by Dan Mitchell | May 15, 2011 | Bailouts, Big Government, Blogs, Regulations
Here are two superb articles on the financial crisis. First, from Peter Wallison at the American Enterprise Institute, we have a piece on the role of government housing subsidies. Since he warned, in advance, that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were ticking time bombs,...
by Dan Mitchell | May 9, 2011 | Bailouts, Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending
Most of us have probably heard the joke about the moronic salesman who admitted to losing money on each sale but was hoping to make it up with higher volume. E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post is taking this financial approach to a new level. His column today asserts...
by Dan Mitchell | May 5, 2011 | Bailouts, Big Government, Blogs
We have two completely unrelated topics from Germany and France, but both fit in the broader theme of Europe’s gradual, self-inflicted suicide. Let’s start with the Germans. I’m not a big fan of the country’s Chancellor, Angela Merkel. She is supposedly a...
by CF&P | Jan 15, 2011 | Big Government, Blogs, Welfare and Entitlements
I’ve already poked fun at Herman Van Rompuy, the nondescript über-bureaucrat who has risen to the non-elected post of European Council President. I’ve mocked Rompuy’s attempts to compete with other European politicians, and I encourage everyone to have a good laugh at...
by Dan Mitchell | Jan 5, 2011 | Bailouts, Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Monetary Policy
The news is going from bad to worse for Ireland. The Irish Independent is reporting that the Swiss Central Bank no longer will accept Irish government bonds as collateral. The story also notes that one of the world’s largest bond firms, PIMCO, is no longer purchasing...