Mankiw finally admit market is working

well, in the case of Chrysler and GM.

But I don't remember he came out to object the the Bush administration auto bailout.

On negative interest rate.

Havard "new" old ideas of negative interest rate came out. (Hat tip to Dan Wright.)

Here is my thoughts: I see no difference between negative interest/tax on cash holding and a positive inflation rate. If anyone starts to make cash holding worth less, people will convert their cash into gold/other assets that are better in preserve value which will lead to, well, inflation. The ultimate question is how much inflation will the Fed tolerate at this time. Playing with inflation expectation is a dangerous game since central banks usually spend a lot of effort to anchor inflation. Will the Fed release the beast out of its cage? Will Paul Volker agree with that?

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart: Jim Cramer

Full Episode

This American Life on the Crisis

355: The Giant Pool of Money

375: Bad Bank

A good joke

1949, only Socialism can save China;
1979, only Capitalism can save China;
1989, only China can save Socialism;
2009, only China can save Capitalism.

No U-turn in Columbus OHIO

It's probably allowed elsewhere in Ohio. Drive carefully in Columbus!

http://municipalcodes.lexisnexis.com/cgi-bin/hilite.pl/codes/columbus/_DATA/TITLE21/Chapter_2131_OPERATION_GENERAL.html#13

2131.12 “U” turns prohibited.

(a)No vehicle shall be turned so as to proceed in the opposite direction upon any street or highway. Turns commonly known as “U” turns are hereby prohibited.

(b)Except as otherwise provided in this division, whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor. If, within one (1) year of the offense, the offender previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to one (1) predicate motor vehicle or traffic offense, whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree. If, within one (1) year of the offense, the offender previously has been convicted of two (2) or more predicate motor vehicle or traffic offenses, whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree. (Ord. 1579-72: Ord. 2120-03 § 1 (part).)

http://www.bmv.ohio.gov/driver_license/rdh.htm#TURNING

To make a proper U-turn, follow these instructions:

• Use your turn signal at least 100 feet prior to turning

• Check traffic ahead, behind and beside you before turning

• If there's traffic in the area, don't make the U-turn; instead make other turns to reverse your direction

• Check traffic again before completing final half of turn

• Turn into the lane closest to the center line or median

Note:

It is illegal to make a U-turn on a curve, near the top of a hill, if your vehicle cannot be seen within five hundred feet by the driver of another vehicle approaching from either direction or when a sign prohibiting U-turns is posted.

Money or life, which is more important?

***************Boston Globe

Tensions ran high in the hearing yesterday when SEC officials Andy Vollmer, the agency's acting general counsel, and enforcement director Linda Thomsen, refused to respond to questions about the Madoff investigation posed by Representative Gary Ackerman, a New York Democrat.

"You've told us nothing," Ackerman shouted. "You have totally and thoroughly failed in your mission, don't you get it?"

***************Washington Post

"If anyone could make the case better than Mr. Markopolos, and I didn't think they could, about you people being completely inept, you have made the case better than him," Ackerman said.

***************

"... men more quickly forget the death of their father than the loss of their patrimony."

------ The Prince, Niccolò Machiavelli

I still vividly remember that after 9/11, a lady from the CIA straightforwardly refused "the finger pointing" in a television interview and there was certainly no law maker threw any harsh words like the above to CIA, FBI and USSS etc. (Some efforts are on the way.)

So, losing 50 billion dollars can get words out of the law makers but nearly 3000 lives gone, forget it.