the bankruptcy court.
AIG is like watching a building implode, in slow motion. Bank of America is buying Merrill Lynch, yet no one is questioning any of this, including their purchase of another in trouble mortgage firm, CountryWide.
So, what specifically do these Presidential candidates plan to do about all of this? Right now, we have more finger pointing of the two campaigns with little details on actual policy plans or positions.
A hard hitting Obama campaign ad against John McCain points out he is surrounded by corporate lobbyists writing policies he would implement as a Government administration.
Mud comment
Obama's lobbyists? Well it's a little more indirect but it's really a matter of wording, the same people are giving the money. http://www.whitehouseforsale.org
It's Friday Night! Party Time! Time to relax, put your feet up on the couch, lay back, and watch some detailed videos on economic policy! This weeks video clip theme is Globalization. What is Globalization? Well, let's take a turn to the far left. It is the far left who really were warning on unfettered capitalism across national boundaries long before arbitrage hit mainstream: Norm Chomsky tries to answer what Globalization even is:
he would delay rescinding President Bush's tax cuts on wealthy Americans if he becomes the next president and the economy is in a recession, suggesting such an increase would further hurt the economy.
It's Friday Night! Party Time! Time to relax, put your feet up on the couch, lay back, and watch some detailed videos on economic policy! Well, not really this evening. It is more like time to breath. We need an educational catch up on the real causes of this financial crisis and resulting bail out, which is derivatives (and not falling housing prices per say). 
All of a sudden words are buzzing like flies over the carnage. Swatted and flying in rapid succession from analysts everywhere is the term DeLeveraging. Now what kind of beige, innocuous glossing over term does that imply on what's really happening? 
News moves at lightening speed. One minute the story is Lehman Brothers going bankrupt, the next is Barclays is now going to buy some of it, in the asset fire sale in the bankruptcy court.
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