Links: 2009-07-14

A muscle car that’s electric? Yes.

More on California’s IOUs as a currency.

But shares are up nearly 200%. Isn’t she late to the party?

“I’m zero weight banks,” muttered many Japanese portfolio managers in the 1990s. Even if they wanted to buy Daiwa Bank (RIP) they were often barred by their client. No one wanted to touch them. Why? Not because they were not making money – they were. Banks were spurned because balance sheets were stuffed with near-dead loans that were never going to revive as the economy was obviously sick as a dog.

She is now pro-life.

Very good discussion in view of move toward regulatory reform. Hat tip Marshall Auerback

A worthy petition via the HuffPo

"For the third straight month, option adjustable-rate mortgages are generating proportionally more delinquencies and foreclosures than subprime mortgages, the scourge of the U.S."

Goldman as beneficiary of the debt issuance tsunami

"On average, the students could tolerate the pain for nearly two minutes when swearing compared with only one minute and 15 seconds when they refrained from using expletives."

I think the title gives you the gist. The tabloids are eating this up.

Certainly, the EU see the Swiss as a threat because of their tax regime. Here is another reason why.

"The erosion of Michigan’s gold-plated health benefits, long the envy of workers across the U.S., is accelerating the state’s downward economic spiral."

How UK teenagers use media.

The evidence of bribery needs to be revealed or this will be a huge international scandal.

Lending doubled in May and June. Now, the central bank is ending this.

If Berkshire is cutting back, it’s more likely to do with the going rates for re-insurance i.e. uneconomic offers one by the competition.

This makes one think of Nazi Germany, but in this case it is health care at issue.

I think this article is total nonsense. White flight out of inner suburbs is what drove the exurbs to new heights. And in the 1960’s and 1970’s it was very much a real phenomenon. This ‘repudiation’ of the Tipping Point is total rubbish – and that’s not a phrase I throw around lightly.

Thoma sees more advantage to currency union in America than disadvantages. He does not favor having states create money. Is this what California’s IOU’s are doing? Debatable.