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Sunday Morning Comics - Holier Than Dow Edition

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Brought to you by Congressional Hearings - We generate plenty of outrage in hopes you won't notice the lack of any real action.
Cup O' Joe

 

Good Morning! Rise and Shine! Get that Cup O' Joe...
break out the O.J....hang out with the pooch...time to check out the Funnies!

 

Holier Than Dow

 

BP announces a major alternative energy breakthrough, converting lies into energy. "Lies are abundant and we're full of them", a spokesperson said. BP is also considering the vast resources of hot air available.

 

Must Read Posts for June 20, 2010

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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

The New York Times has a great article on rip offs, scams and predators circling around the wounded gazelles as they run up their credit cards, out of money, in The New Poor: Peddling Relief, Firms Put Debtors in Deeper Hole. These creeps should not only be banned from operation, but should be tarred and feathered to boot.

Must Read Post #2

The Wall Street Journal investigated oil well construction and proved BP Relied on Cheaper Wells. Right, squeeze those costs and assume nothing bad will happen.

Must Read Post #3

The New York Times shows BP has a history of slashing costs, ignoring safety. While the spotlight is on BP, how many other corporations, do similar things from short term profits? From inane derivatives to security holes in software, squeezing the workers and costs is a never ending corporate mantra.

Must Read Post #4

Big Oil - First Nigeria then the World

Big oil in Nigeria - executions, pollution and suffering (Image)

Michael Collins

The big oil catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico is not the first to threaten a people's way of life.

Just ask the Ogoni people from Nigeria's oil rich central Niger Delta. Their experience over decades offers a model of things to come without serious changes in consumption and regulation.

The Kill Switch, The Military, Reality Finance and The Plutonomy

Information Asymmetry

A recent news item mentioned that everyone's hero, Joe Lieberman, has proposed new legislation in the US Congress which would allow the president a "kill switch" to control and halt various portions of the Internet in the advent of national emergency.

Regardless of who the president might be, and I have as little faith in President Obama as I had in the previous bunch of presidents, going back to at least Nixon, this would represent the same possible conditions as we've observed in Myanmar, China and Iran; namely the censorship of the Web when they so desire.

This is what economists call "information asymmetry" -- or controlling the flowing information, or a controlled flow of information for selective profit and gain.

As I recently mentioned in a previous post, this administration's treasury department appears to be following the recommendation of avoidance of banning naked swaps, completely at odds of the mood over in the Eurozone!

This should leave everyone rather skeptical, especially given the record of our president when he was a senator; lobbying on behalf of, and attempting to pass legislation to establish a national DNA database for all citizens.








The Military


The Sovereign State of BP - Down for the Count?

Michael Collins

British Petroleum has operated as though it were a sovereign state since its inception. When they blew the well at their Macondo Prospect in the Gulf of Mexico, it never occurred to them that they would have to take orders from anybody. But that may change largely due to their inability to stop the flow of oil after nearly sixty days of gushing.

President Obama was clear in his speech last night. If any entity is going down as a result of the catastrophe, it will be BP. Today, Obama meets with BP's Chairman of the Board, Carl-Henric Svanberg, and the man he told the chairman to fire, Chief Executive Officer Tony Hayward.

Two sovereign states will collide. The outcome is a foregone conclusion.

The Black Swans of Europe

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The financial news from Europe is getting increasingly distressing.
A new EU report warns that economic conditions in Portugal and Spain could "result in a high ‘snowball’ effect on the government debt.”
French financial group AXA says "there is a fatal flaw in the system and no clear way out." They are predicting the Eurozone to break in half or completely disintegrate in the next 18 months.
Over 13% of Europe's investors are betting on a Black Monday-style collapse in stock prices (think 1987).

Coated in the Black Tar of Darkness. a War Against Financial Reform Continues

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As weak as Financial Reform bills are in the House and Senate, that's not good enough for some. The White House and Legislators want it weaker and are working under the cover of oil disaster to make it so.

UPI is reporting the conference committee has killed derivatives reform. Blanche Lincoln is the one who killed her own amendment, according to the Wall Street Journal. I guess she won her primary so it's back to business as usual.

The latest version would not force banks to spin off their swap desks, but would cordon off the derivatives operations by giving big banks two years to form affiliates to handle the derivatives bets, which are private contracts that hedge against future price changes in various securities.

Unless I'm missing something that is no change at all. SIVs are affiliates, little shell corporations, usually incorporated in the Caymans to hold CDOs and CDSes or other securities. Is there any difference between a Structured Investment Vehicle and this newly coined phrase affiliate? Looks like a duck.....

Must Read Posts for June 13, 2010

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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

Doctors are back to business as usual, putting patients lives at risk by taking kickbacks. Bloomberg investigates in New Hips Gone Awry Expose U.S. Kickbacks in Doctors’ Conflicts.

Must Read Post #2

Should people who cannot answer 150 ÷ 2 = ? be able to take out a home mortgage? A new study, overviewed by the New York Times, shows there is a correlation to being foreclosed on and not being able to answer simple arithmetic questions. No duh.

Must Read Post #3

Paul Krugman calls cash on the claim markets like ripping to shreds wages and social safety nets, as touted by the IMF.

Must Read Post #4

Trade Reform says it all (and why we need country of origin labels on food), in Chinese Organic Food, are you Kidding me?

Must Read Post #5

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