" ... the recession, particularly if it turns out to be as long and deep as many now fear, will accelerate the rise and fall of specific places within the U.S.—and reverse the fortunes of other cities and regions." From The Atlantic Online -
How the Crash Will Reshape America
posted by Afroblanco
on Feb 15, 2009 -
69 comments
The Right to Walk Away Has panarchist thinking finally come of age in 2009? With world leaders of big governments failing to find any new solutions to old problems, should we have the right to walk away from those governments?
posted by stuffedspacedog
on Feb 2, 2009 -
35 comments
"Civilization is Just a Thin Veneer. In the absence of law and order, men quickly revert to savagery. As was illustrated by the rioting and looting that accompanied disasters in the past three decades, the transition from tranquility to absolute barbarism can occur overnight. People expect tomorrow to be just like today, and they act accordingly. But then comes a unpredictable disaster that catches the vast majority unprepared. The average American family has four days worth of food on hand. When that food is gone,
we'll soon see the thin veneer stripped away."
[more inside]
posted by Joe Beese
on Jan 28, 2009 -
179 comments
Dating A Banker Anonymous Are you or someone you love dating a banker? If so, we are here to support you through these difficult times. Dating A Banker Anonymous (DABA) is a safe place where women can come together – free from the scrutiny of feminists– and share their tearful tales of how the mortgage meltdown has affected their relationships. Via
posted by ColdChef
on Jan 28, 2009 -
167 comments
TARP, SSFIP, EESA, CPP, TALF, MMIFF... Are you feeling overwhelmed by all the new acronyms coming out of the US Treasury Department lately? Here's
a handy PDF reference guide to untangling the US government efforts to rescue banks, financial corporations, and other companies.
posted by Asparagirl
on Dec 29, 2008 -
10 comments
The president of a Savings & Loan sent the following email to his family:
If you have one hour of your time to invest in learning more about the current economic crisis, I highly recommend you click on one of the two below links and view [Paul Krugman's Friday address to the National Press Club]. His remarks take about 1/2 hour followed by 25 minutes of Q&As. I believe you will find watching it worth your time.
P.S. If you decide to view Krugman's speech, I recommend you view it
"full screen" for the best effect of viewing his body language.
Link 1,
Link 2 [more inside]
posted by spock
on Dec 21, 2008 -
63 comments
'You loser!" screamed Katie, aiming a vase at her husband. "You've destroyed my life,'' she continued, hurling it. "Just look at my hair, look at my nails! You loser, you jerk, you nobody."
Katie's
husband, Jack, whose property portfolio
disintegrated in the financial crash, had just told his wife that she would have to
cut back on her thrice-weekly visits to Nicky Clarke, the nail salon in Harvey Nichols, and the oxygen facials, chemical peels and seaweed wraps at Space NK.
posted by plexi
on Nov 28, 2008 -
91 comments
Je ne comprends pas anglais, Former Canadian PM Jean Chrétien forgets his second language as he and former NDP leader Ed Broadbent use their elder statesmen status to discuss bringing down the
six week old Conservative government in Canada after the promised
economic stimulus turned into
cutting travel expenses, cancelling pay equity and the right to strike for federal workers, and changing the
party funding law in favour of the ruling Conservatives under
PM Stephen Harper. The opposition still vow to topple the government even though the funding change appears to have been
dropped. But the largest opposition party is effectively
leaderless and they need the Bloc Quebecois support. Could the next Prime Minister of Canada be
Gilles Duceppe?
posted by saucysault
on Nov 28, 2008 -
295 comments
In 2009,
a remarkably gifted politician, confronting a remarkably difficult set of challenges, will
have to learn to say "No we can't",
Guantánamo will prove a moral minefield,
economic recovery will be invisible to the naked eye,
governments must prepare for the day they stop financial guarantees,
we will judge our commitment to sustainability,
scientists should research the causes of religion,
we will all be potential online paparazzi,
English will have more words than any other language (but it's meaningless),
Afghanistan will see a surge of Western (read: American) troops,
Iran will continue its nuclear quest while
diplomacy lies in shambles,
the sea floor is the new frontier,
we should rethink aging,
(non-)voters will continue to thwart the European project --
but cheap travel will continue to buoy it --
though it has some unfinished business to attend to, and
a Nordic defence bond will blossom.
The Economist: The World in 2009.
[more inside]
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane
on Nov 27, 2008 -
31 comments
Russian professor and information warrior,
Igor Panarin, has predicted the
collapse and breakup of the USA. (Potential artists' renderings
1 2) The interview was originally reported in the Russian newspaper,
Izvestia. (Google Translated) The prediction has been met with varying levels of credulity,
scoffed at by some and
embraced by
others. The prediction, which goes so far as to speculate
exactly how the US might reorganize, was posted to
Drudge and has offended many
bloggers who, while excited by the prospects of secession, are insulted by the insinuation that the south may go Hispanic and not Confederate.
posted by Telf
on Nov 26, 2008 -
106 comments
Pollan for Agriculture Secretary? It has been suggested (and
previously) that Michael Pollan, author of
Second Nature,
The Omnivore's Dilemma, might make a good Secretary of Agriculture. This would be a dramatic departure for an office that has a decades-long history of steering US agriculture policy to the advantage of the largest agribusiness corporations.
Especially given Obama's
potential connections to
Big Corn, how silly would we be to anticipate real change in US ag policy, relevant as it may be to the economic, energy, climate, and national security issues he campaigned on?
Via the
Brian Lehrer Show.
posted by maniabug
on Nov 17, 2008 -
66 comments
Letter from Iceland. There you see the Iceland of today – the victim of an economic 9/11 and one of the very few places in the world where the words “financial meltdown” can be used without fear of exaggeration. [more inside]
posted by jason's_planet
on Nov 15, 2008 -
33 comments
The laughed at him. Foretelling the doom and gloom of the mortgage crisis as a pundit in these 2006-2007 interviews,
Peter Schiff held to a grim economic outlook. Recently in the Washington Post,
Schiff writes: "Our leaders irrationally promoted home-buying, discouraged savings, and recklessly encouraged borrowing and lending, which together undermined our markets."
posted by thisisdrew
on Nov 14, 2008 -
33 comments
After an
historic near-
collapse (p), a federal bailout to the tune of
$85,000,000,000, a
second federal bailout to the tune of
$37,800,000,000 and
one hell of a party (p), the
news on A.I.G. just keeps getting better. Now:
Fed arbitrage!
Paying down a 9% taxpayer loan with a 2% taxpayer loan?
Genius!
posted by jckll
on Oct 31, 2008 -
7 comments
