government

Politico is reporting that the Democrats are on track to potentially reach a super-majority of sixty seats in the U.S. Senate. Sixty is a very important number in the Senate because it neuters any attempt by the opposing party to block…

Yesterday, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger wrote U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson to warn him that California was suffering a liquidity problem and needed federal assistance in order to avoid insolvency. Below is the text of…

The deed is done. Despite huge voter disquiet about the terms of the bailout package, Congress has passed the bill and it awaits the U.S. President's signature. The house vote was 263 to 171, with a huge number of Congress members moving…

Below is a link to the Library of Congress (LOC) website and a few links to the Senate Banking Committee site which have the details on the 'Economic Stabilization' Bill which passed the Senate by a vote of 74-25.The Bill, called H.R.1424…

The Senate has now passed the bailout bill Economic Patriot Act that the Bush Administration had a heavy hand in crafting. This bill, while better than nothing, is unlikely to alleviate for long the acute problems the financial markets are…

The FDIC has a chronology of the Savings and Loan crisis on its website. I think they do a pretty good job of highlighting all the key points without slanting things for political purposes. See the link at the end of the post for the…

Everyone's dancing and cheering now that the bailout has been rejected. So, as Ice-T used to say, "Bust the cork on the Moët!" (image via Flickr).The market's up 500 points and all is well and swell. The guys over at Lombard Street Research…

Update: While the Irish were following the Swedish script, it became clear to me shortly after I wrote this that the bank debt guarantees were not a good idea. This post from Willem Buiter explains it best.  Along with American and…

Despite the fall in markets, Congress's not having passed the Economic Patriot Act may be a blessing in disguise. The FTSE is trading up. Dow futures show a rise of 170 points. So, maybe the sell-off was a one-day event. In any event, it…

The House of Representatives in the United States has defeated the proposal originally crafted by U.S. Treasury Secretary to help bail the U.S. out of financial difficulties. My hope is that Congress can get to business and craft a…