YouTube – President Barack Obama addresses the 2009 NAACP Convention

YouTube – President Barack Obama addresses the 2009 NAACP Convention:

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(Via YouTube.)

Rational Markets

Justin Fox | The Daily Show | Comedy Central:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
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Full Episodes		 Political Humor Economic Crisis

(Via The Daily Show.)

Why regulation, but not regulators, is necessary.

Does Franken Solve the Filibuster Problem? | The American Prospect

Does Franken Solve the Filibuster Problem? | The American Prospect:

“For Democrats, the 60 votes will be a curse as often as it is a blessing. While it gives them enormous flexibility to move important legislation, it also turns every Democratic senator into a kingmaker or a deal-breaker, and that is a recipe for chaos.”

(Via The American Prospect.)

We already see that now. The pork is just bluer this time around.

Reading the Employment Report: Focus on Hours, Not Heads – Freakonomics Blog – NYTimes.com

Reading the Employment Report: Focus on Hours, Not Heads – Freakonomics Blog – NYTimes.com:

“Any evidence of ‘green shoots’ appearing in recent months disappears in this broader measure. The recession continues apace. If current trends continue, we are in for a frightening time.”

(Via Freakonomics Blog.)

Subprime Thinking

Did Liberals Cause the Sub-Prime Crisis? | The American Prospect:

“It’s telling that, amid all the recent recriminations, even lenders have not fingered CRA. That’s because CRA didn’t bring about the reckless lending at the heart of the crisis. Just as sub-prime lending was exploding, CRA was losing force and relevance. And the worst offenders, the independent mortgage companies, were never subject to CRA — or any federal regulator. Law didn’t make them lend. The profit motive did.”

(Via The American Prospect.)

The White House – Blog Post – Celebrating LGBT Pride Month

The White House – Blog Post – Celebrating LGBT Pride Month:

(Via The White House.)

Keep it real, O.

Michael Jackson’s Mirror. – Ta-Nehisi Coates

Michael Jackson’s Mirror. – Ta-Nehisi Coates:

“I think, despite the jokes and the sarcasm, we all knew what the plastic surgery was about. There was the stuff that MJ did that we joked about because it was weird, and there was the stuff he did that we joked about because it made us uncomfortable, because it told us something really ugly about the way things are and about ourselves too–I’m not talking just about white people, it’s 2009 and ‘good hair’ hasn’t gone out of style quite yet. I think things are different from the way they were in Jackson’s heyday. But not so different that it’s funny.”

(Via Ta-Nehisi Coates.)

Wall Street and the Third World | vanityfair.com

Wall Street and the Third World | vanityfair.com:

“The former Communist countries generally turned, after the dismal failure of their postwar system, to market capitalism, replacing Karl Marx with Milton Friedman as their god. The new religion has not served them well. Many countries may conclude not simply that unfettered capitalism, American-style, has failed but that the very concept of a market economy has failed, and is indeed unworkable under any circumstances. Old-style Communism won’t be back, but a variety of forms of excessive market intervention will return. And these will fail. The poor suffered under market fundamentalism—we had trickle-up economics, not trickle-down economics. But the poor will suffer again under these new regimes, which will not deliver growth. Without growth there cannot be sustainable poverty reduction. There has been no successful economy that has not relied heavily on markets. Poverty feeds disaffection. The inevitable downturns, hard to manage in any case, but especially so by governments brought to power on the basis of rage against American-style capitalism, will lead to more poverty. The con?sequences for global stability and American security are obvious.”

(Via Vanity Fair.)

Great and succinct critique on market fundamentalism (“free markets can solve any problem”).

YouTube – John Hodgman at Radio & TV Correspondents’ Dinner

YouTube – John Hodgman at Radio & TV Correspondents’ Dinner:

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(Via YouTube.)

Funny.

Obama puts critics of financial overhaul on notice – Yahoo! News

Obama puts critics of financial overhaul on notice – Yahoo! News:

“‘It will have the power to set tough new rules so that companies compete by offering innovative products that consumers actually want and actually understand,’ Obama said. ‘Those ridiculous contracts — pages of fine print that no one can figure out — will be a thing of the past. You’ll be able to compare products, with descriptions in plain language, to see what is best for you.‘”

(Via Yahoo! News.)

This is exactly what these companies don’t want.