Financial News: 2010-01-02

This post originally read 2009. Obviously, I am still living in the past.

• WaMu says tax refund may double, shares soar| Reuters
• Reviving Confidence in the American Economy China, Investment and the Deficit Hawks – naked capitalism
• Private-sector pensions suffer worst year ever |Business |guardian.co.uk
• China Property Bubble May Lead to U.S.-Style Real Estate Slump – Bloomberg.com
• Economist’s View: "Is Our Tax System Helping Us Create Wealth?"
• Lessons Learned but Not Applied – Economix Blog – NYTimes.com
• Paul Krugman – Chinese New Year – NYTimes.com
• A Japanese Rx for the West: Keep Spending – Barron’s (This is a great interview with Richard Koo on balance sheet recessions. Right analysis, wrong prescription though. His prescription is too one-sided, all government spending. This has serious limitations because of the need to reallocate capital and the huge rise in public sector debt)
• 2009 Sets the Stage…for What? – Barrons (Are we getting a correction or more to the upside? This post gives some insight. Sorry if it’s behind a pay wall.)
• Skandalbank Alpe Adria: Druck auf Stoiber und Beckstein wchst – SPIEGEL ONLINE – Nachrichten – Wirtschaft (The sale of bankrupt Austrian bank Aple Aldria to BayernLB is now being prosecuted as a crime in Germany.)
• Blogger who blew the whistle on hedge fund – smh.co.au (About fellow blogger John Hempton. Hat tip Yves Smith)