Economics and finance links

Ireland, Greece, Portugal, Spain, and Italy don't get to make those choices for themselves. They have big debt loads and poor growth prospects, and there's absolutely nothing they can do to make dealing with the former easier by addressing the latter. Maybe Italy ought to be ok, but it isn't. For better or worse, it hitched itself to the euro zone.

Increase the Money in Circulation

ORSZAG: This Economy Is MUCH Weaker Than It Appears

Here's Who Gets Crushed If Italy Goes Bust

America's Foreclosed Homes Are Literally Filling With Mold

WARNING: When A Country Leaves The Eurozone, You Will Get No Advanced Notice

Reinhart and Rogoff: The Economy Can’t Grow

Italy money supply plunge flashes red warning signals. Monetary experts are increasingly disturbed by the pace of money supply contraction in Italy and most recently France, fearing that it could prove a leading edge of a sharp economic slowdown over the winter.

Why The US Balance Sheet Recession Won't Last As Long As Japan's

Jamie Dimon: The Mortgage System Is Such A Disaster "Everybody Is Going To Sue Everybody Else"

CHART OF THE DAY: "The Most Important Chart In The World Right Now"

By The Way, Greece!?

5 Rules For Thinking About The European Sovereign Debt Crisis

Wall Street Lobbyist Aims to ‘Reform the Reform’

Banking on the Future

Baby-Sitting the Economy. The baby-sitting co-op that went bust teaches us something that could save the world.

EU considers ban on ratings agencies

QOTD: Valuation Driven by MegaCaps

2011 U.S. Metro Wealth Index

Cohan: Blaming Fannie Gives Banks Free Pass

After its creation in May 2009, the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission studied thoroughly the causes of the crisis, interviewed more than 700 witnesses and held 19 public hearings. Its nearly 600-page report, released in January, analyzed many of the same threads that Schwartz described as being among the chief culprits of the problem and came to the accurate conclusion that the crisis was man-made and entirely preventable.
“The crisis was the result of human action and inaction, not of Mother Nature or computer models gone haywire,” the report stated. “The captains of finance and the public stewards of our financial system ignored warnings and failed to question, understand, and manage evolving risks within a system essential to the well-being of the American public. Theirs was a big miss, not a stumble. While the business cycle cannot be repealed, a crisis of this magnitude need not have occurred. To paraphrase Shakespeare, the fault lies not in the stars, but in us.”
The FCIC’s report put the majority of the blame squarely where it belonged: On the shoulders of the Wall Street executives who led their companies straight into the financial abyss. Rather than finding themselves in jail or in bankruptcy court, you can find them in Sun Valley, Martha’s Vineyard and the Hamptons, living very well indeed off the hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation they Hoovered up during their years of mismanagement at the top.