The Dukes of Moral Hazard

I think they're calling it "behavioral economics."

Our financial leaders have become like The Black Knight on the Bridge. They're proclaiming that the current morass is only a flesh wound, while anybody with a lick of sense sees a deep malignant cancer that threatens to consume the entire body.

in reference to:

"We’ll call it the Rules of Advocacy Scholarship in the Discussion of Money in Post-Bretton Woods America, or RASDMPBWA. Rule One: Unless absolutely necessary, ignore the existence of countervailing fact or theory; just make a breezy assertion, then let your prestige and the credulity of your audience do the rest. This is especially important in situations in which objective external circumstances have revealed your position to be untenable, and the only accurate predictions and prescriptions are to be found in the opposing camp. Rule Two: If you feel you must provide some sort of argument in support of said assertion, use inapposite anecdote, false analogy and slippery pseudo-reasoning. Rule Three: If you feel you must cite some authority for your assertion, keep it safely within the family of Keynesians and monetarists and Establishment celebrities."
- commentary36 (view on Google Sidewiki)

ZeroHedge is always choice

but this article is the el primo, top drawer stuff. Definitely worth a read.

in reference to:

"This Is The Government: Your Legal Right To Redeem Your Money Market Account Has Been Denied"
- This Is The Government: Your Legal Right To Redeem Your Money Market Account Has Been Denied | zero hedge (view on Google Sidewiki)

eNo Smoking

This ain't no party. This ain't no disco...

in reference to:

"This ain't no nature show. This ain't no zoo shot. This is my backyard!"
- Guess who's coming to dinner? on Flickr - Photo Sharing! (view on Google Sidewiki)

A Term of Art

I think this is generally referred to as deliberately building error into the case. Or at least I would hope that the DOJ couldn't be that dumb.

If I were a gambling man, I would bet that this decision will not set well with Iraqi citizens. Perception is everything.

in reference to:

"The disputed evidence concerned statements the guards gave to state department investigators, which they were told would not be used to bring a criminal case. This limited immunity deal meant that prosecutors should have built their case against the men without using the statements. But Judge Urbina said prosecutors had failed to do so, and that the US government's explanation for this was "contradictory, unbelievable and lacking in credibility"."
- BBC News - US judge dismisses charges in Blackwater Iraq killings (view on Google Sidewiki)

Ah,

We see here the twin harlots of performative speech acts and wishful happythink.

And the line above it is even better:

Prosecutors find themselves faced with a difficult question: Where does delusion end and dishonesty begin?

Why can't we simply have simultaneously both?

in reference to:

""Statements of optimism about the future . . . that turn out to be wrong are simply not actionable," the company wrote. "Even in times of market turmoil, the company need not presume the worst about its market prospects.""
- E-mails inside AIG reveal executives struggling with growing crisis - washingtonpost.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

More Bailout Money For GMAC "Bank": 3.5 Billion

Protip: Don't do business with allybank. They're simply a storefront for GMAC.

I used to run land title back in the early and middle '00s. On some of the foreclosure titles I did, I was astounded to see ditech.com dba GAMC Mortgage Corp give a second mortgage on a property. This second mortgage was generally for 80% of the property's assessed value. The first mortgage was generally one of two things 1) either for at least 125% of the home's value or 2) a legitimate Grade A mortgage that had been paid down to less than 80% of the value.

Either scenario demonstrates that GMAC mortgage brokers were idiots. There was no way in heck they were going to get all their money back on that second note, even when property valuations were still going up. I guess they simply wanted to take the promissory note/mortgage so they could go out and sell it as a mortgage backed security. I don't know.

I was even more astounded to hear in the Fall of '08 that the federal government was going to allow our not-yet-ready-for-retail-lending players to become an FDIC-insured institution. I remember thinking back then, Well, this mess is far from over if we're not going to honestly address GMAC's issues head on.

It's just absolutely mind-boggling what the bankers and the people on Wall Street have gotten away with and what they're continuing to get away with.

in reference to: The Coming Economic Depression: More Bailout Money For GMAC "Bank":3.5 Billion (view on Google Sidewiki)

The same warmed-over happytalk

These people will embrace anything that gives them a rationalization to shove their do-gooder horsecrap down an unwilling participant's throat.

As one of their former victims, I have to say society would be much better served if this malignant cancer known as the mental health movement were completely excised.

If you need help, visit your local sex worker. He'll cheer you up far better than these people, with far less financial and emotional cost.

in reference to:

"Personality Disorder: “Untreatable” Myth Is Challenged"
- Personality Disorder: “Untreatable” Myth Is Challenged - Psychiatric Times (view on Google Sidewiki)