Links: 2009-03-09

Three more Obama nominees withdraw from running – Telegraph (hat tip Michael)

Returned to TARP – FT Alphaville

R.B.S. Seeks to Unwind a Decade of Deals – Deal Book – NY Times

Geithner, With Few Aides, Faces Challenges – Deal Book – NY Times

Blick Log – Ein Weblog über Wirtschaft, Finanzen, Business und mehr … (A good German-language blog)

Thanks to the Bank it’s a crisis; in the eurozone it’s a total catastrophe – Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

Behind the Curve – Paul Krugman, NY Times (Obama will need to go back for more stimulus. The problem? His numbers are based on too rosy an economic scenario)

A Scorecard of Market Destruction – Barrons.com

A Quick Note on Bank Liabilities – Baseline Scenario

A failure to control the animal spirits – Robert Shiller, FT.com (as my friend Susan told me, there are gaps in this analysis. Marshall noticed that Shiller acts as if Adam Smith believed in no regulation, which is far from the case.)

An L of a recession – reform is the way out – Wolfgang Munchau, FT.com (Hat tip Yves Smith. Another problematic FT opinion piece. Munchau has a particular slant. In this case, he overlooks the automatic stabilisers inherent in the German economy which will ease the pain of depression. I may have more to say about this later)

globeandmail.com: Countries are so deep in debt, they risk drowning in red ink (Kenneth Rogoff)

Sold Out Report – Wall Street Watch (hat tip Marshall)

Icelandic bank loses independence – BBC News (The last major Icelandic bank is now government-controlled as well)

Two more posts from the archive of relevance today:

Dividends are under pressure (I predicted dividends would be cut. JPMorgan, Wells, BofA, Capital One, PNC have all cut the dividend. They are financials. I expect the same economy-wide.)

Obama’s stimulus bill is a tough sell so far (This one’s about the fact that Obama’s stimulus package was too small to begin with. Poor political calculus if you asked me)

financial newsRBS