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How to Fix the Foreclosure Crisis: A Real Bailout
We need a real bailout, because the last one relied on a bad theory -- namely: horse-and-sparrow "trickle-down" economics. Why do we need a real bailout? The first one was a corporate give-away. And...
Consumers Be Damned: Senator Shelby, Captain Queeg and the Politics of No
Last week's Senate Banking Committee hearing on the nomination of Richard Cordray to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau featured prepared speeches that were utterly without sound and fury but still managed to do...
Freddie and Fannie — Has Everyone Gone Postal?
Between Freddie and Fannie's latest woes and the United States Postal Service teetering on collapse, it's been a bad week or so for quasi-governmental agencies.
Late last week the United States Postal Service (USPS) announced...
Medication for Middle-Class Mortgage Mania
Everything old is new again....
Between 1634 and 1637, tulips became all the rage in Holland. The record of exactly what happened is sketchy and perhaps apocryphal in part, but at one point a particular...
$2 a Gallon Gas, Michele Bachmann? Aim Higher.
Big city-dwellers notwithstanding, American consumers may purchase gasoline more frequently than any other item. In fact, according to a 2009 Nilson report, when it comes to credit card purchases, gas is the most frequent...
Zero Sum Game: The Black Box of the Congressional Budget Process
So, how do you do your household budgeting? Millions of us use QuickBooks or some variation thereof. For those who are technologically challenged (I was for years), yellow pads, composition books, copy paper, accounting...
The Silver Lining in the U.S. Debt Downgrade
No matter which side of the political fence or economic Continental Divide you sit on, few can deny that this was the week that was. It began with the controversial debt-ceiling deal about which...
Of Debt Ceiling Debates, Non-Denial Denials and Non-Default Defaults
In 1980, Republican presidential nominee Ronald Reagan asked the American people: "Are you better off than you were four years ago... Is America more respected?" Fast forward to the cyber era of 2011, where...
On Cell Phone Hacking and Privacy: A Modest Proposal for Mr. Murdoch
The recent revelations regarding the outrageous escapades of certain News Corp. subsidiaries, and the employees thereof, have been so scandalous as to capture and dominate the attention of the worldwide media for several weeks....
Un-Warrented: American Consumers Lose Their Biggest Defender
At long last, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau launches officially this week. Unfortunately, so far it seems that what happens on Thursday, July 21st could be more of a lurch than a launch. As...