On The Economic Populist you might have noticed the right column. We try to list other sites and blogs who have exceptional insight and writing on what is happening in the U.S. economy.

Sometimes though, one cannot say it better but miss those who did.

Must Read Post #1

Calculated Risk has a series of sovereign debt and default. In three parts:

• Part 1: How Large is the Outstanding Value of Sovereign Bonds?
   
• Part 2. How Often Have Sovereign Countries Defaulted in the Past?
   
• Part 2B: More on Historic Sovereign Default Research

Must Read Post #2

The rich are walking away from their mortgages much more than the middle class and poor. I guess a sense of duty, ethics and personal responsibility in today's world just doesn't pay.

Must Read Post #3

Bank of America just accidentally hid $10.7 billion in debt and yes they are the infamous repo 105.

In the letter, the bank said its incorrect accounting for the six trades wasn't intentional. "We do not deliberately structure transactions that are economically disadvantageous simply for the purpose of recording a sale or reducing recorded liabilities."

The bank also said, "We believe that our efforts to manage the size of our balance sheet are appropriate and our policies are consistent with all applicable accounting and legal requirements." The intent of the transactions, it said, "was to reduce the specific business unit's balance sheet to meet [the bank's] internal quarter-end limits for balance sheet capacity."

The classifications involved as much as $10.7 billion in repos, a relatively small amount for the bank, which has $2.3 trillion in total assets.

Must Read Post #4

The Atlanta Fed blog reviews structural changes to employment in the U.S.. Amazing 81% of the job changes in 2001 were structural. 65% of this recession job losses are structural. Not good.

The post, which really is a research paper, has advanced bubble area graphs showing the job changes. Anyone from tech you need to see these graphs and watch the job losses in Science and Technology. Those jobs were directly to India and China. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200 dollars.

Must Read Post #5

No surprise here, the Debt Commission paints a gloomy picture. Ya think they should focus on jobs and growth so tax revenues would increase? Ya think?