Economical and Financial News

Main Street

October 4, 2008 – 12:53 am
One result of the extended bailout debate has been to make me pretty sick-and-tired of metaphorical invocations of “Main Street.” This isn't 1908. Normally in the present-day United States, I see a traditional Main Street being the center of activity when I'm in a picturesque vacation spot for rich people. Aspen, Colorado and Blue Hill, Maine are both focused on their Main Streets. But just about everyplace else you go, people are shopping and working either downtown, or else in a suburban mall or office park. We need an economic recovery plan that works not only for Wall Street, but also for people shopping at big box stores. In some respects, it's not a big deal. A cliché is just a cliché. But I do think it's harmful in some ways that American political culture continues to have such a small town orientation long after the country ceased being primarily ...

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AIG to keep core insurance, sell assets to pay U.S. loan

October 4, 2008 – 12:53 am
NEW YORK (Reuters) - American International Group Inc , crippled by losses on bad mortgage bets, said on Friday it will focus on its main insurance operations and put the rest of its businesses up for sale to repay up to $85 billion borrowed from the U.S. government.

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Hail Mary

October 4, 2008 – 12:52 am
Charles Krauthammer thinks Barack Obama is going to win the election. More interestingly, he uses a revealing metaphor: “Krauthammer's Hail Mary Rule: You get only two per game. John McCain, unfortunately, has already thrown three. The first was his bet on the surge, a deep pass to David Petraeus who miraculously ran it all the way into the end zone.” In case you're not a football fan, the essential characteristic of a “hail Mary” pass (just hurling the ball downfield in the direction of the end zone) is that it's a bad play. Which is to say that the expected value of such a pass is extremely low. But sometimes you throw one at the end of a game if you're in a situation where any play other than a successful “hail Mary” will result in your team losing the game. Under those circumstances, the fact that the play has only ...

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Stocks drop on economic concerns despite bailout

October 4, 2008 – 12:52 am
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Wall Street ended its worst week in seven years with another tumble on Friday on fears that the $700 billion financial rescue package may not unblock credit markets and stave off a U.S. recession.

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The Record II

October 4, 2008 – 12:51 am
Pat Garofalo takes a look at the debt-to-GDP ratio: As you can see, there are basically two kinds of situations in which this ratio skyrockets — either World War II breaks out, or else you put representatives of the modern conservative movement in the White House.

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“Ping Pong”

October 4, 2008 – 12:51 am
Reader W.S. calls my attention to this Pitchfork item noting that it was a bit odd of Meghan McCain to choose Stereolab's “Ping Pong” as her September 29, 2008 “song of the day.” The video: Here's some lyrics: It's alright right ‘cos the historical pattern has shown How the economical cycle tends to revolve In a round of decades three stages stand out in a loop A slump and war then peel back to square one and back for more Bigger slump and bigger wars and a smaller recovery Huger slump and greater wars and a shallower recovery You see the recovery always comes 'round again There's nothing to worry for things will look after themselves It's alright recovery always comes 'round again There's nothing to worry if things can only get better There's only millions that lose their jobs and homes and sometimes accents There's only millions that die in their bloody wars, it's alright It's only their lives and the lives of ...

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Michigan No More

October 4, 2008 – 12:50 am
This is yesterday's news, but I have to say that I was so surprised by the announcement that the McCain campaign is abandoning Michigan that I was initially inclined to believe it was some kind of fake-out. But it seems to be real enough. As a strategy, though, it's a bit odd in my opinion. It's true, of course, that currently McCain's odds in Michigan are pretty long. But that reflects his currently poor national performance. Unless he does better overall, shifting resources around can't save him. You have to ask about which states would be competitive if the national popular vote was about even and Michigan is a solid enough candidate. What's more, it's a state (unlike Colorado or Virginia or the 2nd Congressional District of Maine) with a history of tensions between a big city African-American political machine and the surrounding white majority — the sort of thing ...

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Wells to buy Wachovia for about $16 billion

October 4, 2008 – 12:50 am
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co said on Friday it would buy Wachovia Corp for about $16 billion, apparently besting a government-backed Citigroup Inc bid for some of the bank's assets, in a deal that would catapult Wells Fargo into the ranks of the leading national consumer banks.

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The Record I

October 4, 2008 – 12:49 am
Paul Krugman takes a look at the broadest measure of unemployment: Obviously, the President has only a limited influence over the course of the economy, but it's not no influence.

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Wal-Mart tests small grocery store as market shifts

October 4, 2008 – 12:49 am
NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc launches a handful of convenience-sized grocery stores this weekend to stake its claim in an industry experimenting with smaller store formats.

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