In early 2009, the Administration proposed to put the banks through “stress tests” to see how they’d survive more adverse scenarios. So why didn’t the economic team also have a test in case their own recovery plans proved to be insufficient?

Municipal bonds are the next housing crisis. Does the Federal government bail out the states?

The recent troubles faced by Greece bring to mind a fascinating way in which this financial crisis has been different from so many others. Namely, it has been the wealthy, Western countries that have been hit hardest and who have been made to look bad. (A post by community member Inoljt, http://mypolitikal.com/)

It was troubles in the United States, the world’s preeminent economic power, which first initiated the recession. Its sophisticated, modernized financial system self-destructed in a manner previously thought only possible in places like Indonesia or Argentina. For the first time since the Great Depression, First-World banks were in danger of falling; Great Britain even had an old-fashioned bank run.

The boom-and-bust cycle rears its ugly head, this time potentially in the form of another bust. Just when we as a nation are starting to see the light at the end of the recession tunnel, concern over a double-dip recession looms.

What is most disturbing about the meeting with Treasury and the things that were said, or more accurately admitted, is that an argument could easily be made that this was an overt act by the administration to mislead and trick the American homeowner. That our government has been complicit in the bank’s ravaging of the bank accounts, retirement, and investments of nearly five million people.

When the financial crisis started to bite, there were many western economists and politicians who insisted that the crisis would hit the east as hard as the west (aka the “domino effect”). Around three years later we see that they were simply wrong. the world economy is no longer hinged on the west (assuming that it ever really was). The east has decoupled from the west. So has the south.

Adding a little personal commentary and context to Krugman’s post on deflation.

Proponents of TARP insisted that there was no alternative to handing hundreds of billions to the banks with no questions asked. They are still pushing this line.

Financial reform is now the law of the land. Let’s make it meaningful and end our support of Wall Street.

Laurie Anderson’s terrific performance of “Only an expert (can deal with the problem)” on The Late Show Wednesday night provokes thought on our current reliance on precisely the wrong experts to deal with the problems we face.