Links: 2008-12-15

Happy Monday. It was a fairly slow news day actually. But that doesn’t mean there weren’t a lot of stories to follow on economics and finance, because there were a lot. I am officially stopping the Madoff madness and moving on to something else. But I actually do have one story on Bernie today.

Stories that I really want to pint out? There’s the German-British political mess wich is leaking out into currency markets. This basically boils down to a debate between Austrian-style economics and Keynesian economics. So, I have a whole section on this.

Otherwise, it’s the usual mish mash from around the net – especially good reads today. Other news stories can be found at our news feed, which is also available via RSS.

Cheers.

Ed

To stimulate or not? (Mises or Keynes?)

The Germans say no to stimulus and Munchau chimes in FT.com / Columnists / Wolfgang Munchau – Complacency rules as time slips away

This Frenchman at the ECB is on the side of te Germans. FT.com / In depth – Trichet warns of fiscal indiscipline

Krugman chimes in to to give his defense of Keynes Paul Krugman – European Crass Warfare – NYTimes.com

On the other hand, we have Tim Iacono to defend the hard money, fiscally conservative crowd. The Mess That Greenspan Made: Keynesian Economics Is Wrong

And let’s throw Tim Duy via Mark Thoma into the mix here. Economist’s View: Fed Watch: What If the Analogy is Wrong?

But, where does deficit spending lead? BradSetser tackles that question in a thoughtful piece. Brad Setser: Follow the Money – This is what a crisis looks like in the balance of payments data

But of course it also leads to a weak dollar. Bloomberg.com: Dollar Staggers as U.S. Unleashes Cash Flood, Deficit

Bloomberg.com: Dollar Falls to Eight-Week Low on Outlook for Fed Rate Cut

And since the Brits are doing the same it leads to a weak Pound. Sterling hits record low against the euro – Times Online

Onto another topic, as I have said, writedowns are coming for the likes of Alt-A mortgages just like sub-prime before. Fitch: Alt-A Mortgages Deteriorating More Rapidly than Expected : HousingWire

Brad Setser: Follow the Money » Blog Archive » Sovereign loss funds …

Financial Armageddon: The Loser List

Bloomberg.com: GMAC Holders Agree to Revised Swap Terms, Lawyer Says

New housing starts at lowest level since 1924 – Times Online

I may have more to say about this later. November industrial production dips 0.6 percent | Reuters

FT.com / Global Economy – Norway set to dip into $332bn oil fund

The Man Who Is Unwinding Lehman Brothers – NYTimes.com

The king of political patronage for the Wall Street crowd. Schumer, a Defender of Wall St., Reaps Benefits — DealBook – New York Times

Don’t you love politics? Limits on Executive Pay May Prove Toothless – washingtonpost.com

I told you I still had another Madoff missive in me. This one actually runs down financial companies’ exposure to Madoff. The List of Losers in the Madoff Case – DealBook – New York Times